“There is nothing on earth that could ever make me want to relive certain years of my life when I was young."

― Johnny Depp

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Karn made their way back over the brook and off towards Twilight's house. Aside from the occasional cordial greeting from the ponies in town on their way there, they really didn't have a great deal to say to each other. Karn had been somewhat depressed since his experience near the Everfree Forest, and had been keeping very much to himself. Clearly what he'd experienced there had changed him. His pony friends both hoped this change was temporary. Fluttershy in particular felt heart ache over just the little he'd been able to share with her and wished there was something she could do to help him.

Finally arriving at Twilight's tree house, Rainbow Dash thumped on the front door. "Hey, Twilight, you home?" With her voice as strong and confident as it was, Karn wondered why she actually bothered with the effort to knock the door. He was sure that a cadaver parked on the opposite side of the wooden barrier would've awoken when she called.

The door opened and the three of them were greeted by Spike. "Oh, hey!" he said cheerfully. "Come on in! Twilight's just upstairs in her library, trying to find anything she can about humans just turning up here. Hi, Karn! You, er, don't look so good."

"Good morning, Spike. I'm sorry, I'm just feeling a bit upset over something that happened a little earlier. In fact it relates to me having maybe developed a theory as to how I got here. Pretty good timing if Twilight the Inquisitor is already burning off energy at an alarming rate, by steamrolling her way through books."

"Huh, yeah! I like the way you put that! I'll have to remember to use that. Steamrolling through books! I'm not quite sure what steamrolling is, but it sounds fun!"

"Well, a steamroller was an old fashioned machine that ran on steam and ... well, that's about it. They had large rollers on the front, and they just rolled and rolled. Flattening all in their path, much like Twilight is doing with her manuscripts, one imagines."

Spike chortled a little once he'd put a mental image to what a 'steamroller' was. Karn was impressed with the fact that this was the longest conversation he'd ever had in his life about steamrollers. One could certainly be caught in very odd discussions in this place.

"Hey, Twilight's upstairs, let's head on up," offered Spike.

Spike bounded up the stairs with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, whilst Karn bent himself almost in half and made his way up a little more cautiously. He realized with a sigh that at some point he was going to smash his forehead clear into one of the door headers. He wondered further if he would do it with enough force to either cut down to his skull, or smash clean through the wall - on indeed some grizzly combination of the two. 'Such unusual places my mind is taking me today' he thought.

Twilight was so deeply entrenched with the material she was reading in one of her books that she was quite oblivious to her visitors.

"Ah, Twilight? Karn, Dashie and Fluttershy are here to see you. Apparently Karn has some kind of idea as to how he arrived in Equestria!" introduced Spike.

Twilight barely moved, beyond anything physiologically necessary to continue powering her brain.

Karn found the urge to make use of this situation simply too much to resist. "Twilight?" he asked. "There's been an explosion in the town hall."

She continued reading.

Fluttershy was pleased to see that this silliness on his part was bringing back the semblance of a smile. She so loved it when he smiled.

"Twilight," he continued. "Princess Celestia has decided to force all ponies to play the glockenspiel," he reported. Twilight's brain again did not register anything untoward and her mind - deeply engrossed - continued to ignore auditory input in order to process what she was reading.

Spike was covering his mouth by now, and trying desperately not to laugh out loud. Finally that smile Fluttershy loved returned to Karn's face.

"Twilight, I was wondering if you'd like to marry me and move to a cottage in the Everfree Forest. I've made the arrangements, we just need to sign the documents at the town hall," he insisted in the most serious voice he could manage.

Spike couldn't hold it any longer - he fell backwards, laughing as if his sides would split. The noise must have finally snapped Twilight out of her academic trance.

"Huh? Oh, Karn, you're here! Hi, Dashie! Hi, Fluttershy! I'm so sorry! I was just really interested in this old spell book about transportation and I must've lost track of what was going on!"

Karn acted as downtrodden and disappointed as he could manage. "So ... we're not going to be married after all?" he lamented sadly.

This was too much for Spike. In between the breaths he could manage, he begged Karn to stop. Karn decided that he and Spike were going to be great friends.

Twilight looked at Karn as if he'd just announced that he was going to become a professional clown. "Karn ... you ... what?"

