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My Little Apprentice

by Starscribe

Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Known and Unknown

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Chapter 7: Known and Unknown

Chance read out loud, speaking slowly as she translated the original english into Equestrian words. She traced her hoof over the words as she read, finding the gesture much less helpful than memory indicated. Stupid tiny words and big hooves. At least she managed to hold the book open with the rest of her body as she read, which she probably would not have been able to manage a few days before. She was adapting, and quickly.

Critical failure of organic components. Simulated intelligence activated. Critical failure of simulated intelligence, CONTACT ADMINISTRATOR.

Adaptative emergency algorithm upgraded to root status. WARNING: This algorithm will require approximately 1.98*10^7 operating hours to reach UNTRANSLATABLE status. This exceeds mission allotted parameters.

DANGER: Unknown energy source detected. DANGER: UNTRANSLATABLE detect this unit has exceeded maximum shock tolerance of 50 standard gravities. DANGER: Critical damage detected to internal UNTRANSLATABLE core. Switching to UNTRANSLATABLE backups. DANGER: Probability of mission failure 98.19%. Entering hibernation.

Hibernation Cycle Terminated: Complex life detected. Analyzing behavior. Complex behavioral patterns detected Probability of Sapience: 89.46%. Activate UNTRANSLATABLE protocol.

Twilight could restrain herself no longer, and rested a hoof firmly on Chance's shoulder. "Wait, Chance. Could you... what's wrong with some of those words? There's got to be some approximation you can use. The equestrian language has over a hundred thousand words!"

Chance shook her head, looking frustrated. "The words are all proper nouns, Twilight. Maybe I could try to translate them into their function, except..." Her frustration grew, and the book nearly fell from her hooves. "I can't remember what any of them are supposed to do! I'm sorry, Twilight. I just... no matter how hard I stare at it..." She was squinting hard at the book, as though she suspected that the smaller she made her eyes the better she would be able to understand. It clearly did not work that way, though. Twilight frowned, patting Chance on the head.

"Alright Chance. Just relax... you're already doing more than any archaeologist in Equestria has ever managed, assuming those translations are right. Hold on a minute... Spike, get some paper and a quill. I want you to write everything she says, so we can send it to the Royal Academy." If they had a starting point, they could check for correspondences in the written symbols and figure out how likely it was Chance's translation was accurate. Not that she had any doubt the filly thought she was right about it, but it would be better to be sure. If there proved to be some correspondence to similar words and symbols, they might be able to use it for a basis to translate everything written in that ancient language, one day! She couldn't help but feel a little like Daring Do thinking about all of this. Maybe she ought to take Chance to the ancient temples depicted in these books when she was older.

Twilight refused to allow Chance to continue until Spike had brought paper, and he was on the ground looking up at her from below. “Ready Second Chance!” He said, sitting with the air of one about to perform some very important duty. No doubt he was more excited about this assignment to act as scribe than he had been about many similar tasks Twilight had given him over the years. Writing something down nopony had ever heard before was a big responsibility! “Okay Chance, go ahead and start at the beginning, and we’ll go from there.”

She did, speaking more confidently now as she reread those parts that she had already translated once. It was much easier the second time, though part of that was going slow enough for Spike to keep pace. As she read her eagerness to return to what remained grew. Maybe… maybe this wall was a message for her! She knew she had a mission here. Maybe if she was very lucky, the wall would remind her what it was.

Communication attempt successful. Message transcription:

Native species, honored greetings on behalf of the United Earth Federation! This device has sustained critical damage and is unable to accomplish its purpose. Does your world possess UNTRANSLATABLE or UNTRANSLATABLE?

Negative response received. EM frequency transmissions negligible. Likelihood of pre-UNTRANSLATABLE society: 97.15%. Critical Mission Failure. Watchdog subroutines activated. Entering Hibernation.

That was where the wall ended. Frantic, Chance flipped several pages further, but whatever else might be in this book, it wasn’t English and she could not make sense of it. Reluctantly, she closed the book and pushed it back toward Twilight. “That’s where it ends.”

Twilight nodded, though she took the book from Chance’s grasp much more forcefully than was her usual style, and she had to take a look for herself to confirm. She looked between the book and the translation, but Chance could plainly tell from her expression that she could make no sense of it. Her desperation briefly mimicked Chance’s, but then her expression softened. “What do you think all of that means?”

The response took some moments. “Where did the writing come from?”

