//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 - The Same Old Song // Story: Contact // by Gron //------------------------------// Contact Chapter 23   A sharp whistle resounded through the small kitchen of the Golden Oaks Library, reverberating off the wooden walls and furniture and making it sound even louder than it was. The whistle quickly tapered off and was replaced by a bubbling sound, but Steve paid no attention to any of that, for he was sitting numbly on one of the wooden chairs, or rather just a small tree stump, as he stared blankly at the table. His left hand formed a fist on which he rested his forehead while his right hand drew endless circles with his forefinger on the wooden surface.   “Here you go. Just let it cool for a few minutes,” a voice murmured to his left. At the same moment, a cup with a steaming, clear liquid that slowly turned brown appeared in his field of view. Ever so slowly, he began to tilt his head to the source of the sound until he saw Twilight Sparkle standing next to him, a painfully forced smile on her lips. With the low chair and his low-hanging head, they were at the same eye level now.   It must have been just a few minutes ago that they both had been down in the basement and testing his magic resistance when she dropped the bomb onto him that had crushed the slim hopes he had had up until then. He couldn’t tell exactly how long it had been since then. After Twilight had told him the results of the tests, he had fallen silent up to the point where he was more in an apathetic stasis than aware of anything that happened around him.   He kept staring blankly at Twilight for a few more seconds, her smile turning ever so more awkward until she eventually broke the eye contact. Slowly, his head turned back into its original position, and he stared at the cup of tea that was now in front of him. “Thanks,” he muttered, barely audible, and pulled the cup a bit closer to him until it stood directly under his face. A pleasant scent of various herbs and fruits slowly wafted up to his nose. “Oh, you’re welcome,” came Twilight’s quick response, and he felt her hoof on his shoulder. It was still a bit of a strange feeling with those hooves. They were much firmer than hands and far less agile, but at the moment, he didn’t care if it was a hand or a hoof that was patting his shoulder - it was pleasant and eventually brought a slight smile on his lips. “Do you need something else?” she asked softly and stopped the patting motion for a moment.   Some more hope would be nice, he thought with a hint of melancholy as he gave a long sigh and looked up from the table again, this time not to his left, but upfront. He was met with the sight of Rainbow Dash sitting at the other side of the table, playing a bit with the cup of tea that stood in front of her by pushing it from one hoof into the other. Her eyes were set on him as well. Shortly after the incident downstairs, Twilight had helped him get up into the kitchen. Not that he needed help walking due to his injury, which luckily proved to be nothing more than some pain from the harsh landing on the ground that had mostly ebbed away as long as he didn’t twist his back too weirdly, but his awareness of his surroundings had dropped so much after the shock of the news that Twilight had to pull him by the hand so that he mindlessly followed her upstairs, his eyes staring blankly into the air, his mouth slightly opened. As soon as they got upstairs, she put some water on the stove to boil it and quickly rushed upstairs to inform Rainbow Dash about what had happened. Since then, she had been sitting there rather quietly, or at least he assumed so, since he only recently even noticed her being at the table at all, obviously unsure what she should do now as she struggled with keeping eye contact. But he couldn’t hold it against her of course. It was a bizarre situation he was in, being trapped not only on another planet, but a whole different universe. He hated to even think about that. There was nothing he could do about it, besides hoping that Twilight and her oh so dear princess would find a way to fix the mistake of the latter. The only thing that followed his thoughts was the feeling of impuissance and also the fear of the unknown that flooded his body, yet it was a thought that haunted him more often than he would like to admit. He already knew that his usual approach in solving problems wouldn’t help him here. Whenever something was bothering him, it had always been his strategy to think it through entirely first before being able to shove it somewhere into his head where it wouldn’t come knocking every few minutes again. Most of the time he found a solution on the way there, even if it was just a simple one as sitting it out, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case this time. Despite knowing very well that he would not come up with anything, his head rarely gave him a minute to relax until the thought had been processed in its entirety. This behaviour was always something that bothered him about himself, yet he was unable to change it, too deep was it embedded into his brain already. The solitude during the journey of the last two years that he filled mostly with his own thoughts was the complete opposite of helpful in this manner. So that left him only with one thing to do right now: thinking it through until he could focus on the more important things, namely preparing himself for his unintentional stay here to be longer than expected.   