//------------------------------// // Stories // Story: Another World: Discovering the Unknown // by Zen //------------------------------// 8: Stories Zen fought the urge to get out of bed the next morning, but the alarm he had set made it impossible to avoid. Rolling over he shut the device off and threw the blankets off. He changed into some fresh clothes and headed out to the hallway, deciding to let his companions sleep in a little bit longer. After a quick check in the mirror to make sure everything looked decent enough, and wincing at the bruise again, Zen went straight to the computer and composed a quick response to James’ email before logging out. He flicked through several channels on the flat screen and found nothing of interest to watch. There wasn’t anything in the kitchen to eat so he had to wait to get breakfast, but he didn’t mind that much. Zen pulled out some headphones from his backpack and plugged them in before playing some music while he browsed through his list of games to play. Eventually he found one and began to play while keeping an eye on the clock. But before too long he heard the sound of a door opening and hooves on the carpet. He looked up and saw Twilight emerge from the bedrooms. “Morning.” He greeted her. “Good morning.” Twilight replied with a smile. “Are you ready for today?” “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Zen pulled out one of the ear buds so he could hear better. “You know when and where exactly we’re supposed to meet up with Dr. Nyl?” Twilight nodded. “Two p.m. in her office on the third floor of the Science Department office building.” “Excellent. So that means we’ve got the entire morning to kill.” “Then what will we do until then?” Rainbow asked. Twilight thought for a second. “Hmm…well it occurred to me that you, Zen, know quite a bit about Rainbow and myself, but I at least know next to nothing about you other than what you’ve described in relation to your mission.” “Yeah.” Rainbow added. “You haven’t spoken too much about your life before coming here other than why you left Earth.” Zen grinned. “Well I can see where this is going. Let’s go find a coffee shop or something and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Down in the hotel lobby they received directions for a café just down the street from a clerk and towards the café they went. Rainbow and Twilight idly chatted about some adventure they had been on together in Equestria. Zen opted to walk silently and let them talk while he admired the scenery. He also made an effort to memorize the various shops along the short walk. Once they arrived at the café Rainbow and Twilight found a table near a corner of the building and Zen went up to the counter to get himself and his friends something to drink. A minute later he sat down at their chosen table and he passed out a coffee to Rainbow and Twilight before taking the final beverage, a soda, for him. “So.” Zen stated, taking a sip from his drink. “What would you like to know about me?” Twilight set down her cup using her magic and cleared her throat. “I’d like to know about your life back on Earth, in detail.” Zen raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?” Rainbow looked at him funny. “What, don’t wanna tell us after all?” Zen shook his head. “Not at all.” He took a quick drink. “It’s just that that topic is quite a broad one. Perhaps you’d like to narrow your question a bit?” “I know that humans don’t have cutie marks like Equestrians do, but would it still be fair to say that humans still have a tendency to seek careers in the one thing they like doing the most?” “When we get the opportunity to do so, yes.” “Did you ever get to do that before coming to Haven?” Zen took another drink and leaned back in his chair. “Long story short, not really. There’re three things that I like doing the most: hanging out with friends, listening to music, and traveling around. It’s almost impossible to make a career out of simply listening to music back home, and even here that’s not much of a career option as it is more of a hobby. The same goes for socializing with people. As for traveling around, I certainly did a lot of that during the last year I was on Earth, but none of it was for a career. Instead I would up doing odd jobs and short-term employment to make enough to just get by.” “Where did you travel to?” Rainbow asked. “All kinds of places. I traveled to a city called Las Vegas in the state of Nevada for a convention early on in the year, and then shorty after my twenty first birthday I went storm chasing across the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas befo-“ “Hold up.” Rainbow interrupted. “Storm chasing?” “Storm chasing.” Zen nodded. “Every spring and summer across most of America, violent and powerful storms develop. When this happens, there’s a certain population of daredevils like myself who love to go roaming across the nation in the hopes of finding and capturing these storms in photos and videos.” “Awesome!” Rainbow said. “Did you see anything?” Zen nodded again. “That year was my first, and currently only, chase. My chase partner and myself found ourselves in the path of a violent storm in the Kansan city of Wichita before heading into Oklahoma…and the next day something happened that I won’t ever forget.” “What happened?” Twilight asked. “We had just travelled through the Oklahoma capital of Oklahoma City when we spotted a rapidly developing storm just to our north that was headed right for the south end of Oklahoma City. We decided not to chase that storm because it was headed right for a major population center…and very quickly we learned that particular storm produced the tornado of the season. A powerful tornado ripped through the city of Moore, Oklahoma. It leveled neighborhoods