The Last Man Standing

by Robobrony

Chapter Five: Questions, Questions, Questions

Question’s, Questions, Questions

A new day dawned as Nathan woke up to the sound of a few birds chirping just outside his window. He sat up, stretched out his arms with a big yawn, and scratched his back. “Mmmmhmmm, what a way to wake up.” He looked out the window to see the birds chirping. “Hmm, I’m betting some of Fluttershy’s animal friends.” He gave one more smaller yawn and hung his legs over the side of the bed. He attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes and slowly stood up. After a comfortably warm shower, he got himself dressed wearing blue jeans and a white short sleeved shirt Rarity made for him that had her cutie mark splayed out for all to see. He gave a heavy sigh at this. “Can’t blame the girl for wanting to advertise her talents.”

Nathan put on his boots and hat, and made his way downstairs where his nose was met with the smell of breakfast. Fluttershy was at the stove cooking up a meal for the two of them and Angel Bunny. “Oh, good morning Nathan, did you sleep well?” Fluttershy asked.

Nathan took a seat at the table as he waited for his breakfast. “Like a rock. A couple of your bird friends woke me up with their singing just outside my window.”

Fluttershy started to worry. “Oh dear, I’m sorry, I’ll be sure to let them know not to do that and stay away from your window then.”

Nathan chuckled as he spoke. “Heh heh, it’s fine Fluttershy, in fact, it was a nice way to wake up, much better than having some alarm clock blaring in your ear at ungodly hours in the morning.”

“Really, oh good.” Fluttershy sighed in relief before going back to making breakfast. “I hope you like omlettes, I’m making cheese omletts for breakfast.”

“That’s fine. I like a good omlette. Though my favorite is when you have bacon in it.” He paused a moment and realized what he said. “Scratch that.”

Fluttershy looked at him curiously. “Bacon?”

Nathan spoke carefully. “It’s a form of meat.”

“Oh, right, you eat meat. Well, that’s okay. In fact, if you want, I could get some for you to have with breakfast.”

Nathan waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine Fluttershy, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable with that subject.”

“It’s fine, really, some of my animal friends eat meat so it’s not that bad.” Fluttershy insisted.

Nathan gave a defeated sigh. He could tell she wasn’t going to budge. “All right Fluttershy, if you’re sure it’s okay, I appreciate it.” He then brought up something else. “By the way, thanks for showing me that resturaunt that caters to all species. They got great burgers and things.”

“You’re welcome.” Fluttershy flipped an omlette and added more cheese before closing it up. After a while, she finished cooking and served breakfast and a bowl of veggies for Angel Bunny.

Nathan decided to see if he could have a little fun with Fluttershy. He gave a smirk as he spoke. “So Fluttershy, any stallions ask you out on a date yet?”

Fluttershy froze a moment and blushed. “Oh my, um…well….there is one pony who asked me out on a date for this Saturday.”

“Really, and who would that be if I may ask?” Nathan leaned forward with a devilish grin.

Fluttershy’s blush intensified. “Well…..um…he….it…it’s….Big Macintosh.”

Nathan leaned back in his seat and gave a smile. “Really? Hah, that’s great news Fluttershy. From what I’ve gathered from the big lug, he’s a pretty nice guy. I think he’s very lucky to land you as a girlfriend.” Nathan said with a genuine smile. “Or….was it marefriend?”

Fluttershy smiled back still wearing a blush. “Thank you Nathan, that’s….very nice of you to say. And yes, it is marefriend.”
Nathan soon finished his meal and got up to take care of the plates. “Well, I’ll handle the dishes this morning. Then I’m heading out to Twilight’s.”

“Okay then, thank you again Nathan. I’ll just go and start taking care of my animal friends.” Fluttershy got up and let Angel on her back. “Do you know when you’ll be back?”

“Hard to say, depends on how many question’s or how thorough Twilight will want to be.”

“I see, I’ll see you later Nathan, bye.” Fluttershy trotted out her back door to leave Nathan to work.

It didn’t take Nathan long to clean up the dishes. When he finished, he went to get his guitar. “Not about to leave this behind.” He placed it on his back and headed right for Twilight’s place.

