Author's Note

Hello there! Here's the second chapter of "A Man Of Science"! Sorry if this one was shorter than usual, but I felt like it would be better to cut up what I have planned next instead of bombing it all at once!

A New Home

Rigdon stared at this… ‘thing’ in front of him. A bead of sweat dribbled down his forehead as he took in the sight of Twilight. Her coat was a vibrant purple. Her mane was a deep bluish-purple, with one darker and lighter purple streak running through it. Judging by how he was sitting, she would make it about half way up his stomach if he was standing up. His brow raised as he continued to examine her… Is that a horn? Why is there a tattoo on her side?

“Daring-doo… That goes under D in fiction.” Twilight mumbled to herself as she pushed the book into place with her magic She would hum as she looked over to the cart on her right.

He looked on with bewilderment as her horn lit up, the book slowly getting engulfed in a translucent purple color. The book danced over to Twilight before it was pushed forward, finding its new home in an empty slot. She repeated the action, bringing the book towards her and reading the name. The soft clopping of hooves against the wooden floor beat out as she turned around.

He was now standing, head tilted down so he could look at her. Twilight slowly looked up, her ears folding back as her head slowly trailed up until she was looking directly into his eyes. Now he has to add unusually large eyes to his list of weird features this horse had.

Twilight visibly deflated as she took a few steps backwards, only stopping when she hit the bookshelf. She was considering throwing a couple of books at this thing, but she was worried that it would become damaged or worse! Instead, she gathered the confidence to speak out.

“W-What do you want, creature?” Twilight called out, her voice growing softer as said confidence left her body with each word she squeaked out.

Rigdon’s eyes grew wide as he heard her voice. These things could talk? Well, he might as well ask some questions.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Rigdon replied, head slowly looking side to side. Well, he had to give credit where credit was due—This was a cozy looking library. He turned back towards Twilight. “Where am I?”

Twilight slowly straightened her posture, a small breath of relief escaping from her. Her demeanor changed as the tension in the room slowly melted away. Giving off a small cough to clear her throat, she began to speak.

“You’re in Golden Oaks Library! The only dedicated place in Ponyville for books and knowledge alike,” Twilight exclaimed with a hint of pride in her voice. She took a couple steps towards Rigdon, now feeling a bit more reassured that he wasn’t here to do anything bad.

“My name is Twilight. What’s yours?” She introduced herself, reaching her hoof out in the process.

Rigdon looked down at the hoof presented to him. How was this even supposed to work? He reached out, his fingers gently wrapping around her hoof as he gave her a hoof shake. He felt a small shiver go up his spine as his hand made contact with her impossibly soft coat. Well, her coat was the least of his worries. He would feel a soft, yet firm grip envelop his hand. He could hear his mind scream out as it questioned the logic of this. He looked up from his hand, finding Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up a little. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one that found this weird.

“Rigdon,” He would finally give her a reply. “My name is Rigdon.” He slowly retracted his hand from her hoof. Twilight likewise did the same, soon placing it back onto the floor. Now it was her turn to ask some questions of her own.

“What are you?” Twilight furrowed her brows a little bit, lifting her hoof up to her muzzle as she tried to think about if she’s ever seen another animal or creature like him before. “You have the features of an Ape, but I have never seen one that looks like you.”

“Well, you did get the ape part right, Twilight,” Rigdon replied. “I’m a Homo-Sapien, or a Human in layman’s terms.” Rigdon walked past her, reached out, and grabbed a book that was under History. He began to flip through the pages, trying to understand this world.

Twilight’s eyes turned to pin pricks as she heard him say what he was. The excitement began to boil inside of her before she burst from the seams, a loud squeal escaping from her as she jumped up and down.

“Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh!” She would repeat in quick succession. “A new species! What do you eat? What are the physical attributes of a human? These data possibilities are endless!” she would emit a soft squee as she stopped bouncing. Holy shit, that was so adorable.

Her horn lit up as a piece of paper and an ink quill appeared in front of her. She looked up to Rigdon before looking back down. She wrote down the name for the species before beginning to draw out a human in Rigdon’s likeness. Rigdon put the book back as he watched Twilight overdose on new data.

A small smile crept across his face, soon shaking his head as he thought about his friends back home. God, they would’ve gotten a serious kick about her eagerness for data. He could only imagine what would happen if she got her hands… err… Hooves on a calculator. Rigdon reached forward, a couple beams of light leaking in through a window and bouncing on his skin. He turned his head back to Twilight.

“Hey, Earth to Twilight.” He snapped his fingers. Twilight looked up, finally snapping out of nerd mode. Her ear twitched softly as Rigdon spoke again. “Is there any way we could talk about this over a cup of tea? I think I need to sit down for a little bit.”

A slight blush appeared on Twilight’s cheeks. She felt embarrassed that someone had seen her get this excited over data. She gave a quick, solemn nod, trotting off towards the kitchen. Grasping a pot with her magic, she filled it with warm water before placing it firmly on the stove, the burner quickly turning on afterwards. While she waited for it to boil, she looked back and called out to Rigdon.

“What type of tea would you like?” She turned back to the cabinet, looking at her inventory of tea. “We have Dandelion root… Oolong-” Rigdon quickly spoke up and cut her off.

“Dandelion would be fantastic,” He called out. Slowly turning his head side to side, he found a small table. Looking at it, he wondered how he would even be able to sit here. Sure, he could, but it would be as uncomfortable as him trying to sit at the children’s table. Pulling the chair out, he sat down, wriggling his figure ever so slightly to make himself more comfortable.

