Chapter 8

By the time Jeremy woke up and went outside, he noticed a fresh stack of clothes had been deposited at his front door. Skipping breakfast, he tried them on, noticing that they fit extremely well, on top of being comfortable and easy to wear. At around noon, he went down to find some lunch. To his surprise, the restaurant he chose refused payment. “On us,” they explained. He politely thanked them, and went on his way.

As he walked along, he wondered about hanging out with Luna, now that he intended to stay in Equestria for some unknown amount of time. She was evidently only awake during the night, so would he have to adjust his sleep schedule? Hmm. If he slept from midnight to noon, that would give him an equal time for each day, as Luna officially raised the moon around 6 P.M., and lowered it around 6 A.M. Of course, it wasn’t like he was busy. Jeremy decided to change that.

9-17-13, 8:42 P.M.

When next Luna visited Jeremy’s apartment, he was clearly busy. The skritch-skratch of a pencil on paper could be heard, and the desk he was sitting at was cluttered with drawings and notes. She walked over and examined some of them. “Those aren’t current,” Jeremy pointed out.

As Luna studied the diagrams, she smirked. “Thou art drawing up thy video games’ weapons?”

Jeremy nodded. “I might as well do something while I’m here, and I like to build things.”

Luna seemed to consider this. “Well, these are certainly… interesting… although we don’t think even a miniature black hole could be contained like this.”

Jeremy frowned. “Yeah, I know. It’d take some serious magic, and even then, what would prevent it from simply collapsing? It’d have to be fed something… Not to mention that it would have to shoot bits of itself.” Luna studied the diagram.

“We believe there may be some related research at the Royal Canterlot Library in the Physics section – why don’t thou look there?”

Jeremy was about to agree, then stopped himself. “Don’t I need permission to be in there?” he asked.

Luna laughed. “And who would give permission? We hath already informed the castle staff of thy tenure here, so there is no cause for worry.”

Jeremy blushed. “Right. Well, I’ll check it out.”

As Luna was about to leave, Jeremy remembered something. “Hey, Luna?”

She turned around. “Yes?” Jeremy thought about how best to ask.

“I was wondering… do you know where I could get a job? I’d like to not be a freeloader, if that’s at all possible.”

Luna considered for a while. “We think we have just the one. Give us a day or so to confirm with our sister, but we think thou will like it.” With that, she trotted away. Jeremy wondered what the job could be, but decided to worry about it later – he had some blueprints to draw.

9-17-13, 9:34 P.M.

The library, at least, was easy to find. It was inside the castle walls, up a few staircases, easily marked by its large glass ceiling. As Jeremy walked in, he nodded at the librarian, who after a moment’s hesitation nodded back. It was nighttime, so while the library was still very active, it was not crowded. Jeremy made his way over to the nonfiction section, and searched up and down the aisles until he came to a physics section. From there, he found a book on black holes, another on teleportation, and a third on alternative methods of magical transportation. Satisfied for now, he checked the books out and left.

Given that the ball was at 10:00, he had just enough time to speedwalk back to his apartment, drop off the books, and set off again. He slowly made his way to the location, and once he got there he saw that it was easily the busiest place around. He got into the line, and when he got to the front, the bouncer asked him for a ticket. “I was not given one,” Jeremy said slowly, hoping he hadn't missed some envelope or something during the few minutes he had been at his apartment.

“Wait… you’re the 'human', right?” the bouncer asked. Jeremy nodded.

“My mistake, go right ahead,” the bouncer replied smoothly, and Jeremy shrugged and walked in. As he went, he noticed that the place had been decked out to give a sense of romanticism – heart-shaped pillows, pink and red light fixtures, and so on. He found the stage, and noted that the audience area included what appeared to be a bar. He took a seat at the bar, feeling distinctly out of place and underage, and examined the menu posted behind the counter on the wall. To his surprise, it was fairly tame stuff, such as bagels and grape juice. Jeremy still wanted to pay for things, so he refused to order.

