“So the trigger sets off a chemical explosion that propels a small piece of metal out of the barrel at really high speeds so it can poke holes in things and hopefully kill them,” Rob concluded. Beside him, Jenny nodded in agreement.
This was a major difference between people and ponies. Death and killing were talked about casually, and ways were constantly sought to improve the quality of both. Rarity had decided to ignore that as best she could and just focus on the hardware. Arms crossed, she stared at Jenny and Rob. “How does poking holes in things help me?”
Jenny shrugged. “I thought Princess Celestia said you were supposed to learn. We’re teaching you what we know.”
It was true that Rarity’s objective was to find out more about the planet she had been assigned, but she wasn’t sure that this small group of people was the best to be taking lessons from.
“Well, anyone besides us would probably freak out about you being from another planet,” said Rob, hearing her thoughts.
Rarity glared at him. “I wish you would stop doing that.”
“I can’t turn it off.” He sighed. “Look, you don’t have to cooperate if you don’t want to, but the alternative is sitting in your room and doing nothing.”
Rarity sighed theatrically and threw up her hands. “I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“I think it would be more interesting for you if we focused on what you’re good at,” suggested Jenny.
Rarity thought. “I suppose my advantage over the two of you would be magic.”
Rob nodded. “I understand that you’re especially good at TK.”
It took a moment for Rarity to remember that what he meant. In Equestria, telekinesis was so common that it was rarely talked about and infrequently referred to by name.
“I suppose that’s correct,” agreed Rarity. “But how does that help with firearms?”
Jenny looked at Rob. “Compensating for muzzle rise, do you think?”
He grinned. “Or curving bullets like in that movie.”
Rarity looked back and forth between the two of them. “I’m confused.”
“Nothing a little range time can’t cure.” Jenny smiled. “Let me demonstrate. I’m better than Rob.”
He scowled. “You’re better at everything.”
“Well, not everything. Poker, for example.”
Rob rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I could be on the road meeting interesting people and winning money by gambling, but instead here I am in an underground government facility with a vampire teaching a unicorn how to shoot.”
Jenny grinned and picked up a weapon from a nearby table. It was a rather large one, but in her hands it seemed rather light. She stepped over the firing line, loading a magazine.
“Hearing protection,” advised Rob. Rarity pulled on a pair of earmuffs just before the assault rifle began firing. It seemed terribly loud, a sound magnified by reverberation off the solid walls. However, in seconds it was over.
There were exactly thirty brass casings scattered across the floor. Rarity wasn’t sure why she noticed that. Was it her natural tendency for precision? The motorized carrier finished returning Jenny’s paper target. All the flying bullets had made thirty neat little holes arranged in a perfect circle.
“Showoff,” said Rob.
Without acknowledging his comment, Jenny turned to Rarity. “Your turn.”
Rarity had no idea what the gun weighed. It wasn’t truly heavy, but holding it up in a firing position for more than a few seconds at a time was tiring. After a few basic instructions and some safety precautions, she was told to go ahead.
It felt very lonely standing on the firing line with Rob and Jenny behind—far behind—her. Rarity grimaced, both in anticipation and because her muscles were beginning to hurt from leaning forward into the weapon like she had been instructed. The gun sights were simple pieces of metal, yet Rarity wasn’t completely sure she understood how they worked. She lined them up as well as she could and inched her finger forward to find the trigger.
The weapon going off was even louder and more jarring than Rarity expected. The recoil was not very powerful, but pushed her back a little because she hadn’t been bracing for it. If she wasn’t leaning forward, it would have been worse.
To her incredible surprise, a hole had appeared in the target. It was not near the center, but that was still more than Rarity had been expecting.
Rob stepped up beside her and clicked something on the side of the weapon. He winked at Rarity and stepped away again. Shrugging, she raised it to her shoulder again.
This time, instead of one shot she got all of them. The muzzle of the weapon flipped upwards while still spitting fire and Rarity thought that if it continued the gun would probably go flying out of her grip. Still getting used to having hands, her first instinct was not to release the trigger, but to grab the barrel of the weapon with magic and keep it pointed away from her.
As the last round in the magazine was fired, Rarity let go of the gun and stepped away. It seemed dangerous to let it fall, so she left it hanging there in midair. Jenny grabbed it and shot a look at Rob. “Maybe we should practice with something that doesn’t have full-auto capability.”
