Daedalus' New World

Daedalus and Starfall exited the main gate of the castle, the four guards giving the two of them nods as Starfall waved excitedly. The young mare was clearly excited to be accompanying him and her energy put a small smile on his face as they walked together. Now in Canterlot proper, ponies stopped and stared at him as they caught sight of him. While ponies didn't seem to be afraid of him, they were certainly wary. A couple unicorns, dressed up in fancy clothes and each wearing more jewelry than he saw in all of Ponyville gave him looks of disgust. Starfall stuck her tongue out at the pair and chuckled as they stuck their noses up in the air. She turned and looked at Daedalus, giving a wide smirk. "Don't worry, with a pretty mare near you nopony will be afraid!"

"A pretty mare? Where?" Daedalus smirked as her head snapped around to pout at him. Reaching out and gently tapping her nose with his finger, he brought a smile to her muzzle. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Hmph, better keep your grubby hands to yourself!" Starfall said playfully, nudging him with a shoulder as they walked through the streets. Turning his attention back to the city with a small smile glued to his face, he took in the sights of the mountainside capital. Marble was the most predominant building material as most shops were at least framed in it, if not made of it almost entirely. Unlike human cities, the tallest buildings around were only four stories at the most with the exception of the castle behind him. There were no skyscrapers anywhere, no giant hotels or office centers. Just shops, restaurants, businesses, and homes. Unlike in Ponyville, the Canterlot homes used shingled roofs and he noticed that the buildings here had gutters as well. Then the roads seemed both familiar and strange. Like Earth, drains lined the edges of the road every fifty feet or so ensuring that the streets couldn't flood during heavy rain, but the streets were made of cobbles instead of asphalt.

Greenery was a common sight too, whether in hanging plants attached to the roofs of buildings or planters set up in windowsills. Occasionally, the center of the wide roads was broken up by crystal clear fountains or large boxes that contained flower gardens. As he glanced at one of the fountains and wondered why it was in the center of the road, Daedalus' question was answered as a pony stopped and took a long drink from it before moving on. Distracted as he was, he only noticed the soft feeling around his hand as it was tugged. Looking over, his hand was held in Starfall's pink aura as she tugged at him, guiding him toward one of the restaurants. "C'mon, Genevieve will love having another meat eater around! She always brags about her meat dishes but complains no pony eats them. Though, if she's busy you probably won't get to meet her."

Chuckling, the Greater Evolved let her lead him toward the business. "Of course, I can't imagine many ponies eating meat."

The building was artfully designed. The front of the building was made almost entirely of glass panes allowing plenty of natural light inside and allowing anyone inside to look out at the city or the sky. Interspersed between the panes were black wood columns supporting the roof. Instead of regular tables and chairs, the restaurant had very low tables that came up to his knees with long cushions on each side giving ponies a place to sit. At the back of the building, however, were taller tables and booths closer to what he was used to. The place wasn't incredibly busy but it wasn't slow either, with four other groups dining. He was noticed easily as he walked in, his tall and strange frame easy to spot from a distance but no one really paid attention to him beyond a cursory glance. A young stallion dressed in a simple suit approached him and Starfall as they entered with a kind smile. "A table for two for the lady and her date? Would you prefer a regular table or one for bipedals?"

She giggled softly as she shook her head. "A bipedal table for two yes, but we're just friends. We met today in fact, and it's his first day in Canterlot so I'm showing him around."

The waiter nodded in understanding and led the way to the more familiar table and Daedalus realized that they were, in fact, designed for bipedal guests. Starfall sat across from him as the waiter set two menus down on the table. "What will you have for your drink, good lady?"

"I'd like Genevieve's cider and another for Daedalus here too. Trust me, you'll love it. She homebrews her cider and while it might not be as good as the famous Sweet Apple Acres brew, it's amazing." Daedalus nodded his agreement to the waiter before he left, stating he would return with their drinks in a few minutes and take their order.

"So, Daedalus, how'd the meeting with the Princesses go? I wanna hear all about it!" Starfall said excitedly, smiling up at him. "I'm sure something interesting happened, you're like the only one of your kind here!"

"Yeah, no kidding. Well, the meeting went very well. It started over food and we asked each other a lot of questions. Mostly about where I'm from and what my home is like and if I want to go back, and I asked questions about the culture of the world and about magic. Eventually, I said that I was pretty strong for my kind and Luna challenged me to a duel." Daedalus was cut off as she gasped, looking him at wide eyes that shone with surprise.

"Princess Luna challenged you? You must have really gotten her excited! She duels her Hunters all the time, but strangers are always challenging her for a boon and she always sends her champion to fight for her. The fact that you got to duel her is amazing! I bet she wiped the floor with you!"

