There were so many friendly people here, I was almost suspicious. I needed to find a library? I found one. And not only did I find one, but I found the one pony that could help me when it turned out the books were in a language I couldn't read.
Oh, and my "translator" happened to be in the same building when I needed her.
I didn't have any bits? The pony selling food was just fine with accepting favors instead.
And now that I needed a backpack? For a species that literally was extinct? I run into a pony that specializes in custom tailoring.
Granted, it was hard to talk her down from making it just as flashy and noticeable as the orb itself, but...
"Rarity, I need to have this be functional, not beautiful. I admit that your designs do look nice, but I'm not looking for attention."
"But... your fur! The pattern! I've never worked with a three-toned coat before. Or a fox, for that matter. You are unique! All I want to do is enhance your natural qualities. Is that too much to ask?"
She had completely latched onto the idea of making something for me before I could even propose an exchange, and when I did let her know that I did not yet have money, she instantly dismissed the whole idea, saying it was a gift. And that I can forget paying her back.
Yeah, like I'm not going to do something nice for you later.
"And this jewel! I've never seen anything like it. It needs to be the centerpiece, not hidden away in some pocket!" She lifted it with her magic, admiring its surface.
I jumped up in a flash and snatched it out of the air with my mouth.
The various papers, needles, and bolts of cloth that were suspended in her grip froze in midair.
I put the ball back in my tail.
"That's why I need the backpack."
"I don't... understand."
"If someone steals that, I could die."
A literal pin dropped.
"But... but Equestria isn't like that. It might have been like that... years and years ago, but any crime is a newsworthy event!"
"Would you risk that?"
"I..."
I shook my head. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Princess Celestia was the one that lectured me about it."
She sighed. "I'm sorry. What did you have in mind?"
Since I was a fox, it was more of a vest with many pockets rather than a backpack how I was used to it. At first, she had designed it very similarly to the saddlebags that many of the ponies carried around everywhere, but after my brief romp through the forest, I had realized just how silently I could move. If I was going to return there again, I needed to be able to retain that silence.
Once Rarity understood what I needed and why I needed it, she was a practical fountain of good ideas. Making each pocket specially for a single purpose, so that nothing moved around was her idea, as well as a bit (that was their currency) pouch that was both elastic and filled with loose cotton, so that not only would they not move around much, but the almost inevitable clinking would be gone. Surprisingly, the dark forest green was her idea, as it would make me less noticeable in the Everfree. I wholeheartedly agreed, even though I had no intention of going back near those wolves any time soon. It helped that she had managed to make it look great with my fur.
At the end of it all, I had some specialized pockets for books, bits, my orb, and a few of various sizes for miscellaneous objects I might need to carry, but when I thought we were finished, she insisted that it wasn't "done."
I didn't exactly own that much, and she knew that. So she told me to come back for more of the custom work later. Anything that I needed to use often, or didn't fit particularly well in the existing pockets was fair game.
For free, she said.
Still, for as annoying as her insistence on giving me stuff was, I liked her. She was creative, in a practical sense. And feeling the new... vest thing, I could easily respect her talents.
Unfortunately, I didn't know how to pay her back yet. I didn't know enough about Rarity personally in order to pay her back like a friend. And I didn't know enough about myself yet to pay her back like a stranger. I was a fox with magic, but didn't know a lick about magic, and if I wanted to be able to help people again, I needed to learn.
But if my new species has been extinct for that long, who would know..?
Oh, right. Celestia. The only one that called me <kitsune.> And I left her at the library and told her that Twilight had things handled. She's probably gone.
I yawned, reminding me suddenly of the time. The sun had almost set.
Wow, that took longer than I thought it would. Now I definitely won't make it to Whitetail Woods on time.
Well, I could probably stay up a little late, but I didn't know exactly how far down the river it was, and if it went through the Everfree first, and then went to another, separate forest, it probably wasn't particularly close.
Fluttershy had offered me a place to stay, but at the same time, Twilight had books. Books I could read now. And honestly, this town wasn't that dangerous. I could probably just sleep outside if need be.
Rather than going directly there, though, I took my time. This town, "Ponyville," or really, any town was different near sunset. Ponies still walked the streets, but there was a certain stillness that was hard to come by back home, except for perhaps the smallest towns I had been in.
But the real reason was that here, I could see the horizon. One of the things I had noticed earlier on, when I was still human and living in the castle, was that the moon worked very differently than Earth. It seemed to orbit at the same rate as the planet rotated, in the opposite direction.
Also, the sky always darkened and lightened very rapidly. The colors of sunset and sunrise appeared to be the same, so the atmosphere wasn't that different, but there was a good chance that the star itself was smaller.
It was still yellow, though, which was strange.
Still, I had never gotten a chance to view the actual rising and setting while I was in the forest. There hadn't been a clearing large enough.
The sun suddenly moved beyond the horizon, and the moon took its place.
Wait, what?
What I had just seen was patently impossible. Completely disregarding the moon, which was even bigger than Earth's, the sudden rotation of the Earth should have launched me sideways at a ludicrous speed, as well as everything else on the planet.
The only possible explanation would be if the sun was somehow...
Oh, uh...
I remembered Celestia's comment about "borrowing" the sun's power. And called the sun a "him."
Well, this certainly meant we were talking about actual dimensions, rather than just a very far-off planet.
Still, this blatant demonstration of just how different things were was rather dizzying.
I started to walk back to the library, a little faster this time.
The lights were still on, so I barked once, then entered.
