Theory and Practice

by Snaproll

Revelation

As the approached the center, Moondancer started to take in more details. The trees were the first thing she noticed. There was a cluster of apple trees, which she half expected, but they were also accompanied by a truly monstrous lemon tree and a quartet of trees she did not recognize, which bore smooth, orange fruit the size of an apple, but tapered to a shallow point at the end. The rest of the trees were a mix of tall pines and another she couldn't recognize, with a dark grey-brown trunk and bright yellow leaves. As she approached, she could see a well tended low garden, where tomatoes, bell peppers, celery and Celestia knew what else grew.

The buildings weren't quite what she expected either. There were a half dozen cottages made of thick adobe walls, each two stories high. They were fitted with wooden doors that looked oiled and treated for exposure against the harsh Appaloosan Desert sun, and there were glass windows fitted in each of the houses, though Moondancer could see curtains in most of them. She couldn't be sure, but looking at them, it appeared the cottages had a lipped roof and access to the same, giving them an effective third floor. Each cottage looked like it would house one pony quite comfortably, or perhaps two or three if they didn't mind it being slightly crowded.

Near the cluster of cottages was another building, as large as three cottages together. And further away stood a long, low building, six times the length of one of the cottages and at least twice as wide. And, against these two larger buildings, a series of wooden storage sheds had been built, each one large enough to hold three wagons the size of the one that Braeburn and Sazerac pulled.

For all that this is supposed to be a premier research facility, Moondancer thought to herself, This looks awfully rustic. She shook her head. Scratch that. It IS awfully rustic. But who knows? Professor DeTerre is supposed to be brilliant. And besides, one shouldn't base the results of an experiment off of the hypothesis alone. You must test and make sure the data backs it up. She sighed as she looked around. Other than the obviously pony-tended gardens, there was scant vegetation nearby, save for a ring of trees that sheltered the lake. The northern sky was obscured by the rapidly approaching storm, while the view to the southwest across the lake showed a low meadow that abruptly rose into striking granite mountains covered in pine and vegetation. She looked wistfully at the meadow across the lake. That looks MUCH more picturesque. I wonder why they couldn't build the center over there. She looked around. Everywhere else, the landscape was undulating, shallow hills covered in sagebrush.

"Awright, here we are!" Braeburn and Sazerac had pulled the wagon alongside one of the adobe cottages, and the earth pony stallion had deftly unhitched himself from the wagon. "This'll be yer home for th' time bein'." Before Moondancer could speak, there was a flash of light behind them to the north. All three ponies heads turned to study the storm, though Moondancer could see Braeburn nodding slowly every second and realized He's counting. After his sixth nod, the sky was split by an earsplitting rumble of thunder that rolled on for the better part of a minute. Braeburn muttered something under his breath that sounded very un-gentlecoltish as he turned to Moondancer. "Ah'm afraid Ah can't give ya the quick tour, Miss Moondancer. Ah gotta batten down some of the center 'fore that there storm hits." He glanced over at Sazerac. "Kin you help her out, Saz, while I put this here wagon an' supplies away."

Sazerac nodded. "Sure! I could use a break before I get back to work anyway." The spectacled unicorn stallion caught Moondancer's eye and then nodded towards the cottage. "Come on in, I'll give you the layout."

Moondancer followed, though she glanced over her shoulder at Braeburn, who had hitched himself back to the wagon and was hauling it to the medium sized building closest to the cottages. She turned and glanced back at Sazerac. "Is...is he going to be alright?"

Sazerac nodded. "Oh yeah. He could have hauled that wagon from Appaloosa by himself. He would have been pretty worn out after, though. And it's not like I couldn't have used the exercise to help him. Or my lazy brother, come to mention it." The unicorn glanced off at the storm, which sent out another bolt of lightning that arced across the sky. "Come on, let's get inside."

He used his hoof to work the latch and then pushed the iron-bound wooden door open. Moondancer followed him inside.