He couldn't help but laugh when her eyes widened even further as he shook her head. Not wanting the extent of his power to become common knowledge, he tried to play it down some. "Well, I mean she could have ended it at any time, but it wasn't as one sided as you think. I got a couple hits on her without her getting me back. She was definitely testing me though. Once she had enough of it, she pulled out a massive spell that forced me to yield and she won easily."

To his chagrin, it didn't work. "Wow! To think she had to make you yield, that's amazing! Normally, her champion just hits somepony once and it's a lethal blow and an automatic win, but Princess Luna herself had to make you yield! You gotta be, like, suuuuper strong! If you don't mind, what boon did she get from you?"

Here, she gave him a teasing smirk and wiggled her eyebrows. "A date from a handsome young....uh, whatever you are?"

Reaching across the table, he gently flicked her nose with a smile as she pulled back and gave him another playful pout. "Human, and no. She asked me to join her Hunters."

That clearly wasn't the right thing to say if he wanted to remain somewhat secretive on his prowess, stolen though it was. "What? Daedalus, that's amazing! The Hunters are only, like, the most impressive and prestigious Guard force in Equestria!"

"Well, Luna did say that they were prestigious, but are they really that impressive?"

She waved her hooves around as she gestured frantically, nodding excitedly. "Yes! The entrance exam to even be considered is to impress the Mistress of the Night personally! It's been said that one Hunter has the fighting prowess of a dozen Guards! Not to mention they're structured more like a family than a military, and only work in groups of three or four because that's the most they'll ever even need to fight something. I'm confident you'll become one of the best, too! Did you not know any of this?"

Daedalus chuckled as he shook his head. "No, I'm not from around here so I didn't even know what the Hunters were. She mentioned they were monster hunters and personal guards, but I won't be receiving a full detailed explanation until I meet with their Captain tomorrow. Leave the rest as a surprise for me, okay?"

"Okay, I can do that! But I wanna hear about everything you're allowed to tell me next time we meet, alright?" Starfall insisted, and when he nodded his agreement, she squee'd quietly. "Awesome! I can't believe my friend is going to be a Hunter and I'm gonna hear all about it! That's so amazing!"

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders. Daedalus went with Starfall's recommendation of the jambalaya while she went with a loaded hayburger. Their food came quickly and they ate in peace, idly talking as they enjoyed their meal. The Evolved, despite not needing to eat, found himself quite happy she had introduced him to this place. The jambalaya was very good and reminded him of home and the chilled cider was very flavorful with a pleasant burn. Daedalus learned plenty about Starfall as she was very open to sharing, something he noticed was quite common among ponies. She had been a full member of the Solar Guard for three months now and already been promoted twice, nearly four times faster than the average Guard. Like every unicorn, she had been trained in the sword, spear, and magical shield but had taken a shine to telekinetic manipulation and able to beat Guards several years her senior even armed with only her magic. That combined with her passion for her job was what had led to her rapid promotions.

A lot of her income was sent out of town to the far west, to the town of Colton to support her family. She explained that way out there, there wasn't a lot of job opportunities. While her family wasn't poor by any means, she had a lot of brothers and sisters and her parents had put aside their own comfort to make sure they were raised properly and comfortably. As such, once they had become old enough and gotten their cutie marks, a lot of them had left to find jobs elsewhere and sent money back to make sure her mom and dad could retire and live the rest of their lives happily without worrying about anything. Daedalus thought that was very sweet and touching, and when he commented on it she blushed slightly and gave him a shy smile.

Beyond that, her own life was pretty simple. She lived in the barracks, had a few friends in Canterlot, and was on duty five days a week. On her free days, she would often paint or head to one of the recreational areas in the castle to swim. Overall, Starfall had said, her life was very simple and calm and she loved it that way, but on some days she desired a sense of adventure in her life. However, she felt that living safe and comfortable was worth too much to give away just to travel across Equestria and potentially find herself broke and hungry and having to rely on her parents or siblings again. Naturally, the conversation slowly shifted to more about Daedalus than herself and he found himself sharing more than he thought he would from his time before the Outbreaks.

He told her how he had grown up in a wet, hot place called Louisiana. While he had been an only child, it was more than made up for by aunts, uncles, and cousins as his entire extended family all lived on the same street. He told her about learning to cook from a young age as they held weekly barbecues and how during one, he had asked to try some of his uncle's drink only to nearly throw up when he found out the man had been drinking vodka in the morning. He told her about his easy upbringing where he found he had a knack for most sciences and loved to read, but found history boring.