"Nothing, Twilight. I'm sorry, I had been having a little fun at the expense of your being so entrenched in your book."

She frowned at him. "Oh, honestly! Karn, sometimes the sense of humor you human's have is just too much. I've been reading various books about teleportation and such, and trying to get some kind of theory together as to how you got here, Karn."

"I may actually have such a theory to propose to you as it is."

"You do?" Twilight's eyes opened wide. Clearly this was something she was eager to hear about.

"I think we're going to need to sit down for this one, it's going to take some explaining."

The discussion had covered a wide range of theoretical topics, mostly with respect to theories regarding infinite universes and whether they existed. These had been topics Karn had been able to study and read about whilst at his parents' farm, sifting through the books they kept on physics. He'd always found the concept of infinite universes to be an interesting one.

"So, Karn, you're saying that you think you may have somehow been 'burnt out' of your own universe - yet, because you were shielded and slowing down time, as you suggest - the effect was that you were thrown out of the universe you were in, but in the form of pure energy."

"Yes - since, matter and energy are essentially interchangeable."

"And whilst in this pure energy state, you somehow made contact with our universe and welded into it," Twilight continued.

"In much the same way that a virus binds with a cell and merges with its wall," he explained. It was wonderful to be having such a discussion with someone who understood what he was getting at.

"So ... at that point your energy somehow merged through the wall of our universe and your energy was reconstituted back to matter ... which explains why you suddenly materialized where you did, and why you were a physical being when we found you."

"Precisely. I mean, it's just a theory, but when I was out on the track where I appeared I could sense the way the energy had been fluctuating. It was very powerful, but incredibly focused. It left what was very much like a recording of the event, by trapping the pattern of the waves within the very fine grains of sand and dirt in that area."

There was a moment of silence whilst Twilight thought more about the theory he had proposed. "But Karn, if the theory of multiple universes is correct ... you do realize that means you can never possibly get back to where you were?"

Karn looked down at the floor for a moment. "That would certainly be the case, Princess", he stated. "Sorry, I keep calling you either Princess or Twilight and it's rude of me, should I use your formal title?"

"Oh no, please Karn. Just call me Twilight," she smiled.

He looked back up at her. "Twilight ... to be honest, I don't think I ever want to go home."

"... not to your family? Your friends? Your ..."

"Twilight, if the theory of infinite universes holds, then essentially they don't exist anymore now that I'm here, and I'd be unable to go back to them even if I wanted to. What could I go back to? It sounds very selfish on my part, I realize, but ... if Princess Celestia allows it, I would like to build a house of my own here, and begin to heal myself."

"But, I thought you'd been feeling a lot better?" Twilight quizzed.

"Physically, I am. I'm able to perform some basic acrobatic maneuvers and do physical exercise, Twilight ... but it's my mind that's broken," he pointed out, lightly tapping the left temple with his pointer finger.

"Karn, I know you had some headaches, but ... "

"Twilight, I keep having these flashbacks. I've had two today and the second one was the worst. The nightmares, thanks to Fluttershy, have essentially stopped, so I'm at least able to sleep at night. But, during the day, I'll find myself drifting back to those events I went through."

"Oh, Karn. I'm sorry about you going through that", Twilight said empathetically.

"They just come and go. I do my best not to focus on certain things that trigger them. They can be the strangest things, I might be simply walking along a footpath when I hear somebody giving a sharp command. I've found that being out on an unsurfaced dirt path is one of the worst triggers. Twilight ... I did some truly awful things where I came from. I think in time, I'll need to find someone I trust enough to open up and share my experiences with, so I can somehow unload those things from my mind. Almost like airing out musty blankets."

"Is there anything you've found that helps stop these flashbacks from occurring?" quizzed Twilight.

"So far, the best things have been compassion, friendship and distraction. God, that sounds like a complete cliché, but I've found that provided I'm with any of my friends here, the flashbacks are generally not as bad or at least they are brief and not as lucid. If I let myself go, or get too involved in studying my past, that's when things become pretty scary."

There was another long silence while Twilight thought over Karn's theory and the new information about his flashbacks that he'd provided her with. The atmosphere in the library was thick with theoretical thoughts and quotes from books from both universes. Amongst this smoky scientific air, Rainbow Dash had a sudden recollection.

