On the first Saturday with tree leaves turning orange, I'd resolved to stay home and slack the day away. The week had been busy with customers ordering larger numbers of crafts than ever, and after all that time in the workshop I really, really just needed a break. The sun outside the window was already high up, sharing what heat it cared to until it would in turn take its vacation during the winter.
Something hard hit my head from the side. A large book leaning against the wall had fallen onto me. I ignored it, simply turning under it to get back to the warm spot I'd created on the bed. Maybe I'd lie here for another fifteen minutes... an hour? Nah, however long I liked. I managed to finish that story last night, there wasn't any rush. Though there was a pile of books by my bedside still waiting... nah. It was good enough here.
"Hey there! How you doing?"
A purple unicorn pony was at my bedside.
"Good enough, Twilight, why don't you join me?" I scooted over a bit to give her space to crawl in. She did so eagerly, stretching her legs under the blanket... somehow, and turned to tell me something.
"Hello, you in?"
"Uhh..?"
The sound of rapping wood came out of her throat. Her eyes lost their shape and melted the more I tried to focus on them. "Hey, you in there? They told me you should be home!"
Again, the knocking, and now I was finally in some state that could be described as awake. Grumbling, I pulled myself out from warm, safe bed and dragged my feet to the front door. Hoping to placate whoever was behind, I pulled it open as forcefully as I could. I was in no mood to do things like check whoever was trying to enter my home, my morning was already ruined.
"Eh? Good morning, Twilight." True enough, it was that same purple unicorn behind the door. A little wide-eyed at my less-than-gentle invitation, but she shook out of it quickly enough.
"Afternoon, you mean." She looked to her side and at the window at the end of the hallway, blinking at the sun ray that caught her. "I was passing by and I thought I'd pay you a visit! I'm not causing you any trouble, am I?"
Feeling a lot less grumpy than before, I was happy to accept. "Of course not, Twilight. Please, make yourself at home." No sooner than after she put a foot, no, hoof onto my floor that I reconsidered saying yes so fast. At least she seemed less disgusted and more interested with my clothes strewn across the floor.
"Haven't seen you wear that before, by the way." Her head slowly titled about as she looked me over. "Aren't you cold in that? It is getting chillier these days. Something you wear at home?"
"...Yeah, sometimes. Why don't you take a seat? I... need to change now, and let me clean up a bit." I snatched a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt off a clothes hook before rushing into the bathroom, the only place in this small apartment closed off from everywhere else. Twilight didn't seem too bothered with me greeting her in my underwear, at least. It didn't sit well with me, though. Just wasn't right.
Twilight was busy looking over my apartment when I came back out. I'd done my best to ease the place to my tastes with what I had. My phone held a special place on a countertop, though now I left it off to save power for a last call if I had the hope. Right next to it were a set of car keys, also living a new life as an ornament. My music player lay atop a stack of papers, lyrics written on them so I could make do with imagining the songs in my head rather than squander precious, fast-fading power actually listening to them. What clothes weren't hung on the hooks or on the floor were in the wardrobe, where Twilight was busy poking her nose.
"Ah! Sorry! It was just open and all..." She sheepishly smiled and scurried back to my book pile.
"Eh, guess I should have closed it, then. Anyway, I'm going to make my breakfa–uh, lunch, yeah. Want me to make you anything?" I was hungry enough that I didn't mind condensing both meals into one. That and it was too late to have breakfast, was a safe guess.
"Sure! I really want to try your cooking, actually..." Her eyes glazed over a little, just briefly, before she went and busied herself looking about while sitting at my small dining table. All I was really doing was a simple noodle soup dish, a little sauce into the boiling water, an egg... I could hear Twilight probably moving about the apartment behind, but concentrating on the dish was more important. A little more and I had a meal enough for two.
Snf, snf... "Smells good!" Twilight sniffed the air from her seat, straightening herself up to get a few last wafts. A soft grumble came from her belly as she expectantly watched me serve us both.
