//------------------------------// // 9 - In Dazzling Light // Story: Return to Equestria // by David Silver //------------------------------// Who could sleep with the lights of Zephyr Heights beaming down upon them. They were not in the city, not by far, but they were close enough that, with the natural light fading, the city's bright signs and spotlights made it increasingly obvious as time went by. They had found their target. Joypad began to cheer wildly, clopping her hooves with only a pause to snap up another bit of the tubery dinner. "Mmm, that is pretty good, just saying." David enjoyed a fried slice himself. It was like a nice fat french fry, in texture, but the flavor was a bit off. It was an alien spud, but just as filling and delightful, he decided. It probably also had tons of carbs, but he was busy working those off with the hiking they'd been doing. "Alright, with the target in sight, I feel confident saying we succeeded. We should get there within the day, then we can just buy food." "Like a civilized pony," almost-screamed Joypad, so excited for the option. "Forget sleeping." She reached for the tent. "Let's just keep walking and get away from 'the grand outdoors' if you don't mind." "Tempting." David was not rising as quickly as Joypad already was. "But it's been a long day and we're not there yet. The city looks a bit away." "It looks close enough to reach." Joypad casually folded up the tend with the ease only a pony had, stuffing it back in the disc. "Besides, if we're lucky, we'll run into a ride on the way. Pegasi are big on that kinda thing." "Are they?" He pushed to his feet, dusting off. "Alright, we can try. You look ready to go." And that felt like an understatement. "Lead on." She casually tossed what was left of the tubers, to David's silent grump. What a waste of food... But they were all cleaned up and everything was put away, so the hiking could resume. Despite their distance, the light only grew brighter and brighter. "Stop right there!" A collection of pegasi guards touched down just in front of Joypad and David. "Identify yourself, and... that." He pointed to David, eyes on Joypad. "There are laws about bringing strange creatures into Zephyr Heights." Joypad was quick to sit and raise her hooves in a wild wave. "Hey! Actually, super glad to see you. We're exhausted after a miserable trip here. I'm Joypad." She pointed a hoof to David. "That's David. We're headed to Pegasoft." One of the other guards stepped forward, eyes on David intently a moment before it seemed to click. "Do it! Do it!" He began to dance in place, grinning like a bit of a foal. David put a hand on his belly and head. "I recognize and welcome you." The stallion squealed with utter joy, quickly returning the gesture. The captain or leader of them hiked a brow at the behavior. "You... know what that is then?" "It's a human! From Evermarsh." "Evermarsh!" blurted another guard. "Oh yeah! Wow!" There were two guards closing in on David, peering at him curiously. The leader applied a hoof to his face. "Alright... Now, we don't give ride--" "--I will!" The other guard casually stepped under David, lifting him up, the wrong way. David was facing the stallion's tail as the pony turned around, spreading his wings. "Get you in town in a second." And suddenly he was flying. It was amazing, and terrifying. David was flying the wrong way, with no seatbelt or anything to grab but the pony himself, which David did, grabbing a handful of furry flesh with each hand as the wind whistled through his ears. The captain sighed softly. "Well... Look, you need to be with him, even if he is harmless. With me!" Another pony closed in, trapping Joypad between them. They both lifted into the air, carrying her between them as she squeaked and wriggled, but she flew about as well as David did, carried into the glittering city of lights and sounds. They had arrived at Zephyr Heights. David landed with a strained laugh, half-sliding off the pony back to the ground. "Thanks for the lift." That was what it had been, literally. "So, Evermarsh fan?" "Actually no." The guard inclined his head. "But my niece is, and she will flip her lid when I tell her about it. Can't wait for that. Good luck." And off her flew, leaving David behind. It wasn't but a moment later that the leader and another guard touched down, allowing a rattled Joypad to touch the ground between them. She took a step forward, heaving. "You look about as comfortable as I do." She turned back to the guards. "Warn a mare before you do that! Not all of us are used to flying around like that." The leader nodded to the both of them. "Welcome to Zephyr Heights." The complaint, ignored. "You can get a map on your ph..." He flipped an ear back. "Neither of you have a phone, do you?" David patted his pocket, where a cellphone was not. "About a world away, sorry." "I have one in my shop?" Joypad pointed the way back towards Maretime bay. "Why?" The leader grunted, more at Joypad's reaction than the strange human's. "Go there." He pointed to a store that had a sign of a pony talking into a cellphone, looking quite happy about it. "Tell them you're a visitor to the city and they will set you straight. Have a good day." He spread his wings with a loud flip. "Wait!" Joypad reached to grab him, but he was already gone, taking off to whatever else guards did. "Shoot... What's he even talking about?!" "I have this." He patted her once on the back as he went past her towards the phone store. "I used to work at a place just like this." "You did?!" Joypad quickly