CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Seven: Consultation

Twilight didn't get a chance to discuss magical theory with anypony else very often. In fact, it was actually quite rare that she got to discuss magic with anypony at all, theory or no. She only ever spoke with Princess Celestia about it and hadn't had a chance to since she left for Ponyville, and that was quite some time ago. And even then the conversations had been rather limited, mostly as part of her coursework.

Okay, so realistically, Twilight never got to discuss magical theory with anypony, ever.

But Winter Glow, despite her at-times odd vernacular—Twilight had never heard anypony with her particular accent before—was giving Twilight exactly what she'd always wanted: an equal. She didn't particularly like using that term, but when only one of her friends was a unicorn in the first place—and Rarity was smart, absolutely, but not when it came to advanced magical theory—Twilight couldn't think of another way to describe the sensation of speaking with somepony that shared that same passion and understanding.

And best of all, Winter seemed particularly knowledgeable on a subject that Twilight was legitimately curious about, and was more than happy to share that knowledge in a polite discourse.

"So, if I'm understanding this correctly," Twilight said as she and Winter strolled down the street on their way towards the CDH building for Twilight's first big day on her new job, "even the tiniest deviation in the balance of these forces—Law and Chaos according to your order—can cause cataclysmic damage?"

"Yup," Winter said without a hint of foreboding or worry. "It's not immediate, mind ya, but that's the general gist of things. That's why your world is fine for now: this Discord bloke’s seal is still keepin' his Chaos contained in whatever prison ya put him in. Summer Rains said somethin' about a statue?"

Twilight hummed and nodded. "The way that Princess Celestia described our ancient times, back when she and Princess Luna first defeated him, certainly sounds as though the world was completely drowned in Chaos. But if that was the case, why didn't this… 'Void' try and swallow the world then?"

"I won't pretend to know your world's history, but that's the important word here: history. Every world has its own… let's call it a 'backstory'. Things that happened in that history might certainly affect events in its present insofar as, say, your world's Discord bein' released in the first place, but that era of the world is typically immune to Void consumption."

"Really? How come?"

Winter seemed to ponder that for a moment, then gave a little shrug. "It's a complicated issue, but the best way I can explain it is that when worlds are created, they come into existence with that backstory already in place. So, while those events 'happened' as far as the world's inhabitants—you and your friends—are concerned, they didn't as far as the Void is concerned. It only affects things after the world came into existence."

Twilight paused. "That… doesn't make a lot of sense. Those events happened but they didn't happen? Are you saying that everything that happened in my world's history is… fake? Or something like that? Forgive me if I say that that sounds insane."

"No no, not at all, but that history holds no relevance to the Void because… well, it just doesn't." Winter shook her head, an apologetic grin on her face. "Even the Chronomancers aren't entirely sure why that is, but let me see if I can ease your mind a little, yeah?"

"Please."

"So, ya understand that there are obviously other worlds out there, right?"

"Obviously," Twilight said with a smirk.

"Well, there are more than just yours and this one, of course."

"Makes sense."

"And they're not always so different as yours is compared to this one, either. I can't tell ya any specific details—Chronomancer protocol and all that—but I can at least tell ya that there are worlds out there exactly like yours, down to the smallest details, except for one little, seemingly insignificant thing."

"Really? So, what makes my world different from this purely hypothetical other alternate world that's almost exactly the same but isn't?"

"I won't claim to know, because that's not my jurisdiction. Summer Rains could tell ya what makes your world different from others because she's your world's Chronomancer. Could be somethin' as small as just two ponies bein' married in one world but not in another."

"There'd be an entirely different world for that?"

"Oh yeah. Entire worlds are made because of reasons that small. But they can also form because of something as big as, say… your Elements of Harmony not existin' at all. Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course," Twilight said, not really wanting to think about such a hypothetical situation as the Elements not even existing. The kind of disasters that could lead to could be catastrophic. Then again—

"But wait, what about this world? It doesn't have Elements of Harmony, does it?"

"No, it does not," Winter continued. "It's history is actually quite a lot different from your own world, and HQ typically doesn't pinpoint the exact details that caused the difference if it's this significant. I can only tell ya what makes your world different from mine, and let's be honest—"

She gestured around them as they walked. She gestured at the tall buildings that rose much higher than the tallest of those in Canterlot and Manehattan; at the crowded streets and dirty skies clogged with more ponies in a city block that lived in all of Ponyville many times over; at the smoggy air that made it unpleasant to breathe when walking about outside and wasn't much better indoors either; and at the fiery orange glow in the sky above that was both foreboding and captivating all the same, like a sunset that had overstayed its welcome.

"—I don't think it'd take a genius to see we'd be here a while if I listed all the differences."

Twilight shook her head and sighed. She wasn't as apprehensive about things now that she knew what had happened, what was happening, and what was being done to rectify the situation, but that didn't mean that she wasn't nervous about the whole thing.

She'd only known Winter for less than a day, and while she trusted the other unicorn and sincerely believed she was going to do everything she could to help, Twilight couldn't stop herself from worrying that this otherworldly adventure of theirs had only just begun.

Three weeks was starting to sound like a long time.

