//------------------------------//
// Meet the Mondgeschopfe 
// Story: My Litte Mondgeschopfe 
// by Lost Deep 
//------------------------------//

	Two A.M. is the worst time to be awake. It’s the time when your body is utterly sure it should be asleep, and as thus being awake at that time makes the body quite grumpy. Adding to this, the mind often flatly refuses to fire on all cylinders, because why would you need to think at two in the morning? 
Twilight was slowly (but surely) woken by someone shaking her. She didn’t know who it was, and did not care. She pulled the blanket tightly around her and rolled over. That, her brain decided, was quite enough to send a message to whatever was shaking her and went back to sleep. 
…only to be woken again by the feeling of someone pulling her tail, followed shortly by cold, smooth stone. That was quite peculiar! Twilight’s brain didn’t want to bother to puzzle out why it was peculiar, but it was fairly sure that it was. Blast, now it isn’t comfy anymore. It would wake up just enough to fix that and then go back to sleep, simple enou-COLD COLD COLD
Twilight jumped up and flapped her wings to get the cold away. This sent a number of ice cubes to the ground, as well as bonking a nearby Stillnight on the nose. Or rather, where her nose would be if she had one. Twilight shook her head, and looked around. What was going on? 
“You were harder to wake then I expected,” Stillnight explained, rubbing where she had been bapped, “So I put ice under your wings. It worked!”
“Um… sorry?” Twilight smiled sheepishly. “I guess I mis-estimated something or something…” She shook her head. She just said that. Her brain was still not working alright. “Okay, I don’t like doing this, but I have to.” Twilight’s horn glowed, and for a moment she was completely surrounded by the glow. With that, she straightened up and smiled. “Voila! An all-nighter spell! Keeps me from noticing the effects of a lack of sleep for hours. It all comes back at once when the spell wears off, but until then I’m just fine.”
Stillnight tilted her head slightly. “I find that odd, really. Pony magic. It’s very different from mondgeschopfe magic.” Stillnight saw Twilight’s eyes light up, and immediately placed a claw over her mouth. “Ah! I know someone who knows mondgeschopfe magic inside and out. I think she is awake right now, and I would like to introduce you two, anyway. Come on! I’ll show you the town.”
Twilight followed Stillnight out of the home, but noticed that Stillnight did not lock the door in any way. Was she trusting enough of other mondgeschopfe that she didn’t need to? Did they simply not have locks? Or was something more going on?
The ‘town’ was really closer to village size, from what Twilight could see. It was mostly homes (or perhaps stores) dug into hills, or in some places simple stone buildings. In the distance, Twilight could clearly see an imposing castle made from grey moon stone; obviously Nightmare Moon’s moon castle! Twilight was more distracted, however, by the number of brightly-colored mondgeschopfe around. There were not as many of them as ponies in the Ponyville streets on a normal day, and there was nothing there to hide the spectacle of the unusual that was a purple alicorn.
Twilight saw something else purple. She only got a glance of it, however, before it was on her back. It was heavy; heavier than a pony and Twilight was rather surprised that she managed to stay standing. “Oh my ohmy Stillnight what do you have it’s a mini purple Nightmare Moon but without the hard parts and her head is covered in this stuff!” Twilight felt a pair of claws ruffle her mane enthusiastically. “STUUUUUUUUF. I have no idea what this stuff is but I love it!”
The person nimbly jumped off of Twilight’s back and landed right in front of her, almost touching Twilight’s nose with her face. “You are a very new thing! Hey, what’s the stuff called?”
Twilight staggered back. This person was even worse with personal space than Pinkie was! She forced herself to calm down. Perhaps an approach similar to how she approaches Pinkie Pie would work? Twilight looked at the mondgeschopfe: it was purple, but on the reddish end of the purple spectrum. Her antenna were skinnier than Stillnight’s, but the yellow bulbs on the end were much larger. They bounced and wobbled as this mondgeschopfe moved, the stems of the antenna were firmer than Stillnight’s but the bulbs more fluid. Twilight silently noted to be careful not to stare at antenna, no matter how odd they might be: it might be seen as rude. 