Jeremy stared down at the dark, varnished wooden table, wishing he had some sort of money to actually pay for some kind of beverage - all that speedwalking had left him thirsty. From the seat on his right, an oddly colored paw pushed over a glass of vibrantly red punch, evidently intending that he drink it. Jeremy took the punch, mumbling his surprised thanks, and began sipping away at the cherry-red liquid. As he drank, a thought occurred to him, and he stopped sipping the punch to look back down at the cream-colored bear paw. He was still a little culture-shocked by this land of colorful talking ponies, so it took him a while to realize that the bear paw was not, in fact, normal -  even under these circumstances. He turned to its owner, eyes traveling quite a distance upward before they hit their ketchup-and-mustard-colored counterparts, and dropped his cup in alarm. It landed quite unharmed on its side, the liquid staying in – Discord was sitting next to him, watching him with an expression of utmost amusement as the draconequus crossed his arms and leaned back slightly on his wooden seat. Jeremy coughed nervously, sending punch through his nostrils. “Why are you here?” he asked warily, unable to keep his cool expression and hiding his face by wiping it with his sleeve - it was one thing to laugh at Discord's antics in the show, and quite another to meet the guy in real life. This draconequus could literally turn him into a carrot if he so desired. He noticed the sweat on his arms, unhelpfully noting it was probably due to nerves. Discord, noticing his fear, laughed uproariously.

“Oh, so you’ve heard of me! Good, good. As for why I’m here… well, surely you know what this night is for?” Discord asked, with the air of one about to drop the nuclear bombshell of a lifetime and a smile that stretched halfway to his ears. Jeremy shook his head, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Oh my, Luna told you nothing? She must have wanted to surprise you, then! Well, I don’t see any harm in spoiling it prematurely – this is a couple’s night karaoke. You know, the style where one asks out the other in song?” Jeremy began blushing furiously – why did Luna invite him to this? “And, my, who could be on the singing list?” Jeremy seriously hoped it wasn’t him – he was not prepared for this. “Why, good old Princess Luna!” Discord continued mercilessly, leaving Jeremy feeling slightly faint. “Of course, she hasn’t sung for anypony in a thousand years or so due to going crazy and trying to enslave everypony as Nightmare Moon - oh, I'm sorry, she probably didn't tell you that either. Spoilers!"

Jeremy looked at him, taking a moment to interrupt wherever this conversation was going. "Actually, I knew beforehand," he mentioned, and Discord appeared to be stumped for a moment.

Recovering quickly, he smugly continued. "Well, who knows? Maybe she’ll finally pick somepony - oops! Wrong suffix, my mistake. Or is it? Ta ta, enjoy the punch!” And with that, Discord disappeared in a flash of pink, choking smoke. Jeremy stared at the spot Discord had just occupied, coughing and attempting to wave away the smoke.

Surely, Discord had been kidding. He and Luna hardly knew each other! Sure, they were developing friends, but Jeremy felt this would be going a little too fast. Also, he was an alien. Jeremy didn't think for a second that Princess Luna's first impression upon meeting an alien race would be "Boyfriend material". As he waved away the smoke, Princess Cadance took a seat next to him, surprising him once again. “What was that all about?” she asked.

“Discord,” Jeremy coughed by way of explanation. Cadance wisely nodded and blew away the rest of the smoke with a flap of her wings. “So…” Jeremy casted about for some form of conversation. “You must have thought me pretty gluttonous last time we met,” he nervously laughed.

Cadance giggled. “Not really. Luna told me how long it’d been since you last ate, it’s perfectly understandable - in fact, how did you stay awake so long? Is your kind normally energetic enough to fight like that for hours?”

Jeremy chuckled. “Yeah… probably should’ve packed some food instead of the medical supplies - which I forgot to bring anyway. And definitely not, I think it might have been adrenaline or something - I don't exercise that much.”

From there, they discussed the various aspects of cleaning up Equestria after the war. “The recuperation effort seems to be going pretty well, and I’ve stayed behind to help, as well as for this night. It’s my favorite night of the season!” Cadance excitedly proclaimed. This only confirmed Jeremy’s half-dread, half-anticipation, and he attempted to find a change of subject.

“…Say, whatever did happen to Chrysalis?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, she’s in the dungeon. She’ll have a trial, and be appropriately punished.” Cadance said. From the look on her face at the mention of Queen Chrysalis, Jeremy didn’t really want to press the matter further.

“So, why is this your favorite night?” Jeremy asked.

“Because, all these ponies falling in love, and I don’t even have to help them along. It’s great!” Cadance said, beaming.

"Say, I noticed Luna's on the singing list - and while he's not exactly reliable, Discord did say something about proposing via song. Who's she singing to?" Jeremy asked, dreading the answer.

