//------------------------------//
// The Middle of Nowhere 
// Story: Return Trip 
// by RunicTreetops 
//------------------------------//

As the two of you walk into town, the first thing that catches your attention is the locals. Specifically, the lack thereof. While the town isn't abandoned or anything, it is extremely small. On one hand, that reduces the chances of someone discovering Tia's secret. On the other, it makes the two strangers wandering into town on foot all the more likely to stand out.

The town itself is nothing special. There are a few houses here and there that you pass by on your way into the heart of the town, and most of them are shabby, small, or both. Once you find what you can only imagine is the center of the town, you realize that your options on what to do next are going to be limited due to the lack of anything noteworthy here to look at. There's what seems to be a town hall combined with a police station, a grocery store, a pharmacy, and... that's about it. Maybe there's more elsewhere in the town, but this isn't really giving you much hope. As you look around, Tia begins to speak up.

"Is this type of town typical in this world, or is this more of a Ponyville situation?"

"Heh, even Ponyville is bigger than this place. This town isn't particularly strange, it's just very, very small. Assuming that we're in the good ol' US of A, there are towns of all shapes and sizes all over the place. There are probably more towns in one state than in all of Equestria, so small towns like this aren't an odd sight. Still, being in the middle of Nowhere doesn't really help us out much."

"Sunshine, there's no need to be rude. There are people living here, you don't need to call it 'the middle of nowhere.'"

"N-no, Tia, I said 'the middle of Nowhere.' Like with a capital 'N' on Nowhere."

"That doesn't really-"

"It's the literal name of the town, Tia."

You point at a small sign on the side of the town hall, which reads "Nowhere, Oregon --- Town Hall." 

"O-oh. Well. Don't I feel silly. Er, anyway, now that you know where we are, what do you propose we do next?"

You bring a hand to your chin and begin to think. Thankfully, you ARE in the USA, so you're at least in the correct country. Unfortunately, your old home is hundreds of miles away, and considering you have no identification or money, acquiring something like a rental car is out of the question. On top of that, you would prefer to get there as soon as possible, considering you don't have any way of paying for food, either. Tia could technically fly there, but that method is practically guaranteed to blow your cover. Hm...

As you continue to think, you realize that you've stopped paying attention to your surroundings right as a jogger nearly runs right into you. You step out of the way at the last possible second, and Tia does the same. As he passes by, he turns his head to shout at you much louder than is necessary.

"Watch where you're standing! There's only one sidewalk!"

As he turns back around, you notice that he is bobbing his head to some unseen music before you see the earbuds in his ears and the cell phone in his hand. You get the feeling that he was in his own world there, too.

"Sunshine? What was that device that man was carrying?"

"Ah, that would be a cell phone. I've told you about those."

"Those incredible devices that allow two humans to speak to each other regardless of distance? The same ones that allow you humans to access that 'internet' thing, the treasure trove of knowledge perpetually at your fingertips?!"

She leans into you with a massive smile on her face. She practically has sparkles in her eyes at the prospect of getting to use a cell phone, and you'd hate to curb her enthusiasm, but...

"No, Tia, we can't use one. They're super expensive and we have no money."

"You know, it sounds like a lot of our problems would be solved if we could get some of your human money."

"Heh, if that ain't the human condition."

"Is there some way that we could earn money around here? Like a part-time job or something?"

"Not without proper identification. I guess we could try our hands... and hooves, I guess, at begging, but I doubt we'd make much in a small town like this."

"Well, is there something that we can do for free?"

"Not much is free in the human world, unfortunately. And unlike Equestria, we can't expect the goodwill of others to get us out of this. Hmm..." 

You begin to think again. There really isn't much that's free, is there? Especially not when it comes to transportation. If only you had some way of getting information, darn it! Let's see... if you were back in Ponyville, what would you do in this situation? Well, you would probably ask Starlight for advice. There is definitely no Starlight in the middle of Nowhere. If Starlight didn't know how to help you, she would probably try to look for an answer at the-

"That's it!"

"Ooh, sunshine, that's the face you make when you have an idea!"

"Follow me!"

You try to grab Tia by the hand before you remember that your fingers don't really touch her hand properly and instead grasp onto the invisible form of her hoof. As you do so, you briefly glance at the ground behind her. The sun is beginning to set, and you're both casting long shadows onto the sidewalk, but despite her illusion, her shadow is still that of an alicorn. You'll just have to hope no one notices. Still, now isn't the time for that! You let go of her and instead jog towards the town hall, with Tia following closely behind.