caught up, matching David's pace. "You find me food and you figure this out? Way to earn your keep, alien thing." "You can't blame me for the whole trip." He grabbed the handle of the door firmly, even if part of him wondered why a pony would ever invent that, though their sticky hooves allowed use easily enough. "You were the one that got the supplies, which we still used." "Some of," she grumped, walking in past him through the open door. "Woah." It was a wonderland of technology on display, with flashing lights and animated displays competing for her attention. "You're up!" David strolled in like he owned the place. The layout wasn't odd at all. He could see the counter where the bored cashiers were. He could see where the pricey phones and tables were, just a little seperate from the rest. He could even make out what the carriers were. "Alright..." Even on another world, that kind of shop was built along the same basic lines. He went right up to the counter. "Hello." A pegasus mare behind the counter smiled up at him. "Woah, nice cosplay." Cosplay? David decided not to argue that. "We're visiting." He waved back at Joypad. "And we were told you could hook us up?" "Oh!" She ducked down under the counter and came up with two boxes, slapping them on the counter. "Every visitor gets one basic phone free. No replacements, so don't lose it. They also don't like water, so avoid that." She was busy opening the boxes and extracting the phones, getting them turned on. "Ever use a phone before?" Her eyes were on Joypad. "A lot of not-pegasi are kinda clueless, no offense or anything." David wriggled his finger, watching the phone power on, the one he had claimed by looking at it. "Let me have a moment with it. I'll probably figure it out." "Sure." She did not sound convinced, but she surrendered a phone towards David, the wrong one. The disappointment faded quickly. They were both the same until he did things with it anyway. He began to tap and swipe. It was like an Apple phone, in the end, he decided as he navigated around. He pulled up the app store and did a search. There, Zephyr Height Map. He got that download... Oh. It needed an account, of course. He got to signing up for... email. He had no email, not in that world. Back at home, he had infinite emails! But he wasn't back in the human world. He had no email, shoot... "What do you suggest for a free good site to get an email at?" "Well..." The salesmare had a hoof to her chin. The stallion next to her nudged her. "Everyone uses ZepMail. Zepmail.wing." "Zepmail dot wing." David typed it in quickly, pulling up the email provider. "Let's get an account!" And he got to typing quickly. Ponies, thankfully, didn't really have a lot in the way of identifying anything. It didn't ask for him to prove who he was, just taking it at face value, which was fine, as David had nothing to prove who he was. Soon, he had an email all of his own, which let him make an account with the operating system of the phone, which let him download the map! "Computers are like that. You have to do A to do B to do C when all you wanted was D." Joypad inclined her head, watching her human hammer away at it. "Huh, so you really do know how that thing works? I figured it was a pegasus only thing and if you weren't one of those, you were out of luck." "I've seen a pegasus use it with a hoof." Or a human with a finger, clearly. "So here we are." He showed the map, with a You Are Here shown. "And Pegasoft is... here." Another arrow appeared. "So we have to go that way." "Gimmie mine." Joypad grabbed up her phone and poked at it a bit helplessly. "How do you... make it do all that neat stuff?" David snapped his fingers. "You can skip a part. You have a Pegasoft account." "I do," she agreed with an uncertain tone. "How does that help?" "Watch." He reached over and tapped the start button. Instead of entering an email, which she did not have, he clicked the alternative login and the big Pegasoft icon. "There, log in like you were playing Evermarsh." Joypad quickly did just that and the phone chimed joyfully, becoming her phone officially. "Oh, great!" She began playing eagerly, tapping at it. Even if phones were new to her, she liked devices and gadgets, and she was diving headfirst into it. "Ooo, where'd you, Oh!" She had found the app store. There was no saving her. David tapped her shoulder to distract her. "Thanks for the phones." They both nodded at the salesmare and collected their boxes. "Let's head to Pegasoft." "It's kinda late in the day." Joypad trotted quickly to the window to peer out at the dimming lights. "I vote we get a place to stay instead." "I'm alright with that." He found a new button that prompted him with a bobbing ball. "Nearest hotel?" The phone chimed and showed him a result. "Perfect." Two more clicks and he was back in the map program, being led in another direction. "We got a hotel. Assuming you still have bits?" Joypad held up a bag of jingling coins. "Then we are set." They met, hand to hoof in a high five and headed through the noisy city to the place of respite. The hotel wasn't big or glamorous. A little hole in the wall, really, but a friendly portly pegasus mare was happy to see them. "Oh, hello there! Two rooms or one?" She held up two hooves and jiggled them up and down from one another. Joypad pointed at the right hoof. "Just one room. He's well trained." The mare giggled at the implication. "Good on him. Is he here to visit Pegasoft? Are both of you?" The sight of a human made a lot of people think of the company, apparently.