//------------------------------// // 03-Meeting the Natives // Story: Star Wars: Knight of Friendship // by OuijaSilverstar //------------------------------// (Courvin POV) On our way into town, we slowly came up to a farm gate. “Mr. Smiyh,” Twilight said to get my attention. I cringed at being called “Mister.” “Twilight, call me Courvin; Mr. Smiyh was my father.” “Where have I heard that before?” Rainbow pondered, putting a hoof on her chin. “Anyways, is your friend a farmer?” I asked my horned friend. “Yes; Applejack’s family runs the orchard.” With a wave of my hand, the gate opened on its own. “After you,” I gestured at the gate. “Thank you,” they both said, smiling. The longer we went further into the orchard, I could spot scores of trees all in neat rows with round red fruits hanging from the branches. Judging by the size and number of the trees, this farm must’ve been here for a good few centuries. There seemed to be no boundries that I could see with my eyes and assume that the property line keeps on expanding with each new harvest. With that in mind, I wonder how long this orchard is anyway. Getting closer to the family house that looks more like a barn, I heard the sound of wood cracking in the distance. “Who’s chopping wood?” I asked out loud. “Must be Applejack applebucking,” Twilight concluded, “Sounds like she’s over there.” After a couple of minutes looking for the sound and moving closer, I saw an orange-furred, blond mare wearing a strange hat that looks a smaller version of that one bounty hunter I chased a couple of years ago. I believe the hat is referred to as a Stetson if I’m not mistaken. “Hey Applejack!” Twilight called over to her friend. She noticed her voice and turned to face her. As soon as she saw me, her look of happiness suddenly turned to that of someone who can’t figure out a complex mathematical equation. “Howdy Twi,” she said, still looking at me like a Jawa finding an unbought droid, “Who’s the funny-looking alien and the robot? Do they have something to do with that meteor that crashed in the Everfree yesterday?” “Yes, they’re stranded here for the moment,” she sadly explained, her ears folded down. “Allow me to introduce myself,” I announced, holding my hand out to Applejack “My name is Courvin Smiyh and this is my droid, Six.” She gripped my hand hard and shook it violently. “Well howdy-do, Courvin!” She said in a lively southern accent, “Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine!” “Anyways, why is your droid called ‘Six?’” Rainbow asked. “My serial number is FB-66-6,” Six explained, “Master here just called me Six after the last digit.” “Still, what kind of droid are you?” “Guess I forgot to explain on the way,” he realized, tapping his head, “I am a B1 Battle Droid; I am an Infantry Militarized Droid, reprogrammed, of course.” I noticed Twilight immediately pulling her notepad out of her saddlebag and wrote down Six’s background and original programming. “Hey Twilight,” I tapped her shoulder, she looked up to me to hear my question. “What’s with the notes?” “Since Equestria has never encountered extraterrestrial life, I thought it would be appropriate to make notes for my mentor when we get you three to meet one day.” “What kind of government does Equestria have?” “We have two Princesses that rule Equestria. Celestia, my mentor and Alicorn of the sun and the day, and Luna, Alicorn of the Moon, night and dreams.” “Are they fair rulers?” She was taken back by my simple question, as if the very thing deeply offended her. “Why would you even ask a question like that!?” I sighed and looked away. “Let’s just say me and royalty do not get along.’ “Oh. Past events?” I hesitated for a few moments, but proceeded to answer her question. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She nodded in contentment with my reason and turned back to her farmer friend. “Well, we’ll be going into town to visit the others, would you like to join us?” “Sorry, I can’t; gotta finish this section of the orchard first.” “What about the section near the gate?” I asked. “Big McIntosh’s got that covered.” “Who’s that?” “My big brother.” “What does he look like?” “Look behind ya.” I turned around and jumped at the size of the stallion. His head went up to my neck whereas the other ponies went up to my gut. He had a solid red color for fur. He had green eyes like his little sister and the same blond mane only a slightly darker shade. “How long you’ve been here?” “As long as you expect.” “Pleased to meet you.” “Eyup.” “Stallion of a few words, are ya?” “More or less.” “Anyways,” Twilight reminded us, “We’re going, see you later, AJ.” “See ya, Twi! Pleased to meet ya two!” “I got to get goin as well; the weather team has an overcast planned for the afternoon. It’s a pleasure getting to meet you, Courvin.” After 15 minutes of walking on the dirt road, I started seeing buildings in the distance. They