Author's Note

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Have Heart, Will Travel

A whole hour and a half has went by since Duncan, the girls, and Spike conversated with the Mayor, ranging from some of the history of Ponyville that the human was not learning all the way to the kind of ponies he should avoid.

Before anyone had an idea of the time, the biggest part of today began to weigh in on Duncan's mind. "I seriously hope that this will not come back to be a pain in my. . .well, everything.'' Duncan thought.

In a few minutes, Princess Celestia would be coming through those doors, and he would be the first person on her radar before anyone else. So he figured he should bolster his defense the best he could by consulting with Twilight. "You better be right about this, if anything seems wrong or it seems like she'll try something, I exepect you to either buy me time, or not be surprised when I fight back.''

Twilight groaned a tad, but saw the logic in her friend's reasoning. "Duncan, for the last time, I promise; if Celestia tries anything out of the way, I will try and talk her out of it, or need be; defend you until we can get her to a point where she can be understanding and cooperative. But I am sure that she will willing to listen once we explain things to her.''

''Is that why you're having him hide until we work up to his big reveal?'' Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "Because I, for one think that this will end up going some kind of wrong to the point where we'll get in the crossfire.'' Twilight frowned at her friend's comment and continued to usher Duncan behind a curtain and giving him a chair. Once she was sure that he could not be seen from the angle of Celestia's arrival all the way up to where the 10 of them would be, she closed the curtain with the human behind it. ''How do we know she won't already have an idea of what's going on?''

''She has a point, Twi,'' Spike said, leaning on the speedster. ''Celestia is kinda all-knowing to a degree, and something this out of the blue would probably make her think outside the box since a lot of things that happen, we tend to handle ourselves.''

Ears flattening, Twilight hated to admit it, but that was also something to keep in mind. She could especially attest to her mentor having some degree of knowing about things that most would think that she would have next to no concern about, only for her to end up having an integral part in it, at some point. But being the princess of the land, Twilight assumed she often just had eyes and ears wherever she deemed it was needed to maintain that all-knowing attitdue. And given how. . .volatile she's been the last few times she's been called on for concuil or when trouble struck, she did always seem on edge, ready to let whoeevr had the most of a hoof in causing the commotion to have the full brunt of her anger/disappointment and depending, punishment to a degree.

And seeing as Princess Luna has not done much to help curb that, whether out of fear or lack of understanding. . .began to unnerve Twilight.

The last time trouble came to Ponyville and Celestia had to intervene, the town almost was ground zero due to a test the unicorn herself was conducting reached wind to Celestia when no other solution presented itself. To this day, she still thanks, but also kinda hates Spike for telling; with another hour, she would have figured out the spell to reverse the effects. . .possibly.

And now that she had a second to think about things, Humans and Celestia did not mix particuarly well, from what she was told and 'accidentally' heard her tell Luna in confidence. Maybe. . .Duncan. . .

Should not be meeting Celestia. . .

So early on. . .

But it was too late.

She goofed.

''You may be right, but it's too late.'' Twilight said. ''We can't leave.''

''And how do you figure that, Twilight?'' Duncan was scared to ask this question because of the sound of rhythmic flapping outside and the sound of horns outside.

''Because she's walking to the door now,'' Pinkie Pie slipped underneath the curtain on her back, Duncan only seeing her head as she held a neutral expression. "In times like this, Duncy; you gotta make a tough decsion.''

''I-''

''-You got 5 seconds.''

''Shit.'' Duncan said, slapping his forehead with his free hand as Pinkie Pie disappeared and went back over to the girls. Then it happend.

''Twilight! It is so very good to see you, how have you been progressing with magic of friendship here in Ponyville?'' the voice Duncan only could assume could be Princess Celestia rang throughout the room, a touch of grace and and a good smear of authority behind it as he paled and held his breath. "And to what do I owe this visit today?''

Twilight chuckled nervosly, as did Spike. ''Can't a filly just want to see her favorite teacher and princess of all time? Need there really be a reason to see you?'' Twilight held her head out and low, cracking a out of place smile and sweating a bit. ''I know you get busy in Canterlot, but I know you want to be out and about relaxing every so-'' Twilight was cut off by a hoof to her lips by Celestia.