“I think that might be enough for today,” Rarity stammered.
“What if we train you on something a little more docile?” suggested Rob. He showed Rarity a smaller weapon that looked like it would fit comfortably gripped in a single hand. It came with a holster that had clips on one side.
While ponies typically did not wear trousers, and therefore had no need for anything to hold them up, Rarity had been advised to wear a belt that morning. She now realized why as Rob fit the holster to it. He checked it and nodded. “This is a training holster. It’s supposed to be loose so you learn to draw without getting the gun hung up on anything. If you don’t do it right, the holster pops off your belt.”
“It seems rather heavy,” noted Rarity. “Almost like it throws my whole body out of equilibrium.”
“Let’s balance it out, then,” said Jenny, clipping another gun to her other side. Rarity stared skeptically at the handgun resting on each hip like some sort of strange cutie mark.
“What’s a cutie mark?” asked Rob.
“Hmm? Oh, it’s a physical representation of each pony’s special talent. Mine was three diamonds. It represented my ability to find and use gemstones to create pleasing aesthetic arrangements, particularly with clothing.”
Rob and Jenny stared at her. Rarity could understand their incomprehension. She’d certainly learned about many things so far that had no basis in anything she knew before. It was nice to turn the tables for once.
“So all of you had one specific thing to be good at?” asked Jenny.
“Well, one outstanding thing. That doesn’t mean a pony couldn’t be multitalented.”
“Were there any with multiple cutie marks?” Rob questioned.
“Well, not usually. Special talents are special for a reason.”
“Reminds me of a Heinlein quote.” Rob rubbed his chin in thought. “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Er, not to imply that you’re some kind of insect—”
“I understand,” Rarity interrupted tersely. “Could we get back on topic?”
After some more practice, and no further incidents of full-auto, Rarity was beginning to better grasp the fundamentals. She appreciated that the goal of the practice was precision, and that there would always be room to improve.
Training stopped for lunch. Veronica had gone to get something from a restaurant in town. She returned with several small white boxes.
“You’re seriously going to serve a guest takeout?” complained Morgan, gesturing to Rarity.
“It’s Thai, not Chinese,” answered Veronica.
He nodded. “Oh, that’s different.”
Rarity saw that many of the dishes contained rice and vegetables. Everything smelled interesting. It was certainly more exotic than the eggs she’d had for breakfast.
Speaking of eggs and chickens, she had noticed that Earth seemed to be almost the same in appearance as her home planet, with only a swapped dominant species. Despite that, there were still huge differences. For example, the small grey lumps that Rarity discovered in the fried rice.
Rarity spooned one up from her plate. “What’s this?”
“Pork,” answered Rob.
Setting the spoon down carefully, Rarity looked around the table with disapproval. “I would have appreciated a warning that you were serving meat.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were vegetarian,” said Veronica.
“All ponies are vegetarian.”
“Now that you’re not a pony, is there a problem?” asked Bear from the end of the table.
“Well, not biologically, but…”
“Surely something in your world eats something else?” piped up Jenny.
Images filled Rarity’s mind of Fluttershy feeding fish to some of her animals and Applejack raising pigs that would eventually end up in griffon restaurants. Rob opened his mouth to comment, but she shot him a glare.
“And aren’t you here to learn about new things?” asked Morgan.
Rarity looked around. “Are you all trying to peer-pressure me into eating this?”
“Is it working?” asked Veronica.
“No! I just…” Rarity sighed. “I’d like to think about it, if that’s all right.”
None of them troubled her after that. Rarity picked out everything that wasn’t meat. It all tasted new and interesting, but she noticed that a significant portion of her meal was going to waste uneaten.
After the meal, Rarity spent time with Morgan learning about forms of human magic. It seemed that it was more of an exterior art, rather than unicorn magic that naturally came from within. Some of the little rituals and items Morgan used reminded Rarity of zebra spell casting.
Other than her telekinesis and signature gem-locating spell, Rarity did not have a wide magical repertoire, nor had she ever spent much time practicing it. She was a dressmaker, after all, not a student like Twilight Sparkle.
In that respect, Morgan was more adept. He was able to do, or figure out, a wide range of spells and charms, even if he didn’t have the raw power or telekinetic aptitude that Rarity could so easily manage.
She was even learning to deflect most of his profanity. It seemed that it was easier to ignore it than try to change him.