appeared to be slightly primitive compared to native settlements I’ve seen in my travels. The various shapes differed from house to house, but they all were built with the same materials. Hay roofs, wooden details and sandstone walls. I was quite impressed by the ponies’ skills in building their settlements with the lack of hands and opposable thumbs. As we entered the town, me and Six got very mixed reactions varied from fear to curiosity. Few ran into their homes and locked their doors. This reaction garnered a look of confusion from Twilight. “What’s with everypony today?” she asked, frustrated over the ponies’ overreaction. “I know I’m stretching it a bit, but it might have something to do with me or Six.” “At least the rest are curious,” Six rationalized, “Look behind us, some are following us.” “Really?” I asked, seeing a small group of mares behind me or at least I assume they’re mares since I mostly see females around here, “Well, that’s strange.” “We’re the strange ones.” “No shit.” A light pink colored mare with puffy dark pink hair hopped happily toward Twilight, humming a happy tune. “Hey Twilight! Whyaresomanyponiesfreakingout? Isitsomethingaboutthatmeteorthat’sactuallyaspaceship?” She rapidly noted in about 5 seconds. She glanced over to me and leapt up into the air, gasping loudly, dashing away from me in a cloud of pink smoke. I blinked a few times, scratching my head in confusion. “Six, did you get all that?” “She was speaking too fast for me to process.” “Twilight? Who the hell was that?” I asked, shaking my head. “That was Pinkie Pie,” she stated, sounding somewhat embarrassed, “The wildest party mare. Even I have no clue on what’s her issue.” “Did you even know what she was saying? Since you know her more than me?” “Even I don’t know; I tried to understand her mannerisms, use science to figure her out, I followed her for days, having all sorts of things fall on my head, I tried for hours figuring out an equation, just one final answer, but I just said, ‘Buck it; It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.’” “Seems you had a fun time trying to figure her out.” “Fun time!? More like a last minute study session on a final exam the next day.” “Anyways, who’s next on the list?” “The nearest one is Rarity. She’s a seamstress that runs the Carousel Boutique about a couple of blocks from here.” “I wonder if she could fix my shirt.” “She could, but she would probably want to take your measurements first.” I stopped in my tracks, holding my arm. She noticed and gave me a concerned look. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing...it’s nothing, let’s continue.” “If you have anything you got to talk about, you can always talk to me.” “I said, its nothing.” “Something is seriously bothering you, I’m not going to let you alone about it either.” “I don’t know you that well, yet. All I am telling you is I used to run with the wrong crowd.” “That’s all?” “Maybe if I know you longer and more comfortable talking about my feelings, maybe I could tell you the whole story.” “That doesn’t make you any more suspicious than you already seem to me.” “I’ve done things I’m not proud of and I just want to start with a clean slate. Does that make you happy?” “A Little.” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the building where this “Rarity” mare lives/works. I raised an eyebrow at the flashy design of the building. It looked like a merry-go-round, a castle tower and a flashy holovertisement from Coruscant was thrown into a painter’s mixer. I was dumbfounded that nobody didn’t take a look at the joint once and laughed. Then again, I’ve been to stranger places, so I’m not as flabbergasted as I would be. Twilight turned around and noticed me with my eyes open so wide, they could pop out of their sockets if I so much as sneezed. “I’m sure you’ve seen stranger things, right Courvin?” “Yeah, but I’m surprised that she can afford all of that from what I have seen with all the other homes.” “Well, she has contracts from all over Equestria for her to design all sorts of fashion for any kind of occasion; she makes a decent living on her talent.” I hoped for my sanity’s sake that she isn’t as stuffy as many of the high society bigots I was hired to guard in the past. I can’t tell how many times they whined about every single trivial matter like it was superficial. Hell, one of my Jedi partners was forced to return to my former Master when they refused to work with Togruttans. We went through the door, triggering the bell which called out to the seamstress in its high chimes. “Coming,” A posh voice called out from a distant room. I heard a door click shut and the sounds of hooves clopping on the tiled floor. When she emerged she looked different from the rest of the ponies I’ve seen so far. She has white fur with curly royal purple hair, sapphire blue eyes and...is she wearing makeup? It does look good on