Mark was certainly a different form of company. It only took a few minutes of walking with him for Luna to determine that.
Outside of dreams, she didn’t normally do one on one sessions with anypony other than her sister or Twilight and her friends. Ponies were too intimidated by her, or too groveling, or too curious…but Mark was different. For starters, though he had been intimidated by her earlier, for now, he merely walked alongside her calmly, having clearly trusted her to lead the way to their destination. His eyes kept moving to her, but only to make sure he was keeping up with her or to make sure something wasn’t wrong. And he was quiet enough to almost put the apple grower’s brother to shame.
“You are most quiet, sir Mark,” she said at one point, deciding to see what his angle was. “Does your head still trouble you?” she asked, remembering that suddenly; she knew head injuries could sometimes cause altered mental statuses, which might explain his silence.
Mark turned his head to her and shook it, both in a response and to show it was indeed alright, offering a polite smile as he answered “No, your highness. I just find that, in situations like this, it is better to listen rather than talk.”
“Situations like what?” she asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at him.
“When I’m with important people…or ponies, in this case,” he answered, looking around them. They were in a part of Canterlot that was noticeably darker, though not in an intimidating manner. “Humble” was the word that came to mind to describe it, this area clearly meant just for your average pony or stallion to enjoy a nice quiet evening. There were cafes, bookstores, and mom & pop motels, nothing like the vibrant atmosphere he’d just left.
“I am a bit curious as to where we’re going. This is my first time here and I don’t want to get lost and wind up someplace I don’t want to be,” he said, the lunar princess giggling and winking.
“Fret not, outworlder. I told the truth when I said I wanted to speak with you in private, and I know just the place to do it,” she said, motioning to a café they were approaching. It was a small, humble little place with a patio, several awnings hanging over spots here and there. On a large sign on the roof, facing out, was the name: Donut Joe‘s.
Luna led the way, her horn glowing indigo as she opened the door, stepping in and waiting for him. Several shelves holding numerous jars of coffee beans were the first thing he noticed, the next was a small room containing various equipment; soda fountain, espresso maker with steam wands, coffeemaker, along with more shelves of flavored syrups. He was aware that he was smiling, smiling in remembrance of a time long ago. yes, it would be nice to talk here.
Luna noticed his dreamy smile, a smile of her own coming at what she thought was simply him sharing her enjoyment of such places. She made her way to the front counter, a bulky but muscular unicorn with light amber fur coming out to greet her with a warm smile and a nod.
“Good evening, Princess Luna. Brought us a new customer, I see…oh, is that the new…guest everypony was gossiping about?” asked the unicorn, gazing at Mark. Luna nodded, stepping closer to him.
“Yes, he certainly is. Mark, this is Donut Joe, the owner of this fine establishment. He has been a friend of my sister and I for many years, as well as our main supplier of this coffee,” she said, said owner offering a polite bow of his head which Mark returned.
“A pleasure to meet you, young man. I hope you’re fond of coffee, as I can already tell Luna has a long talk planned,” he said with a wry smirk, Luna giggling before gazing at his coffee selection. To Mark’s surprise, many of the drinks were the same as back on his world…which gave him an idea.
“Er…Donut Joe, would it be alright if I made the orders? I worked at a coffee shop much like this back on my world and, well…it would be nice to see if I still have the skill,” he said with a shy smile and blush. Luna returned the smile and looked at Joe, who looked at Mark with scrutiny; he hadn’t gotten his cutie mark in coffee-making for nothing, and he’d be damned if he’d let his business’s good name be tarnished.
“You can make your own order first, lad, then we’ll see about the Princess’s,” he said, ignoring Luna’s scowl and stepping aside to let the young lad in, noting he moved up without hesitation and immediately moved over to the espresso machine. His face was impassive, no sign of being intimidated by the machine in front of him, giving one of the knobs of the steam wand a twist and getting a blast of the super-hot air. Satisfied, he moved over to the sink, finding the portion spoons, then to a nearby icebox, finding a container of milk half-buried in it.
Content that he had all the necessary ingredients, Mark went to work, portioning one shot of espresso from the machine, then pouring up the eight ounces of milk while it made the shot. Looking up at the flavor bottles, he picked the two needed and poured both into the mixing cup at the same time, mentally counting until he had the measurements.
His movements were smooth and calm, hands seeming to be on autopilot, the ingredients mixed up and getting steamed just as the espresso shot was finished pouring. He grabbed a coffee mug and pulled the mix from the steamer, checking the pot with his bare hand to make sure it was at the right temperature, then adding the shot of espresso and pouring it into the mug. He topped it off with a perfect hill of whipped cream, then garnished it with chocolate syrup before presenting it to Donut Joe. The entire process had barely taken two minutes.
