//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Mages Journey // by LunarLocket //------------------------------// “Surprise!!!” Connor had to suppress what would have probably been the most girly scream in his life at the sight of a pony with a smile that seemed to be bigger than her head and a mane that looked way too similar to cotton candy to be coincidental. “So?! what do you think?!” Pinkie asked. He looked around the library in awe at how he was just in the backyard for just a few hours and somehow this pink pony had set up this astronomical amount of party decorations without him hearing a sound on the outside. There was confetti everywhere and streamers hung like waterfalls from the bookshelves. There was a large banner hanging in the middle of the library’s main room that said ‘Welcome to Equestria Connor!’ in large multi colored letters. He was awestruck to say the least. He turned back to Pinkie with a grin. “I love it pinkie!” He exclaimed with a smile. “GREAT! NOW THE PARTY CAN START!” She happily screamed as she ran of to some unknown location. Connor turned to Twilight. “She set all this up in a just a few hours?” He asked, still in awe. “Of course, she’s Pinkie Pie. She could have set this up in half an hour if she wanted to.” He took one last look around the room before looking at the large crowd that had gathered in the library, most of which were staring at him with looks that ranged from curiosity to disgust. One pony in particular seemed very eager to meet him. It was a pony that looked very similar to the one princess that he spoke to when he arrived. The difference was that this one was a dark blue and had a mane that looked like an entire galaxy was contained within it. He felt to see if its magic power matched the one he met before. He was absolutely astounded by the amount of power that this being held. If he thought the first was powerful this one was just outright terrifying. “HELLO ALIEN! WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO MEET YOU! OUR SISTER WOULD NOT LET US SEE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED!” Connor felt like the alicorn’s voice was going to blow him across the library. He was about to say something when Twilight stepped forward. The blue alicorn covered her mouth in a way that made her look like a child saying a curse word around their parents. “We. I, am sorry Twilight.” She turned to Connor. “Hello alien. I am Princess Luna and I am very excited to meet you.” She held out a hoof clad in a silver shoe. Connor knelt and kissed the hoof. “It is an honor, princess.” Luna looked at him with a smile then turned to the rest of the partygoers. “See! Even the alien knows the proper way to respond to royalty!” she said with an angry looking smirk to the crowd. Connor turned to Twilight. “Is this something I should know about?” “I’ll tell you later.” Luna turned back to Connor. “So, alien, I never did get your name.” “I’m Connor.” “Well Connor, it has been a pleasure meeting you and I will leave you to enjoy the rest of the night. Don’t forget to introduce yourself to everypony!” She said as she walked away. Connor looked around at the sea of ponies now staring at him. He let out a nervous laugh, not really sure how to respond to everypony looking at him. Twilight seemed to see his distress and step forward. “This is Connor. He is from another world. we are not entirely sure how he got here. If you would like to introduce yourself to him, you are free to do so tonight.” Connor looked at her with a small smile. ‘She sounds like a teacher lecturing students’ He snickered to himself as she finished her small speech. Whatever she said that Connor was too lost in thought to hear seemed to calm the crowd and they went back to enjoying their night. Connor looked over to twilight and mouthed a thank you to Twilight. She gave a small smile and went off to chat with her friends. Connor looked around and saw a blue pony with a bright pink mane looking at him with curiosity, her head tilted slightly to the side. He snickered to himself and walked over to her. “Hi, I’m Connor. What’s your name?” “I am Lotus.” She said in an accent that Connor swore he heard somewhere before. “Nice to meet you Lotus, what do you do around here?” “I run Ponyville’s finest spa. I give massages, run the baths, provide aromatherapy, things of that sort. Also, not to be rude but why do your, hooves, look like that?” He gave a small laugh. “These aren’t called hooves, they are called hands.” “Hands hmm?” She stared at them very closely, as if trying to take them apart with her eyes. Connor got a little uncomfortable and decided that he would go and talk to somepony else. “Well, it was nice meeting you Lotus.” He said as he slipped away. After a few hours passed he began to feel very tired as he looked out and saw that the crowd had thinned quite a lot. He took this as his chance to go talk to Twilight. “Hey Twilight, I’m a little tired. Could you point me to where I’m sleeping while I’m here?” he asked with a yawn. She turned to him and smiled. “Sure Connor. Your room is just right up these stairs.” She gave a cute yawn as she walked up the stairs and pointed to a room to the right of the steps. “You’ll be staying here. I hope you like it.” “Thanks Twi. Good night.” He said sleepily as he walked into the room and collapsed in the bed that was much too small for him and passed out. Twilight’s view As the last of the guests finally left Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a large cushion. ‘I’d better follow Connor’s lead. It is getting pretty late.’ She thought to herself as she groggily pulled herself up to walk to her bed. She stopped outside Connor’s room and walked inside to check on him. His legs were hanging over the edge of the bed. the sight made Twilight snicker to herself. She moved over to his face and saw that he had a small scar that ran down his left eye. She made a mental note to ask him about that when he woke up. She suddenly found herself fascinated with how he looked. He was so... different from anything she had ever seen before. “You know, where I come from it’s considered strange to stare at someone while they sleep.” Connor said without even opening his eyes. Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when he said that. “ imsorryijustwantedtogetacloserlookatyouand-” “Twilight relax. Just go get some sleep.” he said calmly as he rolled over. Twilight just walked out without a word and lied down in her bed, still in shock. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. Connor woke up to the smell of cooking food in his nose. This smell immediately began its war with his desire to sleep in his suddenly much more comfortable bed. The assault was furthered when his ears joined the fight as Twilight called him down to the kitchen for breakfast with a singsong voice. He eventually realized it was a fight he could not win and just got up. He walked down to the kitchen and sat down at the table. as twilight brought over a plate of eggs and set it in front of him. Connor ate whatever was on the plate like his life depended on it while Twilight looked at him with some mix of amazement and horror. As he finished with his plate he looked across the table at twilight who was maybe three bites into her food. “Do you always eat like this?” “Only in the mornings. I’m always too tired to care about manners so I must apologise in advance for all future mornings.” “Ok well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about last night.” “What about it?” “I just wanted to apologise. I didn’t mean to come across as creepy. I just got curious and wanted to see what you looked like up close.” She said with a small sniffle as her head lowered. “I’m sorry Connor.” “It’s really not something to worry about Twilight. There is nothing wrong with curiosity. That is how we find out more about things.” “Really?” She said, looking much happier than she did just moments ago. “Really. Now I’ve got a question for you.” “Ask away!” she said eagerly. “Where can I look for work here? I’d like to pull my own weight around here if I’m going to stay with you.” “You do know you’ve only been here for two days right?” “I still don’t want to just sit around doing nothing all day.” “Well alright. Your best bet should just be asking around at the local shops to see if anyone is hiring.” “Thanks Twilight. I’ll be back later today, hopefully with a job!” “Bye Connor!” Connor walked out of the library with a newfound sense of purpose. He felt as though he could take on the world at the moment as if nothing could stand in his way. After leaving his fifth rejection, this time at the store for quills and sofas Connor was feeling pretty pissed. ‘Why is there a store that sells two completely unrelated items like that? Even more strange than that was that it was the store owner’s special talent! Who’s damn special talent is selling two completely unrelated things?!’ Connor was too wrapped in his mental tirade to notice a familiar face walking his way. “Hello Connor!” Lotus said as she walked up to him. hearing this was enough to snap Connor out of his thoughts. He looked up, smiled and waved to her. “Hello Lotus.” “I saw you walking out of several stores today looking kind of frustrated. Is something wrong?” “Yeah, I’ve been looking for a job and I’ve been kicked out of two stores and the other three weren’t hiring. It’s kind of upsetting.” “Why didn’t you just come to my store first dear? I’ve been looking for a new masseur in my spa and I was wondering if those hands of yours were good at it.” She said with a somewhat creepy smile. “I’d love to give it a shot but I have no idea how to give a massage.” “That’s alright, I’ll show you how!” her smile seemed to get bigger with each sentence. “Well, alright.” No sooner did he finish his sentence then she began shoving him towards the spa. He was shoved into a building and the second he entered he was amazed again at how this world’s buildings seemed so small on the outside but are somehow much larger on the inside. he looked left and saw the entrance to the baths and to the right was the way to the massage tables. “This is a really beautiful spa you have here.” Connor said in admiration. “So when am i going to learn how to give a massage?” he asked. “In just a moment dear.” Lotus turned to a different side of the shop. “ALOE!” A pony that looked almost exactly alike Lotus walked into the room. “Yes Lotus?” “I’ve found our new trainee.” Aloe clapped her hooves together in joy.  “Well then. Let’s get to work.”