her, though. She also appears to have a horn like Twilight. I should probably ask her on the different races of ponies sometimes. The fancy unicorn didn’t say anything; she just looked into my eyes, looking like they had a sparkle gleam over them. I loudly cleared my throat, breaking her from her stupor. “I’m sorry, darling; I just never seen somepony like you before,” she apologized, “You seem so...strange.” “You and me both, but that’s not what I’m here about.” “Then what is it? I see you’ve already met Twilight.” “Yes; she helped drag my unconscious ass from that spaceship that crashed yesterday.” “Wait, so that wasn’t a meteor like everypony said?” “Nope, that was me and Six, here,” I explained, pointing to Six next to me. “You even have a robot? How advanced are your kind?” “Advanced enough to get multiple planets into fighting each other, I guess.” “Really? Such petty violence is unacceptable and low for anypony of any race to envelop in and I look down on that kind of thing, to be frank.” “Yeah; if it were up to me, war would be a bad word across the galaxy.” “So there really are more planets out there than just us?” “Yes, but most of them are far from friendly like me. I can assure you, that those planets are on the other side of the galaxy. I’m surprised there was even a system way out here on the fringe, to be honest.” Twilight grew surprised by my swift confession. “Really? All those years of those Jedi and they never knew about Equis?” “We were probably too busy with war that we didn’t stop and explored more of the galaxy.” “What kind of war was it?” “I’ll tell you while I’m getting my shirt fixed.” Rarity realized my reason of visit and changed the subject. “Oh? You’re here for just a patchwork? You sure you don’t want anything else like new attire?” “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” “No offence, but that outfit makes you look like you’re here to take souls to Tartarus.” “Well this attire is standard Sith clothing.” “What’s the Sith?’ I tensed up at my accidental slip of the tongue. Dammit, brain! This was why I was never allowed to handle top secret information and covert missions. I have no choice to tell them the whole thing, now. “How about I tell you while you’re taking my measurements?” “Okay; follow me.” “I’m coming along,” Twilight mentioned, “I want to document this.” I signaled Six to stay in the lobby while I get my measurements. He seemed cautious, but held himself in respect of my command. I knew what he thought, since I programmed him and fought alongside me for a year. “Oh darling, I never caught your name.” “Courvin Smiyh.” “Exotic…” “...but fitting for an alien. Yeah; I get that a lot.” Rarity pulled back a curtain to a distant room with her horn, which makes me curious on the ponies with horns. We entered a room with soft purple carpet, a small round pedestal with three mirrors in front of it. “Now, she began, “Can you please remove your clothes while I take your measurements?” “Oh,” I blushed, “O-okay.” I awkwardly removed my shirt and pants, while both mares watched, blushing intensely. What was left was my underwear and my covered arm. “What are those markings all over your body?” “Like I said, I used to run with the wrong crowd years ago.” “Is it something to do with the Sith you mentioned?” I hesitated for a moment, but it was pointless dodging the question. “Yes...you are correct.” “Can you tell me more about them? Please?” I nodded, knowing that the information I will share may disturb them, but since they’re adults, I’m sure they can handle it. “The Sith are the polar opposite of the Jedi. Where Jedi are the peacekeepers of the galaxy, the Sith want to rule it with an iron fist...no pun intended. I used to be a Sith, but lost my memory after losing a duel with a Jedi Master. I regained it not too long ago. For the past three years I fought in a galactic conflict called The Clone Wars. The Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order fought against the C.I.S., or Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Sith. Billions of lives were lost. I fought alongside the Jedi, thinking I was one of them, but found out they lied to me through the whole war. If they told me outright that I used to be a Sith, maybe I would’ve came to their aid when the purge occurred.” “What happened to the Jedi?” “Order 66; the Jedi Purge. The Chancellor, leader of the senate was really a Sith Lord and turned the Republic's troops on its own Jedi. I don’t know how many were killed, but all I know is that my former Master and myself have survived. The new government is now known as The Galactic Empire.” I felt a gentle embrace from both mares, feeling Rarity’s tears on my shoulder. They were obviously afraid. I would be too if I were in their hooves. “Do they know about us? Do they know where we are? Are they interested in our planet?” “I highly doubt it; the Emperor himself, personally