Chapter 7: Tea With Twilight
Seth woke when the sun shone upon his face. He opened his eyes. For a moment, he was confused by the unfamiliar surroundings. Where was he? A few seconds later, he remembered. He had somehow been transported to Equestria. He rose out of the bed. For someone who had crossed to a new world, fallen a good fifteen feet, and passed out twice, he felt remarkably well rested. He was a little sore, but only a little. Seth stretched. After a bit of exploration, he found a small bathroom through one of the doors in the room. He found a towel and soap had been set out for him. Seth took a nice warm shower, scrubbing himself clean. After he finished, he combed through his hair with his fingers. Lacking a toothbrush, he rinsed his mouth out well with water. having completed his usual morning routine, he returned to the main room.
It was not a particularly big room, though it was easily two, maybe three times bigger than the size of his room in his apartment. The bed was across from the door, set to one side. There was a nightstand next to the bed, and a simple but elegantly crafted lamp sitting on top of it. Next to the window was a writing desk, though its height suggested it was meant for ponies and not humans. A wardrobe stood across from the bathroom door. The walls were painted a calming, pale yellow, with orange and white accents here and there. A few simple paintings depicting both day and night scenes hung on the walls. The only other thing of note was the empty fireplace mirroring the placement of the writing desk. Seth didn't know why, but he felt the urge to make the bed, as it seemed oddly out of place in the otherwise immaculately clean and organized room. He tugged the covers back into place then wandered over to the window. Outside, the sun was well over the horizon. Below, the city Seth had seen in his dream a few nights ago was laid out before him. In the sunlight, the marble almost seemed to glow, the purple and gold domes glimmered, and the flags gently stirred in a light breeze.
Looking down, Seth could see the forms of ponies going about their daily business. Their coats, manes, and tails could be found in every color imaginable. He wished he had his sketchbook and colored pencils. Instead, he went over to the writing desk. After some searching, he found a few sheets of paper and a small pencil. He sat on the floor, folding his legs "Indian style". He looked back out the window, then put the pencil to paper. He started with a cityscape drawing, making sure that he got the way the sun glinted off the domed buildings just right. Or as well as he could without actual colors. After he finished the cityscape,, he started to draw the scene he had seen laid out before him. From where his room was, the ponies below looked like insects. Bird's eye view pictures were not his strength. He didn't hear the door open, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a polite cough behind him. He dropped the pencil and turned around.
Twilight Sparkle was standing in the doorway. In front of her she levitated a tray laden with food and a teapot. She took half a step backwards at Seth's sudden movement.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said.
"It's alright," Seth said, sitting back down. Even sitting, he was able to look Twilight Sparkle in the eye.
"I-uh," she said, "The Princess sent me to bring you breakfast." she set the tray down on the writing table. She poured two cups of tea, and floated one to her own mouth. She took a quick sip and seemed to relax a bit. This close, Seth could see that she looked tired, like she had been up most of the night.
"Please, feel free to eat," she said, taking another sip from her cup of tea.
Seth turned his attention to the tray. There was a cinnamon bun on a plate, as well as a bowl of oatmeal and a big red apple. the apple was the best he had ever tasted, and the cinnamon bun he considered a rare treat. It had been a long time since he had eaten a proper breakfast; usually he just fixed himself a bowl of cereal in the morning. It wasn't until he finished eating that he noticed Twilight staring at him out of the corner of her eye.
Seth tried to think of something to say to break the silence. "So, uh, Twilight Sparkle," he began.
"Please, just call me Twilight," she said, "all of my friends do."
"Okay, Twilight," Seth continued. "I was wondering if you're feeling all right. you look really tired."
Twilight laughed slightly. "Well, I was up a good part of the night, she said, "I was in the Canterlot Archives, doing research."
"Research about what?" Seth asked, though he could probably guess the answer.
"Well, about humans," Twilight said. "But I couldn't find anything." She was visibly disappointed.
Seth cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, what do you want to know?" he asked, "I might be able to answer some of your questions."
Twilight's ears perked up. Her eyes almost literally sparkled as she stared at him with a big smile on her face. "Would you?" she said, "Really, truly? Because I have so many questions, like what is your world like? why do you walk on two legs? Who is the ruler of your world? And..."
"Please , one at a time," Seth said with a slight smile. "Although, I'm sure how well I can answer some questions."
For the next two hours, Twilight asked Seth question after question about humans, from history to culture, from average day to extraordinary events. Seth answered her questions to the best of his ability. He smiled to himself at the young unicorn's insatiable curiosity. She wanted to know everything about everything, staring at him with rapt attention, hanging on to every word he said. It was nearly noon when Twilight's questions ceased.
"Sorry," she said with a giggle, "I've kept you talking for hours with hardly a break."
"It's okay," Seth said, "I don't know what else I would have done with the time."
"If you say so," she said. "I have some things I need to do, but I'll bring back lunch in an hour or so."