Rainbow coughed slightly and brought him out of his thoughts again, making him realize that he had been blankly staring at her for a while now, so he quickly shook his head. “You know that we’re here for you. If there’s anything you need, just say it,” she said and put on a smile that seemed miles more genuine than Twilight’s.   Steve tried to not fall back into his thoughts, but it was hard with this pattern stuck so deep in his mind. His mind had merely begun to scratch the surface of the thought and always threatened to drift back to it as soon as his attention was elsewhere. “It’s fine, thanks,” was all he managed to say before shifting back down at the table where he stirred his tea a bit, letting it take in a clear brown colour. “No! It’s not fine!” Twilight almost shouted out, her hoof pulling at his shoulder, making him turn over to her before she took a small step back, eventually breaking the contact. Her eyes turned watery, and her lips shook as she began to speak. “I…” her voice began to tremble “I-I’m just so sorry for everything. So far, every attempt in figuring out how Princess Celestia’s spell brought you here was a dead end, and now we have a new problem to face. I just….” Her voice eventually dropped completely before she averted her eyes towards the ground. Only now did he realize that this problem was not giving only him a feeling of impunity, it had worn down Twilight as well. So… she’s not only the Princess’ personal student, but also one of these Elements – Element of Magic too… He quickly went through his memories to collect the information he knew of her, leading only to the conclusion that she had to be one of their most skilled wizards. So if even she and the Princess are clueless…. He didn’t want to finish that thought. Instead, he quickly shook his head and focused back on the mare in front of him that had sat down on the ground by now, her head hanging so low that her deep purple mane covered her entire face from his point of view. He couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Her reaction made it clear how hard this unsolvable problem she was facing had struck her as well. In one motion, he slid out of the chair, one knee resting on the hard wooden floor, so that he was now in strange crouching position directly in front of her and did the only thing that seemed appropriate right now.   Gently, he put a hand on her left shoulder. “Look at me, Twilight,” he said quietly, yet firmly. Slowly, she followed his order and raised her head again. Only now could he see the few tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. If there was one moment that showed him how deeply she cared about solving this problem and was struck by all the setbacks that had come with it so far, it was this. “It’s alright,” he said and looked deep into her large purple eyes, his hand carefully stroking up and down her shoulder. “You have done nothing wrong, so you don’t have to be sorry for anything.”   Twilight opened her mouth to form a reply, but no sound escaped her lips. She sat in this position for a few more seconds until Steve felt two hooves wrapping around his chest and a head pressing against his shoulder. “It’s alright…” he repeated calmly as he felt the tears that formed in her eyes slowly soaking into his suit while leaning more into the hug, having to watch out for her horn that was pointing directly at his neck. Being impaled was not his favourite part of hugging someone, or somepony, not that he had done it very often. Still, allowing his hand to stroke through her soft and warm coat was quite enjoyable. Twilight seemed to enjoy it as well, judging by the satisfied muffled humming she made while his fingers ran through the coat of her upper back and neck, while his other hand had moved up from her shoulder and ran through her silky hair, while her hooves slowly tightened her grip around him.   A loud cough next to them brought them both back into reality as they both spun their heads towards the source of the sound, just to see Rainbow Dash having come around the table and looking at them with a smirk on her face. “Umm, yes,” Twilight said quickly before she wiped with her hoof over her face once to clean the remains of the tears that had unwillingly escaped her eyes and took a step away from him as the lavender-coloured coat around her cheeks took on a slightly red tone. “What I wanted to say is that despite the newest revelation, I won’t stop trying to solve this. I will find a way,” she said as she turned back towards Steve, now with a confident smile on her lips that could have almost hidden the uncertainty that stood in her eyes.   Steve returned her smile, albeit somewhat more awkwardly. He had been much more careful when it came to physical contact with the ponies, Pinkie Pie aside, so it felt somewhat strange to have just hugged and comforted Twilight like he had now that the moment had passed. However, she had certainly needed it and had no qualms about such close contact with him, so he filed that away to deal with later.   “Yeah,” Rainbow agreed loudly as she stepped over to Twilight. “Just give her some time. I know that Twi will fix this,” she added and gave the unicorn a firm pat on her back. “She’s the smartest pony there is!”   