''That is exactly right, my student. As I do not have many days to myself to enjoy a lot of the things that ponies like you and your friend get to enjoy everyday, it does mean a lot to me when I am able to enjoy the little time to myself that I do have; on my own terms. Now, Twilight; we both know most of the time when I come here, it is for business or possibly cleaning up another mess of a scheme of somepony's, and while that is something I do not have much distaste for, it would be better if you cut to the chase. No offense, Twilight, but I have known you long enough to know how you operate most of the time.'' Celestia said, shocking the unicorn as she continued speaking, paying the looks of shock to varying degreees from her friends and Mayor Mare no mind.

''B-B-But, how did you know it was something important?'' Twilight asked, curious.

''I seem to remember you writing me, informing me of something that would need to be discussed in person a little before a week ago, did you not? You asked if you can have the meeting on this day at Town Hall, so I cleared my schedule just for today.''

Twilight was shocked, how did Princess Celestia know that she sent the letter? She remebered putting up and attaching a seal on it. Unless. . .

Flashback, 6 days ago. . .

''Spike, make sure that you send those letters in the bottom shelf to the princess as soon as you can.'' Twilight said, being occupied with looking over the section of the Species Index to see what things Duncan told her actually matched up with what was written, and so far; a lot of inconsistenties.

''Which ones?!'' Spike yelled from upstairs. It bafflled her how he had yet to conform to a simple labeling system. Well, she was sure that he knew, but only wanted to confirm, which she couldn't blame him for all the way.

''The one labelled Send Offs!'' Twilight replied before resuming her fact checking. "And make sure you send all of them!''

''All of them?'' Spike asked. There weren't a lot but some of them looked like they might not have to be sent to the princess. ''Even this one that-''

''-Spike, send all of them, please and thank you.'' Twilight said, ending the conversation there so she could get back to correcting what this book apparantly had wrong with it.

''Ok, if you say so,'' Spike shrugged, sending all the letters as she requested. Hey, her making as sure as she was about sending them, he might as well.

Flashback End.

Twilight realized her mistake instantly. She had forgot to put the letter telling Celestia about this whole situation in a different place. Granted, she did not tell her anything about Duncan or a human, but her letter did mention how the princess should come by and visit and spend some time with her friends. And perhaps how there have been some hiccups even before Duncan.

She did not, however think that it would be something Celestia would see through, even with her less than stellar track record since being in Ponyville.

She doomed her friend.

''Curse my aloofness!'' Twilight thought. Well, there was no backing down, not when Celestia was right in front of her, waiting for an answer to her question. Would she lie and risk facing the wrath of her teacher or tell her the truth and end up being the one to put a friend in a predicament that could lead to their downfall, or. . .or. . .she didn't know! ''No time like the present, hehehe. . .''

Duncan, however was behind the curtain and behind the girls, fuming. She actually told her, after she sat there, or rather she was sat on by everyone and told them that she would not? What kind of sense did that make? What kind? He was torn between going out there and giving the unicorn a piece of her mind, but the greater threat at the moment, was the one pony who could very well do away with him with whatever amount of ease he had yet to know, but he would rather not challenge that when he has nothing to defend himself but a chair.

He grit his teeth and hissed quietly. A knot twisted its way around his mind and heart as he clenched his fist, hearing a knuckle or two pop from the pressure. His eyes narrowed, and though he could not actually see anything but darkness right in front of him, he was able to see slivers of light at the floor and to his right where the end of the curtain failed to meet the wall.

Duncan heard Twilight talk some more to Celestia and explain slowly the reason why she was given the letter to come here, and from her wording, it was something along the lines of a 'discovery', but without any real context, which prompted Celestia to ask more questions until she was done running in circles.

''-and that's why it should-'' Twilight was silenced again. Celestia sounded irritaed just from the kind of words that she used, and Duncan, and probably everyone in the room knew that this was the final chance to come clean.

''Twilight Sparkle, whatever it is that you have to tell me should be said now, or otherwise, I would consider it a monumental waste of my time,'' Celestia's eyes narrowed in under the gaze of everypony in front of her, and they looked none too happy to be under said gaze. ''Now. What. Is. It?''

Paying a silent prayer to himself, Duncan was literally put in between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, he could try and find a way to leave and leave Twilight and her friends to their own devices with Celestia, but that would bite him harder than he would think because then he would nowhere to go, nobody to help him, and most of all; it would feel. . .wrong.