"Let's eat!" Twilight nodded in return, then levitated her utensils to begin. I had a pair of chopsticks to myself, but I hadn't seen them used around here and didn't think these ponies would really know how to use one anyway.
As usual, I'd admire my work before devouring it all. Presentation was... fine, I suppose. The noodles weren't bad for the time taken to actually cook them, though they could have been boiled a little longer in broth. Of course, I had a judge to please. I just had to look at her and wait for a response before I continued eating any more.
"How is it?" I figured it would be important to get the opinion of a local's palate. I guess that was why I was quite anxious about her opinion.
"It's pretty–" There were a few slurps of broth and noodles both. "Good!"
My entire back relaxed, I didn't even know I was so tense. "Thanks! I was saving my meat for tomorrow, so it's good that you came by today instead."
"Pretty salty for this weather though..." Slurp. Munch. Her comment sank my heart a little. "Oh, but still, I like it!" Slurp.
"Well, that's really good to hear. I can certainly see you're enjoying it. Mother always told me I take too much salt, anyway."
"Ehh?"
It would be pretty awful if that last slip of my tongue startled Twilight so much. It wasn't my place to be unloading all my troubles onto her.
"Sorry!" She rubbed her hooves together awkwardly. "I guess I do eat a little too fast, eheh. My mom used to tell me off for it!"
"Eh, doesn't bother me. Makes me happy I can see you're enjoying my food, you know?"
We continued thereafter without speaking. Twilight started off quiet, but quickly resumed her devouring. I myself ate a lot slower than usual, spending more time looking at Twilight. Giving back felt better than it should. Not to say I was any slouch, I knew my noodle-eating better than anyone I knew, so despite Twilight's considerable advantage we finished at the same time.
"I don't think I'll be eating much dinner later..." She burped into a hoof. Onto a hoof?
"Want to hang out a little more while you're here? I could continue my story where we left off–"
"Want any help with the dishes?" Twilight hadn't heard me, I think. She was levitating her own bowl to the washbasin behind me.
"Uh, yes, yes, because I was going to do the dishes before that, yeah." Probably not a good idea to show Twilight too much of my sloppiness in one go. "I mean, nah, it's fine, go ahead and look around some more first."
"I can't let you do that alone! Got to pay my compliments to the chef, right?" Twilight was insistent, standing to my side with a dishcloth. At least this way work would be done faster. I quickly soaped and rinsed our bowls and utensils, she dried them and put them aside. Efficient, the both of us.
"Right, then..." She settled herself onto a carpet. "Read yourself late last night?"
I myself sat across her, fondling through a stack of her books lent to me. "Hah, yeah. I'm not sure why I read a kid's textbook from cover to cover. Well, it is about magic, and I don't know anything about that..."
"Oh, speaking of which, Princess Celestia herself asked to see you!" Twilight lit up as she did when excited. The sparkle in her purple eyes was unmistakable.
"The Queen herself?" I'd been hoping for another lazy day like today, if things kept their pace.
"Princess! Yes, it's her. She said she's interested in speaking to you herself!" She beamed with some sort of pride. Maybe it was in being recognised for her efforts with me.
"What would she want to say to me, though? Actually, I'm not sure what I'd have to tell her, too." I wasn't all that opposed to the idea, maybe she had good news and they'd managed to charter a plane out of here. Spaceship? Teleporter? For some reason, all three seemed equally likely. 'Likely' was a pleasant, comforting word to use.
"Well, I've been sending her letters about what we've been doing–I mean, she did ask me to help you out!" I must have made some sort of face on hearing our time together being compiled into reports, as I felt my face slowly relax. "She'd want to make sure you're doing okay and all." Sunlight from the window behind me shone on her, as if vouching for her.
"I guess that's okay then." I shrugged. Better than her not caring, I figured. "When does she expect me?"
"Is next Saturday okay? You'll have to take a night train ride on Friday, actually, I think. Oh, maybe we'll get to see Princess Luna!"
