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// 42 - Silver Helps Astor 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Silver gazed out the window of his office, watching a pony do yard work busily outside. "Who's on the schedule today?"

Night picked up a clipboard and flipped through it. "A mister Astor. They seemed eager to see you. Either a friendly sort or somepony in need of help."

"Either way." Silver smiled. "We'll be here for them. See them in. No need to keep them waiting any longer."

Night had the door open in a jiff. "Please, come inside. The Ambassador is ready for you."

As the door opened a man came to view, barely over five feet and five inches but heavily built. His eyes looked all around the place as if cataloguing every little thing he could spot as he entered the room. Perfectly round glasses decorated the not so round face, and behind those his hazel eyes were still analyzing his surroundings. He sported dark brown hair and, surprisingly a brown and copperish beard. 

His clothes were pretty average making him somewhat forgettable at first glance. Mountain boots followed by denim pants, an old science fiction themed t-shirt under a very used and brownish leather coat, and while he had his hands in his pockets a silvery glint in his left wrist told about him wearing a wrist watch. 

"Hello there!" Silver sat up in his seat and raised a hoof to wave at his new guest. Those clothes, which may have been forgettable in the human world, stood out on a human in ponyland and he drank it in. "Look at you. You're like a reminder of the old world. Please, come in, relax. I'm Silver Lining, the Ambassador for humans, here to help you out however I can."

“Ah, well… Nice to meet you Mr… Lining? I’m Astor and… huh…” the human said as he scratched the back of his head “...thanks? I’m still in the ‘I can’t believe I’m here’ phase so… I’m sorry if I’m a bit overwhelmed by everything” he said with a very heavy accent, betraying a non-english origin.

"Silver works fine, or Mr. Lining. It's a funny thing, since either way you're kind of going with my last name." He tilted his head. "I'm not your superior. I'm a friend, or I hope to be. Please, tell me about you, and have a seat." He gestured ahead at another chair. "You can start with how you got here."

Astor approached the chair carefully, looking for any structural damage or something before he slowly took seat. He seemed surprised by its sturdiness but decided to not be very vocal about it. “Alright then… It was during the night, I think. Or just very early,” he said while chuckling. “The thing is that I was the only one awake, just… err… playing some videogames before hitting the hay. Just as I was out of the computer I saw some lines of text just… floating there.” he explained making a vague gesture with his hand “At first I just ignored it. I mean a gaming binge after work in a dark room… You know what I mean, right?” he asked Silver with a small smirk.

Silver nodded softly. "Sure, but I imagine they were quite insistent on an answer. The Text is rarely happy until it's addressed directly." He reached for a carafe and his silvery magic grabbed it, pouring out a glass of juice and nudging it over towards Astor. "If you like. Do go on."

Astor nodded at Silver “Yeah. It was quite irritating. I mean I was taking…” he was saying as he coughed “...suffice to say, I was busy. But I finally gave in and talked to it. Didn’t trust it and I still think that Text is getting something from me without knowing… No one gives this kind of things for free” he said, a frown quickly appearing on his face “And it was always evading my questions and...” he stopped before getting more agitated, slowly inhaling and exhaling. “Sorry… It’s just… I should’ve taken it more seriously…”

Silver raised both of his forehooves to pat himself on the chest. "You're preaching to the choir there, but we're both here. So far as I can tell, The Text likes interesting things. He likes watching humans live, or die, in Equestria. Do well, or do horrible, both amuse him, and he's satisfied enough to grab another and see how they do." He wobbled a hoof. "Not much to do about that now, you're here. Have you found a home yet?"

Astor winced a bit and, again, scratched the back of his head “...Not really? I think I’ve been trying to get a grip on my emotions since I arrived and while the ponies have been pretty helpful… well…” he said as he played a bit with his hands “I’m not the most outgoing person and I just decided to observe them and learn the small things that don’t appear in the show. It’s just fascinating how they can thrive with their abilities and…” he stopped for a moment and looked at Silver raising a eyebrow “...wait… how did you…?” he said as he patted himself “I’m not going to sprout a tail and get all furry in time, right?” he asked Silver, some nervousness clearly in his voice.

Silver smiled brightly. "Only if that's what you sincerely want. Any pony, or otherwise, that tries to make you not human against your will is acting against the law." He held up a hoof. "You should get away from them as quickly as possible and look for one of the golden-armored guards, or me. I'm sure Night would break them in half."

