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// 3 Tea time 
// Story: For science 
// by Znegil 
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While we walked to her home, I often stopped to take samples of plants. She could always tell me the name of these plants and how they could be used to heal different ailments. She stopped me when I was about to take samples of a blue flower. She told me it had 'magic', so it seems they have some superstitions here. It still was very uncanny for me to see how similar this whole world was to ours, I even saw some squirrels on our way.

Finally, we arrived at her house. I stood before it in awe. It was a real house, next to a small river with lots of birdhouses in front of it. The roof seemed to be overgrown with grass and bushes. Somehow the whole thing managed to look like a part of nature itself. I took out my digital camera and took a picture of it. 

"What is this?", Fluttershy ask me. 

"Oh, it is a camera, it takes pictures, these are like little drawings.", I turned it around to show her the picture on the display. 

"We have cameras too, but they are bigger, and it takes some time to get the picture.", she explained to me. 

"Would it be okay if I took a picture and maybe a little movie of you?", I asked her. 

She blushed again. "If you really want to that would be okay for me." 

I took a few pictures of her while she tried hard not to hide behind her mane. 

"Great, now I start recording the movie, just introduce yourself."

"Mhhhh... I am Fluttershy...  I tend to the woodland creatures.", she said clearly uncomfortable. 

I felt bad for pushing her into this like that, but it would make my evidence of this planet so much better. I walked over to her and showed her the pictures and the movie. 

"Oh wow, this is an amazing little box, it looks so real.", she whispered. "But let's go inside." She pushed the door open and I followed her inside. I saw several animals as I entered, a white rabbit, some squirrels, and a couple birds, they all looked very frightened. 

"You don't have to be afraid my friends.", Fluttershy calmed them down. "This is a new friend I found in the forest. She won't hurt you."

I was surprised how quick the animals relaxed and calmed down. Somehow I had the feeling I wasn't the only odd creature Fluttershy had brought home before. 

"Would you like some tea?", she asked me. 

I had planned not to drink or eat anything here since I wasn't sure if it could be harmful to me... but boiling water should kill any bacteria that could be a problem. 

"That would be very kind of you, thanks."

I looked around the cottage and found it to be pretty much like a human home, couch, chair, table, cupboards...
I had expected their different anatomy would bring different kinds of furniture. I sat down on the couch and tried to relax as much as it was possible in this new environment. While the other animals quickly lost interest in me, the white bunny never stopped watching me. 

Fluttershy had put the kettle on the stove and came back to me. "Angel, don't look so mean at her, she is our guest." 
The bunny looked at Fluttershy for a moment and hopped away. 
"You have to excuse him.", she continued. "He just wants to look out for me... Maybe you could tell me where you're from and what you want... if that is fine for you."

'Okay, I need her help, if she trusts me things will be easier. I'm an awful liar, so I just tell her the truth, but not all of it.'

"I'm a human female... mare.", I started. "I'm from another planet and opened a 'door' to this world to research it."

"Why do you want to do that?", she asked. 

"Just for gaining knowledge.", I answered with my best 'honest' face. 

"Aha...", she stood up and poured the boiling water into two cups, I was surprised how she could handle all this with just her hooves. 

She brought one of the cups to me, holding onto it with one hoof at its handle... this should not be possible, maybe Van der Waals forces from tiny hairs on her hooves, like a gecko? Her walking with just three legs had a similar confusing effect on me. I took the cup she presented me. 
"Thank you.", I said and tried not to stare at her while she got her own and sat on the couch next to me. I brought the cup up and blew it to get it to drinking temperature. It smelled quite good, but I couldn't place it anywhere within my known experiences. 

"It's my favorite.", she broke me out of my thoughts. "It's a mixture of local herbs and some fruits. I added two sugarcubes, it brings out the taste even more." 

'Sugarcubes for a pony.' I smiled thinking about that. 

"Do you plan going back to your world soon?", she asked. 

I took a sip of tea. It was indeed quite tasty. "I will go back before the night breaks and hope to come back next day again." 

"Well, in that case, I could lend you the books, and you could bring them back next time you visit.", she said smiling. 

"That would be extremely valuable for my research, thank you."

"This door to your world you mentioned in the Everfree Forest, is it open or closed?", she asked much more serious than she was before. 

"It is open, why."

"Because there are creatures in this forest who could do a lot of harm to your world, I would suggest closing it as soon as you can."

Suddenly I began to sweat. I haven't thought about it this way before. I quickly drank my tea. "You're right I will go back to my world immediately and close it. I will use another approach next time to make sure it doesn't stay open." 

She pointed to a bookshelf. "You can take them all with you.", she said. "Except the red one, that's my photo album. Would it be okay if I tell my friends about you?" 

I quickly packed the books in my backpack. "Maybe we could keep it a secret until next time?", I asked her. I felt okay talking to her but I had no idea if others of her kind would be as understanding and friendly towards me."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.", I heard her say behind me. 

"Wait what?", I was confused. 

She giggled in an adorable way. "It is a special promise I do with my friends. I won't tell anyone." 

"Thanks again. Maybe next time you could show me your photo album, it would be fascinating for me to know more about your life.", I said while getting ready to leave. 

"It would be a pleasure.", she answered while opening the door for me. 

I quickly started to jog towards the Everfree Forest while waving goodbye. 

... 

The sun had just crossed its zenith, quicker than I had expected. As I reached the entrance of the forest where I met Fluttershy, I was able to follow the sun towards the portal. I looked around but didn't see any creatures near me. I quickly stepped through the portal. 

Back in my world I only found a few leaves had been blown to this side. I quickly picked them up to leave no evidence. I left the portal room and changed the program back to automatic. As Equestria disappeared I could relax a bit. Strange, according to my watch I had been away for four hours while my clock in the lab showed three hours, it seemed time moved a little faster in Equestria. I quickly left the building and drove home. I had a lot of books to scan and a journal to write.