"HEY! We were meant to go and see Pinkie today!" she exclaimed.

"Oh yes, so we were!" replied Karn.

"Um, why are you all in such a rush to see Pinkie?" asked Twilight, suddenly finding the gearbox of her mind being shunted harshly from one gear to another.

"Because in two weeks, it's Karn's birthday! We need to ask Pinkie to arrange a birthday party!"

"It's your birthday, Karn?" asked Twilight, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Ah, actually no it isn't. The short story is that I don't recall when my birthday was, other than approximately two hundred and fifty of your 'years' ago. On my way back to Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack last night, she suggested we should just pick a date at random and use that. And so, she suggested I have a birthday on Friday, in two weeks time."

"That's a pretty cool idea!" chipped in Rainbow Dash.

"It does sound lovely!" concurred Fluttershy.

"Well, that's ... kind of weird, but I guess it would help cement your place in our town, if you had a birth date you could actually recall," remarked Twilight.

"Come on! Let's head down to Sugarcube Corner and get Pinkie in on this action," insisted Rainbow Dash.

Karn managed a quiet laugh. "Oh my God. I can't wait to see her reaction."

"Are you kidding??? I'd love to organize that! If it comes to organizing a surprise birthday party for a birthday that hasn't existed before then I'm your pony!" Pinkie cheered upon hearing the news.

"Are you really sure, Pinkie? I'd hate to go putting you to any trouble," said Karn, facetiously.

"It's no trouble at all, silly, this is precisely the sort of thing I've been waiting for, a chance to put together a really unique party! A party for a birthday that somepony just made up for a human that mysteriously appeared here and who cannot remember their own birthday! It's going to be a birth of a birthday party party!"

"A party party?" asked Karn.

"No, a birth of a birthday party party, silly! Really a one of a kind event, unless you want to invent another birthday someday? If you do, then I'd be happy to arrange that one too! Oh! A birth of a re-birthday birthday party party, even better! Or maybe you can say that you got your imaginary birthday wrong, so we could have a readjusted birthday party for the birth of a birthday party party! The possibilities are endless!"

Karn laughed. "How about we stick to the party party for the moment, Pinkie."

"The birth of a birthday party party?"

"The very one I had in mind, thank you."

She began bouncing around the store to the surprise of several customers who had managed to make their way in before this particular disturbance occurred.

"Oh! Oh! Who are you going to invite?"

"Well, we were thinking ... "

"EVERYPONY! Of course it has to be! If you're having a birth of a birthday party party, then it's obvious that everypony has to be there."

"... well, yes, everyone, but ... "

"Oh, this is going to be great! I'm going to have to get started on this right away! Where do you want to have your birth of a birthday party party? It has to be the town square, that's the only place that everypony could possibly fit, especially with the number who'll be there when I send out all the invitations and ... "

"... Pinkie, please don't go overboard with ... "

"... and we'll need extra streamers and a lot more confetti and ... "

"... Pinkie, do you realize I'm here at all?"

"... and of course I'm going to have to make the biggest, bestest birth of a birthday party party cake EVER!!! It's going to need a bucket full of sprinkles alone and ..."

Karn had to gently raise a hand in front of her to get the party fiend under control. "Pinkie, that all sounds wonderful, but I really don't want anyone to go to too much trouble."

"It's no trouble, silly, I live for parties!"

Karn sighed in exasperation. "Pinkie ..."

"Besides, everypony around Ponyville would love the chance to come along to a party! Especially all the foals, fillies and colts!"

It was a good point, Karn conceded. A convivial gathering being held so suddenly, doubtless there would be a lot of ponies there, and aside from well wishes and spending time with the few ponies he actually did know a little more than the others, it would obviously be a happy event for all of them as well. 'Who knows, it may even prove to be educational,' he thought. "Well, then I guess I'm glad to have employed the services of the foremost party expert in Equestria, then."

"That's the spirit!" she cheered, giving Karn an impromptu hug that he was unprepared for. He found himself fighting the urge to defensively block her arms. Instead he stood there like a statue with his arms at his sides. "Oh, sorry! I hope I didn't scare you?" Pinkie asked, finally unwrapping her hooves from around him.

"No, Pinkie, it's just that you took me by surprise a little and I'm afraid I generally don't handle surprises very well."