Nathan had just entered town and was making his way through when all of a sudden, he was lifted off the ground by a yellow aura and was now sitting on something traveling rather fast. “WHOA!” He yelped when his feet suddenly left the ground. “What the heck….Lyra?” Nathan realized he was now on Lyra’s back.

“Hey Nathan, nice morning isn’t it?” Lyra asked casually as she trotted along.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Nathan asked as he held one hand on his hat and the other on the side of Lyra’s neck.

“Getting us to Twilight’s faster of course, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can get started.”

Nathan gave a smile as he shook his head. “All right then, HYA!” He cheered out. This spurred Lyra to pick up the pace and went into a full gallop.

“Pfft.”

Nathan looked to the side and saw Fluffle Puff galloping beside Lyra. “Oh, hey Fluffle Puff, I take it you’ll be joining us?”

“Pfft.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Nathan gave a chuckle. At Lyra’s pace, they reached the library in no time at all. After Lyra came to a halt, Nathan climbed off her back and went up to the door and gave a knock.

The door opened to reveal a small purple and green dragon. “Hey Nathan, hi Lyra, Fluffle.”

“Hey Spike.” Nathan greeted back.

“Good morning Spike.” Lyra greeted with a smile.

Fluffle Puff just smiled in greeting.

“So, is Twilight ready for our little Q and A session?” Nathan asked.

“Come on in and see for yourself.” Spike stepped aside to let the three in.

Nathan walked in leading Lyra and Fluffle puff into the house. “Whoa!” Nathan expressed upon seeing many neat stacks of blank parchment next to a podium that Twilight was sitting behind. “Uh, that’s a lot of paper there Twilight.”

“Wow, looks like she’s ready to ask a bunch of questions that’s sure to sate my curiosity.” Lyra said.

Twilight greeted the three with a smile. “Hello Nathan, Lyra, Fluffle Puff.”

“Pfft.”

“Wait, Fluffle Puff? I didn’t know you would be joining us?” Twilight stated upon noticing the pink four legged puff ball.

“She kinda joined us on the way over here.” Nathan pointed out. “You don’t mind do you?”

“No, I was just surprised is all.” Twilight said. She turned her gaze to Fluffle Puff. “You’re more than welcome to join us Fluffle Puff.”

Fluffle Puff gave a small gasp with a smile, then ran up to Twilight and gave her a hug, an uncomfortably long hug.

“Uh, Fluffle, you can let me go now.” Twilight said after almost a minute of being hugged.

Fluffle Puff released her hug and galloped over to Nathan’s side again.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyway, you three can have a seat on the couch there.” She pointed to a light blue couch with light brown trimmings.

“Thanks Twilight.” Nathan took a seat in the middle so Lyra and Fluffle could sit on either side of him. “So, what would you like to know about humans first?”

“Let’s start with the beginning. Where did humans come from, as in, what did you evolve from?”

“Ah, the beginning, of course. Well, perhaps you’d care to know about what the world was like before humans came around.” Nathan said.

“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.

“Humans weren’t the first living creatures on the planet. Over a billion years ago, there were massive creatures that roamed the land and ruled over it. Some were massive, and some were small. They were known as….dinosaurs.” Nathan said with a bit of flare.
“Dinosaurs?” Twilight questioned.

“Pfft?” Fluffle Puff also questioned.

“Yes, dinosaurs, reptilian like creatures that dominated the world when earth was young. The biggest dinosaur of all was known as a brachiosaurus. But just because it was big, didn’t mean it was a meat eater, it was an herbivore, the largest and longest of dinosaurs that roamed the land.” Nathan was enjoying this as dinosaurs were one of his favorite subjects. Twilight was writing down every word Nathan said.

“Wow, this is very fascinating.” Twilight said. “What else?”

“The fiercest of the dinosaurs wasn’t the biggest, but he was still big. He was known as the tyrannosaurus rex, which meant lizard king. This thing was huge, almost as tall as the other dinosaur I mentioned, but he was the fiercest.”

“What did these dinosaurs look like?” Lyra asked.

