Shortly after The Failure and disaster of Apollo 11 during the height of the cold war, Rigdon, A NASA engineer finds himself reluctantly agreeing to a Private project. After getting too close, he finds himself in a familiar Unicorn's Tree Library.
Faced with the task of adjusting to his new life in this world filled with techno-colored ponies and other mythical beasts that defy the laws of physics, he finds himself sharing a library with a familiar pony we all know and love!
Though everything might be sunshine and rainbows in this new world, his old home might not be so cold anymore. What will happen when Lazarus is found out?
Rigdon held a Styrofoam cup firmly, his body lazily dragging him down the corridors of his workplace. He hadn’t slept all that great last night, and he needed a pick-me-up. Sure, he wasn’t one to take to coffee, but the other option was to either sleep in or drink an energy drink. Now, he despises arriving to work late unnecessarily so that was out of the question; The energy drink, however, would almost certainly shave a couple of minutes off his lifespan with each swig, so he was not going to take to those abominations either.
It had been about a year since he had become one of the engineers for NASA, and it was as mundane as that job he had gotten at that new burger joint, McDonald’s. He wasn’t too sure he understood the concept of fast food. All it was was a bunch of people selling some mid-quality burgers that were greasier than the beef fat it was cooked in. Though, he had to admit that they were fast. It had been quite convenient when he had felt too tired to make anything at home.
He gave a couple of solemn nods and ‘hellos’ as he passed a couple of his colleagues. He continued to navigate throughout the building, twisting through the winding halls before he came to the main command area. His eyes glared up at the first thing that met him, which was an Anti-Communist poster. He had seen more of these floating around since those Soviet Bastards landed on the moon. A bunch of people got laid off after the moon landing. Because one commie stepped on the moon, Congress thought the Space Race was over and imminently slashed NASA’s budget in half. He was glad that he hadn’t been one of those unlucky few that ended up on the chopping block.
“Well, now we’ve got to deal with a fucking Blood moon.” Rigdon chuckled to himself.
He removed his fingers from his coffee, the cup falling a couple of inches until it came in contact with the table and stuck the landing. Rigdon twisted from side to side before throwing himself against his chair, the thing spinning as he did so. He quickly peered his head over his area, calling out to the man in front of him.
“Hey, Mark, you got the Schematics for twelve? I need to double-check it to make sure it’s right this time.” His voice cut the palpable air.
The wounds of Apollo 11 were still tender and it was clear it was going to take a while to recover. It had been a freak accident, and it had left the United States with the first Humans and Americans to be Claimed by the dark waves of space. Boy did the Soviet press have a field day with that disaster.
“Yeah, got ‘em right here. Don’t kill them next time.” he fumbled around with the papers before reaching back and handing them back to Rigdon.
He grabbed and slammed the papers down onto his desk. Grabbing a red marker, he popped open the cap and quickly drew a couple of thick circles around the oxygen tanks. He would then take a pen and put a quick memo that stated, “Make sure Tanks aren’t Defective”. He quietly reviewed the pictures, his eyes dotting from left to right on the page. He wrote down some minor things before giving a quick nod. He reached over and handed the papers back to Mark, giving a smug remark as he did so.
“Looks all good. Hopefully, the mechanics don’t get blinded by the light reflecting off your head this time around.” Rigdon gave a grin.
“Hey, you’re just jealous this baby can signal Morse code up to our guys in space and yours can’t.” Mark quickly retorted, causing both of the men to laugh in unison.
“You’re coming over for the Gator Bowl tonight, right?” Mark interrogated.
“Course I am! Why would I miss an evening of a couple of cold ones with the guys while watching Football?” he would drag his pencil across a notecard.
He was looking forward to the night of debauchery that was laid across the finish line before him. Settling back down in his chair, he placed the cap back onto his marker. He cracked his knuckles and got to work, his fingers quickly tip-tapping against the keyboard laid in front of him. He stopped only for a moment to refuel from his coffee before getting back to it. He continued this for a couple of minutes until he was interrupted. Joe, the Mechanical and Power Officer, had walked up and firmly placed a hand on his left shoulder. Rigdon flinched slightly before giving a soft breath and a grin.
“Jesus, Joe, could you not sneak up on me like that?” Rigdon asked politely as he turned his chair to face him.
Joe had an unwavering expression on his face. He could feel his body tense as his face contorted into one of concern. He hadn’t seen him this serious since Apollo 11. All he could do was wait for what his superior would do next, and that didn’t take long.
“Rigdon, you got a few? I have a couple of important things that I need to talk to you about.” Joe said to him, his slight southern accent plaguing his words.
Rigdon could feel his chest bang as his mind exploded with thoughts of what was going to happen. Was he going to get axed? He gave a small nod, getting up. He looked over to Mark, his expression just as worried as his.
“Uh, sure…” he would trail off before turning back towards Joe. “I think I got a couple of minutes to spare.”
Joe walked towards the door, Rigdon following in tow. He cocked his head to the side, staring at everyone, who now had their eyes on them both. He gave a big smile, a thumbs up soon following before he turned around. Once they left the room, Mark would speak up.
“I got five bucks on him not coming back.”
The rest of the room quickly lit up with people betting with or against Mark. Rigdon eyed the walls as he walked past, the mundane white and blacks beating down on his eyes. Soon enough, he and Joe passed the small, personal memorial for Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. His feet quickly gripped the ground, halting his movement. His figure turned to face the small table, along with the pictures that ran along the walls. His eyes glared at Buzz for a moment. He reached down, grabbing and fumbling with the wallet he took out from his pocket. He would place a dollar onto the small, clothed table with a gentle pat.
“Here’s that dollar you wanted,” Rigdon grinned. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
He twisted back around to be aligned with Joe. He continued to walk along with him. The air was as thick as honey as they traversed. Rigdon wasn’t one to slowly pull off the band-aid and pull all the hairs off, so he decided to be blunt with his superior.
“Sir, am I being laid off?” he asked Joe, which earned him a laugh.
“Wahaha! No, of course, you aren’t,” Joe quickly butted in, his demeanor much more chill. “If you were, you would be twenty feet outside in the parking lot from how hard I kicked you upside your ass!”
Rigdon relaxed, shoulders lowering as he let out a soft sigh. He should’ve seen that coming. He put on a smile as he began to wonder. If he wasn’t being pulled aside to be fired—what was it for?
“If it’s not to fire me, then what’s it for, Joe?” he questioned him.
“Well, all ah’ can say is that It’s a highly secretive project commissioned by the C.I.A. Real special project,” Joe called back, turning his head to stare back at Rigdon. “Think of it as a McGuffin—Uncle Sam’s one-of-a-kind Trump card against those reds. Just imagine it; A way we could stop the cold war from even happening by smothering Marx in his sleep. Now that’s the future.”
Joe pulled up to an elevator, pushed a key into a lock, and turned it. A red light lit up as they both now waited patiently.
“Well, it’s still in development, but that’s where you come in,” he turned back to him with a grin. “We need the best of the best, and you got what it takes!”
Rigdon stared at him, a dumbfounded expression plastered plainly across his face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing! Why would they want him to join a top-secret project? Hell, he’s sure he’s just going to mess that up too! He brought his hands up, quickly shaking them back and forth in disagreement.
“Woah, hold your damn horses,” Rigdon shook his head before pointing to himself. “You want ME to help with it?”
“That’s the plan. Council reviewed your file and decided to give you a shot.” Joe explained. Rigdon let out a couple of nervous, choked-back chuckles before he quickly began to state his case as to why he shouldn’t be considered for such a project.
“Look, Joseph, I got a lot of stuff on my plate right now.” he `folded his arms as he turned his attention back down to his work. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do this new project along with Apollo Twelve.”
“Well, you ain’t got to worry ‘bout that mission. You take this offer, you’ll only be working on it.” he would shoot down his excuse.
Rigdon would grumble to himself, angry with how easily Joe dismissed his claims. His mind went off to the races, trying to figure out what to feed him as another excuse. His brain gave a couple of shrugs, handing him some blank cards. Rigdon quickly snapped back to reality.
“ Look, I’m not interested, Joe. I’m not going to help.” he would say plainly. Joe gave a soft exhale before shaking his head softly in disapproval.
“I know ah’ can’t change your mind.” Joe reached into his right pocket, pulling a second key from it and handing it over. “If you do decide you want to join, just come back here. The offer stands.”
“Yeah, whatever you say…” Rigdon stared down at the key in his hand. It had a weirdly shaped metal structure stamped into the bronze key, along with the words “Project Lazarus”. He shoved it into his pocket. “I’ll think about it.”
Joe gave a grin and a thumbs up before trotting into the elevator, the metal doors clamping shut as the red light flipped off. Shaking his head, he headed back towards his main work area. When he passed the memorial, he turned and stared at Buzz once again.
“What would you want me to do?” Rigdon asked softly, soon turning and continuing his mindless march. When he walked in, the room burst into boisterous discourse, a couple of groans being heard.
“Hell yeah, twenty bucks!” John yelled out from the front as James grumbled, coughing up the dough that he owed to him.
“Eh, I didn’t need it anyways… Lucky bastard.” James scoffed at his victory.
“Hey, you knew what you were getting into! Don’t be sour, I won!” John pumped his fist triumphantly.
The blonde-haired man gave a solemn shake of his head before going back to work. Rigdon had a puzzled expression on his face as he took long strides over to his desk area, his arms swinging back and forth in one fluid motion as he did so. He looked over at Mark, watching him grumble angrily as he paid up his money.
“How much did you lose on me this time, princess?” Rigdon asked as he rubbed the slight stubble that had been growing on his chin. He was going to make a mental note on getting that taken care of when he gets home.
“Only five bucks ass-wipe. Boy, I’m sure glad I won that bet last Sunday,” he pushed his glasses up from his nose. “I only lost the money you gave me.”
Rigdon gave a sour look, stunned at his stupidity to bet so much money, then seem like everything was fine when it disappeared from his possession just like that. Then again, those were the five dollars he had bet a week ago, so it’s not his place to point fingers.
“Well looks like we got Mr. Millionaire over here,” he grinned. “Thinkin’ that losing five dollars is the same as losing a nickel.”
Mark gave a shake of the head along with a small laugh, his stout figure jiggling with each chuckle. He would quickly quiet down, the silence piercing the air like a knife through butter. Mark glared at Rigdon before asking some questions about what just happened.
“So, what did the big man say?” he raised a brow. “You kicking the bucket?”
“No, I’m not getting fired. He just wanted to tell me about a project the higher-ups want me to get onto.” He quickly replied.
“Did you take it?”
“Of course I didn’t! I’ve got too much on my plate right now,” Rigdon would look down at his computer. “Plus, I’m not even interested in… whatever the hell he had going.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you turned down a raise? Here I thought I was stupid for betting high,” Mark scoffed lightly. “You should’ve taken the opportunity.”
“No, I don’t need more stuff to do—I’ve got plenty of that here.” Rigdon fiddled with a couple of his things.
Mark’s face would turn into a small frown, his eyes softer as that staunch side took control of his words.
“Rigdon… I know you still blame yourself for Eleven, but you gotta move past that,” he started. “It wasn’t your fault. It was just a freak accident out of our capabilities. Buzz wouldn’t wanna see his best man slouching around and moping.” Mark would reach forward, a grin slowly growing from cheek to cheek as he pats his shoulder firmly.
“Besides, how else are you going to keep up with my gambling adventures without it? You’re gonna go broke soon enough!”
Rigdon gave a small huff as his demeanor slowly became cheerier by the minute. He sat back down in his chair, exchanging a few more words with Mark as he lifted his cup of coffee.
“Hey, I can just cut your ass off from my money flow!” he joked at first. “But, thanks for that, mac. I needed that pick-me-up.”
Mark gave a nonchalant wave of his hand before turning back to mess with his own devices. Rigdon peered at his dark screen, seeing his hazel eyes gaze right through his soul. His mind pondered the things that Mark said to him. Should he really take the offer? He was sure that this was a bad idea, but he wasn’t one to give up. His mom did always say that he was a stubborn little fellow—Or, was it that he didn’t think before acting? Placing his chin against his knuckles, his mind slowly came to the answer he was looking for.
Letting out a bated breath, his legs shot him up and out of his chair. He quickly grabbed his essentials, along with his cup. The hand that gripped the cup swung back and forth as his other hand held the box of his contained things rigidly, only moving ever so slightly with each bounce he had put into his step. He tossed the cup in his right hand towards the recycling bin, a small thud and shuffle being heard as his cup slammed against the inside walls of the green bin, then dropped down and broke its fall on a soft bed of discarded papers and sticky notes.
Rigdon passed the memorial, giving a solemn nod before turning his head back to his target. He picked up some speed, his walking now turning into a slow jog. Pumping his arms back and forth, quick bursts of memories began to flash through his mind. From him as a kid giving a presentation on wanting to be an engineer, to him working extremely hard during his senior years and during college—He was at NASA, the place where only the best of the best go. He didn’t get this job to sit around and mope about factors that were out of his control. His stride grew heavier and angrier as he was filled with more emotion and determination. He wasn’t going to throw it all away because he was too scared—Buzz wouldn’t want that for him. He said he was going to go far, so he was going to go far. He was going to reach for the stars.
The walls blasted by him in a blur, the only thing fixated on his eyes being the elevator. As he slowly approached, the poisonous daggers of Dread and Anxiety were plunged deep into the depths of his body, though were quickly dislodged by the righteous hands of Determination and ambition. Rummaging around in his pocket for the key, he would yank it out in one fluid motion. Holding it in the palm of his hand, the silverish metal and bronze accents shimmered as they basked in the light. He looked up and guided the key in, turning slowly. A low beep was heard as the elevator light lit up with life.
He turned the key back and yanked it out, staring at it once more before placing it into the comfort of his cradling pocket. Rigdon waited for a moment before the doors opened, the crisp, cold air exiting and hitting his face. He trotted in, turning to face the buttons, of which was only one—A red square with a white outline. He pressed his finger against it, a small click is heard as the jaws of the elevator slammed shut. There was no going back now. He stood there, the elevator slowly moving down as he was lowered into the new, unknown territory.
He would raise his fingers before slamming them back down against his legs. He repeated this motion a couple of more times as the elevator continued its plunge into the unknown. A small shake was felt as the elevator locked into place. Rigdon’s heart beat its hands against his chest in a drum-like rhythm as the doors slid open, the mechanism of the elevator clanking as metal rubbed against metal, steel against steel. What awaited him was the monotonous walls of cloudy white and red accents that marked the halfway points on either side. He reached a leg forward, emerging from the elevator, the doors quickly shutting and sealing his fate once he did. A loud thud echoed through the halls, the walls singing the sound back.
Rigdon’s eyes darted to the ground, locking onto the man that stared back at him. Well, at least we know that the government is spending those taxpayer dollars wisely. Rigdon would open his mouth, checking his teeth on the mirror-like floor. After thoroughly goofing around, he carried on with his walking, an audible thump emitting from the ground as his boots banged against the polished tiles. He looked up at the walls, reading a couple of signs at an intersection. The different signs were engraved with different callsigns. Staring at each of them quickly, his eyes would stop at the sign that was plastered on the left pathway—Project Lazarus. He would gently drag his fingertips against the plastic before he turned and trotted down the hall.
He passed a couple of doors down the hall, but he paid no mind to such things. It wasn’t his business to peep on something that was highly secretive—If anything, he might be accused of being a communist spy trying to sell secrets off to the Soviet Union. He read off the signs that adorned the doors, but none of them was the one he was supposed to be at. Well, that was until he did find it. The entrance wasn’t similar to the other doors. It was much larger, sporting two double doors. The room was directly forward about twenty yards. The reason he could tell that was where he needed to be was the fact that above the two doors was the codename “PROJECT LAZARUS” proclaimed in a giant bold font.
“Now I’m not a genius, but I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t have your greatest project in gigantic bold. It’s like having a sign that says, ‘WEAPON SECRETS THIS WAY’.” Rigdon gave a shake of his head as he talked to himself.
His hand reached out, his digits wrapping around the handle. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his thumb down against the button on the door and pulled towards himself. The door opened with a click, the first sight being a large, metallic plate standing atop an altar. The metal was encased in a weird, cylindrical structure, of which small points of arms were fixated against each point of the metal sheet. He continued to stare, a couple of questions coming to his mind. Is that a particle accelerator? Why does it look so… different? Joe looked back, a smile soon drawing across his figure.
“Well, well, well…” he would trail off. “Welcome to Lazarus, Rigdon.” Joe folded his arms as he greeted him.
Rigdon was flabbergasted. He slowly turned his head from side to side, eyes taking note of everyone in the room. It was half of the staff that was laid off! He slowly opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. His lungs couldn’t find the strength to say what was the biggest surprise of his time. Joe chuckled, shaking his head slowly before speaking up for him.
“Yeah, ‘ah know what you’re thinking,” he would say before continuing. “That whole laying off half the crew thing was just a coverup. It was just so we could get the best of the best without people asking questions about this project.” Joe walked up to Rigdon, that smile still present on his face. He reached out to him before placing a couple of firm pats on his shoulder. He would turn towards the front and then hold his hand out.
“Go on, take a seat! I’ll teach ‘ya the ropes ‘round here.” Joe said to him, Rigdon walking forward after he did. He took a seat at one of the open chairs, placing his box of belongings beside him.
Rigdon gawked at the machine that was built into the long metal table in front of him. It looked like one of those computers up at mission control, but these seemed much more sophisticated. He could feel his mind become littered with child-like wonder as the blueprints from the machine popped up with a push of a button. He looked back to Joe, his mouth hung open as his lips struggled to find the words to explain the bewilderment that ran through his very core.
“The machine was finished a couple of days ago,” Joe would scratch the side of his head. “It’s just that we don’t have the exact math down to get it to open. Turns out the universe doesn’t enjoy being broken.” he chirped lightheartedly.
Joe would begin to point out specific buttons and numbers, quickly giving an explanation as to what each thing did.
“The thing’s called a TI-50—People down there were kind enough to let us use the software. You punch in the numbers here, then the symbols—The answer is printed on a piece of paper and is ejected here.” he told him as he pointed over to the small slot to the right of the screen.
Rigdon stared at the blinking white bar on the screen. Looking down, he would push his fingers against the keyboard before hitting enter. A whirring sound started up from the machine before it spit out a receipt. He ripped the paper out and stared at it for a moment. Looking at the answer, he would plug it back into the equation to double check, only to find that the machine was right! It had taken all but three seconds to get the answer. Joe smiled, quickly chiming in.
“People are saying that that thing should be in schools by ‘76. Imagine that—Kids having a hold of something we would’ve killed for years ago; Now that’s the future of science.” a grin escaped his lips as he said those words.
Crumpling up the paper, Rigdon discarded it and looked back towards the computer. Joe placed a good bit of paper onto his area, of which made Rigdon cringe in disgust—That better not be some shit for filing or finances. Joe quickly eased his suspicions with what he said next.
“Couple equations we got down for the code. Just want to run this by you to make sure everything’s alright. Once we get the greenlight, we’re gonna start it up.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.” Rigdon would give an OK sign.
He looked back down to the papers, taking one off from the pile and skimming through everything. Once he got the basis of the problem, he lifted his pencil and began to plug it into the calculator. Once done, he ripped the paper out and stared at the numbers. He would then plug the numbers that the computer gave him back into the equation. He triple checked everything, letting off a small nod as he placed it onto a new pile.
“One down, only thirty more pages to go through.” A small smile crept across his lips as the possibilities of a new scientific discovery was on the forefront of his mind.
There was no end to the possibilities! Though, of course it did carry some negative ones with it. Slowly but surely, he would check off everything, once in a while having to do a double take just to make sure everything was perfect. Once he burnt through the stack, he quickly skimmed over everything once more and gave a solemn nod. He stood up, giving a thumbs up.
“Everything’s good here.”
Giving a small nod, Joe turned to someone and quickly muttered ‘Start it up’. Just like that, the machine sprung to life! It rumbled and shook, a whirring building up slowly as the gears on the machine did its thing. Sparks began to fly as super-heated quarks collided with each other. Eventually, it would open, the room getting bathed with a bright, bluish light in the process. All Rigdon could do was stare in awe and amazement. He slowly got up, grabbing a nearby clock. He walked forward, giving a small nod to Joe before turning back to the portal. He would chuck the clock forward. There, it stopped falling, and instead was slowly pulled into the gravity of the device. Now all they had to do was wait for it to reappear in the future…
Of course, fate is a cruel mistress. An alarm began to blaze out, crying in panic at the danger. Rigdon cocked his head over, watching his friends yell at one another as one said, ‘I can’t turn it off!’ He slowly turned back towards the portal in front of him, which had now grown to twice the size it had been originally. His eyes became saucers as he could feel himself fall towards it. He began to swim in the air in a panic, attempting to push himself away from the certain doom that awaited him.
“Help! Do something,” Rigdon howled with pain. “Oh god! It hurts!”
Rigdon was slowly consumed by the metal contraption. The pressure that was exerted on his now consumed lower torso made his lungs weak and his ears ring. The picture of his panicked colleagues slowly dissipated as he was finally consumed by the machine. There, his screams quickly fell on deaf ears. In fact, he couldn’t hear anything at all. Though, the sound was the least of his worries. His eyes widened as he tried to take deep breaths, but he was met with nothing. He was in a vacuum!
He would claw at his throat, continuing to take deep breaths, or lack thereof. He could feel his eyes grow heavy as he was thrusted downwards, quick flashes repeating in succession as he passed him. The colors and lights increased as he made his way closer. Particles were physically being superheated, yet he felt freezing. As the lights grew brighter, soon enough, the quick rush of air reappeared suddenly, hitting him like a person belly flopping into a pool. His ears practically burst from the sudden change. He closed his eyes, arms slowly covering his face as he rapidly approached the ground. Then, everything went black.
Slowly opening his eyes, Rigdon would adjust to the sudden change in light. His head was throbbing, his ears were ringing, and his eyes were blurry. Hands pushing against the ground, he found himself wondering what the hell just happened! Looking around, his senses slowly returned with open arms. In one fluid motion, Rigdon propped himself back up.
Craning his head from side to side, he examined his new surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of library? He slowly turned his head back, the air escaping him once more as his eyes glared forward. It seemed to be a… horse? Though, horse should be used lightly since this ‘thing’ looked all wrong. Slowly blinking, he would finally say a few choice words that were on his mind.
Rigdon stared at this… ‘thing’ in front of him. A bead of sweat dribbled down his forehead as he took in the sight of Twilight. Her coat was a vibrant purple. Her mane was a deep bluish-purple, with one darker and lighter purple streak running through it. Judging by how he was sitting, she would make it about half way up his stomach if he was standing up. His brow raised as he continued to examine her… Is that a horn? Why is there a tattoo on her side?
“Daring-doo… That goes under D in fiction.” Twilight mumbled to herself as she pushed the book into place with her magic She would hum as she looked over to the cart on her right.
He looked on with bewilderment as her horn lit up, the book slowly getting engulfed in a translucent purple color. The book danced over to Twilight before it was pushed forward, finding its new home in an empty slot. She repeated the action, bringing the book towards her and reading the name. The soft clopping of hooves against the wooden floor beat out as she turned around.
He was now standing, head tilted down so he could look at her. Twilight slowly looked up, her ears folding back as her head slowly trailed up until she was looking directly into his eyes. Now he has to add unusually large eyes to his list of weird features this horse had.
Twilight visibly deflated as she took a few steps backwards, only stopping when she hit the bookshelf. She was considering throwing a couple of books at this thing, but she was worried that it would become damaged or worse! Instead, she gathered the confidence to speak out.
“W-What do you want, creature?” Twilight called out, her voice growing softer as said confidence left her body with each word she squeaked out.
Rigdon’s eyes grew wide as he heard her voice. These things could talk? Well, he might as well ask some questions.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Rigdon replied, head slowly looking side to side. Well, he had to give credit where credit was due—This was a cozy looking library. He turned back towards Twilight. “Where am I?”
Twilight slowly straightened her posture, a small breath of relief escaping from her. Her demeanor changed as the tension in the room slowly melted away. Giving off a small cough to clear her throat, she began to speak.
“You’re in Golden Oaks Library! The only dedicated place in Ponyville for books and knowledge alike,” Twilight exclaimed with a hint of pride in her voice. She took a couple steps towards Rigdon, now feeling a bit more reassured that he wasn’t here to do anything bad.
“My name is Twilight. What’s yours?” She introduced herself, reaching her hoof out in the process.
Rigdon looked down at the hoof presented to him. How was this even supposed to work? He reached out, his fingers gently wrapping around her hoof as he gave her a hoof shake. He felt a small shiver go up his spine as his hand made contact with her impossibly soft coat. Well, her coat was the least of his worries. He would feel a soft, yet firm grip envelop his hand. He could hear his mind scream out as it questioned the logic of this. He looked up from his hand, finding Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up a little. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one that found this weird.