and schools, killing two dozen people. The most chilling part of that storm, though, was that had we arrived where we first saw that storm half an hour later, we would have been caught right in that twister’s path.” “Oh my…” Twilight breathed, and Rainbow remained silent. “That season was terrible, with several powerful tornadoes hitting central Oklahoma and killing many people, including a famous meteorologist and fellow storm chaser.” “Why do you put yourself in that position?” Twilight asked. “We all have our own reasons.” Zen replied. “Some of us have a simple fascination for watching weather. This is my motivation for chasing. Others chase for scientific reasons, to gather data about storms and try and better understand how the form and why exactly they cause so much damage.” Twilight’s face brightened slightly at the mention of science. “How do you collect data from these storms?” “The most common way that I’ve seen chasers do this is by building a data probe that they try to stick in the path of a tornado. They hope that the probe survives and runs properly so that it can collect data, and when all is said and done, if they managed to position their probe correctly, they translate their data into sets that they can read and then use that data to help develop better warning systems, more sturdy buildings, and so on. The problem is actually getting a probe into a tornado. Since most chasers are only willing to chase certain kinds of terrain and have only so much technology to predict where a tornado is going, getting in position to place a probe without getting sucked into a tornado themselves is a highly dangerous task.” “I bet it’d be easier if humans had wings like these.” Rainbow spread her wings. “I don’t know how tornadoes in Equestria work, but back on Earth there are few weather phenomena more destructive than a tornado. I’ve seen reports of the occasional twister here on Haven but none of them compare to the raw power of an Earth tornado. Those who get close enough to see a tornado without getting caught in its path are lucky…those who get caught in its path and survive are even luckier. For the less fortunate, death is the usual outcome.” Rainbow folders her wings back up and remained silent. Zen cleared his throat and continued. “So yeah…storm chasing. Anyways, like I was saying I chased across the Great Plains before spending the night in a city in the state of Louisiana before heading home to Colorado to pack up for my excursion to Ohio with a friend. That trip to Ohio was a fantastic trip, one of the best I’ve been on. It was actually not long after that trip that we developed the device that is responsible for us all being here.” “But you never found employment that related to what you loved to do?” Twilight asked. Zen shook his head. “Not once.” “That’s too bad.” “Eh. I have a pretty decent life here on Haven though, so I can’t complain too much. I’ve got a pretty good place back in Crystal City, money’s not an issue for me anymore, and I’ve got friends to hang out with. Friends both new and old.” Zen nodded towards his equine companions. “So I can’t say that life for me right now is undesirable. But what about you two?” Rainbow sighed. “Well you know my story from before we met. Though now that I’ve found Twilight I think things will be much better.” Zen nodded and turned to Twilight, who smiled at Rainbow before speaking. “When I first arrived here things were…interesting. There were already established towns but most of them were still being finished. I found a place to stay around Harmony’s Point while I got back on my hooves and figured out what I was going to do with myself. In doing so I helped found and build the university here. During those years I had helped conduct a massive amount of research with Dr. Nyl regarding Haven and its connection between Equestria and Earth before I decided to move to Junction Park where things were a little bit quieter. I brought a fair number of books and articles with me when I left, and with those I was able to start the Emporium I run there. My inventory there has grown by nearly double, but it’s just barely enough to keep the store open. In fact most of my business comes from travelers going through Junction Park.” “How does that town survive?” Zen asked. “To be honest I’m not entirely sure.” Twilight replied. “But if I had to guess I’d say that if nothing big happens to improve Junction Park soon, I don’t think it’ll be able to financially survive for much longer.” “That’s unfortunate.” Zen commented before turning to Rainbow Dash. “What about you, Rainbow?” Rainbow blinked. “What about me?” “You have any interesting stories you’d like to share?” Twilight asked. “Hmm…” Rainbow tapped her hoof on her chin. “Well there was that one time I was in Lethean and nearly got mugged by that one guy. You wouldn’t believe it! It’s getting dark, I’m tired and just looking for a place to rest for the night. Eventually I found a nice looking tree branch to crash on for the night when this crazy stallion came out of nowhere and tried to fight with me! I got away from him with my awesome speed and cool moves though! I swear he must have been on something by the way he was talking and sputtering.” Zen had his eyebrow raised. “Really now?” “I swear it’s true!” Rainbow protested. “Yeah, I believe you.” Zen replied, rather unconvinced as he finished his drink. “Zen, would I lie to you?” Rainbow asked. “Maybe not, but would your ego lie to me?” Zen countered with a knowing grin. Rainbow had no words to say and Twilight only giggled. “I think he’s got you figured out, Rainbow.” She teased. Rainbow mumbled something into her cup of coffee and let it drop, and then a few minutes later they left the café. “Well what do we do now?” Zen wondered out loud. “We’ve