Mystery Track #01
“I have a lot of questions about humans.” Twilight told Emma. “And even if you are from another world, the characteristics shouldn’t be too different.”
Emma rolled her eyes as she looks at the vast collection of books in the library. Some were just what she needed to know more about the world. The basics of what one should need to know about this magical world. But before she does, she turns to Twilight to prepare for the questionnaire she had for her.
“Alright, shoot. What did you want to know?”
“Do all humans carry the intelligence of machinery like you do?”
Emma shrugged and held her chin as she said, “To some extent, but some people in my world rather be into athletics or entertainment. We have all sorts of people, and not all of them study the field of technology. Most of us use it in our daily lives though, that’s for sure.”
“Oh! So each of you have different special talents?” Twilight deduced.
“I guess that’s one way to put it.”
“Do you by any chance have cutie marks then?”
Emma stared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. She was making sure Twilight wasn’t asking some sort of ridiculous question as a joke. In a deadpan voice, she simply said, “What?”
“You know. The marks you get that tell you your special talent.” Twilight explained.
“You mean those symbols on your flanks?” Emma questioned.
“Yes. As you can see, I have a great talent in magic.”
“I see…” Emma nodded. “Well, no, we don’t have those. Most you can get for pictures on skin would be tattoos.”
“Oh… I see…”
“It’d be pretty neat though.” Emma admitted. “I’d like to see my cutie mark as a… gear or something. It sounds silly, but I always thought gears looked kinda cool.”
“Maybe that’s because of your skill in machinery!”
“I’m not that good.” Emma said with a blush.
End of Track
Emma’s POV – The Sights of Ponyville
I’ve been here for a while now. I met lots of ponies, and they met a human for the first time. It comes as a shock to them after learning from Twilight about the disappearance of a species now coming back from decline. With that, word of my existence in town has spread like wildfire. I became the talk of the town, the news on the paper, the butter on the toast. My name is now a topic to turn to when awkward dates have nothing to talk about.
As much as how nice being popular is, I had something to look into.
Someone casted a spell on me, and now I’m here. Whatever they were trying to do, I need to find out who did it to me if I want to go home. Forget the speech time limit, just finding a way back is good enough. The problem right now is that I don’t know who the culprit behind this mess is. If I find them though, I’ll be able to find the spell they used.
But how do you track down those kinds of… ponies down?
“Emma!” Spike called. For some of you who don’t know, Spike is a lavender baby dragon with green spikes. “It’s that package Twilight ordered for you!”
“Oh, really?” I spoke, opening the box he held in his claws. The contents inside were parts, from bolts to screws and bottles to handles. Some thin strings of copper and gold, and plastic made to be a little thick. Great for wires! “Oh good! They came in!”
I lifted the box and brought it to the desk. Despite my eagerness to have something to work with on my new blueprints, Spike simply raised an eyebrow at me. “What are you doing with all of this junk?”
“This junk are just parts for a bigger and better machine my little dragon.” I explained. “It’ll help in my daily survival on this alien planet, thanks to my new blueprint designs.”
“You mean that gibberish you keep writing every night?” He corrected.
“No.” I said sternly. “Blueprints Spike. Blueprints.”
“Alright, alright.” He understood as he waved to tell me to calm down. “Just between you and me, Twilight’s not gonna let you work on that today.”
“What? Why?” I questioned in confusion.
“She’s kinda worried on how you never step foot out of this house for the past couple of weeks.” Spike told me. “Saying that it’s not nice being cooped up in here all day.”
“But she reads in this library all the time!”
“Which is why, we’re both going out!” Twilight announced, coming into the room with that innocent smile.
“Twilight, come on. I’m working on something here.”
“Emma, it’s time for you to stop worrying about your gadgets, and come on out for some sunshine!”
“Just a while back, you praised the humans for doing just that.” I reminded her. “Making gadgets.”
“Yes, but now isn’t the time for that.” She took my hand and pulled me away from the chair. “Come on! It’ll be good for you!”
I was dragged out of the big tree and given a bright greeting by the sun watching us all. The wind blew a gentle breeze with leaves dancing in its trail. The town continues its hustle and bustle with business and chatting. This was the normal day in the town of Ponyville. A content and peaceful place to live in. Almost anyone can find peace here.
“Take that!” The voice shouted, as a ball of mud splashed at my face. I stood still as the three of us turned to the slinger and his cohorts. They gave me an evil eye before scampering off to their lair. I forgot to mention, as you gain notice for being an alien species, some may not want you here.
“Hey! Get back here!” Spike ordered angrily to the hoodlums.
“… I’m going back inside…” I told my friends.
