The chakat and the unicorn trekked in companionable silence for a while, only pausing occasionally to deal with an offending branch or rock. Then Tigerbright stopped and indicated a small shrub with red-rimmed leaves.

“See this plant? Don’t let its sap get onto you – it gives you a painful rash that lasts for days without treatment. It’s also murder to get out of your fur.”

“Is that a particularly rare species?” Violet asked.

“Heck, no! It’s almost a weed.”

“Then you won’t mind if I do this.” With a burst of her magic, the mare ripped the entire bush out of the ground and deposited it well away from the path.

Tigerbright chuckled. “Now that’s what I call non-contact pest control. Feel free to rip out any others that you see too close to our route.”

“Sure – not a problem,” the mare replied as they resumed their walk. “Please point out anything else that needs to be similarly dealt with.”

“Must be handy having magic to make problems disappear. That ley line trick was pretty impressive.”

“Thanks, but any graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns could have done that.”

“Oh? So you’re saying that the average unicorn doesn’t know how to cast that spell?”

Violet grimaced. “The average unicorn can levitate objects, use their horn light as a flashlight, and that’s about it. The only complex magic they can perform is directly related to their special talent.”

“Well, that explains why I’ve never seen a pony fly without wings before. What other kinds of stuff did you learn?”

“Illusions, transformations, teleportation—”

“You can teleport? I hear that your alicorns once teleported all the way from your world to Chakona.”

Violet chuckled. “I’m no alicorn. I’m pretty much limited to line-of-sight. Useful for getting out of trouble, but that’s about it.”

“I see. What else?”

“Divining.” At the chakat’s raised eyebrow, the mare clarified. “Using changes in the mana field to determine the presence of various substances. While it’s frequently employed to find water, it’s also very useful for my geology work. It was one of my best subjects, although that shouldn’t be too surprising considering that it’s an aspect of my special talent. Anyway, I also know various useful incantations, but I was pretty poor at potions. Can’t be great at everything, I suppose. Unless your name is Twilight Sparkle, of course.”

“With that kind of education, why did you pick geology? It seems to me that you could have gotten into some more high-end jobs.”

“Because I love it. I’ve known since I was twelve that it was what I was going to do when I grew up.”

“I’ve heard about how you ponies get your cutie marks when you discover what you’re best at, but isn’t that limiting? You spend the rest of your life focused on that one thing.”

Violet chuckled. “Not necessarily. How you express that talent can vary a lot. But for me, it was discovered while doing something that I love. I was on a camping trip with the fillyscouts when I detected a vein of diamonds. That’s how I got my geode cutie mark. Now I get to hike and camp frequently while doing my job.”

“Do you always work alone when on one of those field trips?”

“Most of the time. If a site requires a thorough follow-up, I might go with a team, but my primary job is ground surveying.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely? We chakats are very social beings and don’t like being by ourselves for long. And that’s not even counting the empathic interaction we require.”

“Oh, ponies love socializing and we’re incurable huggers. I do miss that occasionally, but I’d rather be out in the field by myself than stuck in an office with people who don’t share my interests.”

Tigerbright gave her a quizzical look. “And you couldn’t do that back on Equus?”

“The trouble with Equus is that it’s a well-explored and populated world. The few areas that are not already checked out or claimed have several geologists vying for the job. Here, though, the colony is always looking for more experts. The colonial authority bent over backward to get me to sign up. Frankly, not too many ponies have a pioneering mentality.”

“New Horizon is hardly a backwater village with huts made of sticks,” the chakat said dryly.

Violet giggled. “It might as well be to their minds. That’s why the majority of ponies here are aligned with House Path. They tend to have the most forward thinkers. It’s also why there’s a higher than average proportion of griffons in the population. They’re a lot bolder about this kind of thing.”

“I guess. Still, it’s a heck of a transition from a comfortable place in your homeworld to this colony. Is your career really that important to you?”

The mare snorted derisively. “Combined with the opportunity to explore a new country, it could easily have been. No, the deciding factors were my parents.”

Sensing the unicorn’s irritation, Tigerbright said diffidently, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“Nah. It’s not as if it’s a big secret. My parents kept nagging me to find myself a stallion, get mated, and give them grandfoals. Mom was especially bad. It’s not as if I was completely disinterested in getting hitched, but I’d never found a male that shared my interests. Oh, I had a couple of friends but they were not suitable mates. That didn’t stop my mother though. She must have lined up every eligible male in town, even those with a large herd of mares already. Call me selfish, but I wanted a stallion who had time to devote just to me. They even arranged a blind date with a griffon once.”

Tigerbright’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you said they wanted grandfoals?”

