There were two thoughts running through my head: one, he had quite an interesting accent; and two, who was Five Stars?

I gave him quite a confused look, which allowed me the opportunity to study his face. He was a little paler than Brad, with very brown curly hair that seemed to have a life of its own, springing up in different directions. His black-framed square spectacles displayed his blinking light-sea-green eyes with a little sparkle as he studied me further—my face, my mane, and finally, my horn. Seeing that, I felt confusion flowing out of him. He leaned towards his left, balancing on one leg to check on my flank.

“You are not Five Stars,” he said with some sort of finality.

When his eyes lingered, I moved my hind leg just a bit, subtly putting some emphasis on my curves. Heat escaped from him. Interesting. “Really?” I asked, giving him a small smile. “Is it my Cutie Mark that is telling you that, or my rear?”

His cheeks bloomed red, and for a moment, I felt the peaty tingle of his embarrassment as he immediately balanced on his two legs once more, looking slightly away, his finger scratching his chin. That gave me the opportunity to study him even further.

Unlike Brad, this one didn’t have that healthy look changelings like me wanted. He was thin, a little too much so for my tastes. He had some muscle mass, but he didn’t strike me as the type who would work them. However, his clothing was particularly interesting.

He wore pants humans called jeans and brown shoes. It was his stained white shirt that caught my attention, however. It had a drawing of what looked like a stylized crown and some human words written under it: Keep Calm and We Will Rock You. The wording was simple enough to translate, but the context was lost on me.

“Sorry about that,” he said softly.

I looked back at him and replied, easily, “Don’t worry. I’ll take it as a compliment.”

He laughed, and his genuine amusement warmed the area. Oddly, the sweetness of his emotion tasted almost like the coffee that was spilled, and along with the smell, it had me yearning to feed once more. I don’t know if this was because there was something seriously addicting about human emotions, or because I had been bombarded with quite an amalgam of them since yesterday. Either way, it was making me think of a few… things.

If I was going to turn him to an asset, I’d have to prepare him. He seemed interested enough in the Equestrian Pony form, but how far would he go with that? Trying to make him an asset on my current body would be useless if he couldn’t commit himself to it. While I could probably get around that, it would take a lot more material than I had absorbed from Brad last night to change my Primary body close enough to mimic human form. Plus, with my Cluster starving, spending an enormous amount of energy to complete the process seemed foolishly frivolous.

On the chance that he would be willing to go far with an Equestrian Pony, I had to prepare him physically as well. Was he thin because of his diet choices? If so, I’d have to study them, see if I could get around it. Probably start with a lot of carbohydrates and fat, just to lessen the strain on his body during feeding. Or maybe he was just thin because he was naturally like that? If that was the case, that would take more potion preparation.

I’d also never seen him before, and while I might not have the best memory in Tellus, I had been around here long enough to know most of the humans in Fillydelphia. So, was he new to the city or just the bookstore? It would definitely be easier if it was the latter, but if it was the former, did he just move in? Where did he live? Was he just visiting, and if so, what could I do to make him stay?

The last question was important in deciding how I was going to work on him. If he was just here temporarily, I could probably feed from him as Illuminating Starburst until he left, which meant breaking out all my charm to get his lust rolling. Though if he did decide to stay, investing him slowly would be the smart move, which meant I had to lay off giving him the impression of being easy.

So many questions, yet so little information—time to rectify that.

“Let me take care of that,” I said, using a bit of energy to cast a simple cleaning spell. The brown stain on his shirt disappeared, along with the liquid on the floor and on my hooves. The smell of the coffee didn’t really fade, but I wasn’t going to complain about that.

“Ah, thanks,” he replied. “Didn’t really want to change out of this shirt.”

“It is a nice shirt.”

He gave me a small smile. “Ah, you’re just saying that.” He extended his hand. “Shaun Rhys.”

I extended my foreleg as well. He gently grabbed it before bending over a bit, which caused me to widen my eyes. Was he about to give me a Noble Greeting? He might have asked himself the same thing because he suddenly paused, his emotions turning to embarrassment and surprise, which mixed to something quite strong. It tasted like strong cider that was given a bit of lemon, if that made any sense. I think I held my breath, wondering if he was going to continue, but he settled for just shaking my hoof. I gave him a knowing smile, and his cheeks reddened a bit more.

“You were about to give me a Noble Greeting,” I said, a slight chuckle escaping my lips.

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” he replied as he released my hoof.