"Yeah, should be fine." I did my best to hide my grumbling. The rains scheduled for the coming weekend would have been great to stay at home to watch.
"Cheer up, I'll come with you! I've got more business to settle myself." She tapped my shoulder to straighten me back up. "And by the way, I told Rainbow Dash about that carriage of yours that you lost. She'll tell us as soon as possible when she finds it, alright? Now, where were we..."
We got back to our matter at hand pretty quickly. Stories, language... I was still reading a particularly interesting romance novel, one Rarity had recommended, but Twilight hadn't read it and could offer no comments. Things shifted to me again, rather, the habits I had that ponies weren't familiar with.
"So why do you wear clothes all around anyway? Is it to make up for your lacking hair?"
The question itself from Twilight's cheerful visage was a little stinging. I-I wasn't hairless.
"Well, uh, yeah, I guess that habit evolved from that need. See, our kind first arose in a pretty hot land called Africa, I think I told you that already. Not having lots of hair helped us stay cooler! But then we moved to other places and had to learn how to cover ourselves to stay warm. There are a few other stories that also explain why we wear clothes so much..."
"Wait, so, during the summer you'd be fine going about naked, then?" I wonder if Twilight realised the nature of her question eventually.
"Nnnno." I tried to think of a better way to say it.
"Why not? Wouldn't it be just right for you, then?" She tilted her head in puzzlement.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be cold, but... it's just not acceptable. You can only be completely naked in, uh, special situations."
"Like what?" She looked intently into my eyes, as if she already had a vague idea of the answer and wanted me uncomfortable.
"Uh, when you're with someone you're really close to."
"Like your friends? Or your parents?"
Did she really have no idea? She kept those curious eyes on me, prying out whatever they could behind mine. No use getting around it.
"No, Twilight, your... lover."
Those curious purple eyes had me locked in them too. On that last word, they widened and released me at last. Saying that last word took some stamina, I didn't know why.
"Oh, uh, I see." Twilight stuttered. "Interesting, though! Thanks for the insight!"
She'd gotten it at last, at least. She went to poke around some of the rest of my belongings.
"What's the black flat thing, by the way?" She lifted my phone off its sacred spot on the counter, giving it a sniff for some reason.
"That? It's my phone. It's supposed to let me speak to anyone who has another working one from really far away. It's got a camera on it too, let me see if I can turn it on..."
Twilight ooh'd at the animation upon opening. I hoped to hear a message tone of some sort, but of course, there was nothing. Twilight seemed confused over how to manipulate a touch screen, but enough demonstration with my fingers was enough for her to learn to use her hooves, or nose.
"Haven't you tried calling for help?" She seemed hesitant to ask something so obvious. I told her about how reception worked, and her mind took it all eagerly.
"And by the way, there doesn't seem to be room for film on it. How does the camera work?"
"Like this. Smile, Twilight!"
Her camera face had a pretty big smile. I told her what I knew about electronic data storage, and the smile she wore at that outshined the other. I quickly snatched a photograph of that.
"And there you go, another one."
Like a child with a beloved new toy, she scrolled through both photos of her, and with my permission the rest of that folder.
"Is that you? Who's all that around you?" She pointed out a picture of a me with a group.
"Oh, that's my mom and dad. If you can't figure out who are the ladies, look at their chests, the shapes of their bodies in general..." It was easier by the passing days to distract the less happy thoughts with explanations for Twilight. It wasn't long till I had to stop her, though, as I still wanted to save a smidgen of battery for whatever I would need it for.
"Oh goodness, is it so late already?" Twilight looked out the window. By now the sun was already readying itself for bed low in the sky. "Well, thanks for having me over! See you soon!"
I bade her goodbye and escorted her out the building. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for the rest of today now that I didn't feel like sleeping anymore, but I didn't mind my plans changing too much.
The apartment felt warmer than before she'd come in, though for the next few days it would feel somehow emptier.