“You might not have any here yet, but hippogriffs are the progeny of ponies and griffons, courtesy of a compatibility spell. Well, at least the ones that don’t hail from Mount Aris. Anyway, Garth was equally surprised when he found out I was a pony. Turns out it was a blind date for him, too.”

“So, I guess you didn’t go out on that date?”

Violet grinned widely. “Oh, we did. Garth is one of those male friends I mentioned. Dad and Mom were paying for a ‘romantic’ meal at a high-class restaurant, and we made sure to order all the most expensive stuff. I hoped it would teach my parents a lesson in meddling, although that turned out to be wishful thinking. Nevertheless, we had an awesome dinner on their bits. Garth suggested that we pretend to have some interest in each other to get some more top-class free food, but I knew that would only encourage them even more.”

The chakat snickered. “I’ve known a few chakats like that. The biggest difference between us is that we tend to prefer large clans, or herds as you call them.”

“I could possibly agree to adding a mare to the herd after I’ve been married for a while, but that’s something to consider in the future. Anyway, the final straw was when my parents convinced one of my grandmothers that I was despairing of finding a stallion and could she unearth somepony for me? Well, she did. The poor colt was fed some horsefeathers about how I was so desperate for a husband that I was ready to mate with any eligible stallion who turned up on my doorstep. He thought he would be taking on a charity case and treated me with exactly zero respect. I blew up at Grandma, Mom and Dad and left town in the morning. I already had been considering my options and that incident pushed me past the tipping point. I went to see the Chakonan Colonial Authority the next day, sat through a presentation of what to expect, and submitted my application immediately afterward. It took less than a week to be approved. Like I said before, the colony has an urgent need for expert professionals.”

“So it’s only been a few days since you decided to come here?”

“Well, I had to wind up things with my employer first, plus a few other personal details, but yeah, I pretty much came here as soon as I could.”

“Any regrets?”

“Not so far, although this is only my third day here.” Violet grinned at the chakat. “And I’ve made my first local friend. Things are looking good.”

Tigerbright returned the smile. “So, I can persuade you to come with me on an overnight hike sometime soon?”

“Twist my fetlock, why don’t you?” the mare replied with a giggle.

The conversation switched back to the sights along the trail which slowly grew more distinct. Violet paused briefly to get a closer look at a rock formation before they continued. Eventually, they came to a T-intersection and Tigerbright halted there.

“Are you in any hurry to get back to your apartment?” the chakat asked.

“Not at all.”

“Then let’s go this way.” Tigerbright turned to the left. “The right path leads to town, of course, but I have something else I want to show you.”

They continued onward and Violet heard waves breaking and the scent of saltwater was heavier in the air. The pair abruptly emerged from the trees onto an outcrop of rock that jutted into the bay, terminating the beach that fronted the colony.

The tiger chakat took off hir backpack and said, “Put your saddlebag here. It’ll get wet otherwise.”

Curious to find out what Tigerbright was up to, Violet did as she was asked. Then she followed hir to the end of the rocky promontory. The chakat put a hand on the mare’s withers and gestured at the scenery. The mare was a little surprised but not discomfited, and she was soon engrossed in the view her friend was showing her. A yacht was sailing across the crystal clear water which sparkled in the sunlight, and the hills on the other side of the bay were verdant and lush. It was a picture-postcard moment and they both admired it in silence for a minute.

Eventually, Violet asked, “It’s beautiful, but why did you think our stuff would get wet? The waves are hardly making more than a ripple at the moment.”

Tigerbright grinned. “Because we’re going down there now.” Shi pointed to the lee of the outcrop where the unicorn could see several rock pools. It was low tide and the pools were isolated from the sea for the moment, and in them, Violet could see fish swimming. As they emerged from the shadow of an overhang, their bodies shimmered like living rainbows.

“Ooh! What are those?”

“Spectrum fish. Follow me.”

Tigerbright bounded down to the pools. Wary of her hooves skidding on the slippery rocks, Violet opted to levitate down. By then, the chakat was hip-deep in one of the pools where the spectrum fish darted between hir legs. “Come on in,” shi said.

Considering how deep her feline friend was, the unicorn was unsurprised to find herself up to her neck in the cool water.

“Refreshing, isn’t it?” Tigerbright asked with a grin.

“Yep. I notice that the fish aren’t afraid of us.”

“Like most brightly colored animals, they are poisonous to eat, so they don’t have many natural predators. Spectrum fish are curious and playful because they can afford to be.”

Violet held up a hoof and one of the fish gave her frog a nibble, tickling her. “Oh, I’ve got to take a picture of this!” She looked up where she could see her saddlebags and a magic glow lifted one of the flaps. Her comm floated down and then paused nearby. The mare put a foreleg over Tigerbright’s barrel and said, “Smile!”