“Rigdon,” He would finally give her a reply. “My name is Rigdon.” He slowly retracted his hand from her hoof. Twilight likewise did the same, soon placing it back onto the floor. Now it was her turn to ask some questions of her own.
“What are you?” Twilight furrowed her brows a little bit, lifting her hoof up to her muzzle as she tried to think about if she’s ever seen another animal or creature like him before. “You have the features of an Ape, but I have never seen one that looks like you.”
“Well, you did get the ape part right, Twilight,” Rigdon replied. “I’m a Homo-Sapien, or a Human in layman’s terms.” Rigdon walked past her, reached out, and grabbed a book that was under History. He began to flip through the pages, trying to understand this world.
Twilight’s eyes turned to pin pricks as she heard him say what he was. The excitement began to boil inside of her before she burst from the seams, a loud squeal escaping from her as she jumped up and down.
“Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh!” She would repeat in quick succession. “A new species! What do you eat? What are the physical attributes of a human? These data possibilities are endless!” she would emit a soft squee as she stopped bouncing. Holy shit, that was so adorable.
Her horn lit up as a piece of paper and an ink quill appeared in front of her. She looked up to Rigdon before looking back down. She wrote down the name for the species before beginning to draw out a human in Rigdon’s likeness. Rigdon put the book back as he watched Twilight overdose on new data.
A small smile crept across his face, soon shaking his head as he thought about his friends back home. God, they would’ve gotten a serious kick about her eagerness for data. He could only imagine what would happen if she got her hands… err… Hooves on a calculator. Rigdon reached forward, a couple beams of light leaking in through a window and bouncing on his skin. He turned his head back to Twilight.
“Hey, Earth to Twilight.” He snapped his fingers. Twilight looked up, finally snapping out of nerd mode. Her ear twitched softly as Rigdon spoke again. “Is there any way we could talk about this over a cup of tea? I think I need to sit down for a little bit.”
A slight blush appeared on Twilight’s cheeks. She felt embarrassed that someone had seen her get this excited over data. She gave a quick, solemn nod, trotting off towards the kitchen. Grasping a pot with her magic, she filled it with warm water before placing it firmly on the stove, the burner quickly turning on afterwards. While she waited for it to boil, she looked back and called out to Rigdon.
“What type of tea would you like?” She turned back to the cabinet, looking at her inventory of tea. “We have Dandelion root… Oolong-” Rigdon quickly spoke up and cut her off.
“Dandelion would be fantastic,” He called out. Slowly turning his head side to side, he found a small table. Looking at it, he wondered how he would even be able to sit here. Sure, he could, but it would be as uncomfortable as him trying to sit at the children’s table. Pulling the chair out, he sat down, wriggling his figure ever so slightly to make himself more comfortable.
After a couple of minutes, Twilight appeared with a teacup set in toe. What looked like sandwiches followed her as well. Placing the objects onto the table, she quickly plopped herself onto the chair opposite of Rigdon. She poured him a cup of tea and levitated it over to him, along with one of the sandwiches. He grabbed them both, watching the magic dissipate.
“Uhm, Twilight?” He placed the sandwich onto a small plate. “I don’t think I’m able to eat this. There’s… flowers on them.”
Twilight gave a confused look as she lifted her sandwich up to her mouth, taking a bite from it. She gave a couple of chews before quickly swallowing. “Why not? I thought you could because you wanted Dandelion Tea.”
“Well, yeah, I can have Dandelion Tea,” Rigdon lifted the small cup and took a deep gulp, the hot liquid slightly burning his tongue as it slid down his throat. “But that’s because It’s part of a group of specific flowers that humans can eat. I don’t know the type of flowers that grow here, so it would be a huge risk to just take a bite of this.”
When he looked back to Twilight, he found that she was face first in that paper once again. She was scribbling fiercely, stopping every so often only to get more ink onto her quill. Once finished, she looked back up, deciding to prod him for more information about his species.
“So… What CAN you eat?” Twilight questioned as she brought the paper closer, ready at a moment's notice to begin writing down what he told her. Rolling his eyes, Rigdon couldn’t help but scoff softly at her eagerness. He took another sip of the tea before humoring her.
“Well, First off we eat meat… We can have vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and animal products, such as eggs.” He pushed his sandwich towards Twilight. She took another bite, quickly following with a quick lick of her muzzle. ‘Wait, where am I supposed to stay?’ Rigdon would think to himself before bringing up his quarry.
“Where do I go?” He questioned Twilight, his voice flat as his face contorted into a frown. “I don’t exactly have a house in…”
Twilight quickly interjected. “Ponyville.”
Rigdon gave a solemn nod. “Yeah, Ponyville.” He gave off a soft chuckle as he began to fiddle with his thumbs. Rigdon pondered about home. What was happening back there? Were they trying to get him back? Was he stuck forever in this new place? Twilight read his face like it was one of the many books that she carried. Taking another bite of her sandwich, she smiled and spoke up.
“Well, I do have a spare room. If you’d like, you can stay here!” She offered to the human, that squee coming out from nowhere when she smiled. Rigdon looked over at her, then felt his heart explode! What he saw was something that would put puppy dog eyes to shame! Now he couldn’t say no to a face like that.
“Alright. Thank you, Twilight,” He thanked her, a small smile snaking across his lips. Lifting his cup once more, he was more cautious as he slowly took a couple of sips. The liquid, now being much cooler, easily went down without any fuss.
“What’re friends for,” Twilight chimed in. Rigdon raised a brow as he watched her dig into a second sandwich. He had known her all but ten minutes, and yet she already considered him a friend. Taking one last gulp from his cup, he finished his drink. Placing the cup down, he slid it forward a bit.
“Twilight, could you go in depth about what this place is? Y’know, besides Ponyville.” Rigdon stretched back against the chair before providing an incentive. “I’ll tell you where I came from after you teach me more about this place, alright?” When Twilight heard those words, she immediately forgoes the sandwich and drink in front of her and opts for a couple of history books. She gives a wide grin as she opens the book.
“Alright! You better pay attention, Rigdon, because we’re starting from the very beginning!” Twilight cooed as she cleared her throat, slowly beginning to tell him the history of Equestria.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“And that brings us to today. Now, the Soviets may have gotten us beat at the moment, but I still believe that we can turn it around eventually!” Rigdon placed his fist against his chest. Twilight, on the other side of the table, had filled up her half with her papers, which had been rolled and held in place with a red ribbon. She felt like she was going to faint!
“This is so interesting.” Twilight finished wrapping up her last document. “Despite our worlds being so far apart, we have very similar cultures and holidays!” she grinned before she turned her attention to a small figure on the ground. Rigdon followed her gaze, quickly squinting as he stared at the figure. Judging by the scales on the tiny thing, he could only assume it was a type of Lizard.
“Spike, send these to Celestia!” She suspended the papers in her magic before handing them off towards the drake. He gave a salute before taking a deep breath and breathing fire onto the papers, everything catching fire and disintegrating. Rigdon watched in bewilderment as the smoke flew out of the window.
“Is he a dragon?” Rigdon questioned as he stared at him. Spike gave a smile and a nod.
“In the flesh!” Spike would give a triumphant pose. Rigdon reached down, holding his fist out for him.
“Nice to meet you, Spike! Fist bump, Lil’ man!” Spike stared at the fist before jumping up, punching his fist against Rigdon’s and making an explosion after he hit his hand. The moment he hit the ground, his cheeks would puff up. He let out a burp, and what appeared made Rigdon question the laws of physics in this place. Out of the fire that came from his mouth was a Paper neatly rolled and held in place with that red ribbon, untouched by the fire. The letter was quickly enveloped in a purple aura as it levitated over to Twilight. After reading it, she quickly clapped her hooves together as she fangirled.
“What? What happened” Rigdon questioned with a hint of worry in his voice. Twilight placed the letter down and turned towards him.
“Princess Celestia wants us to come to Canterlot! She says she would love to meet you!” She continued to jump around, barely hiding her excitement. Rigdon’s eyes turned to saucers as her voice rang out through his head, the weight behind it getting greater each time he did. ‘THE Princess wants to meet me?’. He blinked slowly, muttering two words under his breath.
“You mean today? Like right now?” Rigdon pondered, his mind still trying to fathom what just happened. He couldn’t believe that the Princess of this kingdom would want to meet him! Then again, he was a new species in a foreign nation, so it isn’t that far-fetched that she would want to meet him. Possibly, it was just to make sure that he wasn’t here to cause any instability.
Twilight gave an enthusiastic nod, still giddy about this entire thing. Sure, she’s been around Celestia for a long time, but that still doesn’t make it less of an occasion! Twilight slowly calmed down, but the peace didn’t last. That enthusiasm was quickly converted over to nervousness. Twilight’s ears folded back, a worried expression crossing her face as a couple of papers appeared in front of her.
“Oh Celestia, what if we’re not ready? Everypony is going to be staring at us!” She stamped her hooves back and forth before she quickly turned her attention to Rigdon, a small groan escaping her muzzle. Rigdon could feel his body stiffen as he was engulfed in Twilight’s aura. His shirt and pants were slowly unwrinkled, now looking at least slightly more presentable than he did look like a few moments before.
“There,” Twilight let out an audible sigh. “That’s better.” She trotted into the next room, lifting up her travel bag with her magic, which stylishly had that same tattoo that was on her flank, then fitted it onto her back. Opening them with her magic, she quickly stuffed the papers into them, along with a couple of essentials in case anything happened. It was better to be prepared than sorry. Twilight walked over to the door, opening it with her magic and flipping the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’. She then looked back, a determined look on her expression.
“If we go now, we’ll be ten minutes ahead of the train to Canterlot,” She told Rigdon. Rigdon, on the contrary, was as still as a statue, arms folded tightly against his chest. For someone with such a tidy library, Twilight seems to get pretty disorganized under pressure.
“Look, Twilight, there’s no need to rush. Just take it slow—It’s not a big deal.” He took a couple of steps forward. He might as well have killed the Queen Of England by saying those words. Twilight shot him a knowing glare, clearly offended by his blasphemous words.
“Not a big deal?! Are you crazy!” Twilight’s voice grew louder as she finally turned around to face him. “This is Celestia we’re talking about! I can’t let her down.” She shook her head before turning to walk out of the Library. Rigdon shook his head solemnly as he followed after her. The moment he went outside, he groaned and shielded his eyes with his arm. ‘God damn, it almost hurts to look at these colors.’
He took in a deep breath of air, quickly letting it fall out of his lips after a few moments. ‘The air is so clean here…’ His eyes wandered around, soon finding its place up in the sky. He watched the clouds drift against nature’s lazy river; The sky. It looked like it was alive with how vibrant it was. He watched a pony that seemed to be dressed in some Mailperson’s outfit fly across the sky, a canvas bag on their right side. While he was busy gawking at his surroundings, Twilight had grown a bit impatient at his lack of urgency and had resorted to dragging him along with her magic.
“Woah, woah! Hold your horses, Twilight. I’m coming.” He quickly called out to her. This caught her attention. She did a complete one-eighty, a concerned look and slight blush now dominating her face.
“Rigdon! Watch your language! There are fillies around,” She huffed in a hushed tone. Rigdon put on a puzzled expression. What could he have possibly said to have been a bad word? Unaware of the terrible pun of a bad word, he would repeat it again.
“What? I just said to hold your horses.” He gave a small shrug of his arms. Twilight reached her hoof forward and slapped him on his knee, causing him to yelp in pain. He quickly gripped the abused knee in question. “Augh! The hell!” He would call out angrily
“That! Whoreses! Don’t say that in public!” Twilight turned back around and continued her journey. Rigdon followed pursuit, his mind slowly picking the pieces apart. The way she had put emphasis on whore in whoreses finally clicked with him. His face recoiled in cringe before he spoke up.
“That’s a stupid fucking pun…” Rigdon murmured out as he continued to drag himself forward. He continued to look from side to side, his eyes dotting from building to building. One that caught his eye would be the one that Twilight had said was ‘Sugarcube Corner’. He doesn’t know how that thing stands—It looks like it’s literally made out of candy.
Twilight walked up the steps to the boarding area, opening her travel pack and pulling out a couple of.. Wait, is that gold? He’s seen some weird currency in his life, but straight gold has to take the cake. The conductor-pony took the bits and slid two tickets over, of which she took in her magic. They both walked up past the paying area and waited for the train.
Rigdon tilted his head down and to the left ever so slightly, getting Twilight in his crosshairs as he began to pelt her with more questions. “Hey, Twilight,” He called out to her. “How common is gold here?” Twilight looked up towards him.
“Well, it’s one of the most common metals in Equus. It’s used in a lot of constructions as a strengthening agent, not to mention as a form of currency,” She answered him. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason… Just curious.” He pulled his head back up so he was looking forward. His body would begin to rumble softly as the train whistle roared in the distance. In his personal opinion, he did always prefer trains over cars. After all, in a train, he could stare out at nature whenever he wanted. Of course, he could do that in a car too, but that’s going to land him in jail because he’ll probably end up hitting a couple of people while doing it.
The wheels on the train came to a screeching halt, sparks occasionally flying off from them. The hunk of metal let out a loud PSHT of air when it finally stopped, the doors slowly opening. The Conductor-Pony walked out of the train. What he wore could be described as the attire of a late 1800’s British Train Conductor. Well, he did fancy those uniforms anyways. The Conductor-Pony looked over to Twilight, promptly asking for the tickets, of which she nodded, opened her bag, and flew over to him.
With a hole puncher suspended in his magic, he quickly punched one hole into her ticket, then one into Rigdon’s. He then levitated the tickets back to Twilight, the blue magic fading as it was replaced with Twilight’s purple aura. Lifting his hoof up, he tipped his hat a bit before moving off to the side. Twilight slowly trotted in, Rigdon following her in tow. The Conductor-Pony gave him a glare, which Rigdon happily returned. Once stepping on, he followed Twilight to their seats. The ceiling was slightly lower than a normal train, but he should keep in mind that this was made for ponies, not bipedal, bald apes.
He sat down across from Twilight, gently pushing his back up against the soft cushions. His head slowly cocked to the left as he watched the scenery of the station disappear as the train started to life. After a couple minutes, a light green colored mare with a cart walked by, still holding up to that 1800’s english standard of clothing. She even had a slight English accent to boot!
“Snacks? Refreshments?” She would offer to them both. Twilight asked for a cup of tea, while Rigdon took a bag of small peanuts and bottled water. Once supplying them both with their concessions, she moved to the other patrons in the car. Rigdon shuffled the back in between his hands. He ripped the bag open, a couple of peanuts flying onto his pants. He let out a couple of mumbles as he cursed the elusive nuts.
He brought the bag up, filling his mouth with as many nuts that he could fit. Well, at least he had a good chipmunk impression. Twilight closed her eyes, bringing the tea up to her lips. She gave a couple blows of soft air before gulping down some of the liquid. Swallowing the nuts, he opted for the show that was happening outside. A small smile appeared on his face as a couple of memories popped into his mind.
“Y’know, this reminds me of what one of my friends did back home. Well, it was kind of my fault as well, but that’s besides the point,” He started off. He looked back to Twilight, and found the mare Staring at him with the utmost attention. “His name was Mark. He was a hard fellow, but that guy knew how to have a laugh.” He let out a small chuckle.
“So anyways, me and him jumped a fence one day to get his lady friend something special for Valentines. Course, with how much of a coward I was back then, I opposed that idea. Of course, he was a good persuader,” Rigdon trailed off. “Course we forgot that the guy that owned the farm had a mean ass dog. Now that was a dog you didn’t want to fuck with.” Twilight lifted her drink, not interrupting as she took a silent sip.
“Once we got a flower from one of the blooming apple trees and got down, the guy came out and saw us. Of course, he released that hell spawn of a pet at us. Needless to say, we hauled our asses back to that fence,” Rigdon paused for a moment as he recounted the events. He lifted his water, taking a sip before choking on said water from laughing. Twilight became concerned, but he reassured her. “I’m fine! Just got caught off guard.” He put the water down onto the seat.
“So I’m already over the fence and on the other side, right? Mark wasn’t really that best at physical activity, so I’m trying to help him over so he doesn’t get murdered. Right before I get him over, that thing gets to him first!” He would clamp his hands together, simulating the jaws of the dog. “I’m holding onto him for dear life, until we both hear a rip. He comes flying over and falls onto the ground.” He would make an airplane landing with his hand. “He gets up and turns around… There’s a gigantic hole on his ass where the dog bit! The thing ripped his pants off!” Rigdon now had a gigantic smile from ear to ear. Twilight had let out a small laugh, but quickly suppressed it with her cup.
“But the best part is that he dropped the damn flower when getting over! Now he had to go home with nothing for his girlfriend, and with his left ass cheek exposed to the world! You can only imagine what his mom gave him when he got back home. We ended up calling him Boy cheek wonder in our friend group!” Rigdon couldn’t hold it in anymore. He let out a small snort before letting out a full blown bellow of laughter. Twilight, after choking on her tea multiple times, finally laughed along with him. She lifts her hoof up, gently wiping the tears from her eyes as she gently places the tea cup down, her aura disappearing.
Twilight looked up to him, a grin still gracing her muzzle. “Well, since we’ve got a bit before we reach Canterlot, I guess I can share a few stories of my own,” She humored him. “This wasn’t that long ago. This is about one of my friends, Zecora, but that wasn’t always the case…”
Rigdon was laughing his ass off. He couldn’t just stop laughing! His arms clutched his side as the tears flowed from his eyes. This was ten times better than the stuff he had back at the movies! This would make a great comedy! “Oh god. No more, no more! Whahaha!” He continued to howl out with laughter. Twilight was no better in this situation. If there weren't any seats in the way, he would be rolling on the floor.
Rigdon slowly calmed down, his laughter slowly falling into small chuckles, Twilight quickly following his example. The screeching of the train sounded the whistle that they had made it to their destination. At the sound, Twilight quickly shot up from her seat, looking over at Rigdon. He slowly stood up, grunting as he stretched a bit. He followed her out, his eyes now graced with Canterlot. Well, despite the fact that this place was named after Camelot, he loved the medieval-style architecture that the buildings possessed. The walkways were populated with all kinds of ponies! Tourists… The upper class and their usual crazy expenses… even a couple of what he would assume to be foreigners, roamed!
He followed Twilight through the winding roads, a couple of carriages passing by. He stared as it went past. Rigdon wasn’t really expecting to see a pony pulling other ponies around in Carriages. ‘Now that’s just putting a hat on a hat’. All of this was quite the culture shock to him—but it was more of the fact that it was startlingly similar to human culture. From the holidays to the people—everything was just eerily close in nature.
With how much Rigdon was lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice that they had reached the castle. He looked up, his mouth falling wide open. He was at a loss for words. Twilight reached up to him, pushing his jaw back into place. She then trotted in. The moment Rigdon walked in, he was blasted with the beauty of the interior. All the colors just blended together so nicely and popped! Occasionally, he would even see some ponies dressed up in armor. He could only assume that this was something similar to the King’s Guard.
His heart was practically jumping out of his chest, screaming to turn back. Reaching up, he would calm himself by gently hitting his fist against his chest. This was going to be fine! Sure, it’s not an everyday thing to go see a Royal, but he has Twilight! If anything, he can just use her as cover if anything goes wrong. A large door laid in front of them, two guard ponies standing at either end. When Twilight got close, they pushed open the doors, revealing the large throne room in front of him. A red carpet led to the actual throne, which seemed to be built into a small set of stairs.
Rigdon looked around, admiring the pillars and banners that were sprawled around the room. Though, the one thing that did catch his eye, were the stained glass on the wall which told its stories. He stopped moving as he examined the glass. What he saw seemed to be a caricature of Twilight, along with five other mares, firing lasers at another one. ‘So these are the friends she told me about. I hope I can meet them soon.’ He gave a small smile before looking forward.
His attention was now captured by the large mare sitting on the throne. Her coat was a pearly white, her multicolored mane flowing in some unforeseen wind. Unlike all other ponies he’s seen up to this point, she seemed to have wings and a horn. A soft, motherly smile seemed to grace her face as Rigdon and Twilight made their approach.
“Twilight! It is good to see you again,” Celestia would call out. Her voice was that of butter! “I assume that this is Rigdon?” She questioned as her gaze slowly fell onto him. Twilight leaned forward onto her front legs, closing her eyes and resting her head down.
“Yes, Princess Celestia,” Twilight looked over to Rigdon, who was just standing there. Twilight reached over, gently hitting his leg, which caused him to jump. He looked over, to find a stern face looking right back at him. Taking the hint, he quickly got on one knee. This earned a small giggle from Celestia. She lifted a hoof to her mouth, attempting to suppress her laughter.
“Please, Twilight, there is no need for the formalities. After all, Rigdon is our guest, isn’t that right?” She questioned as she kept her eyes on the human. Twilight and Rigdon slowly stood up from their positions. Celestia let her head lower a little bit. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rigdon.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Princess,” He replied to her. Well, if he ever gets back home, he can now boast that a Princess was glad to meet him! But he’ll probably be thrown in an insane asylum if he says he’s met a Princess pony with wings, horns, and who could talk. Celestia gracefully pulled her head up, her gaze moving off to her star pupil. Twilight stiffened as she stared at Celestia.
“Twilight, I do have a request for you,” She started off. “Instead of writing a friendship lesson this week, could you introduce Rigdon to everypony when you get back to Ponyville? I am certain he would love to make friends with others.” She offered. Twilight looked like she was going to be burst from excitement from being assigned a personal request from Celestia. She gave a quick nod.
“Yes, Princess Celestia. I won’t let you down.” Twilight leaned forward once more, giving a quick bow. Rigdon found himself in the sights of the ruler of Equestria once again.
“Rigdon, I hope you enjoy your stay with Twilight. I’m certain you will become a great friend with my little ponies.” She quickly said back to him. Rigdon gave a compliant nod. He usually wasn’t good with friendship, but he was going to at least try! After all, his mother said that if you don’t try, you’ll never know if it’ll work out or not.
Twilight turned around and began to walk away. Rigdon looked to his side, to see her walking away. Turning back to Celestia, he gave one last bow and a wave before joining Twilight’s side. Celestia gave another laugh at his actions.
“So, when am I going to meet everybody, Twilight?” Rigdon looked over to her. “Everypony,” Twilight corrected him. “Potato Po-tato, it means the same thing.” He looked forward. They both walked up to the station. With the train being there already, they quickly got on with no fuss.
“Would tomorrow be good? It’s getting a bit late,” He questioned Twilight. She gave a quick nod before sitting down, Rigdon taking his usual spot across from her. He turned to the window, once again watching the scenery fly by. The sun was slowly setting, causing a vibrant orange and pink to descend across the sky.
“Hey, Twi-” He looked over, only to find her slumped against the wall, fast asleep. He stared at her, scoffing softly and shaking his head. Looking back to the window, he quickly placed his head against it. Slowly, his eyelids fell down, signaling Rigdon falling asleep.
Mark huffed and puffed, his arms pumping back and forth as he ran down the hall. Yelling rang out through the building, along with loud THWAPS which caused the yelling to abruptly stop. He looked to the rooms of the secret projects, finding those who were once working on them, were now trying their best to destroy them. Alarms blared out as a handful of guards ran past him, heading off to above ground to defend.
The building shook as a thunderous booming grew louder. What sounded like jets could be heard flying by. Mark ran into the doors for Project Lazarus, quickly grabbing a nearby axe. Joe was commanding others to gather papers together and burn them. Mark walked over to a couple of machines, raising the axe over his head before slamming it down onto the electronics.
He quickly moved onto other electronics, repeating the same motions. The gunfire only grew louder as voices continued to cry out in anguish. Now, only Lazarus itself was left. Mark walked forward, using his axe to rip through a couple of wires. A loud thump was heard as the doors were busted down. A handful of assault troops moved in, equipped with the Ak-s variant of the Ak-47. Everyone could only process what just happened for a moment, before the deafening sound of gunfire rang through the room. People cried as the bullets ripped through their targets, a fresh coating of red covering the walls in splotches.
Shooting his hands up, Mark covered his throat. A bullet had ripped through his throat. He could feel the life drain from him as blood poured onto his hands and down his neck. He slowly fell to his knees. A couple shared some choice words, followed by laughing. They were mocking him.
“Fuck you, you Marxist pieces of shit…” He coughed out, some blood spilling onto the ground. Talking once more, one of the soldiers nodded. He lifted a bayonet from his side and fixed it onto the end of his rifle. He yelled some profanities as he rushed forward, stabbing the knife into Mark. As soon as he had struck him, he ripped his gun back, causing blood to fall all over the ground.