Twilight blushed at the compliment from her friend. “Thanks, Rainbow Dash.” She turned towards the pegasus. “That’s very kind of you to say, but I don’t see myself smarter than—”   “Hey, don’t speak yourself down,” Rainbow quickly interrupted her. “Everypony knows it’s the truth.” Steve watched the scene with a slightly bemused smile. From what he had seen so far, Twilight seemed to be against any sort of bragging or drawing comparisons, but who wouldn’t want to hear a compliment from their good friends? “Right?” Rainbow asked as she turned back to Steve and ruffled through Twilight’s mane, turning the slight mess that it was before into a disaster. “You know that if anypony can help you, it’s her, right?” “Oh, I don’t doubt your abilities in the slightest,” he replied calmly back to Twilight who was trying to fix her messy mane with one hoof but stopped mid-motion as she heard his words. “I’ve seen you do things that I had considered impossible just two weeks ago. It’s just...” he sighed, “I’m almost out of fuel on my ship. The solar panels keep the systems running, but flight is out of question, and even if I had a full tank, it’s not suitable for any distance much longer than from here to the moon. So, even if you find a way to send me back into the right universe, I will be screwed if you don’t find my solar system. And do you know the chances of finding one system in the whole entirety of a universe?”   He let the question stand in the room for a short moment. “I never liked probability theory. Numbers have the tendency of being harsh, and with zero percent, they didn’t give me much to hold onto in the first place even before all this…” He waved with his hand through the air. “I just never really wanted to admit it to myself until now, I guess,” he said quietly, more to himself than to them. Quickly, he shook his head as his mind threatened to drift into a useless state of self-pity again that it had done so often during his time here. “The only thing I can do now is to hope. Hoping that I am not wrong in believing that you are as good as I think you are,” he finished and shot a light smile over to Twilight.   “Don’t you worry, Twi can do it,” Rainbow replied quickly for her friend and patted her on the back again. Twilight looked at Rainbow first for a moment before turning her gaze towards him. Her face didn’t met the level of certainty of Rainbow Dash, but the strong nod she gave as an agreement still seemed somewhat comforting to him. “Good!” he declared loudly and clapped his hands together. He wanted to get rid of this topic for now. He knew that it would keep him sleepless tonight, but he didn’t want it to ruin his day as well. With one hand on the table, he lifted himself up into a standing position and swiftly spun his back to the left and right, happy that it caused him no pain.   “So, uhm,” Rainbow began to speak up and exchanged a quick glance with Twilight, “do you wanna do anything today? The weather’s awesome and will stay like that for a while longer. I would know - I made it like that this morning.” Steve threw a glance out of the window. She was right; it was a great day. The sun indicated that it was early afternoon, and they would have at least a couple more sunny hours.   “Sounds like a good idea,” Steve agreed, still looking out of the window and scratched over the beard stubbles on his chin that had returned quickly after this morning’s shave. “I’m spending far too much time in my ship already. Some diversity might be just what I need now and—” His sentence got cut short as it was interrupted by the grumbling of his stomach. “But maybe what I need first is something to eat.” He chuckled as he looked down his body.   “I could eat a bit as well,” Twilight joined in. “I was so busy that I kind of skipped breakfast.” She grinned sheepishly and looked over to Rainbow Dash. “How about you, Rainbow?” The pegasus only replied with a grumbling of her stomach.   “Good,” Twilight acknowledged and nodded shortly. “Anywhere specific you want to go?” she asked and looked alternately between them. “Or I could try to make something here. I don’t have too much left though; I need to go shopping again soon. And I’m not that good of a cook. Unfortunately, magic isn’t as helpful in cooking as you might think.” Steve awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Well, I don’t really have the money to go out to eat and…”   “Oh, don’t worry that.” Twilight quickly waved it off. “I’m inviting you. It’s the least I can do to compensate you for your help with the experiment.”   Well, if she puts it that way, he thought to himself. Also, her tone didn’t sound like she would simply accept a no for an answer, and he didn’t want to crush any of their plans even though he disliked the thought of her having to pay for him. “Okay, thank you then. But speaking about that, I really should be looking for some kind of work here soon.”   “Oh!” Twilight suddenly shouted out, and her eyes went wide as she disappeared in a flash of light. Before he could even ask the equally confused-looking Rainbow Dash she had left behind, Twilight reappeared again with a scroll and a book floating next to her. “I almost forgot this!” she said. She was about to levitate the scroll over to him, but changed her mind mid-air and placed it onto the desk next to him instead.   “What’s this?” he asked as he unfurled the scroll and skimmed over it.   “You may remember at your welcoming party that I arranged a visa for you,” Twilight said as she stepped next to him. He just nodded quietly as his eyes wandered over the paper. “Well, we didn’t have time for you to sign it then, so I stored it for you.” He gave a grunt of acknowledgement but just continued reading the paper. Hereby, in the name of her royal Highness Princess Celestia… blah blah blah… permanent visa…yada yada yada... legal citizen of Equestria… , he read from the scroll.   “And here is our legal code,” Twilight added as she placed the book that she was still levitating on the table next to him. On its red cover were the words, in golden letters, ‘Equestrian Civil Code’, with a picture of the sun and the moon on the back of the book. “I figured that you might want to give it a read. Most of it should be obvious, but I marked a few passages that might be of interest for you, given your special situation,” she said and turned the book around so he could see the countless post-its sticking out of it. From the looks of it, there was at least one per page.   Steve raised a brow and looked over to Twilight, who looked expectantly up to him and had already levitated an ink jar with a quill over from somewhere. “So why exactly do I need this again?”   “Well,” Twilight began and pulled the scroll a bit over to her, “as you can see here, here, and here,” she pointed at a few different points at the lower part of the scroll, “you will be granted an employment and residence permit, as well as being able to claim benefits from our social system,” Twilight explained slowly to make sure he understood. “Basically, you’ll be able to do what everypony else is able to do.”   Steve thought quietly about it for a moment. “So I would be a normal citizen if I sign this?” he asked carefully. “Yes,” Twilight quickly agreed and nodded.   “Hmm….” Steve looked back at the scroll.   “Is there a problem with that?” she asked after a short while, her voice filled with worry.   “It’s just that I don’t really want to bind myself to any country here by becoming a full blown citizen. I want to interfere with this world as little as possible. I thought I was just going to get a permit to stay and maybe work here.”   “You don’t have to worry about that. This is merely a formality, and in the end, it only gives you advantages. You may revoke the citizenship again, as stated…” she looked over the scroll for a second and pointed at a line close to the bottom, “here. It is a standard procedure, especially in our larger cities with larger numbers of foreigners, which you technically are.”   Steve leaned in a bit closer to read the line she mentioned. It referred to multiple paragraphs from the law code, but it seemed like it would be a way out if he changed his mind. Well, might be a necessary step if I really plan to stay here longer, he thought to himself. “Fine, but I want to read it first,” he slowly replied, causing Twilight to give a relieved sigh. “I’ll just take it back to my ship and give it back to you as soon as I can.”   “Sure, take your time,” she replied and rolled the scroll up with her magic again and placed it on top of the book. “I’ll just leave this here while we are out.” Steve nodded in reply. “So, where do we go now?” Twilight looked back at Rainbow, who had watched their conversation with checked enthusiasm and was more focused on trying to balance her weight on a nearby chair so that it would stand on two legs.   “Dunno.” She shrugged, and with a quick flap of her wings, brought the chair in its usual position again. “I could go for some hay fries.”   “I don’t even know any places to eat. As long as they have something without hay, I’m good,” Steve replied as they both looked over to him. Twilight’s raised eyebrows caused him to quickly add, “My body can’t digest hay, or grass in general, too well.”   Twilight responded with a quick nod and stroked her chin with her right hoof for a short while before saying, “I haven’t been to Hay Burgers in a while. They also have non-hay food, don’t worry,” she directed the last part at Steve. With none of them having any objections to the idea, they found them on the streets of Ponyville just a few seconds later.   *** “Final stop: Ponyville! All departures here!” the voice of the conductor sounded through the wagon, causing Artecus to wake with a start. He must have been more exhausted than he thought, as the stress of the preparations for his mission over the last couple of days had taken its toll, making him fall asleep on the train.   Quickly, he shook his head to resist falling back into slumber while reaching with one of his hind legs below the seat to check if his bag was still there. It was. His biggest mission so far was about to begin. He would arrive in the Ponyville any minute now and would be able to prove to his Master what his years of training were worth. In order to do so, he had carefully planned his first moves, and soon he would see how well his plans could adapt to a real situation. His Master hadn’t given him much information to begin with, neither about the subject nor the apprentices the other masters had sent. He only knew that they had started their search in Canterlot. He still felt uncomfortable about the fact that they were working against each other by not revealing their information to the other party. It would also mean he would have to keep secrets from them, but he doubted his Master would have told him to do so if he hadn’t thought it would be for the best. The train began to slow down, and Artecus threw a look out of the window, an action that immediately caused his eyes widened in awe as he was met with soft, green meadows that turned over into slight hills and forests in the far distance. The sun was just past her zenith but still bathed the scenery in a warm and golden light. The feeling of a landscape actually being able to be beautiful that had struck him during his first stop in Manehatten came upon him again at the sight of this harmonic nature that was just inviting him to take a rest in the grass and breathe in the fresh air.   