“I really meant it when I said you could trust me with anything, you know.”
Twilight turned around as soon as Luna had closed the door behind herself. She would not have minded her presence, but felt like the alien would be more responsive with just the two of them in the room.
“I want to help you, but I'm just not sure what to do. You leaving out important details didn't exactly help me with that.”
Anonymous, sitting on his bed, slapped his hands onto the top of his thighs and straightened his slumped posture.
“Well, if you want to help me, I have a list of parts I need. Two 50 pF capacitors, anywhere between 40 to 80 pF is fine, one 3.3 nF...”
Twilight watched him as he spoke. She surprised herself when she found out that she couldn't pay attention to the intricate and detailed list of replacement parts he was reciting. Her attention was drawn to the way he didn't quite meet her eyes, the oddly twitchy fingers and how he kept glancing at the door. She realized there was something on his mind he didn't want to talk about. She didn't know what it was, but had a feeling it was something important.
“Say, Anonymous.”
But could she convince him to do something he didn't want to?
“Could I have another sample of your blood? I mean, I want to make sure you're doing as well as you were when you arrived and then there's a few things I really could use a confirmation for and- yeah.”
She grinned sheepishly, hoping her last second dodge hadn't sounded too awkward. The alien, a bit miffed after being interrupted, raised a brow at her before shrugging.
“I guess I could let you take another one.”
She held the needle as steady as she could while fighting the urge to look away. A wave of disgust passed over her as the tip punctured the skin on Anonymous' arm. Ponies' coats hid the macabre details when she'd drawn blood from her own kind, but the alien's hair was so sparse that she saw the bulge caused by the needle move as she looked for a vein. She felt sick, but managed to hold on until a stream of blood started flowing into a vial she was holding below the needle. The alien remained calm through the ordeal, gazing out of the window at nothing in particular, though his breathing became a touch louder when the needle entered him.
“Here, press this on the wound.”
Twilight passed a cotton swab to the human, a touch of excitement seeping into her voice. On the first time she had used a shield spell because she had been concerned of his blood carrying some contagious pathogen, this time she'd been worried of the surge of power making her break the needle inside him. With the medical instrument safely on a table, she let the spell fade away and prepared for what was to come. Steeling her mind to remain in control, she was... disappointed. It was like a wave of warm water that washed over her. The absurd explosion of raw magic that had threatened to tear apart her body was nowhere to be found.
She stared at the vial in anticlimactic silence, her lips parted by the countless questions her mind threw at her.
“Is something wrong?”
The alien's voice shocked her back into the present.
“Oh, I, um... Remember when I told you about what your last sample did?”
He was looking at her with his head slightly tilted to the side, either concern or bafflement on his face – Twilight couldn't tell which.
“Yes. You talked about some magic something or the other. Asked me to not tell anyone about it; I have not.”
“Well, that's-”
Twilight stifled an urge to lecture him about the details, lifting one hoof off the floor and shuffling her wings as she did so.
“Close. You blood contained a vast amount of raw magic. And now it doesn't. I'm not completely sure what it means, but if my theory is right, then I was wrong about the source.”
If the magic in him was that of his own world and he was slowly using up the reserve, then that'd mean he'd run out soon. And when it ran out, he would...
Twilight had to admit she had no idea.
“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?”
“I... I don't know! I've never seen anything like this before, I'll have to do some research and ask Princess Celestia about it, maybe she'll know something.”
She had thought he didn't interact with magic in any way and he had claimed magic didn't exist in his world, but the result she'd just got contradicted all that. Maybe. She couldn't make sense of it.
“Well, you go do your research. I will be right here, in this tiny room with nothing to do.”
She didn't realize what he'd meant until she'd spent an hour in the library. The pang of guilt was twice as bad because she remembered how he'd drawn out the words “tiny” and “nothing.” It'd been so clear but she'd been too focused on her theories to realize it. Maybe he would forgive her. She was about to go ask Celestia for advice and then she could go tell him the news and... and ask him to join her as she'd go and take up Rarity's offer for dinner? Rarity should understand, and she wasn't one to judge a book by its cover – or an ape by its accent.
“I admit, I'm not quite sure what to make of this.”