"Oh my goodness, I completely forgot, how rude of me! I'm so sorry, Karn!"

"Really, Pinkie, it's fine, I ..."

"I promise I will never have a surprise party for you of any kind!"

"Thank you, Pinkie, that'd be very thoughtful ... "

"I'll make it up to you!"

Karn laughed. "No! Please! It's fine! I'm sure your party plans will be superb and I am extremely grateful to be able to leave those in your very capable hooves."

"Friday in two weeks time! Consider it done!"

"Actually, Pinkie, if I may just ask one other minor favor if possible?"

"You have another party you ..."

"No, no, " Karn laughed, "I was simply going to ask if you had some pure baker's yeast I may have?"

"Yeast? You didn't tell me that you baked! We should swap ..."

"Well, I don't bake, Pinkie, but I just had a bit of an experiment I was looking to try."

"Oh! Well okay," she replied, somewhat curious as to what kind of experiment would involve yeast but not pertain to the creating of foodstuffs. "Here you go!" She produced a small, sealed container of yeast seemingly from out of nowhere. Karn was actually confused for a moment. He stared at the container as if he'd not actually expected to obtain any.

"Pinkie ... where did you ..."

"Well, you said you wanted yeast? Here ya go!"

"How much do you want me to pay you? Once I start earning some money through odd jobs around here, that is?" Karn asked.

"You don't owe me anything, Karn! I'm sure it's the least I could do! ... HEY, that's rhymes ..."

"Ah yes, I realize that rhymes with 'yeast' Pinkie, let's not press that one," Karn interrupted, offering the pony a genuine smile. He'd been feeling so truly dreadful and yet she'd been able to perk him up just by being her usual energetic, effusive and joyful self. "Thank you, Pinkie, really. For everything."

"You're welcome, Karn!" Another hug followed, one that Karn was at least prepared for this time around. "You can pay me back at the party!"

Karn was confused. "I can?"

"Of course! How about a dance?"

Karn's heart almost stopped. Oh God he hated dancing. "Umm .... a dance, Pinkie?" His mouth suddenly went dry. It was the kind of dryness that could very well have allowed him to play his palette like a xylophone.

"Oh come on, surely they dance where you're from?"

"Well they do, Pinkie, but dancing is something that I ..."

"Then it's settled! Oh, I can't wait, it's going to be just wonderific!!" She continued her bouncing around the store.

As Karn, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all turned to leave, he found himself feeling suddenly extraordinarily tense. It wasn't an anxiety related to any condition - other than the need to dance, in front of any kind of audience.

It was in this frame of mind, that Karn decided to head back towards Sweet Apple Acres to see if there was work he could do - not only in return for the hospitality, but also as thanks for that morning's breakfast.

"Karn, you know we can't let you go off on your own!" insisted Rainbow Dash.

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that. I'm sorry Dash, my mind was occupied with something unpleasant."

"Oh no. Karn? Are you feeling okay?" asked Fluttershy, with genuine concern.

He glanced downwards at his guardian angel. "Oh, no, Fluttershy. I'm not worried about, well, what I would normally be upset about. It's ..."

There was prolonged pause. Karn found himself standing there, his mouth open and moving in an attempt to form words, but his mind not making anything actually reach that critical point. In the end he decided it was best to shut his gaping, needlessly-flapping mouth and try to form what he had to say first, the better to avoid looking any more foolish. "Fluttershy, Dashie ... I can't dance," he admitted finally.

The two of them looked wide eyed at him, then askance at one another, before finally looking back towards Karn. Rainbow Dash lost control at this point and fell to the ground, lying on her back and laughing. "Wow, Karn, that's what you're worried about? Of all the things in Equestria, you can't dance?"

"Well no, Dashie, I'm afraid I can't."

The pegasus slowly got back onto her feet, wiping away tears. "That's freakin' hilarious! I'm sorry, Karn, but it's just so funny! I mean, I've seen you doing all kinds of gymnastic stuff and leaping around and it's dancing you can't do? That's just awesome!" She continued chuckling at his expense.