"With pleasure." Night gave a grave nod.

“Are you native or ex-human too? Just curious,” Astor asked, before shaking his head. “See? I’m nervous, and curious and frustrated… I’m all over the place,” he said as he sighed, rubbing his temples. “I just can’t seem to focus on anything lately. It’s not the ponies mind you, but…”

Night adjusted her glasses. "Born and raised with fangs, I assure. You're not insulting me, if you're worried."

Silver quickly nodded. "Did I mention she's my wife? She's darling and amazing, but about you. It's perfectly alright to be confused right now. Hell, you're in a whole new world. It'd be much more alarming if you weren't surprised and a bit off balance by it. Just know, in this office, you're welcome and won't be judged. I'm here to help, not criticize." His ears twitched upwards. "Now, awkward question, but did you, you know, want to be a pony?"

Astor looked at Silver with a curious expression “You are serious, aren’t you?” he said before exhaling “I’ve doing some thinking, I can’t lie about that, but… Opposable thumbs, you know” he said while chuckling “I don’t know if I could live without them. If its a reversible process maybe I could try and feel it before making any final decision… that’s not counting if this… ‘visit to Equestria’ is a temporary thing or a more permanent one. The Text was always the pleaser of students answering all the questions and all that stuff,” he said with irony as he huffed angrily.

Silver giggled. "The way you're answering? No. I'd say get used to being here before you do any real consideration of species assignment. I dove in head first when I got here and Ugh, that was a painful journey. I did everything wrong. Please, you're fine as you are." He held up his hooves. "I'm sorry if I gave the idea you should change because you have to."

Astor smirked a bit. “Well I think being a nerd and a new species makes it better than back home. I mean with being relatively new here I must be at least more interesting than the average Joe,” he said as he laughed. “But I’m glad to know that I can be my primate human self. No offense,” he quickly said. “Problem is… I don’t really know where I fit in this society. As for now I’m unemployed, probably an illegal immigrant and… I don’t know,” he said while slumping on his chair. “Being interesting can’t carry you far in life, even here I suppose.”

Silver held up a hoof as the other landed. "No insult taken. Remember, I was human before too. No harm in being one. As one, you do stand out, and ponies get curious, especially here in Canterlot. In a smaller town they might get nervous, but here? Most of the unicorns assume you're supposed to be here, so they either come up and inspect, or ignore you, most likely the latter." He took a slow breath. "Now… employment. Tell me what you like to do?"

Astor laughed a bit “Well, what I don’t like to do? I like to learn and try about everything. I’ve been barista, potato farmer, university student and hell, I even worked on a construction business once. I really love geography, history and philosophy though. Blame Age of Empires for that. The Romans were just awesome” he said with glee in his voice “And while useless I know tons of other things that… well.. are useless here.” he explained as he scratches his head “I was aiming to be a geographer back home so…” he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Silver returned the shrug. "Why do you think those are useless? There's room for somepony with any of those skills, even potato farming, though I doubt that's your real passion, so…" He leaned forward with a spreading smile. "What do you really love to do? If you could get paid to do something, what would you want that something to be?"

“Whoa, that’s food for thought… Hm…” Astor said as he scratched his beard “Well… I’m pretty passionate with city management… videogames. Yeah yeah, I know, pretty nerdy. But I got into geography because of that. City Planning. Man, that was really incredible to learn back in the uni…” he said with nostalgia in his voice “But for that I need to learn how… well.. everything works here. You would be surprised at how many things can affect the way a city can develop. The romans knew that and that’s why the build their humongous aqueducts... and here I go again. Sorry,” he said as he looked embarrassed by nerding out.

Silver shook his head quickly. "No, really, this is exactly where we should go. If you like the idea of helping a town grow, go with that! I'm serious. We could get you a job helping out in a town hall, let you see things from the inside. Learn, advance. Who knows, you could be the first human mayor in all of Equestria! Imagine that."

Astor looked downcast and chuckled a bit “Yeah, it would be great, right? But that’s thinking too big. I think I need to take step by step. Let’s see where this goes. For all we know Equestria plans their cities so beforehand that they thought of everything. It’s a nice thought though.”

Silver rolled a hoof softly. "Being a gopher in a town hall is too big? That's the definition of an introductory position, and if you don't like it, we can try another. You're not locked in or anything. Hay, you don't have a cutie mark, nobody can tell what you're supposed to be doing, use it to your advantage."