“Wait, hold on.” Twilight pleaded as she held onto my shirt. “Don’t let them scare you back in Emma. The last couple of weeks made them think you’re scared of them. If you keep staying in there, they’ll keep bothering you the next time you go out.”
“They’re bothering me right now Twi!” I pointed out aloud. “I can’t stand this anymore.”
“You’ve only been out for three seconds!” Twilight stated. “At least take this day to try. I did buy you all those parts for you to work on your things later.”
I groaned at her bribery, from what I thought was her generosity. Of course, it had a price tag of favors on it. I wiped the mud off of my face and grumbled, “Fine. I’ll come with.”
“Excellent!” She said ecstatically. “We have a lot of places to drop by. There’s also a party coming up tonight. A little gathering of our friends and family. We need you to get ready with some new clothes and help with the food.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” I complied.
Twilight’s POV – Order for Human Clothing!
After convincing Emma to go out for the day, I brought her to the perfect place to get her a nice dress. I’m sure Rarity wouldn’t mind making a dress for her. The only problem is if I can afford it. Since Emma’s bigger, she might use up more supplies. Rarity might not want to do such a project.
“Are you joking dear!? Of course I’d love to!” Rarity exclaimed in my surprise.
“Huh? Really?” I spoke in utter surprise.
“Truth be told, I was almost begging her to let me take a few measurements, just so I can experiment.” She explained as she pulled out a long measuring tape. “But she was absolutely persistent on much more important matters. At least, that’s what she claims.”
“She was drawing up a lot of blueprints.” Spike mentioned.
“Well, if she just dropped by once, I could have sketched a lot of designs for her myself.” She huffed. “But no matter. Now that she’s here, I can finally get started. I won’t be able to prepare anything to complicated, but simple attire should do well for tonight’s gathering.”
Rarity walked to Emma and got another good look at her before she started measuring her waist and hips. “Just in time too. The clothes you had ever since you came here are starting to smell. They look a bit worn and muddy.”
Emma turned with an annoyed expression scoffing, “The mud was from those other horses.”
“Oh my. Did those rascals come to bother you again?”
“They threw a ball of mud at her face and got away.” Spike explained.
“It seems that they’re too immature to accept new creatures into our little town.”
“Well, at least I met you girls.” She said with a blissful sigh. “It was sure rough the first time I was here.”
“I’m sure every pony had just as much trouble getting used to this. We just had to adjust a bit.” I noted.
It wasn’t long before Rarity finished up with the measurements. She got her notepad and went to her room. “I got what I needed. I’ll be upstairs making you something that will do for tonight. In the meantime, why don’t you go to the spa? Relax until I get your new attire finished. They can get you cleaned up and feeling fresh!”
“I don’t have any money though.” Emma shrugged as she pulled out her empty pockets.
“Here.” Rarity said, with no hesitation as expected. A purse of bits floats and out comes the bits into Emma’s hands. The human’s face was simply stunned as the money flowed to her, and Rarity simply smiled. “That should be enough for a few treatments.”
“Oh… Wow… Thanks, no one usually gives me money right off the bat like that…”
“It’s no problem dearie. Now go on, you certainly need the rest.”
“Spike, can you show Emma where the spa is?” I requested.
“Alright then.” Spike nodded. “Follow me Emma.”
After Spike walked Emma outside, I went to Rarity with another request. “Rarity, about Emma’s clothes.”
“What of it Twilight?”
“Can you add something for me?”
Spike’s POV – The Human Body
I was walking Emma to the spa in town. She was starting to ease up a bit more, and was looking forward to the trip.
“It’s nice of Rarity to give me the money.” Emma stated. “This is the first time I go to a spa in my life.”
I was kinda surprised to hear that. “Really? How come?”
“I guess I didn’t have the time in my world. I had lots of work to do, so I was always busy.”
“Oh, okay then.” I nodded. “So… what kind of things at your world were you busy with?”
“Hmm? Well… other than designing machines, I also worked with them in my college years.”
“Really? So, what did you make?”
She held her chin in deep thought, and smiled as if she was thinking of the happiest moments of her life. “Well, I worked on some generators and engines. They powered lots of stuff, like lamps all over the campus, vending machines, cars-.”
I couldn’t help but interrupt after hearing the last one of the stuff she made. “Sounds cool, but… What are cars?”
“Cars?” She repeated. “Um… Think of it as a wagon that moves by itself.”
“Really? That actually sounds pretty cool.”
“They are useful for getting around.” Emma chuckled. “Too bad I won’t be able to drive one anymore.”
“Hey, maybe you can build one!” I suggested.