Karn just stared down at her, plain faced. He wasn't angry at her display, he'd rather been expecting it, however he did feel foolish about being afraid to dance given that he was quite capable of so many other things as she'd just stated. Throughout his very long life, dancing was one of those strange acts that Karn found completely uncomfortable and rather frightening on some level. He'd not once refused an order on a battlefield - no matter how certain it seemed to be a sentence of death imposed upon him. Yet dancing, in an artistic display, in front of anyone? The more he thought about the subject the clammier he felt. It even occurred to him that not only was dancing in front of other people - or ponies - something he was terrified of, he doubted he could manage to dance on his own with nobody present.

"Aside from being a source of amusement for you, can you think of anything I can do to ..." he sighed painfully, "... learn to dance, even simply, between now and Friday in two weeks?" he asked Rainbow Dash.

She finished wiping away her tears. "Well ... if anypony was ever going to be any help to you there, Karn, it'd have to be Rarity! At the very least, she'd be able to get you to look civilized," she smiled.

Karn frowned at the ground. The idea itself had merit - if there was any of them with a solid grasp of any of the niceties of being in public it would certainly be her. "Do you really think she would be remotely interested in helping me to ... well. At such short notice? I mean, surely she has her business to think about?"

"Well, all you can do is ask, Karn? If you like, we can head around there now and ask her, before you head back to Applejack to get some work done. We have to cross back over the brook for Fluttershy to get home anyway!"

The Carousel Boutique was not the sort of establishment in which Karn thought he would find the need to present himself. The concept of being at a business associated with fashion was one that he felt a little ill at ease with. Clothing in Alsovia was about being practical. It had to feel comfortable, be suitable to any given task and able to stand up to the rough treatment it may receive when about one's business - whether that happened to be grafting vines or warfare. But the perfumed essence and curious attire on offer wasn't what made him so uncomfortable. It was the reasons pertaining to his having to be there at all that caused him the most discomfort.

"Karn, my dear!" exclaimed Rarity. "Are you seriously telling me that you do not know how to dance with a lady?" There was genuine surprise in that voice. It was the kind of surprised note that he was becoming more used to hearing.

'Why all of the fuss about my inability to dance? And this is all in service of a birthday that isn't actually legitimately mine,' he thought to himself. He felt a pang of guilt for having allowed such a unfair thought - the idea of giving him a birthday was a kind gesture on their part and he felt he should learn to be far more grateful. "That I am, my lady. I can honestly say, that I have never had the chance to learn how to dance. Certainly where I'm from, I made it a point to avoid the exercise if the opportunity ever arose."

"Come now, you're not saying that you avoided the courtesy of dancing with a lady? Did you not have balls or even celebrations of any kind where you are from?" quizzed Rarity.

"We certainly had celebrations. I can honestly say that I have never been asked to attend anything that would equate to a ball. Any such activity would've been largely relegated to those of higher society. Whilst my particular clan in Alsovia was very honorable and held in high esteem, we generally didn't have the kinds of elegant balls that you're referring to. Even so, at the celebrations we did have, I generally avoided dancing. The idea was ..." he began, as he gritted his teeth momentarily and tightly shut his eyes. Why was this subject so difficult for him to discuss? "... the idea was very embarrassing, my lady."

"My dear Karn, dancing with a lady should never be embarrassing for you."

"Well, I am sorry to have say that for me, that's precisely what it was. I am a very logical and rational person, however the concept of being a poet, an artist, or even just being able to indulge in a simple dance is rather frightening for me."

She managed a determined sounding sniff and that dainty nose of hers shot ever so slightly upwards. He could tell that he was about to be viewed as a personal challenge. "Well, my dear Karn, this is something that one simply cannot abide! I shall teach you at least as much as you need to comport yourself with dignity, such that you can share a dance with Pinkie at your birthday party, which ..." she continued, " ... I hasten to add you neglected to mention to me at all until this morning!"

"In his defense, Rarity, the birthday really wasn't his idea. It was an idea Applejack had last night when they were headed back to the farm," explained Rainbow Dash.

"You see, my lady, where I'm from I'd never really kept track of my birthday. Most of my people didn't," Karn went on to explain. "We would more or less track the number of cycles we'd lived, but precise dates for birthdays were not widely kept. So when I mentioned this to Applejack she came up with the idea of just choosing a date and ... well, she chose Friday in a couple of weeks, just like that."

"So, until last night, you didn't actually have a birth date?"