*****

Twilight hadn't had a problem with the outfit she'd chosen for herself back at the police station the other day, and if anything found herself growing rather fond of it, in a way. She'd never be caught dead performing stage magic like Trixie did. Not because it was beneath her or anything like that, but because that sort of magic just wasn't something she considered proper, so to speak. Certainly she knew if she put her mind to it she could absolutely put on a show, but—

That wasn't the point.

What was the point was that she wasn't allowed to wear her normal clothing for work, but had to wear a proper uniform. She was rather surprised to find that the CDH provided one for her, and that she wasn't even being charged for it or anything. Given everything that had happened thus far, she was expecting the worst; she'd already prepared herself to ask Winter if she could borrow some bits to pay for a uniform if need be.

Once she put the uniform on, she felt every bit like a librarian, what with the cable-knit sweater and pleated skirt. It was admittedly a little much, but if this was what she needed to wear, then that's what she was going to wear.

Archimedes had told her when she arrived that, "Ponies of this city have a certain expectation for how others should look in particular professions." He'd then given her the outfit, told her to make herself presentable, and left her to her own devices, which was rather nice of him since that implied he trusted her to do it right. At least that's how Twilight chose to interpret it.

Twilight couldn't decide if the collected-yet-casual, haughty demeanor he exuded was just him putting on airs because that was expected of him, or if that was how he really was.

Regardless, once she'd changed into her uniform and headed back into the library room proper, she met up with Winter at one of the computer stations, where she was patiently waiting for Twilight's arrival.

Twilight knew that the computers could only be unlocked for use by a member of the staff, and that meant her now; she still felt weird about being made responsible for the use and maintenance of a device that she had never used before, but here she was. She'd just have to treat this like any new learning experience.

Winter grinned as Twilight came over, giving her a once-over. "Crikey, look at you, eh? Ya look cute as a button in that getup."

Twilight blushed and pawed at the sweater, which still itched a little since it was new. "Thanks. I'm still coming to grips with having to wear clothes all the time and all that, but I guess if these outfits help me fit in I should try and embrace it, right? 'When in Roam', they say. Or is that just an expression from my world?"

"Well, ya look every bit like a librarian, I'll tell ya that. Why, I bet if ya put your nose up in the air just a little…" Winter demonstrated, sticking her nose in the air with a properly snooty expression on her face. "You'll look like you're just the right amount of up yourself to fit in."

Twilight glanced over towards Archimedes at his desk, where he was busy leering down his nose at a teenage colt, every bit as stuffy as always and with practically the exact expression on his face that Winter demonstrated. She'd only known the stallion for a few hours at best, but she could just tell that he was good at what he did and that his attitude towards others simply had to be brought on because of a lack of appreciation for his work.

She knew that feeling only too well.

"Right," she said, turning back to Winter. She took a small key out of her new sweater's pocket. "Well, let's go ahead and get started, shall we?"

Twilight stuck the key into a little slot on top of the station and turned it, and in an instant the monitor sprung to life and was already prompting for input.

She'd been surprised at how these "computer" devices worked when she'd been first introduced to them the other day, but was starting to grow accustomed to certain aspects of them, even if she didn't quite understand how exactly they worked just yet. Fascinating things, to be sure, but she'd have time to indulge in her curiosity another day, hopefully.

"Right then, let's get crackin', eh?" Winter cracked her neck—Twilight could even hear a few joints pop, which she was sure wasn't healthy—and tapped on the screen to make the keyboard widget appear. "I say we start simple and broad, then just work our way down from there. So, we'll start the search with just 'Nihila'."

She typed that into the input field, then hit the Search button and let the computer do its work. In less than a minute, the database compiled its list and displayed its results: 10,314 Entries Found.

Winter whistled. "That's a lot of things to sort through." She and Twilight glanced at the details of the entries as Winter scrolled down the list, and saw that several of them were quite long, reaching upwards of hundreds of thousands of words per entry. "It'll take us weeks to find anythin' in this mess."

Twilight hummed, then smiled as a thought came to her. "Archimedes taught me a few things about making these searches easier and more refined. A few logistical operators, actually. Since we're only concerned with Nihila herself, or more specifically this 'Warden' of hers, we can narrow the search. Here, watch this."

Twilight typed into the search bar so that it read Nihila AND Warden, then hit the Search button and waited for the database to sort through it. The results weren't quite what Twilight expected: 9,997 Entries Found.

"Well, at least it narrowed out things that were probably less useful, I hope," Winter noted as she looked at the screen. "Well, we're not lookin' for information on Harmonia—I already know enough that if we were goin' that route we wouldn't need a bloody computer for help—so how about we take her out of the equation?"

"Yeah, that might work." Twilight typed in Nihila AND Warden NOT Harmonia, then hit Search again. This time the results were even less promising: 0 Entries Found. "Oh dear."

"Strewth," Winter grumbled, shaking her head. "Makes sense, though. Those two aren't usually discussed without mentionin' the other. That's the nature of counterpart goddesses, eh?"

"I suppose…" Twilight sighed. "Looks to me like we're sorting through all of that other data then, doesn't it? Gosh, that's a lot of reading. I mean, I love reading, but I just can't imagine trying to do it in front of a big screen like this instead of a book. It just feels… wrong."