Stillnight hugged the purple mondgeschopfe, and it (She? He?) hugged back. “Novaglitter, this is Twilight,” Stillnight introduced them, “She is here to learn about the mondgeschopfe, our way of life and all.”
Novaglitter bounced up and down on her legs. “Twilight, I love your name, I think it’s a good name, what’s the stuff called?”
“Hair,” Twilight said, “It’s hair… haven’t you seen hair before?”
“NOPE! It’s like string is coming out of your brain. Brain string. Does it hurt? Can you feel it? Can you move it? Can you use it to read minds?” Novaglitter moved back up into Twilight’s face, and Twilight moved away again. Stillnight placed a hand on Novaglitter’s back, discouraging her from moving more.
“Novaglitter, Twilight was curious about mondgeschopfe magic-“
Discouraging someone from moving is very different from keeping them from moving, as Novaglitter leaped into the air and landed behind Twilight, before sliding up beside her and wrapping one of her front legs over her shoulder. “YES! I am a magical mondgeschopfe and will tell you all about my magics! Is Twilight a magical mini-Nightmare-Moon?”
“Um… pony, yes,” Twilight said. Pinkie sometimes had trouble with personal space, but the notion seemed utterly alien to Novaglitter. Twilight tried to ignore it. “I have a large amount of experience with unicorn magic, and have studied many of the most powerful spells. You?”
“I am an artist of magic and a mage of art!” Novaglitter replied. Twilight knew that many magicians thought of themselves as artists, so the notion wasn’t too odd for her. That was something of an odd way of putting it, but Twilight supposed she should not be too surprised at the eccentric mondgeschopfe.
Twilight smiled, and said to Novaglitter, “I would like to see some mondgeschopfe magic, maybe we could compare thaumatological notes sometime?”
Nova gasped excitedly, declared “I will get my paints!” and bounded off as fast as she had appeared. 
Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “She’s very energetic,” Twilight commented to Stillnight casually. 
Stillnight nodded. “She makes you uncomfortable,” she stated matter-of-factly. 
Twilight nodded, admitting it to herself as well. “Well, yes. She is… a much more… ‘touchy’ pon- er, person than I am.”
“Oh…” Stillnight said, with a nod. “Yes. Bad news: She is not unusually ‘touchy’ for a mondgeschopfe. I am unusually ‘not-touchy’. Most will not jump onto your back, nor are they so energetic, but most mondgeschopfe do not find touching odd.”
Twilight blinked and thought about that. “There aren’t ponies… mondgeschopfe who really don’t like to be touched? Who have large amounts of… personal space?”
“I have the most I know of,” Sillnight answered, “It’s why I have so big of a home. I like more space than others.”
Twilight thought of Stillnight’s small home. That was the home of someone who liked more space. What were other homes like, then?
Stillnight reached up to place a claw on Twilight’s shoulder, but stopped herself. “You still want to meet more of my friends, yes? Novaglitter did not scare you too bad?”
“Yes!” Twilight said, “Of course! There’s an oddball in every group, I know that as well as anyone, and I won’t let one overly energetic mondgeschopfe sour me. Please, lead on!”
Stillnight nodded and lead Twilight into the town. She hoped that the knot forming in the bottom of Twilight’s stomach (which Twilight was ignoring admirably) would go away once she met more of Stillnight’s friends. 
Stillnight led Twilight through the town, looking around. Twilight tried to figure out where the roads were, so that she could navigate the town easily, but without even simple dirt trails to mark the usual paths… Ah, wait, she was making a basic assumption of roads. That this was like a pony town. The homes were mostly built into hills, so for the most part it was less like a real town and more of a natural area in which a colony of mondgeschopfe had decided to settle. For that reason, it was logical to presume that mondgeschopfe did not have formalized roads yet. Trails where travel was common, yes, but without greenery to be trampled down (and especially with the generic grey moon dust everywhere) such trails would be hard to find. It’s probably safe to say they would wind around the hills, as opposed to forming blocks like in pony cities. For that matter, Twilight noticed that there was no lack of mondgeschopfe going over the hills, meaning there was no social stigma or expectation against such activity.