told me that he doesn’t care about a system that no one ever returned from.” They jumped away from me like I had a contagious disease. “Relax; I have no love for the Empire and I simply swindled my way out of his reach, mind you.” They both calmed down, their fears quelled at me being a threat. “We’re sorry, about asking you of this,” Rarity’s head hung low. “It’s okay; it’s all behind me, now. It’s best not to focus on the past, but I will never forget what I was.” I looked at my hands and closed them tightly. “Me, today, in this world, cut off from the rest of the galaxy, potentially stuck here permanently, I want to practice the force in peace and possibly teach what I know to other ponies that are sensitive to the force. I could probably live a peaceful life here, despite what’s happened outside this planet.” “You may want to read up on Equestria’s history,” Twilight suggested to me. Her take on my philosophy shocked me. “Excuse me?” “Discord, the Windigos, The Sirens, Nightmare Moon, Equestria had its own share of problems too. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised me and my friends survive the daily problems we get into.” “Wow, seems like Ponyville isn’t all what it seems?” “That isn’t much to worry about now, darling; what needs to be done is fixing your clothes.” “Oh yeah; I got caught up on talking about the Clone Wars, I forgot about it. “It seems so, but first things first, can you please remove that cover on your foreleg?” “It’s called an arm and no; I’m not comfortable showing you my left arm.” “Pretty please?” she requested in a sultry tone. I gave up, knowing I can’t resist a woman’s request, or in this case, a mare’s. “Alright, but don’t look away; I want you to see the symbol of my mistakes during the clone wars.” I slowly peeled away the sleeve and glove off my arm, revealing machinery up to my shoulder. It held a silver-like color and shown an appearance similar to clone armor. Twilight’s eyes glowed at my arm. I raised my arms and Rarity got to work on measuring my body. “Why do you keep that arm covered?” she asked, “That looks like some impressive technology. It could even help many of the soldiers all over the world who were injured in their duties.” “Possibly, after I meet this Celestia, I will be more open about my arm. Though everytime I look at this arm, I always think of war and its destructive use of machines, but I also think of its practicality and use in everyday life, so much like a double-edged sword.” “Well, that’s one way of putting it.” “There,” Rarity concluded, “I’m am done with your measurements. I’ll be taking these into my studio and your clothes will be fixed in about a few minutes. Do you have the torn fabric?” “Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s in one of the pockets. I had to make a sling for my arm after popping the joint back in place.” “Okay; I will be back in but a pinch, darling.” After she left, Twilight went back to inspect every inch of my body, still wanting to know more about me even after spilling my guts. “I never heard you explain about those tattoos all over your body,” Twilight mentioned, “I know it may be a bad memory, but you can tell me anything if you want to.” “These tattoos are Sith related. They show your allegiance to them after completing a Sith Lord’s training. Something I have come to accomplish in a previous lifetime. I was known as Darth Kain, taught by Darth Tyranus, a Sith Lord killed by a Jedi who eventually turned to the dark side of the force. The greatest shade of irony.” “There’s so many of them.” “Indeed; a shame I can’t go back in time to tell myself how stupid they look,” I lightly chuckled, leaving Twilight to smile as well. Some time has gone by, filling the room with the stagnant air of silence. It was shortly broken with Rarity entering the room with my fixed clothing all neatly folded. “Here you go, darling,” she cooed, “Those should fit all snug on your muscular figure.” “Thank you,” I said, quickly dressing myself. I also noticed my metal arm sleeve was connected like my other arm with the glove stitched except for right glove. “Rarity, why stitch the left glove at the cuff, but leave the right one removable?” “Think about it Courvin, the arm?” “Oh; yeah. Thanks again for the fix. I’ll let you know if I need more clothing.” “Of course; I’ll be more than happy to design various outfits for you. This one is free, of course; to give a good impression on my work.” “You do a good job; you might be the only one I’ll trust to my outfit commissions and fixes.” “Thank you, darling,” Rarity blushed. “We need to be going Rarity,” Twilight concluded, “I need to see if Spike didn’t wreck the place while I was gone.” “Alright, see you later Twilight. Oh and Courvin, nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” The three of us left the boutique and continued on a different dirt road. “So Courvin, what