"How so?"

"Well I mean, where's the texture of the paper on your hooves? Where the sound of pages rustling as you turn through them? Not to mention that I'd have to sit in this chair for hours and hours to go through all this material, rather than being able to lounge in bed or on the couch, or read while I'm walking about or while I'm doing other things."

Winter chuckled. "Y'know, I figured ya for a bibliophile, but I didn't think ya had it this bad." She put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, mate, ya don't have to do all the research here."

Twilight paused, then brightened. "Oh! Right! You can check out materials just like at any library! I forgot all about that, what with the difference in material. I kept thinking that there was no way we would be allowed to carry this computer out of here." She cleared her throat. "Let's see…"

She fished a little device out of her sweater pocket and inserted it into the computer where she'd been instructed to by Archimedes; he'd called the device a "drive" and that it could store incredible amounts of data despite only being the size of a stick of gum, which could then be transferred over to other devices for later reading. And these drives were keyed specifically to the CDH, so only those with clearance—such as herself—could insert, remove, or modify them until they were checked out properly.

She tapped a few buttons on the screen, particularly a big button labeled Download, and waited as the computer worked its magic—or whatever it was that made it work—to transfer a copy of all of the data onto the drive. The screen displayed a waiting time to download the entire collection of data before confirming anything, though: 3 hours, 23 minutes.

"Of course the download speeds are still shit house," Winter scoffed. "Well, not like I had anything else to do today, eh?"

"I'm still fascinated by how these little things work," Twilight said, gesturing at the drive. "The only thing about it that makes any sense is that it's meant for housing data, and that every document or book takes up a certain amount. And it can hold multiple books all at once? Like a miniature library of its own?"

"Oh, more than that, mate. The drives they make these days are capable of storing entire libraries worth of books. A book takes up, let's say… one piece of data, eh? The number's bigger than that, but for argument's sake, let's say one. That data is called a 'byte'. That little drive there can store an entire terabyte worth of information."

Twilight blinked, stunned. "A trillion books? All on this one little thing?"

"Yup. And that's just the cheapo stuff the CDH uses for loaners; the more expensive drives can hold a full petabyte, and there are some high-end ones that go up to an exabyte."

"That's… oh wow…"

Twilight's eyes glazed over as she thought about the possibility of holding such a sheer volume of knowledge in one hoof. She had to take care to keep breathing properly; even if a single document or book took up one million of these so-called "bytes", there was enough room in that little stick to hold entire libraries worth of information and still have room left over. She watered at the mouth just a little at the thought of having access to it all.

She shook herself out of it, though. "Well, I'll get started on the forms needed to check this drive out for you," she said with a grin. "Then we can research at our own pace at home, right?"

Winter nodded. "And we can still do plenty of reading here whenever we need to. Who knows, we might need to search for somethin' completely different if this database doesn't have anythin' useful right off the bat."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it have anything useful? Nihila's a goddess, right? There's sure to be lots of information on her in the database."

"Folks up here in the north don't really pay much heed to religion and all that shit, yeah? Nopony up here worships Nihila or prays to her or anythin', or as far as I know even acknowledges her existence in their daily lives. Might not even ‘believe’ in her."

"But… she is real, right?"

"Oh, absolutely, just as real as Harmonia is… but the northern folk don't really believe in her either. They mostly think the two are just creations of the southern ponies to guide their morals. Follow Harmonia's example, shun Nihila's, that sort of thing."

Twilight found that a little hard to parse through. She tried to imagine what it would be like in her own world if ponies didn't "believe" that Princess Celestia raised the sun every morning and Princess Luna raised the moon every night. Or would it be more comparable to all those ponies over the years that didn't "believe" in the tale of Nightmare Moon? No, scratch that, she had a more relatable story.

"I suppose it makes a little bit of sense," Twilight said. "If ponies can't see something with their own eyes, sometimes they have a tough time believing that it's real. I mean, in our world's history, nopony believed that the wendigos were real until they practically forced the three ancient tribes to unite as one. We still tell the story every year so that nopony forgets it and the wendigos return."

"Yeah, kind of the same deal, but it's a bit more complicated than that, since the only pony that ever actually speaks with Harmonia directly is her Warden," Winter said. "The southern Warden, from my understandin', is a public figure. That's our problem. The best I can tell is that Nihila's Warden keeps to themselves like some kind of hermit."

"Are you sure she even has a Warden?" Twilight asked. "What if she doesn't need one?"

"She and Harmonia do need them, actually. They can't interact with the physical world except through their Wardens carrying out their commands. Otherwise, they can only interact with ponies in their dreams, and those come across more often as rather vague visions than direct conversations. Or so the stories say."

"Well, whoever this Warden is, I hope they're decent enough to at least hear us out. We're banking on a lot here, trying to find somepony that clearly doesn't want to be found."

"I'll get started on lookin' through some of these documents now," Winter said, turning back to the computer screen. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for ya to do it yourself."

"What? Why not?" Twilight asked. "I'd be a big help—"

Winter gestured out into the library. "Don't forget, you've got a job to do here, eh? I have no doubt you'll be a big help in narrowin' things down, Twilight, but save it for when ya get off work." She set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Trust me, I can handle readin' a few documents."

