//------------------------------// // Meeting the bookworm // Story: My little dead space // by Cone of Wonders //------------------------------// Luckily for Isaac, the force of the shot had done more damage to the tree he had just crashed into. Now he was just there lying with his back on the ground as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Then, he came up with a conclusion. A little purple female pony had just tried to kick the shit out of him. Isaacs first emotion was anger, and wanted nothing more than to shoot her. Of course the only two things stopping him was the three fillies, of which were now talking some sense into Twilight, and the fact that killing her wasn't going to be getting him anywhere except the jail house. That is considering these ponies have prisons. He viewed the purple pony. The way she was standing in between him and the foals made it seem like she was just trying to protect them. Not exactly hard to tell since everything else he fought against was usually on the offence. It was enough to get him to calm down and slowly stand back up. The suits reading told him that he had received very little damage from the assault. His health meter still stood in the blue. Odd since he had just gone flying through a God damn tree. He shrugged it off and tried to approach again and made a note to himself not to shoot her. But if she dared try shooting at him again, she would most certainly be receiving a punch to the face. He cleared his throat once he decided he was close enough, gaining the attention of all four equines. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Isaac Clarke, I don't mean you any harm". As he spoke, he tried stepping ever so slowly forwards. If the purple unicorn was planning on trying to shoot him again, at least he would have had a chance to try and dodge it. The little purple unicorn wasted no time in talking. "Isaac Clarke"? She asked, tilting her head to the side. "That's an... unusual name". "So, I take it you're done with trying to blast me"? Isaac asked as the unicorn rubbed her forehoof, embarrassed with her actions. "Yeah, sorry about that. I thought you were a monster about to attack us. I didn't know that you were the friend Applebloom was talking about". Even though the unicorn couldn't see the small smirk on Isaacs face behind the helmet, she was still able too detect a short laugh. "What's so funny"? She asked. "Nothing. Just where I'm from, I'm usually the one attacked. Kind of amusing to have it the other way round here. Sort of". Isaac spoke with a sense of dry humor. "Anyway, don't worry about it. So, what's your name"? "Twilight Sparkle. Student of Princess Celestia". "...Yeah, I'm the one with the stupid name". Isaac thought to himself before speaking out loud. "Pleasure. Look, I don't mean to rush you Miss Sparkle, but your friends tell me that you can help me out"? "I'm sure I can try. So what's the problem"? "Well, I'm not sure how to put it, so I'll just give you the basics. I'm lost and need help getting back to earth". His first thoughts was to tell them that he wanted help getting back to the Sprawl. But since that place is now probably nothing more than a pile of heated scarp metal, earth was the next best thing. If he was lucky, he could find a way to contact Ellie from there. Still, one step at a time. Only one problem. Twilight looked confused by the request. "Earth? You mean you live underground"? Isaac had to resist the urge to face palm. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy, informing a pony about a planet she's never been to. Of course, now that Isaac thought about it, what planet was HE on? Yet another question for the evergrowing list. "No. No, Earth is a planet which"- "Planet? You mean... Are you trying to tell me that you are an alien"?! That look of shock and horror on Twilights face made Isaac wonder if he would have just been better off walking into the forest after all. "Um... Yes"? Expecting the unicorn to laugh or tell him that such things were impossible, she did no such thing. Instead, she kept repeating the words "Oh my gosh" over and over again as fast as she could while wearing a smile so large, Isaac was certain it would have fallen off. Next thing he knew, she was mobbing him with questions while doing her best to invade his personal space. It was enough for Isaac to step back while he was bombarded with questions such as... "What species are you? How many of your kind are you? Is that your actual skin or is it a form of clothing? What"... Even if Isaac did answer any of the questions, he wouldn't have had enough time to finish answering it as the unicorn just quickly, and impatiently, sped onto the next one. Thankfully she was so busy just asking, she was unable to hear the annoyed sigh coming from the engineer. Since she was not going to be slowing down anytime soon, Isaac calmly walked over to the three little fillies and leaned down next to them. "This? This is the help you were talking about"? He spoke unamused. The three nodded with hopeful smiles on their faces, not catching the annoyance in his voice. "Look, surely there has to be somebody, ANYbody else". Scootaloo thought for a second. "Well, how about Rainbow Da"- "NO"! Both Applebloom and Sweetiebelle spoke in unison, causing the orange pegasus to grumble. "Fine"... Applebloom turned back to Isaac. "Sorry Isaac. She's kind of... a smart pony. But she'll stop talking. Eventually"? "Just like when you said she would never shoot me"? Isaac spoke in good humor. "Yeah... I guess ah may have jumped the fence on that one. But ah mean it this time". She certainly sounded sure of herself. "Okay then, fine. I'll endure it". He grumbled. Getting up and turning around, he found that Twilight was still facing him and was STILL asking questions. "What do you eat? What are the names of your cities? Do you even have cities? What about hives? Or"... The more she droned on and on, the more Isaac actually began considering how much more entertaining it was just trying to survive back on the Ishimura and the Sprawl compared to this lecture. This was getting him nowhere fast. He needed to stop wasting time and get through some sort of progress while he could. "Uh, miss Twilight"? He had to speak loud and stern enough for Twilight to stop for a brief moment, thank God. "As... enlightening as it is to sit around and answer your questions for the rest of the day, I think you're missing the main point. Is there anyway you can help me out"? Twilight quickly snapped back to reality and shook her head. "Oh, well, I don't know much about helping creatures from other worlds, but I think I know some pony else who could help you out". Isaacs eye twitched. "Who"? "Princess Celestia. If anypony can help you, it'll be her". "Then... may I speak to her"? Isaac asked, becoming more and more impatient by the minute. "Sure. I just need to send her a letter and before long, you'll probably be back home before you know it". Isaac didn't like the sound of that probably, but what other choice did he have? "Okay then. Let's go and speak to this... Celestia then". "Uh, 'Princess' Celestia". Twilight kindly corrected him. Whatever... "Sorry, PRINCESS Celestia". "You... don't mind waiting here for a bit, do you"? Isaac chuckled. "Might as well. It's the only thing I've done since I came here". "Good. I'll be back when I can. Then, you can go back to answering those questions I have in store for you". And with that, Twilight zoomed off. As she did, Isaac gave a quick glance at the CMCs who still waited patiently at his side. Perhaps now would be a good chance to break the ice. "So uh... what do you three do for fun around here"? All three fillies looked at each other before sporting a wide, almost evil grin. "Want to help us earn our cutie marks"?