"Oh wow," Ness whistled, staring up at the structure before the winged-pony and himself "that's something else."
"Indeed," Aurora stated, seeming to be just as speechless as he was "quite an impressive piece of architecture."
"Talk about a tree house." Ness murmured, almost mesmerized by the design of the building.
"Mayhaps this is a hostel? Is there anypony here?" Aurora asked, moving forward to knock at the door.
"Sure looks like it, looks really cozy, too." Ness replied, snapping out of his trance as he thought back to some of the hotels he stayed at during his trip around the world.
Aurora knocked gently, as if he feared the oak door might tip over if he knocked too hard. Ness took a wild guess that such a thing was possible, given the winged-unicorn's stature. The door creaked open, and yet another pony with a horn and wings answered, bags under its eyes, and its mane severely frazzled, as if it'd spent the day rubbing a balloon against it.
"Um, excuse me, Miss," Ness began, trying not to be off-put by the frequent twitching of the lavender alicorn's eye "we're looking for the nearest hotel."
The shorter alicorn's eye twitched a few more times before giggling to herself, making both Ness and Aurora a bit more uncomfortable.
"Er...I think we'll just go and...ask someone else..." Ness stated, turning to resume his walk down the empty street.
Aurora turned to follow his companion, shooting a concerned glance back to the alicorn still standing in the open doorway of the tree-like structure.
"Well, that was most certainly a library, not a hostel," Aurora said as the two delved further into the small town "if the numerous shelves of books were any indication."
"It still looked comfortable." Ness replied.
"Indeed." Aurora stated.
The two continued their journey, following a dirt road lined with businesses and shops, all haphazardly shuttered in their wake, as if a great depression had come through right before them.
"Seems pretty empty for such a large town." Ness said to no-one in particular, memories of Threed surfacing in his mind.
'At least there isn't a man-eating tent...' Ness thought, shuddering at the thought of the evil grin on the sentient circus tent that he and his friends once battled.
"Quite." Aurora agreed, then after a moment "Sir Ness."
"Hmm?" the boy asked, wondering what the large stallion might want to ask.
"What is thy purpose in this world?" he asked, curious.
"I don't know..." Ness replied "my friends and I were saving the world from the aliens, and then...then I don't remember much after that...I found myself lost in a forest, and I just started walking."
"And here we are." Aurora finished, nodding "Verily, it seems thou art truly lost..."
"Yeah..."
"Maybe fate has something in store for you, if it brought thou here so suddenly."
"I guess you're right..." Ness replied.
'What in the world could fate want with me?' he wondered 'I'm just a kid, sure- maybe we saved our own world, but how could I save this one, if at all?'
He honestly didn't want to think about globe-trotting this new planet, especially right after just doing so with his own planet. Maybe he didn't want to save the world again, maybe he just wanted to lay on a soft bed and sleep.
Ness shook his head, banishing all future concerns for the moment. If these ponies were as peaceful as they were colorful, he shouldn't have much trouble keeping fallout at bay, right?
"Sir Ness, art thou alright?" Aurora asked.
Ness blinked, finding himself staring at the laces of his cherry red Converse as he walked, now mildly caked with dust and dirt from the long trip to the settlement.
"Oh, uh...yeah, I'm fine- just thinking about a few things..."
"Well, I do believe I spot a hostel just down the street." the tall alicorn stated, a hoof shielding his eyes as his expressive eyes squinted.
"Oh, how can you tell?" Ness asked.
"It seems that it is indeed a hostel, if the bed painted on the sign is any indication." he replied.
"That's awfully convenient." Ness said cheerfully.
"Verily." Aurora replied.
"Let's see if there's anyone inside, maybe after we get a room we can look around a little more."
"'Tis a most brilliant plan." Aurora declared as the two of them headed into the hotel.