To his surprise, Cadance shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine - although to be honest, I can never read her properly. With other ponies, I can tell when they're in love, but Auntie Luna's always been a bit of an enigma. Maybe she's finally come out of her shell?" Jeremy shrugged, before pausing in thought.

“How even does your magic work? I know how love works in the brain, but does your spell excite just the right neuroreceptors, or what?” Jeremy asked, scientifically interested.

Cadance thought for a while. “That’s one way of putting it – as far as I know, I just mix the love in my own body with a little magic and send it out. Some Crystal Pony scientists tell me that it's actually magic mixed with three chemicals - dop...dopamine? And... two others, although they don't quite know which.” Jeremy nodded appreciatively, as this knowledge might come in handy later - and he did know which three compounds they were talking about. He was about to say something else, but at that moment the lights dimmed and the stage brightened. A very formally dressed mare slowly walked out, picking up the microphone.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome to the two hundred and twenty-fifth annual Couples’ Night Karaoke, Day One. Joining us today are…” she pulled out a list of names and read down, without once stopping for breath. Thankfully, the list was fairly short, but Princess Luna was near the end of the list. So Discord wasn’t kidding, Jeremy thought. Does she really mean something by this, or am I just reading too far into it?

The first singer went up on stage, a colt with a brown coat, yellow hair and blue eyes. Jeremy examined the line of ponies waiting to sing – Luna was curiously missing from her place. On the other hand, this pony had a beautiful voice as he sang lustily about a certain fair maiden – who, judging from the teary-eyes and cheering, was somewhere in the middle. Cadance was watching with a faraway expression on her face, and Jeremy looked on in trepidation.

As the list progressed, Jeremy got more and more concerned. All the ponies had great singing voices – yet they surely couldn’t all be professional singers. He reflected back to the times he had hummed and sang while he was here – he’d been nothing short of perfect, each time. What was up with that? He’d ask Cadance or Luna after the performances were finished.

Finally, it was Luna’s turn to sing. Luna walked on from backstage, and Jeremy skipped a beat. She was wearing her hair in a classic ponytail – still not quite normal for hair, but it was certainly obeying the laws of gravity – and he could tell she did that just to mess with him. Jeremy adopted a casual expression and began to take a sip of the fruit punch as she began her song. It sounded kind of familiar.

“I threw a wish in the well, don’t ask me – I’ll never tell…”

Jeremy’s hand froze halfway to his mouth. No way. No way. Was he hearing right? Luna caught his eyes, and winked at him. Next thing he knew, he was sitting right at the front as she continued to sing. Jeremy watched, unsure of how to react. On one side of his brain, his sarcastic demeanor was more vitriolic than ever. Of course you should have seen this coming. You’re a hero, her new best friend, and all that. On the other, his realism was kicking him something fierce. Her? Wanting you? Ridiculous. She’s a princess. She has anyone on the planet to choose from – what are the odds of her choosing a violent alien who happened to help her once? Luna continued singing as ever, but seemed to be glancing concernedly at him every once in a while. Jeremy, after quieting his inner voices, went back to paying attention and gave her the thumbs up. At the very least, he could rate her performance truthfully – if he were blind, he’d swear on oath that Carly Rae herself was right in front of him.

Luna finished her serenade, and stepped right off the stage in front of him. “So, how was that?” she asked. Do it, his sarcastic voice prompted. Don’t do it! his realistic one pleaded. Ah, to hell with it, Jeremy decided, and immediately hugged her. “That was the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life,” he said to the audience at large, who burst into applause.

Luna returned the hug, and to his shock, kissed him on the cheek. “We are glad thou enjoyed it…” she said.

Jeremy looked around at the crowd, who was watching them expectantly. Oh, right. This is the part where you ask. Jeremy gulped nervously, and cleared his throat. “Luna… would you like to be my girlfriend?” A few hollers were quickly quieted.

Luna looked up at him, eye-to-eye. “Yes… we have decided. You are the one we want.” Once again, the entire audience burst into applause, in the traditional pony way of stamping their hooves, and Jeremy was reminded of how odd this was for high society.

As Luna had been near the bottom of the list, the rest of the songs went quickly. As Luna and Jeremy filed out of the seating area, Cadance gave them a wink and a nod, and Jeremy, after some hesitation, returned the nod before turning back to Luna with a seriously confused expression. "What made you want to be with me, anyway? I'm not exactly prime coltfriend material, martyr complex aside. Plus, I'm an alien - you're seriously not batting an eyebrow that I'm one and a half times your height, have almost no fur, am bipedal and have odd coloration?" Luna looked at him in shock, and her expression quickly turned to anger.