"Ryan!"
"Shining Light is fine. Fits better with all the other names I hear."
"Oh!" Twilight blinked. "You speak Eqquish now."
"You can thank the better portal for that. I'm just glad it didn't take away my ability to speak English. Princess Celestia says that the more they add to the one in the castle, the more likely it won't work."
Twilight nodded. "Right. So, was there anything in particular you needed?"
I gestured around me. "This is a public library, right?"
"Yes. Well, it is past closing time, but friends are always an exception. Was there anything in particular you were looking for? Chances are, I'd be able to find it quicker."
"Well, the first thing I think you'd just be able to tell me. Does Princess Celestia and her sister influence the trajectories of the Sun and Moon?"
Twilight tilted her head. "I thought you already asked Celestia about that."
"I had meant something different at the time, but yeah. Thank you for confirming that."
"Who raises the Sun and Moon on your world?"
I looked at her oddly. "I thought you spent a lot of time on the other side of the mirror. Studied the world, that sort of thing."
She flushed. "Well, I didn't really have that much time for research, though I did write down all I could remember from my experiences. But since the worlds are paralleled, I just assumed their versions of Celestia and Luna had the job."
I put my paw over my face. "It doesn't work that way. Nobody raises the sun or moon. Look, it would take too long to explain, but apparently, the fundamental forces of our worlds are different. If you have time to do research over there, just look up <<orbital mechanics.>>"
"But if nopony-"
"Just trust me for now, look up the details later. Anyway, do you have any books that might talk about <kitsune?> Without knowing what my magic does, I'm just a fox that can talk."
"Why do you use the human term for sacred fox?"
I shrugged. "Celestia used it earlier."
Twilight's face fell. "Oh. Celestia was the pony that told me about them. I guess she just told me the colloquial term rather than their real name. And since the only other ponies that knew about them, like the Apples or Pies, called them that..."
"Don't worry about it, Twilight. Languages change over time. Over where I come from, <kitsune> is not only in a different language than my own, it literally just means 'fox.' I like it better, since I can differentiate myself from a normal fox, and I'm used to it, but I'm not going to get offended if you don't."
"Still..."
"I'm guessing this means that there aren't any books that describe them?"
She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Not any that I have read, at least. It is true that I haven't read Spelle's Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures cover to cover, but no books have mentioned them in any major capacity."
My ears perked up. "Where's that one? Even a short blurb might give me a clue."
Twilight sighed. "Canterlot Royal Archives. It's a twenty-four volume piece."
"Right."
"Sorry I couldn't be more help. I was a unicorn before I got these wings, and magic was a huge part of my life, even before I came to Ponyville. I can't imagine just... not having it."
She smiled. "Still, if it helps any, most beginner's magic for any species is instinctual. The only difficulty in your case is knowing what sort of magic that will manifest as. Some magic requires a bit of effort to start, like a unicorn foal learning to levitate objects for the first time. Some magic is completely automatic, like an earth pony's natural strength, but can be refined to do more than simple kicking. And some pegasus magic is a mix of both. Dragonfire is more affected by emotion than technique. But without knowing what you are trying to do, it might take a while to stumble across the correct trigger.
"Still, if Celestia knew about your name, maybe she knows more than that."
I nodded. "Yeah, she does." I stopped there. I didn't know how much of that conversation was something she exactly wanted public. It was one of the only times I had seen emotion on her face, at least not that... unrestrained.
"All right, then. I'll simply ask Spike to send her a letter in the morning."
I yawned. "Yeah, that seems like a good idea."
Twilight looked at me more closely. "Hey, do you need a place to sleep tonight? I have a spare bed I can set out if you want."
I just shrugged. "Sure, that would be great. Fluttershy offered me a place to sleep, but it would be nice not to have to walk any more tonight."
"By the way, those are nice... uh, saddlebags?"
"Thanks. Rarity made them. You're friends with her, right?"
She smiled, walking up the stairs slow enough for me to follow her easily. "Yeah. You get along well with her?"
I laughed. It sounded odd. "I had to talk her down from a few things, but I definitely respect her art."
"I meant the pony."
"That's just the thing. I can't really explain it, but every pony I've met has been nice. Like, unusually nice. I'd be suspicious, but your facial structure is familiar enough to me where I don't think anyone is actually faking it."
Twilight frowned slightly, opening a closet and taking out a bedframe.
I backpedaled. "That wasn't meant as an insult or anything. I was just surprised."
"No, that's not it. I just don't want you to be taken advantage of later. Not everypony is like that. Ponyville tends to have a lot of friendly ponies. It's a small town. If somepony starts to act up, everypony instantly notices. Most actually unfriendly ponies don't like to live here. But every species has its bad eggs."
"Right. I suppose it makes sense. Ponyville isn't a good representative group."
She smiled. "Exactly! Now, many ponies would argue that most of history's greatest threats came from outside Equestria, and that says something about us, but... I argue that it's more of a result of Celestia's good ruling. Oh, and Luna, too, now that she's a bit more caught up." She took a mattress out of the same closet, tossing it onto the frame with her magic.
"...You think about this a lot?"
"More now that I became a Princess myself, but that doesn't matter much. We need to get to bed soon, or you're going to have me talking all night." A quick flourish with her magic, and the blanket spread out evenly over the surface of the bed.
"All right, all right." I nosed myself under the sheets and curled up in a way that felt comfortable. "Good night, Twilight. I'm glad I got to meet you."
Twilight smiled. "Good night, Shining Light."