“No, it’s fine,” I said, giving him a half-lidded smile. I lowered my pitch a bit when I added, “Especially when it comes from a nice looking stallion like you.”

A little lust began to seep out of him, and I think he knew because his lemony embarrassment bloomed even stronger. I was actually impressed when he kept his face still as he replied, “Why thank you.” He looked at me for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled. “I almost forgot how forward Equestrian mares were.”

“I’m not coming on too strong, am I?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, no. You’re fine. Though I didn’t quite get your name.”

“Oh, sorry,” I replied. “Illuminating Starburst.”

My name caught him off guard so strongly that he forgot what he was going to say. He looked at me, confusion rolling around him, mixed in with a little sweetness of his mirth. I gave him a mock stern look.

“You’re about to make fun of it,” I said.

“Of course not,” he said, jovially indignant. “Milady, I’m insulted—insulted and wounded that you’d think so little of me, a stranger you have just met.”

My only reply was to raise an eyebrow, a small amused smile creeping on my face. He held onto his offended look for just a few more seconds before he started chuckling, his emotions warming me all over, like being wrapped in a blanket. I couldn’t help but feel a bit happy as well.

“Okay, maybe I was going to make a little fun of it,” he finally said, his voice turning a bit more serious as he shook his head, “but only because it’s a mouthful.”

“That’s why my friends call me Lumi,” I introduced myself.

“Very creative,” he said dryly.

“Oh? And what do others call you, Mister Shaun Rhys?”

He chuckled. “Just Shaun for me, thanks.” His eyes twinkled. “Unfortunately, I have nary a creative bone in my body to creatively shorten a somewhat ridiculous name into two syllables.”

I smiled. “I don’t know. A single syllable name from a man of mysteries is pretty creative, I think.”

Shaun raised an eyebrow, but I knew he wanted to laugh. He was enjoying himself in the conversation, the rich wave of his emotions affecting me more than it normally should have. That warm blanket? Gone, now replaced with the kind of heat that had me tingling all over, making me feel the desire to Feed. The cumulative emotions were just right, making his energy ready for the picking. It was very tempting to any changeling, so strong and distracting that I was half-willing to just drag him somewhere private to…

I shook my head. I was so glad that Silverfly wasn’t here.

“Here,” I offered, magically levitating the cup away from his hand, “let me replace this.” I slowly turned around.

“Hold on,” he began, “you don’t have to—” and went completely silent as I turned my back completely, waving my tail a bit left and right, just enough to show, but not enough to fully expose myself.

A burst of his lust—spicy with a mix of salt—returned, this time in full force. It mixed with his peaty embarrassment and the lingering sweetness of his enjoyment. I was not an expert on reading humans yet, but I recognized the emotions well enough: he was enjoying the view, but at the same time, he felt the need to look away. He didn’t, though. His gaze was unmoving as more of his lust washed over me.

Well, that answered the question in regards to his attraction to the pony form.

“Hey,” I told Cherry, “I need another cup of what he ordered.”

“Sure thing,” Cherry replied. “You want anything as well?”

I shook my head. “Nah.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it to your table.”

“I appreciate that.” I turned around, just in time to see him avert his gaze, face somewhat unreadable. I gave him a small smile as I walked beside him, gently biting his hand to lead him towards a table. He reacted with a bit of surprise, but in the end, got comfortable being led forward.

After we sat across each other, he looked at me. “Hmmm, you ordered coffee for me, and led me to a table. So, should I worry?” he asked.

I chuckled. “Well, considering how I inadvertently spilled your first cup, I felt it was just fair to replace it.”

He scratched the back-part of his head, embarrassed. “Well, it wasn’t solely your fault.”

I smiled. “Well, if you put it that way, then how about paying me back by satisfying a mare’s curiosity?”

“Oh? And how can I do that?” he asked, returning the smile with his own.

“Tell me a bit about yourself?” I offered. “You have me a bit curious, you know.”

“How so?”

“I’ve haven’t heard an accent like yours before,” I replied. “Most of the humans I met don’t sound like you.”

“You probably haven’t met a proper Englishmen, then,” Shaun replied.

“And who are those?” I asked.

“People from the United Kingdom,” he said, “Queen and Country, all the good stuff. You should come visit. We have rain all summer.”

“I’ll pass,” I replied, giggling. “I’d rather have my coat nice and dry, thank you very much.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know. You could probably pull off the wet look.”

“You think so, eh?” I leaned a bit closer and gave him a small smile. “How about you, Shaun? Do you work the wet look?”

“Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head vigorously. “Once you get my hair wet, all you’ll see is my bony skull. And I’d rather not scare the little foals when it’s not yet Nightmare Night.”

I laughed, poking his forearm gently with my hoof. “Hmm, I’d have to see that,” I replied with a wink.

“Tempting,” Shaun said, “but I’ll take a rain check.”

“Well, I had to try at least.” I grinned at him. “I’m guessing you’re not new to Equestria.”

He nodded. “Very true. I was lucky enough to be one of the first thousand humans to visit Equestria three years ago. And I’m glad to get the opportunity again.”

“Oh, so you're only visiting?” I asked.

“You can say that.”

My mind began work. Short-term asset, or invested? “Just a nice vacation?” I continued.

Shaun hesitated. “Well, not exactly. I guess you can say I’m here because of my obsession.”

“What would that be? Beaches?” I offered.

Shaun gave me a small smile, head shaking, amused. "You are one very curious mare."

"They say it’s my charm," I replied easily, winking.

He laughed, gently and softly. Shaking his head, he placed the book he still held on the table, and offered it to me. It had a soft worn cover of an odd design. On the foreground, it had a silhouetted man with a setting sun over a city as the background. Bold and engraved letters were written on top and bottom of the book.

It took me a moment to read it. "R. S. Bradley: Daunting Steele." I looked at him. "You're here for his appearance."

"Yup," he replied.

“And obsession? With him?" I asked. “That's a pretty strong word. A mare can get jealous," I added teasingly.

“I wouldn't worry too much," he replied, returning with a wink of his own. "You are far prettier than he." Then, he frowned, strong bitterness of disgust began to seep out. I almost jumped at how fast his mood changed. "I guess I want to see the bloody bloke one more time before he disappears from the face of the Earth. Literally."

"What do you mean?"

Shaun paused, looking like he was gathering his thoughts. His emotions also began to wane, as if he was forcing them down, with only trace amounts lingering. That in itself was a pretty interesting experience.

"What do you know about Bradley?" he finally asked.

“Almost nothing, actually,” I admitted. “All I know is that he’s doing an appearance here to promote his new book.”

He nodded. “That he is. Here’s to hoping it’ll be a success.”

I leaned a little closer. “What do you mean?”

Shaun was about to reply when the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted in the air. Both of us looked at the same direction, watching as Cherry slowly trotted towards us, magically levitating a small tray with a steaming mug on top of it. When she placed it on the table, the human took a deep breath, warmth exuding out of him in droves.

“I needed that,” he muttered. He looked at Cherry. “Thank you.”

She gave him a smile. “Anytime, sir,” and she walked away.

Shaun’s eyes lingered at her retreating form for a moment, and judging by the small burst of lust, I knew what he was looking at. When he finally averted his gaze, he removed his spectacles, which gave me a better view of his eyes. He looked back towards his coffee mug, blowing onto it, spreading more of the scent to my direction, before taking a sip. He closed his eyes, more warmth and sweetness almost humming around us.

Earth and Stars.

"You must really like coffee," I commented.

"Well, it could be the company," he countered.

I laughed. "I have a response for that, but unfortunately, it might scare you off."

"Heh. I'd say I'm a big boy, but then again, Equestrian mares have a tendency to surprise."

I leaned a little closer once more. "Should I take that as a compliment, or maybe as a challenge?" I asked softly.

He just grinned, taking more sips from his cup. I was actually glad he didn't answer because I knew I was absolutely getting worked up. His emotions were solidly telling me he was liking our little flirting, which in turn tempted me to go even deeper. However, still unsure whether he could be convinced to stay, or if he was just going to leave after the Bradley event made me stay my hoof. If I went really forward, and he decided to stay, that could complicate the life of Illuminating Starburst, who earned the reputation of being a respectable professional, and not somepony who would shamelessly flirt with a customer during her work hours.

“You went all quiet-like,” Shaun declared after another sip from his mug.

I looked at him, biting my lip for a moment. “It might have occurred to me that I might be a bit too… forward,” I confessed.

“Honestly, I’ve met more forward mares,” he replied. He took another short sip before he added, as if he realized it at last minute, “and no, that wasn’t a challenge.”

It was my turn to laugh. Shaking my head, I mocked a cough, and began to sit up straight in a dignified fashion. “Okay, Shaun. I’ll try and rein myself in, but you are making it hard.”

“How so?” he asked, amused.

“The more I know about you, the more curious I get.”

He took another sip. “Oh? About?”