As you enter the building, it's pretty much exactly what you expected. Small, but well maintained. The brick walls and tiled floors make it clear that it probably hasn't been renovated in years, but it's still clean. Looking around, you notice a door labeled "Police Station." You could be walking into the metaphorical lion's den, but hopefully you aren't that suspicious. 

Walking through the door, you are greeted by a small room bisected by a long wooden desk. You could go around the desk on the right, but the left side of the desk connects to a wall. On the wall behind the desk is another door with a glass window near its center. Through that glass, you can make out what looks to be the primary office space for the local police. Meanwhile, between the desk and the aforementioned door sits a tired-looking old woman, who looks at you with agitated eyes.

"Can't say I've seen you around." Her attention shift from you to Tia as she narrows her eyes. "...And I think I would remember someone like you."

"Hehe, I'll take that as a compliment!"

Whether Tia is legitimately being chipper or putting her thousands of years of social practice to use isn't clear. Either way, you should probably get out of this woman's gray, thinning hair as soon as possible.

"W-we're sorry to bother you, miss. As you can tell, we're not from around here. That said, I didn't see a welcome center or anything, so I was hoping you could help us. Does this town have a library?"

Tia turns to look at you with a grin. It seems like she approves of your idea. Hey, if you can't access modern technology, might as well use what you've learned in Equestria, right? You've definitely obtained a greater appreciation for libraries since winding up in Ponyville.

"Why didn't you just look it up?"

"O-oh, well, that's-"

"Our cell phones are broken, so we do not have access to the internet." You were caught off-guard by the woman's question, but thankfully Tia noticed and covered for you before you looked like too much of a bumbling mess. "We were hoping that a trustworthy and intelligent-looking woman like you would be able to help a couple of clueless tourists like ourselves."

Once again, Tia is practically a ray of sunshine (heh) in this dreary room. You watch as the woman's expression softens a little. Good ol' Tia. Ever the diplomat. 

Man you love that mare.

"Hmm... well, since you're so polite, I suppose it would be remiss of me to not help you. Yes, we do have a library, but it's not all that impressive. Here, let me show you..."

Over the next few minutes, the woman pulls out her phone and shows you a map of Nowhere. Sure enough, the town is very small, with just a few businesses to keep it up and running. She gives you directions to the library, which turns out to be just a few streets away. After thanking her, the two of you depart. Tia waves on her way out, and the woman actually gives her a smile.

Once you exit the building, you let out a sigh.

"Alright, to the library then, yeah?"

"Really, I don't know why I didn't think of that. I guess I was just so mesmerized by the possibilities of your human technologies that I didn't think to use the ones I already have."

"Good job in there, by the way. I'm not sure how she would have reacted if I tried to take the lead in that conversation."

"Really, I don't know what you're so worried about. She just seemed a bit tired, is all. She was really no different than the typical Canterlot noble."

"Let me guess, you're going to try to tell me that humans aren't so bad after all?"

"Mmmmaybe~"

The two of you walk away from the town hall, following the directions that the woman gave you as you do so.

"I never said all humans are bad, just that they are, on average, not as upstanding as ponies. Trust me, Tia, once you've started learning about things like wars and racism, you might start to rethink that."

"Oh? Those don't sound all that different than the wars Equestria has been engaged in with the old Changeling Hive or the hatred between the three ponykinds prior to their unification."

"And yet, Equestria hasn't been at war or spread hatred among the ponykinds in hundreds of years, now, has it? You're giving humans too much credit."

Celestia's expression grows dark as she looks at the ground.

"You say that like it's been easy to ensure that."

"I... what?"

"Do you have any idea how many close calls there have been? The amount of work I've had to personally put in to ensure that we don't end up in another war, or that some petty squabble in a small town doesn't turn into a full-blown conspiracy? Not every pony is the pinnacle of morality like you seem to think, Anon! You have no idea the mistakes that we, that I, have made."

Her tone is serious, something you don't hear often. Her voice makes chills run down your spine, and you realize that you've probably been barking up the wrong tree.

"I... Tia, I didn't mean to imply-"

"It's fine."

Between her tone and the way she cut you off, you can tell that it is very much not fine. Oh dear, what do you even say after that?

"...W-well, the library is just up ahead. Most libraries nowadays have a computer for public use. Would you like to try out the internet a bit before we move on?"

"...Yeah, there are some things I'd like to look into."

"Hehe, cooooool..."

As the two of you enter the library, things are much more tense than you were expecting. With any luck, between the books and the internet, the two of you will be able to formulate a plan on what to do next.

You just hope that this newly formed rift between the two of you doesn't begin to grow.