The life left Mark’s body as he fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming where he was. A couple of soldiers ripped down an American flag that was hanging on the left wall. They began to stab their bayonets at it, still laughing. Others began to set up a base of operation. A flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was pinned up to replace the spot the American flag once occupied. An officer walked into the office, the dawdling soldiers quickly standing at attention. One soldier walked up, saluted, then gave a brief synopsis on everything, including some files he was able to translate.
The officer gave a solemn nod as he looked towards the portal. He stayed silent as he examined Lazarus. Grabbing a nearby radio, spoke something into it before placing it down. He yelled a couple of words at the soldiers before turning and walking out, his escorts quickly following as he did so. The doors to Project Lazarus shut as he left. A devilish grin appeared on his face as he thought one thing, “Mother Russia has won this war.”
Rigdon stirred in his bed, murmuring out something incoherent. His eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision slowly adjusting to the room around him. A groan escaped his lips as the sun slithered through the window and decided to attack his newly opened eyes. He slowly stood up, giving his lips a couple of smacks. He slowly slumped over to the main area of the library, turned to his right, then walked over into the kitchen, finding Twilight near the sink. Spike was on top of a stool, a chef’s hat rested on his head as he made some pancakes.
Twilight’s mane was unkempt. A brush and coffee mug was suspended in her magic. The brush slowly moved upwards and was dragged thoroughly through her mane as the coffee cup was lifted to her mouth. She took a small sip before turning back and sitting at the main table. Rigdon approached, taking his seat across from her. Spike jogged over, placing the pancakes onto the table with a small thump. Reaching over, Rigdon grabbed a fork and smashed it into the pancakes, slicing a piece off before stuffing it into his mouth.
“So, Twilight, are you going to be coming with me today? Y’know—to invite me to everyone?” Rigdon asked her as he continued to shave off pieces of the pancake and eat them. “Everypony,” Twilight corrected him as she placed the brush down. Her fork stabbed a piece of hay bacon. The fork was levitated up as she began to munch on it.
“Of course I’m going with you,” she started off, a small smile appearing on her face. “For one, I need to document what happens so I can report it to Celestia. Secondly, I’d love to see how well you’ll get along with everypony!” Twilight lifted her coffee to her muzzle once more, letting the dark liquid flow past her lips.
“What’s your recommendation on who to meet first?” He reached his hand up, continuing to shovel his pancake into his mouth. Spike now had his own pancakes that seemed to contain small bits of gems. Twilight put her cup down and put her hoof up, gently rubbing her chin. She then pointed at him.
“I think Pinkie is your best option,” Twilight answered his question as she lifted her cup up once again. “Just expect to have your mind blown.” She got up and walked over to the sink. She levitated her plate over, the water turning on. She washed her things before neatly placing them in their respective cabinets. Like the library, it was all extensively organized.
Rigdon stood up, his hands fidgeting with his plate as he walked forward, soon finding himself next to Twilight. He placed his hands forward, the crisp, cool water spilling onto them. He grabbed a nearby sponge, bringing it down onto the plate. He scrubbed back and forth, the suds only growing more and more as he wiped it spotless. He slowly brought the plate to the water, the soap flowing away from the surface. The plate glistened in the light as it took up a wavy version of his face. He reached over, slowly filing the plate away with its brethren.
“Here, read this,” Twilight moved the list over towards Rigdon. He reached out, grabbing and reading it before looking dumbfounded. He turned back to Twilight, who had that prideful look on her face again. “I organized you a small list that you can use for everypony! It has all of their likes, dislikes, and everything! Now, there’s no way you can’t befriend them!” She explained to him.
A worried expression fell onto Rigdon’s face. He looked down at the list before looking back up to her. “Twilight…” He trailed off for a moment as his eyes quickly darted back and forth from the paper, then to her. “Ah’ think this feels a bit wrong. I don’t think this is going to help me make friends.”
Twilight’s expression fell as she levitated the list back to her, looking over it once more before staring back at Rigdon, her lips pursed softly. “What do you mean? Everything looks good.” Her face contorted, confusion now forming at the forefront of her mind.
“Look, Twilight,” Rigdon called out softly. He got down on his knees to see her eye to eye. “I know how good planning can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love organization as the next person.” He reached out, placing his hand on her head. Twilight looked up, her eyes crossing slightly as she fixed them onto his hand. “But there are just some things you can’t plan for—Friendships being one of them.”
Twilight’s ears slowly pulled back against her head as she listened to his words. Her lip quivered as she could only murmur but a few words. “B-But… but…” She was interrupted by Rigdon poking her nose. Twilight quickly crossed her eyes to look at his finger, her nose scrunching up. Rigdon sighed and folded his arms. He slowly rose back to his full height.
“Did you use any planners when you met your friends?” He questioned, of which Twilight gave a shy shake of her head. Rigdon gave a nod and smiled. “See? You didn’t need any of that stuff to make great friends. Look, point being… Sometimes it’s better to go with the flow. In this case, It’s so that they can get to meet the real me,” He added on as he stared at her.
Twilight’s expression slowly turned to a smile as her ears slowly perked up. She seemed a lot more confident then earlier. She nodded as she spoke softly. “Yeah… I guess I didn’t need anything like that.” She quickly stood up on her hind legs. Moving her body forward, she would wrap her hooves around his waist and pull him into a quick hug. “Thank you…” Twilight pulled herself back, her hooves quickly planting themselves onto the wooden floor. She walked to the door and opened it with her magic. “Just don’t expect me to give up documenting everything that happens,” She gave a teasing smile.
“Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Twilight.” Rigdon followed after her. He gave Spike a quick fistbump as he passed him. That certainly made his morning. The door slammed shut, Rigdon’s body getting bathed in a shower of sun rays as he met the outdoors with open arms. Twilight trotted towards Sugarcube corner, greeting anypony on her path. Twilight opened the door and walked in, making sure to hold it open for Rigdon.
He slowly moved into the building, his nose immediately getting swarmed and attacked by the scents of baked goods and sweets. He took a couple steps forward, his eyes slowly moving from side to side, before they looked back to Twilight. He slowly looked back to the front counter. “So, Twilight… Where’s Pi-” He was cut off when all he got was two blue eyes and a ball of pink taking up all of his vision. Rigdon stumbled back, taken by surprise by the sudden sight.
Pinkie would immediately jump down onto the ground, though she didn’t exactly stop jumping. He could practically feel her energetic nature leak from her figure. A small ‘boing’ could be heard, seeming coming from nowhere.
“Ohmygosh! Are you new to Ponyville? Hi, My name’s Pinkie Pie, but everypony just calls me Pinkie! I love welcoming new ponies! What are you? I’ve never seen you before. Oh! Are you from another country! That’s so cool!” She would blurt out in one breath, quickly taking in a deep breath before she stopped bouncing. A small squee appeared out of nowhere as she gave a huge grin. She lifted her hoof out so he could shake it.
Rigdon was just taken aback by her nature. He slowly reached forward, taking her hand and giving a quick shake of her hoof. Pinkie retracted her hoof as she returned to her normal bouncing. “Rigdon… I’m a human. It’s nice to meet you” He replied as he slowly retracted his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Rigdon,” Pinkie then let out another gasp. “Ooh, ooh! We need to throw you a party! One for being the first human in Equestria, and the other for welcoming you to Ponyville! This is going to be so awesome!” She squealed in excitement. Rigdon looked back to Twilight, giving a bit of a worried expression. Twilight had a smile on her face, quickly giving a few soft shakes of her head. ‘Classic Pinkie.’
Pinkie jumped behind the counter once again, now going through everything to find a cupcake. Surprisingly, she was fresh out! She quickly ran over to a nearby closet. She opened it and stuck her hoof in. “Don’t worry! I always keep a stash of cupcakes around Ponyville,” She then miraculously pulled out a cupcake from the closet. “In case of cupcake emergencies like these!” Pinkie then went over to Rigdon and offered the cupcake to him.
He slowly picked the sweet up, his brows furrowing a bit. He seemed a bit skeptical about it. How long was that cupcake even sitting in there? He lifted it up to his mouth and took a small bite. Of course, giving the laws of physics a middle finger to the face, the cupcake tasted like it had just come out of the oven. He looked back to Twilight, a shocked expression on her face.
Twilight gave a small roll of her eyes before giving the best of an answer she could. “It’s best not to question how she does it. Trust me—I’ve tried.”
Rigdon gave a small shrug before taking another bite of his cupcake. Honestly, at this point, he should really stop questioning how this world works. After all, magic is a thing here. Finishing the cupcake, he would throw the rapper into the nearby trash can. Twilight finished scribbling everything down.
“Next should be… Rarity,” She looked back up. Rigdon gave a solemn nod. Opening the door, Twilight gave a wave to Pinkie before leaving. Pinkie quickly returned the gesture, a couple of laughs leaving her lips. Rigdon gave her a wave as well.
“You two have a fun day! Don’t forget to come back whenever you’d like! I still need to throw that party for you!” Pinkie called out as the door was shut behind him. Twilight was certainly right about the mind-blowing part of meeting Pinkie. He felt like he had just eaten a whole bag of sugar and was crashing big time.
“You’ll get used to her eventually, Rigdon.” Twilight spoke up softly as they continued to move along. Rigdon rolled his eyes as a couple of ponies ran past them both. Raising an eyebrow, he wondered what was up. Looking over to Twilight, he found his same look of confusion on her as well.
“Hey, you wanna check out what’s going on?” Rigdon questioned as he pointed his thumb to where ponies were flocking to. Twilight gave a silent nod in response to his question.
“Something has to be wrong,” Twilight voiced her concern, her eyes dotting up towards Rigdon. “Nopony ever acts like this… Well, except that time with Zecora.” She looked back down. Rigdon soon broke into a light jog. He continued to follow the galloping and trotting ponies. He couldn’t make out what they were saying about the situation. But, judging by their tone of voice, they seemed quite concerned about whatever it was. He weaved around the winding roads, soon coming into a clearing with a bunch of ponies. Rigdon froze up at what he saw.
In front of him were a platoon of soldiers on the floor. Those uniforms… The tan tunic with red accents was unmistakable. His ears began to ring as the figures slowly got up. He could see them slowly reach for their guns, their voices cutting his soul like a hot knife through butter. A man with an ushanka placed firmly on his head walked in front of the soldiers. He looked around, staring at the ponies. He looked back and began to talk with one other person.
“Rigdon, look! More humans! Celestia is going to be so ecstatic when she hears about this!” Twilight grinned as she stared at the soldiers. Rigdon slowly was blasted back to reality. He looked down to Twilight, quickly shaking his head. He could feel his lip quiver.
“Twilight, can you make a shield?…” Rigdon questioned her. Twilight looked up with a confused look. She couldn’t understand why Rigdon was acting so weird.
“But, why wo-” Rigdon cut her off, causing her to recoil back, ears slowly drooping, “God damn it, Twilight! Now’s not the time! Can you make a shield or not?!” Twilight gave a sheepish nod. “Put it up! Put it up now!” Rigdon desperately called out. A light purple engulfed the two as they stood there.
The platoon lifted their guns, pointed them at the crowd and… Chaos; It was complete and utter chaos. Twilight can only stare in disbelief as ponies ran in every direction. She gritted her teeth as flurries of bullets banged against the shield, large cracks forming where they were concentrated. The bullets stopped, but the screaming didn’t. The shield slowly lowered, the sight of death hitting the both of them like a freight train. Leaning down, Rigdon scooped up the flabbergasted pony. Soldiers barged into homes, loud, thunderous bangs sounding as lives were snuffed out.
Tears began to roll down Twilight’s cheeks as she lifted her hooves up, covering her ears from the loud noises. As he continued to run, Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks. She looked up to Rigdon, fear in her voice as she practically yelled out,
“SPIKE! WE NEED TO GET SPIKE!” She would cry out. Rigdon stopped dead in his tracks, before looking back to the town, watching pegasi fall from the sky as they were hit. He looked back down to Twilight, her cheeks stained. He gave a small nod before running back in.
Rigdon held her close to his chest, his heart beating at a rapid rate. Russian voices called out to each other as they continued their genocide. It took some careful maneuvering, but he was eventually back where they had started for the morning. Blood was stained across the once colorful town. He could feel his heart sink as the door to the library was wide open. He walked up and placed Twilight down. He looked at the trembling mare, reaching out and grabbing her hooves. He squeezed softly, causing her to look up at him with her big, soulful eyes.
Placing his finger over his lips, he made a soft ‘shhh’. Twilight gave a small nod, tears still gently dripping down her face. Rigdon looked around, a thick stick catching his eye. He picked it up, then looked back to Twilight. ”Stay right here. Don’t come in unless I say so, alright?”
WARNING: Gruesome scene ahead! Scroll down to Scene over to skip Gore
Twilight gave a quick nod. Rigdon slowly stood up, his figure crouched a bit as he walked in. A soldier was looking through some books, muttering something under his breath as he nonchalantly flipped through the pages. Unaware of the danger behind him, Rigdon continued his approach. Once he was close enough to him, he attacked with all of his might!
He lifted the stick over his head, before slamming it against the temple of the other human. He let out a couple of words, presumed to be cuss words as he dropped his things. Rigdon didn’t stop his attack. He slammed the stick against his head once again, this time causing the other to stumble and fall onto his side. Rigdon continued to lift the stick above his head, and bring it down onto him… Over, and over, and over again. The man let out a couple of gurgles and pleas of mercy as the wooden floor was slowly stained with his blood. Rigdon let out a small grunt, the stick slowly getting covered in the other’s fluids. The skull of the other was slowly but surely caved in, his voice slowly growing quieter as the moments passed
Rigdon took his anger out on this unfortunate soul. Because of them, he lost his best friend. Because of them, he was transported here. Because of them, they were once again trying to take everything away from him. Rigdon slowly closed his eyes, brain matter beginning to spill onto the carpet. The Russian’s body involuntarily rose and fell with each hit that he gave. He took deep breaths, dropping the stick as he stared at the body. It was completely unrecognizable. Blood and pieces of brain were everywhere. He looked at his hands, his mind numb from his first killing. The air carried a prudent stench of adrenaline.
SCENE OVER
He reached for the gun that laid before the dead soldier. He picked up the gun and a couple of clips from the pouches of his body. He quickly ran into the other room, to find Spike hiding under the table. Rigdon bent down, picking him up and quietly running out of the library. Twilight looked up, her figure shooting straight up. She reached out and pulled Spike into a hug, which she returned. Rigdon looked around, before turning back to Twilight.
“Twilight, we need to go… It’s dangerous here.” He called out. Twilight, looking up, gave a knowing look before looking back down.
“Where are we supposed to go? What about my friends? Is this happening in Canterlot? What’s happening?” She had so many questions—many of which he sadly couldn’t answer. What he could answer was what needed to be done next.
“Somewhere far away from here. In the woods, or at least somewhere along Sweet apple acres. It needs to have a lot of cover.” He would say as he began to walk. For now, the safest bet seemed like Sweet apple acres. Sure, the entrance was quite accessible, but he knew that if they went further in, it would be much harder to find them with all of the trees.
Soon, a light purple magic began to envelop them. Rigdon could feel the ground slowly disappear from below him. Closing his eyes, a small ‘poof’ sounded out. He opened his eyes, finding them among apple trees. He heard a thump, his head quickly looking down. Twilight let out loud gasps for air as she laid on the ground. She was so exhausted. He looked around, figuring that the coast was clear enough to relax a bit. How could he end up from an engineer, to a killer? He pressed his back against a tree, his figure slowly sliding down until he sat against the ground with another small thump.
He looked over to Twilight, a small frown appearing on his face. He slowly reached over, his hand resting against her head. He slowly began to stroke back and forth, comforting his friend. With all she’s done, this is the least that he could do.
“It’s alright… Just rest. You’ve done a lot today…” He cooed softly. Twilight’s breathing slowly calmed down as her eyes grew heavy. Eventually, she fell asleep on the ground. Rigdon looked up, his view dominated by apple trees with ripe fruit on them. The sun beamed through the leaves, providing a good amount of shade for all of them. He looked forward, his face stern. He couldn’t go to sleep—he was on watch. He wondered what was going to happen next in the coming days. Was there going to be more Russians? All he could do was wait… But, with a good friend by his side, everything seemed just that more bearable.
Rigdon’s eyes shot left to right, quickly scanning the area, only to see the same uniformity of trees. The sun was now retreating away from the sky, leaving an orange tint to the sky. He looked back down to Twilight. She was sleeping on the ground, in between him and Spike, who was also curled up and soundly asleep. He mumbled something about Rarity. Rigdon was worried about Twilight and how she would take all of this when she gets up. He could only hope that everything would end up alright. His hand continued to slowly run through her mane, comforting the sleeping mare.
He slowly turned his head back up, his mind racing with questions about how this could even happen. ‘How did the Russians even get here? Did they steal our technology?’ He shook his head, not knowing what to think anymore. He slowly retracted his hand from her head as he began to focus on his own endeavors. He looked at his hands, of which were stained from the blood of another. He slowly ran his thumb against his palm as the guilt began to slowly set in.
Why should he be concerned about that? It was a life or death situation!… And yet, he did. He felt terrible for taking the life of another. Maybe it was the fact he was a staunch pacifist—similar to these ponies. A couple drops of tears rained from his face. Quickly, he would reach up and wipe them away, only causing the blood to be smeared across his cheek. With the removal of his reassurance, Twilight slowly began to stir. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her vision quickly filling with Rigdon’s figure.
Twilight quickly sat up, looking side to side as the reality of everything began to set in. Her ears slowly pulled back as she sat down, using her front hooves to support her body. She looked forward, staying silent. She slowly turned her head to Rigdon, a deeply saddened look plastered on her face. “So… It wasn’t just some bad dream?” She questioned. Rigdon gave a slow shake of his head.
“Honestly, I really wish it was, Twilight,” He replied to her. Everything fell silent. The birds chirped in the distance, telling everyone of their wonderful song. Twilight looked over once again. She looked down, thinking about a few things before voicing her opinion.
“What do we do now?” She questioned. Rigdon gave a small shrug in response to her. He sighed softly, leaning back against the wooden frame of a nearby apple tree.
“I… don’t know.” He reached up, his hands gently covering his eyes. “For the first time in my life, I just don’t know.” He pulled his hands back down. His arms fell limply to his side. He was defeated. Despite everything, it was all getting taken away once again. Twilight wore a worried expression on her face. She slowly cracked a smile, trying to look over on the bright side of things. If Pinkie was here, she’d do her best to cheer everyone up.
“Well… If you would like to, we could talk to each other about our past,” She said to him. Rigdon looked over to find Twilight giving him a smile. “Y’know, just get to know each other better.” She said softly. Rigdon pondered her solution, taking everything into account. He gave off a couple of blinks before caving into her idea.
“Alright, alright. I guess I can talk about a couple of things.” He would reply to her. Twilight gave a huge smile, reaching up her hooves and clopping together. She quickly realized her habit, then quickly planted them back on the ground. A small blush appeared on her face in embarrassment. He couldn’t help it, but he let out a small laugh in response. Despite everything happening, Twilight couldn’t give up a chance to learn something new. That was something Rigdon admired about her.
“Since I shared a story with you on the train ride to Canterlot the other day, I think this time you should go first on sharing your story,” Rigdon called out to her. Twilight gave a quick nod as she thought about everything. She sat there for a good while, gathering her thoughts on the matter. Once getting everything straight, she began to tell her story.
“Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the Magic, or friendship element bearer of the Elements of Harmony,” She introduced herself to him once again. Rigdon raised his right brow. ‘What are the Elements of Harmony?’ Twilight, reading the puzzled expression on his face, judged what he was confused about and gave an answer. “The Elements are powerful weapons of pure magical harmony, as the name suggests. The bearers are myself and my friends.” She pointed her hoof to herself as she gave the lecture. Once finishing, she got back on track with her story.
“I was born in the capital, Canterlot. I’m twenty years old. I have a brother. His name is Shining armor,” Twilight huffed out. She gave a small smile as she thought about him. “He’s the bestest big brother ever! We did everything together when we were younger.” She lifted her head to look at the sky, watching a couple of clouds lazily drift by. Rigdon couldn’t help but smile at her fondness for her brother. He wished he could have that type of relationship with his sibling.
“After watching Celestia raise the sun at the Summer Sun Celebration one year, I worked tirelessly into learning magic. I did everything there was to do… One day, my parents decided to enroll me to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” She stopped for a moment, soon looking over to Spike. Rigdon followed her eyes to look at him. “That’s where I hatched Spike.” She reached her hoof down, gently rubbing his cheek.
“I almost didn’t make it in—I was struggling a lot. But, there was a loud crash. The next thing I knew, I ended up hatching Spike and turning my parents into a couple of plants. Celestia came in, calmed me down, and asked me to be her personal pupil.” She said, before pointing towards her flank. “Next thing I knew, I got my cutie mark, and the best teacher in the world!” She said gleefully. Rigdon raised his brow for a moment, his eyes fixated on her flank. He looked back up to her. Ignoring the fact that a pony could move a Celestial body, he asked a question that wouldn’t take up too much time… B’sides, it might end up turning into an argument if he did.
“What’s a cutie mark?” He questioned Twilight. Her eyes widened at his dumbfoundedness towards cutie marks. She practically tackled him as she pelted him with information. Twilight’s hooves were planted firmly on his chest as she spoke up.
“You don’t know what a cutie mark is?! A cutie mark is something everypony gets when they figure out their calling in life!” She practically yelped out. Seeing how she was now over Rigdon, she quickly backed off, her face now completely enveloped in a blush. She quickly apologized for her brash actions. “S-Sorry… I didn’t mean-” Rigdon raised his hand, silencing her. He gave a small smile.
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight. It’s alright, really. I mean, you can’t even imagine how many times I’ve gone off about telling people about my profession.” He lowered his arm. Twilight tilted her head slightly, a few questions forming in her head.
“What was your profession back on Earth?” She questioned. Rigdon lifted his hand up, his fingers gently dragging against his chin. He turned his head back over to her. He can already see the outcome of what was to happen when he did tell her his job.
“Well, I was—am an engineer. I specifically worked in aerospace and aviation. Science was my major, so that’s why I pursued that field,” He finished talking. He couldn’t even describe the look that twilight gave him. One thing was for certain; He saw that sparkle in her eye. Her voice was now at a yelling volume.
“Aerospace? So, you mean you were working on Flying stuff in space? Oh my gosh… How advanced are humans? How could they get something into space?! Oh Celestia.” Twilight could feel herself go lightheaded. She slowly fell backwards, Rigdon quickly catching her before she kissed the ground. He looked down at Twilight, a bead of sweat dripping down his face as he stared at the star-struck mare.
“Twilight?... You alright?” He questioned as she mumbled incoherently about Science and space. He shook his head lightly, scoffing at her amazement. He’d be lying to say that she wasn’t adorable. He reached down, his finger pressing against her nose. She quickly snapped out of her daze, her eyes focusing on the finger as her muzzle quickly scrunched up. He gave a small snort before letting out a loud bellow of laughter. “ Wahaha! You- Your face! Haha! It’s priceless!” He laughed at her expense. A pouty look appeared on Twilight’s face as she was laughed at.
She slowly reached her hoof up, quickly pressing it against his nose. Rigdon quickly shot back, his eyes shooting open. He swore he could feel fingers! Twilight gave a small snort, retracting her hoof and placing it back to her side. “Now look at who's the one with a priceless face.” She said to him with a sly tone. Rigdon rolled his eyes, quickly folding his arms against his chest.
“Yeah Yeah, laugh it up, Sparkle butt,” He huffed out, giving Twilight a brand new nickname. Twilight has now won an award for brightest christmas tree of the year. She craned her head back, hoof lifting as she put it against her chest fluff defensively.
“E-Excuse me?!” She said with a hint of annoyance and offense. Rigdon soon let out a couple of laughs. He quickly unfolded his arms, reaching his hand back. He placed it on her head and ruffled her main up a bit.
“C’mon, lighten up! It’s just some Earth humor—all in good spirit.” He reached his hands up, resting his head up against them. Twilight still didn’t really understand his humor, or why he would call her such a provocative name!
“I don’t get humans… How could anypony in Celestia’s name have that type of humor?” Twilight let an exhale leave her nose. Rigdon moved his shoulders up in a small shrug before letting them fall back down.
“Like I said, that’s just how it is,” He said to Twilight. He slowly looked up, his eyes blinking slowly. What laid before him on the canvas of the sky were the Milky droplets of stars. He let out a small breath as he stared at the sky. Twilight slowly followed his eyes, now finding herself looking up at the vast expansion of space. “Y’know, with math alone, I could tell you how hot that star is…” He told Twilight without wavering. Twilight looked over at him, her eyes filled with wonder. She lifted her notebook and quill pen from her travel pack.
“You had me at math!” Twilight said excitedly as she handed him the paper and pen. Rigdon gripped them firmly, picking out a bright, white star. He looked over to Twilight, quickly asking her a question.