“Well, first, about this author of yours,” I began. Shaun’s mood seemed to dive, losing almost all the high spirits he had built up.

“Ah, yes,” he muttered. His mood improved then when he winked at me. “Why, Lumi, have I lost my charm and you’re moving to a more famous human?”

“Please, Shaun,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. “At this point, I know more about you than him. It’s just… well, I’ve never really met human authors, or even read any of their works. And I heard only a little bit about him, just enough to make me curious.”

“Fair enough,” he responded. “Okay, Bradley is a somewhat famous writer back on Earth. His long-standing ‘Steele’ series follows the eponymous protagonist, Brandon Steele, an MI6 traffic analyst who gets caught in a conspiracy to take down the government, and slowly expanded with his new status as a field agent.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. MI6? Traffic analyst?”

Shaun paused, embarrassment expanding. “Oh, yeah. Uh, MI6 is an intelligence agency in the UK—uh, United Kingdom, I mean.” He paused again. “Basically, in a word, spies.”

Okay, that got my attention. Human spies? Interesting. “So, what’s a traffic analyst, specifically?”

“Well, they are basically people who analyze any information that they found, or was given to them, and separate what’s useless and what’s useful.” Shaun then pointed towards the book. “In the series, it starts out with Steele accidentally intercepting a conspiracy to bring the UK government down. He was discredited and forced to run as the bad guys tried to kill him. In the end, he was cleared of any wrongdoing, and given how he’d shown competence in the field, he was discreetly given more field assignments.”

“Okay, that sounds rather interesting,” I said, truthfully. Maybe I ought to ask Book to lend me those novels. “This Bradley, was he a former spy or something? I mean, how accurately does he portray human spies?”

“Well, he seems to have done his research. Some say he even has a few sources inside the agency itself,” Shaun acknowledged. “There are things in his story that not a lot of regular people are privy to, but he usually favors entertainment over procedure. But then again, that’s what writers do. I mean, what’s the good of showing that research if the readers can’t follow, right? I guess that was a good move because in return, readers responded well, bought the book in droves, which had the publishers quite happy. They gave him a book deal, and boom! Bob’s your uncle.”

Bob’s your uncle? I thought, confused. Shaking my head, I said, “That sounds like he’s well-established on Earth. Even if he doesn’t succeed here, he’ll probably do well over there.”

“Yes, well that would be the case if his new book will be published on Earth,” Shaun replied neutrally.

“What? It’s not getting published on Earth? Why?”

He sighed. “When Neo Equinenox appeared, and so did ponies, he thought he could bring forth Equestria’s presence in his book as well.”

“Okay…?”

“Brandon Steele was supposed to meet with an Equestrian mare spy.”

I mentally scoffed. Equestrian spies? If they did exist, I had yet to meet a good one. “Okay,” I began, “I still don’t see the problem.”

“Well, in every Steele novel, Brandon Steele is always on the job when it comes to the females,” he replied. When my confused expression continued, he expounded, “He—uh, what’s that Equestrian term?—tucks them in.”

“Oh!” I realized. “So, he was going to write Brandon Steele and a mare…” I trailed off.

“Yes,” Shaun said. “When he put the draft out, the editors and publishers shut him down. I guess they didn’t want to promote bestiality. Or was it xenophilia? Apparently, it was… inappropriate. So, yeah, he still tried to get it published, but failed to convince them otherwise. I guess as some act of vengeance, he decided to just kill off Steele.”

“You mean end the series?”

“Well, the main character dies,” Shaun clarified. “So, technically, yeah, he ended the series.”

“He killed his own character?” I asked, shocked. “Don’t writers usually just end the series with a bit more leeway? Like, main character grows too old, gets crippled, or just disappears mysteriously?”

“He wanted to make it permanent, without shadow of a doubt,” Shaun replied. “The last few chapters of Daunting Steele had him seeing his dead wife as he slowly drowned in his own blood.”

“Ew,” I muttered.

Shaun laughed. “Okay, maybe it was overkill. Anyway, the draft he wrote, the one that the publishers rejected? He used that to create the new book, found a publishing company here in Equestria who would be willing to publish it and see how it sells."

I looked at Shaun for the moment, realizing he had actually meant the word obsession. He seemed well versed in Bradley’s work and much more informed than any average fan. In fact, I was beginning to suspect something. “Are you Bradley’s agent?” I asked.

He gave me that smile again. His emotions were acting up around him, mischievousness, embarrassment, and a little shame. “I’m not.”

