Unlimited Books, But No Book

Twilight sits on her own couch -- the first time in what was... probably a full week. She'd been spending so much time sitting on the kitchen countertop, and on a chair stuck on the kitchen countertop, that she forgot how comfortable cushions were. And how much her leg was cramping. She needed to find a way to make things more comfortable without making their little visits more obvious than they were.

Twilight had discovered that closing the Microwave door 'cut off' the connection to the Holopad, which made sense. Kind of. It wasn't magic, which would probably have kept working. The difference between Barnon's Space-Technology-Magic and her Real-Magic interested her to no end.

Though, now she had two things to hide. A Microwave leading to the Space-Ship of an alien species she'd made friends with, without consulting Princess Celestia about the potential Diplomatic issues. Very, very much without permission. And a glowing book made from Materials unknown, through Techniques unknown, that could show a direct view of space. And Dicks.

Not to mention the worries she had about the magic, how this whole thing was born of trying to cook a burrito faster. Was the spell flawed? It was so simple, but maybe it was part of another kind of spell, that when casted incorrectly, bore an entirely different result? Her quiet experiments into the matter hadn't bore any fruit yet, especially since she had to look into it without alerting anyone; which meant no no help from the Princess, and a lot of care hoof-tapping around topics.

But, nonetheless, she'd been messing with the Cook-Faster spell. Turns out, making something go faster messes with it on a deeper level, too; Barnon mentioned something about atoms, but Twilight didn't quite follow. She'd keep experimenting -- she'd like to see if she could recreate it, but she only had one Microwave. She had a theory that nobody else figured anything else about the spell, because the subjects of said spell were always promptly eaten.

Barnon was working, giving her a fair amount of time to herself. Not that she'd be getting up to much, outside of her now-usual loop. Experiment with spell, watch Holopad, worry about the consequences of her actions, stress nap, repeat.

Speaking of working, learning what that actually meant to Barnon... endlessly fascinated her.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Twilight tries to crane her neck, to get a better look into Barnon's ship; but whatever he's up to, its out of sight, towards the back part of the ship he liked to call the 'business side of things'. Making modifications, or something.

Twilights back on the chair she'd sat on her countertop, huffing. She'd managed to get Spike squared away with Rarity for the whole day, finding Gems or whatever they got up to, and even closed the Library for the day under the pretense of having some vague "Appointment", just so she could watch the first day of Barnon's Contract. Barnon had made it sound very important, and she didn't want to miss any of it.

And she was missing all of it! So far. Just the start of it. But still.

The camera link wasn't even operational on the Holopad yet. Barnon had said it would kick on once he got outside or something, but the purple pony was impatient. A whole new medium of knowledge for her to absorb, and she was sat on her kitchen counter, alone, staring through a microwave.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

She perks up. They're getting closer. Her eyes snap to their little portal through time, as Barnon steps into view, arms raised outward in presentation.

He's clad in a full-body, bulky jumpsuit that looks like it was made with a very thick material. Durable, its got several bits of metal, wiring and pieces running between a panel on the chest, gloves, belt and boots. His belt is bulky, and has these weird half-cone protrusions. His helmet is large, and its difficult to see his face through the very hazy visor, which is braced by metal.

Barnon does a little spin -- entirely lacking any grace -- and Twilight sees he has some kind of pack strapped to his back, a large cord connecting to some kind of rectangular device, which pulses quietly.

Either a Lethal Company ripoff, or one of those Starfield suits, or something from Death Stranding, if you ask me. Or your favorite self-insertable spacesuit. You're the one using your imagination here.

There's a crackling noise, and Twilight hears his voice -- but it's like it's being broadcast from the weird helmet he's wearing.
"Whad'ya think?"

"What is all that?" Twilight asks, her already peaked curiosity somehow finding new heights.

"My Spacesuit. Labor-Grade. Carbhearts; Keeping you safe in Space, since 2298!" Barnon announces proudly; this baby cost him a pretty penny. Carbheart was the workers brand, their little patch sat square on his shoulder. Honestly, most things in his ship did -- but he was proud of it all.

"And this lets you mine on the Moons?" Twilight follows, unsure of the process.

"Yep. You'll even have a camera attached to my suit to watch; that's why it hasn't booted up yet. Gotta calibrate it before I head out the airlock."

"So you'll go through those big doors... and just be right in space? Beside a moon?"

"Yeppers. Pulled into the orbit of Trion-3 about an hour ago, and I've had the AI slowly crack the designated mineral zone with the ships laser while I got dressed." Barnon continues, giving himself a final look-over and pat-down, adjusting one of his gloves.

"...Be safe, okay?" She says, quieter.

"Yeppest." Barnon responds automatically, before pausing. "Oh, uh... yeah. Thanks. I will be. And if you have to hide the Holopad or whatever, you can just chuck it into here. I'll hand it back later. I'll be out and in for a few hours each time, on rotation to refill my air, catch a nap or two, snack, that kind of thing."

Twilight nods, watching him waddle towards the big, metal doors. With that bulky suit on, he walks like he didn't make it to the bathroom in time. It was kind of funny.

"Computer. Lemme out." He crackles out again.

The Ship makes a soft 'Ping'. The doors slowly roll open, revealing a smaller space on the other side -- with another, even sturdier looking door. He steps inside, turning around so he's facing her again.

Barnon gives her a little wave. She waves back, and the doors slowly roll shut.

It's quiet, now. She keeps watching the door, but he said he wouldn't be back for a few hours, at least.

Twilight climbs down off her chair, setting it up to look somewhat normal again, Microwave door still open, before plopping back down on the couch.

Mid-sigh, the Holopad blinks to life, the purple Pony's eyes flashing open, as an entire camera feed fizzles into view. Port, Starboard, Stern, Bow, Topside; they all show the distant, deep, darkness of space, speckled with lights. Some of them even show these... distant clouds, frozen in mid-swirl. It's so similar to when she's looked to the stars through her telescope, but... he's actually up there. Twilight can't help but look up; ceiling is the only thing that greets her, but...

Wow.

The front camera shows the chunk of Asteroid he'd be mining from.

The sixth camera catches her eye, as its the only one that's moving; and slowly, she sees the familiar form of Barnon start to pop up on the other cameras, as he drifts through space. A long cord connects him to the ship, while the belt he has seems to... propel him around, drifting towards a big chunk of rock that the ship had parked in front of. Past it, she can see the pock-marked moon of Trion-3, the planet itself massive, and... green? Not forest green, but as if the ground itself was green, and covered in clouds. Huh.

She nestles in, watching with rapt attention, the holopad inches from her snout.

Once you got past the fear of floating away into endless nothing by accidentally cutting your own tether with your mining laser; nothing made you feel freer than space. That's one of the things Barnon enjoyed most about it.

Barnon, bundled deep in his protective mining suit, slowly propelled past the Ship-Post. He hoped the Camera feed was working; he could already imagine Twi glued to the screen.

He was imagining a lot of things about that Pony, recently.

He slowly approaches the ever-so-slowly moving chunk of busted asteroid, half of it now drifting away from itself in a variety of pieces and dust, cracked open an hour earlier by his ships laser; he can see the signature soft-blue ore peeking out.

Drifting closer, he slowly rustles the mining laser off its pack, slipping it under his arm; it's a complex contraption, but only in repairs. In use, it's real simple.

Flick the switch, let it charge. Then hold the trigger. Don't hold when the funny blinker is red.

The familiar vibration runs up his arm as it whirls up. Time to make some money.