//------------------------------// // Step Two - Research // Story: A Draconequus' Guide to Being Human // by fluttershyy //------------------------------// Library, library, library... Where the hell is someone supposed to find a library around here? That's how people do research, right? Reading books? Ugh... reading. He wasn't used to not knowing things, either. He'd been searching and searching all bloody day for a stupid library. But it was late afternoon now, and he was getting tired. And hungry. And he couldn't manifest bits for himself anymore either, so buying food was out. He just had to trudge through the day, until he found something of use. Thankfully the weather was kind on him today- the blazer and long pants wouldn't be too harsh quite yet, not until summer. But, how hot were the summers here? And his food situation would remain a problem for a good while, even if he did find a library anytime soon. Maybe he'll just eat the books. He's eaten them before.  His thoughts were once more interrupted by a familiar head of pink hair walking down the sidewalk. People in school read books. Books are in libraries! Perfect! But, he didn't know her name. Hm... As she passed by in front of him, he casually reached out to stretch, sticking out his leg right by her foot, causing her to trip and topple onto the ground like she had earlier that morning. This time instead of papers, books flew from her arms. Instead of complaining, this time, Discord would stand. Now he's got her attention. "Oh, dearest apologies, miss. We must quit bumping into each other like this." The young woman would raise up, putting a hand to her head. "O-oh- it's.. alright, really." she'd mutter, though Discord could feel a rather annoying pang of guilt again by seeing this person on the ground. Reluctantly, he moved to stand and begin helping her up. At least he'd look nice this way- people like to help nice people.  Looking at her more properly this time, Discord felt she looked familiar- not familiar in the sense that he'd seen her earlier that day, but in the sense he'd known her a time before. Though due to her being a human, her face wasn't akin to anyone he'd met in Equestria, so there was no way he'd be able to place it, at least not yet.  "Thank you," the woman's soft, gentle voice sounded again as he helped her this time. "... I-I guess I'm a bit more clumsy than I had realized." Ugh- her voice too seemed to strike a chord in his memory. Yet, irritatingly enough, he once more couldn't find why. Though for now, he contained his frustrations. There was work to be done. "Not to worry, my dear. Hopefully I'm not keeping you from anything far too important." The woman paused briefly- had something put her off? Surely not. Perhaps his charisma was being laid on just a little too thick. "Oh-... No, not.. not really. I-I was just on my way to the library to study-" Jackpot. "- and it stays open pretty late." "Oh!" Discord's lips curled into a smile, as he would straighten up, some of her papers still in hand, having 'accidentally' pulled them right outside of her grasp. "The library, could you show me the way? I've been trying to find some sort of place to study a certain subject of my own." The woman would push a strand of pink hair from her face as she listens to Discord speak, a faint smile gracing her gentle features. "Oh, of course. It's not all that far from here." As if remembering only just now, he'd move the hand that held the papers towards her, which she then took into her own. "Then by all means, lead the way." The smile on his face would form into a grin, trying his best to be charming, though his smile always had a sort of wicked, wild look to it, even in his currently weak disguise. Even so, she would smile and nod, carefully tucking the papers back into the books she held in her arms, starting to walk the direction she'd been heading beforehand, Discord following close behind her. The smile would fade as he began to think. A human library, he rarely really visited Equestrian libraries, so he only really had a vague idea of what he could expect. And in a place like this, lacking nearly all traces of magic, would there really be anything he could research? There was only one way to find out, and it was, unfortunately through befriending this skittish, pink haired woman that walks slower than he can swim through a pool of molasses, which he discovered a long while back is terribly, terribly slow. "By the by, miss, what might your name be? He'd suddenly speak, twirling his hand with his words. The silence quickly began to bore him, and he may as well know this person's name if he's going to be using her as his source of information, at least for now.  "Oh, my name is Fluttershy." Now that definitely rang a bell. He could remember that one all too well from before he'd been turned back into a statue, and now he kicked himself for not realizing how obvious it was sooner. Of course it'd be the only one who was resistant to his manipulation beforehand that he'd run into now. She particularly irked him, taking all the fun out of his mind games. Even that Twilight's persistence wasn't as irritating. Discord was snapped out of his thoughts, quickly wiping the frown from his face when Fluttershy turned to him to speak. "What's yours?" "Oh-... you can call me... Discord." He would say, hesitantly. He was unsure if the human realm had any knowledge of other-worldly beings.. It was not likely to be the case, however,if Fluttershy had a counterpart here, he couldn't be too sure there wasn't one of him here as well. Or, maybe with being a god of chaos, there was a chance that he was the only of his kind in these realms.  "Discord... alright." Fluttershy would nod- seeming to think the name odd, but otherwise continuing as if nothing else. A faint sigh of relief left the draconequus, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. Though, her next question raised a small amount of unease once more. "Where are you from?" "Oh, you know, an inch past a hair, somewhere and whatnot." He'd twirl his hand slightly- half expecting to turn himself into a hare for a delightful visual gag, yet none came, which would only mildly infuriate him. Damn this blasted human realm.  Fluttershy gave him a look of confusion, but before she could question his odd response, he pointed to a building they approached, displaying a sign atop it saying 'Canterlot Library'. "Ah, lookie there, we've arrived."  "Oh...! We have." A gentle smile would grace Fluttershy's features. And she'd seem to forget the confusion of his place of origin as she led him inside.  The library itself wasn't anything overly impressive, but it was better than he expected. Two stories, but the second story was more a balcony overtop the lower floor, giving the ground a higher ceiling. It only really had one main library room, and it wasn't very big otherwise, but Discord was definitely pleasantly surprised. Perhaps he would be able to find more than he hoped here.  Fluttershy would move towards a big, comfy looking chair towards a far wall, near a desk that seemed to have... Those little light boxes Discord had forgotten the name for. Comp.. compressor? No, no, that wasn't right. Well, whatever it was, hopefully he'd not have to use it anytime soon. He's known of them, but never had the... displeasure of needing one. Following close behind Fluttershy, he watched her sit down and leaned into the chair as she began to set aside a couple textbooks.  "... So." He began, getting a bit of a look for his volume. He'd continue, slightly quieter. "Does this wonderful establishment contain any books that delve into the society of humans?"  ---------- εїз ---------- Blink. ... Huh? Fluttershy was completely dumbfounded by this man. This oddly dressed, strangely formally speaking man. She wasn't opposed to meeting a new person, even if they seemed a little odd. One of her closest friends sometimes can be a bit weird, so truly, it didn't seem to far out of the norm.  ... But this was more than just a little bit weird, at least to her. Why did he have to specify humans? An inch past a hair?? Even his skin was just the tiniest bit gray, which she just brushed off mostly in case he was sick. He seemed to have quite a bit of energy, but she could notice a weary look in his eyes- almost desperate.   What an interesting man. "... On... society?" Fluttershy echoed after a brief pause to process the question.  "Precisely, my dear!" Discord would flash a grin in her direction, his volume once more having grown despite their location. "On society."  "... That's a little vague." She began. "... I guess there's things like.. culture studies, though I'm not too sure how updated the books are here... If you can't find what you're looking for, you could look it up, I'm sure." Now it was Discord's turn to pause, and he'd squint for a moment. A couple of moments, to be more accurate. "... Look up?" He would then look upwards, to the ceiling. "Up where?"  When Discord looked back to Fluttershy, she'd been pointing at the computer to the desk next to her. "... Online." "... Yes! Right. Look up. I was just… testing you to see if you understood." He'd confirm with an awkward chuckle, before suddenly, and quickly, scuttling off into the sea of books to begin his search. Fluttershy would then watch him leave, still feeling a bit dumbfounded by his odd and erratic behavior, before pulling out her own laptop, setting it in her lap, and typing away. Occasionally, she would flick to another tab, either to pull from more research, or to do something entirely unrelated. Before, soon, Discord would return. A couple books in arm, but nonetheless he'd take a seat at the desk with the computer on it. Then, she witnessed quite the display. Raising his hand to the mouse, he picked it up,, first following the wire, and clicking the buttons, soon seeming simply delighted he'd discovered its function. Next he would click about the screen a few times, a mildly frustrated look forming on his face before a window opened. After another few seconds, he discovered what the search bar did, and he had this look of utter victory on his face that made Fluttershy giggle. How silly.  