Twilight gratefully took a seat, sighing as she was finally able to get off her hooves, at least for lunch. Her day had been absolutely chaotic! It was a wonder Discord wasn't involved. Firstly she had to help Fluttershy find one of her lost animals, which quickly descended into a dangerous trek through the Everfree Forest. They found the animal, thankfully, but that was just the start of it. Next she volunteered to help with a bit of barn raising over at Applejack's, which, frankly, is a trifle more difficult than it seems. Barely standing by now, she then had to help Rainbow Dash practice for some upcoming race (which she couldn't really care less about) by timing her over and over and over as she flew a perilous course over and over. But finally, finally, she got a brief respite; settling down into her seat at the Cake's cake shop, overlooking the town commons, where market ponies hawked their goods and unmistakably low prices, she gazed over her lunch menu, finally settling on a rather familiar, but satisfyingly filling, lunch of Grass Sandwich with Cheese and a side of Oats.
She ordered her lunch from Mr. Cake, who was stretched thin and scatter-brained as usual, and then gently massaged her aching hooves, looking out at the town commons for entertainment.
Suddenly, something caught her eye, a stranger at the very back of the commons, having a heated debate with some market pony over an apple. He must have been new in town; she knew everypony, and she could definitely say she hadn't seen anything like him before. It was a stallion earth pony. He was wearing a long, white coat, almost like a lab coat, which covered nearly his entire body, with the sleeves rolled up. He had cyan fur, and a long, rather unruly auburn mane, which covered most of his face and head, and was in desperate need of a trim. He had a very wide chin, which made his head appear very blocky, and he was also wearing circular rimmed glasses over turtle green eyes. But what made him stand out the most was the fact that he was wearing a comically large pair of saddlebags, stuffed nearly with everything but the kitchen sink. He looked like some crazy hiker, or travelling camper who was definitely out of place in the middle of a crowded market. But she was drawn back to his eyes once more; they gleamed like a mischievous colt's in a candy shop.
Finally, with one final huff, he turned and walked away from the market pony, the apple left forgotten on the stand.
Twilight, being the friendly pony that she was, waved the stranger over and invited him to sit, thinking that it was her responsibility to befriend him, seeing how she was supposed to be studying friendship, after all.
The pony noticed her waving, nodded in acknowledgement, and trekked over, seemingly unhindered by the massive bags over his back. He walked up to her table, swinging the bags off effortlessly and setting them down. he arched his back, stretched his legs each in turn, and then sat down across from Twilight, flashing a wide smile. Now that he was closer, she could see the thick auburn stubble growing across his chin, as if he hadn't shaved in a week or two. "Thank you for the seat, my bags were killing me," He said gratefully. He had a thick, north-countree accent.
"It was no problem at all," Twilight responded, returning the smile, "Are you new here in town?"
"Yes, actually," The pony explained, "I was travelling through that dreadful forest over there-you know the one?" Twilight nodded; he must have been talking about the Everfree. He continued, "Well I noticed this settlement here; I hadn't known it was here previously, so I stopped to get some supplies and such. I'm Kramer, by the way," He introduced, reaching out a hoof to shake.
Twilight shook his hoof. The name Kramer suited him well, with his odd dress and his mischievous eyes. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," She introduced herself, "Welcome to Ponyville!"
"Well thank you, Twilight Sparkle," Kramer said, letting go of her hoof, "So what do you do here in town?"
"Well, I'm the Librarian," She said, immediately filling with pride at her majestic library, "I've got book from all around the world!"
"Really?" Kramer confirmed, a twinkle in his eye, "I might just have to check it out."
Twilight assumed he would, he appeared like the intellectual type, "So what do you do? I'm just guessing you travel a lot, is that your talent?" She was referring to what his cutie mark was, thinking it was a backpack, or a map, or something.
"Well, I'm a Scientist," He said, smiling at his title.
Twilight said nothing for a moment. Then a smile spread across her face and she began to laugh, quickly building up from a giggle to a chortle, "You're good at that!" She remarked, "I almost thought you were serious for a second!"
Kramer's brow furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Twilight stopped laughing, "...Y-you mean you're serious?" She asked, shocked.
"Of course I am!" Kramer nodded.
Twilight smiled again, thinking he was pulling her chain, "Shut up," She said, thinking he was joking.
"It's true!" Kramer insisted, "Look!" He got up, turned slightly and pulled up the bottom of his coat, showing her his Cutie Mark. It was a small white dot, surrounded by black ellipses, each with a smaller white dot on it.
Twilight looked at the mark in confusion. He was serious, "But...why?" Twilight asked, completely at a loss, "You seem to be a smart pony, why study science?"
"Well why not?" Kramer asked, sitting back down.
Twilight giggled once more, this time sure that he was joking, "Well science isn't real!"
Kramer just looked at her. He looked down, "Right then," He picked up his bags and replaced them on his back. He looked back up, smiled, and nodded, "Well I guess I'll see you then," And he walked away, not looking back.
Twilight felt a mixture of emotions. Should she feel bad that she belittled his talent so much? But...but it was science! Science wasn't real! Why would it be when there was magic?
Mr. Cake suddenly interrupted her thoughts, placing her lunch down in front of her, "Sorry about the wait," He apologized incessantly, "We're in a bit of a lunch rush here,"
"Oh, it's no problem," Twilight reassured, gazing upon her lunch hungrily. Lifting up her sandwich magically and biting into it, she forgot all about Kramer.
Later that night, when Twilight had fulfilled all of her duties, she was relaxing in the comfort of her library, settling in with a fluffly quilt and a brand new book, just arrived that day. She was so glad that she could finally do nothing; after her lunch she had gone over to Rarity's to be a model for a new dress, then she went to Pinkie's to organize some party for some holiday celebrated in some far off country (she could always find a reason to party), and then she had to come home and organize and re-organize her books, restocking the checked-in books and dusting all the shelves. But finally, finally, her day was coming to an end. She picked up her book, the newest issue in the tales of Sherlock Hooves, and cracked it open.