After a couple of minutes, Twilight appeared with a teacup set in toe. What looked like sandwiches followed her as well. Placing the objects onto the table, she quickly plopped herself onto the chair opposite of Rigdon. She poured him a cup of tea and levitated it over to him, along with one of the sandwiches. He grabbed them both, watching the magic dissipate.

“Uhm, Twilight?” He placed the sandwich onto a small plate. “I don’t think I’m able to eat this. There’s… flowers on them.”

Twilight gave a confused look as she lifted her sandwich up to her mouth, taking a bite from it. She gave a couple of chews before quickly swallowing. “Why not? I thought you could because you wanted Dandelion Tea.”

“Well, yeah, I can have Dandelion Tea,” Rigdon lifted the small cup and took a deep gulp, the hot liquid slightly burning his tongue as it slid down his throat. “But that’s because It’s part of a group of specific flowers that humans can eat. I don’t know the type of flowers that grow here, so it would be a huge risk to just take a bite of this.”

When he looked back to Twilight, he found that she was face first in that paper once again. She was scribbling fiercely, stopping every so often only to get more ink onto her quill. Once finished, she looked back up, deciding to prod him for more information about his species.

“So… What CAN you eat?” Twilight questioned as she brought the paper closer, ready at a moment's notice to begin writing down what he told her. Rolling his eyes, Rigdon couldn’t help but scoff softly at her eagerness. He took another sip of the tea before humoring her.

“Well, First off we eat meat… We can have vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and animal products, such as eggs.” He pushed his sandwich towards Twilight. She took another bite, quickly following with a quick lick of her muzzle. ‘Wait, where am I supposed to stay?’ Rigdon would think to himself before bringing up his quarry.

“Where do I go?” He questioned Twilight, his voice flat as his face contorted into a frown. “I don’t exactly have a house in…”

Twilight quickly interjected. “Ponyville.”

Rigdon gave a solemn nod. “Yeah, Ponyville.” He gave off a soft chuckle as he began to fiddle with his thumbs. Rigdon pondered about home. What was happening back there? Were they trying to get him back? Was he stuck forever in this new place? Twilight read his face like it was one of the many books that she carried. Taking another bite of her sandwich, she smiled and spoke up.

“Well, I do have a spare room. If you’d like, you can stay here!” She offered to the human, that squee coming out from nowhere when she smiled. Rigdon looked over at her, then felt his heart explode! What he saw was something that would put puppy dog eyes to shame! Now he couldn’t say no to a face like that.

“Alright. Thank you, Twilight,” He thanked her, a small smile snaking across his lips. Lifting his cup once more, he was more cautious as he slowly took a couple of sips. The liquid, now being much cooler, easily went down without any fuss.

“What’re friends for,” Twilight chimed in. Rigdon raised a brow as he watched her dig into a second sandwich. He had known her all but ten minutes, and yet she already considered him a friend. Taking one last gulp from his cup, he finished his drink. Placing the cup down, he slid it forward a bit.

“Twilight, could you go in depth about what this place is? Y’know, besides Ponyville.” Rigdon stretched back against the chair before providing an incentive. “I’ll tell you where I came from after you teach me more about this place, alright?” When Twilight heard those words, she immediately forgoes the sandwich and drink in front of her and opts for a couple of history books. She gives a wide grin as she opens the book.

“Alright! You better pay attention, Rigdon, because we’re starting from the very beginning!” Twilight cooed as she cleared her throat, slowly beginning to tell him the history of Equestria.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“And that brings us to today. Now, the Soviets may have gotten us beat at the moment, but I still believe that we can turn it around eventually!” Rigdon placed his fist against his chest. Twilight, on the other side of the table, had filled up her half with her papers, which had been rolled and held in place with a red ribbon. She felt like she was going to faint!

“This is so interesting.” Twilight finished wrapping up her last document. “Despite our worlds being so far apart, we have very similar cultures and holidays!” she grinned before she turned her attention to a small figure on the ground. Rigdon followed her gaze, quickly squinting as he stared at the figure. Judging by the scales on the tiny thing, he could only assume it was a type of Lizard.

“Spike, send these to Celestia!” She suspended the papers in her magic before handing them off towards the drake. He gave a salute before taking a deep breath and breathing fire onto the papers, everything catching fire and disintegrating. Rigdon watched in bewilderment as the smoke flew out of the window.

“Is he a dragon?” Rigdon questioned as he stared at him. Spike gave a smile and a nod.

“In the flesh!” Spike would give a triumphant pose. Rigdon reached down, holding his fist out for him.

“Nice to meet you, Spike! Fist bump, Lil’ man!” Spike stared at the fist before jumping up, punching his fist against Rigdon’s and making an explosion after he hit his hand. The moment he hit the ground, his cheeks would puff up. He let out a burp, and what appeared made Rigdon question the laws of physics in this place. Out of the fire that came from his mouth was a Paper neatly rolled and held in place with that red ribbon, untouched by the fire. The letter was quickly enveloped in a purple aura as it levitated over to Twilight. After reading it, she quickly clapped her hooves together as she fangirled.

“What? What happened” Rigdon questioned with a hint of worry in his voice. Twilight placed the letter down and turned towards him.

“Princess Celestia wants us to come to Canterlot! She says she would love to meet you!” She continued to jump around, barely hiding her excitement. Rigdon’s eyes turned to saucers as her voice rang out through his head, the weight behind it getting greater each time he did. ‘THE Princess wants to meet me?’. He blinked slowly, muttering two words under his breath.

“Oh shit…”