The cottage's walls were bare, though there was a large buffalo-made rug that covered the earthenware tile floor. A fireplace sat along one wall, opposite a counter with a sink, oven and icebox built into it. A wide staircase was built into one wall, with a door underneath it at its widest portion. Sazerac gestured around the room, explaining things as she looked. "Nice sized fireplace there. These adobe buildings stay cool in the summer, but during the winter you might want a fire in the fireplace. Everyone's got their own kitchen, if you'd like to do your own cooking or have your own snacks during the week. Toilet's under the stairs, which lead on up to the second floor." He bobbed his horn at the stairs and led her up to the second floor, which had wide windows and a door that led off the stair landing. Another set of stairs continued to a trapdoor on the roof, which Sazerac nodded to. "Roof access. Sometimes the snows get pretty high here in the winter time, so it's easier to go out the top rather than dig yourself out." He opened the door into a room with wide windows and another wall with a door opposite. "Bedroom here, and through there's your bath & shower. One of the nice things here is we'll have hot and cold running water year round." He turned and raised his eyebrows expectantly, eyeing her saddlebags. "So, let's get started. I see you prefer to travel light."

Moondancer gave him a flat look, then used her magic to open one flap of her saddlebags. She felt around inside and then smiled triumphantly as she used her magic to lift an object out of the bag and float it over to hover in front of Sazerac's eyes. The unicorn looked slightly crosseyed as he tried to focus on it.
"It's a...tiny bookshelf?" He glanced over at her, one eyebrow climbing into his red and gold mane. "What- WOAH!"

Moondancer focused on the spell she was weaving and suddenly the bookshelf gave a small shudder before growing rapidly, until it was tall enough that it only had a bare inch of clearance from the ceiling. She gave the flabbergasted unicorn stallion a satisfied look as she said. "In a sense, you're right. I do like to travel light. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to leave all my stuff behind." She glanced around the room, thinking, and then said "Could you move that over in the corner there by the door?" With that, she reached with her magic into the bag again, fishing for another piece of furniture.

Sazerac lifted the bookshelf with his pale green magical aura, gliding it effortlessly into a corner. "I get it. You shrink down all your stuff and then you don't have to pay a moving company a couple hundred bits to haul it for you. That's pretty advanced magic."

Moondancer waved his compliment away as she turned another enlarging spell on more furniture, this time a handsome mahogany chest of drawers and another bookshelf. "Coming from somepony who works here at the Center, that's too high a compliment." She frowned as she nodded to the new bookshelf first. "Over in the corner opposite the first one. I'll have to find my bed before I figure out where I want the drawers."

*******

They spent the next hour or so pleasantly arranging Moondancer's furniture, by which point Sazerac was rubbing the base of his horn with a hoof. "Okay...is that all your stuff situated?" Sazerac asked. "Only I've got to get back to work before too much longer."

Moondancer surveyed the cottage's interior with a mare's experienced eye. "Yeeess....yes I think that will do for now. I'll probably move some things around as I get a better feel for the room." She turned and smiled at the unicorn. "Thank you for your help, Sazerac."

He waved a hoof and shrugged. "It was nothing, really. Just a bit of levitation, and that's no trouble for me at all."

This was true. After the first quarter hour, Sazerac had suggested that he start moving things three at a time. He must really be a powerful magic user, to have such a grasp on telekinesis, Moondancer thought to herself, remembering Sazerac juggling a lamp, armoire and ottoman in his magic while she made up her mind where to put them.

Moondancer cocked her head at him. "You said you've got to get to work. Would you mind if I accompanied you?"

The unicorn stallion shook his head. "Not at all." There was another flash of lightning outside, followed closely by a peal of thunder that caused them both to jump. Sazerac shook his head. "Come on, we'd better get moving. And Follow me closely!"

They dashed from the cottage, Moondancer using her magic to shut the door tight behind her. They sprinted to the medium sized building close by, hooves pounding on the dry earth. Sazerac reached the front door just before her, holding it open with his magic and sidestepping so she could trot inside before he closed it behind them.

She looked around as Sazerac flipped on the light switches. Moondancer had expected offices, lab equipment, magical measuring apparatuses of various degrees. What she hadn't expected were several tables and chairs, bookshelves filled with hardcover and paperback novels, a fireplace big enough for her to stand fully inside, a pool table and a dart board. A staircase wound up to the second floor in the corner. This doesn't look like a scientific center...It's like a bar, almost. Frowning, she looked over at Sazerac, who trotted off to a pair of double doors opposite the entrance. She followed him through, her curiosity aroused.