Twilight seemed to be considering something, though Chance couldn’t be sure of what those complicated pony expressions meant. Eventually she spoke, with somewhat hesitant tone to her voice. “From an ancient temple somewhere far far away, before Equestria even existed. They worshiped an idol of some kind.”

The filly pondered that a moment. “Well, it looks like I wasn’t the first one to come from my world after all.” For some reason, that statement did not bring her reassurance. Rather, it made her feel powerfully afraid. Unsafe. Her refuge was no refuge after all! Or at least… might not be. “But whatever it was, it couldn’t survive crossing. I… know why that might be from experience. If it hadn’t been for you and your magic, I don’t know if I would have made it either!”

“So you think it was completely broken?” Twilight sounded quite disappointed by this, eyes downcast. “No chance it might work again.”

Chance shrugged. “No way it will do whatever it was supposed to do. Still, it must have done something if ponies wanted to worship it.” She leaned back into the couch, trying to relax. Some reading lesson this was turning out to be. “Why? Do you know where it is?” She perked up a little as she asked, though she hardly dared to hope. If the writings were older than a country ruled by a goddess, then she couldn’t get her hopes up about anything having survived that long.

“Thank you so much for your help, Chance! You can’t imagine how big a help this will be to the ponies at the Royal Academy!” The little green unicorn was relieved enough that line of inquiry had ended that she didn’t even notice Twilight had failed to answer her question.

Her thinking was suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking sound. "I'll get it!" Spike shouted, darting over to the door.

"Guess they got to work clearing the town pretty quick." Twilight muttered, though she still looked somewhat withdrawn.

The door opened, and Chance heard a voice high and bubbly from outside. "Hi Spike! Can I come in? I've got to have a seriously important conversation with Twilight!" There was a brief pause, and she continued with a much lower, more serious tone to her voice. "She's got some explaining to do."

Twilight gulped, though Spike was powerless to notice whatever she might be up to on the other side of the room. "Sure, Pinkie! We were just doing reading lessons, nothing important or anything." He opened the door wider, gesturing for her to come inside.

In from a snowy wonderland stepped the brightest colored pony Chance had yet to meet. She was about as pink as it was possible to be, her mane a frizzy mess that followed her like something living. She seem to bounce more than she walked, heading straight toward Twilight. She stopped her bounce just as Spike slammed the door closed. "I think it's time for my morning nap." He called. Nopony seemed to be listening as he walked away.

The newcomer looked at Chance first, grinning. "Hi, monster space pony! Hold on one sec." It was as though someone had flipped a switch. As she turned away from her, it seemed to Chance as though she had just vanished from this new pony's vision. Could you really just un-see something like that? If she had any doubt on the subject, the conversation that followed would quickly put an end to it. "Twilight." She glowered at the princess.

Twilight seemed to shrivel under her baleful gaze, not meeting her eyes. "Pinkie Pie! I'm so glad you could make it here. I didn't know they had cleared the streets already."

Pinkie Pie's tone grew suddenly lighter, and her expression softened. "Course not! Earth ponies might be hard-working, but we can't work that hard. I swam, silly!" Then, like a computer loading a previous file for editing, her face turned hard again. "I waited for you, Twilight. Two days ago, remember? REMEMBER?"

Her victim nodded, slinking away inch by inch. As though that could protect her from the awful indignation of this strange pony. Of course Pinkie was fascinating to Chance for more reasons than her eccentric behavior. She was the first pony Chance had met who didn't have a horn! She stared at her head, transfixed by the lack of the strange feature she had taken to be a necessity of pony life. Of all the ponies she knew... Twilight, Rarity, Sweetie Belle... it was suddenly strange to see it not there. She seemed to be able to stare without provoking the earth pony's notice.

"Yes, Pinkie! I'm sorry! It was just, it took so long to get everything situated for Chance's wardrobe, and the storm had already started, so we had to get home right away! I didn't want the little filly to get stuck out in the snow and the cold without anything warm to wear!"

Pinkie herself wasn't wearing anything Chance could see, nor did she look wet. Whatever. She had heard from Twilight about the other tribes, and been able to see in her teacher their traits. The pegasi had wings like she did, the unicorns had horns, and earth ponies had neither. Apparently this was mostly an earth-pony town, though she hadn't got close to any of them during her one time outside the library so far. Hopefully that would change soon. These same wood walls were getting old.

