Time flew by as the mares regaled Blue with their many descriptions and stories of Ponyville, getting more than a few shared laughs and moments of awe. Sadly, all good things had to end as the sun started to set outside the library, the glimmering orange light catching Applejack’s attention first.
“Aw shoot, looks like Ah lost track of time. Should’ve been back at the farm hours ago, we got lots to get ready for the harvest and now gotta clean up them darn plunder vines.” She stood up from her spot, stretching out her legs and back until a loud ‘pop’ sounded, causing everyone to blink for a moment before she sighed with a smiled. “There we go. Be seein’ ya, everypony.” She tipped her hat and glanced at the stallion. “Don’t be a stranger, Blue. Come by the farm when ya got a chance, Ah always like to show off mah family’s hard work.”
He smiled back at her and nodded. “I’d love to see it, AJ. Have a good night.”
“I-I should go as well,” Fluttershy gently lifted herself up with a small flap of her wings. “My animals are probably getting hungry and they deserve a treat after all the commotion.”
“I feel like I could surely use a treat too!” Pinkie giggled, bouncing up on to her hooves. “I’ll go help the Cakes prepare some snacks for tonight and then I’m gonna start the preparations!”
Blue looked around as the girls all giggled back at Pinkie, sharing glances to one another as his head looked from one pony to the next. “I feel like I’m missing some context here.”
“Don’t worry, Bluey; you’ll find out soon enough~,” she replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows, more so than the newly made pony thought possible before she bounced to the front door. “There’s a lot to do in Ponyville, make sure to come see us all!”
“I concur, dear,” Rarity gently stepped off the couch, checking her mane briefly before smiling with a strong smirk. “Don’t let Twilight’s studious nature rub off on you during your stay. We’d love to see more of you.”
Twilight gasped with a pout at her friends as they all chuckled. “H-hey, I’m not that bad!” muttering an “anymore” under her breath as they all just grinned at her. Blue, for his part, was unsure of what was happening, but couldn’t help a small smile just seeing the dynamics playing out in front of him.
Eventually, he would stand and bow his head to them all. “I promise to come see you all as soon as I can. And thank you all so much. Not only for the name, but for giving me a chance.”
Rainbow flapped down from her cloud and gently buffed his shoulder with her hoof. “It was nuthin’, my guy. Nothing bad happened and you’re not exactly a monster of the week whose flank we had to kick.”
Blue couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Thank the Lord for that,” he chuckled with his eyes closed, missing the glances he got for a moment. “Six ponies coming at me with the powers you’ve told me about? That may be some fella’s thing, but it certainly ain’t mine.”
With a small chuckle coming from the others, they made their leave from the library, each giving one last farewell as they left, the door coming to a close after Fluttershy, leaving Twilight and Blue alone, the two glancing at each other as a silence settled.
After a few moments, Blue cleared his throat, catching Twilight’s attention. “Well, it is getting a little late like they said, so, you hungry?”
Twilight’s stomach answered for her, a loud gurgle echoing in the otherwise quiet building, getting a soft pink on her cheeks. “Yes, dinner would be great. I can go make some sandwiches if that’s alright. Unfortunately, I’m not all that great at cooking.”
“I’m not that good either,” Blue admits with a smile. “But I think a warm meal would do us some good with the day you’ve told me about and all of…” he motioned to his entire body, “this. So if you’d let me, I wouldn’t mind cooking something up. If you got some pasta, I’m pretty good at some spaghet,” he chuckled to himself before blinking.
With a tilt of her head, Twilight responded ahead of him, “I take it that was another of your weird trivia notes that you were left with?” With a nod as an answer, she gave him a gentle smile. “It’s alright. I can pick up on a few bits of ‘humanism’. Don’t be afraid to let them slip if they feel comfortable. And I do happen to have some pasta in the pantry, but I will not let you cook, alone at least. So if you know what you’re doing, I’ll be happy to help.”
Blue couldn’t help a smile forming on his muzzle in return. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll get the noodles and we can work on the sauce together while they cook.” The two shook hooves on it before Twilight led the way to her rather simple kitchen. The library housing itself was rather limited compared to the central business. The kitchen was barely more than ‘nette’, consisting of a large sink facing the back window, a built-in oven with a stove top, a pantry built into the far wall, and even a refrigerator, which Blue couldn’t help but comment on.
Twilight nodded. “It’s an older model, but works well. I did have to replace the crystal not long after I moved here, but that one has yet to run out, knock on wood.” She tapped her hoof on the log countertop with a soft giggle.
“A crystal huh? Guess that’s magic for ya,” Blue responded as he grabbed the necessary ingredients from the pantry while Twilight got out the pans and set the stove. “But hey if you have a fridge, I’m not complaining. Means there’s some modern amenities and I’m not stuck in the dark ages of knights and ‘ye olde mutton’. Though speaking of,” he glanced around the pantry for a moment before he looked back at his new landmare. “Ponies don’t eat meat, do they?”
As Twilight shook his head, the stallion sighed. “There are cases where a pony will eat another animal; pegasi are pretty fond of fish, but I don’t keep any on hoof. We don’t usually entertain and my family just don’t care for it.”
Blue nods his head in understanding. “At least it’s not too shocking. So do your family visit often? If you need me to be gone when they come by, just give me a heads up-”
He was interrupted as Twilight let out a sharp gasp as she put her hoof to her mouth, nearly dropping all the pans to the floor in the process. “Dear Celestia, I am so sorry! With everything happening, I completely forgot!” At his questioning glance, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself back down. “See, I don’t live here alone. I actually have my faithful assistant and my daughter living with me. I am so sorry I didn’t mention it earlier.”