Twilight paused, then gave a little smile and nodded. "Alright, you make a fair point. Let me know if you need any help though, okay? You're still a library patron, and it's my job to be of assistance to you," she added with a wink.

With that, Twilight turned from the computer and headed out into the rest of the library to see if she could be of help to anypony else.

Over the course of a couple of hours, she learned that ponies used the library for all sorts of purposes, though there were very few that used it for the purposes she felt were appropriate; then again, since this library also kept record of all public data made available—from addresses to photographs, tax records to arrest warrants—she admitted that this was really less of a library as it was a depository, and ponies were legally allowed to use whatever information was available however they wanted.

Still, it felt a little awkward to help the few library patrons she met with what they needed help with.

One, a scrawny stallion that barely looked like he was out of high school, wanted all sorts of records on an older mare that, from what Twilight could tell, was a teacher at his former school. She didn't want to guess why he was searching for this information—her address in particular—but something told Twilight it wasn't for a good reason; it wasn't her place to question it—Archimedes had made that clear—but it still felt off-putting doing it.

Another, a mare who was clearly weeks away from delivering a foal, was looking into financial records and other information regarding an older stallion, though Twilight couldn't tell what the connection was; they didn't look related or anything. Given how the mare was looking at the information with a certain sadistic glimmer in her eyes, Twilight was again sure that the purpose of the search wasn't anything pleasant.

There was a couple looking into the reviews of certain hotels in the area they planned on renting a room at—they were the only ponies being upfront with their intentions. Still, there was something suspicious about the couple that she couldn't put a hoof on, but it wasn't her place to judge, really. They seemed friendly enough; too friendly, really, enough that Twilight had to avert her gaze more than once.

A young filly and her father needed some information on some chemicals for a science fair experiment. At first Twilight was happy to help, but then she saw that the chemicals being searched for weren't appropriate for a filly that age to be handling; in fact, given her own knowledge of chemistry, she was certain that these particular chemicals could just easily be combined into an explosive if they were handled improperly. Plus, the filly looked not at all interested in the project, while the father definitely did. Very odd.

An older mare wanted some information on her late husband's medical records, which she was legally entitled to, of course, but also on a complete stranger, which she was not; Twilight had tried to explain that she didn't have that kind of clearance, and it took an intervention from Archimedes to keep the older mare from biting Twilight's head off during her outburst, and in a library no less! Did some ponies just not care about respecting the rules of establishments they visited?

It wasn't until about an hour or so before lunch that Twilight got to deal with a patron that seemed to not only be on the level, but was using the library for legitimate scholarly pursuits.

The mare approached Twilight's desk—for Twilight had been given a rather small desk near the west computer area, as she was apparently in charge of that whole section—with a confident gait, her nose just slightly up. She had a rich, golden brown coat and a long cream-colored mane that curled at the sides to frame her face, and wore a snappy wine red dress suit and pale yellow bowtie that made her look both professional and presentable at the same time.

"Hello there!" Twilight greeted, keeping her pep up despite a long slog through a slew of less-than-pleasant patrons. "Welcome to the Central Database Hub. How can I help you?"

"I require the use of one of your computer stations for research purposes," the mare said, glancing off just behind Twilight and gesturing towards the stations with a tilt of her head. "That would be your responsibility, would it not, Miss… Sparkle?"

Twilight froze for a brief instant. The past two days had been enough of a harrowing experience that she was nearly always on edge, and it had been concerning enough when Winter Glow had come to her and her friends with knowledge that she shouldn't have had, but at least Winter's story made sense. Yes, her name was on public record according to Flathoof, but why would somepony look that up?

"H-how did you know my name?" Twilight gulped.

The other mare pointed absently with her hoof at Twilight's chest. "Your nametag?"

Twilight glanced down and noticed the bright nametag attached to her sweater pocket; she'd completely forgotten it was even there, since nopony had even acknowledged it yet today and it hadn't been bothering her, as in, it was quite comfortable to wear.

"Oh. Right. My nametag. Sorry, first day jitters, forgot all about it," Twilight chuckled. "Right, so, how can I be of assistance?" she asked as she led the mare over towards the nearest available computer station and inserted her key to start it up.

"I am researching the history of New Pandemonium City," the mare said as she took a seat. "Specifically a chronicle of events leading up to the city's initial construction procedures, the formation process regarding the city's ruling government body, and assorted elements revolving around the city's current social status quo in relation or contrast to the socio-economic conditions in centuries past."

Twilight blinked; this mare was either incredibly smart to be able to use all of that admittedly complicated vocabulary correctly, or another one of the many, many ponies out there that just liked to use ten-bit words to sound like they were incredibly smart. Twilight could admit she used more complex words at times, but she didn't pepper entire sentences with them.

But she could.

She cleared her throat. "So, the intention of your sojourn to this repository is to illuminate specific minutiae in regards to circumstances which resulted in the city's development both architectural and political, as well as a juxtaposition between both past and present civil structures?"

"Indubitably," the other mare replied.