“So what do you know about the history of magic on this planet?” asked Rarity. It sounded like something Twilight would say, and therefore was probably a good way to complete her mission of learning.
“I’m not a historian, although I can hook you up with someone who might be able to help.” Morgan shrugged. “I guess it’s just one of those things that stretches out into the distant past to a time before written history.”
Rarity frowned. “The other day when you were describing the results of magic ‘going public’ you mentioned some very unpleasant things. Witch burning and apocalypse.”
“Well, worldwide catastrophe might be a little optimistic, but there’s a historical precedent for that other one.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “They burned witches? Good heavens. Was this an isolated incident? Did they burn anything besides witches?”
“More witches?” Morgan briefly smiled as if remembering a private joke. “Well, I’m not sure if any of the people that were burned actually happened to be witches or not, but the fact that the public was willing to do something like that to the accused shows that the supernatural community should probably stay covert.”
Rarity was beginning to realize what people were capable of. There hadn’t been magic-based discrimination in Equestria since, well, since there was an Equestria. Rarity remembered such racism from the Hearth’s Warming Eve play, but since all tribes of ponies had joined together there hadn’t been nearly as much of that.
On the other hand, Rarity now decided that perhaps magic shouldn’t be a public thing here after all.
“So how does this affect your family?” asked Rarity. “Do they know?”
Morgan’s face flashed red and the way his mouth snapped open angrily made Rarity unsure if he was going to shout or go for her throat. She never got to find out as the door opened and Veronica said, “Hey Rarity, I have something to show you.”
Jumping at the chance to escape, Rarity quickly left, rushing ahead of Veronica’s long stride. The tall woman frowned. “What’s with you?”
“I think I may have asked the wrong question.”
“His family?”
Surprised, Rarity asked, “How did you know?”
“I didn’t, I just know that’s something Morgan doesn’t respond well to.” Veronica shrugged. “I’ve seen him wear a wedding ring sometimes. The only thing I know for sure is that he’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Utah.”
Rarity frowned. The previous day when Rob was asking about cartoons, Morgan said something like I had a daughter. She wasn’t sure whether that meant a daughter had been born to him and his wife, or if it meant that he didn’t have a daughter anymore.
“I hope I won’t get into trouble asking about your family,” said Rarity.
“Not much to tell,” answered Veronica. “I talk to my parents and brother when I can. I’m not married, but there’s plenty of time. I haven’t been out of college very long.”
The subject changed as they entered Rarity’s room. She spotted a sewing machine that had been set up on a small table opposite the bed. Squealing with delight, she ran her hands over it.
“Well, that was a little more enthusiastic than I expected, but I’m glad you like it,” Veronica laughed. “You said fashion was your business, so I figured you could use a hobby while you’re here.”
“Thank you so much. I know just what I’m going to do with it. No offense dear, but you look like you could use some help with the fit of your garments.” Rarity seized her sleeve to demonstrate.
“You don’t have to do that,” said Veronica, trying to brush away Rarity’s hand.
“Oh, but I insist! How soon can you get me everything in your wardrobe?”
Veronica’s mouth dropped open. “Uh…I suppose I could bring it by. Before you get started on that, though, you have something else to do. The big bad wolf wanted to see you.”
Rarity frowned. “Why do you call her that? Bear seems very nice to me.”
“It’s not about her attitude, it’s about combat effectiveness. When she wants to be, she’s pretty much the deadliest person I’ve ever met. And a werewolf.”
“Oh.” Rarity nodded. “I suppose I shouldn’t keep her waiting, then.”
After making Veronica promise to drop off her clothing, Rarity made her way to Bear’s office. It was amazing how immune she was becoming to supernatural surprises that kept coming her way. She realized that this was how everyone around her lived all the time, but for Rarity it was rapidly becoming the new normal.
Opening the door, she said, “I heard you wanted to see me?”
“Sure, come in.” Bear gestured to a chair. “How are things so far?”
“I’m adjusting,” said Rarity modestly.
“Any questions?”
Rarity thought for a moment. “How did you get such an ill-fitting moniker?”
Bear laughed. “Actually, the name came before the condition. I don’t remember my parents very well, but I think they must have been kind of weird.”
Rarity laughed politely. “So, I was told that you wanted to see me?”
Bear’s face changed, becoming more serious. “We have a few new pieces of information about the attack yesterday. I’m hoping you can help me with it.”
She laid a folder on the desk and opened it.