//------------------------------// // Chance Encounter // Story: Second Hand Source // by Razalon The Lizardman //------------------------------// “Wow, this place is such an eyesore.” Mitaru’s lips pull down into a distasteful frown. “Like, really, crystal structures equal reflected sunlight in people’s eyes.” “We didn’t ask for it,” Twilight says while opening the front door with her magic, ushering him and her friends in and then shutting it. “Given the choice, I would’ve had this be an exact duplicate of the Golden Oak Library.” “But this place is super duper amazing still!” Pinkie exclaims, bouncing all around the group. Before he can so much as blink, Mitaru finds his vision obscured by a set of wide, blue eyes. Pinkie pulls his head around and leans conspiratorially into his lizard ear. “Watch out for forgotten confetti cannons.” Mitaru blinks, and gives the entrance hall a once over while Pinkie joins her friends, who all either roll their eyes at her antics while she smiles innocently. “Anyway, Mitaru,” Applejack says, stepping forward, “how’s about ya follow us ta the sittin’ room an’ we’ll get down ta business?” “Indeed,” he replies, curtly. “In spite of my grievances with this castle, I predict my stay here being rather pleasant.” “Glad to hear,” Twilight says, and begins walking down the hallway, to which Pinkie and Fluttershy follow. “Go on dear,” Rarity says to Mitaru, gesturing forward with a hoof. “As your escorts, we must see you safely through from all sides.” With a simple nod in response, Mitaru starts after Twilight’s group with Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack following behind him. The seven of them wander through the Castle of Friendship’s enormous hallways, passing by many doors — including some open ones — before stopping in front of one with a bolted sign that reads SITTING ROOM. “Here we are,” Twilight says. She opens the door with her magic, revealing a room with several armchairs surrounding a coffee table in the center. She steps inside and beckons Mitaru to follow. Stepping through the door, he smiles at Twilight. “I must say, Princess, this has been such a warm wel–SEE YA LATER SUCKAS!” It all happens in less than an eye’s blink. Mitaru pulls a smoke bomb from his backpack and throws it to the floor, cloaking his escape as he sprints back down the hall. While the mares recover from his smokescreen, he slips through one of the open doors. “Wait til I get that punk!” Rainbow shouts from down the hall. Mitaru smirks. “Fat chance,” he whispers under his breath. He turns around, beholding sight of the dimensional portal. Wasting no time, he sprints through just as the door opens. “... ir… Sir?... Are you… kay?” Stirred by the voice, Mitaru slowly opens his eyes, revealing to him a whole lot of blue. As his vision comes into focus, the blue forms a face — feminine judging from the eyes — looking down at him with clear worry. He blinks once, then again before sitting upright from the hard ground underneath. A light headache runs through his skull, which he attempts to quell with a hand to his forehead… only for his eyes to bulge at the alien sensation he feels at the touch. Bringing his hand in front of his face, he’s amazed to see his skin is now peach-colored with little hairs sticking out, as opposed to its normal dark purple scales. Looking down, he notices he’s now sporting actual attire, consisting of blue jeans, a brown sweatshirt underneath a black winter jacket, plain white socks with black shoes, and he can feel his backpack still strapped over his shoulders. “Are you okay mister?” Mitaru turns toward the voice, and his eyes light upon seeing that it’s Sonata Dusk. The former siren has genuine concern in her eyes, but also an unmistakable childish curiosity that he would expect from her. He opens his mouth to reply, but stops himself when a thought occurs to him. Twilight’s definitely gonna send Sunset a message saying to keep on the lookout for me. Highly unlikely she’ll know who I am with my current form, but… yeah, better play it safe and avoid her instead. “I’m fine, thank you,” he finally replies, standing back up while still rubbing his head. “You’re Sonata Dusk, aren’t you? From the Battle of the Bands fiasco?” To say her eyes grow panicked is a heavy understatement. “W-wait, you know about that?” She stumbles back in her shock, falling on her butt with a pained wince, right in between a couple paper bags. She quickly recovers from her pain, seeming to shrink in on herself. No doubt long-suppressed memories of that incident are surfacing in her mind. “Yes, I do, as does everyone who lives within a mile-wide radius of the school.” Mitaru offers a helping hand to Sonata, who accepts it with a bit of a blush in her cheeks as she stands up. “But I don’t really care about what you all did. Heck, if anything, I’d like to get to know you Dazzlings a little better.” Sonata’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Really?” “Sure, why not?” Mitaru’s new mammalian lips lift into a genuine, friendly smile as he grabs the straps of his backpack. “Lovely lass like you’s gotta have some interesting stories to tell.” Sonata appears to consider his words for a minute, all while her blush gradually grows darker the longer Mitaru stares at her with his warm, inviting, and incredibly handsome smile. “I-I guess I could i-invite you over for a little while.” She reaches down to pick up the paper bags, but Mitaru holds up a hand to stop her. “Allow me,” he says, and picks up both of the bags himself. “So that’s a yes, I take it?” She nods. “S-sure, yeah.” Her face turns sheepish as they begin walking down the sidewalk, Mitaru keeping a few paces behind Sonata. “But not for too long, okay? I don’t know if the girls are gonna like me bringing company over…” “Ah, they’ll change their minds when they meet me,” Mitaru assures her. “I’m the most likable person I know.” The apprehension is clear as day in both Aria and Adagio’s eyes as they peer through the crack in the front door, held only by a chain lock. “Sonata, we told you to bring home groceries, not a stranger with weird-looking skin.” “Awful hair, too,” Aria adds. Sonata gives Mitaru a look that says ‘They’re really not so bad when you get to know them’, to which he casually shrugs. “Furthermore,” Adagio continues, “you’re saying you just met this guy? How do you know he isn’t working for the Rainbooms, or maybe even the police?” A hard slam sounds against the door on the