Twilight and the other mare locked eyes for half a moment, and for that brief period Twilight felt an odd sense of familiarity, almost like looking in a mirror; this other mare's eye color was exactly the same as her own, down to a tiny imperfection Twilight had in her right pupil that nopony else really noticed. It was almost uncanny.

But then Twilight just smiled and nodded, not wanting to be caught staring. "Well, I'd be happy to help however I can, Miss…?"

"Dawn," the other mare said, offering her hoof, which Twilight took. "Golden Dawn, in full. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Likewise. So, let's see what we can find in regards to your little research project, hmm?"

Twilight spent the next thirty or so minutes helping Golden Dawn narrow down her search parameters several times—the city's history was surprisingly vast, with over 500,000 entries to sort through with just a broad search—and over that period she got a good chance to know this other mare, who Twilight felt an almost immediate connection with; just as it wasn't often that she got to discuss magical theory with anypony, it wasn't often that she met somepony that had a passion for learning.

"So, what's this project of yours for, anyhow?" Twilight asked. "Considering the amount of detail you're looking into and the specifics of the search, this isn't just some random essay for your college history class. A thesis, maybe?"

The other mare looked about the same age as Twilight, if she were to hazard a guess, so she assumed college was the most likely educational level.

Dawn grinned as she sorted through another few documents to drop into the download bin. "Nothing quite so pedestrian. My intention is to formulate this dissertation for entry into a scholastic journal, or, failing that, to serve as a foundation for a lecture."

"Wow, a scholastic journal, huh?" Twilight said, frankly impressed.

She'd always wanted to write a dissertation for one of the journals back home, but she'd been so focused on her friendship reports and dealing with threats like Discord and Queen Chrysalis that she didn't feel she had the time.

"Which one, if I might ask? I'd love to read it when you're finished."

Dawn paused for a brief moment, then smiled and shrugged. "If I may be forthright with you, I have yet to choose which of the city's journals would provide a satisfactory fit. Rest assured, once I do, I will be certain to inform you of it."

"That sounds great!"

"So, you share my enthusiasm for historical inquiry, hmm? Might I inquire as to why? So few in this city possess any sort of appreciation for the past."

"Well, I'm not originally from here," Twilight said—she and her friends were still supposed to be using the cover story they'd come up with, and Winter had helped provide them with more than enough details to fill out the holes it had. "I'm from the southern continent, from a little village called Ponyville."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Ponyville? That name seems rather… 'up the nose'? I believe that is the expression?"

"On the nose, actually."

"Yes, of course. On the nose," Dawn said with a light laugh.

Twilight wrinkled her brow. "You're not the first pony around here to say that about Ponyville, actually. Is the name really that odd?"

"It does possess a certain fairy tale quality to it." Dawn paused, then smiled politely. "Not to insinuate anything that might be construed as disrespectful. Northern locales are not known for their own inventive nomenclature, either, but for a more utilitarian purpose. Consider this city's districts, named either in reference to their cardinal directions from the city center, or, for the Inner Districts, the dialects utilized by the majority of their population."

Twilight smiled back. "I suppose when you put it that way, I shouldn't feel so bad if Ponyville's name is kind of 'on the nose', huh?"

"Not at all.”

“Say, maybe you would know the answer to this: why are the Mid Districts named regarding the cardinal directions? The center of the city is supposedly on the planet’s north pole, right? Wouldn't they all be technically south?"

"Correct, but the planet possesses a minor tilt to its axis. Were you positioned precisely in the city’s center with a compass in hoof, Mid-North would be indicated to your magnetic north, and so on."

"Ah. That explains a lot, actu—"

A cough behind Twilight nearly made her jump. She turned to find herself face-to-face with Chief Librarian Archimedes.

"Oh! Ch-chief, hi," Twilight said, not sure if she should be nervous or not. "Is something wrong?"

Archimedes stared down his nose at her. "Indeed there is, Miss Sparkle. Something is very wrong. Very wrong indeed."

Twilight gulped. "Oh? Um… wh-what is it?"

He gestured towards the far wall. "If you could, Miss Sparkle, tell me what time it is?"

Twilight glanced at the wall, at the clock there actually, and saw that it was— "Um… twelve-oh-two?"

"Indeed. Two minutes past noon. And when, Miss Sparkle, are you supposed to take your allotted thirty-minute lunch break?"

"At… noon?"

"At noon, precisely. Precisely at noon, in fact. You are late for your own lunch break, Miss Sparkle, and that reflects poorly on your superior, who is responsible for ensuring that those beneath him are properly organized and scheduled. Now, who is your superior, Miss Sparkle?"

"You are, sir?"

"I am, that is correct. So, let us sum up." Archimedes adjusted his glasses. "You are currently… three minutes late for your lunch break, which you were supposed to take precisely at noon, and such an oversight reflects poorly on me in the eyes of the city's employment board for allowing an employee—a new employee—to mismanage their schedule during work hours. Does that sound correct?"

"Y-yes?

"So, Miss Sparkle, what are you going to do to rectify this gross oversight?"

"I'm… going to take my lunch break?"

"You're going to take your lunch break, very good. Hop to it."