She would turn to continue her studies. Though, as soon as she would, a sudden plop on the seat next to her announced someone's arrival, along with a dramatic, exasperated groan.  "You know, those little light boxes you've got are terribly hard to use." He'd grumble, taken over by a very sudden grumpiness. "... Do-... do you mean the computers?" Fluttershy cast her gaze to the computer he'd been using, still open on the window. The last search on it was 'free house'. ... What??  "Yes! That's the word. They're completely and utterly useless in finding what I need to know." "... Well... what do you need to know?" Fluttershy would tilt her head to the side, hands idly resting on her laptop's keyboard. "I'm sure I can help, even just a little bit. And if I can't, I've got friends who might be able to." Another smile would seem to gently form on her face, and Discord would seem to pause, seemingly briefly surprised by her willingness to assist. "... Well,-" He began, but would seem stuck a moment trying to word his question. He'd pause once more in thought. "If one were to try to blend into society without actually belonging to that society, how would they do it?" "... Oh. Eh..." Now, Fluttershy would pause. What an odd question. Perhaps he was writing a book, and wanted to research for a character? Or, perhaps he just... struggled with interacting with people. She could certainly relate to that.  At her hesitance to answer, he'd rephrase. "For example. What does your schedule look like?" ---------- εїз ---------- "My schedule?" Fluttershy would blink. "...I wake up, take care of my bunny, eat breakfast and go to school, and some days I've got a part time job in the animal clinic nearby." She'd list off. "... Then I study for school and go home, if I don't have other plans after." Discord would pause another moment to think, earning him another confused expression from the woman. A job... that might be part of it. School seems to be very big as well, it took up just about half the day. "What does one study in school here?" "Oh, a lot of things, I guess." She'd shrug her shoulders, idly bringing her fingers across  the keyboard of her laptop and tapping at the keys- not hard enough to actually type anything in, but enough to make a very faint clacking noise. "I'm majoring in animal science and biology, my friend Rarity is a fashion major, and another friend of mine Twilight is majoring in a couple things, Philosophy and Chemistry, I think, and-"  The names she listed off, especially the second one, were irritatingly familiar- that Twilight Sparkle was the source of his last downfall. Even worse, knowing what he knew of her, what her counterpart was studying here was in fact not magic, but some other complicated nonsense. He knew there was some magic in this world, even if a little, if there weren't, he'd not be able to hold up his disguise at all, or worse, he'd be dead. Or he imagined as much. He doesn't actually think he can die, or, can he now, in this new world, where most his strength has been drained? "... Applejack... studies agriculture-" Fluttershy would continue listing off, until she was interrupted.  "What other things do you do, then?" "Things...? Like... plans that I make?" "Yes, what sort of hobbies, or activities do po- people partake in around here?" Fluttershy opened her mouth after a moment to pause and process the question- before once more being interrupted by a faint buzzing coming from her phone, followed by a quiet ding. Pulling it out, she'd gasp, and hurriedly seem to begin packing up. "Oh goodness! I almost forgot- I was supposed to meet my friends soon... I-I'm sorry, I have to go-" Discord would watch, apparently quite affronted by their so called study hall being cut short. "Oh-! Well. I suppose you go and have fun. I will be... about." He'd end this with a grumble, returning to the cursed computer on the desk that he was trying to avoid figuring out how to use. "Y-yes.. Thank you. It was nice speaking with you-"  "Yes, yes, you too." Discord mumbled this through his hand, staring at the screen... focused for the first time in a good century at least. Fluttershy would say not another word, and her hurried, light footsteps could be heard fading out of the library, leaving poor Discord to fend for himself with the little knowledge he could gain.