In short, for navigational purposes it would be best to note landmarks and cardinal directions for navigating in the town, similar to navigation in the wilderness. The small amount of stone structures, door to various homes, and Nightmare Moon’s Moon Castle should provide ample landmarks to work with. 
Wait a second… something was wrong here. Something was missing from this situation. What was it? Twilight’s mind raced. Lack of buildings: already noted. Lack of signage: already noted. Was it something about how the ponies are acting? Er, how the mondgeschopfe are acting. 
They seemed to be going about their business, like it was a normal day-WAIT A SECOND. Didn’t they notice the purple alicorn? 
“They’re looking at you behind your back. Many nigh-equate you with Nighmare Moon, to which they showed indifference to her face. It’s rather an interesting story,” Stillnight stated, much to twilight’s confusion. Before Twilight could say anything, Stillnight added, “No, I can’t read your mind. It’s simply obvious enough what you’re thinking. After hearing me answer unasked questions, any individuals wonder if I can read their minds. It’s a common reaction.”
Twilight recalled stories she read where a detective could delve into someone’s mind just by watching their body language. She always found that idea somewhat silly… but here she was, and Stillnight was doing it better than any fictional pony. Twilight would definitely have to ask her how later. 
“Wilderness!” Stillnight called out to a particular mondgeschopfe. Twilight looked, and quickly noticed which one responded: it was the one that was a full head taller than the others. Overall, in fact, he (she?) was a lot bigger: longer tail, larger claws, bigger muscles… she (he?) also had a hood on her neck, like a cobra. The only thing that wasn’t bigger was the blue glowing antenna, really. Perhaps this was from a different tribe of mondgeschopfe? This mondgeschopfe, at least, wasn’t ignoring twilight. Quite the contrary, he (she?) was looking straight at her, seemingly curious. 
“Stillnight,” it spoke, and Twilight decided to classify it as ‘female’ due to the way its voice sounded, “What have you here? It rather reminds of a miniature, purple Nightmare Moon.”
Stillnight snickered. “This is Twilight Sparkle, she is a pony, and she is here to learn about us mondgeschopfe.”
Wilderness seemed skeptical. “The last… pony we had here tried to rule us, to control us, and was aloof at best and wrathful at worst.”
“Wilderness!” Stillnight chided, but Wilderness put a claw over Stillnight’s mouth. 
“I am cautious. I am not going to be rude, crude, or assuming, but I am not going to afford her any special consideration because she is one pony,” Wilderness explained. “I hope it is different, but if it is not, I will not hesitate to return in kind.”
Twilight spoke carefully, deciding to see if she can defuse this situation before it ever became dangerous. “I understand your caution, and truth be told I don’t blame you for it. If anything, I’m happy you’re upfront about it. Nightmare Moon was not a good representation of ponykind as a whole, in fact she was considered a villain where I come from. I hope that we can become friends, Wilderness.”
Wilderness smiled. “I hope so, Twilight. I hope we will become friends, and be friendly. I am Wilderness, and I apologize: I am not as…” Here Wilderness stopped short suddenly. “Word. I have forgotten the word. I am not as… I do not talk as well, or as politely as I should sometimes.”
“That’s okay,” Twilight reassured her, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes,” Wilderness replied. 
“I don’t know much about mondgeschopfe yet, so I don’t know what the importance of your hood is. Would you mind telling me?”
“Oh,” Wilderness said, “No, I don’t mind. I’m the only one that has a hood, because I am… one of  my kind? I’m the only one like this.”
“Unique,” Stillnight said, having guessed what word was missing. 
“Yes,” Wilderness confirmed, “I am unique in that. It is because I was raised by a snake.”
