Last night, Rachel brought a friend home.
The more I encounter ponies people here, the more I wonder at the little similarities. The mirror world was like a parody of Equestria (or vice versa?) but even though Earth* is very different, there are these little echoes, things that make me feel like we're not completely disconnected from my home.
*It occurred to me to ask what I should call this place last night and they told me "Earth" was the name of the planet, which seems as good as anything. Why it's the same as a synonym for soil, let alone the one we used for a type of pony, is unclear to me. Of course, I'm also not sure if we're really speaking the same language, or if whatever spell brought me here is translating. So many things to research! [In the original this footnote was at the bottom of a page, interrupting a paragraph; for readability I have positioned it as its own -Ed.]
One of them is RD's friend. Her name is Alanna Rare and she's a public defender. The legal system here isn't exactly like Equestria's. For example, lawyers are mostly employed by the people who need them, rather than employed and paid by the crown. Or the state in this case. The exceptions are prosecutors, who advocate for the state against accused criminals, and public defenders, who defend accused criminals if they can't afford private lawyers. For some reason, though, pay for being either is extremely low, apparently especially in this city. The lawyers who do it are often very well-motivated and smart, but they rarely have much experience, because they can't really afford to build a life on their income. So accused criminals that can afford a veteran private lawyer are highly advantaged. (This doesn't seem very just to me. I've added it to my "messed up things about Earth" list.) [This list was not submitted to us, if it is written as opposed to mental or electronic -Ed.]
Anyway, Alanna is on her way to being an exception. She's still young, but is apparently a very good lawyer, and trained at one of the country's best schools. Her family is rich (I'm still not sure quite how this is different from nobility in Equestria), so she takes cases she thinks are good for free, often including criminal ones. Quite generous of her, I'd say. And Alanna Rare? Seriously, what's going on here? She has the warm voice, the accent. She even has a beautiful sapphire necklace, cut in a four-pointed shape. It looks like Rarity's cutie mark. I was worrying a little that with Rachel it was just wishful thinking; I miss my friends so much, and last time I was with humans, I found they had close parallels in that world. That kind of hope can twist your perceptions. But this is too much to be an optimistic illusion. The mirror worlds are so close they're clearly some kind of parallels or alternate Equestrias, but this is different. Is it an alternate that just diverged further back? But if so, how could similar ponies characters arise in such different worlds? Or is it something to do with the elements of harmony?
Unfortunately, Alanna wasn't here just to meet me. Today a report was filed with the Cambridge police of a possible theft of a "detailed replica" of the character Twilight Sparkle, with a description matching, well, me, quite precisely. The date and time of loss or theft on the report was June 14, around midnight. I don't know what to make of this. Apparently there are some people who really like that TV show, so maybe someone has a full-sized, well-made doll, that happened to go missing right before I woke up on that hill? I'm skeptical, especially because the physical description was very precise, including my weight, which is certainly high for a doll. Was I captured? Did I escape? But then, why wouldn't I remember? And why would my captor think anyone would be fooled into thinking I was a doll? I asked RD just to make sure, and even here, dolls don't talk and move around.
RD brought in Alanna because she wasn't sure if she needed to tell her chief about me now that she'd seen the report. I don't know what I'd do if she felt she had to - I trust RD, but humans are the only sapient species in this world. Would I be protected by their laws? If not, what would they do with me?
Luckily Alanna thinks we can wait at least a few days. It isn't likely anyone will notice I'm here, and in any case, she agrees it's unlikely anyone would mistake me for a doll. She stuck around and we chatted about her history and mine; she has a real talent for making things feel normal, even though I know they aren't. She's going to do some research (there's a mare woman after my heart!) and be back in a few days with a suggestion for what to do.
I hope it's soon. RD's great, but she's not comfortable around me the way Alanna is. Not that I can blame her. Not only must I look even stranger to her than she does to me - after all, I was a human for a few days - she's taking a huge risk by not turning me in immediately. Even though Alanna thinks it's legally defensible and morally right, no one thinks it's safest for her career or her relationship with her boss. I told her she shouldn't make that sacrifice for me, but of course she wouldn't have any of it.
I'm going to finish up this entry now, though. Before bed RD told me about the Internet I'd been asking about and showed me how to "log in" to her computer. Learning the keyboard is going to be slow going, I think; I'll have to do it with my horn, since my hooves are way too big, and I'm not used to using telekinesis like that. Rarity would pick it up much faster, I'm sure, she's used to that kind of fine work. But I'm excited to give it a try, and am going to go do that now. I should have lots of interesting new data for my next entry!