Seth nodded, and the purple unicorn opened the door and closed it behind her. To be honest, he had barely noticed the passage of time. he looked out the window at the street below. There were more ponies walking through the streets than there had been earlier. Seth found a new sheet of paper, and started sketching. He found himself drawing a picture of Twilight. He tried to capture her curiosity in her pose, her eyes, her ears. His first attempt was only average, she he erased a few details and tried again, with better results. He smiled, pleased with the result. He started to grab a new sheet of paper, but then thought better of it. He only had three sheets of paper left. Instead, he started a new sketch in an unused part of the paper. He tried to draw a picture of Princess Celestia, but every time he started in on the details, he found himself frustrated. He couldn't seem to get it right. He sighed, and drew a faint X through the picture.
He shook his hand, massaging the wrist to relieve some of the tension that had gathered in the muscles. He had once gotten tendonitis because he had spent so much time drawing. Ever since then, he had learned to take breaks. Right now, he lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling while he thought. When Twilight returned, he would have to see if she was still free to talk. he was curious about the world of Equestria. He had only spent a few hours researching it on his computer back home.
Twilight returned around 12:30, arriving in a bright flash of light that startled Seth. She was levitating a new tray, this one piled with several sandwiches sliced into quarters. Though it was her method of arrival that surprised and interested him the most.
"How'd you do that?" he asked.
"Sorry, did I startle you?" she said, blushing slightly. "I was running late, so I teleported."
Seth stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head. He wasn't even going to try and understand how that worked. "So, Twilight," Seth began, "I was wondering if you're busy right now, or if I could ask you some questions."
"Of course you can," she said, setting the tray down on the writing desk. "The Princess asked me to keep you company while they made preparations." Her brow furrowed slightly, and Seth inferred that she would very much like to know what sort of preparations the two princesses were making. "Where do you want to start?"
Seth went over the list of questions he had formed in his head. He finally settled on one that seemed simple enough. "What is the tattoo on your flank?"
Oh, my cutie mark? It's a symbol of my special talent," Twilight said, glancing at the pink and white stars on her flank.
"a...cutie mark?" Seth said, more to himself then to Twilight.
"Yup," she said, "every pony gets one when they discover their special talent, the thing that makes them different from every other pony."
"So what is your special talent?" Seth asked, curious.
"Well, my special talent is magic," she said, trying to hide her pride, "Which is why Princess Celestia took me as her personal student."
"Really?" Seth said, intrigued, "that must be neat."
Twilight tried to keep the smile off her face, but failed. "Don't humans get cutie marks?" she asked, smile disappearing.
"Well, no," Seth said. "Our world is devoid of magic. Some humans never realize what their special talent is."
"Do you have a special talent?" Twilight asked.
Seth shrugged. "I'm pretty good at drawing," he said, "though there are people who are better than me."
Twilight looked down at one of Seth's sketches on the desk. Her eyes widened slightly. "This is really good," she said, holding it up in her magic. "When did you do this?"
"Earlier today, before you brought breakfast," Seth said. "It's not that good, I usually prefer to work with colored pencils."
Both ate in silence for a minute, before Seth asked another question. "So, why do the Princesses have both wings and horns?"
Twilight thought for a moment, and finally said, "They're alicorns. they are equal parts earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn. They have incredibly strong magic, In fact, Princess Celestia raises the sun at dawn, and Princess Luna raises the moon at night."
Seth nearly choked on that statement. "Really? Where I'm from, we have determined that the sun, moon, and stars move across the sky because the earth travels around the sun while rotating on it's axis, and other scientific stuff. In order to move the heavenly bodies, they would have to be essentially gods...er...goddesses."
Twilight stared at him for a moment, her expression serious. "They are," she said quietly, "or at least, very close to it."
Seth waited for an explanation.
Twilight went on to explain how alicorns were immortal, or very nearly so. She gave Seth a brief lesson in the history of Equestria, or what was recorded. She talked about the era before the Princesses, the reign of Discord, and the alicorn sisters' ascension to power. Seth listened as intently as her as Twilight had to him.
The two convered for several hours, sharing information about their respective worlds. In fact, neither of them realized how late it was until Seth looked out the window and saw the sun had started to set.
"Wow, is it that late already?" Twilight said. She stood up. I guess I'll go fetch supper then."
She vanished in a flash of magenta light, leaving Seth once again alone. he looked out the window again, wishing he had colored pencils to capture the majesty of the sunset.
When Twilight returned, she informed him that she couldn't stay and chat, as the Princesses had requested her presence. She left Seth with a freshly made garden salad, a bowl of soup, and a roll before she departed once again. Seth ate his dinner and watched the moon rise. He found it hard to believe that a pony, even an alicorn, could raise and lower the moon with magic. After a few hours of gazing at the night sky, he slipped into bed and went to sleep.