Twilight blinked. “Literally?”
Wilderness shifted back and forth slightly before confirming. “Yes. Literally. I don’t know why I was not raised by mondgeschopfe, but I was not, and was raised by a snake instead.”
Twilight blinked. That was a confusing idea; it rather reminded her of stories she had read about ponies being raised by hippopotami. Once again, these were stories that she had never believed, but given what Twilight had seen in the last few years, perhaps she should give such stories more consideration. 
Wilderness poked Twilight on the nose, jarring her out of her thoughts. “Nothing more to say, pony?”
“She’s just thinking about what she’s seen,” Stillnight said, “Much is going on. She is going to learn much, as I will introduce her to all my friends. And then Novaglitter will teach her about mondgeschopfe magic.”
“Oh?” Wilderness raised her eyebrows… or the approximation thereof. Twilight hoped that she was reading their facial expressions correctly. “That, I am sure, will be interesting. Where?” 
Stillnight giggled slightly. “I suspect it will be wherever we are when she finds us. Now, is Towerstone where she usually is?” 
Wilderness looked over at one of the few stone structures. It was skinny and tall, almost as tall as a two-story house. “I certainly have not seen her leave.”

Twilight followed Stillnight over the hills, toward the stone structure. Compared to anything else on the moon, except perhaps for the moon castle, it was a tower. Stillnight went up to it, and shouted into it, “Towerstone! I have someone you should meet! Come out!”
There was a scrabbling up the inside of the ‘tower,’ and a green face popped out the top. Towerstone jumped down, landing nearby. He eyed (She eyed?) Twilight curiously, her(his?) antenna glowing red. This mondgeschopfe had a much more athletic build, long in the body but not unusually tall. “Hello!” It said, smiling. “I am Towerstone! Who are you?”
Twilight smiled. This was a nice change of events. No jumping, no frowning, just a normal, every-day introduction. “Twilight Sparkle. I am here to learn about your people and your way of life.”
Towerstone nodded. “That is much better than the last one like you. Nightmare Moon, you may have heard of her? She was much less polite.”
Twilight nodded. “Where I come from, she was a villain. I hope to break the impression of ponies that Nighmare Moon left on the Mondgeschopfe.”
Towerstone nodded. “A fine objective! I hope that you are successful, and I hope that you learn very much. Where will you be staying? With Stillnight?”
Twilight nodded. “I will be! I’ll look forward to seeing you in the future. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do?”
“I make,” Towerstone said proudly, “I make homes, and doors, and tools, and anything that must be made! I made my tower!” He (or maybe she? Twilight straight up could not tell with this one.) gestured up at the small building. “I make! It is what I like to do!”
Twilight nodded. That is very interesting. Usually ponies focus on one kind of crafting, but given that mondgeschopfe society was very simple it was possible that a single crafter might need to branch out. However, while that idea was a source of a lot of questions for Twilight, there was one question that she had to ask first. “Now, Towerstone, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question. I don’t mean to offend you-”
“You won’t!” Towerstone said happily. 
“-but I honestly can’t tell. Are you a boy or a girl?”
Towerstone blinked. “I do not understand.”
“Male or female?” Twilight asked, “Your gender?”
Towerstone looked to Stillnight to explain. Stillnight hmmed. “I believe that Nightmare Moon spoke to me about genders. Ponies have two genders, yes? One carries the child, and one fertilizes the child?”
“…Yes?” Twilight said, trying to think about why this would be such an odd idea for mondgeschopfe. 
“Any mondgeschopfe can do either,” Stillnight said with a shrug. “Sometimes one carries children, sometimes the other, sometimes both.”
Hemaphrodites, Twilight remembered the word, are common among certain animals, like snails, worms, and other really, really simple animals. But from Stillnight’s explanation, all mondgeschopfe were hermaphrodites, meaning that they had no understanding of gender division apart from what Nightmare Moon taught them. “So,” Twilight said carefully, “What pronouns do you use? Third-person pronouns that is.”