"Blimey..." Marvelled a voice from her door, a voice with a thick north-countree accent.
Twilight turned around in her special reading chair and saw Kramer standing there, looking in awe at the sheer amount of books stuffed in the small room, "This is quite the library!" He marveled, smiling sincerely.
"What are you doing here?" Twilight blurted accidentally, not realizing how insensitive it sounded.
"I said I would check out the library, and I am," Kramer said, stepping further inside and closing the door, spinning on one hoof so he could get a full 360 view of the room. He then turned towards Twilight, all curled up in her quilt, and asked, "Is that a crime?"
Twilight happened to glance over and saw the Open/Close sign; she had forgotten to flip it. Slightly amused and slightly annoyed, she shook her head, to the delight of Kramer. He immediately went to a shelf, getting up on two legs so he could look at the higher ones, very quickly scanning the spines of the books, going from shelf to shelf until he found one that interested him. Spotting one, he grabbed it and dashed back across the room, diving onto the couch right next to Twilight and cracking the book open.
Twilight didn't know how to react, so she simply sat there. She spotted the title of the book he was reading: "Science and other Ancient Myth". Of course.
She opened her own book, and for a time the two simply sat there, reading next to one another. Finally, Twilight couldn't stand her curiosity anymore. Marking the page she was on, she closed the book, turned towards Kramer, and asked bluntly, "Why do you study science?"
Kramer looked over at her, smiling. He closed his book and said, "Six minutes, twelve seconds. That's how long it took you to ask."
He had counted? Twilight wasn't sure how to react.
Kramer merely chuckled, placed the book down, and reached over for his massive saddlebags, "You see, I wasn't born a scientist, for several years of my life I didn't even know it existed! But then I heard the myth: Ancient ponies, and other creatures, doing spectacular, abnormal things, without the need of any sort of magic or horn." He glanced over at Twilight, finishing his rummaging, "It fascinated me. I studied up on the myth more and more, until eventually, I found this." He pulled out an ancient looking, leather bound book, with a title printed on it in a strange runic text.
"What's that?" Twilight asked obviously.
Kramer smiled at her, "It's a book of science."
Twilight looked at the book with a new interest. Real or not, finding an ancient relic such as this would definitely be a marvelous find. She had interest in the myth herself, but always thought of it as just that-a myth. It predicted that books of science existed, but none had ever been found. "Where'd you get it?" She asked, gazing at it in awe.
"I found it in a cave," Kramer said, opening the book. It's contents were written in the same runic text, large blocks of words filled the pages, "A massive cave, a secret cave. Took me a year to explore it fully, another two to decipher this language, and another three to translate the entire text."
"What's it say?" Twilight asked with rapt attention.
"It describes a world very much unlike ours," Kramer said after a moment, a twinkle in his eye, "A world confined to a few simple laws, but a world completely and utterly explainable, and understandable." He turned towards Twilight, "A world where everything can take advantage of these few simple laws, and create astounding, marvelous creations." He flipped through the pages for her benefit. They were filled with text, illustrations, charts, diagrams, and all sorts of wonderful things, "A world where everything is equal." He set down the book, turned towards her and said, "That's the kind of world I want to live in."
"Why?" Twilight asked instantly, not expecting his answer.
Kramer frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Growing up, I had two brothers and five sisters." He paused to chuckle, "Quite the family, yes, but..." He looked down into space, "I was the only earth pony."
"What?" Twilight asked, shocked.
"Mum, Dad," Kramer listed, "Vicky, Dicky, Angie, Holly, Christie, Pat and Mary. They were all Unicorns, and then there was me, the youngest, the only one not magical."
Twilight covered her mouth, not able to begin to understand what that felt like. Growing up she was an only child and a magic prodigy! They were polar opposites.
"It didn't bother me much," Kramer admitted, "That is, until we all started growing. Before I had reached High School, Vicky and Dicky had both written their own spells, Angie had managed to finish one spell that was left unfinished for decades, Holly was a magical prodigy, and Christie, Pat, and Mary were all in the honors magic classes." Kramer sighed, "And then there was me: no cutie mark, no special talent, no abilities...nobody."
Twilight was now fully ashamed for belittling his talent earlier that day, but she wasn't given a chance to apologize before Kramer continued.
"But then," He started, "I heard about the mythical study of Science, and it gave me hope that a normal, unspecial pony could do wonderful, abnormal things. Even I could be special, even I could be..." He paused, blinking excessively, "Magical."
Twilight didn't know what to do, so she simply placed a hoof on his shoulder reassuringly.
Kramer nodded gratefully, then continued, "So I packed my things and left home, bound on finding some Science. I went on wild goose chases, travelled all around Equestria, until I found this book," He held up the book for emphasis, "And when I found this book, I knew I had found what I was looking for."
Twilight shook her head, her heartstrings thoroughly plucked, "I'm so sorry."
Kramer looked at her and smiled, "It's quite alright, I've found my purpose now as a scientist, no need to feel bad." He gently put his archaic book away and said, "You know, my science and your magic aren't all that different. We both study, trying to explain the world around us, each in our own ways." He looked at Twilight and said, "You and me, We're two sides of the same coin."
Twilight smiled. He was right, they were very much alike, yet in very different ways. Kramer had shown her that even the oddest beliefs can help those who need it. She had a newfound respect for the old myth, even if it wasn't her cup of tea. Scooching closer to Kramer on the couch, she looked at the book and asked curiously, "So what exactly does science teach?"