Nathan went into the best description he could regarding the two dinosaurs he mentioned and went on to tell the ponies more about the dinosaurs he had learned about in school. It really surprised Twilight to learn that some of the dinosaurs Nathan brought up might very well have been bigger than a dragon.

Eventually, he came to the part where scientists weren’t one hundred percent sure how the dinosaurs died off. “And so with them gone, the earth was now set for a new form of life to begin on the planet. It all started with a single fish making its way to land and taking its first breath of air. New life began to form and grow. Over the centuries, evolution took its course until finally, man was born. We had evolved from apes.”

“Pfft?” Fluffle Puff questioned.

“Yeah, you evolved from apes?” Lyra added.

“Yep, apes, hairy, smelly, apes.” Nathan said. “Neanderthals is one way of putting it, but the scientific term for humans would be homo-sapiens.”

By this time, Twilight had gone through nearly fifty pages already just with the information about dinosaurs Nathan provided. “This is so fascinating.” She expressed.

Nathan continued. “Ancient man lived in dark caves or out in the open living like wild animals. Eventually, they started learning how to make tools and utilize them in creative ways like foraging for food and hunting, but also as weapons.” Nathan went on about human history and how he learned it evolved and changed. He also informed the ponies and dragon about the many wars humans had over the centuries. How some were wars started by others for selfish reasons and how others were fought for the sake of freedom and to help other countries in need, all leading up to the present day. “And that is the history of man.” Nathan sighed out. “Whew, wonder if this is what it feels like to be a teacher?”

“This is all so amazing and interesting. It’s interesting to know humans are capable of good and evil. So there isn’t any magic at all in your world then is there?” Twilight asked.

“Not one bit. Though there are theories and ideas about magic.” Nathan said. “Which would bring us to the next part of humans….technology. However, would it be all right if we took a break? I kinda need one.”

“Sure, we can take a break.” Twilight said with a smile.

Lyra was just staring at Nathan with wide eyes and a big smile.

Nathan noticed the stare. He smirked with a roll of his eyes. “All right little miss curious, break time.”
Lyra’s face fell. “Awe, okay.”

“Pfft.”

Nathan turned to Fluffle Puff. “Beg pardon?”

“Pfft.”

Spike provided a translation. “She said she was curious about the music humans have.”

“Oh, well, there are many different kinds of music humans have. I’ll cover that in detail after the break. However….” He trailed off as he brought his guitar up to him. “I could play you a song as a sample. I was a big famous country music star back home.” He said to Fluffle and Lyra.

“Ooh, that would be nice.” Twilight said.

Nathan got his guitar ready to play. “All right then, this song is called paint me a burmingham.” Nathan started strumming his guitar and sang.

When he finished, the ponies and dragon were silent a moment before one of them broke the silence.

“Pfft.”

“I agree, that was pretty.” Lyra stated.

Twilight turned to Spike. “Spike, would you mind making us some sandwhiches?”

“Sure, I’m on it.” Spike started heading for the kitchen.

Nathan called him to stop him. “Spike, hold on.”

Spike stopped and looked back at Nathan. “What’s up?”

“Just remember not to put any grass or flowers or hay in mine. Maybe just some lettuce, tomatoes, and onions if that’s do-able.” Nathan said.

“Sure, no problem.” Spike continued on into the kitchen.

After lunch, Nathan went on talking about the different kinds of technology humans had. What they had for communication, travel, exploration in the seas and space, modern conveniences, everything he knew that existed on Earth. By the end, Twilight had more than enough information to write a full book on humans. Here and there, the ponies did stop him to ask a couple questions like how they worked and what some things were for. He did his best to answer the questions but he wasn’t able to explain fully how some of the devices he talked about worked. He was a musician, not a scientist.

He also got around to talking about the different animals on earth that he knew of. It felt odd to him telling the ponies in front of him about the horses and ponies in his world, but they didn’t seem all that bothered by it at all. When he finally finished, it was about four in the afternoon. “And that’s about all I can tell you about earth.” Nathan finished.

Twilight finished up her writing. “Thank you very much Nathan, this was so informative. Humans sure are fascinating.”