From the first day he's been here, everypony has been some degree of nice to him, and while his attitude of being somewhat crabby and withdrawn may have been something that made it harder for the girls snd Spike to ease his trasntion into this new world, it was an act of kindess that he did not have to be given. He hasn't told them really much of his past life on Earth, just that it was horrible, and he was not given a lot of the same kindness and care that he's received while being here, and that in itself made his choice all the more easier to make. These ponies went out on a limb for him, just for the sake of being a good friend. . .the least he can do is attempt to pay that back to some extent.

His hands slightly trembled, and all of the air in his body seemed to vacate at the mere thought of tearing back the curtain. His head ached a tad from overthinking, and his legs were shaking like coins as they refused to be still and support him as he leaned his arms on the chair and closed his eyes. What Twilight said a few days ago was still on his mind.

"You're not alone, you've got us, you've got friends.''

That was enough for him.

If he had anything to regret, it would be if he didn't do what he already had his mind set on. ''And I got you girls,'' Duncan whispered, steeling himself and throwing caution to the wind.

''The 'it'-"the curtain was thrown back and the light almost blinded Duncan as he was in the dark for quite some time. Everyone looked shocked, but no more than Celestia as the next thing she was about to had said died in her throat right away. ''-would be me.'' Duncan said, trying to sound intimidating, as he put some bass into his voice. ''Is this 'wasting' your time?''

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The blood in Celestia's veins would have boiled if possible after it ran cold. She could not believe what she was seeing. . .

It.

Her majestic wings suddenly shot out in the blink of an eye, shaking so violently that a few feathers began to fall off. The ruffling was so loud and violent, it was all she heard for a moment. Her breathed came out in raspy exhales, sounding akin to someone throwing up.

Her muscles tensed, making a few underlying veins rise to the surface, the trembling in them also giving way to her present feelings.

Her mind went blank as her left eye began twitching erratically, scaring everyone in the room.

The number 9 rang through her mind before everything else was pushed to the past.

Before anyone else could process anything else, Celestia charged at Duncan, faster than Rainbow Dash on a good day as she plowed into the human, knocking him off his feet and flat on his back as Celestia zoomed into the wall and put a dent in the wood.

A few street fights taught Duncan to never stay on the ground, so despite getting punched in the chest and almost having the wind knocked out of him, he turned to face the princess, a scowl on his face. "What the fuck, lady?" Duncan cursed, throwing his arms outward in surprise.

Celestia only responded by huffing and screeching like a pony possessed. Her eyes were full of tears and looking every which way as she hated her teeth and screamed. "Haaaaaaaugh!" Celestia galloped straight for the human, aiming her horn straight for him.

Narrowly dodging, Duncan spun on his heels, his arms in front of him and his hands open to grab hold and throw her if need be. "TWILIGHT, DO SOMETHING!"

"Princess Celestia, what are you doing?" Twilight teleported in front of her teacher, only to internally scream. From close, Celestia looked fully prepared to kill Duncan, her eyes were wide, her teeth bared and mouth foaming, and she was shaking more an excited filly. "You need to stop!" Twilight looked fully prepared to hear her teacher say something of reaffirmation, but instead was violently kicked over a few feet and the nearby wall with only Celestia's forehooves.

"Twilight!" Duncan watched her friends run to her side and check on her as he had to deal with an enraged princess.

Charging again, Celestia must regained some sense as her attacks were more planned. She dove in, attempting to skewer Duncan with her horn, to no avail, but followed up quick with two front hoof jabs, one of which connected, though she executed a brutal back kick that sent the human on the ground with a shout of pain and his head slamming against the wood.

"Raaaaaaaugh!" Celestia was struggling to get the part of the curtain that was trapped around her head off so she could see. Duncan wheezed and hissed. Not even 5 minutes into 'meeting' her, and he was certain that he had at least a concussion and possibly a few broken ribs. At least, it felt that way. Struggling to get back on his feet, he managed to do so before almost throwing up and falling over.

"Duncan, are you-"

"Stay back, S-Spike!" Duncan said, falling to one knee.

"But you're hurt!" Spike said, tears almost falling from his eyes. It pained the young Drake to see anybody, let alone a friend of his, in pain. He wanted to help, to do anything that he could if it could be any amount of help to Duncan.