“Hey, do you know what the peak wavelength of that star is?” He questioned her as he pointed the end of the pen to the bright star. Twilight stared up at it, realized what star it was, then quickly gave out the answer.
“Four hundred twenty nanometers.” Twilight blurted out. Rigdon gave a couple of nods as he wrote down an equation. He plugged in the numbers and began to solve it. Once done, he wrote down two more equations, plugging the answer of the first new equation to the other.
“Alright, so first off, the star peaks at blue light. This means that the star most likely has not that much time left before it goes supernova, but that’s besides the point. Anyways, the temperature of the star is about… Six thousand nine hundred and four point seven degrees Kelvin, or over eleven thousand degrees fahrenheit.” He started off with reading the equation. Twilight’s jaw practically dropped to the ground.
“The frequency is about… Seven point fourteen times tenth to the fourteenth cycles per second. The energy of a single photon is four point seventy four times ten to the negative nineteenth per second.” He read everything off to her. Twilight couldn’t even wrap her head around something that fast. “Now, is there any way for you to measure the wavelength of the star right now?”
Twilight wondered why he would ask this. She had told him the wavelength of the star already. She pointed her horn at the star and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes, looking back towards Rigdon. “I… don’t understand… It’s four hundred and twenty point seventy five… How could it be different?” She questioned. Rigdon gave a sly smile as he wrote down one more equation.
Finished with solving, he quickly double checked everything before giving Twilight his answer. “Well, the reason that the wavelength is different is because right now—at this very moment, that star is traveling away from us at around five hundred and thirty five thousand, seven hundred and fourteen point three meters per second.” He would put emphasis on second. Twilight sat there in silence, her eyes widening as all of this information sank in. She couldn’t believe her ears! How could a civilization be this far ahead, that it was able to tell everything about a distant dot in the night sky! She couldn’t even wrap her head around it.
“Can we do more?” Her eyes began to sparkle, carrying a childlike wonder with them. Rigdon felt happy that someone was interested in his field. Back at home, science wasn’t really talked about that much. Sure, the average Joe knew about the Space Race, but no one cared about the real nitty-gritty of everything. Here, he had a listener—someone that cared about what he did. He was grateful about it. He gave a small smile, his gaze softening. He could feel his heart skip a beat, but he quickly pushed it off. Whatever… it was just cold outside!
“Alright, alright! Just a couple more.” He would pick up the pen and paper once again, his eyes scanning the sky once more. “You see a star that looks good?” He questioned her. Twilight gave a quick nod, her gaze focused on a specific patch of the sky. She quickly raised her hoof and pointed at it. Rigdon nodded and began to write things down.
Rigdon finished up everything, quickly folding his piece of paper. He then placed it down onto the grass, gandering a sad look from Twilight. Her ears pulled back a bit as she placed her hooves together in what he could assume could be a begging gesture.
“Please! Just one more,” She begged him. Rigdon gave a small grin as he reached over, patting her head a little. She quickly reached up, swatting his hand away, causing him to chuckle. Twilight let out a small ‘Hmph!’ as she turned away from him.
“We’ll do some more tomorrow night, alright? I know we can study the night all long, but now I want to enjoy it. Sure, math is fun, but sometimes you need to let your eyes do some of the work,” He pointed out. Twilight looked back at him before slowly craning back, her head tilting up to look at the starry night sky. She let out a small gasp at what she saw. It looked beautiful… Sure, she’s seen the night before, but she’s never exactly taken the time to really appreciate it.
“Oh my Celestia… this is gorgeous! Rigdon, did you do this all the time back-” She caught her tongue, her muzzle quickly scrunching up. What she saw was Rigdon fast asleep. Her gaze softened into a small smile. “Guess we did go overboard with the math, huh?” She cooed softly as she got up, walking over to him as silently as she could.
“I’m glad that I have you as a friend, Rigdon.” She slowly laid down on her stomach. Leaning forward, she rested her head against his lap. Her eyes slowly but surely grew heavy, the feeling of comfort slowly cradling her back and forth. Sleep came easy, her eyes finally falling shut as she fell asleep against him.
The heat of the sun slowly slammed down onto his face. He opened his eyes, his vision quickly adjusting to the world around him. Birds darted from tree to tree, singing their hearts out as they did so. The wind slowly whistled as it passed Rigdon’s head, its hand gently caressing his hair, causing it to slowly wave back and forth. His eyes slowly looked down, finding Twilight’s head against his lap. He slowly reached down, his hand gently nudging against her figure. “Twilight, get up,” He called out softly.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the tiredness as she was slowly brought back into the waking world. Her eyes quickly opened, slowly tilting up as her brain slowly processed the position she was in. Rigdon didn’t want to miss this chance of giving her a couple of lighthearted comments. “You good down there? You slept pretty good,” He gave a large grin. Twilight quickly pulled off from him, giving quick apologies in quick succession.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you! I was just tired a-” Rigdon silenced her with a raise of his hand. He had a knowing smile on his face; One that could even put Celestia’s to shame.
“It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize about something that doesn’t need it.” He slowly stood up, reaching up to a nearby apple tree. He picked out two apples, raising one to his face, taking a couple of chomps and chewing. He reached his other hand out to her. Twilight stared at the apple for a moment, the red fruit eventually getting engulfed in her magic. She brought the apple close to her face, slowly taking a bite from it. With all the commotion going on, Spike slowly woke up.
He gave a small stretch, opening his mouth and giving off a big yawn as he did so. His hands slowly reached up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He slowly stopped what he was doing, his green eyes dotting around. He quickly stood to his feet, his tail swinging in agitation. He pulled his head back to Twilight and Rigdon, a sorrowful look grazing his features. “So… everything that happened yesterday was real?” He questioned the both of them. Twilight’s head hung down as Rigdon gave him a small nod.
“Wait, Princess Celestia! I was so caught up with everything, I didn’t even think of telling her about this!” She lifted a nearby pen and paper in her magic. She hurriedly scratched down a couple of words. Once finished, she quickly rolled it up and handed it over to Spike. He gave a firm salute before grabbing the scroll. Taking a deep breath, he puffed out a green fire. The ashes of the letter blew against the wind as it was carried off to its intended target. Spike looked back to the both of them, his hands clenching into small fists.
“We need to go back to Ponyville,” He called out to them. “We need to save as many ponies as we can. It just… doesn’t feel right standing here and doing nothing.” His hands relaxed, his head tilting up to look at the both of them, bravery and confidence filling his eyes. Rigdon’s gut kept on telling him that doing that was going to be stupid and get them both killed. But, like usual, it was overruled by his heart and his mind. He let out a small sigh, giving a nod in agreement.
“Yeah, you’re right, Spike,” Rigdon swallowed a bit of his pride. He reached down, grabbing the rifle off from the ground. He slung the weapon onto his back, the gun swinging back and forth a little bit before it finally calmed down. “We should help as much as we can. I only got a few bullets, so I can’t be using this weapon unless it’s an absolute emergency.” He took a couple of steps forward.
“What’s going to be the plan?” Twilight questioned as she walked up to him. “I know we can’t just run in there. We’ll just end up captured, or worse,” She huffed out. Rigdon looked over to her, his hand raising upwards to his chin. His fingers slowly rubbed against his face as he wondered what they should do.
“Alright, come over here—I think I got something,” He called out to Twilight as he looked down to the ground. Twilight trotted over, quickly planting herself on the ground next to him. “You teleported us away yesterday, right? I got a question; How far can you use it?” He questioned her.
Twilight put on a thinking face as she sat there in silence. She looked back up to him, her eyes still conveying one of confusion. “I… don’t think there’s a limit. I think it’s limited to the magic that a pony has. So… maybe about thirty yards. Why are you asking?” She would tell him. Rigdon gave a small nod. He reached out, his fingers intertwined as he began to crack them. He then grabbed a nearby stick to use as a pointer.
“Alright, so let’s just say the bad guys and hostages are here, alright?” He looked back to Twilight who gave a nod. “The idea is that with this gun, I cause a distraction over here under the cover of trees.” He pointed over to the left with the stick. “That way, you can come up when they leave to rescue everybody,” He quickly added. “Then, once everyone is safe, you teleport me out of there.” Twilight stopped nodding, her face contorting into one filled to the brim with horror.
“Are you insane?!” She started off, offended by the fact he would even think of doing something like this. “You’re going to get yourself hurt by doing that!” She looked down, her ears folding back slowly. “I don’t want anypony else to get hurt.” She mumbled out, her words growing softer by each moment that went by. Rigdon gave a confident grin, reaching forward as he gave her a small pat.
“Look, I’m not going to get hurt! I’m going to be alright… After all, I got you to save my ass.” His voice slowly melted away Twilight’s worry. She lifted her head upwards, her ears slowly lifting back up. Her gaze slowly fell onto Rigdon.
“You promise you won’t get injured?” She questioned, her eyes slowly filling with hope. Rigdon slowly raised his left hand into the air, his right hand reaching up and resting over his heart. He was about to summon the devil with the words he was about to say.
“I Pinkie promise, Twilight. I’m not going to let anything happen to me.” He would say to her, finally pressing his fingertip and thumb together, drawing a cross along his body.
“Ooh, ooh! I love this part! Cross my heart and hope to fly—Stick a cupcake in my eye!” A familiar voice called out. Spike, Rigdon, and Twilight all slowly deadpanned their heads to the left, finding Pinkie inside a hole on one of the apple trees. Rigdon and Twilight seemed to share the same look of cluelessness, while Spike wasn’t even going to question it. She got out of the tree, bouncing in place slightly. “Sooo… Whatcha three doing?” she let out a small gasp “Did you have a sleepover? Aww…But I wasn’t even invited!” Her face contorted into a pout as she stopped bouncing.
“Pinkie? How long were you in there?... Also how did you even get in there?” Twilight questioned her friend. Pinkie lifted her hoof up to her lips, giving off a small ‘Hmm’ in response.
“Well, I just have a couple of tunnels under Ponyville in case of disasters like these! I was able to get a lot out before everything got bad,” She gave a huge grin. “As for how long I’ve been here… It’s about how long you’ve been discussing that plan!” She chimed in as she put her hoof down.
“How did you even know where to find us?” Rigdon quickly added, still a bit shaken up about how she could have this much foresight.
“Just a hunch!” She rebutted. That doesn’t really explain anything else, but it’s the best answer that Rigdon and Twilight were going to get. Spike walked up to Pinkie, his claws gently fiddling with each other as he asked an important question.
“Is Rarity alright?” He looked worried. Pinkie gave an enthusiastic nod, causing Spike to let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh yeah, she’s okie-dokie-loki! I helped her, Dashie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and a few others out! I told them I had a hunch where you two were at, or three in this case! They were following me, so they should be here any minute!” A squee came from her as she sat down, waiting for the others to arrive. Rigdon felt a bead of sweat as he stood there. Hopefully their first impressions with him won’t be soured by what just happened back at Ponyville.
He could hear galloping in the distance, the noise slowly growing faster. The first thing he saw was a light blue and rainbow blur racing towards him at top speed. His body froze up, eyes widening slightly. He was a deer in headlights. “Get away from my friends, you monster!” Rainbow called out, a clear hint of rage in her voice.
Rigdon closed his eyes, brows furrowing as he prepared for the imminent pain, which surprisingly never came. He opened his eyes, now finding Rainbow just out of hoofs reach from giving him a good thrashing. What held her back by her tail was a mare wearing a cowboy hat. “Hold on, sugarcube! I think this one is on our side,” She groaned out as she continued to hold her back. She had a distinct drawl of a southern American, which took him totally off guard.
“Oh come on! He’s probably just waiting to get the jump on us!” Rainbow continued to call out as she repeatedly tried to kick Applejack off, but to no avail. The two stragglers now arrived on the scene—A yellow Pegasus and a white Unicorn.
“Rainbow,” The Unicorn called out. She had a posh and refined note to her accent. “I understand your mistrust, but I think that Applejack may be right about this one. I think we should at least give him one chance.”
“I-I agree with Rarity. I think we should give him one chance. I don’t think he would harm anypony.” Fluttershy said in a hushed tone. Rigdon barely even heard her words! Rainbow flared her wings, her body slowly returning towards the ground. She put on a pouty face. Applejack, trusting that she was calm enough, let go of her tail. Spike, meanwhile, had ran up and gave Rarity a big hug, which she returned.
"I guess I can trust him... But the moment he tries anything funny, he's toast!" She threatened as she gave Rigdon a stink eye. Well, at least she tried to. Twilight slowly walked forward, tears welling up in her eyes. She took a couple of steps forward. She took a moment to find the right words, but she quickly found them.
“I-I… I thought I was never going to see you gals again. I thought that something bad might’ve happened and…” Twilight trailed off. The group quickly descended into a tight hug, a few of them sending words of encouragement.
“You know it’s going to take a lot more than a couple of monsters to take someone as awesome as me down!” Rainbow said pridefully. The group continued to comfort Twilight for a couple of more seconds before breaking off. Rigdon walked up a bit, everyone looking towards his direction.
“It’s nice to meet y’all,” He gave a small nod and a smile. “My name is Rigdon. I was meant to meet all of you yesterday, but clearly fate had other plans.” He would tell all of them. They all went one by one, offering their names to him. Rigdon looked back to Twilight. “Twilight, are we still going forward with that plan I made?” He questioned.
“What plan?” Rainbow asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Rigdon looked over to her, now finding her a couple feet away from him, eyes squinted slightly. He rolled his eyes. Well, guess he now had to share his idea with everyone.
“Well, the plan was pretty simple. I distract the Soviets, while Twilight was supposed to help others out. Then, when done, she was going to teleport me out.” He said to everyone else. Applejack shot him a glare, a worried look soon falling onto her face.
“Surely ‘ah ain’t the only one who thinks that this plan is a bit dumb?” She looked around, finding Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow agreeing. Pinkie, of course, was just being Pinkie and agreed with everyone.
“You’re saying that you want to take the brunt of the attack yourself? Are you insane?! You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Rainbow chimed in. Her choice of words caused Twilight’s ears to pull back. She was worried so much about him even getting a scratch from the plan, let alone him dying.
“Look, that was the original plan. But, Pinkie brought up a good point about how she even got you gals out in the first place. We can just use the tunnels instead. It’ll be easier for everyone to quickly leave without being seen. B’sides, when it’s all said and done, I’ll take one myself.” He would say softly.
“I wanna go with you!” Twilight called out, catching everyone off guard. The group turned their heads, their gazes now falling onto her. “If anything goes wrong, I can at least shield you… Plus, It’ll be much easier for me to teleport us out if the need arises.” She pawed at the ground with her hoof a little bit. Everyone seemed at least a little more confident in this plan, even giving a couple of agreeing nods. Now, it was just Rigdon’s approval that was left. He stood there, staring down at Twilight. He almost said no, but the puppy eyes that she gave him was too much for him to deny.
“Fine… Just stay close to me, alright? I don’t want you getting shot,” He called out to her. She stood up straight and triumphantly. Rarity slowly walked up to Twilight’s side. She leaned into Twilight’s ear, whispering a couple of choice words. Twilight’s eyes quickly shot open. She raised her hoof and slapped Rarity’s leg.
“It’s nothing like that!” She quietly snapped back at Rarity, a huge blush descending on her face. Rarity had a smug grin on her face. Twilight shook her head before walking up to Rigdon. She looked up to him, a small smile falling on her lips. “You ready?” She questioned. Rigdon looked back down to her, giving a quick nod of his head. He slowly swung his gun around, his hands tightly gripping the weapon.
“Ready as I’ll ever be…” He began to walk forward, stopping only a moment to remind everyone else of their jobs. “Y’all be with Pinkie. Since she knows the tunnels well, she’ll be the best to lead.” He looked back forward. Pinkie gave a small squeal of excitement, bouncing over to a small tree.
“C’mon everypony! Follow me!” She grinned as she jumped into the hole in the tree. The group looked a bit skeptical, but they quickly followed suit. While he and Twilight walked towards their positions, he looked over and broke the ice with some bit of conversation.
“So, Twilight… What did Rarity say to you earlier? I’m curious as to what would make you act so defensive.” He questioned her. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, stopping only for a moment before giving him a vague answer.
“She was just teasing me. Nothing more than some joke.” She shook her head in embarrassment. Rigdon raised a brow at her answer, but decided not to push her further. Before they both knew it, they were on the outskirts of Ponyville. Soldiers were walking in between the houses, carrying out orders and having fun with their free time. Twilight looked over to him, a determined look in her eyes as she waited for the signal. Rigdon looked at her, his eyes locking onto hers. He gave a small nod, cocking the charging handle of the gun.
Raising the rifle at a stationary target, he slowly squeezed his finger back. The amalgamation of wood and steel screamed to life as it fired off its rounds. Blood burst out forth from a soldier as the projectiles ripped through his right shoulder, then his lower thigh. With the sudden attack, many fell over one another as they ducked for cover. One Russian grabbed his wounded comrade and pulled him along the ground, a blood trail leaving in his wake. Yelling rang out from the town as the forces slowly scraped themselves together for defensive positions. Rigdon quickly bent back and hid behind some cover.
Twilight’s horn lit up slightly as she channeled some energy. A couple of sparks flew off as she concentrated the spell. When she finally finished, a beam of magic flew overhead, before landing a good ten feet away from the enemy positions. The beam exploded, kicking up dirt as it did. Twilight wasn’t really trying to hurt anyone though. This was her attempt at trying to disorient the opposing side. Rigdon lifted up a bit, setting the gun against the cover. Some poor unfortunate soul was so traumatized by the artillery, he began to run around aimlessly. His comrades called out to him, telling him to get back before he got shot. Of course, Rigdon beat him to the punch. The man fell to the ground, clutching his hip and crying in agony as the bullet tore through his side. The voice of the male continued to mask the sounds of bullets as they whistled by.
Unlike their earlier friend, everyone was too terrified to go out to get him. He continued to call for help, his eyes fixated on his comrade. Rigdon took aim, the sights of his gun pointing in the general area of his heart. He then fired off two shots, the man falling silent as his life was snuffed out. Yet another tick was added to Rigdon’s list. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pinkie leading a group of ponies away. That’s good—the plan was working. He quickly yanked his figure back down, the cracking sound continuing to call out as a flurry of bullets slammed into the brick wall and passed overhead,
Rigdon quickly peeked his body up over the wall, his hands bringing the gun to aim. But, this time around, they were ready for him. A soldier that had realized the pattern, had decided to stay locked onto the area of cover. Rigdon’s eyes widened as he watched the gun train on him. “Shield!” He would yelp out. He could feel everything slow down as the bullet exploded out from the muzzle brake. The projectile spun through the air, slicing the wind as it began to travel his way. A light purple shield appeared in front of him, the bullet banging against it as it was stopped. A small indent was left against the shield where it had smacked up against. More shots rang out before they found themselves with Twilight’s shield. Small cracks began to form where the bullets were impacting.
Twilight let out a small grunt as she did her best to not let her shield shatter into a million pieces. Rigdon quickly ducked down, his heart slowly beating faster. He looked over to her and gave a thumbs up. Twilight let her magic dissipate, the shield disappearing a second later. She fell to the ground, soft wheezing escaping from her lips as she did her best to recover. Rigdon raised his gun over the wall, squeezing the trigger and taking a bunch of blind pop shots. Soon, a small click was heard.
“I-I don’t know if I can take that much again…” Twilight cooed softly, sweat slowly trickling down her face.
He brought his gun down, his thumb pressing the mag release. The casing fell to the ground with a small clank. He reached into his pocket, pulling out another magazine and attaching it onto the gun. He then racked the bolt back, a bullet loading into the chamber. He looked over to Twilight, a worried expression on his face. He looked down, his thoughts running rampant. “Twilight, we need to leave. That tree behind us leads to Pinkie’s tunnels. When I say go, we run to it, alright? I’m going to be right behind you,” He would give her the game plan. She gave a compliant nod. “Three… two… one… Go!” He called out! Twilight stood up and galloped over to the tree, quickly jumping into the hole.
But Rigdon stayed behind. He wasn’t going… He had only said those things in order to make sure that she went. He was going to bide everyone’s time. It was the least he could do for them. A small smile grew on his face before he turned towards the forces in front of him. Flipping the fire select to fully automatic, he looked over the cover and held the trigger down.
Twilight galloped down the steps, her breath hot and heavy. She could feel the adrenaline slowly leave her body as she made it down. Waiting for her at the bottom was Applejack and Pinkie. Twilight eased up on her running, her speed now reaching a slow trot. Applejack walked up to her, her head quickly whipping around her figure, making sure that there were no injuries.
“Glad you made it in one piece… Ah’ thought you were going to come back with a couple holes in you,“ She called out with a smile. Pinkie looked around, a worried expression slowly creeping onto her face. Twilight’s eyes were slowly drawn over to her. To see Pinkie this sad looking only meant that bad things were going to happen.
“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” Twilight questioned, a hint of concern now plaguing her voice, too. Pinkie looked back to Twilight, two words slowly leaving her mouth—Words that Twilight would never want to hear.
“Where’s Rigdon?...”
Twilight’s eyes slowly widened, her pupils turning to pin-pricks. She whipped her head back around, only to find the empty staircase behind her. She could feel her heart sink into her stomach as she realized what he had done. “N-No…” She whispered out slowly, her voice slowly growing louder with each passing moment. “N-No! He said that we were leaving! No! He can’t do this! I can’t lose a close friend!” She yelped out in distress. She quickly galloped forward, but her movement was quickly stopped.
She panned her head back, finding Applejack holding her back by her tail. “Let me go! I have to help him!” Twilight yelled out. Applejack didn’t budge from her words. Instead, she sought to try and console her friend.
“It’s going to be fine, Twilight! Trust me, he’s going to be alright. He’s a tough cookie, ah’ll give him that. We just need to go and give him his time to come to us.” She called out. The tears began to flow down Twilight’s cheeks, a blush now growing as the tears continued to stream down her face.
“And what if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t come back? Then what?!” She yelled back in anger. Applejack let go of her tail and took a deep breath, continuing her efforts to console her. She walked forward before lifting her hoof and resting it on Twilight.
“Rigdon did this for a reason, Twilight. He wanted to make sure that you’re safe. Ah’ can tell he cares about you greatly, and you him. You just need to trust that he’s going to come back. He’s a stubborn fella, and I doubt he’s going to let himself get killed, because he knows how much it would destroy you. You’re lucky to have a friend like him who’s willing to put his life at risk for your safety. Hell, Ah’ll even go so far as to say that he rivals Rainbow in loyalty,” She would say to Twilight.
“You just need to trust him, because I know that he’ll be running down these tunnels soon enough. We just need to follow his wishes and get back to the others.” She finished her little speech. Twilight looked down, her tears raining onto the floor. She lifted her hoof up, her fur on her hoof becoming slightly matted as she wiped her tears away. She gave a small nod, her figure slowly moving forward.
Pinkie, for once in her life, didn’t know what to do about cheering Twilight up. Either way, she’s proud of how AJ was able to console her friend. Pinkie quickly followed after Twilight. Applejack stopped dead in her tracks and looked back towards the staircase. “You better get outta there alive, Sugarcube… I’d hate to see Twilight upset again.” She whispered under her breath. He hoof reached up, straightening her hat before she broke out into a small trot, catching up with her friends.
The gun recoiled back into his shoulder in repeated succession. He continued to fire off bullet after bullet towards the Russian defenses. The gun began to click, signaling to him that he was out of ammo. That was his last mag. He threw the gun down, huffing softly. He quickly bent down behind cover, hearing their wall of bullets blast into the wall. The brick wall was now starting to fold under the pressure. It was time to go. He quickly stood up, turning heel and began to run. As he took a couple of steps, he fell to the ground with a yelp. He looked down, his hands shooting down to hold his leg. He slowly removed his hand, now finding that the inner part of his calf had a glancing blow with a bullet.
He slowly fumbled to his feet, attempting to escape to the tunnel, but it was no use. He could hear a voice yell out to him. A lone soldier, presumably the one that had shot him, had now had him at gunpoint. Rigdon lifted his arms to the sky as the Russian said a couple of choice words, his voice touched with anger. The soldier lifted his finger and placed it onto the trigger Rigdon’s hands gripped the ground, his feet kicking him backwards a little bit, before he felt his back up against the tree.
What happened next was absolute chaos. A golden beam shot through the man’s side. He stood there for a couple of moments, before a bunch of blood spurted out. Everything from the top half of his torso fell off, exposing his innards for all the world to see. Rigdon’s eyes widened to saucers at the sight. A white blur soon landed in front of him. He covered his eyes, letting the dirt settle before he looked back. What stood before him was a familiar princess. Celestia stood at the brick wall, objectively with an expression that could burn anyone to a crisp. A couple of pegasi landed next to her, all in full gear.