"Yeaaaaaah." Pinkie said, glaring down at Twilight for several long moments. Then the anger subsided. "Well, you said you're sorry, so I guess it's okay! I only wanted to help! Speaking of which..." She leaned closer to Twilight's ear, as though she were going to whisper. When she actually spoke her voice was hardly much quieter, though. "Have you learned anything else about the space monster pony?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Pinkie. She's just an ordinary pony, like Celestia said she would be."

"Realllly." She turned her head, looking at Chance briefly, then quickly returning her attention to Twilight. "Are you sure? Did you check? The Changelings looked like regular ponies too, before they got all..." She made a gesture with her hooves that Chance couldn't interpret. "holey."

"I'm sure, Pinkie." She gestured to Chance. "You can see for yourself. She's right there." Indeed, Chance was sitting less than three meters from where Pinkie stood, watching and listening to every word.

"She's... Ahhh!" Pinkie nearly fell over herself in sudden fear, which made even less sense to Chance since she had clearly been aware of her presence the entire time. "You've got a space monster pony living with you!"

"No Pinkie. I've got a regular-old unicorn filly living with me." She sighed. "Didn't we go over all this the night Chance got here?"

Pinkie Pie was far from dissuaded, even if she did seem to regain a measure of her composure. Without warning, she stepped out from behind the princess, advancing slowly on Chance. "Okay, Twilight. We'll settle this right now." She narrowed her eyes, moving cautiously. As though Chance might spring and attack her at any moment. Not knowing what else to do, Chance just sat there, watching as Pinkie advanced on her and trying not to be upset by everything that had happened. As much as she joked about herself as an alien invader, to have somepony else use that in malice felt absolutely awful.

"She's not usually like this." Twilight reassured from behind her. "Just... don't struggle. You can't really reason with her when she's in one of these moods."

That was scarcely reassuring. Chance found herself wishing strongly that Rarity had come over instead of this scary pink pony. She might've brought Sweetie Belle! They could've played in the library and everything! Instead, the pink earth pony closed the distance between them and commanded in a flat voice. "Stand up space pony." The filly looked to Twilight for help, but all her teacher did was nod at her. Feeling fearful, she got to her hooves. It was even more intimidating to look up at the pony from the ground, so much bigger than she was. That didn't say much, though. All the adult ponies were huge.

Pinkie Pie circled her several times, muttering to herself the entire time. For all Chance thought she could understand Equestrian as good as any native, she couldn't make out a word of what the pony was saying. Pinkie sniffed at her, pulled on her tail with her teeth, and did quite a good job making her feel afraid and uncomfortable. "Alright, 'Chance', if that's who you really are." She stopped in front of her, her face an inch or so from Chance's. "You seem to be a pony on the outside, but what about the inside?" She cleared her throat. "Time for Pinkie's super-secure-personality-testing-question-test!" She grinned, pausing for what Chance could only assume was dramatic effect. "First question: What's your favorite color?"

Chance retreated under Pinkie's intense glare, but there was no respite. Pinkie followed right behind her, not giving her more than a few inches. "I... uh... what? My favorite color? Why does that... why does that matter?"

"Are you implying you don't have a favorite color?" She grew sterner, if that were possible. "Answer the question possible monster space pony! These questions are how we'll know once and for all whether you're really a pony, as you claim. Unless you can't answer."

She hesitated for another moment, though not a long one. "Orange. Kinda light orange. I had lots of orange stuff back home."

"A likely story." Pinkie said, leaning in even closer. "Just one more question possible monster pony, and I'll have your results."

Chance gulped, unable to even look to Twilight for support with Pinkie baring down on her. Twilight wouldn't let her actually do anything to her, right? She would be rescuing her from this any minute now.

"Vanilla, Chocolate, or Almond?"

"I see." What kind of questions were these, anyway? What could she possibly expect to figure out from Chance's results? Doing her best not to look as afraid as she felt, she answered, her voice faltering and fearful. "A-almond..." She closed her eyes, shielding her face with one hoof. It was only a matter of time, now. Whatever this Pinkie Pie was doing, it was going to end with her being yelled at. Her new sanctuary here in Ponyville would prove to be far less safe than she had initially imagined. Not the respite from her hell after all.