do you think of my friends so far?” “Friendlier than the chaps I fought with in the war.” “That’s nice to know.” “Where are we going next?” “We’re picking Spike up at my home, then we’re going over to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat. You must be hungry after enduring through that crash.” Then it hit me; my food was in the damn cruiser that crashed. “Ah, shit!” “What’s wrong?” “All of my food was on my cruiser; they probably haven’t survived the explosion.” “Well, there must be something you can eat over at sugarcube corner.” “I can’t eat grass and hay.” “There’s other things than hay over there. There’s all kinds of sweets and treats.” “Okay; been awhile since I had something sweet.” We eventually arrived at the Golden Oaks Library which happened to be Twilight’s home. The design of her house made me raise an eyebrow as it bears a resemblance to the Wookee homes on Kashyyyk. Twilight opens the door and goes inside with me following suit. Inside, I have seen strange, rectangular objects all stocked on shelves on nearly every wall in the room. At the top of an open staircase, there was a bipedal reptilian creature sweeping the floor. It took a few moments until he noticed me and stopped. He set down the broom and sauntered down the wooden steps, not breaking his concentration on me. “Twilight? Is it that alien?” he asked, I sensed the fear in his tone of voice. It seemed that he was too curious to run either. “Spike, this is Courvin Smiyh and his droid, Six.” “Cool,” he beamed, “An actual robot! It’s like one of Fluttershy’s Manegas!” “What’s a Manega?” I asked. “They’re comic books imported from another country, Neighpan,” Twilight explained, “They’ve been translated to Equestrian as well. Some of them are really good reads.” “Maybe I should read a few to pass the time.” “You should borrow some from Fluttershy; she’s got a mountain of them.” “So Spike, what species are you?” I asked the little reptile, changing the subject, “I haven’t seen any of your kind in the whole galaxy. “Really? There are no dragons in any other planet?” “Huh,” I curiously pondered. I decided to get some fresh air and to familiarize myself with my surroundings in this town. “Am I able to explore the town without causing trouble?” “I couldn’t see why not,” she said, “They will be curious of you, though.” “I took notice; I’ll be back in a few hours.” (Third Person POV) As Courvin and Six left the library, Twilight got out a sheet of paper and a quill. “Spike, when I am done writing this note, send it to Princess Celestia,” Twilight informed the little drake, “We need to find out if he really is a threat.” “He seems fine to me, why are you so cautious of him?” “I sense something...dark inside him; like a demon waiting to be released.” “Well, I guess you could say that his clothing screamed evil, but…” “You think he’s reformed?” “Yeah.” “We’ll see, until now, keep your distance from him.” “So master, what are we going to do?” “Dunno; I felt like familiarizing myself with the layout of this town. We’re going to be stuck here for a long time and it’s best to prepare for a worst-case scenario.” “Like being stuck here permanently?” “I thought of worse hells; I can manage this cutesy pastel planet. Better this demise than falling to the lightsaber of the Sith.” “Uh, master; they’re looking at us.” He quickly looked at the growing groups of ponies looking at the duo. He then looked back at his companion. “Let them look; more friendly we appear, the more they’ll fuck off.” “I don’t even think they’re hostile at all.” “All the more reason not to use the dark side of the force.” They entered into the town square where many shops and carts with many wares were being bought and sold. Most ponies were busy to the point where they ignore both the human and the droid. Some started with the usual look, but went back to their business. “I’m hungry, let’s grab a bite to eat.” “But master; I don’t think they take Republic Credits.” “That’s why I have this,” he grinned, spinning around a big of gold coins. “H-how did you get that?” “I...may have ‘borrowed’ it from an unsuspecting pony; it’s for the greater good.” “Your greater good is getting yourself thrown in prison and me being turned into scrap metal.” “You forget; I can be slick sometimes.” “What about that little incident at the shipyard in Coruscant?” Courvin tensed up by the bad memories flushing back into him. “Yeah, but that guy had a five million credit reward on his head.” “I know that, but what about the bill for the shop you trashed? Or the medical bills from the few cops you injured? I may be forgetting a few dozen traffic fines and...oh, that one cruiser you totaled as well?” “Yep...that killed all of the dough.” “Maybe it’s time to play by the rules for once?” “Renegades don’t play by the rules, Six,” Courvin snapped at him, pointing at the droid, “You know that better than everyone