//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Knowledge // Story: The Last Alicorn // by FoxySkittles //------------------------------// "I don't think I've ever heard of a 'San Diego' before, but...There's a library!" Twilight had been wandering this newfound city for about an hour. Though, she had to do it...carefully. Carefully picking empty streets or alleyways to sneak between after she had left the park earlier that day. While her will to continue had been revived, thanks to the little furry companion on her back, she was still a bit...uncertain. She didn't know where to go, or where to start. She needed clues. Something to tell her about some trace of Equestria, or something similar. She got nothing like that. Though...she had to admit, the mention of a library always made her feel better. She had been hiding in an alley, just behind a dumpster, waiting for a couple humans to pass by when she had heard them mention two note-worthy things. A university, and a library. Both of which greatly interested her. She promptly began her search for such a place, She wandered around for another good half an hour before she had found a map someone had dropped. This was perfect! It was a map of the entire city, and one of the marks was, as she had hoped, the university. Luckily, she had already been close by, so it only took her another ten minutes of sneaking around to actually find the place, and barely five minutes to locate the library. She loved it when things when her way in times like these. Before she even thought about stepping foot inside...anyplace, really. She had to pause. She frowned to herself the more she thought, and instead of going for the door, she went around the corner where nobody would see them. "I need...I need magic. I wonder if I have the strength to..." The rabbit had hopped down in front of her, and stared at her curiously. Specifically, at her horn. Twilight chuckled a little. "Yes, I do still have my magic and horn, but...I still feel week. I know an invisibility spell, but I'm just hoping the tranquilizers didn't affect my magic too much...Well, might as well try. You'll have to stay touching me for you to be affected..." She stood up again, and picked the rabbit up onto her back once more before lighting her horn for the first time since even waking up. Since before...whatever had happened back home. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on the spell she wanted, and, very slowly, but surely, both herself and the rabbit began to disappear, from ear to hoof, until they were completely invisible. "Ahh...Still a little slow and tiring...But I think I can hold it for a good while..." She let out a little huff as she stepped back out around the corner, and made her way inside. A few students leaving the library paused when the door opened by itself, and promptly hurried outside. Twilight chuckled a little at the scared looks on the humans as she fully entered the library. "I wish I could safely study humans. But right now I just can't risk meeting more scientists...Now! Lets see how well the humans organize their libraries..." She said as she went off to look for a specific section. Namely, she wanted history and maybe some encyclopedias. What she really wanted was a book about the current world, though. But...while she was here, she figured she may as well learn a thing or two about this world, right? So, with that in mind, she went toward the history section. Already she was pleased with how many books there were to choose from. Though, the amount of history books felt a little odd to her, as there were quite a few different versions of the history of both the world and of a place called the United States. She had to wonder why there were so many, but she couldn't really complain. Instead, she grabbed one of each. If you're going to learn history, you might as well learn it from every perspective. She looked around a little bit, now realizing that floating books probably won't go over too well. She quietly snuck over to one of the more secluded tables and set the books down on top before going off to find more. Which she did. She managed to find a good encyclopedia, an up-to-date dictionary, and a few fictional works just to dive into human imagination later. When she came back to the table, someone had found a seat the the other end of the table, and was reading. She didn't quite notice at first, and she moved the chair with a bit of a squeak, which caused him to jump. The human looked at the chair for a good while, only for it to move slightly again. He dropped the book he was reading and jumped to his feet in surprise when it scooted closer to the table, and only when he saw the floating books did he just run off. Twilight frowned as she watched the boy run away, and sat down at the table. "Erm...Sorry..!" She called out to him, knowing full well he wouldn't hear. Though, she did notice he left a couple notebooks behind, which she picked up to look into. One was completely empty, the other had some notes in it. She shrugged and set them aside, and set to reading the first of many books she had piled up on the table around her. .... It was after about thirty minutes of reading did she realize that something about a stack of books surrounding an open one wouldn't look right to anyone who saw it She paused for a moment to rearrange the books to form a little wall around her, and finally dropped her invisibility spell. The rabbit had long since fallen into a nap in her lap as she read, though she was getting a bit distracted by her thoughts now. "...Hope I don't get run out of here if a librarian finds me...I need to work on some sort of transformation spell. Maybe that'll be a good way to blend in...What do you think?" She asked, looking down at the rabbit. All he did was snort in his sleep. Twilight rolled her eyes. "I swear, I'm going to name you Angel..." His ear twitched slightly at mention of the name, but otherwise stayed asleep. Twilight chuckled a little before looking back to the book. Though, she took a glance at her little wall of books to find it a bit shorter than it was thirty minutes ago. She'd already gone and skimmed through several of them, picking up some good information along the way about the history of these people. These humans are...surprisingly violent and territorial...its all fascinating, but it would be nice to read a bit of history that didn't have some sort of violent conflict for once...Even Equestria thousands of years ago didn't have that many wars with other races. Discord and Sombra not included...The technological advancements are amazing, though! I could tell just by walking through the city that these creatures are ages ahead of us ponies were. I wonder if we'll ever get to this point...well...if 'we' ever exists anymore... She sighed to herself, and closed the last of the history books she had been looking through. She set it aside, and picked up one of the fictional works she had grabbed before. The Time Machine. ...Huh...Seems relevant. Keeping in mind she had found it in the science fiction section, she began to read. She had surprisingly spent a good couple hours at the library, reading whatever seemed interesting to her. She skimmed a lot for important information, so she went through the books rather quickly. She ended up using one of the notebooks she found, the one with the notes in it already, to document some of her findings that she found interesting. The other one already had a page filled with her own thoughts. A diary, of sorts, detailing her thoughts and feelings from the moment she woke up, after Equestria disappeared. She dotted the end of the entry and closed the notebook. She'd have to find a bag or something to carry items of interest in before she left. "Well...Angel. I think its time we get going, and, hopefully, find something to eat...I'm starving..." She said, finally standing up from the chair. She once more cloaked herself and her companion in her spell, and set out to put back all the books before they finally left the library, and made their way back into the city. Oh dear...How will I eat? Going by smells and various signs around, I can tell humans are, at the very least, omnivorous. I'd rather not eat meat if I can avoid it...But if I have to steal food for the rest of my time in this world, I might just go mad. With a heavy sigh, she continued on her way through the busy streets of the city. She could smell food all over the place, and at this point even meat was starting to appeal to her. Eventually she did come across a vegetarian restaurant, thank Celestia. She wasn't quite sure how to approach this, however, and simply stood outside, staring up at the door. "...I don't know how we're gonna do this, Angel. But I'm not stealing, even if it kills me..." Entry 1, Day 1, Its been quite a while since Equestria disappeared, I think. last thing I remember since waking up in this city known as San Diego was a huge wasteland and a storm. Upon investigations at a library, I found there was quite of history to these 'humans' between my appearance in this world and theirs. I had to freeze myself with magic to stay alive under the freezing water, and the next thing I know, I'm in a lab. So that was fun. I...hate it here. But I like it. A vast world of new knowledge, but none of my friends to enjoy it with. I want to go home. The only comfort I have right now is a little bunny I found in a park. He's cute, but his curiosity and brattyness reminds me of a certain someone. So, I named him Angel. All I need now is a Fluttershy.