The golden glow dissipated from around the vial of blood as it settled on Celestia's desk.
“Though I am curious about the reason for this change. You said you have a theory about it, didn't you Twilight?”
“Oh. Yes. Um...”
She had to gather her thoughts for a moment, regretting not making notes in the library. Celestia turned back from the desk to face Twilight with a gentle, knowing smile on her face.
“Well, the simplest explanation would be that he was full of magic when he arrived here and that magic is now slowly either leaking out or being used up. How the magic got into him is something I'm not completely sure about: either it's the magic of his world that's seeped into him over the years or it somehow got deposited in him as he crossed into Equestria.”
She offered a shy smile, hoping that the theory she'd worked hard on wouldn't get outright crushed as something outlandish. Her mentor kept the suspense for a second, eyeing her silently before nodding.
“That is the simplest and most plausible explanation, and the one I also came up with. It begs one question, however: what will happen once he runs out?”
Celestia's hooves clip-clopped on the floor as she turned around and slowly moved towards a window.
“If it's true that his world has no magic, then nothing should happen. But if he were to be mistaken and has been using magic without even knowing...”
She quietly gazed at the sky through the window for a short while, then looked back at Twilight. The smile on her face was gone, replaced by a look of concern.
“He could be in danger. I don't want to take that risk, so I think we should let him return home.”
Twilight shuffled her wings nervously and looked away for a second before managing to gather the confidence to respond.
“I'm glad you said that. I was thinking of the same thing but wasn't sure how to say it.”
Letting out a sigh, she faced her mentor again with renewed determination.
“I was planning on bringing him along as I go out tonight, so we could get what he needs from Canterlot and then let him fix that device of his tomorrow. He should have enough left to last for a day or two... I think.”
Twilight wasn't sure how to do it as she climbed up the stairs that led to Anonymous' room. Should she barge in and just announce that they were going to go pick up the parts he need and then have dinner with Rarity? Or should she knock and apologize for not realizing what he had meant before suggesting an evening out? He really should have said something when he realized she was going to just leave him there if he'd really wanted to come with her, it's not like she could read thoughts... But she was the Princess of Friendship and couldn't make obvious mistakes like that. It wasn't like he was especially subtle about it, quite the contrary.
She decided not to knock and made the door swing wide open with her magic.
“Hey. Sorry about bolting off like that, but uhh...”
He was lying on the bed, his hands under his head, glaring at Twilight.
“Turns out that what's happening to you could be slightly harmful so we decided it's best if you return home as soon as possible. You know, just in case.”
She hoped her grin hid the heat she felt rising onto her face as the alien swung his arms upwards and used the momentum to rise into a sitting position.
“So you are letting me go back home, but only because you think I am in danger if I stay. I suppose I should be glad about this. Thank you?”
“Yes, well...”
Twilight decided to tell the truth. She closed her eyes, let out a deep sigh and let her ears droop down.
“When you arrived, we had a bit of an argument about what to do. Luna wanted to let you go free and Celestia wanted to keep you here in case you were dangerous.”
Looking back at Anonymous, she noticed an expression on his face she hadn't seen before. It made him seem uncomfortable.
“I thought it'd be a good idea to keep you here for a while so I could find out what kind of a creature you were. So it's my fault that you were locked in here, and when Celestia decided that it would be too risky to let you home I didn't even try to stop her.”
A sad smile crept onto Twilight's face as she trotted over to Anonymous' bed and sat down next to it.
“I'm sorry I have been such a terrible friend for you. I hope you'll let me make up for it.”
The alien cast her a weird look which she couldn't construe.
“You consider yourself my friend?”
His head jerked back slightly and he blinked rapidly a few times.
“I had... not thought of it that way. I suppose we can be friends, then.”
He extended a hand towards her with the hint of a smile on his face.
Twilight felt dumb as she led Anonymous out of the castle and to Canterlot. She'd tried so hard to make friends with him, and in the end all she needed to do was tell him she wanted to be friends. They'd talked for the better part of an hour, and he'd told her a lot about himself and his life. She now knew that he was quite passionate about some sport and played in an amateur league as a defensive midfielder, whatever that meant, and that he was unmarried but had two siblings. He'd gone quiet when she'd asked about what he did for a living, and she'd quickly changed subjects and told him about her friends and some of their adventures. Other than that, he hadn't hesitated answering any of her questions. She'd learned of his studies in engineering, told him of her studies in magic, listened to him explain how he liked to make some dishes, imparted how she'd ended up with Spike and so on.
