//------------------------------// // Ch. 03; A Day About Town // Story: A Short Visit // by Dorath //------------------------------// Revan opened her eye to the sound of birds chirping as the early morning sunlight spilled through the curtains. Sitting up, her lips spread in a goofy grin as she drank in the sight of Twi’ curled up next to her, and Spike and Mission sprawled in a tangle of limbs over on the cot the Apples’ had brought in. She indulged in simply watching her family sleep for a time, before the need to be up and moving finally overrode her desire to laze about, throwing on a few clothes, the Jedi slipped through the silent house and out the front door. A few quick stretches, and Revan headed off into the orchards at a steady, ground-eating jog. After a brisk run through the trees, Revan looped back to the farmhouse where she was looking forward to a quick shower and a traditional Apple family breakfast, but the faint sound of grunts and rhythmic thuds drew her to the barn. Quietly walking up to the open door, the Jedi peeked inside to see … Applejack working out on a heavy punching bag. Leaning against the doorjamb, Revan settled in to watch the farmgirl’s training. When the blonde finally stepped back from the bag, she applauded, “That’s a formal martial style, isn’t it?” “Eeeyup, kickboxing,” Applejack replied as she grabbed up a towel, both to wipe herself off and to help hide her blush at finding that the older woman, the trained soldier, had been watching, maybe judging, her practice, “Does pony me know any martial arts?” the farmgirl asked, her curiosity overpowering her, admittedly minor, embarrassment. “AJ?” Revan asked as she walked over to give the heavy bag a casual punch, “No, she’s a brawler, almost none of us have ‘proper’ martial training, actually.” The blonde stopped drying her face to lift a skeptical eyebrow, “None of ya? But ya’re a Jedi, ya must know some sorta fancy alien fightin’ style.” “You mean like Teräs Käsi or the Echani arts? Eeenope, line solders don’t learn any of that kind of fighting,” Revan grinned at Applejack as she slipped into the Apple clan’s iconic accent for a moment, “They save that for the special forces types.” “Tha Jedi didn’t teach ya no martial arts other than saberwork?” “You’d be surprised at how many Jedi, and Sith too, focus purely on the Force and lightsaber training without bothering with more ‘mundane’ skills,” the older woman shrugged, “So … up for a round or two?” The farmgirl dropped into a stance with a grin, only to be interrupted by a loud cough, “Granny says for tha two of ya ta stop playin’ around an’ go wash up, breakfast is almost ready,” Apple Bloom smirked at the pair from the barn door. After a hearty farmhouse breakfast, Applejack and Apple Bloom headed into the city, AJ to her job at the Juice Bar and Bloom off to meet with her friends, while Mac and Granny started in on the day’s chores, with the enthusiastic help of Twi’ and her family. With the extra hands, the work flew by, leaving everyone’s afternoons freer than expected. Revan, Twilight and Mission got a lift from Mac to see this “Mall” most of their friends worked at, while Spike and Granny stayed behind to “watch the farm” (Granny code for “catch a nice nap on the porch rocker”). “Okay, fillies,” Twi’ said as Macintosh drove away, “It’s just like the market back in Ponyville … but bigger … and indoors … and potentially full of things we’ve never seen before … wonderous new books and devices … what was I saying?” “You were tewwing us how the maww was just wike the Ponyviwwe market,” Mission answered helpfully as she stared at the crowded parking lot, “There’s so many ponies, it’s wike when we go to Canterlot!” “Just remember not to wander off, okay?” Revan reminded her daughter as she took the girl by the hand and lead her through the doors, inside, the three quickly moved off to the side to clear the path and began looking around, “Hey, there’s Applejack, let’s see what she’s selling.” “Well, howdy ya’all,” the farmgirl greeted them, “Come to see what we do for work? How’s about a fruit smoothie?” “Sure,” Twi’ agreed, prompting a happy cheer from Mission, “But, I thought humans didn’t eat grass?” she added, nodding to the small planter on one of the shelves. ‘That there is wheatgrass,” AJ explained, “Some folks think it’s good for ya, so we offer fresh grass juice as an additive ta tha smoothies, now what would ya like?” “Strawberries and wheatgrass, pwease, Auntie Appwejack.” “Sure thing, sugarcube, and for ya, Twi’?” “I think I’ll have an orange, carrot and mango with the wheatgrass, please.” “Apples and cranberries, if you’d be so kind, AJ,” Revan added. “Here ya’all go,” the blonde said as she passed over their orders, “Now Pinkie an’ Sunset work in restaurants, so ya just droppin’ by ta see them probably wouldn’t work ta well, an’ we was plannin’ on grabbin’ ya for dinner anyway, but Twilight works over in tha Technology Barn an’ Rainbow is working in PrisimWing Sports, so ya can give ‘em a visit. Oh, an’ tha bookstore is up on tha second floor,” she added with a grin as Twi’ and Mission’s eyes grew wide and eager, “Ah’ll text everyone on ma next break an’ let ‘em know ta met at tha second-floor court at five-thirty. Ya girls go have fun now.” Twilight turned to the door as the electronic chime sounded, “Welcome to the Technology Barn, how can we help you today?” she rattled off automatically before the identities of just who had entered sunk in, “Oh, hi!” her grin widened as she noticed the bags they were carrying, “Already been by to see Rainbow and the bookstore, huh?” Revan chuckled, “My girls do love their books,” she admitted with an indulgent smile, “So, what technological marvels do you have for us today?” ‘Hmm … there’s no internet across the Mirror, so it would have to be something self-contained,’ the bespectacled girl tapped her chin in thought, ‘Ah! A tablet, so they can take some movies, books and music back to Equestria with them! And maybe a few rechargeable battery packs, too….’ “I think I have just the thing, if you’ll follow me, please,” leading the trio over to the wall, Twilight gestured to one of the minicomputers, “These tablet computers can store and play back movies, music, pictures, electronic books, do word processing, and even play games, although their video cards aren’t able to handle the more graphic-intensive ones,” she glanced over at the one-eyed, alien, woman, “So … pretty much like all your datapads, I guess,” she finished dejectedly. “Nothing for you to be getting upset about,” the Jedi patted the younger girl on the shoulder as Mission gave her a comforting hug, “There’s only two working datapads in all of Equestria anyway, and now you’ve given Twi’ a way to bring some of this world’s knowledge back with her,” Revan nodded at her wife, who was playing with the tablet’s touch screen in fascination. Relived that she hadn’t made a horrible gaffe, Twilight showed the visiting Equestrians some of the programs on the tablet and discussed a few peripherals and additional software packages they could consider, before moving over to the register to tally everything up, “So, with the tablet, two extra batteries, a battery recharger (not sure how you’re going to get that one to work) and the Encyclopedia Britannica program, your total comes too … two hundred and nine dollars and twenty-nine cents.” “Here you are,” Twi’ replied, handing over the funds. “And here’s your purchase,” the scientist smiled as she held out the bag, “I’ll see you guys after my shift, okay?” “Sooo,” her shift manager, Silver Scepter, a former upperclassman from Crystal Prep, drawled as soon as the door had closed behind the trio, “I didn’t know you had a twin sister.” “Oh, I don’t,” Twilight replied confidently, she had already planned for this potential issue, “That was my cousin Twila from Alabama and her family.” “Your cousin, huh?” Silver shook his head, “I’d ask what kind of mischief you two used to get up to, but this is you we’re talking about.” “Why do people keep acting like there’s something wrong with being a good, rules-abiding, student?” Twilight grumbled to herself as her manager walked back to the office. Sunset waved to her friends as the five girls entered the court where Twi’ and Revan were playing chess while Mission colored in a book, “So, who’s winning?” “Momma is pushing hard, but I think Mommy is weading her into a trap,” Mission replied, glancing up. “They play a lot of chess?” Twilight asked eagerly, “Sunset and I play frequently, maybe we could have a game?” “What is it with you eggheads and your chess?” Rainbow snorted, “C’mon, Rarity and Flutters are already heading over to Roma’s Pizzeria.” “So, what do they have at this ‘pizzeria’, anyway?” Twi’ asked as they headed for the parking lot, Mission giggling as she rode Revan piggyback at the front of the little group. “Well, they got pizzas, o’course,” Applejack offered. “Salads and garlic bread,” Sunset continued. “Video games!” Rainbow added with a grin. “And skee-ball!” Pinkie and Twilight finished eagerly. “You had us at ‘garlic bread’,” Revan said, while Mission cheered from her perch. Fluttershy and Rarity waved from the large table they had claimed as the others stepped away from placing their orders at the counter, “Hello, darlings,” the fashionista greeted them, “Another work day over and done, and now we can relax.” “Darn right!” Rainbow exclaimed, “Come on, AJ, Revan, I have some frustrations to work out,” she added, grabbing the bemused older woman by the arm and dragging her over to a bank of shooting games, while Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy led Twi’ and Mission over to the skee-ball machines. “Okay,” explained Twilight as she dropped a token into the slot, “The goal is to roll these balls up the ramp and try to get them to drop into those holes, the more difficult the shot, the more tickets you get.” “And then we take the tickets and buy prizes!” Pinkie added, pointing at the prize display as she bounced eagerly. Mission frowned as she looked over the display, “How much is that one?” she asked, pointing at a yellow and green plush snail. Twi’ smiled down at her daughter, “Looking to get Miss Smarty Pants a friend, sweetie?” “Nuh-uh, it’s for Fwurry.” “My niece,” the princess explained to the other girls, “Mission takes being a good big cousin very seriously.” “Aww, that’s so sweet,” Fluttershy cooed, “Let’s go win you those tickets!” she grinned, holding up a five-dollar bill. “That was good,” Twi’ sighed happily as she gently herded a half-asleep Mission, the plushy clutched in her arms, towards the waiting cars. “‘cuse me,” Revan covered a burp as she nodded, “Yeah, we definitely should bring the recipe back through the Mirror, I bet it would go over well, and Burger Princess could use a little friendly competition anyway.” Pinkie stopped bouncing along to stare at the Equestrians, “Wait, you don’t have pizza in ponyland?” “The worlds aren’t completely identical, Pinkie,” Twi’ laughed, “Otherwise it wouldn’t be ‘ponyland’ would it? So, do we have a plan for tomorrow?” she asked, glancing around the group. “Tha plan was a sleepover at ma farm,” AJ drawled as she stretched, “Maybe play some soccer?” “And show you the original Star Wars trilogy,” Sunset added. “It should be fascinating to see how accurate Mister Lucas’ and Mister Foster’s vision was,” Twilight observed eagerly, “That everything they, and so many other writers, imagined really exists is simply astounding.” “No offense, Twilight, but I’m hoping that they got most of it wrong,” Revan shuddered slightly, “If a bunch of random authors from this world are accurately predicting what’s happened on dozens of planets on the other side of the Mirror, that would just be ….” “Creepifying?” offered the farmgirl. “Exactly.” The bespectacled girl tapped her chin, “Actually, a number of things that are, or at least were, believed to be fictional have turned out to actually be real through the portal. Unicorns, dragons, magic, Jedi … I wonder how much of what we take for granted is imaginary back in Equestria?” The nine women looked at each other as they considered Twilight’s speculation for a moment, before Rarity spoke up, “And on that existential note, darlings, I bid you all good night.”