A pegasus landed next to him. She had a blue mane. A bag was at her side while a bandana was wrapped around her neck, which of course sported a familiar red cross. “You hurt?” She questioned as she looked all around him. Rigdon slowly moved his left leg outwards, exposing the grazing shot to her.
“Yeah… Though, I don’t think it’s really that bad… Just need a bandage or something,” He spoke up. The medic nodded, her wing opening her bag and pulling out a small bottle of alcohol, and a roll of bandages. Rigdon reached out, gripping the supplies tightly. He opened the cap to the alcohol, taking a deep breath through his teeth as he poured the liquid onto it. He put the cap on and handed it back. He quickly wrapped the wound in a bandage before handing it back to her.
With the job done, she stuffed the things back into her bag. “Hope you get better.” She then galloped over to the front lines. Rigdon continued to sit there in silence, giving his wound some time to stop bleeding. The standoff was broken by the voice of Celestia yelling out.
“You all have committed crimes against my little ponies! Surrender now, and I may still propose mercy for all of you,” She called out to the enemies. A couple of soldiers quickly stood up, hands shot up in the air. They quickly ran over, of which they were promptly subdued and tied up. The silence cut the air once more. The commander of the soldiers yelled out some words, causing everyone that had stayed behind to fight fire upon Celestia. A bright golden shield appeared, shielding Celestia and her guards against the flurry of bullets. Unlike Twilight’s shield, Celestia’s didn’t waver under the pressure.
Her horn became brighter as the shield fell. A beam shot forth, landing against the defenses of the Russians. A loud explosion rang out, a cloud of smoke rising up from the target that was hit. Celestia put her hoof forward and raised her voice once more, now saying only one word. “ATTACK!”
The guards ran forth, yelling as they assaulted the positions. Some fell to the ground as they were ripped apart by the bullets of the soldiers who survived the blast. Grenades were thrown everywhere, causing explosions to happen suddenly and randomly. Celestia spread her wings and threw herself into the air, her rhythmic flapping keeping her suspended. Her horn brightened once more as she shot quick beams at those unfortunate enough to be caught within her sights.
Screams of pain were heard from both sides as Ponyville erupted into a door to door conflict. Blood ran through the streets from both ponies, and humans. With everything coming to a head, more soldiers surrendered in order to escape with their lives. They too were subdued and tied up. Rigdon slowly stood onto his feet, watching Celestia lead her guard further into the town. He forced himself to turn around and stand up. There, he slowly got into the entrance of one of Pinkie’s tunnels. He forced himself to run down the stairs, his arms pumping from side to side. He eventually found himself back at the forest, now with the refugees, and the group of mares he calls friends. Twilight was the first to notice him—though she hadn’t really taken her eyes off the exit since she got back.
“Rigdon!” She blurted out as she galloped forward. She stood up, quickly wrapping her front legs around him. The tears began to flow from her once more. Rigdon gave an enthusiastic smile as he comforted her. “I-I… I thought you weren’t going to come back.” She murmured out softly. She then stood back, her hoof reaching up and slapping his leg. He let out another yelp as he hopped around.
“Hey! The hell was that for?” He looked down at Twilight. He found her staring daggers back at him. The glare that she gave could possibly even rival Fluttershy’s stare!
“That’s for lying to me,” She pouted. She reached up, wiping her tears away once more. Twilight walked back to the others, of which Applejack had a relieved look and smile on her face. Rainbow was the first to speak up. She flew over to Rigdon, soon landing back on the ground.
“I heard what you did, dude… I respect that you would do that to keep her safe. You’re pretty cool. Not as cool as me, though! You got guts, Rigdon.” She smiled as she lifted her hoof up to him. Rigdon made a fist and reached out, giving a quick bump to Rainbow Dash.
“So… what’s happening over there? We don’t think that you could’ve caused all that destruction,” Applejack quickly spoke up. Rigdon gave a firm shake of his head. He looked back, watching the smoke continue to fly up.
“That’s Celestia… She came with a good amount of guards. Honestly, I owe her my life. I would’ve been deader than a dodo if she didn’t show up.” Rigdon looked back to the group. “But, I think you’re going to be able to go back to Ponyville real soon.”
Pinkie quickly chimed in, her voice as cheery as always. “Ooh, ooh! This calls for a celebration! We can have a party for Rigdon returning safely, and for Celestia saving Ponyville!” She squealed out as she grabbed a canon. She fired it off, confetti going everywhere. Rigdon thought for a moment, before shrugging. Honestly, at this point, a party seemed actually necessary.
“Alright, count me in, Pinkie.” Rigdon called out with a big smile.
Pinkie pie was setting up a small table, a couple of other ponies helping her with it. Applejack and Rainbow had been put in charge of the drinks and food. Though, with all the apples around, it wasn’t exactly that hard to whip up a few batches of cider. Fluttershy and Rarity had both been put in charge of decorations. Rarity was creating such decorations, and Fluttershy—with the help of some animals, were placing them all around the trees and wherever they could. Luckily for Rigdon and Twilight, they were both put on organization duties.
They both had their checklists in hand. Or, rather Rigdon did while Twilight had hers suspended in magic. That did get him to ponder for a moment. For other ponies, did they write with their mouths? How would they even get it to look legible? His brain continued to process this question, repeatedly trying to give him an answer that would make some sort of sense. Before he could come up with a real answer, he was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. He looked to his right, finding Twilight giving him a look that one can only describe as a disappointed teacher. “Rigdon, focus! We’ve got a lot of stuff to do,” She said with a slightly excited tone.
He rolled his eyes slightly at her words. Sure, he does love organization, but there’s a fine line between being prepared—and being paranoid. “Twilight, could you take it slow for a little bit? Maybe take the time to enjoy everything?” He threw a question at her. Twilight let the words hit her mind for a moment, letting it process for a moment. She then looked back up and gave a small shake of her head. This caused him to roll his eyes once more. Twilight, catching onto the sass, quickly slapped her clipboard against his leg. “Hey! Watch it!” He called out. He brought his clipboard down onto her, a small whack being heard as he hit her side.
Twilight let out a small ‘Eep!’ as he playfully assaulted her with his paper holder. Rigdon tried to hold in his laughter, but he couldn’t do it forever. He let out a small bellow of laughter, causing Twilight to look up, embarrassment flashing across her face. Her expression soon turned to one of annoyance. Her magic slowly lifted up her board as she took a firm step towards Rigdon. He opened his eyes, only to find Twilight lowered in a stance. She pawed at the ground, reading herself for a gallop. “I’m gonna get you back for that,” She growled out. Rigdon’s eyes went wide as he sensed the danger. He quickly dropped his things and ran off.
“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, COPPERS!” He yelped out as he continued to run, gandering the attention of everypony else in the process. Twilight broke out into a full blown gallop, a burst of speed allowing her to get right on his heels. Rigdon turned his head back as he ran. Twilight had a gigantic smile on her face. Seems like she actually liked this playfulness as much as he did. Twilight continued to gain on him, her magic slowly bringing up the clipboard to whack at him. Rigdon brought his weight back, causing him to stop on a dime. He then peeled left, a soft whoosh calling out as the only thing that Twilight slapped was the air that was now in front of her.
Time seemed to slow down as she looked over to him, a look of bewilderment plastered onto her face. Rigdon returned that look with a smug expression, gently curling all of his fingers up and down in a wave. Twilight turned her head forward, her eyes widening as she found herself face to face with oak. Her face kissed the tree, causing her to quickly stumble back before falling down. The crowd let out a couple gasps as this happened. “Ow…” She mumbled out, blood beginning to drip down her nose. Rigdon practically freaked out at her getting hurt. To say that he was acting overprotective is an understatement.
He darted over towards one of the tables, quickly yanking off a paper towel from it. He then rapidly made his way back towards Twilight, beginning to apologize profusely to her. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Twilight! I didn’t think you were going to hit that tree!” He murmured out. Twilight closed her eyes as she lifted her hoof up, gently massaging the side of her head.
“It’s okay! I’m the one that was chasing you,” She slowly opened her eyes. You can say that it was some sort of… karma…” Her voice slowly trailed off as Rigdon turned her head so she was facing him. Her eyes slowly locked onto him, her nose quickly scrunching up as Rigdon began to drag the paper towel against her muzzle. He hummed a small tune, continuing to wipe the blood from her face. He continued to wipe her down, only stopping to examine her work. A small blush appeared on her face as Rigdon pulled off.
“There we go! No more blood. It’s the least I could do,” He would say. Twilight sat there silently, still gawking at Rigdon. His eyebrows furrowed slightly at her silent staring. He slowly raised his hand, giving a couple of snaps from his fingers. “Hey, Twilight, are you alright? You’re sort of staring at nothing.” He pulled his hand back down. Twilight’s eyes gave a couple of rapid blinks and glances as she was pulled out from her thoughts. She quickly stood up, lowering her head in the process.
“Eyup! Just fine! I should really go check on how Fluttershy and Rarity are doing with those decorations!” Twilight exclaimed, not even caring to take a breath in between her words. Rigdon watched with confusion as she quickly trotted over to the two, who of course seemed to be giggling. Be it on Earth or whatever this planet was, it was all the same. He could never really understand how women worked. He turned around, his hand reaching up and scratching his head. He then walked over towards the drinks, grabbing one of the uniform mugs.
He lifted the cup up to his lips, letting copious amounts of cider run down his throat as he guzzled the beverage. Once about half way through, he stopped and took a big gasp. Besides the fact that there’s a surprisingly good amount of cider in the mug, this was one of the best cider’s he’s ever tasted! It was sweet, yet it wasn’t overpowering the slight tartness and appley flavor of the fruit it was derived from. “Man, that’s really good,” He complimented. He looked over to see Rainbow dash staring at him, her eyes portraying a sly attitude.
“Dude, you should’ve seen the look on her face! She’s totally into you!” Rainbow butted in her opinion on the situation. This earned her a whack from Applejack. “Ow! What the heck was that for, AJ?” She whined as she rubbed her foreleg. Applejack popped her hat up a bit.
“Rainbow, it ain’t our business to be putting our noses in matters like these. B’sides, ah don’t want you spreading something that might end up doin’ more harm than good,” She scolded her. Rainbow gave a small scoff, giving her eyes a quick roll. She walked over to the mugs, quickly picking one up and began to chug. “Rainbow, can you stop drinking all the cider? There ain’t gonna be any left for anypony else.”
Rainbow gave a small snort as she finished the drink. She then placed the mug back down onto the table. Applejack walked over and began to refill the mug. Rigdon processed what Rainbow had said. Was she just joking? He couldn’t tell at this point. He walked over to the table, finishing off his mug of cider before placing the cup down. He looked over to Applejack, a slightly nervous and worried expression on his face. “Hey, Applejack? Is Rainbow… right about all that?” He questioned her. Applejack let the cider foam up a bit before placing it down, letting a small sigh escape her as she did.
“It ain’t my place to say what is the truth, and what isn’t. Honestly, I ain’t a pony who knows a whole awful lot about that kind of thing. Though, what I can say is that Twilight cares for you a lot, and I can tell you do too,” She grabbed the mug he had set down, now filling that one up with cider as well. “She was mighty worried when you didn’t follow her into that tunnel earlier today. I honestly thought she was gonna flood the tunnels with how much of the waterworks she was letting lose.” She let out a small chuckle. “What I’m saying is to just keep an open mind. Y’all are both really good friends. I’d hate to see you both act weird towards each other because of some possibility.”
Rigdon let her words sink into his mind. Applejack reminded him of his mom teaching him some valuable lessons when he was younger. He gave a small nod, taking her words to heart. “Yeah… Thanks for the advice, AJ.” He thanked her. She gave a small nod and a tip of her hat before returning towards the concessions.
………
“W-What?! Are you crazy, Rarity? I can’t ask that! We’re just friends,” Twilight called out. She was taken aback by the suggestion of asking Rigdon out to get lunch together. Rarity gave a small snicker at her embarrassment.
“Oh, I’m sure it will be alright, darling! I bet he would love to have an evening out with you. After All, I never did say that you had to ask him out on a date. You just have to ask him to have lunch together: An evening between friends,” She explained to her. Twilight, of course, still disapproved of her whole idea of asking him out. Twilight paced around slightly, before stopping and doing it in place. Fluttershy gave a reassuring smile as she attempted to curve Twilight’s anxiety.
“U-Uhm… Twilight, I’m sure it’s going to be fine. I think that you shouldn’t ask him out or anything just yet—just spend some time with him! You have this entire evening with him, so just… uhm… party with him! I-If you want to, that is.” She offered Twilight. Rarity gave a small nod, agreeing with Fluttershy’s notion.
“B-But what if I mess up? What If I say something wrong and he ends up hating me?” Twilight asked the both of them, her ears folding back a little. Rarity scoffed at such words. She took a couple of steps forward, quickly raising her hoof and placing it on her side.
“That’s nonsense, Twilight! I’m sure that he’s going to have a blast doing stuff with you! You just need to be yourself. I’m certain everything else will come naturally.” She slowly removed her hoof from her side, now planting it back onto the ground. Twilight took a couple deep breaths in and out, her anxiety slowly becoming more manageable.
“Alright! Alright…I’ll do it! I’ll ask to hang out with him sometime later today.” She lifted her hoof to her muzzle, thinking about talking points. A small bulb would click in her head. “Gosh, I forgot! I can talk to him about space! He did tell me he was an engineer,” She then wiggled side to side, a soft ‘Eeeee!’ leaving her lips as she did so. She then stopped, her eyes falling onto her friends. Everypony was silent for a moment, before the three of them would burst out with laughter.
“Hahaha! I’ll just help you gals finish up these decorations first; Then I’ll tell Pinkie that everything’s ready.” A wide smile was fixated on her face as her magic engulfed one of the ribbons. She began to tie it, albeit a bit sloppily, before putting it up. Rarity had no problem tidying it up and putting the last touches on them. Twilight then moved onto the next ribbon, Rarity quickly following suit to make sure it all looked nice and uniform.
………
The party had been going on for about half an hour and was now in full swing. Pinkie, of course, had declared everything on with a blast of her cannon. Rigdon had quickly picked off one of the many ciders. Everypony seemed to be having a great time. Dancing, socializing, playing; Everything was going off without a hitch. He found himself gravitating towards the ‘Bobbing for apples’ section in games. Rainbow and Applejack seemed to have acquired a crowd during their little challenge to see who was the fastest apple bobber in all of Ponyville.
“How’s your leg doing, Rigdon?” A voice would call out to him. He looked over to his right, now finding Twilight at his side. He gave a small nod, thinking about the words to describe the state of it. He took a quick swig from his mug.
“Well, I guess I’d say it's as annoying as getting a small cut from a branch,” He answered her question. Twilight gave a solemn nod, the both of them now standing there in relative silence. Well, it was only for a moment since Twilight once again asked him another question.
“How’s the party so far?” She lifted her own mug, quickly taking a couple of shallow sips. Rigdon looked back over to her.
“Well, I’ve been socializing with a lot of people… erm.. Ponies. God, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to saying that,” He stopped for a moment. “But that’s besides the point. I got into a four-way drinking contest between Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, and myself. I honestly don’t know why I thought I could keep up with them,” He let out a chuckle. “Anyways, how’s everything been treating you?”
“Whuh?” Twilight croaked out, a dumbfounded expression appearing on her face. She wasn’t really expecting him to put her in the spotlight like this. A blush ran across her face. “O-Oh! Nothing much has really happened. I’ve mostly been talking with Rarity and Fluttershy about some problems,” She left her answer a bit vague, letting Rigdon have his mind interpret what that even meant. Rigdon raised a brow as he wondered what type of problem would even stump her to the point where she needed advice from her friends.
“What problems? I’d love to be a help with whatever you need..” He swished his mug back and forth, the liquid crashing against the sides violently—like waves in a storm. Twilight quickly interjected, her voice raising a bit at his offer to help.
“NO!” She yelped out. She quickly lifted her hoof to cover her lips. Luckily, everypony was too busy cheering on the competition and didn’t exactly pay much attention to what happened. Twilight slowly placed her hoof down, a worried expression paused on her face. Rigdon was now extremely curious about all of this. “It’s just something between mares… I don’t think you’d really understand.” She spoke much softer now. Rigdon scoffed softly, taking another sip from his drink.
“Well, you at least got that right…” He would call out to her. Twilight stood there in silence, her mind quickly racing with thoughts.
‘C’mon, Twilight! Get it together! It’s not some date! Stop acting like a school filly. You’re just here to hang out with him! Now work up the courage and just ask!’
Twilight looked over to Rigdon, her lip quivering slightly as she thought up the words to say to him. “Hey, Rigdon? I wanted to know if you’d like to hang out? Y’know, talk about your profession?” She questioned, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.
“Oh yeah, that sounds great! I was honestly getting a little bored of everything here. I mean, I wasn’t really ever a party kind of guy anyways,” He accepted her offer. Twilight’s eyes began to practically sparkle as she began to freak out in her mind.
‘Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!’
She kept her composure on the outside, except for the big smile that was now shown across her face. “Here, follow me! I know a great spot for observing,” She called out as she broke off from Rigdon with a fast trot. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” Rigdon gave a small gasp, his legs slowly growing to the speed of a piston. He quickly ran after his best friend.
“Hey, that’s cheating! You didn’t even say that this was a race!” He yelled out to her. Twilight craned her head to the side, her eyes meeting with his as they ran. She stuck her tongue out, quickly blowing a playful raspberry. “Oh now you’re gonna get it.” He pumped his arms faster, his pace slowly growing as he gained on her. Twilight soon pulled up onto a hill, quickly parking herself under a tree. Rigdon let out hot breaths, his legs slowly carrying him up the hill. Once he got up to the top, he stopped and bent over, his hands resting against his knees.
“A-Alright, now you’re really go-” He was cut off by the shushing of Twilight. He furrowed his brows angrily. He took a couple of steps forward, quickly opening his mouth to say something, but of course was cut off but her once again, this time it being her own voice spouting out one word.
“Look,” She pointed her hoof off towards the horizon, his eyes widening as he was hammered by the beauty of nature.
The orange light from the sun blended against the cool, deep red-orange horizon, creating a brilliant gradient of colors. The orange hued sun comforted the landscape with its orange rays, leaving its impression on Twilight, as well as him. He slowly walked forward, his mouth agape at the sight. The sun has never failed to impress him with its brilliant evening watercolor paintings. He slowly dragged himself closer to the lone apple tree that overlooked the orchard, now finding his seat next to her. “My god… this is so beautiful,” He called out softly.
“You’re beautiful…” Twilight mumbled out softly. This caused Rigdon to sharply turn his head over towards the mare, his voice now resembling a confused goose.
“Heh?” He squinted. Twilight stared up at him, giving a confused look as well. Or, at least one that didn’t show her guilt.
“What?” She questioned, causing Rigdon to return to his normal voice and methods of communication.
“Uh… can you go back and say what you just said a couple seconds ago?” He questioned Twilight. Of course, she wasn’t going to give him an inch on this subject. She decided to play the oldest trick in the book—dumb.
“Say what a couple seconds ago?” She gave him a puzzled expression.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you just said something under your breath. Can you just run that by me again?” Rigdon pointed at her accusingly. But, his actions didn’t deter her.
“How can I say it again if I never even said it in the first place?” She scoffed out, a hint of slyness in her voice.
“Damn it Twilight, I heard you-” Rigdon quickly caught himself, sighing as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ugh, whatever… Just forget about it.” He turned back to the sunset. Twilight gave a triumphant smile as she sat there. Silence quickly fell over them. What carpooled along with the silence, was a small hint of awkwardness. Birds continued to sing their songs out to the vast expanses of trees that laid before them. Taking a deep breath, Rigdon began to speak his mind. “Hey, Twi?…” He trailed off, giving a quick nickname for her.
Twilight could feel her stomach in her chest. Her heart continued to beat in a cosmic rhythm, vibrating its song throughout her entire body. She felt herself slowly grow nervous by the second, before side-eyeing him. “Uh-huh?” She gave her response to him.
“I just… god…” He would look down, his hand reaching up and gripping his hair. He let out a relaxed breath, now gaining the confidence to say what he needed. “Look, Twilight, I just wanted to say that… I’m sorry for tricking you into leaving me back in Ponyville.”
Twilight looked at him, a confused look on her face. Was he really eating himself up over this? She reached her hoof over to him, firmly placing it onto his shoulder. Like with any other contact with hooves, Rigdon swore he could feel a soft grip against his shoulder. “It’s alright, Rigdon! I know that you were only doing that to keep me safe; And I’m glad you were that worried about my well being. What’re friends for?” She gave a reassuring grin. Though, this did little to curve Rigdon away from the grasp of guilt.
“I know, but… Applejack told me what went on in the tunnels. If I had known what your reaction would’ve been I… I would’ve gone with you. Instead, I needlessly made you go on without me, which only hurt you more. I should've been with you.” He would say in a flat voice, his voice only wavering with small hints of sadness from the guilt weighing on his shoulders. Twilight couldn’t say anything. She was shocked by the thoughts that he had shared with her. She quickly lunged forward at him, now wrapping her hooves around him. They were now both locked in a hug.
“It’s okay… I forgive you… I forgive you for everything. I know that it was hard for you to do that, but… I think it was the right thing. If I had stayed when you got hurt, I don’t know what I would’ve done. For all we know, I would’ve just been focused on your wound so much, It would’ve put both of our lives in jeopardy,” She mumbled out softly. He hoof gently ran up and down his back. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you…”
Rigdon slowly reached his arms around, firmly grasping Twilight in place. She felt so warm and soft… It was just so comforting. He slowly rested his face against her mane, his grip on her back slowly tightening. He didn’t want to let go. Though, that didn’t really stop him from cracking a joke or two. “Well, you’ll have to look for a new study buddy if I did die,” He let out a small snort. This earned a quick giggle from Twilight.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.” She pulled herself off of him. He slowly sat herself at his side once more. Her eyes were fixated on the scenery, the sun slowly drifting downwards to its resting place beyond the horizon. “Rigdon?” She said blankly, not even turning to face him. Rigdon looked over to her.
“Yeah?…” He replied to her. Twilight paused for a moment, her head hanging down. She then slowly lifted her head back up, her eyes once again staring deep into the sky.
“Do you think you’ll ever settle down with someone here?” She questioned him. Her question had caught him off guard!
“What, like finding my other half?” He questioned, which drew out a quick nod from Twilight. He sat there for a moment, dragging his thumb across his chin as he became lost in thought. “Honestly, I don’t… exactly know. I do want to go home, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I know that ponies here are sapient, but… I just don’t know if I could ever open up to the feeling of dating something that looks like, back at home, an animal,” He gave Twilight an answer. Twilight’s early seemingly drooped. She could feel hear heart sink from her heart, all the way to the deepest parts of her stomach.
“O-Oh… That makes sense,” She mumbled off slightly as Rigdon gave his speech. Rigdon slowly looked back on everything that’s happened so far. Soon enough, Applejack’s words began to echo in his mind.
‘What I’m saying is to just keep an open mind.’
“But… I guess it would be unfair if I didn’t try to make an effort… If I do find someone that is just… that amazing—I guess I could try to pursue something romantic. I don’t know how it’ll work out but…” He reached up, gently placing his hand against his heart. Twilight perked up at his words. Her heart fluttered back to life as it was given new hope. Her gaze became softer as she stared at him. Her voice had also picked up on that soft tone.
“Well, I hope you end up finding that mare. I know that you’d make them extremely happy… If you don’t bore them with your data first.” She joked around, gently hitting her hoof against his arm. Rigdon let out a small chuckle at her words.
“Yeah yeah, let’s just get to the stories of my past. The night’s young, after all.” His words caused Twilight to quickly lay in front of him, her hooves propping her head up so she could look at him. She was at full attention. He then cleared his throat before beginning to recall a story. “Alright, so I had a week to complete this task, right?”
A hammer was held firm in his hand. He brought it up over his head, before bringing it down onto the nail in front of him. His hand held the nail in place for the first couple of hits before he was finally able to let go and hammer it the rest of the way in. It had been close to about a month since everything had gone down. Ponyville had surprisingly bounced back pretty quickly after everything. He had taken to help with the building and or engineering aspects of this whole thing. For now, he's with the assembly of walls for the houses. Though, he does pick up a few more jobs here and there to pick up the slack for those who are sick. He reached his hand up to his forehead, his palm gently wiping the sweat from his brow.
Reaching over, he handed the assembled siding to a cream colored mare. She took it on her magic once he slid it over to her. "Here, this should be going to Cheerilee," He gave directions to the mare. She gave a small nod and headed off to her destination. Rigdon turned back towards the table in front of him, quickly glancing over at a few blueprints. He then grabbed a couple of planks along with a saw. Measuring everything out, he double checked his work before beginning to drag the saw back and forth. The wood fell to the ground with a small thump. Tossing the saw aside, he turned back to his trusty hammer and nails. He placed a nail firmly against the wood before bringing his hammer down again, and again. He had been working hard to keep up on schedule with everything. Maybe even a bit too hard.