Duncan found his footing, and thanks to the adrenaline in his blood now, the pain he was in numbed to a considerable degree. He stood, and began to feel rage of his own. He told Twilight he would fight back if he was attacked, and he meant that, so he began his own charge.

After bucking wildly and yelling more and more, Celestia was able to get free, setting her sights on the human once again. All within her eyesight was red, except the human as clear as day. Charging without a care in the world, Duncan stood where he was, eyes narrowing until she came close enough for him to grab hold of her after narrowly miss a hoof grazing his head.

"Go down!" Duncan summoned all the strength he could, managing to lift the solar princess off of the ground and slam her down with a resounding thud and groan from her. The throw dazed her long enough for her to thrash about on the ground while Duncan got back up and limped over to his chair, confusing Spike and Mayor Mare until they saw him pick it up and bring it back to Celestia, the red painted wood splintering as he whacked it across her head, silencing her screams as Duncan screamed a scream of rage.

Celestia went limp like a noodle, the small rising and falling of her chest being the only indication that she wasn't killed by the chair striking her in the face. Duncan, however, breathed heavily and shook erratically after the ordeal, everyone else in a complete state of shock, Twilight more so than the rest.

"Dude. . ." Rainbow Dash said, her voice in a high octave, her eyes sewing pin thin. She raised a trembling hoof to the princess, then to Twilight, and finally Duncan. "That was so bucking crazy!"

"Save your excitement for later, Dash; we gotta make sure that Princess Celestia is ok." Applejack said, nudging her friend and dragging Fluttershy and Pinkie over to Celestia to make sure she was ok. "Rarity, Spike, check on Duncan, and Rainbow; help prop Twi's head up."

Duncan was still enraged, but quickly came back to reality when the fashionista and dragon came into view, looks of worry adorned on their faces as he dropped the two pieces of the chair in his hands. The effects of the fight began to catch up with him as he suddenly felt an intense pain in his arms, stomach and chest. Taking off his shirt revealed two massive hoofprints indented into his skin, beginning to turn red and ache with the smallest touch.

Taking a moment, he began to taste blood in his mouth, no doubt from his accidentally biting his lip at some point during the fight. His clothes were covered in dirt and sweat, and he was irritated.

"If this is her flipping her lid, then I'd hate to see when she's fully aware of what she's doing," Duncan commented, drawing a nervous chuckle from the look of disbelief from his two friends. "But are we going to restrain her? Because I don't think that I can take a second round right away."

That thought alone was something that everyone seemed to be able to get behind, for the sake of everyone involved.

Taking a second to make sure that everyone was ok, the next thing would be to put everything in a position that was better than the current one.

Celestia first noticed that she had the mother of all headaches when she was able to wake up, however, she could not see. Was she blindfolded? Attempting to move proved unsuccessful as her entire body was bound tightly by ropes and tape. Obviously somepony did not want her to escape.

"No matter, my magic will make short work of. . .why isn't my magic working?" Celestia thought as she felt no connection to her horn. Nothing was being sent and no magic was ripping apart the restraints. She pursed her lips and attempted to feel if her horn was still there, and sure enough; it was. "What. . . happened?" she thought again, slightly beginning to worry. She remembered walking into Town Hall to see Twilight and her friends and then the rest was a haze.

Something was not right. But then, she heard a voice.

"I think we're gonna be in trouble for this one, Twi," the voice of Rainbow Dash sounded a tad worried. "I think she's awake, anyways."

Indeed she was. And she wanted answers.

"Twilight Sparkle, what is the meaning of this? Why am I trapped and blinded?" the small edge in Celestia's voice was suppressed enough that Twilight and her friends were oblivious to the rage beginning to stir inside of her again.

Twilight shook with a bit of uncertainty, but still committed to seeing this through. But she had to be sure that her teacher would understand everything that she was going to be telling her without worry of a freak-out or worse; another fight. "Princess, before I let you go, you have to know something and you have to promise to not freak out again, this is really important. I know you may want to do whatever it is that you're going to want to do when your blindfold is taken off, but I'm begging you to not do that."

Celestia huffed, then thought. Why would she need to do that? How bad could it be? But, at any rate, the amount of conviction in Twilight's voice made her respect her student at times where she could be the pony to set down her hoof when it called for it. The very least she could do is try her best to follow by that if possible.