Liar. However, if he wanted to play that way, I could accommodate. “If you say so,” I replied softly. “I’m actually a bit relieved.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s a possibility that you’re going to stay here longer,” I said.

“That will really depend on circumstances,” he said whimsically. He went silent for a moment, taking more sips from his cup. Then, like earlier, his mood changed, turning to the better. “Well, I hope I satisfied the mare’s curiosity.”

“Not completely,” I teased, “but I think this is enough for one day.” I paused for a moment, then nodded. “I like you, Shaun Rhys.”

Shaun chuckled. “I like you too, Illuminating Starburst. Except for the name. Honestly, it really cotton-balls the mouth.”

I rolled my eyes, hoping to return with a quip of my own when I felt a strong and sudden burst of sourness. It was so forceful that I had to look behind me, see if I could find the the source.

“Is something wrong?” Shaun asked, his own worry adding to the mix of distress.

I shivered, and before I could even answer, I heard running hoofsteps coming up the stairs. A few seconds later, the source of the distress made herself known—Silverfly. She appeared on top of the stairs, her eyes searching towards the barista counter, a few tables, then at me.

“Lumi!” she called.

“A friend of yours?” I heard Shaun ask. I looked back at him and saw him studying Silverfly.

“You can say that,” I replied, then looked back at the changeling. “Yes, Silver?”

“Can I talk to you, please?” Silverfly asked. She looked around nervously, which got my attention. She then added, “Privately?”

I looked at Shaun, who raised his cup. “Go ahead.”

“Hopefully I’ll see you again?” I asked, slowly retreating away.

“Sure,” he replied, smiling. “Next time, I’ll ask the questions.”

“I’ll be ready,” I said, winking. I turned face Silverfly before I motioned her to follow me. We went down the stairs, then passed by a few customers and other floor associates. I did a quick scan, noticing we had a slight increase in patrons, but not enough to swamp us. Still, as always, I asked another floor associate to tell Bastion that Silverfly and I were in book storage.

“Okay, what is this about?” I asked as we exited the floor. We went past the break room area and neared Book’s office.

“Um, that assignment you gave me? I found something,” Silver replied, following my hoofsteps.

I stopped and looked at her, eyes narrowing. I felt my anger slowly build up. Silverfly looked uncertain. I had no idea if it was because my emotions leaked out or because my face was showing the obvious.

“Um, was it a bad time?” she asked.

I opened my mouth, but snapped it closed instantly. I took a breath, controlling my temper. “Silverfly, I know you are very eager and enthusiastic, but the assignment was due after work. What you did was interrupt me from gathering information to groom a potential asset.”

“I-I’m sorry, Lumi, but this couldn’t wait,” Silverfly replied softly.

I turned away harshly, went past by Book’s closed office and opened the large oak doors at the end of the hallway, the entrance to the book storage. I entered the darkened room, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, and once I made sure no one was inside, I looked back at the entrance. Silverfly was still in place, looking at me unsurely. I sighed.

“Get in here, Silver,” I said loudly. “If it is that important, let’s hear it.”

“O-okay.” After some hesitation, she joined me in the darkened room. Once she passed by the doorway, I used a little magic to slam it shut, a bit loudly to show off my displeasure. Silverfly jumped a bit as the veil of darkness completely surrounded us.

“Alright,” I began, trying to keep my voice steady, “spit it out.”

Silverfly looked at me unsurely. “Please don’t be mad,” she whispered, barely audible even in the enclosed area.

“Just… hurry up, Silverfly.”

She took a breath. “Okay. Um… I had an older customer trying to find books about changelings.”

“No such book,” I replied immediately.

“Um, yeah, that’s what Bastion said as well.”

I sighed. “Please tell me you didn’t disturb me for that.”

Her eyes widened. “No, no! It’s the reason why the customer wanted a book about changelings!”

There was a pause. I tapped on my left hoof impatiently. “And what was the reason?”

“Um, he said he has a friend living in Dodge Junction,” Silverfly continued, “who sent him a letter via dragonfire.” She looked at me, the sour taste of her distress coming back so strongly that it overrode her fear of my anger. “Lumi… they found a dead changeling there.” She shivered. “Somepony broke his neck.”

Author's Notes:

Chapter 5 online!

Thanks to my proofers: shira, coandco, TownCrier, Jack-Pony, grey_conscience, Permanent Temporary, and a new addition (Whew, they keep growing), WolfeTrax.

Additonal thanks to Archonix who gave it a little read as well.

Enjoy guys.