Soft clops could be heard as somepony approached him. He paid no mind to the noise, though. His hammer cleared his thoughts as he worked. Then again, it's hard to ignore the sound of glass slamming down against wood. He turned to the side, finding Twilight standing there attentively. A glass of water was now at his side. He stopped his hammering, letting the tool slide out from his fingers and onto the wood. He reached forward, grabbing the glass and lifting it to his lips. The cold liquid rapidly slid down his throat. He let his hand fall back down, the cup hitting against the wood. He let out a loud gasp of satisfaction. "Ah god, that hit the spot..." He mumbled to himself.
"Well, while I was getting myself something, I figured that you would've liked some water," She spoke out. Rigdon gave a small nod before turning back forward. He grabbed his hammer once again and began to bang away against the nails. A worried expression fell on Twilight's face. She had taken notice to his 'commitment' and it was making her worry. "Don't you think you should take a break? Maybe even take a walk for a little bit?"
Her words caused his head to turn back around, his eyes meeting with hers. Twilight gave a small smile as she stood there. Instead of saying something, he just stood there. The silence cut through the air, leaving a hint of uncomfortable tension in its wake. About twenty seconds of silence would pass before he would finally speak up. "Alright, twenty seconds. That's my break." He would turn back around and pick up his hammer, quickly going back to work. Twilight's brows furrowed as her lips pursed into a small pout.
"You know that's not what I meant," She would mumble out softly, her left hoof gently pawing at the ground. She stood there, trying her best to think of what to do to get him to stop working for at least an hour, or ideally more. Then, she got an idea; An awful idea. Twilight had a wonderful, awful idea. As Rigdon began to bring the hammer down once more, it disappeared right before it hit the nail. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the wood down in front of him. He slowly craned his head over to look back at Twilight. She now seemed to have a large, wooden frame firmly in her magical grasp. His eyes widened a bit, his head whipping back to his table. Of course, the frame he was working on was now gone.
He once again whipped his body back around, only to catch a glimpse of Twilight as she galloped away. "Hey! What the fuck, Twilight! God damn it, give that back!" He would yell out as he started to pursue her. Twilight ducked and weaved between the crowd of ponies. Rigdon, of course, had a much harder time because of him being taller than everyone else. Though, it wasn't really that hard to lose track of Twilight since she was holding the frame high above her head, basically giving him a clear beacon as to where she was. They ran past the school that was currently being rebuilt. Twilight quickly dumped the beam off into the nearby pile. She slowly eased up on her running before coming to a complete stop. Rigdon huffed and puffed as he slowly pulled up to her. "Y-You... jackass! The hell was that for?"
"What? I was just delivering your work," She would defend herself, even if it was a poor excuse. "But, now that you're out here, you can really start that break of yours." A wide, smug grin would appear on her face. Well, he had to admit that she can really set up some good traps. Rigdon rolled his eyes, his arms soon hugging tightly against his own chest.
"Twilight, were you just doing this to get me to stop working?" He questioned, his eyes squinted. Twilight let out an offended gasp, lifting her hoof up to her chest. How could he accuse his best friend? She was going to take this as far as she could. Twilight placed her hoof down.
"Well, for your information, I was just helping my friend from not working himself into the ground! A smart, special somepony once told me that you shouldn't work too much," She spoke softly, offering him his gaze. Rigdon's nose scrunched up as he reflexively gagged at what was said by her. This earned a small giggle from her.
"God, don't steal my motivational words and use them against me! I only said that to you because you were drinking up all the coffee, smartass," He let out a soft laugh, his angry mannerisms slightly more subdued. His arms slowly fell from his chest as his body slowly became more relaxed.
"Hey, I'd prefer to say that I only cited a smart pony. . . Erm, person in your case," She mumbled out. She began to lead, inviting Rigdon to go on a walk. Rigdon quickly tailed her, picking up some speed so he ended up by her side.
"Y'know, I never thought you'd be the one to hit on my, Twi," He gave a cheeky grin as he teased her. Twilight shot him a wide eyed glare, her cheeks quickly going hot with a blush.
"W-What? No I wasn't! I-I was just telling you what you told me a little while back!" She would defend herself, which only caused Rigdon to bellow with laughter. He quickly reached up, his hand wiping away the tears that were now forming at the sides of his eyes. Twilight gave him another glare, this one more confused than the last. "What're you laughing for?"
"Haha, oh it's nothing!" He would start off, his arm quickly returning to its original position. "It's just that it's so easy to tease you. You always give the funniest reactions. 'Specially with that pouty face of yours," He pointed out to her. Twilight's confused look slowly melted into a more neutral look, a cat gripping at her tongue as his words sat on her mind. She still wore a bright blush on her face.
"So, where are we going? I take it you got somewhere in mind?" He questioned her as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Twilight gave a firm nod as she turned the corner, Rigdon quickly following her movements. His eyes looked around the block. The place certainly looked much better than the state it was left in a little while ago. Fillies ran around, playing on the slides of the newly rebuilt park. He personally didn't take part in helping with this project, but he knows for certain that those who were involved must take serious pride knowing that they're directly helping the next generation.
"Well, there was this local bar I've been wanting to go to for a while. Didn't really want to go by myself," She looked back at him. Rigdon seemed to be appalled at her words. He really wasn't expecting her to ask him to go drinking with her. He stopped for a moment, quickly pointing his finger at her.
"You? Drinking? And here I thought I knew all the in's and out's of you," He pulled his hand back down. It might be unexpected, but it was still a welcome revelation. Twilight rolled her eyes a bit before shaking her head softly.
“Hey, I never said I was going to drink! I just wanted to come here because I’ve heard that their food is amazing,” She would defend herself. “If you wanna drink, then be my guest! It’s your break after all. Just don’t drink too much… I don’t think I could carry you back..” She turned her head forward as they approached the bar. Honestly, that was most likely a lie. He’s seen what she’s capable of.
Twilight opened the door with her magic, a burst of cold air washing over them. The bar was filled with ponies of all different social classes mingling together. Honestly, these were one of the reasons he liked these types of places. It always was just one big melting pot of those who wanted to have a relaxed evening. They both walked over to a table that was situated near the head of the bar. The cold breeze really added a nice touch. His eyes looked over the wall of beverages before they closed in on the shape of an unmistakable drink; a bottle of Brandy. His eyes turned to pinpricks. No way! They had his go-to drink! A waitress walked up to the both of them, quickly offering napkins and utensils.
“Y’all need a bit to make up your mind, or are you ready?” She questioned, a hint of a southern accent dripping at the back of her voice. Twilight furrowed her brows softly, her mind too focused on the menu in front of her. Rigdon, of course, already had his mind set on two things.
“Yeah, I’ll take a Brandy sour and a summer strawberry salad,” He slowly pushed the menu to the side of the table. The mare serving them gave a small nod and quickly wrote down his order. Both of their gazes slowly turned to Twilight, now waiting for her to make up her mind. Though, with the face she was giving, she was drawing a few blanks. He looked back to the waitress. “Just make it a double on both that Brandy sour and salad.”
The menu slowly fell from Twilight’s grasp. She slowly slid it over with her hoof to where his menu was. The mare doodled a little before picking up the menus in her mouth. She then walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Twilight spoke up. “I could’ve ordered for myself, y’know that right?” She pouted softly, her nose scrunching up a bit.
“Well of course I know that. It’s just I still want to be alive when we get out food and drinks,” He would say playfully. This earned him a snort from her. A small smile appeared on his face following this. Her smile was just so special to him.
“Sweet Celestia, don’t say that! I don’t take that long to order,” She shook her head softly. Rigdon raised a brow at her words. Well, he was about to dose her with reality. He folded his arms as he leaned back into his chair.
“Oh yeah? We went to that cafè about a week ago and you spent a good ten minutes just to figure out what toppings you wanted on your sandwich,"he would tell her. Twilight sank in her chair a little bit, her hoofs reaching up and hiding the embarrassment that was now painted on her face. He let out a small laugh as he saw her do this.
“Well what if I take a little bit to order? There’s just so many amazing options,” She spoke out, her voice a bit softer than usual. She slowly sat back up, regaining her composure in the process. The waitress finally returned with the drinks, placing them respectively near each of their owners. Twilight grasped her drink in her magic. The cup was slowly lifted from the table and near her. Rigdon slid his drink towards himself, his fingers wrapped tightly around the glass.
The waitress hurriedly ran off to the front of the bar, loading up with more drinks as she went to tend with everypony else. Rigdon lifted his drink and took a sip. He let the liquid rest on his tongue. His senses would rake through the flavor of the drink, picking out everything that made it what it was. After a little while, he swallowed it. A hint of lemon-lime was left on the tip of his tongue. He let out a satisfied sigh as he looked at the glass. “Man, I never thought I’d get to drink this again.” He placed the glass back onto the table.
Twilight raised a brow as she stared at the drink. It was clear that she had never tried something like this before. She slowly brought the glass to her mouth and took a sip. After swallowing, she let it process through his mind. She put the glass down. “It’s a bit stronger than what I usually drink, but it’s really good! The citrus really compliments the natural flavor of the Brandy,” She spoke up. Rigdon practically exploded at her agreement.
“Jesus christ, finally someone agrees with me! All my buddies back home hated this. I swear, I would’ve flipped if you hated it too.” He raised his fit and jokingly shook it a little. He then followed up with a small chuckle. Twilight rolled her eyes a bit in annoyance, but she couldn’t help but smile. “So, how’s the rebuilding going on your end?” He questioned her as he took another sip of his drink.
“Well, it’s actually going really well! The main square is all but fully rebuilt! The outer areas suffered less damage, but we’re only now just getting to it. I’d say it might take a few more weeks ‘til everything is as it was beforehand,” She answered as she took another sip of her drink, her nose scrunching up slightly at the citrus kick. “How’s everything with you?”
Rigdon gave a small nod at her words before starting to give her a sitrep with his work. “It’s actually going really well! I didn’t think we’d move this fast. Then again, with magic, I suppose it’s much easier to do everything. But, even without magic, I’ve held up pretty well.” He gave a solemn nod, quickly taking another sip of his drink.
The waitress popped up once more, now with their food in hoof. She placed them both down, quickly sliding them over to the both of them. She gave a small smile and began to walk away. Though, she decided to leave a couple choice words for the both of them. “Hope y’all enjoy your date!” She smiled as she left.
Twilight had been taking a sip of her drink as she said that. The liquid practically spewed from her nose as she heard those words. She let out a loud cough, choking a bit as she was completely caught off guard. Rigdon was now just plagued with laughter. The tears began to run from his face as he clutched his side, of which was hurting from how much he was laughing.
“Wahaha! Oh god! That’s… haha!” He would cry out, his laughter beginning to die down as he slowly regained his bodily functions. Twilight had an offended look on her face, a huge blush running across her cheeks as well.
“How could she say that? We’re just friends! Does this look like a date?” She questioned, trying to figure out what made her think that they were both going out. She let out a small grumble as she lifted her drink to her lips once more, now taking a much bigger sip than usual.
“Well… now that you mention it,” He grinned as he decided to play around with her. Twilight gave him a glare, which caused him to laugh once more. “Alright, alright! Sorry for asking!” He reached his hand up, his fingers gently drying away his tears. Twilight hovered her fork with her magic, quickly plunging it into the salad in front of her. She then lifted the food to her mouth and bit the pieces of lettuce off the fork, giving a quick munch before swallowing. She still had a sour expression on her face.
Rigdon stabbed his fork into a piece of lettuce and strawberry. He lifted his fork to his mouth and bit the food off. He gave a couple of chews before swallowing it. His eyes drifted back to her. “Well, since we’re on the topic of dates, have you ever gone on one before?” He asked her. Twilight stopped, her eyes drifting off to another place of the bar. Her drink was suspended in the air as the sounds of others talking were the only thing they both heard. The awkwardness was deafening.
Twilight’s gaze slowly softened as she decided to open up and answer the question. “Well… this is embarrassing to say but… no, I haven’t,” She quickly brought the drink to her face. Her eyes moved back so that she was looking at him once more. “What about you? Have you ever been on a date?”
Rigdon raised his hand, gently scratching his chin as he thought. “Well, I’d say the only real date I’ve been on would be that one time I went to prom. Though, I don’t really count it since she basically ditched me to be with her friends,” He murmured out softly as he recalled his past events. Twilight gave a solemn nod, her body relaxing. She felt a bit more comfortable to know that he was in the same boat as her.
“Well, since we’re on the topic of dates and stuff… You ever had a crush on someone?” He stared at her. Twilight took a moment to think. She was going to be walking on thin ice with this one. She slowly gave a small nod.
“Well… I still do,” She admitted with a small huff, quickly taking another sip of her drink. Her mind was basically yelling at her and calling her crazy for giving this much information to him. Rigdon gave a knowing nod.
“So, who’s the lucky guy? Got any details on him?” He asked with a grin. Twilight sat there in silence, contemplating what to do next. She took a deep breath, her heart banging against her chest in its rhythmic pattern. She might’ve opened her lips a bit too much.
“Well, he’s cute. He’s really smart, and I admire that about him. He has a weird sense of humor, but it can be really funny at times. I think he has a degree? He’s an engineer… He’s pretty tall, too.” She gave him some details, but kept it pretty vague.
“Well, this guy sounds amazing! I’d love to meet him. Sounds like a guy I can get along with,” He called out to her. She gave a solemn nod, her courage slowly building in her chest. She had to remember what Rarity and Rainbow had told her.
“Well, he's actually in this bar at the moment!” She quickly admitted as she finished off her salad. Rigdon raised a brow, now intrigued about this.
“He is? Can you point me to him?” He questioned as he looked around the bar, trying to find some stallion that had fit the exceedingly vague description that she had gave him. Twilight took a deep breath, quickly letting out a sigh before decking to go for it.
“Yeah, he’s right there…” She called out to him. Rigdon continued to stare off at the other patrons that were sitting at their tables. His brows furrowed a bit as he continued to scan his eyes across the bar
“Where? I don’t s-” He turned back towards twilight, only to hold his tongue at what he saw. Twilight was pointing her hoof at him. The world seemed to stop as he sat there. He didn’t even begin to know what to make of this! Twilight slowly pulled her hoof back down, her face riddled with a look of embarrassment.
“How… How-” He was cut off by Twilight’s voice answering his question.
“It’s been a week since I’ve felt like this. I just… We’ve been spending so much time together. I’ve gotten to know every little part of you, and I just… can’t stop myself from falling for you. Every time I learn something new about you, I feel my heart skip a beat. When I’m around you, I feel like I’m at one of Pinkie’s parties,” She started off, her eyes staring directly into his. “I just… I want to always be around you. You just make me so happy. You’re like the proton to my electron.” She would mumble out. They both stayed silent for a moment, before they both began to laugh.
“Oh god, that was terrible! I’ve been a terrible influence on you! Haha!” Rigdon snorted at her science pun. Twilight brought a napkin up and dabbed the tears from her eyes. She decided to carry on with this playful tone.
“What? You said worse before! That was a tasteful pun!” She would add on. Their laughter slowly died down as reality slowly creeped back into their minds. Rigdon let out a small sigh as he sat there.
“Y’know, I’ve always thought that romantic relationships were dumb. It’s never really been a big priority of mine,” He started off. Twilight’s ears pulled back as her heart sank. She prepared for the worst. Though, Rigdon was about to upend her entire expectations. “But, being with you… It makes me want to try it out. You are a joy to be around and I care about you deeply. So, to add on to your statement… I’d love to be the proton to your electron.” He blurted out softly.
Twilight’s eyes widened and turned to pinpricks at his words. Her heart practically exploded in her chest. To say that a nuclear reaction had gone off in her heart would be an understatement. Her ears lifted a bit as she sat there. She gave a big smile and began to squeal a bit. “Yes, Yes, Yes!” She cried out in glee. She looked at him, her lips pursing softly. She held her tongue, the embarrassment quickly setting in. Rigdon gave a small laugh.
“God you’re adorable. I swear, your smile is going to end up giving me diabetes from how sweet it is,” He said playfully. Twilight scoffed softly before reaching over, gently slapping his arm with her hoof. He could feel his heart beat faster as she did this.
Well, looks like he’s going to have to borrow a couple of dating books from Twilight’s library sometime this week.
It had been a couple of days since Twilight’s confession. She still was up on cloud nine with how happy she was! They had even made an effort to always make time for walks during Rigdon’s breaks! Though, most of the time she wasn’t really paying attention to him. She was too busy spending her time making goo-goo eyes at him! Oh, and don’t forget those ‘amazing’ science puns! Would they count as flirts now? Augh, there was just so much on her mind! Her brain was going to melt from all of this running between thinking and falling head over heels.
Rigdon’s voice would slowly creep into her ears as she was pulled off from that high cloud. “Hey, Twilight,” He gave a couple snaps of his fingers. She quickly looked up to him, a questioning look on her face. “I’m going to head back to work, alright? I’ll see you this afternoon when I get back home, alright?” He would push a stray strand of hair away from her eyes.
Twilight went cross-eyed as she focused on his finger. She looked up to him, her eyes sparkling slightly. Her mouth pursed slightly, her cheeks continuing to stay its red color. A small smile began to appear on her face. “Alright! See you later,” She waved goodbye as she watched him walk off. She could feel her heart bang harder as he left. She let out a small squeal as she stood there. She still couldn’t believe that this was real.
Her excitement began to run her thoughts. She wanted to impress him when he came back home! But what was she to do? She’s the last person to know stuff about romance! She took a deep breath, slowly regaining her composure. She could ask Rarity for romance tips. Ooh, she could also head to Pinkie to ask if she knows what his favorite sweets are! Nothing says romance like getting your special somepony their favorite dessert.
With Sugar Cube Corner slightly closer than Rarity’s Boutique, she chose to head to Pinkie’s since it was more optimal. In hindsight, it would’ve been much easier to have teleported instead of running. Though, like ponies always say, love can make you do crazy things. Dear Celestia, now she sounds like her mom. Her magic gripped the door handle only for a moment, the door slamming open as a result.
Rainbow Dash was startled by her sudden entry, causing her to bite down harder than necessary on the icing bag, causing the frosting to spray all over the cake in front of her. She let out a loud groan at this development. Pinkie, of course, saw the bright side of this ‘accident’. “It’s okay, Dashie! More frosting is always better!” She called out, following up with a reassuring smile. Rainbow turned towards twilight, a brow raising as she watched her practically hop up and down.
“What’re you so excited about? Is the book store having a sale again?” She questioned as she fluttered over, Pinkie following behind. Twilight gave a small shake of her head.
“Well, no. I already checked this morning and their sale isn’t back yet,” She retorted, only proving her egg headedness. “But that’s besides the point! I just need to ask Pinkie a question.” She walked forward towards Pinkie. She leaned into her ear and began to whisper a couple of things.
“Uh-huh… Yep! I know what he likes,” Pinkie gave a couple nods in response to her words, before finally she let out a loud gasp. “YOU CONFESSED TO RIGDON?!” She would yell out, her voice practically one octave higher than usual. There were no words to explain how ecstatic she was. “Oh my gosh, this calls for a party!” She let out a squee of happiness before disappearing in a flash. A pink blur came back. What was now hung up from wall to wall was a big banner that read, ‘CONGRATS ON THE NEW RELATIONSHIP, TWILIGHT!’. Pinkie set off her canon, a bunch of the confetti ending up on Twilight.
She didn’t know if she should be more concerned about the fact that Pinkie was able to set this up in the blink of an eye, or that she has banners made for their specific relationship. She decided to be slightly impressed and a little bit concerned. Rainbow walked up, a gigantic smile on her face.
“Really? That’s so awesome! I can’t believe you’re actually out here chasing tail. I honestly thought he would’ve made the first move,” She gave a sly grin as she nudged Twilight. Twilight gave a roll of her eyes at her comments.
“Well, I didn’t think I’d even do it myself! It just… happened!” She would give Dash a bit of credit. “I don’t know the first thing about dating! I want to impress him, but I don’t know what he’d like! Besides, his dating culture might be a bit different than ours!” Her hooves gently tapped against the ground.
“Twilight,” Rainbow started off, gently placing her wing over her. “First off, I gotta say that you crushing on him was painfully obvious. Everypony knew. We also know how much chemistry you two have together. Just be cool about everything, like me! I’m sure it’ll go fine, no problemo.” She bumped her hoof against her leg before backing off.
Twilight took a small breath, stifling her emotions. She had to admit—Dash was quite the pep talker, even if she was a tease. She slowly turned back to Pinkie, “So, do you have any of what he likes in stock?” She cooed softly, a slightly worried expression on her face.
Pinkie quickly hopped behind the counter and looked through everything. She let out a small ‘Aha!’ when she found what she needed. She grabbed a bod and began to fill it up with a couple of desserts, finally closing it and putting a sticker on when it was filled to the prim. “Here! This should be more than enough!” She said gleefully.
The box was quickly engulfed in Twilight’s magic. She could feel her heart beat faster as the box came closer. She was going to protect this with her very life! She took out a couple of bits from her travel pack and floated it over to the counter. She then stuffed the box into her bag before waving bye to the both of them. “Thanks Pinkie! I owe you one,” She called out, a bright smile plastered on her face. The moment Twilight left, Rainbow and Pinkie looked at one another.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll cough it up,” Rainbow grumbled a bit, quickly handing Pinkie a couple of bits. Pinkie nodded, happy that she had won the bet.
Twilight continued to trot steadily, making sure not to tire herself out as she made her way around Ponyville. She also took great caution with choosing what paths to go on since some convene on one point, which of course houses Rigdon and his work. Well, she didn’t really mind taking the backroads. That just meant that she got a better view of the sky. She stopped for a moment, her head turning towards the blue canvas in front of her.
She could feel a tingly warmness welling up inside of her chest. She just couldn’t hide her excitement for what was to come. She shook her head slightly. “Keep it together, Twilight!’ She began to talk to herself, “You’re going to do a great job.” She turned her body around and began to walk once more. It took her a little while longer to arrive at the boutique. She lifted her hoof up and gave three firm knocks against the door.
“Just a minute! I’ll be right out,” Rarity called out. Twilight stood there in silence, the sounds of rustling from inside of the building getting louder and louder until the door finally opened, revealing her friend on the other side. “Oh, Twilight! It’s nice to see you darling! Come on in!” Rarity took a couple of steps back, allowing Twilight to walk in.
Rarity hummed a small tune as she walked over to her work, quickly placing a dress onto a nearby mannequin. Twilight took a deep breath, her heart beating faster as she gathered the courage to ask her for advice. “Rarity, can I ask you for some advice?” She spoke softly, a gentle expression falling on her face. This earned a brow raise by Rarity. She turned back to her friend.
“Of course! I’m always here to give you advice on anything you need,” She replied. Twilight took a deep breath before finally telling her.
“I just… I need some romantic relationship advice. I told Rigdon how I felt and-” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence since what took over was Rarity fangirling over her getting with Rigdon. An annoyed look was plastered on her face as she watched Rarity do her whole spiel. Once everything quieted down, she spoke up once more. “I have this secret dinner date I’m planning, and I just need some tips as to how I should act.”
Rarity gave a small nod as she heard her words. “Well, you’ve come to the right place, darling! Please, sit down! I’ll get some tea for us while we talk.” She offered as she walked towards the kitchen area of the building. Twilight used her magic to lift her bag up from her body and down to her side. She walked over to a nearby seat and plopped herself down onto it. She now had some time to gather her thoughts.
‘The library’s balcony seems like a good place to set everything up. Not only is it large, but it has an amazing roof! Plus, I could take some books with me so we could read together; it’s foolproof!’ She would grin at her own genius. It seems that she might have gone a little overboard with thinking, since Rarity had already returned with the tea in her magical grasp. She sat down, gracefully pouring the liquid into Twilight’s cup, along with hers.
She lifted her own cup, taking a shallow sip before placing it back onto the glass plate that awaited below. He let the liquid coat her tongue before swallowing it. “Well, it’s about time you confessed to him. We were all just holding our tongues at this point.” She admitted with a soft scoff. “Either way, I’d like to congratulate you both on your new relationship! You two are quite the pair.” She gave off a soft giggle.
Twilight shot her friend a glare, which made her quickly purse her lips as she shut up. Twilight let out a soft mumble before taking a deep gulp from her tea. “Was I really that obvious?”
“Well… erm…” Rarity paused and pondered for a moment. “It certainly wasn’t very well hidden. Though, I wouldn’t go so far to say that It was painfully obvious. It was more of the fact it seemed bound like it was going to happen at some point. But, that’s just my opinion.” She closed her eyes and gave a small shrug before taking another sip.
