Trevinder brought nothing to the Bureau except the clothes he stood up in. Even his beloved book of recipes was left behind. He hoped his mother would be able to make use of it.
With the fatalistic practicality he'd learned from his father, Trev mourned his parents as dead. In a sense, they were, as he learned from his Equestrian studies. He found it hard to believe that everything his parents believed in–everything–was wrong. Humans were machines of meat, driven by electrical impulses which ceased when the flesh expired. No afterlife. No eternal soul. No God.
It went against everything he had always been taught, but the proof was undeniable. So he mourned his parents, his community, his whole world, the planet itself…and then he let it go.
Trev threw himself into his new studies with his accustomed zeal. He also assisted in the cafeteria, helping make the bland fare more palatable, incorporating ingredients as they arrived from the new, waiting world. Actual wheat, grown from the ground and milled by hand (well, by hoof). Fresh grown fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices he'd only read about. He became the maestro of mealtimes, the darling of the dining area. He was teased that his ponification should be deferred so that he could continue his contributions while he still had hands. His habitual, merry response: "Hooves can cook, too!"
He made many new friends, among them a bubbly, flower-loving lavender pony named (what else?) Lilac. She became his taste tester, offering helpful suggestions on new recipes, with a discerning palate and unbridled enthusiasm. Her prance of delight in response to his successes always made him laugh. So did her sympathetic, soulful gazes when she had to give even the tiniest critique: "Maybe a bit more salt" or "That's an awful lot of oregano!"
The day before Trev's Conversion, Lilac came into the dining hall at a full gallop, dodging the dispersing members of the breakfast crowd. "TREV! (excuse me) TREV, DID WE (oh i'm sorry i'll help you pick that up in a sec) DIDN'T WE GET (oops, my bad)--" She skidded to a stop right in front of him as he came around the counter to meet her. Her voice dropped to a stage whisper that she must have thought no one could hear (she was wrong). "Didn't we get some apples in today?"
"We did, but–"
"Wahoo!" Lilac jumped so high she almost turned a somersault in midair. She landed with a clatter on her front hooves, then her rear hooves clopped behind her on the linoleum tiles. "I just talked with one of the newfoals to be an applicant I mean her name is Tib and she's going to have lunch with me and she's really really nice but kind of sad and I think a little nervous and I want to give her a taste of Equestria to make her feel better so can I get a couple of apples for our lunch please please pleeeeease?" She gasped in the breath she hadn't taken during her spiel, and stood waiting with as much patience as she could manage, which wasn't much. Her impossibly brilliant blue eyes pleaded with him. She was dancing on the tips of her hooves in eager anticipation.
We're out of apples. The breakfast crowd gobbled them all up.
Trev was trying to come up with a diplomatic way to crush Lilac's hopes when he remembered that not all the apples were gone. Ms. Harshaw had slipped him one of the very first off the top of the crate, big and round and rosy, with a caution not to show it around. For all your hard work, she'd said with a wink.
He'd been waiting for the breakfast crowd to disperse so he could sneak up to the roof and eat the precious gift in peace, untroubled by any number of applicants begging for just one little bite…but he couldn't look Lilac in the face and tell her no.
Without a word he reached under the counter and held up the apple so only she could see it. Lilac squealed with delight. (The few stragglers left paid no attention. They were used to Lilac by now.)
"Don't show it off," he cautioned. "Everyone's going to want it."
"I know…" Lilac's ears drooped briefly, but she perked right back up. "But I have to save it for Tib! I'll hide it and wait at the table for her."
Trev laughed. "Lilac, it's three hours till lunch!"
"A good friend is worth waiting for!" Lilac took the apple in her mouth. "Fankf, Treb. Oopf, I bit it, fo I can't gib her fe whole apple…well, we can fplit it, right?" She trotted away with her prize, making no attempt to conceal it. Fortunately the caff was empty now, except for the workers, who'd had their first crack at the apples this morning.
Trev chuckled and shook his head. He'd made one pony happy, and through her he could make a newcomer feel more welcome. That was worth giving up the apple.
Mostly.
Trev's cafeteria duty ended with prepping for the midday rush, but he decided to come back around noon, blending as unobtrusively into the gathering crowd as he could. Lilac hadn't described this Tib person; he knew nothing at all about her except that Tib was female, and was supposed to join Lilac for lunch. He was certain to miss her coming in, so he tried to keep an eye on Lilac's table, hoping she would give some sign.
Did she ever!
Suddenly Lilac began bouncing up and down, grabbing so much altitude Trev expected her to hit the ceiling at any time.
She didn't, but she certainly could see over the crowd. "Tib!" Bounce. "Over here!" Bounce. "I saved you a seat!"
Trev saw a tall, skinny girl about his own age (well, maybe a bit older) carrying a tray to the table. Beyond her height and a bush of curly brownish hair, there wasn't much remarkable about her, but she looked nice enough, he supposed. As nice as anyone gets nowadays, anyhow.
Lilac held up most of the conversation. Her banter was charming as always, and at one point Tib stifled laughter. She seemed embarrassed by it. Trev got the idea that Tib didn't laugh often. But Lilac didn't mind a bit.
When she brought out the apple with a flourish, Trev had to hold himself back. It would be so easy to just meander past the table, have Lilac introduce him to her dining companion, and of course he would be offered a nibble of their shared prize…
No. A gift must be given with both hands. It wouldn't be right to expect anything back. Trev contented himself with watching the pair, human and pony, as they ate his offering.
When Tib went and hugged Lilac, Trev smiled. Surrendering the apple had been worth making two others happy.
***