A tiny bell rang above her as she pushed open the door and entered Rarity's boutique.
“Hello, welcome to- Oh, hi Twilight. Rarity's in there.”
Sassy Saddles waved at her casually, then pointed at the door to the back room. She said nothing when Anonymous followed, ducking to not hit his head on the top of the frame, but did end up staring at him.
“Thanks Sassy.”
Twilight waved back at her and then turned around to face Anonymous.
“Hey, could you wait here for a moment? I'll have to explain a few things to Rarity.”
She opened the door just enough for her to slip through and then immediately shut it behind her.
“Hi Rarity.”
Her friend looked up from the sketch of a dress she was drawing and at her.
“Twilight! Done being a princess for the day?”
She was positively beaming as she made the board she'd been drawing on turn a little to give Twilight a better look at the sketch.
“Look, isn't it absolutely marvelous? I decided to leave out the frills and go with just dark velvet and a tiara, simplicity is in this season and this should truly bring out the best in her.”
Twilight looked at the sketch of a dress which – she had to admit – would look stunning on Princess Luna.
“Uh, Rarity. Weren't you supposed to be making clothes for Anonymous? You know, the alien?”
She received a flabbergasted look from her friend, who then turned around, opened a drawer and floated a stack of sketches out of it.
“Of course I haven't forgotten about him. I was just meaning to ask your opinion on these. I mean, I could only tell so much based on the photograph I saw so I made a few options; which one do you think would suit him best?”
The stack separated into single papers which then floated into neat rows in front of her.
“About that...”
Twilight quickly recounted the events that had led to her taking Anonymous with her and of their decision to let him return to his world.
“...so why don't you just ask him directly? Or I guess it doesn't really matter because he'll be going back home in a day or two.”
Rarity stared at her with her lips parted just enough for Twilight to see the tip of her tongue move.
“But- But- But I went through all the trouble to make these and now I won't see even one of them get completed?”
Twilight prepared herself for the inevitable as she watched her friend's lips quiver and droplets form in the corners of her eyes.
“No matter. His safety is more important than any stupid clothes. Now, I believe you have some introductions to make.”
Twilight slowly pushed the door open to reveal Sassy and Anonymous standing next to one of the wooden mannequins, her explaining something about the dress to him.
“Anonymous, there's someone I'd like you to meet.”
She sidestepped out of the way as soon as the alien was looking at her.
“It is an honor to finally meet you, Anonymous! I have been looking forward to this moment ever since Twilight told us of your arrival, she was so excited about you that I couldn't help but share her enthusiasm.”
Rarity took a few bouncy strides into the room, her mane and tail bobbing up and down with each step.
“Oh, but where are my manners. I am Rarity, truly pleased to meet you.”
Her eyes met Anonymous', whose face betrayed no emotion while he followed her movement as she trotted towards him before letting a friendly smile onto his face.
“Anonymous. Pleased to meet you too.”
He extended an open hand towards Rarity as she got next to him. She offered him a hoof, which he grabbed and shook promptly. A nigh-invisible shiver passed through her and her pupils dilated ever so slightly as they touched each other.
“You must be quite the artisan if you really made the dresses in here, even I can tell the quality is far better than anything I could have afforded back home.”
As he let go of it, Rarity lifted the hoof to cover her muzzle and looked to the side in faked embarrassment.
“But darling, those are mere eye candy to draw in new clientele. I wouldn't dare to sell something that isn't at least customized for the buyer, and the true works of art are of course custom made.”
Twilight watched them in amazement for a moment, not having expected the alien to act like that. While he hadn't been impolite with her, he definitely hadn't gone out of his way to compliment her either. Then again, they hadn't understood each other when they first met so he couldn't have done that even if he'd wanted to. She cleared her throat to get their attention.
“Rarity, you mentioned a restaurant, didn't you? We haven't eaten yet so I was kinda hoping we could fix that while getting to know each other.”