“That would be pretty fun to build.” Emma nodded. “But I’ll need a lot of parts. A lot of wires and… wow, I just need to figure out how a car works in general.”
“Sounds complicated.” I groaned. “Guess we won’t be having a car too soon then.”
“Yeah, I guess so…” She sighed.
After giving a sad sigh to never be in a car, we looked up and found that we were at the spa already. Emma took a deep breath and went in, like she was about to perform on stage at some concert. Aloe and Lotus just came out and greeted her in.
“Why, hello! We didn’t expect you to come in.” Aloe smiled.
Emma sweated a little bit, looking nervous. “Me neither.”
“You look like you’re in dire need of treatment though.” Lotus pointed out Emma’s messy state. “It makes sense for you to come in.”
“Yeah. Some colts went and threw some muck, so Rarity advised me to head here.”
“Well, we’ll know how to fix you right up.” Aloe assured her. “Go ahead and take off your clothes before you head in the bath.”
Emma nodded and left. I was about to follow her until she stopped me halfway before we went to the next room.
“WHOA there! What do you think you’re doing?” Emma questioned.
“I was about to go in there with you.” I told her.
“Nu uh! No way! I’m about to change!” She complained. “You can’t go in there when I’m naked!”
“Oh please. If you haven’t noticed, every pony is naked; all the time!” I pointed out. “In fact, why do you wear clothes all the time?”
“I don’t hide my… spots like all of you.” Emma explained.
“Spots…?” I repeated, confused. “Like… a Dalmatian?”
She slapped her face and groaned before saying, “Look, I’m gonna go in the changing room ALONE. You can do whatever you want, but you can’t come around me for a while.”
“Alright, jeez.” I said, rolling my eyes. She left, and made me go to the other room for the day. At first, I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to hide. It wasn’t a big deal, being naked around others. But what did she mean by spots? Does she have something weird on her body?
The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help but wonder how she looked without clothes. Maybe she had an embarrassing tattoo! Or maybe she’s part cyborg and hides weapons and stuff! Or maybe she’s just super shy like Fluttershy. Either way, she didn’t want me near, so I guess that’s that.
A couple of hours passed and I was just lounging around in the tub alone. It was really boring when there was no pony to talk to. If I could, I would have asked Emma more about the stuff she was making. Still can’t figure out why she was super agro about her without the clothes. I was about to just give up until…
“Oh my…!” Aloe spoke in the next room.
When I heard that voice, I pressed my head to the wall to hear what was going on. I heard Emma and Lotus with her too.
“So… they’re… you can’t keep them hidden or anything?” Lotus wondered.
“No, that’s how it is. Nothing I can do.” She said before hearing a splash noise.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Aloe assured her. “In all honesty, stallions would actually be attracted to you-”
“No! That’s not what I want!” Emma shouted. “It’s improper in my culture to just show it off naked. That’s why I have clothes on.”
A moment of silence passed. For me, I could imagine Aloe and Lotus looking at each other before saying, “But they’re still there, just covered up by fabric.”
“You’re basically just denying them from seeing it.” Lotus added.
“That’s the point!” Emma scolded. “You don’t show that off in public! That’s how humans are!”
Aloe and Lotus sighed, and possibly shrugging. “Well, if that’s the way of the humans, I guess that would make sense.” Lotus thought.
“I guess we shouldn’t argue.” Aloe suggested. After they finished talking, it made me really wonder why Emma didn’t want me to see… whatever it was! I was now super convinced to seeing what all the fuss was about! But Emma won’t let me barge in there. I probably had to sneak in there.
I got out of the water and decided to just take a quick peek in her room. Sneaking out as quietly as I could, I made my way to the archway. As I got close, I saw under the curtains of the archway were Lotus’s hooves. So I jumped and hid behind the table and waited for Lotus to pass by.
When she was out of the picture, I went to the curtains and opened them a bit to see Emma. But all I saw was Emma laying on the bench while getting a massage from Aloe. Without her clothes, she was just all skin. No hair anywhere except on her head. Her nails were normal and not piercing long. Nothing was wrong with her!
“What’s the big deal?” I whispered to myself. “She’s perfectly normal! They’re all making a big deal out of nothing!”
“Spike? What are you doing?” Lotus questioned from behind. I jumped and screamed, letting Emma and Aloe look up. Emma got up and turned to me, yelling, “What the!?”
After tripping from surprise, I got up and saw Emma and her… chest.
“WHOA!” I yelped.
Emma’s face became super red, and she was glaring at me. I wasn’t sure what happened, but by the time she got up and lunged at me, I was knocked out.