"Very well, I promise, Twilight. Now can you release my bonds?" Celestia was eager to be free of this tape and rope as it was beginning to chafe.

Twilight used her magic to surround the blindfold before actually taking it off. "I can take the blindfold off, however I'd feel like your safety and everypony else's will be safer with you still in those bonds until we talk and come to an understanding."

"Ugh, very well, Twilight. I suppose I can agree to that." Celestia said, actually knowing that she really couldn't go anywhere. They must have had time since the rope was very thick, almost like industrial cables, and the tape wrapped around her like a corset. It wouldn't be easy getting out of this, but it would take a good amount of time, as well. She wondered what had her student and everypony else on edge. . .then she saw it.

"Princess?" Twilight asked, seeing her see stare in shock before her face contorted into one of anger. She was instantly back to where she was when the fight broke out, but the only difference was she seemed to have much more of a controlled mindset. "Are you-"

"WHY IS THIS FILTH HERE?!" Celestia roared in a voice that quite literally shook the town hall. She growled and tried to get free of her bonds to cave his skull in with her hoof, she wanted to see his blood spill, she wanted to make him suffer.

Celestia wanted him dead.

"Ok, that's certainly a welcome welcome," Duncan said, walking closer to Celestia. "What's your problem with me?" Duncan would regret that as Celestia head butted him once he was close enough, almost breaking his nose as he stumbled back and cursed. "You bitch!~ What did I do to deserve this?"

Twilight was shocked once again, staring back at her teacher. "Princess, what is wrong with you?!"

Celestia was seething. "Twilight, everypony else. . .you cannot trust this savage! He will lie to you, steal, kill, and defile! He must be dealt with!" Celestia began to thrash more and more to no avail. "You dare to harbor this criminal in our kingdom?! He is-" Twilight cut off her teacher.

"-A friend, Princess Celestia. Duncan is not who you think he is. He may be-"

"A filthy, conniving, savage Human!" Celestia yelled, spit and sweat flying from her as she kept shaking back and forth.

"-But he's not an Equestrian Human, he came from their original home, so he shouldn't be the object of your aggressiveness."

Celestia clicked her tongue and laughed. Laughed so much it hurts. Laughed so much, everyone was surprised how she had a very good lung capacity without being subject to a need for air. Celestia became hysterical before she stopped and calmed herself down.

"You fail to understand what I mean, Twilight. . . nopony is more worse than the murder that's standing right by you! I'm surprised he hasn't tried to put a knife to All of your necks! Humans are the issue, Humans are why everything is wrong with the world, and Humans are why my life is so fucked up!" Celestia bellowed, tears streaming from her eyes. Everyone was shocked at her choice of words, sans Duncan. "Nothing. . . will ever come from them. They deserve to be wiped out, for all I care. . ."

"Princess Celestia, you can't mean that!" Rarity exclaimed suddenly. "You, who is the most benevolent pony and leader!"

Celestia chuckled. "Oh, I am nowhere near the benevolent pony any of you think that I am. . . I don't have any semblance of regalness that I have been made out to have. I am just a pony that does the job that none of you have the guts to. . . I keep you all safe, and I do it, and asking for nothing in return. . . I am what keeps this land together!"

Duncan had enough of her talking, so he decided to do some talking of his own. Walking up to her with a scowl on his face, he made his anger known as he stepped in front of her. "What in the hell did I do to you?" Duncan said, staring the princess down with a smug look to rival her own.

Celestia only continued to fume every passing second as she wanted so desperately to hurt this savage, but the only thing she was able to do was quick him a quick headbutt that sent him stumbling back and hollering in pain, clutching his nose.

"You bitch!~ Achoo!~" Duncan sneezed, a bit of blood coming out of his nose that be hoped wasn't broken from Celestia's concrete head. Everypony else stared in shock as Rarity and Spike attempted to help Duncan, but it was too late as he rushed forward and decked Celestia across the face with a left hook, forcing her head to whip the other direction, the look of joy in Duncan's eyes telling of the worth of taking the chance to get another hit in.

Twilight had enough, she, along with Aj and Rainbow held Duncan back while she fumed and wanted no more of this headache and heartache to happen, she had to do something.