still got a few hours to kill.” Twilight observed. “There’s some stuff I have to go gather and take care of before our meeting with Dr. Nyl, so I’m going to go now and meet up with you two at her office.” “Okay, see you later.” Zen said and watched Twilight trot off towards the campus. A moment after Twilight vanished out of sight Zen realized something. “We have no clue where this Dr. Nyl’s office is.” “Nope.” Rainbow replied flatly. “Oh well…just gonna have to ask once we get to the campus.” Zen looked around. “So, what do?” “I dunno.” Rainbow shrugged and looked around before looking skyward. “I might go fly around for a while.” “If you know how to get to the university then go for it. I’ll just meet you there later.” “Okay, catch you later!” Rainbow took off into the clear sky and quickly vanished from sight. Zen watched Rainbow disappear before thinking about what he was going to do next. He checked his watch and, noting the time, went off back towards the direction of the university. He never made it though, because along the way he discovered an outdoor mall and felt compelled to explore it. It didn’t take long for him to lose himself in the bustling activity of this mall. Street vendors and performers lined the wide pedestrian passage between rows of stores, each store filled with humans and ponies alike going about their business. When Zen noticed an unusual looking location he would briefly step in to check its wares. He found the Equestrian-based shops to be especially fascinating and took extra time examining the hoof-crafted objects but eventually would move on to the next interesting shop until he had made it a good ways through the mall. He refrained from buying any trinkets though, making note to come back by here when he had more time and more space to put stuff. Just as he was about to head back to the university, Zen thought he saw a familiar figure flying off in the distance. The figure vanished before he could get a good look though, but there was little doubt in his mind as to who it was. “Wha’cha staring at?” A voice said from behind, slightly startling Zen. Zen quickly turned around. “Oh Vinyl, it’s just you.” He said, mildly relieved. “Don’t do that.” Vinyl only laughed. “So, what’s got your attention so good?” Zen hadn’t realized how long he was staring off into the distance. “Oh, just thought I saw somepony I knew.” “Somepony I might know?” Vinyl asked, curious. “Depends, does the name Sprinter mean anything to you?” “Hmm.” Vinyl tapped a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment. “Nope. Not a thing.” “Ah. Doesn’t surprise me, to be honest. He never really cared for much in the way of music.” “Pity. I’m guessing Sprinter is a good friend of yours?” Zen nodded. “He was one of the first friends I made not long after I arrived here on Haven back when humans first discovered it. Got himself nailed by a rogue wave off the coast of Crystal City while he was wave-riding…kinda funny to watch actually.” “So he’s a pegasus then?” Vinyl ventured a guess. “Yup. He’s the kind of pegasus that likes to have fun and doesn’t take life too seriously, which is why the two of us get along so well.” “Sounds like my kind of stallion.” Vinyl commented. “Well if I happen to see him again I’ll be sure to introduce you.” Zen replied. “Though not long after the Haven government was officially set up he suddenly vanished for a few weeks. Came back and acted like it was nothing and refused to talk about it…he never was quite the same afterwards.” Vinyl blinked. “What changed?” Zen thought for a moment. “He was…he became more…passive? Disconnected? Something along those lines that I just can’t quite put my finger on. Nothing terribly different, though it’s still probably something I should be concerned about…ah who am I kidding it’s been years since that anyways.” “Years, huh? You really must have been among the first to come here.” “Believe me, as much as I like the place I came from I was desperate to escape it.” “At least you had a choice. All I know is one day I’m in Fillydelphia prepping for a set and then I’m here. At least when I got here things were already established, otherwise I would have gone crazy with the lack of anything at all.” “I know the feeling.” Zen nodded. “Well I’d love to chat more but I got things to do, ponies to meet, so I’ll see ya around!” Vinyl then trotted off into the crowd and disappeared, leaving Zen alone once more to his thoughts. Zen wandered towards the direction of the university, lost in his own thoughts. Something just wasn’t right to him. Sprinter had said that he was going to Lethean to find some other ponies before heading to Alliance for riot control, so what was he doing in Harmony’s Point? Lethean took several hours to get to even from the capital and even then the city itself wasn’t known for being small. Then there was the matter of the sudden behavior change after suddenly vanishing. Zen eventually came to the conclusion that it would have to be another mystery to solve at a later date and instead worry about his current mission. Zen checked his watch again and picked up the pace in earnest. He still needed to figure out where he was supposed to be. Muttering to himself about needing to pay attention to time better, he reached the university and began his search for the science building. “Zen!” Another voice called out Zen’s name as he was studying a campus map. Zen looked up and saw Twilight trotting towards him. “Just in time.” He said. “I was just trying to figure out where exactly we were supposed to be meeting up.” “Well there’s no need for that now, and everypony’s already there anyways so let’s go!” Twilight said and began to head off between some buildings. ‘Time to get some answers.’ Zen thought to himself as he followed.