“That’s a good point… Huh, now that I think about it, should we just… you know… interfere with their society with human knowledge?” Astor asked Silver as he wiggled his eyebrows “You know, Prime Directive and all of that. City Planning it’s a pretty advanced thing back home and for what I’ve see in the show ponies aren’t the best at that with just a couple of exceptions.”

"True," said Silver with a slow nod. "But you wouldn't be there to turn their world upside down, just guide them gently. You can be like a benevolent little nerd god, providing answers where they might have otherwise gotten stuck and frustrated. Don't pull out the big guns unless the situation really calls for it and you're sure you can handle it."

“Oh man, do I need to pull a vulcan mindset and say things like ‘Your species aren’t prepared for that knowledge’?” Astor asked while laughing pretty loud after trying to talk as emotionless as he could. He didn’t sound very emotionless as he was already laughing before he could finish the phrase. “Bloody hell, that would be hilarious!”

Silver brightly smiled. "Good, focus on how absurd life can be at times. We'll work through this, if you want to work through this. On the other hoof." He switched hooves. "If you just want to do something quiet and out of the way, we'll arrange that. Want to be an ice cream vendor? Pretty sure we could arrange that."

“While ice cream is always a good answer, I think I’ll try to pick up where I left it on Earth and try to make my knowledge useful.” Astor said as he scratched his head yet again “I mean… it would be a shame to let all those years of study go to waste, and I’m pretty sure that I would end eating all the ice cream myself” he said as he patted his belly “I mean, who wouldn’t? But seriously… If I have to pass some tests again to show that I’m capable of working on that then I’ll do them. I’m not the best but I’ll be damned if I don't try my best at least” he said with determination.

Silver lifted a quill in his magic and made a quick scribble. "I'll jump the hoops for you, and tell you where you have to be. This will probably yank you away from Canterlot, but I'm at most a letter away for anything that comes to mind, and I mean that. I'm here to help."

Astor looked at Silver and, for the first time, managed a little smile. “You know, I thought that every person working on an office would be willing to grind anyone with the slow crawl of bureaucracy but… you’re a pretty swell guy Silver. I’m not much for friends myself but I can easily imagine both of us being just that. Just… don’t expect to write much. I tend to lose myself to books and all of that. Not a social guy when there is so much to learn.” He said with a laugh as he offered his hand for a handshake. “I hope this isn’t a social faux-pas here” he asked Silver while laughing.

Silver reached to place his hoof in Astor's offered hand. "Look, I was just like you, lost, alien, and a bit afraid. I'm just acting like I wish someone would have acted towards me. All you need is a friend, and that's exactly what I'm here for, to be that friend, and avoid the messy mistakes I went face-first into."

Astor shook Silver’s hoof with strength, but not enough to harm “Glad to have my back covered, but not happy to know that it’s thanks to your suffering. I hope it’s getting better for you.” he said with sincerity in his voice “And don’t worry, I’ll try to be friendly at least… and don’t give me that Yoda thing about trying” he said while laughing “Just remind me, if I ever got rich here, to invite you and your nearest family and friends to dinner… in the cheapest burger joint they have here” he said before laughing very loud “More food for less money. Once a year doesn’t hurt, right?”

Silver pointed at Night, who stood beside the door. "That's my wife there, and if you invite her to Hayburger, I doubt she'd refuse."

"That sounds especially good right about now." She rubbed her belly lightly before setting her hooves back down. "I'll remember this."

"Well, now you're stuck with it. One date at Hayburgers, when you have the money to afford it at least. Let's put that aside a moment." He drew his hoof back and set it down. "Did you have a family you left behind?"

Astor managed to pull a pretty neutral expression after hearing that question. “Yeah, both parents and a big sister. We all still lived in our house, in the middle of the countryland. Not nice for wifi signal, but it was home.” he sighed a bit “I already spent my grief the first moments I was here and noticed that this was the real deal. They can live well without me, but still miss them.” he said as he rubbed one of his eyes. “I just got something in my eye.. Really…” he said with a stoic expression on his face. “...is this question important or is it just for the record?”

Silver shook his head. "It's important, but not for any record. We can't pretend we just… poof and we're here. We came from places. I left some people behind too. I think about them too. It's alright to be sad about that." He clopped the top of the desk. "There's no shame in having a past. We learn a lot from it. It makes us who we are."