"Enough!" Twilight shouted, stomping her hoof in annoyance and rage. "This ends now!"

"She started it!" Duncan argued. But Twilight was not having any of that. At all.

"And I'm ending it! Princess Celestia, like I just said; Duncan is not an Equestrian Human, so that should be one reason why he's not to be set on trial, since he's done nothing wrong. He does not deserve to be exiled without probable cause. He's only been here a week and he nearly died being sent here, so that's already something on his mind, as well." Twilight looked to see Celestia clicking her tongue and retorting.

"You have no idea what they, what he! Is capable of. I do, and none of it is good. The longer you stay around him, the longer he will have you under his control, corrupting you before you're a shell of the pony you once knew. Humans are only good for one thing; nothing." Celestia breathed out with some much hatred, spitting close to where Duncan's feet were, signifying just how much she did not like anything to do with him. "And I will have you know that I refuse to take any part of involving myself with you, should you choose to side with him." Celestia said.

"And what does that mean? You'd be so willing to abandon us? Just that easy? What about the magic of friendship? If he's that bad, maybe he just needs more friends to-"

"No amount of friends or magic will be enough to save him, and I'm shocked you have thought that of him," Celestia growled, unwilling to hear anything of this further.

"But, Princess Celestia, Duncan's a good friend. He's scared and confused, but he hasn't given a reason to any of us that he would try and be deceive or harm us." Rarity said, firm in her conviction as Celestia snorted.

"It's true!" Pinkie chimed in, bouncing over the princess. "Duncy is super duper nice to all of us and that's something that's something that we should be happy about, right?"

"No, Pinkie Pie," Celestia slowly said, shaking her head in dissatisfaction. She knew this was something that would not be negotiated unless they were exposed to what she has seen first hoof.

"So that's where their allegiance lies. . .very well. When they are hurt. . .they will apologize." Celestia thought, her mind made up.

"Fine." Duncan quirked an eyebrow. Fine?

". . .Fine? That's it; you're not upset or furious with us?" Twilight questioned hesitantly. She hoped there wouldn't be too bad of a chewing out.

"Oh, I am beyond furious that would keep something like this from me, from Equestria, my little ponies. . .you have no idea of what you have brought upon yourselves and Ponyville."

Fluttershy was worried hearing that. Brought what? Did they bring anything at all besides a friend who needs help? "W-What's that, Princess Celestia?"

Celestia only settled for saying something that shock everyone to a point they thought not possible. "It matters not. From this point on, you are on your own. Let this. . .be your warning, Human,'' Celestia said, staring right at Duncan, but with none of the malice or anger that was shown a few minutes ago. ''Anything that is done from this point on is on your head, as well as you and your friends, Twilight. . .understand that. You will not receive any help, should there be any issues.''

''But, Princess Celestia-'' Twilight tried to reason with her, but failed to connect anything.

''-Twilight, please release me; I refuse to stand, or rather sit here a moment later in the presence of this savage. . .'' Duncan looked to see Celestia lower her head and become quiet. This is what this meeting amounted to? There was a sense of accomplishment that Duncan drew from in being forthcoming in wanting to meet, but the way things turned out at this specific point in time was something that he could not have been prepared for. He almost wanted to say something that would help, but he knew there would be nothing that can help this.

It would be best to leave Celestia to her own devices for the moment.

Silently resigning to the fact that her teacher was unwilling to hear another word, Twilight and Rainbow Dash released Celestia, the look of disgust that painted her face as she was free and stretched her limbs and nursed what looked to be a headache from Duncan throwing a chair to her skull. She walked a few wobbly paces and hissed in pain before Twilight used her magic to remove a black ring clamped onto Celesta's horn, a wave of her golden magic flowing through her horn the instant it was removed.

One last look at everyone in the room, and a extra long look of disappointment directed towards Twilight as the unicorn cowered under her gaze, and a look of rage at Duncan as she began challenging her magic. If it wasn't for a small hope that she said she was not going to take any further action, at least for now still failed to reassure him. Before she teleported away, she made one last thing known.

''While I will not endanger anypony else in making sure that you are wiped from this world, understand that reality will be upon you very soon.''

POOF!

Duncan blinked a few times, looking at everyone staring at him, then he spoke, laughing a tad in worry and in genuine laughter. ''Sooooo. . .she seems nice.''