The room Sazerac led her into looked much more like what she was expecting. Everywhere she looked gleamed with stainless steel, polished bright and sterile. Now THIS is a lab. Burners there, storage for measuring glasses, wash station... She frowned at a row of objects that hung along one wall. ...Frying pans? What... She turned, her confusion growing to towering bafflement and saw Sazerac deftly loop an apron around his neck with magic and tie it behind him.

Moondancer had had enough, and she asked, baffled "Just what sort of lab is this?"

Sazerac looked at her, one eye raised quizzically. "Lab? The labs are in that long building over. This is the kitchen."

Moondancer leaned against one of the steel counters, feeling quite at a loss. "Then...then the work you were going to get to..." she asked, and something clicked into place for her, and she continued, "...You're...ARE you one of the researchers here?"

Sazerac's expression of questioning concern evaporated as a smile spread across his muzzle. "Wait...you thought I was one of the eggheads here? Meaning no offense, miss."

"None taken. So...so you're not...?"

"A researcher? Tartarus, no! I'm just the cook!" He chuckled to himself as he used his magic to levitate a few pounds of russet potatoes from storage. These he hovered under a faucet, which he turned on and used to wash the tubers. "Sometimes they ask me to fabricate stuff and whatnot, but that's just telekinetic gruntwork."

"So...the work you were going to do..." Moondancer looked at the potatoes, freshly washed and completely unremarkable.

"Cooking everypony's dinner. Tonight's gonna be twice baked potatoes and eggplant parmigiana. Figured everyone would want something hearty after the trip in." Sazerac levitated the potatoes over to a rack and started drying them off with a paper towel torn from a dispenser. "I'll be honest, it's pretty simple, but if you want to help me with the spuds, I won't complain."

Moondancer shook her head. "Um...Actually, if you wouldn't mind...I'd like to meet Professor DeTerre, if that's possible."

Sazerac whipped his head around to look at her, his mouth working for a second before he said "Meet Professor...oh...wait...you don't..." A slow grin spread across his face again, and Moondancer was starting to feel quite discombobulated. Sazerac glanced up at a clock on the wall, and nodded. "Yeah, I think that's possible. Shouldn't be any problem." He spoke with barely restrained laughter, and Moondancer was starting to wonder what was so funny, though she was afraid of asking. Sazerac pointed back out the kitchen doors with his horn, and said "Go out the doors, up the stairs, his office last door on the left." He turned back to his dinner preparations, pulling butter, scallions a block of cheese and a grater out from storage as he continued speaking. "The Professor should be finished with his work by then."

"Alright...thanks, Sazerac." She backed out of the kitchen doors, not wanting to turn her back on the strange unicorn. She turned and trotted to the stairs. Behind her, she could hear Sazerac give his mirth full rein as he started cackling with glee. Ugh, why did I have to wind up with all the crazy stallions? She shook her head as she climbed the stairs.

The second floor had a narrow hallway, with doors leading off either side. She trotted down the hall, and finally reached the last door. She knocked, and asked "Um...Excuse me...can I come in?"

She heard a set of hooves on the floor opposite the door, and then the latch turned. "Miss Moondancer? Kin Ah help you?"
Braeburn stood in the doorway, his hat off and hanging on a peg by the door, and his expression concerned. Moondancer frowned at him, then back at the door. "Just...just wait a minute. I think Sazerac is playing a joke on me. I thought this was Professor DeTerre's office."

"Oh!" Braeburn's eyes lit up and he grinned. "Well, yore in the right place, shore 'nuff. Why don't you come in and have a seat." He took a step back from the door and gestured at a pair of chairs that stood in front of a handsome desk carved from some dark wood.

At a loss for anything else to do- except, perhaps, go down and stuff a spud in Sazerac's ear- Moondancer took one of the seats before the desk. Braeburn shut the office door behind her and then trotted to the swivel chair opposite her.
Moondancer raised an eyebrow at this. "Are...do you think you should be sitting in Professor DeTerre's seat?"

Braeburn chuckled as he sat back in the seat, which reclined enough for him to place his rear hooves up on the corner of the desk. He gave her his easy grin and said "Well, Ah don' see why not, seein' as how Ah happen to be Professor Pomme DeTerre."

Comments

[i_am_the_jam]

Pomme DeTerre = Earth Apple = Potato

[Snaproll]

9247648
Expect more on this pun in the next chapter :D