Daedalus shared how, after graduation, he had been accepted on a full scholarship to a college nearly halfway across his country and made the move from a small, rural town to a giant city to pursue his dream of chemical engineering. His life ended up being derailed a few months later as a couple plagues hit his area back to back over the course of five years and he had ended up losing contact with his family after one of the plagues caused the communication network to collapse. He reassured her he knew they were alright since they were a thousand miles away from the quarantine zone. Then everything had changed suddenly when he woke up and found himself in Equestria, in a friendly little place he could easily come to call home. That statement had earned him a happy smile from the little unicorn. Eventually, with the food long gone, they requested the bill as they prepared to leave. When it arrived, he went to grab the pouch he had been given only for his hand to be caught in an aura of magic as Starfall levitated her own out and paid. At his look, she explained her thoughts.

"Your culture might be different, but since I'm the one who asked you to come here with me, I'm the one who should pay. If humans are different on that, you're more than welcome to pay next time go we out." Starfall said and gave him a playful wink.

"So this was a date?" Daedalus asked as he returned Starfall's tease with a grin.

Her muzzle colored as she stammered over her words for a second before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A little more calm, she looked at him with her glimmering pink eyes and nodded. "Yeah, well, you're really interesting. You listened to me ramble about myself for an hour and not a lot of stallions will do that. It may not mean much coming from a random stranger from another species but you seem really nice and I'd like to get to know you more."

Daedalus' grin turned into a heartfelt smile as he reached out, gently booping her muzzle. "I'll pay next time."

Her smile widened even as her blush darkened, the two of them stood up and left the restaurant as the waiter thank them for coming and invited them back again. The young stallion gave Daedalus a small wink and he realized the pony had overheard what they had said. As they walked through the darkening streets, Daedalus figured it was close to seven or eight in the afternoon and less ponies were about as some of the more fashion-style businesses had closed. Though, plenty others were still open as he saw other restaurants, food vendors, and small supply stores still operating. The Evolved was pulled out of his musing as something levitated in front of his face. He looked to see a small rose held in Starfall's aura and glanced at the pony at his side. Again, her muzzle was a deep red as she blushed heavily with a mix of worry and excitement in her eyes. When he reached out to grab the rose, realization dawned on her face as she levitated out of his reach. "Oh! Do you, uh, know what it means when a mare offers you a flower?"

"To humans, it's generally a sign of romance but it doesn't always have to be." Daedalus responded, not quite sure what it meant for ponies. "Is it the same for ponies?"

Starfall shook her head then hesitated before giving a little shrug. "It's similar, just not the same. It's different depending on the situation. If you randomly offer somepony one, it's a sign of friendship and appreciation. But specifically after a date, it's a sign of attraction. The mare offering it is saying she finds the stallion attractive and wants to get to know him more to see if anything deeper blossoms between them. You can answer in a lot of different ways, too. If you take the flower and put it in my mane, it's a gentle rejection. You're saying you like me as a friend but don't want to go any further. If you take it and put it into your mane, it means you do want to consider seeing each other and if it goes deeper. And, umm, if you take it and kiss me, it means you already like me and want me to be your marefriend." As she said the last part, her blush darkened as she glanced away and levitated the flower closer to him again.

Daedalus' gaze slowly shifted from the rose toward the nervous mare. He wasn't really sure what to think. On one hand, she had been great company and had already shown that she cared about others, even complete strangers. She seemed sweet, honest, and kind. She was open about what she wanted even if she was nervous and embarrassed, and could joke and tease just as easily as she could be serious and heartfelt. On the other hand, he was a virus. Even when it came to other races, he was beyond strange and frankly a little terrifying. Then he wasn't completely emotionless, but he wasn't exactly alive either, and he had just met this mare today.

Starfall slowly looked up as he hesitated, her hopeful pink eyes meeting his conflicted blue ones. When he saw that look in her eyes, he made up his mind and took the rose as her breath hitched slightly. Virus or not, alive or not, he would see where this would go. He wouldn't lead her on. He'd tell her the truth of what he was before they became serious. Was it the smartest decision? No, probably not, but it was the one he was going to make. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't somewhat attracted to this little mare and he wasn't going to deny himself the chance. With the rose in hand, he reached up to his long hair and set it where it was clearly visible. Then he kneeled down with a warm smile before he wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a firm hug. With a relieved sigh, she wrapped a hoof around him as well and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'd like that, Starfall, if you'd be interested in a strange monkey with grubby hands."

With a giggle as he echoed what she had said earlier, she gently nuzzled his cheek as her soft fur brushed against his smooth skin. "Yeah, I am. Only Princess Cadence knows if we'd be a good match, but I want to find out with you."