I returned from the mail room one Friday with a mysterious package I had received.
Strange, I don't remember ordering a stock pot.
Oh, it's not a stock pot at all! It's Maplehoof!
Maplehoof received a warm welcome at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
I gave Maplehoof the grand tour of my dorm...okay it’s just one room, but we have a balcony!
Granted we have to climb out a window to get to it. But the view from up here is beautiful!
Maplehoof was happy to be out of the box and out in the open air again. But don’t worry, I kept an eye on her.
After all, it's a long drop.
Caught Maplehoof using my computer. She even managed to get a picture of herself on the MSPA Forums.
So I took her around campus for a little bit. The school's nice. There's always sculptures on the lawn and stuff like that. It's been the site of a lot of filming too.
Billy Joel filmed the music video for “The Longest Time” in our Engineering Building. So we stopped by there to take a shot.
I think we got the wrong floor on the stairwell, though.
While we were there we ran into one of the local Pratt Cats. There’s a lot of cats on my campus. A lot. One of the guys that works here looks after them. He’s even entered them in cat shows, and some of them have won ribbons. Here’s the Engineering Building cat posing for a photo with Maplehoof.
This cat is often outside the entrance to my dorm. He didn’t really know what to make of Maplehoof.
Unfortunately a large amount of projects were due that week, and my free time was limited solely to sleep. But the next week was an entirely different story.
Part 2: Manhattan
It just so happens that this day, the Thirteenth of October, is Maplehoof’s first time attending a convention! Specifically, we were going to New York Comic Con.
This day was just filled with surprises.
Shego, or The Supreme One as she wished to be called, does not know what to make of the tiny pony.
But Carmen Sandiego knows something precious when she sees it.
Unfortunately for me.
I managed to get her back, though, and once again we were on our way.
There it is, the Javits Center.
Oh my god. There were so. Many. Homestucks.
Here’s a good amount of them at the 4:13 meetup and photoshoot. Fellow Maplehoofer Alex (Also known as tumbler user Cancerously and MSPA Forumer Lexa) was running the photoshoot and did an amazing job keeping it all under control.
Here’s a picture of her with Maplehoof. She’ll be visiting Alex officially later on in the Grand Trot.
Maplehoof got her picture taken with a bunch of awesome people. (If you are in any of these photos, please let me know at siranaenalu@gmail.com and I'll be happy to credit you.)
Maplehoof was happy to see Rose.
Lots of Roses actually.
It looks like all the Lalondes love Maplehoof. How could anyone not?
This one Dave was great. She even took some time to give Maplehoof a sweet mohawk.
This Dave had an awesome cosplay of Yorsh’s Heinoustuck Dave.
Of course Maplehoof had to get a picture with Dirk too! He is the proud owner of Minihoof after all.
Looks like Maplehoof made a friend!
John even let Maplehoof rest atop his prized Warhammer of Zillyhoo (Tumblr user heyitspj).
No matter what universe, Maplehoof is a universal constant. Here she is with Engineer Sollux (tumblr user golgolthastsundere)
Oh, and a Dave too.
(Professor Lemonsnout was there too. You can see him a little behind Maplehoof.)
The meetup was fun, but eventually it was time to go. Me and Maplehoof said our goodbyes to everyone and headed back from the convention.
But not before hitting the streets of New York City.
Here’s a picture of Maplehoof in Times Square. It was late at night and we had to kinda hurry it out of there. Our costumed friends were getting strange questions.
We ended up going out for some Middle Eastern cuisine before turning in for the night. We just had food, but of course Maplehoof wanted to try the hooka.
Don’t worry, I kept a close eye on her.
Part 3: New Jersey
So I was going to ship Maplehoof out that week. But then my parents wanted me and all my college siblings to come home that weekend...I couldn’t resist taking Maplehoof to my hometown.
So here she is, Maplehoof in New Jersey, on the couch in my living room.
So apparently my family got a new dog while I was out. His name is Kona. At the time he was more interested in his bone than Maplehoof though.
Kona must have been running my other dog Dewey ragged, cause the poor guy was tuckered out.
Didn’t really seem to mind having Maplehoof around.
Now off to the woods! There’s a creek in my backyard. We used to play in it when we were kids.
Who knows what wonders lie inside?
What’s this? Has Maplehoof spotted some of the local fauna?
...Sort of. It’s a deer my Dad bought once for five bucks. It was originally white, and there are square pegs where the antlers used to be. My Dad had me help him paint it. But that was a while ago, and since then the paint has sort of gotten runny.
The other is a dog statue we used to have on our front porch until it was knocked over by our real dogs and lost a leg. Now it just leans against a tree in the backyard.
Maplehoof no you’re a pony ponies can’t climb trees stop that.
Here’s a picture of Maplehoof at Fins, a surf cuisine kind of place, like where you get tacos and burritos and they’re always playing surf films on the televisions. There’s murals all over the place.
Off to the beach! This is where I spend 99% of my time in the summer, and not just because I work there. I love the beach, and I think Maplehoof did too.
The boardwalk had to be rebuilt last year after it was destroyed in the hurricane. Maplehoof deemed it sturdy enough.
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Unfortunately, our time in New Jersey came to an end, and we had to return to New York.
Back at the dorm, I packed up Maplehoof and me and my roommates said our goodbyes.
I added something of my own to her collection of souvenirs.
Where I’m from, in the Summer there are always kids on the boardwalk selling bracelets they make. It’s kind of become a staple of the beach scene. So before the summer ended I bought one for Maplehoof. Now she’ll always have a piece of New Jersey with her.
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It was an honor to be graced with the presence of Maplehoof. But now it's time for her to move on. Off she goes, towards more adventure. Next stop, Pennsylvania!
Oh, but before I end this post, here's a picture of Maplehoof in a field filled with nothing in particular.