And with that, he walked off to go back to "helping" another patron with their own research project, whatever that might have been.

Twilight wasn't sure if she should feel glad that her new employer cared enough to ensure that she took proper breaks—or if he cared about her at all, and not just his own skin in case this got him into legal trouble—or if she should be upset because of his admittedly abrasive attitude. The former seemed more likely; if the ponies of this city were generally as heartless as Flathoof and Lockwood indicated at times, surely Archimedes could've just let her forget to take a break and fudge the time cards later, right?

With a sigh, she turned back to Dawn and gave her a weak smile, her nerves still a little rattled. "W-well, you heard my boss, I'm on break. I'd be happy to help you more with your project when I get back, if you need it."

Dawn rose from her seat, taking the now-filled data drive out of the computer and putting it in her pocket. "Actually, Miss Sparkle—"

"You can just call me Twilight, if you'd like."

That made Dawn smile a little. "Actually, Twilight, I was considering taking a respite from my research for a period as well. Would you mind if I joined you?" She gestured over towards the coffee shop in the corner of the library. "If I am not mistaken, I believe we can purchase food and beverages right here at the CDH. Perhaps we can continue our discussions?"

Twilight smiled back, moving to lock the computer station now that it was no longer in use. "Sure, that sounds great. Would you mind if a friend of mine joined us? I'm helping her with a research project, too, and was going to invite her to join me for some coffee."

"I would not object to more company."

"Great! The more the merrier, they always say."

*****

Twilight knew it would take a while to get used to the way New Pandemonium City worked. The commute from home to work was completely alien to her, what with her first real job being Ponyville's librarian, and she lived on the library's second floor; apparently, though, commutes like hers were considered completely normal, and in fact hers was considered easy, despite having to walk twenty blocks from her building to the CDH on top of descending all those darned stairs.

That was small potatoes compared to getting used to the food and drink offerings in the city. The Dolor brand of synthetic foods was the most common product available and constituted of the daily diet of over eighty percent of the city's populace; the Inner Districts tended to get actual food products shipped from the southern continent and could afford it, and those in the Mid Districts could only afford to indulge as a special treat every now and then.

But if Twilight had to drink this "coffee" that the CDH coffee shop served, and had to do it every day for the next three or so weeks, she was probably going to snap sooner rather than later.

Everypony had their own "thing", so to speak, their own favorite food or drink or activity that brought them real enjoyment, not counting their careers or duties or hobbies. Take Rarity, for example: her "thing" was the spa. She loved indulging herself in a day at the spa and more than that loved sharing the experience with others, and Fluttershy was the most common recipient of that generosity.

Twilight of course loved books and learning, everypony knew that, but that was also her job, no matter how passionate she was about it. She was a student of magic first and a small-town librarian after that, and so studying, reading, and writing were just things she did all the time, and she enjoyed doing them.

But the one thing Twilight loved, the thing that was her "thing" and that she couldn't go without, was a good cup of coffee. And this… stuff that the CDH coffee shop served was not coffee. There were so many other things she wanted to call it, some of which were definitely not appropriate for public areas—Winter might be comfortable swearing in public, but Twilight wasn't—but none of those words were "coffee".

Applejack's description of the stuff had been a gross understatement, ironically enough, especially since Applejack's "thing" was also coffee as far as Twilight could tell; they'd shared many a good cup together in the early mornings where they sometimes met up for breakfast, and discussed at length about certain blends they liked.

"So, enjoyin' your coffee?" Winter asked, a light hint of a smile on her face as she watched Twilight take a painful sip.

Twilight swallowed the offensive liquid and gave Winter a look that she hoped would answer the question without resorting to words.

"You'll get used to it, mate," Winter chuckled, patting Twilight on the back. "Hey, if you're desperate, ask that landlord of yours where he gets the blend he uses, then ya can just bring a thermos with ya to work. Real piece of piss, that. I'm sure he'd even give ya some if ya asked."

"I don't exactly want to ask him for yet another freebie, but I'll find out the brand, sure. The first paycheck I get is going towards a big bag of the best coffee I can afford." Twilight took another painful sip. "If I even survive that long."

"If it's that bad, ya can always add a bit of somethin' to it, eh?"

"Oh no, I take my coffee black," Twilight said with a grin. "It's a crime to add cream or sugar to it, as far as I'm concerned."

"Cream and sugar? What are ya, some sort of ankle biter? Piss on that." Winter pulled a little flask out her sweater pocket. "When I've got no choice but drinkin' this awful shit, I like to add a bit of the ol' gin to it, eh?" To demonstrate, she poured a small amount of liquid into her cup, stirred it around, and took a long sip. "Ah! Now it ain't so bad."

Twilight balked at the display. "Winter, it's only just past noon. A little early to be drinking, isn't it?"

"Huh? Nah, this ain't even enough to count as a proper drink. Though now that ya mention it, I could go for a coldie." She turned to Dawn, who looked about as put out as Twilight did. "What about you, eh? Ya want a bit of kick in your coffee there?

Dawn shook her head; Twilight noticed she'd barely touched her coffee any more than she herself had, even with three whole packets of that non-dairy "creamer" she'd used. "I must decline your offer, Miss Glow. As unappetizing as this… swill is, I do not find it proper to become inebriated. Regardless of the time."