"Not an accurate one, no. I've had a lot of things on my mind for such a long time, I guess in all of the confusion my precise date of birth did not ever seem to be a date that I needed to recount."

"Yeah, " interrupted Rainbow Dash. "So Pinkie is arranging a ... what was it again?"

"It's going to be my birth of a birthday party party," Karn reminded her.

Rarity seemed to be as surprised at the title of the aforementioned celebration as Karn had been. "Oh! Well ... that sounds certainly like a name Pinkie would have given to what is, " she cleared her throat, " well, a one-of-a-kind event."

Karn managed a weak smile for her. He fought back the thought that she was quite stunning, especially when she was inspired. "It'll be the first birthday party I've ever had, my lady. Honestly, I suspect it will be the first party of any kind at which I would have been considered a guest of honor, let alone the center of attention. That's another thing that bothers me."

"Oh, Karn," she gently insisted, "you must learn to be a little more gracious!"

"My lady! It isn't that I don't appreciate the preparations," exclaimed Karn, mortified that his words may have been misconstrued. "I just don't know how to ... comport myself. I'm not used to any of this. The only times I've been the center of attention have been those where people have been very much trying to terminate my existence, or where an officer has had me at the front of a parade ground for some kind of infraction of regulations."

"My goodness, but what have any of your ... well, equivalent of mare-friends where you are from have thought of that, your lack of interest in so much as a waltz?"

Karn chuckled. "Well, the equivalent would be girlfriend, or lover I guess. I've never had a girlfriend or mare-friend or however you wish to put it, my lady."

She seemed astonished at this news. "Karn ... you've never had a mare-friend or a close female companion or ..."

"No, my lady, not one. I have been very much a bachelor. For over two hundred and fifty of your 'years'," he managed another chuckle. " I have been in love before, but I didn't pursue her."

Knowing this filled Rarity with even greater resolve. "Karn, not only am I going to teach you to dance, but I am going to make sure that you are suitably dressed for such an occasion! I shall, if you will forgive me for referring to you in such a manner, make you my personal project!"

"My lady, I would of course be eternally grateful. I would be more than delighted to be your personal project. You can rest assured I've been referred to as much worse."

"Excellent! Than we shall at least commence with measurements for a new set of clothes for you to wear!"

"But, my lady, you have already made at least two full sets for me ..."

"Karn, I have made you two copies of your 'uniform', it is true. But for a birthday party such as this, you should have something much finer than those. You cannot go around wearing the same thing over and over again, people will think you do not even bathe, for Celestia's sake."

Karn considered that the entire reason for having a uniform was to wear it uniformly, and thus the name - but he was never going to argue or indeed offer such an insulting remark to someone such as Rarity. She had that combination of beauty and elegance that made it impossible for him to argue with her. No matter that a different set of clothes struck him as ostentatious, somewhat impractical and actually quite wasteful. It was a lovely and extraordinarily generous offer on her part - and for that he felt sincerely thankful. "I don't know what to say, my lady."

"Well, my dear, you could at the very least offer me a 'thank you' ... and of course, I shall want a dance with you at your ... your 'party party' as well!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had made their apologies and left, giving Karn the chance to look around the boutique whilst Rarity tended to some other sewing tasks she had been busy with.

"In Alsovia we could never really have envisaged such a spectacular variety of materials, just for clothing!" Karn was astounded at the rows of fabrics; the different textures, weaves, colors and thicknesses. It had never occurred to him that anyone would keep such a varied stock of material. It would seem logical though, in a world where clothes are made for a variety of other purposes, besides merely keeping the weather out and one's person inside.

"My dear Karn, what you see here is but a sampling," Rarity chirped cheerfully.

He found observing the way she worked to be of interest. He had the basic skills involved in sewing up holes in clothing, of sewing on service chevrons, even in the art of suturing - a skill he was particularly gifted at - but the manner in which Rarity was able to assemble materials together, to create. Truly he was observing an artiste in their studio. He did ask a few questions regarding the various patterns of stitching she was using, of the types of thread she was using to combine different fabrics. He found himself engrossed in her manner of work, how proficient she was, how skilled and creative.

"It's a wondrous experience, my lady, to have the privilege of watching you working, if I may say so."