“Her, she, and so on.” Stillnight said, “Are there any other ones for people?”
Twilight boggled. They didn’t know about males at all, the only pony to have ever been on the moon before was female, so it literally never came up. The notion of masculine pronouns was alien to this culture!
Stillnight patted Twilight on her back. “We will talk about it sometime, hm? Many things will be very different. Come on, I have another good friend. I will warn you now, Starflinch can be overly cautious.”

“I know you are in there, Starflinch,” Stillnight shouted at the small door, “And I know you are awake. You have only heard rumors, she is a very nice pony.”
Twilight frowned at the door. It was on the edge of the area, facing away from most of the other homes, and had  the strange runes scrawled on every inch of its surface. One rune in particular was common, scrawled inside, in-between, and around other runes. It almost looked obsessive.
The door opened slightly, and Twilight saw a mondgeschopfe peek out. Red skin and purple antenna, it saw Twilight promptly shut the door tightly. Stillnight snorted indignantly. “You are very rude, Starflinch.”
“Don’t tell her my name!” the mondgeschopfe on the other side of the door said, “What if she can use your name?”
“Starflinch, you are being ruder than Wilderness was, and Wilderness was quite rude!” Stillnight banged on the door a bit more, but it did not budge or rattle in the slightest. Sturdily built, Twilight guessed. 
“It’s not safe!” The voice replied, “Not safe at all!”
“Starflinch! You don’t think anything is safe.” 
“My home is safe.”
Stillnight sighed, and turned to Twilight. “She’ll get hungry eventually, but that will be some time. She has a week of food stores.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, idly examining the door. Some places, that rune was nested inside itself. 
“Starflinch is a coward, and treats the outside world as full of danger. It’s not that dangerous, Starflinch! Did you run out of tea?”
“You were attacked by a swarm of nymphs not two days ago!”
“There were only five of them. Scarcely a swarm.”
“They could still be out there!”
“I had Wilderness chase them off and you know it!”
“They might have-”
“I can tell when you’re lying, Starflinch!”
There was a moment of silence. Twilight felt very out of place. After a bit, Starflinch spoke again, “Fine. I’m scared of the mini nightmare moon.”
“She is a pony, and her name is Twilight,” Stillnight said, “She is very nice, very patient, and very gentle.”
“You don’t like change, do you Starflinch?” Twilight hazarded a guess. She hoped that she was right, and could build something of a rapport with Starflinch, even if she had to do it through a door. 
“I do not,” Starflinch replied, “I do not at all.”
“Do you like checklists, Starflinch?”
“I… what?” Twilight heard confusion enter Starflinch’s voice. She hoped she was right. 
“Checklists. Making a list to make sure you remember everything, checking the items one at a time.”
“How did you know?” Starflinch asked. 
“I like checklists,” Twilight said, “I like things nice and orderly, to make sure that things always go exactly as they should, and them when things don’t, I don’t always take with well. Do you know what I mean?”
“Maybe,” Starflinch admitted. After a moment, she added, “Stillnight, when you have time, could you bring me some of that tea?”
Stillnight, smiling, said “Yes, I will,” then tuned to go. Twilight followed, and after a minute Stilnight turned to her. “Are you going to be arranging my room for keeping?”
“Maybe,” Twilight admitted, “But please, anyone else you want me to meet?”
Stillnight shook her head. “My last close friend is Blacksmile, but I can’t find her. She’s likely watching, even right now, but she’s shy. Just give her some time, you will see her eventually-”
“TWI~LIGHT!” Twilight felt her hair stand on end, and looked in the direction that the voice came from. There was Novaglitter, bounding across the town. The hyperactive purple alien had heavy saddlebags on her back, full to the brim with artistic implements. Brushes, pens, watertight bags with colored stains around the tops, it must have been heavy but Novaglitter didn’t seem to care. The loose bags flapped with every bound, only a set of solid leather straps keeping the cargo attached to its carrier. “I am ready to make magic for you!”