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// Day 4: Afternoon 
// Story: The Field Journal of U-Mos: Notes on Equestria 
// by Brony Tom 
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Day 4

After Moon left the room, I moved around and inspected the various furnishings that lay within.  Many were designed to open on hinges, revealing empty space inside.  I suspected that these were for storage, but I could fathom no guess as to what could possibly be intended for being stored here.
Aside from all the hidden extra space, there were several smooth mirrors in the room, though none of them could even hold a candle to my height.  There were several windows as well, overlooking a very organized courtyard filled with such colorful plant life that I was momentarily stunned.  
Past the flora, I could see the other side of the courtyard was a bright white wall, likely a type of limestone.  Several golden spires rose into the sky beyond them, leaving me curious as to what the spires might be intended for.
I pulled away from the window and was about to sit down when the door opened and the white winged-horned leader entered.  I greeted her with a bow and conveyed to her the question of what I might address her as, like Moon had asked me.
Where Moon had taken a moment to respond, this one answered without hesitation, saying something in her tongue and sending me an image of their planet’s sun in the sky.  My curiosity yearned to know more.  Were these three winged and horned ones leaders of a sky-worshipping religion?  Such would be a fascinating thing to encounter.
Sun asked me what my own name was, and I gave her the same response that I had to Moon.  Sun didn’t even try to pronounce “U-Mos”, which gave me a small amount of amusement; Sun and Moon seemed to be about as different as the heavenly bodies they represented.
She queried me as to whether or not there was anything I desired that they might provide for me, such as some food or drink.  At the moment, I felt it would be prudent to request only a little bit of sustenance, which I conveyed to her.  I also requested to see the purple one again, as I wished to break down the language barrier that continued to separate us.  Communicating via thoughts and ideas certainly worked well enough, but it was time- and energy intensive compared to the ease of the spoken word.
My host nodded in response to my two requests, and subsequently departed.  I settled down onto the soft floor to finally ponder some of the things I had been hoping to think on for the last day or so.
Foremost in my thoughts was the way that Moon had brought me here.  I had been so eager to see their technological prowess, but now that I looked back on the event I did not recall seeing any kind of portal or gate, or any technology at all.  Only her horn had given any indication of abnormal activity.
A sudden realization came to me, one that I am surprised I did not think of before now.  Each of them used their horns to produce various effects; therefore, this must be their technology.  I marvelled at how great their scientific prowess must be if they could harness such cybernetic enhancements to such a powerful degree.  
Indeed, powerful and fine-tuned as well, for Moon had transported us across dimensions without even opening a portal.  I began to question whether or not I was the more advanced of our two sides in this first contact.
However, this could pose a great boon to me as well.  With such easy access to the inter-dimension, I suspected that getting home to Aether might prove to be easier than I had initially feared it might be.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of the door opening once again, the smaller purple one entering the room.  I sensed from her an interesting mix of anxiety and excitement; I suspected that my request to see her personally must have had an impact on her.
She surprised me by lighting up her horn and speaking a brief word in my native tongue.
“U-Mos,” she said, pointing at me.  I nodded in affirmation and asked what I might call her.  She turned off her horn and spoke in her own language, and in her mind I glimpsed a picture of the sky at eventide.  I decided to simply call her Evening then, perhaps Eve for short.
I spoke in my language and pointed at her.
“Evening,” I said.  She lit up her horn and repeated the word back to me.  I couldn’t help but appreciate the quickness with which Eve picked up my tongue.
The two of us continued on in this fashion, each of us naming an object in our own language and repeating it back to the other.  Before I knew it, the sun was setting in the sky and Eve was panting with exhaustion, I suspected from maintaining her translating implant all day.  She turned to leave, but stopped at the door and turned to face me again.
“Farewell,” she said haltingly, “Tomorrow talk you more.”
I bowed.
“It would be my pleasure, Eve,” I said in her language, which I now knew they called ‘Equestrian’.  I should amend here that I tried to say this in Equestrian, for I had the same incomplete grasp of their tongue as Eve had of mine.  The translator module that I had and her own capabilities for translation certainly helped, but we still had to do much extrapolation to get other things correct.
I was pleased at the rapidity of our progress today; if events continued at this pace, I would be here for no more than a week.  That is what I hoped, at least.  Even now, I already knew that they called themselves Equestrians, I knew the names of many basic objects in their language, and even how to tell apart their genders.
There came a knock at the door, and I sensed an unfamiliar Equestrian female on the other side of the door.  I reverted back to using telepathy and feelings to convey that she was welcome to enter into my room.  I felt slight amusement at the surprise of the newcomer at my presence in her mind, but she admirably persevered through it and came in.  I felt curiosity strike me as I observed the small cart that this one pulled behind her, though I could tell by the smell of it that this was likely intended to be my supper for today.
Admittedly, I was slightly eager to sample some of the food that had been prepared here, but I needed to make sure that these dishes were as safe as the round fruits were.  I scanned over each one, and I was pleased to find that none of it contained any toxins or dangerous microbes.  I faced the one who had brought my food and spoke in broken Equestrian.
“Thank you,” I said.  To be sure that I had gotten my point across, I sent her the feeling of gratitude.  She offered a quick bow to me and scurried out of the room as politely as she could.  I took no offense, for I knew how strange it must be to bring food for an alien.
Once she had left, I brought several of the various dishes before me and sampled each of them.  Some were quite delicious, leaving a delightful taste in my mouth, though others were quite foul and required me to wash down the taste with several mouthfuls of water from a pitcher that had been provided.  Of particular note was a soft, spongy food of a peculiar dark brown color that was covered in a layer of a very sweet and smooth gel-like substance.  The delightful thing was served in a relatively small cylindrical shape that was wider than it was tall.  I left a small portion of it so that I might ask Eve what the name of this treat was.
I ate until I was comfortably full, which put quite a dent in the amount of food they’d brought for me.  The sun only barely lingered over the horizon, casting a great panorama of reds and oranges through the sky.  From my window I had a breathtaking view.  Aether hadn’t seen a sunset like this for many a centicycle.
Away from the window I turned, lest a bout of homesickness overtake me.  For now, I simply wished to rest after a long and busy day.  So I did.

Thus ends day 4