"We do not care! No pony has risked themselves so fiercely for us, and no stallion dares court us in our world! Thy looks are irrelevant - is it not always said that it is deeds that count in the annals of history?!" By now, she was quite terrifying, wings outstretched and her voice firmly locked in Canterlot Royal. Jeremy backed away, hands raised in surrender, and Luna looked at him for a moment before calming down, her wings drooping back down to fold at her sides as she adopted a penitent look. "We have tried romance before. We always failed. To them, we were either the untouchable Princess of their nation... or the last remnant of a monster." Where before she had looked terrifyingly huge, now she looked small and scared - Jeremy had an extremely strong urge to hug her. But he didn't think she'd take that well, so he remained silent. Sensing this, Luna pressed on. "But thou... thou art different. Thou art unaffected by my history, even with thy knowledge... and thou hast treated me as nothing but a friend. Just... a normal friend..." Luna sniffled for a moment, and that tiny motion was like a battleaxe straight to Jeremy's heart.

Jeremy sighed, and extended an arm out, pulling her into a hug against his better judgement. Luna appeared surprised, but a second later nuzzled into it, looking up at him with a watery smile. Jeremy smiled back, not even caring anymore that he was in the middle of the street and there were ponies watching. "Sure, you're scary. I'll admit that you've terrified me more than once." The ponies behind Luna were frantically shaking their heads, but Jeremy ignored them - he had to finish where he was going with this. "But... that's part of the fun of being around you. I'm never bored when you're around, and..." He trailed off, realizing what he was saying.

Luna looked at him for a moment, before smiling slightly. "See? Thou understand after all." Jeremy realized he had just talked himself into the opposite viewpoint - that he and Luna cared for each other after all, and this wasn't some fever dream. Unable to form a response, he remained silent, before slapping a hand to his forehead and chuckling. He got back to his feet, and Luna straightened out a bit before motioning for him to follow her.

“So, we may as well 'keep the ball turning', so to speak - art thou in the mood for another surprise?” Luna asked. Jeremy raised an eyebrow and nodded, ignoring the improper phrase - he figured she probably got enough nagging for that already.

Luna led Jeremy to an office complex, inside a door that was labeled “Research and Development”. For the first time, there was a lock on the door. Luna took out a very old-fashioned key, and unlocked it. Pulling on the light switch, on a single table in the center, surrounded by various experiments, was a computer. “Whoa…” Jeremy whispered. The monitor was, of course, silver-plated, and as big as a desk drawer. The computer itself was almost as big, but Jeremy put this off – this was probably the first computer ever built, after all. Luna turned it on, and Jeremy was once again surprised – it was currently signed in to his accounts.

“No Internet – we couldn’t establish any kind of connection without having a constantly open interdimensional portal nearby,” Luna explained.

Jeremy nodded. “Understandable,” he said. “This is clearly the best gift I have ever received.”

Luna blushed at the compliment. “Before taking thy leave, we would recommend thou examine the desk.” Jeremy, still wanting to play around with the computer, reluctantly left to study the desk.

The silver placard caught his eye. “Head of Experimental Design – Jeremy”, he read. And then read it again.

“Design away – and we’ll find the materials that can do the job. Not bad for thy first employment here, hmm?” Luna said, smirking. Jeremy’s hand shook. All the weapons. All of them. He thought of something to say, some small parlance that could express his tidal wave of gratitude.

Fortunately, Luna seemed to get it. “Thy pay rate is determined by how much thou do – so don’t feel too grateful…” Jeremy chuckled - that wouldn't be a problem for a long time.

Luna left shortly after, to attend to royal business - but not before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and causing him to blush furiously. As Jeremy walked home, he noticed ponies were staring and pointing even more, if that was possible. True to form, he ignored it.

9-17-13, 11:04 P.M.

Jeremy slumped down on his bed, sighing happily – it had been a hell of a night, though by no means a bad one. Tucking himself into bed, he turned on the small lamp next to the bed and opened the first book. For the rest of the night, he was lost in the intrigue of theoretical and magical physics – taking notes, drawing new diagrams, and crossing those out and drawing newer diagrams. He hardly noticed when his head hit the pillow and he sunk into dreamland…

Next Chapter: Chapter 9 Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 34 Minutes