“I know. But it’s easier to carry on if I just don’t think about. I’ll worry about them on a later date. I’ll not forget my past but I need to look for the future” Astor said as he sighed “...the future I choose thanks to blindly answering some kind of floating text thing. One would think that after so many novels and that I would learn to be wary of such things, but nope…” he said as he rubbed his face. “... it gets easier?” he asked Silver. “Missing people from back home I mean… Sorry, I shouldn't ask that”

Silver nodded and waved for Night to come closer. When she was near, he drew her closer. "I've found new things. The old things…  I miss them. I still think about them once in awhile, wondering how they're doing, but I've filled those gaping holes in my heart with wonderful and new things." He slipped from the chair and hugged Night tightly, suddenly a bit too emotional, much to her chagrin.

Astor looked at both ponies with a serious expression, his eyes drifting away as he thought about home. “I see. It sure beats just thinking about what we’ve lost. Not sure if I will manage to settle down as fine as you” he said as he leaned back on his chair. “You don’t strike me as a loner, but I’m a bit of a lone wolf and it makes any friendship hard to maintain” he explained as he grimaced a bit “Not everyone accepts that you like to spend more time with books. That’s one of the things I liked about the show, you know? Friendship and all that.” he shook his head “I can’t see myself like you are now, but who knows? How was that phrase… ‘never say never’?”

Silver looked up, ear perked. "Funny thing. When I was a person, I usually looked for quiet places. I was as close to a loner as you got, except when I had to sell something, or explain something, then I'd rant away." He turned and hopped back into their chair. "Sorry about that, but, really, just let it happen, relax. Like you said, never say never."

Astor chuckled as he cleaned his glasses, having a calming effect on him. “Bad habits die hard though. Nerds will always be nerds, no matter where we are… but maybe I’m wrong and this place is a land where miracles truly happen.” he said as he put his glasses on again. “As I said, I’ll try to be friendly and even get the habit of writing letters back so we stay in touch, but don’t expect amazing things like ‘befriending a whole town’. I’m not Pinkie Pie, you know?” he said with a small smirk on his face.

Silver stuck out his tongue. "No one is Pinkie Pie but Pinkie Pie. Maybe you'll run into her sometime? Wouldn't surprise me. She likes meeting new people, pony or not. After the Zecora thing, I think she got over meeting new species." He looked over Astor. "You do know there are nerdy ponies too right? You'll find your niche, I promise."

“Oh boy, the D&D crew in pony version. That would be really funny” Astor said as he laughed loudly “But ponies are not nerdy, they are adorkable. I mean they got those big eyes and… well, you know what I mean.” he said as he suddenly raised an eyebrow “...well, except maybe that really nerdy guy from the comics? are those even real here? Damn, I wish I picked my laptop… or maybe not. I don’t see sockets around here… huh…” he said as he ended mumbling to himself while scanning the room again.

Silver reached into a drawer and pulled out a velvet bag. He released it from his magic and a small bunch of colorful dice spread out onto the desk in a jumble. "You'll find your niche." He smiled gently, eyes shining. "If you keep your heart open, you'll find a few ponies curling up in there like they belong there, and before you know it… You'll know they're right."

“... I don’t know. I’m the one of the group that usually had the ones when I rolled for charisma” Astor said as he wiggled his eyebrows “C’mon, that was like the worst joke ever.” he said to Silver, then looking at Night “Bad jokes are a thing here, right?”

Night nodded. "You critically succeeded that attempt at poor humor." She flashed her bright fangs. "You'll fit in fine, just like Silver said. Just keep an open mind and don't shove ponies away when they start getting curious about who you are."

“Alright, I can do that” Astor said as he nodded “Maybe if I find a group I could introduce them to some of the stories from Earth. I bet a lot of ponies would enjoy the classic tale of Star Wars. With magic the force would have less impact, but…” he shook his head “At least I have enough material to start…”

Silver slapped the armrest of his chair. Why did ponies have armrests? They don't even have arms! "Man! Just tell the story. Replace 'force' with 'harmony' and they'll eat it up. I can't believe I never thought of that."

"Thought of what?" Night raised a curious brow.

“Just about telling the ponies the most famous story of tech fantasy in the last century, and by the looks of it the next one too” Astor explained “A story from long time ago… in a galaxy far far away…” he said as he gestured with his arm to an invisible horizon.

Night looked perplexed, and yet, interested… The remainder of their visit involved tales of derring-do, with knights infused with the very purpose of harmony, against the agents of discord that would throw all of the universe out of balance!

It was time well spent.