The comm made a shutter sound twice before floating back to its place in the saddlebag.

“You forgot to take any pictures when you were up on Tower Peak,” the chakat pointed out.

“I know. I have a bad habit of forgetting to take some pics when I’m engrossed in a view. And then there was the unexpected company too.”

“At least, you have a good excuse to go back again.”

Violet chuckled. “Yeah, as if I needed one.”

They climbed out of the rock pool and shook off the excess water before retrieving their packs. The duo then retraced their steps until they reached the trail junction, this time heading toward the township. They emerged at the end of a street that accessed the beach. Rather than walking down the road, Tigerbright led the mare to a trail that paralleled the beach and moved up the pace to a trot. Violet easily kept up, wondering where her friend was headed. Eventually, they reached a path which the mare recognized as leading to her apartment complex.

“Wait up a moment!”

The chakat stopped and looked back. “What’s up?”

“My place is thataway.” The unicorn pointed with her hoof.

“Ah. I was thinking that you could stop by my home first for drinks and snacks if you’d like?”

“Oh. That’d be nice if isn’t too much trouble? I’m a bit damp and salty.”

“You can use my outdoor shower. I use it all the time when I go to the beach. Saves tracking sand and seawater into the house.”

“Very practical,” Violet conceded. “Let’s go.”

Five minutes later, they reached a row of large houses with frontage onto the beach. They looked expensive and the mare figured that they belonged to all the important people in the colony. Therefore, it was no surprise when Tigerbright turned into the yard of one. There was outdoor furniture underneath the shade of sailcloth and a little hut to one side. The chakat led the mare to the latter and told her to go ahead and use the shower first. After a quick rinse, she was then showed a device that blasted her with jets of air to dry her coat while Tigerbright showered. When both were done, they walked up to the door of the house. The chakat held the back of hir wrist up to a disc by the side and the door slid open. Violet’s eyes widened as she followed the chakat inside.

“Sweet Celestia! You have this huge place all to yourself?”

“Yep. When they built the official residence for the future Chief Administrator, I hadn’t been appointed yet and they had to allow for the possibility of a large family moving in. Instead, it was just unmated me. Lots of spare bedrooms for visiting VIPs though.”

“You certainly have plenty of privacy. Yet still handy to the beach and other people. Pretty sweet deal.”

“I’m not complaining,” Tigerbright replied with a chuckle. “Anyway, I promised you refreshments. What would you like to drink? I make a pretty mean margarita.”

“I have no idea what that is, but I’m game.”

“Okay. Let me grab the snacks and then I’ll start on the drinks.” The chakat took an assortment of cakes out of the cupboard in the kitchen and passed them to Violet who took them in her magic field. “Take these to the table outside. Help yourself to as many as you like – I can easily get more. I’ll join you soon.”

The unicorn found that chairs made for the comfort of chakats were pretty good for ponies too. She selected an oat muffin and was halfway through it when Tigerbright emerged with a large glass carried in each hand. Each had a narrow stem that flared out into a wide rim. The scents of citrus and alcohol wafted through the air accompanied by enough salt to drown out what came off the ocean. Violet pricked her ears forward, showing her interest. Sure enough, a crust of coarse salt crystals decorated the rim. Tigerbright set one glass beside Violet and then settled down in a chair before taking a sip of hir drink.

“Ah! The perfect way to end a wonderful day,” the chakat said with a contented look on hir face. “Thank you for joining me today. It made it so much more enjoyable.”

“I ought to be thanking you,” Violet replied after taking a careful swig of her drink. Along with its taste, the salt added an unexpected tactile dimension to the beverage. “I never expected to learn so much in one day. It’s been both fun and educational. I wouldn’t mind doing it again soon.”

“Me too. Tomorrow is out, unfortunately. I have an appointment with Morningmist.”

“An empathic interaction like you mentioned earlier?”

“Exactly. I have to admit that I need it way less than she will. You may not be a strong empath, Violet, but you’re very much adequate for my needs. I can’t leave Misty in the lurch though.”

“Fair enough.”

“We can have a barbecue on the beach in the afternoon, if you like. Maybe organize a game of volleyball if we’re lucky.”

“As long as you don’t start drumming up stallions for me, I’m all for it.”

“Aww! You’ve gone and ruined my surprise!” the chakat whined.

Violet gave hir a flat look before they both burst out into laughter.

They sipped their drinks and munched on the cakes, watching foals and their parents playing on the sand and in the sea. A gentle breeze kept the temperature just right and the mare sighed in contentment. If this was a foretaste of what her life in this colony would be like, she only wished that she had made the move sooner.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Well, now you know why Violet wanted to get as far away from her old home as possible. And she's made a good friend already.

Art by Foxenawolf.