else. We survived by thinking outside the box, hell, we caught a few high profile criminals by breaking multiple laws to get to them. No government coups, Bounty Hunts, or planets from a little girl’s imagination will ever keep me from living life by the lightsaber.” “You have a point, master, but you should take into consideration that we are in very deep sh-” “Shh!” he hissed, cupping his hand over the droid’s mouth, “I sense trouble; keep a few meters from me.” They hid in a bush and waddled closer to a commotion going on in a distant booth where dog-like creatures shook down a shopkeep of her money. They appeared to be armed with steel curved swords and ran off with a few bags of money. Corvin stepped out from the brush and stood in the middle of the row. The two stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed the former Sith standing with a blank expression on his face. “What the heck is this thing!?” one yelped in a raspy voice. “Whatever he is, he has loot! You! Give us your money or die!” With a wave of his hand, he spoke in a calm, demanding tone. “You will cease your life of crime and hand over the money you stole.” “No way! We stole it, fair and square! Nyemich! Teach this fool a lesson!” The other anthro dog unsheathed his sword and rushed the man with a diagonal slash. In a flash and a loud crackling sound, he noticed his sword was cut in two from the hilt. Courvin then swung the lightsaber at the dog and stopped, just an inch from the base of his neck. The stunned dog shook like a leaf, feeling the intense heat that the blade radiated of. The former Sith turned his head to the other dog and stared him down with the same blank expression. “Now, I will not ask again,” he implored with much more venom to his words, “Leave this town with the stolen money behind, or you leave this town without your heads.” “Gato, g-give him the money,” the held-up dog begged, “This guy is not joking!” The other dog hesitated for a moment before setting down the sword and the bags. The lightsaber deactivated and he clipped it back onto his belt. “Now, LEAVE!” The dogs ran off, screaming bloody murder. His act of heroism garnered a few cheers and applause from various onlookers. He felt annoyed by the altercation with the two thieves and voiced his inconvenience out loud. “Geez, I’ve been on this planet for a frickin day and already run into trouble. At least I stopped a robbery.” With another wave of his hand, the bags lifted off of the ground and floated back to the shopkeeper, astonished by his display of justice. She had arctic blue eyes and a light apple colored coat. She had cobalt blue hair with a light fuchsia stripe down the middle. “T-thank you,” she stammered, “Oh, Lyra wasn’t kidding about your kind.” “What about my kind?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “I have a close friend that was or rather is, obsessed with Humans, that is what you are, right?” “Huh, I’m surprised that some of you Ponies know about Humans, considering that where I come from states this system is a Hermit System.” “Meaning?” “We have no records of the flora and fauna, let alone know if sentient life existed on it. That is until I crashed down on here and met a few of your kind.” “Strange, we thought Humans were stuff of legends; I guess that’s false information.” “Anyways, the name’s Courvin Smiyh; pleased to meet you.” “Bonbon.” “Yes please.” “Nonono; my name is BONBON.” “Oh; I guess you sell sweets, then.” “Yep; Sweetie Drop Candies. I have a large selection of sweets for you to enjoy, if you have the coin, but after stopping those Diamond Dogs, I’m offering a treat, free of charge just this once.” His eyes skimmed over the various candies all assorted in trays of various sizes all conveniently labelled. “Hmm, jelly beans sounds pretty good. I’ll take a pound of the pear-flavored jelly beans, then.” “Okay, here you go.” She handed him a bag full of the beans where he took one out and tasted one. His eyes lit up from the sweet, juicy taste. “I chose the right flavor, then. Thanks, by the way.” “No; thank you.” “See you, then.” “Bye.” The Human and droid met up at an adjacent road near the candy stand where Courvin was happily snacking on his bag of jelly beans. “There you are, Master!” Six wiped the top of his head in relief, “I’m surprised by the way you handled those robbers. “Didn’t expect I had to bust out on one of the old Sith tricks of ‘Persuasion’,” he muffled, “At least I won’t be bored living here.” “Oh!” Six exclaimed in excitement, “I have an idea; with those bits you have, we could probably rent an apartment in this town and set up a little safehouse for us before we go looking for the Cruiser.” “Or, we can convince Twilight or one of her friends to take us in.” “That could work; let’s do it.” They both resumed on their journey back to the library to discuss their next move, satisfied by the day’s turn of events.