“I’ll say.” Lyra stated. “Despite your species having magic, you’ve been able to create such amazing sounding things to make up for it.”

“What we lack in some areas, we make up for in ingenuity.” Nathan said with a smile. The sun was starting to set as the evening drew closer. Nathan looked out the window to see the sun slowly setting over the horizon. “Wow, time sure flies when you’re giving a lecture. I should probably head back to Fluttershy’s then.”

“All right then, thanks for coming by and sharing all this information with us.” Twilight stated.

“No problem. You all have a good night now.” Nathan waved as he left Twilight’s home and headed for Fluttershy’s. “One of these days, I’m getting a place of my own. I don’t want to keep mooching off Fluttershy like I am now. She’s too kind to say otherwise.” He said to himself.

He soon arrived and could smell the scent of dinner being prepared. “Mmm, something smells good…wait…is that fish I smell?” He asked. He entered the kitchen to see Fluttershy over the stove cooking up a fish dinner. “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy turned from the stove with a smile. “Hello Nathan, you’re just in time. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m making you a fish dinner I thought you might like.”

Nathan gave a smile. “Fluttershy, you are too kind. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” Fluttershy responded before going back to cooking.

The rest of the days went on with nothing in particular going on. Nathan continued working at Applejack’s farm and started saving up his bits to buy a house of his own so he could move out of Fluttershy’s and not have to worry about her fussing over him. While he thought it was nice of her to make meat based meals for him from time to time, he mostly went to that resturaunt with the griffin she showed him for his meat meals. The place was run by a griffin with black fur and grey feathers from his neck up. He also had a black mustache and spoke with a French accent. His name was Gustav Le Grand.

Nathan was at the place during one of his lunch breaks and was looking over the menu. The place looked real nice. Kind of fancy but not like a real pricy resturaunt where the food was crazy expensive. “Ah, zere is my favorite customer. Welcome back my friend.” Gustav greeted with a smile as he approached Nathan’s table.

Nathan looked up from his menu and greeted the griffin. “Hey there Gustav, always a pleasure.”

“Have you ad a chance to see what you would like today? I recommend ze salbury steak, fresh and delicious. Wrapped in a strip of bacon and served with our special steak sauce.”

Nathan was a little hesitant to order certain meat based food when he learned that the cows in Equestria are sentient. However, he learned the meat served here comes from animals that weren’t sentient and came from the griffin kingdom. “That does sound good, but something more for dinner. I was thinking I’m in the mood for a nice hamburger with everything on it.”

“Ah, of course, one hamburger coming right up, would you like onion rings on ze side?”

“I would thank you.” Nathan handed his menu over to Gustav.

“Very well, one amburger with a side of onion rings for my best customer.” Gustav took the menu and made his way to the kitchen.

Nathan now had a moment to himself and looked around the place. For some reason, he noticed there were quite a few couples in the place. Mares and stallions together, giving each other googly eyes and smile. He also noticed griffin couples with each other acting all lovey dovey. The more he noticed, the more his mood seemed to drop. “*Sigh* Great. Now I’m actually wanting someone special in my life. But what am I supposed to do about that? I’m the only human in existence in this world.” He slumped in his seat and practically slammed his face on the table. In a muffled voice, he asked himself, “What am I going to do?” He lifted his head back up. “Could I really date a pony? Mabye a griffin?” He thought about that a moment and the fact they have claws, making them predator like animals. “Then again, Griffins might not be safe.”

He paused a moment. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this. I mean…sure ponies are just like humans. They have personality and emotions and thoughts and can talk, but they’re a different species.” Nathan sat up completely as he continued talking to himself. “It doesn’t really seem like I have much of a choice if I want to find that special someone. Could I…could I really date a pony? And if so….who?” Nathan was left with many questions that day. They would only grow more as time went on. But in the end, he may find the answers. That would just leave one question. Who would be the mare?

Comments

[Bronzedragon]

Just a couple things
His name was (Goustauve) Le (Grange.) [Gustav] [Grand]

like the story.

[Talondor]

Lol. We all know what he ended up thinking after the "dating a pony part" but I'd prefer not to go there right now lol. Thanks for the amazing story and keep up the good work!