Twilight sunk downwards in her chair. She felt like she wanted to shrink and never be heard again. This was just so embarrassing! How could she act so transparent with her feelings? “I-It wasn’t a bad thing though, Twilight! We all thought it was adorable!” She would attempt to add some confidence to her. After all, she didn’t want to cause their evening to be ruined by her nervousness. Though, with it being Twilight’s first real relationship, she knew that a heaping amount of butterflies were to be present.
“Anyways, you came here looking for advice, and I haven’t really been helping you in that aspect,” She spoke softly. “If you really want to impress him, then you need to put yourself out there for him! If you want to leave him bedazzled, I can help you with that! Let loose a little! Give him a real show,” She gave a huge smile. Twilight seemed a bit weary about this course of action. Besides, she didn’t really know how to put a ‘pep in her step’
“I don’t know, Rarity,” Twilight voiced her skepticism. “This seems like a bit much.” She furrowed her brows slightly as she looked at herself in the nearby mirror. Her mane and tail had been styled, giving her more of a ‘pop’. She had also been given some glasses for her look. The changes were subtle, but they were noticeable.
“Nonsense, Twilight! You look amazing! You’re actually lucky. If you weren’t on a time constraint, I would’ve gone on for hours!” Rarity joked around. “Either way, this is sure to get his attention,” She reassured her. She continued to work on Twilight, her magic making a couple of last minute touches to her look.
Twilight took a deep breath as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror. She could only hope to Celestia that Rigdon will like the new look. Rarity gave a small nod as her magic dissipated from Twilight. “Alright, now tell me my tips I told you,” She asked Twilight.
She gave Rarity a determined look as she blurted everything out. “Confidence is key, let loose, impress him, and be myself!” She called out with pride. Rarity gave a proud look, quickly wiping a couple of forming tears away with her hoofkerchief. Twilight lifted her travel pack up and situated it onto her back. She looked back, only to find a bunch of roses in front of her. “Here! Stallions love roses.” She gave a playful wink.
She took the roses in her grasp, her eyes looking them over. Even if he can’t eat them, she hopes that at least he can understand the gesture. She opened the door before giving her goodbyes to Rarity. She quickly walked up to the door and called out once more, “Do tell me how it goes!”
Twilight smiled as she rolled her eyes. She looked up at the sky, the sun telling everyone the time by how far it was in the sky. She looked straight ahead, a deep breath entering through her lips. Now all she had to do was set everything up and wait for him to return.
Rigdon finished measuring and cutting out a support beam. He let out a proud sigh as he ran the back of his hand across his forehead. Everyone else had gone home about thirty minutes earlier, but he decided to stay just a bit longer to finish what he started. Now that it was done, he decided to hang in the towel for the day. He clapped his hands together, knocking off any of the dust from the wood from his palms.
The soft whistling of birds was now fading as the sun retreated to its home beyond the horizon. The moon began to rise slowly into the sky, bathing the world in a comforting light. Its glow illuminated his way in front of him as the noises of crickets supported his approach. His legs carried him back to Golden Oaks, only stopping when his ears caught the faint voice of a familiar nerd. He tilted his head up, only to find Twilight at the balcony of the library, her forehooves over the railing.
“Hey, Rigdon! Up here,” She called out as she gave a quick wave. “Can you come up here when you’re ready? I got a bit of a surprise! Plus, it’s a great night to have some dinner outside!”
Rigdon stared up at her, his gaze a soft one. Now what was she up to? “Alright! I’ll be up in a minute!” He yelled back to her before opening the front door. He walked in, taking a deep breath as his muscles began to relax after another day of hard work. He looked to his right, finding Spike already sleeping soundly in his bed. He carelessly threw his things on a nearby table before beginning to drag himself up the stairs.
He walked past a couple of doors and rooms as he made his way to the main staircase that led to the upper balcony near the top of the tree. When he finally made it to the top, the sight that awaited him made his heart skip a beat! Laid in front of him was a picnic cloth, along with various assortments of food. On the nearby table was a candle lit with a light purple flame. He slowly took his seat on the floor of the balcony, his eyes slowly moving back and fixating on her new appearance.
He sat there in silence, his breath held back by his throat. There were no words to describe how wonderful she looked. He could feel his heart jump up to his throat as he continued to stare at her, the soft candlelight highlighting her features. ‘You certainly sparkle in my eyes, Twilight.’ He would think to himself. Honestly, now he sees where she’s picked up the terrible puns from. Well, that and the book of science puns that rested at her side.
His sight of Twilight was soon blocked as a bunch of roses were now in front of him. He slowly reached out, grabbing the bouquet of scented flowers. Twilight looked like she was about to die from nervousness. Though, she still was holding up a bit to Rarity’s advice of confidence! He leaned in, giving a deep sniff of the flowers. They always did somehow seem sweeter than the ones back home.
“Y’know, now I feel like Eric’s wife. He was always handing her flowers. Though, I can get where he was coming from; these smell amazing. You look amazing, by the way. That look really fits you,” He complimented her changes.
The compliment he gave caused her to celebrate internally. Everything was going off without a hitch! Twilight drew a blank, trying to figure out what to say next. She had it! She decided to respond with a complement of her own—in science joke form of course. “Well, look at yourself! You must be made up of hydrogen because you’re my number one!”
This earned a squint from Rigdon. “Oh? You’re challenging me? Instead of making a normal complement, you’re trying to upend the king of science puns?” He said pridefully, earning a quick snort from Twilight.
“I can’t dethrone the master without saying anything,” Twilight gave a snarky remark.
“Oh ho! Then say as many puns as you like! Show me what you got!” Rigdon held his arms out as he waited for her to pick her next card. Twilight gave a devilish grin as she pulled out her trump card—the book of science flirts and puns!
She flipped through the pages before stopping as something caught her eye. “You must have a magnet on you because I’m so attracted to you!”
Rigdon rolled his eyes and folded his arms. This was going to be easy. “You must be traveling at light speed since time seems to stop when I look at you,” He replied.
“Even if Equis didn’t have gravity, I’d still fall for you,” Twilight shot back.
Alright, he had to give the book credit where it was due. That was a good one. He thought for a moment before speaking up. “According to Newton’s third law of gravitation, if I’m attracted to you, then you’re attracted to me,”
This earned a puzzled look from Twilight. “Who’s Newton?” She questioned. Oh yeah, he forgot that they probably don’t know about Newton. Wait, does that mean they don’t know about the fundamental laws of the universe? He’s going to have to elaborate on this later.
“Uh, he was a Physicist who figured out some amazing developments about the universe.” He rubbed the back of his neck before going back to the puns. “Anyways, you must be a ninety degree angle because you look just right to me!”
Twilight stopped to give off a couple of chuckles. “Oh gosh, that one was terrible.” She lifted her hoof up to cover her mouth. She then flipped to a new page before shooting another reply. “You must be made of copper and tellurium because you’re so dang CU-TE.”
That’s it, Rigdon was going to end this right here and now! He was going to say something that was a bit more… adult in context. He leaned forward, causing Twilight to lean back a bit. He softened his voice to give a more dramatic effect to his flirtatious comment. “Oh yeah? Well why don’t we both turn our potential energy to kinetic energy,” He followed up with a wink.
To say that Twilight’s mouth was agape would be an understatement. Her jaw was practically half way down the mantle of the planet! Her entire face had now taken on a red hue. She quickly conceded her efforts to try and topple him from power. “Alright, alright! I give up! You win.” She bleated as she grabbed a couple of plates. She set them down in front of her and Rigdon.
He gave a solemn nod, a prideful look once again covering his features. “Yeah! Don’t challenge the master!” He let a breath of air escape his lips. His eyes slowly looked down, only to find a plate in front of him, a mini pie resting on it. His eyes practically lit up as he reached down, “You even went to Sugar cube corner to get these just for me?” He questioned as he picked up the pie and took a bite out of it.
“Yeah. Well, I didn’t really know what you liked so I figured Pinkie would’ve known! Plus, if she did, I could get it there too.” Her voice had grown softer, along with her expression. She lifted a spoon up to her lips, drinking the tomato soup from it.
“Well, the good thing about these pies is that you can have a full one while still technically only having one slice.” He placed the pie back down onto the plate in front of him. Twilight rolled her eyes at his words.
“So… how long did it take for you to get all of this ready?” He questioned as he jammed his fork into the food in front of him. Twilight paused for a moment, beginning to think back to everything she did.
“Well, I’d say that everything took a couple of hours. Well, most of it was spent with Rarity and helping me with this look. She wanted to do more, but I said no. Didn’t think I should over dress for something like this.” She murmured as she dabbed her muzzle with a napkin. She paused for a moment before taking out another book. “Well, if you want, we could both see how much we understand about science.” She offered with a grin as she shook the book a bit.
“Y’know what, I’d like that. There’s actually a couple fundamentals I want to see if you ponies understand.” He nodded as he stood up and walked over towards her. He slowly sat himself at her side. Twilight opened the book and began to flip through the pages.
“And that’s why Isaac Newton is credited for jump-starting the scientific revolution with his findings of the fundamental laws of gravity and laying the groundwork for Calculus. Though, I know a handful of people that hate him for that. Then again, they hate calculus.” He smiled as he wrapped up his brief synopsis of his world’s beginning of modern science.”
Twilight was scribbling everything down furiously. This was so much information! She should really assume that there’s still a bunch of information he’s keeping secret about his world by this point.
Rigdon fell silent, his eyes looking at the mare sitting beside him. He could feel time slow as she concentrated on her documentation. His heart was practically screaming as he sat there. Even if she did make the first move the other day, now it was his turn to show her up. “Y’know, I never really noticed how great those glasses fit you.”
This caused her to stop writing, her cheeks flaring up in the process. She placed her things down before turning towards him. “You… really mean that? You aren’t joking or something, right?” She furrowed her brows a bit as she interrogated him.
“Of course I ain’t joking! I think Rarity made a great call with this look. Really captures everything I like about you… Especially with you being an egghead and all,” He teased as he gently pinched her cheek.
Twilight playfully batted his hand away. “Uh-huh, says the king of corny science puns.” She retorted. Well, she did have him there. They both fell silent soon afterwards.
Twilight began to give herself a pep talk, hyping herself up to do something. ‘Remember what Rarity said! Confidence is key… It’s alright Twilight, you can do this. You can make the first move.’
“Hey, Rigdon?” She said softly as she turned to face him. Rigdon raised a brow as he caught her shifting out of the corner of his eye. He slowly turned to his left so that he could face her.
“Yeah? What is i-” He was cut off by the sound of hooves hitting against the wooden floor. His eyes widened as he was filled with the sight of purple. He felt one hoof rest against his chest before…
He didn’t know how to process what just happened! It was just so fast… But, after a couple of seconds, it began to hit him like a freight train… Twilight was kissing him.
Twilight’s brows furrowed as she continued to hold the kiss. The wind made its call with a soft whistle as it blew through her hair. Her mind was practically screaming with giddy excitement as she did this.
Rigdon was also freaking out on the inside! His hands hovered over her legs, shaking slightly. Before he could voice his actions on what just happened, Twilight was pulling off. She stood there for a moment, staring at Rigdon’s dumbfounded expression. A worried look began to fall on her face as her mind began to reprimand her actions. ‘Oh my gosh, was that too much? Did he not like it? Sweet Celestia, I knew I shouldn’t have done that!’
He stared at the worried pony in front of him. He slowly reached forward, his hand gently cupping her cheek. “Twilight, look at me.” He commanded. Twilight let out a small ‘eep!’ as he made contact with her. She still had a worried expression on her face. Rigdon slowly leaned back into her, embracing her with his body. Rigdon reached forward, his hands gripping the glasses that were on her face. He slowly took them off and placed them aside before returning his hand to her hoof.
His lips were firmly pressed up against hers. Twilight’s eyes quickly shot open with surprise. Well, now he’s even with her. Time felt like it had fully stopped—that the world had stopped moving all together. She only cared about him at this moment… Not anything else. She was going to enjoy this. She slowly moved forward, meeting him in the middle with the same passion he offered her. She didn’t know how long this was to last but… she hoped it wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
Dimitri held his rifle tightly as he stood by one of the many houses in this strange new world he found himself in. He had been drafted but a few weeks ago, and had been sent to the Texas offensive. In his opinion, he didn’t understand why there had to be so much bloodshed and violence. Though, he can’t complain. After all, those who complained were arrested and never heard from again. He just wished that he could be back on his farm with his parents.
He slowly marched back and forth, his helmet tightly fastened against his head. The sound of the wind reigned supreme. This unknown town had been suppressed by the ‘mighty’ hand of the Soviet Union. He had been tasked to guard the small cages that housed what seemed to be horses. He didn’t understand why, but they looked awfully different from the ones he had trained back on his parents’ farm. These ponies had more colorful coats and manes, even having what he could only describe as some weird artistic brandings on their hind-quarters. He could’ve sworn that some of them had wings and or horns.
He continued to walk back and forth, his body moving on an invisible track, bound by the orders of his officer. Though, his curiosity kept on nipping at the back of his throat. He wanted to see what this… animal was up close. He slowly stopped, his head slowly turning to look over his shoulder. What he saw was one of those horses. Erm, ponies would fit them more. They seemed much smaller to qualify as a horse. He brought his gun up and over his head, quickly resting his now free weapon against the steps.
His body slowly turned towards the cage, his gaze slowly falling upon the mare that was held inside of it. Her head was slumped over, her ears pulled back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she wasn’t happy that she was in the cage. His gaze softened slightly as he stared at her. Soon, he was caught by surprise. She now had her eyes on him.
The baby blues that were now trained onto him made him unnerved and left a bad taste in his mouth. Just the expression she gave him felt so human. Those big, expressive eyes stared deep into his soul. He felt as if he was being judged for his participation in keeping her locked up in that tiny cage. He could feel a knot slowly form at the back of his throat as he continued to stare at her. Then, to defy all logic he knew, she began to speak. Not only that, she was speaking English of all things. Or, that’s what he thought it was from all of those videos the training had shown him.
He didn’t know what she was saying, but the tone of someone’s voice is universal. She was clearly discontent with this entire situation. That bit of conscience in the back of his head was begging for him to let her go—that this wasn’t right. That sentiment would only grow as time went on. He sucked in a breath of air through his teeth, letting that breath out after a few seconds of holding it in. That small voice in his head had won out. He couldn’t just sit idly and leave her trapped there. He knew that only bad things were to come from his actions, but to hell with that.
He knelt down on one knee, his eyes now level with hers. He reached his hand forward, his fingers grazing across the locking mechanism of the cage. He slowly began to roll the numbers in place. A small click was heard as the lock was removed. The mare’s eyes widened as she watched him open the door. She didn’t think that he would actually open the door for her! She slowly backed up, her hoof raising slightly. She was still very cautious about what his intentions were. He got back up to his full height, taking a few steps back so he gave her some room.
She slowly emerged from the cage, her eyes welling up in tears. She looked up to him and muttered a couple of words which he could only assume were ‘Thank you’. He watched her gallop off, a weight slowly lifting off his chest. He couldn’t help but have a smile on his face as he watched her make her escape. He could only hope that what came next wasn’t that harsh. He made his way back to his rifle, his right hand firmly grasping the pistol grip while his left hand reached forward and held the barrel of the gun. He slowly pulled the gun up and held it near his chest.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out. He looked to his left, smoke rising up from a far away building. He quickly gathered the strength to run towards the source of the commotion. He let out a desperate gasp as he finally closed in on the source. There, he found something that would chill him to the bone. A mare with a pristine white coat and rainbow-esque mane hovered a few feet off the ground. What accompanied her were other ponies, this time dressed in what looked like armor. She would yell up at the top of her lungs, causing him to wince in pain. After her voice died down, he would watch in disbelief as the English interpreters from his company threw down their weapons and walked over to the enemy with their hands held high in the air.
A silence filled the air, the surrounding area slowly growing more palpable by the second. He didn’t know who fired first, but soon the town was embroiled in street to street fighting. A loud ringing filled his ears as the screams were drowned out. This was the first real action he’s seen in his life, and it scared him. It scared him so, so much. Instead of fighting, he ran. He just dropped his gun and ran. He pumped his arms back and forth as the noises slowly grew louder. Eventually, he ducked into an open house, his breath hot and soft.
A small creak echoed through the house, causing Dimitri to sharply turn his head to the left. What he saw was a filly staring at him like a deer in headlights. He slowly got up, his mouth beginning to open before he was hit in the back of the head by something hard. His body slumped to the ground with a small thump.
Rigdon gently straightened his shirt, his nervousness expressing itself at his fingertips. He straightened out every crease that his eyes caught. Twilight stared at him, confused at his sudden compulsion of neatness. Usually he would be the one to scold her about her neat-freak habits. Then again, they all had been summoned to the castle for the trial of those captured earlier this month, so she understood his sudden need for presentability. After all, she did take an embarrassingly long amount of time getting ready as well.
“Here, let me fix that for you,” Twilight cooed softly. Her horn lit up, encasing Rigdon’s torso in her purple light. His shirt would move around slightly as she thoroughly unwrinkled his shirt. “There! Now you shouldn’t have any wrinkles on your shirt.” She gave a warm smile as her magic dissipated from his body. Rigdon reached his hand to his chest, dragging his soft digits against his shirt, finding no wrinkles anywhere. Well, that was one problem relieved from his conscience.
“Y’know you don’t have to be this dressed up. It’s just some jury duty thing,” Rainbow Dash piped in as she rested her hooves over the seat of the train as her eyes trained onto the both of them. This caused both Twilight and Rigdon to stare at her with a vengeance, causing her to back off to her seat. This gained a chuckle out of Applejack, of course.
“Well, Rainbow, it doesn’t hurt to arrive in style! It’s great to have at least some standards!” Rarity would pipe in with her nonsense fashion talk that no-one understood, but nodded in agreement anyways. Pinkie and Fluttershy were both asleep. Rigdon expected Fluttershy to be the one to sleep on a train ride, but Pinkie certainly didn’t strike him as the type to sleep on rides.
The train whirred to life, letting out a loud scream as its wheels gripped onto the metal framing of the rails, slowly halting its mindless march onwards. The sudden change from motion to brakes jerked everyone from their seats. Fluttershy stirred in her sleep, her eyes slowly opening and adjusting to the light. Pinkie on the other hand had already sprung to life, her energy quickly returning to her. He will never understand how a mare like her can have so much energy. The train continued to loudly screech before finally, it came to a complete halt.
Everyone stood up and headed towards the now open doors. Rarity took a while since she had insisted on bringing a “couple” of bags with her. That was a very subjective word to describe how much she had packed. Though, despite all the things with her, it didn’t slow her down one bit.
“Now ah’ don’t think I’m ever gonna get used to this place. It always continues to amazes me,” Applejack complimented the architecture of Canterlot, her eyes gawking at the beauty around her. Twilight gave a prideful smile, taking great content out of Applejack’s praise of the city. She then let out a soft cough, quickly yanking her mind back into professional mode.
“Remember everypony, we’re here just for the trial. We aren’t here to check everything out… Despite how enticing the library might be.” She looked back to everyone. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her words.
“Yeah yeah, we got it. We’re just here for that trial thingy…” She would scoff lightly at Twilight’s scolding.
A small cough would grab the attention of the group. They all quickly looked forward, only to find two guards standing in front of them. “Ah!” Twilight quickly chirped out. “These must be our escorts,” She announced.
Escorts? Twilight never told him that they were to be escorted to the castle. This seemed a bit too much for his taste. Was this their way for witness protection? He isn’t going to argue, though. He’s seen how tough these ponies can be firsthand. Rarity unloaded all of her stuff onto the unlucky guard that was closest to her. He gave a worried expression as he grabbed the puller with his wing. Looks like someone was going to get a workout.
Pinkie was the first one to enter the castle, amazement filling her face as she took in all of the sights. “Oh my gosh, this place is so beautiful! I’m so excited to go into the main throne room!” She voiced her excitement before turning to Rigdon, who was the second person to enter. “Aren’t you excited, Rigdon?”
He gave a small shake of his head. “I guess it is a bit nerve wracking to see Celestia again.” He nodded off to her. Rarity gave a puzzled look as she stood next to him.
“Again? You’ve already met her before?” She interrogated him. Rigdon gave a firm nod in response. “When was it? I don’t remember you telling us that you have done so before.” She quickly added on.
“It was around the time I first came here. She requested to see me a couple of days after I met Twilight. Anyways, we only talked for a little bit—nothing too crazy,” He added. Fluttershy slowly caught up with Rigdon, quickly giving her opinion on the matter.
“It was nice of her to invite you over to talk when you first came here… I bet you were quite nervous at first,” She gave a soft smile. “Did you get to drink some tea with her? Twilight told me that she has a good tongue when it comes to it.”
Rigdon swung his head back to look at Twilight, who was now hiding her face from his judging gaze. He slowly swung his head back so that his eyes were set on what was in front of him. “No, we didn’t drink anything. Though, if we do get to speak once more, I might keep that in mind.” He reached up, gently scratching his chin as he did so.
The pair of gigantic double doors screeched to life as it was opened up, exposing the insides of the room it kept safe. A handful of ponies were gathered on both the left and right side of the room. Princess Celestia was at the head of the room. Though, this time around, she was not alone. A mare with a coat as dark as the night sat next to her. Her dark blue, ethereal mane was speckled with tiny stars. From the history Twilight has taught him, he can only assume that this was Luna.
The guards would show them to their seats. Rigdon, still wanting to maintain his clean look, took a bit longer to sit down since he wouldn’t get any wrinkles that way. The moment they were all seated and comfortable, Celestia spoke up. “The royal court is now in session. Please, escort the first one in.” She nodded to one of her guards. The guard gave a firm salute before heading off into a nearby room. A couple of moments later, he returned. This time, he came with a Russian in handcuffs. It was the Captain—the one who gave the kill orders in the first place. Rigdon could never forget a face like that. He was brought to the middle of the room, directly in the line of sight of the two sisters. Luna was glaring daggers at this man that was in front of her. Celestria, despite her ever growing anger, kept a calm and collected expression on her face.
The man was a hardened soldier and it clearly bled into his actions. He held a stern, serious expression as he stood there. Celestia gave a small cough, quickly clearing her throat before beginning to speak. “There are no words I can use to describe the heinous crimes that you have committed against my little ponies. I never believed that there could be a person that could be so cold towards another one’s life, and yet I’ve been proven wrong,” Se spoke with a stern voice. “The details that have been given to me from countless ponies are revolting. I hope to never bear witness to such carnage again in my life.”
The man would begin to say a couple of words. Luna’s face would contort into one of offense and shock. The nearby translator would let out a gasp. The man would then spit onto the pristine floor in an act of defiance. Rigdon was certain that Luna was about to go apeshit on him! Though, Celestia would calm her before it came to that. The two sisters now conversed, Luna still visibly pissed off as they spoke in a whisper. After a little while of talking, Luna would finally calm down, taking a deep breath afterwards for good measure.
“Not only have you harmed others, but you have taken to insulting Luna and myself. There are no words to describe how evil you are,” She called out, her voice a bit louder than earlier. “That’s why after some discussion, we have come to an agreement on your punishment. Not only is it just, but there is nothing below it that could ever be seen as the right punishment for you,” She paused for a moment. “You will be sent to Tartarus, where you will spend the rest of your natural life.”
If Rigdon had some type of drink in his mouth, he would’ve spat it out! Tartarus?! He was getting sent to literal hell? Well, besides the fact that he was going to get banished, this world actually had a hell? He couldn’t even imagine what this man was going to go through.
Luna closed her eyes, her horn lighting up a bright white. A blue portal would appear in front of the man. She then hopped up from her throne and down towards the rift to Tartarus. She nodded to the guards that were near him. He was brought up before being shoved in, the guards and Luna quickly following suit. After about a minute, Luna would return with the guards. She had a noticeable sly grin on her face. She trotted back to her throne, gracefully sitting herself back down. The portal would finally close once she did.
Rigdon leaned over towards Twilight, his voice coming out in a hushed tone. “You never told me that there was some kind of underworld for this place,” He would mutter out softly. Twilight slowly moved back towards him, a confused look on her face. Rigdon had told her about his culture and their view on the afterlife, but this was different.
“What, Tartarus? It’s a bit different than what you humans think about… what did you call it? Hell? Anyways, it’s just a jail for those who’ve committed serious crimes against ponies and others alike. I didn’t think I’d have to bring it up because I didn’t plan on this happening! Plus, no pony has been sent there in centuries,” She quickly replied back to him. Rigdon gave a soft nod as they exchanged information.
Celestia cleared her thought once more before speaking up, “Bring the next one in.” She commanded. One of the mare guards, who was now closest to the door, gave a quick nod before opening the door and walking away. Rigdon let out a soft breath as he sat there. This was going to take a while, wasn’t it? He can only hope that time wasn’t so cruel to him.
