Somehow, Tabitha found herself seated at her table as Coco set out food for her. It was nice to have someone else doing that, just because they wanted to, but there was a part... "We're still not..."

Coco smiled as she hopped up across from Tabitha. "You deserve this, whether or not we proceed. Right now, we're just friends." She rolled a hoof a little. "Even if we're... familiar with one another. Whichever way we decide to go, I hope it's as friends. And I mean that! I'm not an elf." She put a hoof at her chest almost defensively. "I'm not trying to lay a trap."

Tabitha heard just a hint of desperation there. Coco really was lonely. Well, so was she. She wanted someone who didn't need her. Razz had needed her, and the elf needed her another way. Coco didn't need her, not those ways. She wanted a friend, and if they did more than that, bonus. "What'd you make?"

"Oh, this?" She waved over the collection. "I saw you had meat stashed away, so I figured you liked it." Tabitha began to blush faintly as Coco described how she had prepared it with the mostly vegetarian dish. "I hope you like it. Eat up." She pointed at the food with a hoof. "My specialty's clothing, but I'm not bad at food, I hope."

Tabitha did eat, and did enjoy it. While her tongue sung the praises of the food she consumed, her eyes wandered over the mare she shared it with. Looking past the horse exterior was becoming easier, bit by bit. It helped that she was one, and she didn't hate herself. She thought she was a good person, and being half a horse didn't negate that.

Coco was pretty, for a horse. Her loins disagreed, quietly informing her that she was pretty, especially because she was a horse, and a well formed one at that. Tabitha was glad she was dressed, not wanting to ruin a meal with... She suddenly remembered her scent. "Coco, are you alright?"

"Hmm?" She perked her ears. "Why shouldn't I be? Do you like it?"

"It's lovely." And it was. "I more meant the whole stink thing. The one that knocks ponies for a loop."

"I-it's still there, Tabitha." She blushed faintly. "Once you've been smacked with it once and know about it, it becomes different. I feel a bit warm, but I don't feel that... urge. Or perhaps it is an urge, and now I can just face it and say 'yes' or 'no', just like being thirsty doesn't mean I have to rush to the nearest tap immediately." She lowered her snout and grazed on her food neatly a moment. "Does it affect you?"

Thinking about it suddenly, Tabitha realized that it had to. It explained too much about her current... state. She had that 'urge', she just decided against it far more often than not. Coco's explanation made too much sense. "A bit. I don't want to make dinner awkward by gabbing about that though."

She reached over a hoof and rested it on one of Tabitha's hands. "You're not bothering me."

Tabitha's fingers curled and soon she was holding that hoof gently. The contact made her feel good a bit, and brought a new blush to Coco's cheeks. Neither argued about that moment. They could be friends... Maybe... "Wait a moment."

Coco perked her ears. "Hmm?" She drew her hoof back carefully. "What is it?"

"I'm really trying to not... I'm not a pony." Her words were slow and methodical, trying to avoid tripping.

"No, you're not." She nodded. "You weren't born one, and you don't think like one. I was wrong for pushing that label on you earlier." She flashed a charming smile. "You are Tabitha, and I like her."

"I am Tabitha..." The thought almost bounced around her skull as she said it. It was a trueism, but that made it true, did it not? "You don't make dinners for all your friends."

She blushed faintly. "Not usually... But I don't have many I would call a friend, not like that. There's Rarity? I'd like you to meet her. You two would probably get along. She's a business owner too, you see."

That intrigued Tabitha a little. "She also makes clothes, I remember you saying?"

"Oh, yes, but it's different." Coco gestured to the window. "She owns a store and runs it by herself. She mentioned she even wants to expand to other stores in other cities. She's really driven." She shrank a little. "I get a little jealous thinking about it sometimes. She... I don't have that kind of drive. I'll be happy just to see one pony wearing what I make up. The idea of a whole store..."

Tabitha could see Coco was becoming overwhelmed by that thought and reached for her, petting once through that soft mane. Coco made a little happy noise and turned upwards, pressing her snout into the palm. "Why do you keep doing that?" It wasn't an accusing tone, or an angry tone, but the question remained.

Tabitha's fingers curled and she stroked an ear. It was soft and warm and twitched just so when she pet it right. It clearly had an effect on Coco from the way she stared at her and squirmed a little. She was being very personal, she realized. She was touching a place that ponies didn't rush to touch on one another without familiarity. It was... just like a human stroking another human's head. You just didn't get away with that without being good friends or more.

Why was she doing it? "I... suppose it feels nice." That felt a bit like a cop-out, even if it was true. "I had a cat, when I was a little girl."