"Welcome to Ponyville!" Pinkie took hold of Chance's hoof with two of hers and shook it vigorously. It was as before, when she had been talking to Twilight. Her features were utterly transformed. Instead of a stern glare, Pinkie Pie grinned at her with one of the goofiest smiles she had ever seen a pony wear. "I'm sorry about all that! It's just that Equestria's been a little crazy lately, and lots of the bad stuff came to Ponyville before anywhere else. That's okay though, now that I know you're not an evil space monster pony monster, we can start over! I'm Pinkie Pie! Resident Party Planner, the best in all Equestria! If you ever need a party, you'll know exactly who to come to. In fact... thanks to Pinkie's super-secure-personality-testing-question-test, I also know exactly what to bake for your welcome to Ponyville party! We'll have to postpone for a few days, of course. Long enough for everything to open up again, and for you to forget so it can be a surprise!" She finally stopped shaking, though her grin never faltered. "Forget as fast as you can!"

The filly just stared. She had no idea of how to describe what had just happened, or how to understand this pony's actions. Spike and Twilight, for all they had looked strange to her at first, had acted in a way that was quite logical and also quite familiar. She could easily imagine them looking like Chance herself had looked, before coming here, and doing everything they did in some fancy library back on earth. Not Pinkie Pie. There was no conversion.

Nor did the pony seem to notice or mind that she had remained completely silent. "So, you're gonna be staying with Twilight, huh? That'll be amazing, you'll see! Twilight is one of the funnest ponies I know! At least, when she puts down her books and actually has fun with anypony else."

That was when Twilight returned to the conversation, stepping up beside Chance. Immediately the filly used Twilight's bulk to hide herself, unable to meet Pinkie's eyes for fear she might revert to the way she had been before. It didn't happen, but with as erratic as she seemed to act there was no telling when it would. "I'm glad you're satisfied Pinkie. Chance and I still have lots of things to do today though. I hope you don't mind, but she is my apprentice now. Lots of things still to do on our to-do-list!" She smiled sheepishly, unfolding one of her wings a little to better hide the filly behind her. Chance could've cried with relief.

"Okay! I've got to start planning her super-secret-surprise-party anyway. You said her name was Second Chance, right? Is that Chance with two 'z's?"

"There aren't any 'z's in Chance, Pinkie."

"Course not, silly! They'd get jealous, with all those 'c's around. Anyways, bye! It was good meeting you!" Without another word, she turned around and bounced out the way she had come, shutting the door behind her and vanishing into the snow.

Chance was unable to repress a whimper, and without knowing why she pressed herself to Twilight's side, shivering.

Twilight didn't reply for some time, just folding her wing back down over her. She stood absolutely still, as though some delicate animal had landed on her and she didn't want to frighten it away. If Chance had been in any state to notice her body language or expression, she might have noticed just how awkward this was for Twilight. She wasn't though, and only felt immense relief. Anything to be somewhere else.

Then, remembering that she had only met Twilight Sparkle a few days ago, remembering that she herself was much older than she looked and ought to act more mature, she pulled suddenly away, looking embarrassed. Why had she done that? Cowering like a child... "S-sorry..." She muttered, sounding just as embarrassed as she felt.

"Don't worry about a thing, Chance." If Twilight had felt awkward about helping her a few moments before, any trace of that expression was gone now, and only kindness remained for Chance to see. "Pinkie overwhelms lots of ponies when they first come to Ponyville. She wouldn't admit it, but she was really scared the night you got here. Something about the way you showed up unnerved all of us. She's really loads of fun to be around most of the time. All the ponies here love her. I don't think she'll do that to you again." She moved a little closer, looking down at her. "Would you like me to ask her to come back and apologize for frightening you?"

Chance could hardly have reacted faster, shaking her head suddenly. "N-no... that's fine! Like you said, I scared her! She's just looking out for you, and for her home. I'd... be worried if someone from another world was living with one of my best friends, too!" She wiped some remaining moisture from her eyes, turning away suddenly. Not only had she acted like a foal, but she was crying now? Great. Some apprentice Twilight would think she would be. Not only could she not levitate after all the work Twilight had done writing a spell from scratch, she couldn't even keep her cool when a stranger had made her a little uncomfortable.

"Good. I hope you'll give her a second chance, Second Chance." Twilight giggled quietly, trying to lighten the mood. It worked a little. Chance smiled at least. "She's giving you one, after all."

* * *

The next few days passed without much fanfare. No more world-shattering archaeological discoveries were made, and no more of Twilight's friends decided to unexpectedly show up. Pinkie's unexpected arrival had made Chance even more hesitant to leave the library than she had been before, and combined with the freezing exterior that proved to be enough of a deterrent that Twilight didn't have to resolve the issue yet of whether she would let Second Chance wander Ponyville on her own. The visit seemed to leave Chance surprisingly focused on her studies, with what Twilight could only assume was a powerful desire to prove her value both as a "real pony" and as Twilight's apprentice. She could practically hear Chance muttering to herself during the time she thought she was alone practicing magic. "Spike said she was the princess of magic. So her apprentice better get her act together and learn how to do magic too."