Quickly, he shook his head again and averted his eyes from the window. No, that had to wait. Maybe he would be rewarded with a holiday after he had fulfilled his duty to his Master’s satisfaction. As the other ponies in the wagon slowly got ready to leave the train and got their bags down from the luggage racks, Artecus pulled out his own bag from underneath his seat. It was a simple, small, grey bag, but it contained everything he would need for this mission, including a quite large amount of bits to be able to live here for many weeks if need be. The thought of how the Society was not hesitant with its funding once a project gained its attention crossed his mind as he filled a small part of the bits into the purse underneath his cloak, enough to pay for the hotel room that was already booked for him.   The train slowed down further and eventually came to a halt. Shortly after, a loud whistle signalled the opening of the doors, and everypony immediately began to rush out of the wagon. Artecus waited until they all had left the waggon before throwing his bag over his back and followed them.   A rush of air, fresher and cleaner than anything he had ever breathed before was the first thing that greeted him as he set a hoof on the train station. He pulled back the hood of his cloak and eagerly filled his lungs with the air around him as his silver mane tussled and flew about in the wind. It was a wonderfully relieving feeling that brought a slight smile on his face. Something told him that he would enjoy his new temporary workplace.   ***   “That will be eighteen bits please, miss,” the stallion said as he placed three trays on the counter between them. A moment later, a small pile of coins landed next to it. After a quick glance over them, he said, “Thank you, and enjoy your meal. Next!” Twilight quickly grabbed the three trays in her magic and levitated them off the counter, handing one with a bowl of salad and a cup of water over to Steve and another with a large pile of hay fries and a red box, which probably contained a burger, over to Rainbow Dash, who lifted it onto her back. Meanwhile she kept the last tray where the exact same boxes were lined up next to each other.   “Are you really going to eat all that?!” Rainbow asked confusedly and waved at Twilight’s tray with a hoof.   “Mhmm, I’m a bit hungry,” she replied in return and began to look around for a free seat.   As Steve had found out, the Hay Burger was something like the Equestrian version of a fast food restaurant, ordering and picking up your food at a counter and then taking a free table, something which was sparse pickings at the moment. The place was filled with ponies that were clearly tourists from larger cities, judging by the small accessories and clothes they wore that Steve had so far only seen in Canterlot. With the place being so busy, nopony had even batted an eye at him, and he was glad for that, for now he just wanted to enjoy a peaceful and hopefully tasty meal with his pony friends.   “Over there,” Rainbow said and pointed to a table in the corner, right next to a window where a group of unicorns had just stood up. Before any of the other ponies that were looking for a free seat could take the opportunity, Rainbow had swooped for the table, causing the tray on her back to shake heavily, but she balanced it out with the help of her wings, so nothing fell over. Steve and Twilight followed her and took the remaining seats. Curiously, Steve now eyed his meal. It was a Manehattan Salad, which told him absolutely nothing, but Twilight had suggested it. Since the names of the other dishes weren’t any more descriptive either, something that surprised him given what he had seen so far of their naming conventions, he just rolled with it. From the looks of it, it was a very, very mixed salad with a variety of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, potatoes, a few apple slices, cucumbers, peppers, and many more that he couldn’t identify right away or were still hidden underneath the lettuce. On top of it was a bright yogurt-like looking dressing.   Looking good, he thought and grabbed for the fork that came with it. It was surprisingly similar to normal forks, only that the grip was slightly wider so that the non-unicorn ponies could easily grab it with their hooves. “Enjoy your meal,” he said to his two companions and dug the fork into the salad, confirming his thought after the first bite. Despite it looking like an average fast food restaurant for tourists, this was one of the best salads he ever had. The lettuce was crispy without being dry, and every fruit and vegetable he tasted felt like it was freshly picked from the farms, while everything was rounded off with the ever so slightly too sweet dressing on top. Ponies just like the taste of sugar too much, Steve thought to himself. It didn’t really bother him much right now.   He looked up from his meal to see if the others were enjoying theirs as well, but as his eyes fell on Twilight, he couldn’t help but stare at her as she unboxed one burger after the other, levitating it in front of her snout with her magic and gulping it down in merely two bites before turning to the next one. She noticed his stare and stopped mid-motion, with her fourth burger just leaving the box while half of the third one was still in her mouth and the other half on its way down her throat. “What?” she asked, her voice muffled by the mixture of buns and hay as she held a hoof in front of her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?” She wiped her hoof over her mouth quickly, cleaning off some of the crumbs that had found their way into her coat.   