Coco blinked at that. "You're petting me like a cat?"

Tabitha realized that sounded awkward. "I don't mean it that way! It's just... Look, I'll stop if you want."

She leaned back and nuzzled that palm again. "Do you pet other ponies?"

It was Tabitha's turn to darken a little. "Mostly you."

"Then I accept... in private." She nodded slowly. "Please no petting in public. Ponies may take it the wrong way."

Tabitha ran a finger down a sensitive ear towards the skull beneath. "You were saying, about Rarity? Did you want us to meet?"

"Oh! Well, she doesn't live that close..." She ran a hoof in a slow circle on the table. "She lives in a town far away called Ponyville."

Ponyville? "Does she visit often?"

"Not so much," admitted Coco with a sigh. "It's always nice when she does, but she is a busy pony. I can't ask her to stop by more often than she does." She raised a hoof. "Next time! I promise, I'll get you two together."

Before Tabitha even noticed, she had a few fingers under Coco's faintly trembling snout, stroking the smooth fur there. "It's alright. If she's a friend of yours, I'm certain she's worth waiting for."

Coco's words stammered a moment before she drew back from the petting and panting for breath. "Y-you're very personal." Her tail flicked fitfully. "I don't mean that as an insult! Oh..." She seemed to realize she was painting herself in a corner.

Tabitha held up her hands quickly. "Hey! Don't feel bad for my mistakes. That was on me." Coco seemed to relax. "Thanks for this food, by the way, it's great." It was heavy on the greens, purples, and even some yellows, but it was tasty and filling. She had the belly of a pony, eating like one couldn't be so bad, right? "Thank you, for being a friend."

Coco smiled brightly. "I meant to ask, all of this?" She gestured around at the apartment. "Even around the building, I see things that just don't... fit. Are they from your home?"

Tabitha was surprised, even if it was true. "Yes." She'd gotten used to ponies missing details. "This room especially. It was mine before, and it came with all of my things."

She stepped down from her chair lightly and approached the largest device, her computer. "This one always seems to have your attention, at least compared to the others. What is it?"

Tabitha tensed a little. "Careful there. That's irreplaceable." Did ponies have computers? She hadn't seen one yet. "Imagine a notebook you can use with basically infinite pages that can also hold music and pictures. It also plays games."

Coco looked over her shoulder at Tabitha. "You're describing a miracle. Why haven't you, I mean... You could just sell this and be well off forever."

Tabitha blinked at that. She might be able to do just that, but... "First off, it's mine. It's one of the few gifts I have left really, and being a centaur hasn't stopped me from using it, thank god. Secondly, without knowing like... a thousand other things, it's just a magic box. It'd just become a curiosity until it broke, then it'd be mostly worthless."

"May I see your magic box?" She pointed at the computer. "You said it plays games?"

Tabitha abandoned her spot at the table to approach with the clip-clop of the horse she partially was. She grabbed one controller and passed the other to Coco, even if she looked confused at it. "Let's try something simple." She got a cheap and simple game going and began guiding Coco in how the buttons she pressed made things happen.

Soon, the pony was playing with a smile. Tabitha still had no idea how they pressed individual buttons or moved the analog stick with big hooves, but the earth pony seemed even more skilled than the pegasus at it. She supposed that had to be true to a point, with no wings or magic to lean on. Regardless, Coco proved to be a capable player, and a good loser, and a good winner as well.

After about half a dozen rounds, she put her controller down gently. "Is it magic?"

Was it? "I guess, for certain definitions... It's technology, but a bit forward of what I've seen so far."

Coco pointed off to the camera that sat in its bag on a shelf. "Does that feel primitive? It's near the best out there."

Tabitha struggled to find a polite way to put it... "Well... Here." She rose up and retreated to her room, only to return with her old phone. Sure, it had become quite worthless in the new world without towers and internet to work with, but for that case... "See this little thing?"

"Yes?" She tilted her head back and forth at it, trying to determine what the nearly flat rectangle of plastic could be. "What is it?"

"This little thing is a phone that doesn't need any cords, but more than that, it's also a computer, just like that." She pointed at the desktop tower. "Just not as powerful. It can also store sounds, like talking or music. It can also... take pictures easier, better, and without development."

Coco's eyes were as wide as saucers. "You lie!" She clapped a hoof over her mouth afterwards, blushing. "I'm sorry. Please, um, show me? Take a picture and show me, without developing it."

Author's Notes:

Coco learns the wonders of human magic and all the typos involved.