For Twilight's part, she couldn't possibly judge the strange traveler to her world for her failure to manifest immediate powerful abilities. It wasn't as though she had become an expert overnight either. She didn't know anything she could say to make things easier on the filly, as she remembered full well that nothing Celestia had ever said to her ever made a difference in that respect. It seemed wrong to compare herself to the beloved sun princess, but that was what she was to the filly, in her own way. Chance knew no other princess, after all. For her short time in Equestria, the other three were mere historical details unconfirmed by personal witness.

She couldn't ever get the words of Celestia's letter out of her mind, and she read it daily. The most important visitor she had ever had. Considering all the important ponies and other strange creatures Twilight had dealt with in her years under Celestia's personal instruction, that meant a great deal. What wasn't Celestia telling her? This was hardly the first time she had withheld information to allow her students a chance to grow all on their own, overcoming difficulties that would have taken her mere moments to resolve. And there were also those times when Celestia had apparently been overcome herself, and required their help. The trouble was that nopony, not even her most faithful student, could tell which were which. This was no exception. It did not surprise her that Celestia and Luna both seemed to know of the visitor. She wondered just how much they knew and weren't telling her. Still, Twilight Sparkle had a plan for that. In her way, she was as determined to prove herself to her teacher as Chance was. She could only hope she had more success.

* * *

"Just a quick question Miss Mayor, I promise I won't take too much of your time." Twilight sighed a little at the way her aids all bowed. To think of the difficulty they had sometimes been when she had been a newcomer and needed to get something done. At least the Mayor seemed to finally understand that she did not want ponies bowing around her all the time, and merely inclined her head a little. On some level, she wondered if the little ponies could help themselves. At least her best friends never did that.

"Of course, Princess." With a silent look, her aids bowed and took their leave from the office, one of them kicking the door gently shut behind her. "Please, ask away. Ponyville is at your disposal."

She nodded. "Oh, I don't need much. I just wanted to ask about the city's electrical systems." She looked up to the large bulbs mounted to the ceiling above them, as though that might help illustrate her point.

"Ponyville... electrical." The mayor repeated, as though she didn't believe the princess. From behind her desk, she tried not to look confused. It was actually quite amusing to Twilight, watching her as she tried to pretend Twilight's questions made sense to her.

"Yes." She confirmed. "Could you tell me more about it?"

"Well..." Mayor Mare sat up a little straighter, and when she spoke, it seemed she was giving a rehearsed statement. Then again, she always sounded a little like that. "Ponyville might seem quite rural to some ponies, but it's actually kept abreast of modern technologies quite well. Of course you'll know princess that most of the town is connected to the electrical grid, providing light with the simple flick of a switch!" She reached behind her with a hoof, and flicked the light on above them. Like most structures, City Hall used its lights only when it had to, since bulbs and energy both were quite expensive. Now as often, there was a window with open shutters to light up the office. "Hot water too, as you know."

"Most of the city's power is used by the water pumping station, or the hospital. Almost all of our energy comes from the hydroelectric dam, which produces enough power that we could probably provide for many of the outlying farmland as well, if there were utilities in place to get the power out there. Which is why-"

Twilight nodded, cutting the mayor off before she could launch into the rest of her speech, which would probably end soliciting Twilight's help securing the crown's financial assistance for Ponyville. It was politics like that which made her not like being a princess sometimes, and wonder how Celestia had put up with this for over a thousand years. "Yes, thank you Mayor. And... suppose, quite hypothetically, a resident needed more than just enough power to heat water and use a few lights at night. Could Ponyville's power network handle an additional drain?"

Her question had clearly caught the mayor off-guard, because she took several moments to answer. When she did, it was reluctant, looking down and away from her. "Most of the grid is quite low-voltage. The technical aspects escape me I'm afraid, but as I understand it only the water plant and the hospital can drain more than a few lights and an electric heater at a time. The wires couldn't handle the current, I'm afraid." Then she seemed to brighten, meeting her eyes. "But for you, princess, I'm sure we could make some sort of arrangement! I could talk to-"

"No, that won't be necessary." Twilight returned to all four hooves. "Ponyville has enough needs without catering to me. Besides, there may very well be other dangers." She frowned, glancing once to the door. "Can I trust you to keep what I'm about to say in confidence, Madam Mayor? It's official crown business." She took a few paces closer, standing right in front of the desk and looking as serious as she could.