The stallion found himself blinking a few times. “Your assistant and your daughter‽” He then hissed through his teeth as he started thinking of their current situation. “Oh Lord, I am so sorry if me being here puts you in a weird spot. I don’t wanna cause any trouble with an ex or anything.”
It was Twilight’s turn to blink before the dots were connected. “Oh no no, you’ve got it all wrong! I don’t have any special somepony, ex or otherwise. Nyx is adopted, she came into my life a few years ago, but that’s a whole story in and of itself.”
A silent “ohh” was made on his face as he started understanding the situation. “Ok, ok, sorry I jumped the gun there.” As the situation calmed, he brought over the ingredients and they started to properly cook. “Nyx, huh? A pretty name.”
“Thanks,” she said with a beam, putting the pot on to boil. “I came up with it from an old story I would read to her. It fit her quite well, so now she’s my Nyx.”
Blue smiled back at her beam. “And your assistant? What’re they like?”
“Oh, Spike? He’s a baby dragon, but even that’s a bit of a misnomer. He’s only a few years younger than me and since I hatched him, he’s practically family.” She then thinks for a brief moment. “No, not practically. He is family, like a little brother. Some seem to think we seem more like a mother and son, but I wasn’t the one that raised him. My parents and Celestia did a lot of the heavy lifting so it was more like we grew up together.”
He nodded along quietly, prepping the sauce ingredients while waiting on the water for the noodles. “That’s sweet, really. To think I’d be in a land of dragons though. They were like the biggest legends; everyone wanted them to be real, so bad on Earth.”
“Oh so that’s your planet’s name?” she asked with a spark of curiosity in her eye. “Our world is called Equus, while currently we’re the kingdom of Equestria. It’s the name of the entire continent too.”
“So Ponyville, Equestria, Equestria, huh?” he joked, getting the proper response of rolled eyes from Twilight, making him chuckle. “Unfortunately I don’t think I can quite parse where on Earth I was from. I can make out a few countries if I focus, but I can’t narrow them down.”
“It’s alright, no need to force it, really. I’ve read that memory loss can take some time to be undone, and you can stay here as long as you need to. We almost never use the guest room anyway.”
Blue smiled before responding. “Thanks, Twilight. I really appreciate it.” He took the time to look around the kitchen, taking in the wooden interior. “I think I already like it here. It’s quaint and simple. Plus, it’s a library and, while I can’t remember if it meant anything to me, I can feel those books calling to me. I bet there’s some great stories that ponies can tell that I’d love to read.”
Twilight felt a sparkle in her eye as she watched the stallion pour the noodles into the water, her magic squishing the tomatoes for the sauce. “I’d love to show you all of them! What are your favorite genres? I prefer nonfiction myself but I can easily get into an adventure or even a science fiction!”
She continued to list off genre after genre of books in the library, giving a comment to each with their strengths and weaknesses while Blue stirred the boiling pot with a soft smile, letting her go on for several minutes before she realized she was being stared at and sheepishly pulled her head back behind her wings.
“S-sorry. I just… really like books.”
He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a barking laugh, nearly falling over himself. Twilight continued to pout in shame before he could calm himself back down. “Oh, oh Lord I needed that!” He chuckled a little more before giving her a placating smile. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Twi. Everyone has their passions, right? One of yours seems to be books and that’s great! There’s always something for everyone in books. If what I’m feeling is right, I’m more of a fiction reader, with sci-fi calling to me. Though I’d happily take any suggestions you have, especially if you have any on magic and the creatures of Equestria. That’d certainly help me get used to things around here. Otherwise I’m gonna end up staring at your magic, and trust me, it’s taken a lot of restraint to not gape like a confused fish every time you just lift something.”
Twilight felt her cheeks get a little pink as he continued to speak, especially as he commented on her magic. “I’ll remember that, Blue. And I’d be happy to teach you about magic. You may not have a unicorn horn, but pegasi have their own unique magic. Like the cloud walking you saw Rainbow doing. And… thanks, for understanding.”
“Hey it’s no trouble at all. You have to put up with this after all,” he joked, getting a giggle in return as they continued cooking. Their respective tasks took their attention, Twilight stewing the freshly made sauce while Blue was working the noodles. Soon enough the smells of cooking had filled the kitchen as the two components were completed.
But then it all went wrong.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing, woman‽” Blue called out. Twilight froze in the place, staring at him in shock with the saucepan lifted in her magic just barely about to start pouring the sauce on to the freshly cooked noodles. “You put that back right now!”
Twilight frowned in response, narrowing her eyes. “I’m coating the noodles, of course! What else would I be doing? It’s how you make good spaghetti!”
“Nah nah nah,” Blue waved off, motioning his wings like they were palm facing hands. “You don’t coat the noodles; that’s a complete waste! You fill the plates and ladle out the necessary amounts of sauce on each dish!”
“It is not a waste! My mother would always pour the sauce right in so every noodle was coated to perfection with it! And don’t you dare say my mother was wrong,” she threatened, keeping her narrowed eyes.
“Oh I’m gonna say it,” he challenged, pushing his nose near hers with his own narrowed eyes. “It’s a waste of the sauce when you can save the leftovers for several dishes even after we’ve finished this batch of noodles!”
“Sauce them!”
“Servings only!”
The two ponies practically growled at each other before a new voice caught their ears with a clearing of the throat. Both heads turned in tandem, nearly cheek to cheek, to the entrance of the kitchen where a small purple dragon with green scales was looking at them both with question filled eyes. Next to him sat a deep black filly with a deep purple mane and tail as well as two, blue, cat-like eyes that gave the two adults the same look.
It was the dragon that would speak, sass dripping from his lips as he did. “Are we interrupting something?”