other side. “What were you thinking!?” “Hey, he’s nice!” Sonata exclaims. “He helped me bring back the groceries, and, well… I’ve kinda liked talking with him.” “And why should we care?” Adagio asks, eyebrow raised. Before Sonata can give another reply, Mitaru holds up a hand to stop her. “Allow me,” he says, and steps forward. Casually, he grips the chain lock with one hand while placing the other one on his hip. He gives Adagio and Aria a Cheshire smile while they merely stare back with a mixture of confusion and distrust. The fact that they aren’t retreating inside is a small miracle in his eyes. “I promise you I’m not working for or against anyone but myself,” he says. The two reluctant dazzlings narrow their eyes at him. Seeing that he has their full attention, Mitaru begins working on the chain. He continues speaking. “I can understand why you’d be hesitant to associate with me, or anyone else really, after what happened at the Battle of the Bands.” A small flicker of what looks like regret flashes across both their faces, but only briefly before they return to glaring icy daggers at him. “That said, I’m not here to kick you while you’re down or anything of the sort. All I want is to learn a little more about you girls: what life was like back home compared to how it is here, what it feels like to have and wield magic… A bunch of otherworldly creatures like yourselves surely have some interesting stories to tell me, right?” Adagio and Aria make only the barest sign of considering his words — a brief glance downward — before returning his gaze and simultaneously replying, “No.” Mitaru smirks. “Not like you have much choice.” Adagio and Aria barely have time to blink before their attention is drawn to wisps of steam rising from underneath his hand gripping the chain. A sizzling sound begins emanating from where he’s grabbing it, and the steam begins increasing in quantity, rising up and dissipating into the atmosphere. Adagio and Aria, and even Sonata if Mitaru had to guess what her reaction currently was, stare with their jaws agape and dumbfounded expressions plastered across their faces. Finally, the chain falls apart, both sides coming to rest alongside the door; their ends are both a glowing orange. “As you can see,” Mitaru says, “I’m not someone to be trifled with.” He casually pushes the door open and steps inside the apartment past them. He gives the entrance foyer a cursory examination before his eyes settle on the television. Specifically, the game console hooked up to it. Turning around, and taking no small amount of amusement of the fear in the girls’ eyes, and asks, “Mind if I play against one of you?” The three sirens share a look between each other, as if silently begging not to have to get anywhere near him. After a moment of silent contemplation, Sonata steps forward with an awkward smile. “S-sure, M-M-Mitaru,” she stutters, as a bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. “I-I’ll p-p-play against you.” Mitaru grins. “Don’t think I’ll go easy on a girl, not by a longshot.” “C’mon! C’mon!” ”Game Set!” With a grunt of frustration, Mitaru chucks the controller onto the floor. After taking a moment to rub his face, he turns to Sonata, cowering against the couch’s armrest, her own controller gripped tightly in her hands. “Okay, I didn’t expect you to be a pushover when I challenged you…” He gestures toward the television with both hands. “But I didn’t expect to lose, what was it… nineteen out of twenty-three matches! I consider myself to be good at this game, but how did you get to be such a pro?” Sonata hesitates for a second, fear still gripping her mind. When she does speak, it’s in a hushed whisper that Mitaru wouldn’t have been able to hear had it not been for his advanced hearing. “W-w-well, y-you see…” She reorients herself, her face becoming more relaxed as she loosens the grip on her controller. “The girls and I stir up competition among expert players for our Sunday brunches. I like playing games already, so I decided to try my hand at it. And, well… I got good.” The corners of her mouth lift into a small smile. “It feels nice to have someone to play against; Aria and Adagio don’t have much love for games these days, and after the Battle of the Bands, it’s been impossible to find anyone who wants to get within ten feet of us, let alone play a round.” “Interesting…” Mitaru places a hand against his chin, his eyes going blank as he takes a moment to think. “...You know, I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type who loves video games.” He reaches beside the couch to his backpack, pulling out his notebook and pen and opening to a fresh page. “How’d you get into it?” Sonata smiles, and stands up. “Give me a sec.” She leaves the room and heads upstairs, returning a couple of minutes later holding a pink book with a latch on the front. Mitaru watches as she undoes the latch and opens the book, flipping through the pages until she stops at one in particular. With all the grace and dexterity of a child ripping the wrapper off a birthday present, she tears the page out and hands it to him. His brow raised in curiosity, Mitaru accepts the page and begins scanning it with his eyes. The page is a diary entry, evidenced by the “Dear Diary” up top, and the entry details a story written from Sonata’s perspective. Something about a Halloween costume, her becoming a video game character, ending the feud between her sister sirens… “Wow, this is something else.” Mitaru gives the entry another once over before looking back up to Sonata with a gleeful expression. “And you’re letting me have this?” Sonata nods and places her hands behind her back. “I can always write it again,” she says with a shrug. “Think of it as my thanks for spending this time with me.” A small blush forms across her cheeks. “It was very… nice.” Mitaru gives a dismissive wave. “Don’t mention it.” He stands up, stretching his arms over his head as he continues. “Well, this has been fun, and very fruitful for my endeavor, but I think it’s time I get going.” “Oh, um… okay,” is all Mitaru hears as he heads for the door. Stepping outside, he takes a second to stuff his notebook and Sonata’s diary page into his backpack before proceeding down the steps, turning back in the direction of Canterlot High. Once he reaches the school, he immediately heads for the statue out front. After a quick look around to make sure the coast is clear, he steps up to the statue and into the portal.