The mare nodded, her eyes widening by the second. Twilight suspected the mayor of her little out-of-the-way town didn't get secret crown business very often. Maybe this was the first time.

"As the mayor, you ought to know. See, Luna has transferred an ancient mechanical device into my possession, and I'm currently storing it in the basement of the Library. We know very little about it, but my research indicates it's electrically powered. Much as our pumps and lights Madam Mayor, but hundreds or even thousands of years more advanced." She saw a look of fear forming on the edges of the mayor's lips, and she raised a hoof in a way she thought was meant to be placating. "Don't worry, it's no danger to Ponyville! It has been in the care of the Royal Institute since before Discord, and who knows how long before that. It's been very well studied and never shown any signs it might be dangerous."

"But the last pony who seriously researched it discovered it responded to electricity. But in his day, we hadn't really perfected electrical generation like we have now." She smiled faintly. "Back when the only way we knew to make it was waiting for a pegasus to bring lightning or use unicorn magic. But it's been nearly a century since then. I think we might be advanced enough to switch it on again, and keep it on!" Her smile got wider. "Think of all we could learn! Ponyville will be in the very center. Which brings me to my second question." She deflated a little, forcing herself to stifle her enthusiasm. She ought to act with more dignity, particularly around Equestrian officials like Mayor Mare. Celestia expected nothing less of her, and she had no intention of disappointing her.

"I understand I could probably ask the Ponyville Chamber of Commerce about this, but I was hoping you might be able to save me the trip."

"O-of course, Princess." The mayor still seemed stunned by her revelation from before, and Twilight could only guess what she thought about it. If she didn't want Twilight trying in her town, she wasn't brave enough to say so. Heck, even if she hadn't been a princess Ponyville owed its continuing existence to Twilight and her friends several times over. It was hard to argue with someone who had done so much for your town. For your whole nation.

"Are there any archeology clubs in town? I know we don't have anything like the Institute, but it would be wonderful to know I had a local resource at hoof. Somepony to get involved if I actually can activate this thing. Even better, if they knew more about the device itself. Do you... know if there is anything like that?"

The mayor shook her head, or at least started to. Then she stopped, and looked hesitantly back. "You would think with so many interesting sites nearby, Ponyville would have more archeological resources. Unfortunately, we're quite new in the Equestrian scheme of things. Somepony on the Equestrian Department of Art thinks we don't warrant any of the kingdom's art bits, not with the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire taking up their entire department." She sighed. "Most ponies seem to feel that a town only a few centuries old just can't have anything worth researching. In any case, Ponyville only has one organization that has anything to do with archeology, and unfortunately I doubt they're what you're looking for."

The princess frowned. "I know exactly what you mean, Mayor. A few years ago, I was the only pony in Equestria who knew or cared about the prophecy that predicted nightmare moon's return." That memory hardly seemed pleasant to the mayor either, which Twilight could understand perfectly well. She had been there too, after all. "But please, tell me about these ponies. Even if there's not much chance they can help me, they might know how to point me to the ponies who can."

She nodded obediently. "Of course, Princess. It's just... they're hardly what you or I would think of as mainstream." She took a deep breath, apparently bracing herself for whatever unpleasant thing she had to say. "They're called the 'Equestrian Precursor Society'." She shook her head then, as though speaking of the misconduct of one of her foals. "But they pay their dues, same as anypony else, and their theories are harmless enough."

"Theories." Twilight repeated, her voice flat.

The mayor shrugged. "I'm sorry Princess, but you'll have to ask them about that. Their city representative is..." She paused, opening a drawer on her desk and rifling through the files with one of her hooves. After a few seconds, she seemed to find what she was looking for, and closed the drawer. "Lyra Heartstrings, according to this. She's the one who pays the club's dues, and represents them at town meetings. Come to think of it, I haven't ever asked her if there's anyone else in the Ponyville branch..." She trailed off. "I hope that helps, Princess! I really am sorry Ponyville can't be of more help to you."

Twilight smiled, and turned to go. "Don't worry, Madam Mayor. You've been more than helpful. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon!" She opened the door with magic, and vanished down the stairs of city hall. Maybe if she hurried, she could make it to Rich's Barnyard Bargains and talk about ordering a custom-made electrical generator before it closed.

Next Chapter: Chapter 8: Welcome to Ponyville! Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 57 Minutes
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