"Bunch of lightweights you two are if ya think a teaspoon of gin'll 'inebriate' ya," Winter scoffed.

"So!" Twilight blurted, hoping to turn the topic away from day-drinking. "Did you find anything useful while I was gone, Winter?"

Winter shrugged. "Can't say that I did yet, no. There's a lot to sort through, and a lot of what I've looked through so far is basically just abridged history lessons about the southern pony religion, even a couple on how Harmonia and Nihila fit into the zebra pantheon."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "The zebra pantheon?"

"Yeah. The short and simple version is that the zebras worship Harmonia and Nihila too, as well as a bunch of other gods and goddesses that only zebras pay any heed to. If any of them are real, though, there's no tangible evidence of it. I think the 'blessings' they get are just straightforward alchemy and runic magic."

"What manner of research project are you endeavoring upon, Miss Glow?" Dawn asked. "An essay on the southern religions?"

"Not exactly, mostly just one particular aspect of it. Nihila, specifically. And it's more of a personal project, a curiosity, if you will," Winter responded with a tight-lipped smile; Twilight knew it was unwise to go further than that. "You said that ya got a little research project of your own? A history paper or something like that?"

Dawn nodded. "A dissertation on the origin of New Pandemonium City and its subsequent growth and development, to be brief."

"Found out anythin' interestin'?"

"Well, from what information I am now personally acquainted with, I know that the city's foundation was formed around the central structure of Pandora Tower, for instance."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? That place is a mystery to almost everypony in the city. Nopony goes in, nopony goes out. You're sayin' that was the first thing in the city ever built?"

"According to the data that I have collected, that is correct."

"What's so mysterious about this tower?" Twilight asked, sipping her counterfeit coffee.

"Like I said, there's nopony that's ever gone in there and come out before," Winter restated. "Nopony knows what goes on in there, if anypony even works or lives there, or what its purpose is, but it's been there as long as anypony can remember. Apparently as long as the city itself," she added with a nod at Dawn.

"Not unlike a mysterious castle deep in the forest that potentially holds all sorts of ancient magical lore and secrets," Twilight mused, stroking her chin. When the other two mares gave her a look, she dropped her hoof. "What? It's a pretty classical fantasy location, even if this city isn't exactly fantastical in nature."

"Well anyway, I hope you're doin' better with your own project than I am, Miss Dawn," Winter said. "I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I'm gonna find what I'm lookin' for in all the data I've got to sort through. And only two reliable pairs of eyes to look through it, at that."

Dawn glanced between Winter and Twilight. "You are participating in this endeavor together, then?"

"Yeah, I agreed to help her out with it," Twilight said with a grin. "I've got a pretty big interest in this 'Nihila' myself, what with being from the southern continent and all. We don't hear much about Nihila. It's all, 'Harmonia this' and 'Harmonia that'." She coughed into her hoof. "Ahem. N-not to say I don't appreciate and love Harmonia and everything. Because I do. Because I'm from the south."

"Yes, you have made that perfectly evident." Dawn hummed, tapping her chin. "Would you be willing to accept additional assistance in this project of yours?"

Twilight blinked. "Huh?"

"Forgive me, allow my intent to be made more transparent: I am offering my assistance if you require it in this burdensome undertaking."

"You'd help us? Just like that? B-but, what about your dissertation?"

Dawn grinned. "I have already collected enough data to compile by dissertation within the next few days, at which point my only driving task would be to have it published, which I acknowledge may not be an expeditious process by any means. While I await a response from the myriad publishers of these scholarly journals, I would find myself remiss to not occupy my time and energy elsewise."

"And you want to use that free time of yours to help us with researchin' Nihila?" Winter asked, eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"If my obvious fascination with chronicles of the past has escaped you, then you have not been attentive in this conversation. I find the thought of researching a southern goddess that is not acknowledged in the north or the south to be quite intriguing. There is surely some historical reason for it."

Twilight nodded quickly. "We'd be happy to have your help, Dawn. Wouldn't we, Winter?" she asked, looking at Winter knowingly.

Winter paused, just staring at Dawn, then gave a short nod. "Yeah, alright, an extra pair of eyes can't hurt. Ya seem like you're a smart mare, Miss Dawn, so I imagine you'd probably be good at it, and frankly I can use all the help I can get. I'll be here at the CDH every day, so you'll know where to find me."

"Wonderful. This should prove to be a most illuminating experience," Dawn said with a smile. "You simply could not comprehend the desire I have to lose myself in research. I find there are so few individuals that share a passion for such things, and even fewer that appreciate it."

Twilight nodded; Dawn was truly a kindred soul. "I know, right? I have a hard enough time getting my friends to read much in the first place, let alone enjoy it. One of my best friends didn't even consider reading until she practically had it forced on her while she was in the hospital. I was convinced she was illiterate at first."

"Your pain is palpable," Dawn said, gently tapping her cup to Twilight's.

Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall, which was just approaching twelve-thirty; her lunch break would be over soon. "Well, I'd better get back to work. If either of you need any help, I'll be around," she said as she rose from the table.