She seemed a little surprised by his remark. She looked up to find Karn admiring her work. He had a soft smile that suggested contentment. "Thank you, Karn, that was a lovely compliment for you to have paid me," she replied. There was brief moment where the two smiled at each other. She blinked a few times and continued on with her work. By all accounts, she had a few final alterations to make before she would be able to take Karn's measurements for his new 'party party' attire.

"My lady, it's always very pleasant to be around you all. It's ..." he looked away and fought for an accurate superlative to employ. "... I think 'relaxing' is the simplest term I can arrive at."

"I'm delighted to hear that, my dear!"

He continued to gently gaze at her while she worked. She could feel his eyes on her, but tried her best to ignore that in order to concentrate on what she was doing. She had the strangest sensation that his watching her was not entirely unpleasant. "I'm not used to being able to ... just sit and chat about things, to talk and just enjoy anyone else's company, without having to wrestle with a sense of desperation, or fear or feeling rushed. So often I would be with my friends and there would be this feeling that we had possibly five minutes of free time before we'd be moving out somewhere, or being relieved, or advancing or ..."

She finished the last of the alterations she had to make that afternoon. Setting down her tools of trade, she crossed to where Karn was seated, almost ridiculously on a pony sized sofa in her store. She sat next to him and tried to make more sense of what he was trying to tell her. She looked up at this rather unusual creature - he was so polite, so sensitive. Had he truly never had any mare or female friends where he was from?

"I'm sorry, my lady, I know I'm not making a lot of sense."

"It's fine, my dear. Am I to take it that you feel less stressed and more at ease here with us than ... well, where you've come from?"

He smiled down at her. "Precisely. The strange thing is, that I keep feeling the need to be tense. I'm sitting here on this comfortable sofa next to, if I may say, a rare beauty, " at which she blushed much to his personal delight, "and yet I feel as if I should be defensive. I should be at least looking over my shoulder, or cleaning a rifle, or restocking my medical kit. There should be the sound of gunfire, of artillery in the distance. The peace and respect that I am offered and the manner with which friendship and incredible generosity are offered to me here, and offered freely ...". He looked down at the floor between his boots. "I'm sorry, my lady. I am making absolutely no sense at all, I'm sure."

"My dear," she responded quietly, gently placing a hoof on his left leg. "I think I understand what you are attempting to tell me. It's peaceful here, and you are not used to that. You're simply not used to it, that's all. It will take you some time to become accustomed to not having to go about such awful responsibilities as you've had."

That was exactly what he was trying to say. She had described in a very adroit fashion exactly what he had been clumsily trying to tell her. "That is it in a nutshell, my lady. Thank you," he replied, offering her a pleasant smile. Rarity found herself a little startled to realize that she understood what it was about his gaze that seemed to make Fluttershy blush so often. He had this deeply intelligent and sensitive look in his eyes and the most wonderfully warm smile. Blushing again herself, she got back up to find her measuring tape. If he did have such a wonderful and endearing smile, he also sadly conveyed a look of fatigue and of having seen so much and being unable to 'un-see' it again. There was enchantment in his eyes - yet so much pain.

"Now, my dear, I think we should commence dancing lessons after my work is finished here tomorrow, if that time is going to be suitable for you?" she asked.

"My lady, that would be perfect."

"For now, let's get the measurements I think I shall need for your ... well, your 'party party' clothes," and even she managed a giggle at the title. Karn found it interesting that Pinkie Pie seemed to have this joyful effect on much of the town - even when she wasn't actually there to do so in person.

Author's Note

There is a truly awful mix of pseudo-scientific nonsense in here regarding multiple universes, but then such is the necessity to use artistic license to handle these kinds of stories. We're reading about a mythical world populated with completely fictional characters after all.

It was also a little difficult to try and cram so much into the one chapter, without falling into the trap of laboring a point too much. So I found myself writing mixed dialog with a variety of characters, trying some interplay, just enjoying writing. I had been consuming margaritas whilst writing some of this, which was a change from the Australian Shiraz or Moscato I'd normally imbibe. God only knows what that will do the readability of this chapter.

I enjoyed writing it, though. Hopefully somebody else will enjoy reading it too.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Nordryd.

Cheers!

POST EDIT 2017-04-21
Minor grammar and spelling fixes, some dialog fixes. A little bit of kruft removed, but still trying to hint at underlying attraction without making the story run away.