“Well, that was mighty impressive, son. But let’s make sure ya got the proper taste,” he said, taking a polite sip of the drink, closing his eyes and letting it swish around his mouth a bit, then swallowing and nodding with a grunt of satisfaction. “Princess, is this young lad currently employed? I’d be mighty happy to employ him here right this minute,” he said, Mark blushing and looking down, Luna giggling merrily.
“Alas, he is somewhat employed at the moment in Ponyville, though that may change now that he is a citizen. And now, Mark, I would like a Caramel Macchiato with extra vanilla. Is that doable?” she asked…and was surprised to see Mark already going about making it before she’d even finished. He clearly was familiar with what he was doing and the drink was before her even quicker than he’d made his own. A quick sip was all that was needed to assure her it was perfect.
She let Pony Joe ring them up, then moved to hand over the required bits…only for Mark to politely set down some of his own. “Please, Princess Luna, this is on me. You and your sister have already done so much for me today, it’s only fair I pay for this,” he said warmly, Luna finding no reason to protest and leading the way out to the patio, the human leaving the change for a tip and following.
“Many thanks, Mark. You’re not quite on Pony Joe’s level, but this is one of the best cups I’ve had the privilege of enjoying,” she said, her cup held in an indigo glow as she sipped from it, resting her rump on one of cushioned seats on the patio, Mark taking a seat across from her. He bowed his head in response and eased back, trying to make his cup last as long as possible…for it reminded him of the world he’d left behind.
“So, now that you are a citizen of Equestria, what say you about our humble kingdom?” asked Luna, looking over at him as he sipped his coffee, eyes on her star-filled night. She could see it was more than just a casual glance, his eyes focusing on the various constellations she’d put up in the evening sky over the centuries. “Something about the stars you wish to know?” she asked with a warm smile, always delighted to see someone interested in her work.
Mark said nothing for a few moments, then turned to her, smirking as he said “It took me almost twenty years to learn the constellations back home, and now I’ll have to do it all over again. Nothing up there even comes close to what we have back on Earth.”
Luna cocked her head to the side, letting his words play over in her head. “Wait…you mean you have such things back on Earth…where you say there is no magic?” she asked, trying to process how that could be possible. From the look on Mark’s face, he was surprised himself.
“Uh, yeah, I guess. Granted, coming to a magical kingdom with talking ponies and demi-god princesses certainly opens a new book for me. If I ever get home, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to listen to another astronomer with a straight face,” he said with a rueful chuckle.
“An astronomer? You mean there are people on your world who study the celestial objects?” she asked, finding herself wanting to hear more. Astronomy wasn’t unknown on Equestria, but considering Luna essentially controlled the stars and moon, there wasn’t a much of a point to it beyond observation.
“It’s the oldest natural science back home. Humans have been studying the stars for…damn, for centuries, probably since the first man. It’s how we discovered much about Earth and our universe before space exploration became possible,” he said, and was rewarded by Luna’s mouth actually dropping open.
“Space…exploration? Humans can travel amongst the stars?” she asked, trying to wrap her mind around how that was possible without magic. Twilight’s letters had specifically mentioned Mark emphasizing that magic did not exist on his world…yet it didn’t sound like he was joking with his words.
Seeing the look on her face, Mark chuckled and asked “How about I just explain things a bit more?” Getting a nod in return, he started to speak, starting with the story of Galileo, then telling her about man’s early fascination with the cosmos, touching on some of the theories of life on other planets and explaining what he knew of the constellations.
He watched Luna’s lovely face go through different expressions, showing amusement when he spoke of little green men from Mars or the moon, gleeful curiosity when he spoke of the constellations, sadness and respect when he talked about the space race and those who’d died trying to make it succeed. He told her about the moon landing itself, a glowing smile spreading on her face when he talked about the celebrations it’d caused around the world.
“And even just before I ended up here, we were still exploring. We’ve learned so much about our world and the galaxy Earth resides in, but I don’t think we’ve even seen a fraction of what’s out there,” he said, gazing back up into the night, wondering what could be lurking out there in this world.
He was surprised to feel a wing suddenly envelope him, pulling him against the princess’s warm body, Luna nuzzling her cheek against his. When she looked into his eyes, he saw them sparkling with tears.
“Thank you, Mark Hirami. Thank you for letting me know that there are people who appreciate the moon and the stars, even if not in this world,” she said softly, Mark returning her smile and politely wiping her tears away with his thumb.
“My pleasure, Luna,” he said, returning her nuzzle some. After a moment, he asked “Would you like to hear what humans do after the sun goes down?”
She pulled away and gave an eager nod, watching as Mark put his hands together and placed his head on them. She cocked her own in confusion…then he started snoring!
“Oh, you tease!” she said with a snort of laughter, giving him a playful shove as he grinned and stuck out his tongue, soon joining in.
Once the laughter had died down, he moved close to her and said “Let me get another cup of coffee, Luna. I get the feeling it’s going to be a long night of storytelling.”
It was indeed.