Dawn rose from the table as well. "It was quite enjoyable to converse with you, Twilight. I must depart as well, as a matter of fact. I have collected all of the data that I required for my project and find it prudent to begin preparing my dissertation immediately." She nodded to Winter. "Miss Glow, a pleasure."

"You too, Miss Dawn," Winter said, nodding back.

With that, Dawn left the coffee shop and headed out of the building entirely.

"She's really nice," Twilight said. "I'm starting to think that my friends and I are getting amazingly lucky, meeting all these helpful ponies, especially considering Flathoof and Lockwood gave me the impression they're really rare in this city."

Winter leaned back in her chair and took another sip from her cup. "They're righter than ya think, though. I'm not gonna tell ya not to trust folks, Twilight, but I will tell ya to be very careful with who ya trust, eh? Not everypony is what they seem to be."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Don't you trust her?"

Winter took another sip. "Let's just say that I'm not as quick to trust just anypony as you seem to me. Part of the job, ya understand. She seems like a nice sheila, I'll give ya that, and I'm willin' to give her a chance to prove she's on the level, but it pays to have an eye open for suspicious behavior. And don't think I'm just pickin' on her because we just met her."

"I was actually about to suggest that," Twilight said with a huff.

"Well, don't. I'll be honest with ya, I don't really trust Captain Flathoof or Mister Lockwood, either. Not yet. There are enough corrupt cops in this city that I'll believe Flathoof is an honest, decent bloke when I see it, and don't think for a minute that I didn't put a magical charm on my door last night in Lockwood's apartment."

Twilight frowned. "They've been really helpful to us so far, though. You're even relying on them yourself to help us get through all this."

Winter held up her hoof. "I didn't say I distrust them, mate, only that I'm not ready to accept that they're on the level until things really start pullin' through. I'll give them a chance all the same, but I want to make it crystal clear, that if I have even the slightest inklin' that they're up to no good, I'll ice them and get you and your friends to safety. That's my job."

Twilight gulped; she'd seen enough movies and read enough books to know what "ice them" was a metaphor for, and found it a little uncomfortable that Winter would treat the concept so casually. She supposed she should be grateful that this other mare was willing to do something so unthinkable to protect her and her friends, but it was still a disconcerting thought.

"I suppose I can appreciate that, then," she said with some hesitation. "As long as you're giving them a fair chance, okay? And as long as we can avoid… 'icing' anypony."

Winter nodded, then waved her hoof. "Go on, Twilight, your break's endin' in less than a minute."

Twilight glanced at the clock, saw that that was true, then nodded back to Winter and ran off to clock back in.

Despite everything that Winter had said, though, Twilight was willing to give these new ponies the benefit of the doubt until given reason to do otherwise. Flathoof and Lockwood seemed completely honest and decent thus far, so she had no reason to doubt their intentions or distrust them, even if Lockwood had admitted to being associated with some unscrupulous types; no, perhaps because he'd admitted it, because that, too, was proof that he was willing to be honest with her and her friends.

Golden Dawn might be worth watching, sure, since they'd only just met and known each other for about an hour or so, but Twilight couldn't exactly judge on that account too harshly. After all, she'd met her best friends in the whole world all on the same day and only known them for a very short time before she came to trust them and their decisions and judgements; she'd even trusted Applejack with her life in less than a day's time.

Regardless of the differences between this world and hers, she was willing to give anypony she met a fair chance to prove themselves a decent pony, or at the very least to make up for a bad first impression.

After all, what would the point be in all those Friendship Reports if she wasn't willing to try to make new friends and apply the lessons she'd learned over the years?

Comments

[RoboRed]

it begins

[Turquoise pony]

It wasn't until this chapter that I realized Winters accent is Australian.

[My name is R]

Twilight sighed. "Looks to me like we're sorting through all of that other data then, doesn't it? Gosh, that's a lot of reading. I mean, I love reading, but I just can't imagine trying to do it in front of a big screen like this instead of a book. It just feels… wrong."
"How so?"
"Well I mean, where's the texture of the paper on your hooves? Where the sound of pages rustling as you turn through them? Not to mention that I'd have to sit in this chair for hours and hours to go through all this material, rather than being able to lounge in bed or on the couch, or read while I'm walking about or while I'm doing other things."

Aye. The internet's convenient, but it's just not tha same as a good book. I'm rather partial to them myself.

Did some ponies just not care about respecting the rules of establishments they visited?

Sad, but true. I've had a few customers who didn't seem to care about proper behavior for our establishment, but it's when the employees pay little heed that you have a real problem.

I like indubitably. And sojourn.

I don't know if I'm passionate about research, but I definitely enjoy it at least half the time. I just start following links until I discover the terminology of rocket launch sites while looking for a movie quote.

Flathoof and Lockwood seemed completely honest and decent thus far, so she had no reason to doubt their intentions or distrust them, even if Lockwood had admitted to being associated with some unscrupulous types; no, perhaps because he'd admitted it, because that, too, was proof that he was willing to be honest with her and her friends.

Aye, that's a clever bit.

10424529
I had no idea! She didn't use any of the specific words I knew, and I can't hear her, so I thought she was speaking Cockney.