Steve just shook his head and looked down at his own meal again. Twilight shrugged and continued shoving the burgers down her throat. Either she drops all table manners once she is outside Canterlot, or she must be a tiny bit more hungry than she said, Steve thought and could barely hide an amused smile as he remembered the difference to their meal in the dining hall in Canterlot where she used the silverware with extreme precision, thanks to her magic.   “Guys?” Steve asked between two bites of his salad and broke the silence that had fallen amongst themselves as each of them was busy with their meal. The two ponies looked up and from their food, or in Twilight’s case, the massacre on their tray, and gave him a questioning look. “There is one thing I wanted to ask for a while now.”   “Shoot,” Rainbow replied and motioned him with her hoof to continue.   “You probably remember at the party that Pinkie threw for me, when Lyra and her friend left?” Rainbow and Twilight exchanged some quick glances at that. Steve was a bit irritated by that but continued regardless. “I just never got around to understanding what was going on with Lyra that evening. She was acting rather… peculiar, to say the least. I mean, she always acted rather odd around me, but was something even more wrong with her that evening? Was she sick?” The first reaction from the two ponies was a loud cough from Twilight as she tried to quickly gulp down the food in her mouth and had to cover it with one of her forehooves to not accidentally spit some of it out over the table. With a raised eyebrow, Steve looked over at Twilight. “Umm…” she began and coughed again before she wet her throat with her drink. “Lyra has…” Again, not many words left her mouth, and Twilight quickly glanced over to Rainbow, who seemed more than happy that Twilight took the question as she had turned back to throw the remaining hay fries into the air and catching them with her mouth.   “She has her phases sometimes,” Twilight eventually answered and looked back at him. “We just try to not talk about it. She will go back to normal soon and then will feel embarrassed enough even without us making remarks about it. I’m very sorry if she bothered you that night, and I’m sure she will come to senses soon and apologize.”   “Oh, she already did, right before she left,” Steve quickly waved her off and poked his fork into the salad a few times. “I was just confused, and no one could give me a clear answer so far.” He still was a bit confused as what caused that behaviour, especially since it was recurring as Twilight mentioned, but he shrugged it off as some kind of pony behaviour, bringing him back to one of the original thoughts of why he wanted to go to Twilight’s library. “Twilight, would you mind if I borrow some of your books?”   A grin as wide as a mile immediately appeared on her face, and he knew that he surely had her completely undivided attention now. “Of course not,” she replied eagerly and nodded. “What do you need? History? Magic? Math? Maybe a novel?” she asked quickly and leaned a bit over to him. “Biology,” came his reply. “Especially pegasi,” he added and nodded over to Rainbow Dash. “In regards to this little experiment that I have going on, it would be nice to know a bit more about the flying abilities of a pegasus.”   “Sure, I have plenty of those,” Twilight replied like a shot and stroked her chin for a moment. “I think you will be best served with Basic Pony Anatomy. It features all pony kinds and requires little to no foreknowledge. From there on, you can go to Advanced Pegasi Flight Mechanics. You would also be the very first one here to actually borrow that book.” Happily, Twilight clapped her hooves together a few times.   “Great,” Steve replied, pleasantly surprised that the search for the right book was dealt with so quickly. “And is there something like a guide to Equestria? You know, explaining social norms and general behaviour to foreigners?”   He was met by a quick nod of Twilight, who recited off a whole list of different books, most of them trying to sound funny by putting ridiculous puns in the title, probably to lure in unknowing tourists. After hearing The Mane Neighs and Yays for Equestrian Culture, he went deaf for the rest of the list and just settled for one of the few with an actual normal name: The Equestrian Guide. Now he just had a lot of reading to catch up to.   ***   Artecus’ horn glowed up in a pale greyish light as he pulled out a small red brown purse from underneath his cloak with his magic and untied the small thread that kept it closed on the top. A pile of gold coins flew out of the little bag and landed on the counter in front of him. “And that’s forty-five bits,” he said and stored the bag away again.   The pale unicorn mare in front of him took the pile in her own cyan-coloured magic and counted them quickly before storing them away in a register. “And this is your key,” she replied and levitated one of the keys that hung on the wall behind her. Or at least he expected more to usually hang there, judging by the number of little anchors that stood out of the wall, each with a number below them. But now that the city was flooded with tourists, there were none left. “You are in room eleven,” she continued and pointed at the number that was imprinted onto the key.   “Just down that hallway, third door to the left.” She pointed towards her left. Following her hoof, he saw a wooden door with a large glass window in the middle, giving sight on a hallway that led further into the building, with more doors and hallways to the left and right. “Breakfast will be served from six to nine. The dining hall is just opposite to your room. You can’t miss it,” she added with a little smile that vanished quickly as she met the blank stare of Artecus’ brown eyes. “If you need anything else, feel free to ask at any time; the reception is always open. Enjoy your stay!”   “Thanks,” his simple reply came as he grabbed the key from the counter and his bag that stood close at his side before going on the way where the mare had directed him, all the while under her concerned look.   “That’s somepony who was long overdue for a holiday,” the mare mumbled to herself as Artecus went through the door before writing his name down in the guest book. Meanwhile, Artecus had arrived in front of the door to his room that was marked by a large eleven on it. With a turn of the key in the lock and a slight push, the door swung open, revealing the surprisingly spacey interior. It was already larger than the room he had in his parent’s house. While it was very decent for Detrot’s standards, he always had trouble fitting all his study materials in his room so that they didn’t take up the entire floor, desk, or bed.   With a small smile on his lips, he entered the room and closed the door behind him with his magic. The rays of the afternoon sun shone into the room through two large windows at the opposite side of the room, bathing the wooden interior in a golden light. A bed that would have been large enough for even two ponies stood in between them, the green sheets and fluffy-looking white pillows just inviting him to take a rest there.   With quick steps, he stepped towards the bed but placed only his bag and coat on it. He hadn’t taken much with him from Detrot due to the fact that there was not much he could have taken anyways. A few notebooks, some empty, some full with notes already, and an ink jar with the accompanying quill found their way from his bag to the desk that stood next to the door, leaving his bag almost empty already. Besides a small sponge bag, only a few pictures were left.   One of them he had gotten framed a while ago. It showed him right between his brothers and sister, lined up in front of Samhuel and Good Living as they all stood, or kneeled in Samhuel’s case, in front of their house. It had been taken on the first anniversary of his arrival at their home. He had lived with them for years now, and it had been one of the happiest times of his life. He liked to keep the picture around with him. It always returned some of the happiness he had felt that day to him whenever he was feeling down. Artecus smiled as he placed the picture onto the desk along the other ones, mostly pictures of him with his family, next to it before grabbing the sponge bag and moving on to inspect the bathroom. With a sink, mirror, toilet, and shower, it was simple but would serve its purpose well.   And all that for just forty-five bits per week, Artecus thought to himself as he left the bathroom and sat down at the desk. He let out a sigh and pulled an empty notepad, the ink jar, and quill over to him and began to write his first of probably many reports to the master. The surveillance would have to wait until tomorrow; he didn’t even know yet how the town looked like or where he could find the subject, but a little walk later today should change that.   ***   “And you are sure you want to go back home already?” Twilight asked as she carefully placed the last book with her hooves on the pile that had built up on Steve’s hands.   “Yep,” he replied shortly and looked down at the books that were almost stacking up to his chest. “I have a bit to read now, and Sarah will get sassy again if I leave her alone for too long.” He rolled his eyes and adjusted his grip on the books a bit. “AI’s… You just can’t understand them.”   “Do you need any help carrying that?” Rainbow threw in and tapped with her wing again the books. “Nah, I’m good, thanks,” he said and shook his head. “A quiet walk will help me sort my thoughts.” He looked back at Twilight. “Thanks for the books. I will give them back to you as soon as I have finished them.”   “No problem, and take your time. It’s not like they are frequently borrowed anyways. Most ponies here are not that interested in reading anything more than a novel,” Twilight remarked and looked over at Rainbow Dash.   “What?” the pegasus swiftly returned, pointing an accusing hoof at Twilight. “That’s not true! I’m not just only reading Daring Do. Remember Spitfire’s biography? That hardly contained any action, yet I read it.”   Twilight just rolled her eyes and turned back to Steve. “Anyways, take your time. I think I can turn a blind eye to the return date in this case.”   Steve just replied to that with a quick nod. “I think I might come to town a bit more often now. If I want to live here for a while longer, it would be the best to get to know it a bit better.”     “Good idea,” Rainbow agreed. “Hey, maybe you wanna join us and the other girls tomorrow. Pinkie was planning this picnic by the lake, right?” She shot a questioning look over to Twilight.   “Oh, darn, I almost forgot that,” Twilight shouted out. “Uh, yes, at twelve thirty, wasn’t it?” Rainbow nodded. “You can join us if you want to. Tomorrow is going to be another sunny day. You can just come to my place beforehoof, and I’ll show you where the lake is. Or just go north of the town; you can’t really miss it.” “Sounds great,” Steve commented and quickly nodded his head, a genuine smile on his lips. “I think I’ll join you. Do I need to bring anything?”   Twilight stroked her chin for a moment before replying, “No, we are all set. We usually end up with enough leftovers for another six ponies, so don’t worry about that.”   “Wonderful, I shall see you tomorrow then.” He bade them goodbye, and just a few moments later, he was out on the streets of Ponyville again. The sun had slowly begun to set by now, and the first streaks of orange appeared over the horizon. He bathed his face in the light for a moment, enjoying the warmth on his skin, before setting his way to the south to head out of the town and back to his ship.   The trip went relatively quiet despite the streets being filled rather well for this small town. There were little groups of tourists, easily recognizable simply because of the fact that they were wearing clothes unlike the normal residents. Most of the ponies had cameras hung around their neck to dispense any doubts that they were locals. He noticed that with them being from what he only assumed to be a major city, they barely batting an eye at him, apparently being used to various species living among them. A slender-looking greyish unicorn stuck out the most to him, but since he wore no clothes, Steve just wrote him off as one of the locals.   Steve continued strolling through the streets until he suddenly heard a voice behind him saying his name. He stopped and curiously turned around, wondering who it could be. His question was answered by the image of a familiar orange earth pony with a Stetson that sat on her long blonde mane, while a brown saddle bag rested on her lower back. “Hello, Applejack,” he greeted the farmer, the sight of the mare bringing up some mixed emotions.   “Uhm, howdy, Steve, how ya doin’,” she returned the greeting, a bit of uncertainty in her voice while her right hoof nervously fumbled at the tip of her hat.   “I’m fine,” he replied briefly and waited for her to tell him what she wanted to say.   “That’s good, yeah… Well, Ah wanted to talk ‘bout what happened a couple days ago at the market,” she said, the uncertainty in her voice growing into a slight tremble.   “Look, Applejack, I understand what you did, and it’s fine. You have to make a living from selling your apples, and I was hindering you.” He came up before her and gave voice to the thought that the rational side of his mind had thrown into his mental argument of the previous two days. The mare let out a long sigh of relief.   “Oh, that’s great, sugarcube.” Applejack released her hat now, and a more genuine smile crept onto her face again. “Ah was just worried that ya might hold that against me. And let me tell ya, Ah lectured those ponies who wouldn’t want to buy from me while you were there ‘bout how rude they were.” For a moment, an angry glare appeared in her large green eyes. “Ah was just so puzzled at the moment it happened. Ah know that the ponies here are a bit reluctant to strangers, but Ah couldn’t believe what Ah saw there and didn’t know what to do.”   Applejack coughed slightly before continuing, “Ah just hope yer not mad at me or anything. Ah should have said something right away.”   “Oh, I’m not mad at you,” he replied swiftly. Well, maybe I was a little, he admitted in his mind but quickly got rid of that thought. “And thanks for standing up for me after all,” he added shortly after and returned the smile.   “Of course Ah did that. Ah won’t let anypony talk down mah friends.” She waved it off as her eyes trailed over to the pile of books on his arms. “So, Ah take ya visited Twilight?”   “Yes, she wanted to test the results of magic on me, and I needed some books anyways.” He shrugged.   “And how did the tests go? Ah know Twi can get pretty into things when she wants to wrangle something out.” AJ chuckled.   “Weeeell…” Steve dragged out the word as a series of the images of today shot through his mind. “Not quite as well as expected,” he finally answered and shrugged again. “But at least I got the books I wanted.”   “Yeah, Ah see. So, yer heading back to your home now?”   He nodded. “I want to read some of these now, but I’ll be back here tomorrow. Rainbow Dash invited me to join your picnic tomorrow.”   “Oh did she now?” Applejack wondered out loud and raised a brow. “Well, good that ya told me ‘cause now it looks like Ah have ta make one more apple pie if ya also want some.” She was met with an eager nod. “Great. If ya wanna see for yourself,” she grabbed with one foreleg into the saddle bag on her back and pulled out a shiny red apple “the latest batch is one of the juiciest and most delicious one we had in years.” She was just about to hand him the apple before she noticed that both his hands were busy with holding the books.   “Just place it on top,” he said and nodded down his chest. Applejack did as he told her. “Thanks, the last one was great already. Now I really can’t wait to get back to my ship. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said and gave a slight nod in her direction again.   “Yeah, see ya, sugarcube. Ah gotta go back to the market now.” The farmpony bade him goodbye and was back on her way into the centre of the town.   Good, one more problem solved, Steve thought happily to himself and looked after Applejack for a few more seconds before turning around again and continuing his way into the south over the sun-bathed dirt road.