Rigdon had his head rested against the wooden table in front of him. He used the surface as a pillow. Sleep had claimed him not long after the first couple of sentencing for the Russians. Soon, a hoof would begin to tap against his shoulder. His eyes slowly began to blink open. Fatigue and tiredness both still had a firm grip on his body. His senses slowly returned to him as his mind grew increasingly aware and active.
What he found was the stern face of a purple unicorn mare staring back at him. Twilight continued to push her hoof against his shoulder.. “Rigdon—Rigdon get up. We only got one more sentence to go through.” She announced to him in a hushed tone. He let out a soft grumble as he slowly pushed himself in an upright position. His eyes slowly but surely focused onto the scene in front of him. He could feel his worry grow as he witnessed a stallion push a handcuffed Russian in. Unlike the others, he was much younger. He looked like he could be no older than seventeen. He could even say he might’ve been at least late sixteen!
This made him think to himself… Why would the Soviets have a soldier this young in their ranks? Even if he was a conscript, they haven’t been letting in teenagers his age since World War Two! What the hell was going back at home that was so bad that even the Soviets had to conscript younger able bodied men? These thoughts would only further plant the seed of worry in the back of his mind.
Dimitri stood in silence, his hands shackled tightly to each other as he was put in front of the two princesses. He mumbled off a few words to the translator to his left, which of course caused the translator to go wide-eyed in shock. “He says that whatever his actions were, he’ll take full responsibility for them,” The stallion would squawk back to Celestia and Luna.
Luna, of course, liked this human. Unlike everyone else who begged for mercy despite not giving any, Dimitri didn’t think he was above consequences. Celestia gave a quick glance over at her sister. Luna gave a small nod before beginning to speak up. “We believe that some time in the dungeon should suffice. It shall only be but a few full moons, for you have not been found in violation of anything great,” She spoke softly. The translator would repeat Dimitri’s sentence to him. He took a deep breath before giving a small nod.
Just then, a voice would cut through the silence from the crowd of ponies. Everyone practically jumped at the yelling voice. Soon, they were all trained on the source of the voice. What everyone found was a mare, whose coat was a soft beige, and her eyes a vibrant blue. Dimitri stared at this mare, his eyes widening. This was the pony he had let go.
“Wait! Please don’t put him in the dungeon!” She called out once again, this time stomping her hoof against the ground to really project her words more. “You should just let him go!” Her words caused many in the room to gasp. Why would she still want to let him go even after all the crimes that he has committed?
Luna raised a brow at her words, wondering why she would ever want to let him off scott free. “Is there a reason as to why you would be so forgiving of this man?” She questioned her. The mare let out a small ‘eep’. At that moment, people could say that her confidence shrank three sizes.
“Well, he saved me! He could’ve left me in that cage, but he let me out,” She managed to bleat out. She let her head hang low as she spoke once again, her voice much softer, “I don’t know what would’ve happened if he hadn’t done anything.”
The two Royal sisters looked over at each other, exchanging a couple of choice words in the process. They quickly turned back to the mare, Celestia finally giving her opinion on the matter. “If what you say is true, then I suppose that it would be fair to give him a different punishment, would it not, Luna?” She questioned before turning her gaze to Luna.
Luna nodded in agreement. “Yes it would. It would be unfair to ignore this new development.”
“Instead of the dungeon, this man will instead get a stern lesson in our ways of treating others. He will receive a new education here, and will have to write a mandatory report every two weeks or sooner if applicable. He will stay here for the first few weeks so that we can keep a tab on him to make sure nothing goes wrong,” Celestia spoke out, “But, if he were to harm another one of my little ponies, then I will not be so kind with him next time.” Her voice became flat as she gave a warning.
The translator would relay all of this to Dimitri. He stood there, his jaw on the floor. She was treating him with kindness? He was a part of the problem, and she was letting him go, just like that—complete with a new education? He was stunned, along with a multitude of other emotions that he couldn’t form into words.
Celestia slowly turned to face her personal, star pupil. “Twilight, would you like to be the lead teacher in his rehabilitation?” She questioned her. Twilight seemed to burst out from excitement. Though, as quickly as it came, another thought came onto her mind; what about her friends? She slowly looked over to the gang. They all voiced their support for her doing this—especially Pinkie. Rainbow, however, didn’t give an input because she was sleeping.
She slowly turned back to her teacher, finally giving an answer back. “I’d love to do it!” She gave a huge grin. “Wait, can Rigdon stay with me too?” She asked in a pleading tone, her eyes conveying one of begging.
Celestia stared at Twilight with confusion. Then, the reason as to her begging hit her like a ton of bricks. She gave a sly grin, her eyebrows wiggling slightly in the process. This caused Twilight’s mouth to hang open, her cheeks quickly flaring up. Lifting her hoof up, Celestia quickly suppressed a giggle. She then lowered her head. “Very well. If he would like to come along, then it would be no problem setting up accommodations for him as well.” She then raised her voice a bit as she announced, “Royal court is now adjourned! Twilight, would you and Rigdon stay behind so we can discuss bedroom arrangements?” She questioned.
Both Rigdon and Twilight stared at each other, before looking back to Celestia. They both gave a visible shrug, along with a nod. It took a while, but everyone had soon spilled out of the Throne room. Luna had left as well since she needed to tend to the dreams of everyone. Celestia quickly approached the pair. “So, how is this going to work? Do you two want your own separate rooms?” She started off. Suddenly, her entire demeanor changed. She seemed like a different mare all together. “Or would you both enjoy time in each other’s company?~” She carried her voice through the room. That grin on her face was just… so suggestive; like her previous words weren’t already.
Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. Her own teacher—who she regarded as divinity itself, had made a suggestive comment with herself and Rigdon. Well, she can’t exactly say that her words weren’t untrue, since they totally were. Now that there weren’t any nobles around, Celestia was free to release a bit. She let out a laugh at her pupil’s reaction. “Oh it’s fine, Twilight! I’m just pulling your hoof!” Rigdon was just friendly fire in this entire escapade.
Twilight let out a grumble, letting her head hang down so her hair covered her face. “Yeah, we’d like one room,” She mumbled softly. Celestia opened her eyes, her ears barely catching Twilight’s voice as she said those words.
“Hm? Did you say you would like just one room?” She repeated, making sure that she heard her right. Twilight gave a slow nod, causing Celestia to perk up. She slowly turned her head to one of the remaining guards. “Would you mind showing these two to one of the guest rooms? Do make sure it’s in a close vicinity to Dimitri’s room,” She added. The guard gave a salute before beginning to lead the pair away.
Of course, like with his expectations, the castle was as windy as he thought it would be. Twilight, on the other hand, seemed like she knew these halls pretty well. What closed them off to their room was a large, heavy set of double doors. “Thank you kind sir.” Twilight bowed her head at the guard. He took pride in her compliment before walking off. A purple magic would envelop the doors before they creaked open. Twilight looked back, Rigdon slowly following in after her. Once he was finally in, she shut the doors, a gust of wind escaping as they were sealed in.
Rigdon quickly found his way towards the squishy bed, his body making one half of the bed his. Twilight took a couple of steps forward, her body language clearly conveying an overall layer of nervousness. “I’ve… never been in a bed with another pony before.” She murmured softly as she took another step forward. Rigdon gave a small smile as he patted the spot open next to him.
Twilight, feeling a bit more encouraged, quickly found herself inching closer towards the bed. Once she ran out of room, she began to climb in. She was now laying on her side, her mind racing with thoughts on everything. “How am I going to do all this? I’m not a teacher? What if I disappoint Celestia?” She began to worry. Rigdon rolled his eyes before moving closer to the egghead in front of him. Twilight found herself in the arms of Rigdon. His grasp was firm, yet delicate. His warmth was unmatched from anything she had felt before. She slowly nuzzled into him, her muzzle finding itself against the middle of his chest.
Rigdon closed his eyes, his hand slowly combing through her hair. “It’s going to be alright, Twilight. I know you’re gonna do great… Plus, if you need any help, I got your back,” He reassured her. Slowly, he leaned down and planted a quick, soft peck against her forehead. Twilight gave a small breath as she laid there.
“I guess you’re right… It’s not going to be easy, but… It just takes some practice.” She slowly wrapped her hooves around him, her own grasp on him slowly growing tighter. Sleep came quickly and easy in but a few moments.
Twilight let out a soft grumble as her body began to stir. She made shallow, rigid movements—her senses blinking back and forth between being on and off. Her brain kept on metaphorically kicking her right in her flank, her own voice yelling at herself to get up. After all, she had a long day ahead of her! She slowly stood forward, Rigdon mumbling softly as she broke away from his grasp.
She tilted her head down so she was facing him. She couldn’t help but grin like an idiot as she watched him sleep. Slowly, she bent forward. A tender kiss was left on the sleeping human’s cheek. Twilight quickly hopped off the bed, a soft squeak echoing out as the mattress let out its sigh of relief when her weight was lifted from it.
Twilight soon found herself in the washroom of the guestroom. Sweet Celestia, the bathroom was huge! Why would anyone need such space? She wasn’t going to complain anymore, though. She was going to indulge in the delight of a hot shower. She needed to loosen her muscles anyway! Her magic quickly engulfed the two handles to the faucet. She made sure to balance it so that the water was warm: not too hot, nor too cold. She lifted her hoof up, quickly bringing it forward ‘til she was about a couple inches from touching the water.
She quickly stuck her leg into the water, the warm liquid quickly wetting down her fur; the water was perfect. Hoof after hoof, she slowly pulled her entire body into the water, a soft gasp escaping from her lips as the water embraced her body. This should really clear her mind for the long day ahead of her. Twilight continued to lower herself in the water, her entire body quickly diving beneath the surface of the water, her head still making sure to stay above. She threw a couple of bath bombs in the water, along with a long squirt from the soap bottle provided.
Her body was now engulfed in a cloud of warm soap suds and bubbles. The soap worked its magic, quickly spreading over and lathering her entire body. She felt like she could spend her entire day here… It was as if she was laying on a fluffy bed of clouds. Huh, no wonder Rainbow always finds those things extremely comfortable. She sat there for about ten more minutes, letting all of her worries melt away. Though, nothing can completely take away the worry of teaching! She was so nervouscited.
Was there going to be a translator? There had to be one!… right? After all, she didn’t speak another language. After some more abuse by her inner thoughts, she quickly stood up, the water turning on once again. This time, it was the showerhead that sprung to life. Twilight quickly began to wash off the soap from her coat and hair. Once done, she quickly pulled the plug that kept the water in. As the water began to disappear to an unknown fate down the drain, she got out of the shower. She picked up a towel and began to run it across her figure.
What seemed to be a pedal protruded out from the wall; this piqued her curiosity. She reached forward, quickly pressing her hoof onto it. A whirring sound began to call out as she was doused in hot air. After a few moments, the air had completely dried her off. She stood there, flabbergasted at what just happened. Looking at herself in the mirror, she found that her hair had been left as a poofy mess. Well, it’s nothing a hairbrush couldn’t solve. She brought the brush up to her hair, deciding to fix that mess first.
She dragged it through her hair over, and over, and over again, the knots in her hair slowly coming undone. A little while would pass—her mane and tail now fixed in its usual style. When it came to her actual coat, she made sure to brush everything out very thoroughly, except with her chest fluff, which she decided to leave a bit more prominent than usual.
The bathroom door flung open, quickly catching itself before it slammed into the wall it was heading to. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, her magical grip dissipating. She was glad that she caught the door. She didn’t exactly want to wake Rigdon up. The giant double doors that kept their room closed off were suddenly brought to life. It slowly but surely opened itself up to the outside world, Twilight slowly spilling out into the hall of the castle.
A guard was standing at attention near the door. She slowly walked up to Twilight and gave an announcement. “The princess would like for you to join her at breakfast,” She said with a monotonous tone. She then quickly got back into her position. Well, this certainly was a surprising treat! She hasn’t had some one on one time with Celestia in a long while! She gave a solemn nod to their words before heading off.
As she traversed the halls, her mind raced with scenarios of what was to happen later today. Her mind, deciding to pull a goof, played out scenarios where she would mess up, or make a fool out of herself. Her heart began to race as she worried more about her newly formed teaching career.
A couple wrong turns and asking around later, she found herself at the entrance to the dining area. It really is hard to traverse this place, even if she was a bit rusty with the room placements. Though, she was certain that there were some renovations to account for the return of Luna. “Alright, Twilight… It’s just breakfast,” She let out a small laugh as she cupped her own cheek. She quickly planted her hoof back onto the ground, “Everything’s going to be fine!”
The moment she walked in, she was blasted with the wonderful, intoxicating smell of fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, and pancakes! She shut her mouth tightly, her muzzle scrunching up as she stopped herself from drooling right then and there.
“Ah, Twilight! It’s good to see you. I take it you slept well?” Celestia would question as she welcomed her student with a warm smile. She had a small teacup suspended in her magic, of which was as golden as the sun itself. The cup floated over to her lips. She closed her eyes as the cup tipped itself over gently, gracefully pouring its wonderful liquid contents into her mouth. Twilight slowly approached the table, quickly taking a seat across from her mentor.
“Yeah!” She started off with a cheery tone. She floated a plate over to herself, along with a couple of berries to start her breakfast off. “We slept great. Rigdon’s still in bed, which is actually surprising. He’s usually the one to get me up for sleeping in.” She let out a small chuckle at the thought, a raspberry floating up to her mouth, of which she took a bite out of.
“Well that’s great to hear!” She lowered the teacup onto the saucer below. She then placed everything down onto the table, “I did give you a recently tidied room on purpose after all.”
Twilight gave a gaze towards Celestia. Was she only doing this to be nice, or did she do it because of some… other thing she thought would happen. Her suspicions were confirmed when she quickly averted her gaze down, now finding the floor interesting. God, she was such a prankster when she wanted to be! One moment she can be posh—the next she’s teasing you about the littlest of things!
She rolled her eyes at Celestia’s aloofness. A teacup was raised up towards her. She took a couple of thorough gulps from it before setting it back down. Of course, smelling the awkwardness in the air, Celestia struck once again! She slowly leaned in, a sly grin planted on her face “So, how did you two first get together? Was he the one to make the first move? Or… were you the one to tell him?” Celestia interrogated.
Twilight let out a loud groan at her words. She was worse than her mom when she saw her around stallions. She stuffed her face with more fruit, giving a couple of courtesy chews before swallowing. Celestia couldn’t help but give off a small snort at her pupil’s antics. “Alright, alright. I will not pry anymore if you do not want me to.” She calmed her voice, a hint of laughter still at the back of her words. She pushed her fork into a few cut pieces of pancake.
Twilight gave a nod, appreciating that she knew when not to go too far. She lifted her cup of tea, sighing as he took a gulp of the heart-warming liquid. Oh yeah, now that was some quality tea. She stayed silent, the awkwardness reigning supreme in just a few moments. Celestia didn’t keep quiet, though. “You may not know it, Twilight, but you’re an excellent teacher,” She said supportively. “Your friendship lessons have taught both me and Luna a lot. I know that your friends would say the same. That’s why I picked you to teach Dimitri! I know that you’ll do an amazing job.”
Twilight was astonished at the words that left Celestia’s mouth. Teaching? Her and Luna? How can such words be put in the same sentence?! Twilight mumbled incoherently, her head beginning to spin. One, two, three! And just like that, she was out cold on the floor! Looks like breakfast was going to end a little earlier than usual.
A folder would slide across the table in the middle of the room, quickly finding its place next to the pencils and thick textbooks. Its crooked stance was quickly corrected with the help of purple magic. She then moved onto a couple of more miniscule objects and made sure to straighten them out as well. Once everything looked good, she sighed and sat down onto the seat at the head of the desk. Now, all she had to do was wait. She was a bit early, but Dimitri should be arriving any moment now.
As if everypony else was listening to her thoughts, the door opened with a loud, old creak; right on que. The guard was leading both Autumn, the translator, and Dimitri into the room. They both took a seat relatively close to the front. Dimitri seemed particularly entranced by everything around him. The guard gave a small nod before heading out of the room.
Twilight let out a small sigh before loudly clearing her throat, getting the fullest attention of both Autumn and Dimitri. “Welcome to the class about all things friendship and Equestria!” She spoke out, a hint of excitement traveling with her words. “My name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle! This is my first time teaching, so I’m as excited as you are.” Her words came out quickly and without breath.
The pony sitting next to Dimitri shared a couple of words with him. He gave a small nod as he stared at the newfound teacher in front of him. He still had a slightly sour look on his face though. He still wasn’t used to this unusually friendly nature of others. After all, in his eyes, someone wouldn’t be this nice unless they wanted something in return.
“So, the first thing I’m going to teach is Ponish! That can leave room for Olde Ponish if you really want to.” She leaned in slightly as she pretended to whisper those words. “Anyways, I was told that it’s actually quite similar to a language in your world called English. The only real discernible difference is the written alphabet between us and you.” She continued to douse the both of them with information.
A small pointing stick would become engulfed in her magic. The thin piece of wood would fly over to the chalkboard, now pointing at the letters that had been written on it. “This right there is the Ponish alphabet,” She called back to the two. Dimitri had his eyes completely focused on her, “It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it!” She smiled at him. She brought her hoof to her mouth, giving a thorough cough as she prepared her singing voice. Once ready, she began to sing. “A, B, C, D, E, F, G~” She would draw out her voice on G. She continued on, stopping every so often with that same drawn out action.
Dimitri squinted softly, paying close attention to not only how the letters were sounded out, but the rhythm and tone that her singing carried. Sure, it would’ve been easier to only focus on one thing, but he isn’t going to slack off! He gave a couple of soft nods, his hands folding together as he continued to listen. The moment Twilight was done with the song, he would unfold his hands to give her a couple of firm claps. It was the right thing to do!
Twilight became flushed; She certainly wasn’t expecting such an ovation! She gave a small ‘Thank you’ before returning to her lesson. “Alright! Now you try singing the song! It’s alright if it takes you a little bit; any progress is still progress after all.” She would encourage him.
Dimitri sat there, his brain processing the song. He quickly went over it again and again in his head, making sure that it was going to come out perfectly. When he did speak out in the form of a song, it wasn’t that graceful. His voice was slightly deep, his accent heavy, and his pronunciation terrible. Though, he still was speaking Ponish. “A, B… C… D, E, F…G.”
He certainly wasn’t a singer or some choir boy. He fumbled over some letters, but that’s to be expected. Despite pausing a little in between singing, he wasn’t doing that bad of a job! It certainly was better than hearing Rarity’s Prench. Twilight gave an approving nod as she listened to him sing off all of the letters. A couple minutes later and he’s finished with the alphabet.
Twilight gave an enthusiastic smile, clearly excited with how fast he was able to pick up on the alphabet and the song that went with it! She lifted the piece of chalk once more. “Now, we’ll be learning about basic words—like hello, or how are you.” She spoke out as she quickly wrote the words down. “Ms. Hazel, would you mind coming up here and writing down the translations for him?”
Autumn wasn’t expecting to be put on the spot like that by Twilight! She stuttered momentarily. “O-Oh! I uhm… sure!” She gave a firm nod before getting out of her seat. She walked up to the board, her wing unfolding and quickly grabbing a hold of one of the many pieces of chalk. She began to write away on the chalkboard, placing each translated word next to their respective ones in Ponish. Dimitri gave a soft ‘Ohh’ as he read the translation.
Twilight quickly broke up the word ‘Hello’ into its two syllables. She did the same thing to the other words. “Okay! Every word has syllables. These can be used to pronounce words easier. Take hello for example; its syllables are Hell, and Low. Hell, and low.” She continued to go back and forth, saying the syllables over and over again, her hoof quickly moving between them as well.
Dimitri looked back and forth between both the word and the syllables, his mind processing how to say it. He paused for a moment, his hand reaching up and gently scratching his chin. He finally decided that he felt confident enough to try and say the word. He opened his mouth and said, “Hello.”
Once again, his voice was craggy and dominated by his eastern slavic accent. But, that doesn’t really matter! He still was able to say hello in english! Well, according to Twilight it was Ponish, but it’s practically the same thing.
Twilight’s eyes lit up as she heard him speak for the first time. Well, in a way that she could understand. “Good! Could you repeat that again? Repetition is key!” She spoke out. Autumn would quickly translate what she said for him. Dimitri gave a complaint nod before taking a deep breath.
He spoke out once again, his voice sounding a bit more smoother. “Hello,” Every time that he said Hello, his voice became more confident and his pronunciation smoother. Soon enough, he was saying hello over and over without fail! “Hello.”
Autumn had a huge smile plastered on her face. She felt like she had personally helped him begin his first steps in learning a different language. Twilight gave a solemn nod as he continued to speak his first word in Ponish. She then grabbed both a Ink pen, along with a piece of paper. She walked over to him, gently setting it down onto his desk. He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. “Here, write it down! Not only does it encite repetition, but it also helps your penmareship!” She called out. Autumn was quick to translate what she said to him. Dimitri, now armed with what to do, gave a complaint nod as he stared at the word on the chalkboard.
He slowly began to scribble the word down onto the paper. He then made a note next to the word that stated what it translated to in Russian. He looked at the other words on the board and did the same thing to them. He then wrote the words down over and over, his brain ironing everything over as he did so. Once done, he placed the pen down. Twilight, not wanting to waste any time, had already gathered a couple of language books that housed everyday phrases and words. Autumn, ready to help all that she could, had already taken her place next to Dimitri.
“Alright, this seems like a good place to stop. You’ve done a great job so far, Dimitri! Just make sure to keep practicing,” Twilight spoke softly as her magic shut the book in front of her. The book was quickly floated away and filled itself back in its respective area. Despite the class having ended, Autumn and Dimitri were still conversing, albeit in his native tongue. She smiled at the sight, the both of them laughing and getting along like a house on fire. Even though he still knows little about this world, she has a gut feeling that he’s already made a friend. Gosh, she couldn’t wait to tell Celestia about his progress!
Twilight hummed as she headed to the front door. She opened it, her figure soon stepping out into the hallway. The guard that had been there for the morning shift had been rotated out. She gave a slight bow of her head before heading off. Twilight made her way through the endless halls, her intended target being the Castle’s extensive library. As she walked past the hallways, something caught her attention. Out in the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar human in the science section of the castle. She turned her body filly to the side to now face the person in front of her.
Rigdon was looking around the room, his eyes filled with amazement as he glared at all of the wonderful gadgets that modern science had brought to this world. She slowly approached him, her own eyes drifting off to what he was looking at. Rigdon had his eyes fixated on one of the most advanced objects Equestria had to offer—the microscope!
“Looks like somepony is wandering without permission.” Twilight cooed teasingly as she stood next to him. Rigdon turned his head to the side and down, the purple unicorn now in his view. He rolled his eyes before turning back to the instrument of science.
“ Did you really think I was just going to be satisfied staying cooped up in that room? I swear, sometimes I think you’re being clueless on purpose!” He replied to her. Twilight gave a small shrug. He did have her there.
“Pretty cool, huh? It’s called a microscope. It’s pretty new, and there’s still a lot we don’t know! Did you know that there’s trillions of bacteria around us at this very moment?” She hit him with a science fact, her voice filled with pride at the accomplishments. Twilight became flabbergasted as Rigdon stared at her with a ‘No duh’ expression: like what she just said was common knowledge. “Don’t tell me your world has this too…” She murmured softly, her ears flattening against her head.
“Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer is that we’ve got a WAY better understanding, especially if you’re confined to this archaic piece of equipment. But, then again, I can’t blame you. Humans tend to lean into the more science aspect since we don’t have magic. It does make sense your tools are outdated by our standards since you have magic to do most of the heavy lifting,” He would provide his argument.
Twilight let out a disappointed sigh as she stood there. “How far are we behind with this technology?” She questioned without looking his way.
“About three hundred and sixty-nine years give or take,” He replied bluntly. Twilight wasn’t even surprised at this point. “So, how did the teaching lessons go?” He changed the subject to her day. Twilight’s demeanor quickly switched its enthusiasm back on.
“Oh, well it was great! I mean, it was a bit worrisome going in at first, but everything worked out pretty well! Dimitri is actually progressing along quite fast! Though, with your language being the most spoken in your world, it wouldn’t be out of the question that he’s already picked up some English words.”
“So… I saw a local cafe a few blocks down yesterday. You wanna join me for lunch?” Rigdon would point his thumb back towards the door.
Twilight gave a big smile as she quickly turned back towards the door. “I thought you’d never ask.” She quickly retorted. “It’s on me, though!” She called out as she began to walk away.
Rigdon quickly followed her, his voice quickly calling back at the fleeing unicorn. “Like hell your ass is! I’m paying this time, sparkle butt!”
