Striving for Adaptation

Ugh, it's like I've been reborn.

This was the thought that went through my mind as I lay on the couch drying off after a shower. Yesterday, I had a heater and running water installed in a fairly short period of time. As I understand it, with the help of magic. Like, water from a river or a sewage plant is teleported to my house instantly. I think if everything were like on Earth, I would not even get water next month.

"Although it would be even cooler if ponies had affordable electricity." I said after taking a quick look inside my room with the door open. The turned off monitor on my desk reflected the light of the morning sun. It's a shame that my recently upgraded computer now looks like a brick. It's even more frustrating that I can't prove to Daniel that everything here is an animated series.

As Daniel said, electricity is so expensive here that no one will allocate funds for me to have it. An incentive to work, I suppose?

"I think that since Daniel has been relatively tolerant for the last two days, he will take it back a lot today. Well, at least the shower makes me feel better. I sighed and turned away from the monitor to look at the ceiling. Ahirata's fruit bowl ended yesterday. Yes, she really gave me a lot of food.

I put my hands behind my head, closed my eyes and began to speak thoughtfully: "How can I adapt my work to this place? It is unlikely that I will be able to find clients as easily as on Earth. For example, how many ponies will want to do drawings with their original characters?"

My thoughts, which had not really begun, were interrupted when I heard several loud knocks. Daniel was coming, obviously. Who else could have come to me at this time?

It would be better if ponies introduced me to all the things here. And anyway, work and documents are certainly good. But it seems to me that in order to adapt to the new world I need to, I don't know, learn cultural differences?

"And I don't think this guy's going to do it." I muttered before getting up from the couch and heading out of the hall. On the way, I lightly dusted off my white shirt to make it look a little tidier. Yes, I decided to use the same set of clothes for the job search as for the paperwork. I don't have anything else.

Snorting, I finally made it to the corridor leading to the exit and saw Daniel waiting for me. This time he wore a dark green coat with bright red pants. And by the way, he wore glasses today. I'm almost happy for him. Almost.

After a few more steps, I stood on the threshold, just a few steps away from him, and asked, tilting my head to the side, "Don't you think this outfit is a little strange for a day when you are supposed to help me find a job?"

Like, really, it looks like something inspired by avant-garde paintings.

Suddenly Daniel pulled what looked like a pistol out of his coat. But this one had several tubes, straps and a capsule with some kind of liquid. Smiling broadly, Daniel began to speak, almost like a salesman: "Would you, young citizen, like to purchase a new innovative antistress? I assure you, the flamethrower is a unique way to relieve stress and deal with internal contradictions without harming others. It can be purchased on credit and. . ."

" How, what, why? Who even starts a conversation like this? " I asked, raising an embarrassed eyebrow and shaking my head. He finds new ways to surprise me every day.

Daniel snorted and said, putting the 'flamethrower' in his pocket: "I wanted to practice selling. After all, I have a lot of flamethrowers that need to be sold to deal with Everfree."

Tanks, flamethrowers, what's next? Nuclear weapons?

For a moment I shuddered at the thought of what HE would do if such a thing were invented. But after a moment, he gathered his strength and asked slowly, "Daniel, explain one thing normally. Why in the world of cartoons about ponies did you invent a flamethrower and decide that it was ANTISTRESS? "

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and said, completely unperturbed, "Well, first of all, ponies have a certain lack of sources of pleasure compared to Earth. Accordingly, they accumulate more stress. Second, the laws. Gunpowder weapons are forbidden here, except in the navy. But there is nothing about flamethrowers. I'm sure that in fifty years the ponies will come to the flamethrower sites just as we come to the shooting ranges.

Wait, is firearms prohibited? It's a relief, of course, but. . .

"What kind of tanks can be here if gunpowder weapons are banned?" I asked, raising an embarrassed eyebrow. I think he lied and thought it through very badly.

Daniel smiled toothily and said, taking his hand aside, "The role of the main weapon is played by a flamethrower. The tank is driven by a steam engine. Fortunately, the caterpillar tractor has already been invented. Fewer things to tax the brain. "

I was silent for what seemed like an eternity, trying to process this idea, before I crossed my arms and asked with a chuckle: "You really like steampunk, don't you? "

He just blinked silently for a few moments before saying calmly, "I don't understand slang. And I guess it changed during the time I was in Equestria. So try to speak the language that was relevant a year ago. Try to jog your memory.

Did he really live under a rock or what?

Quickly shaking my head, I asked, following my concern, "Okay. But do you really think that at least one pony will buy a flamethrower? And will he use it as an antistress?"

"Yes, I think it will work. Besides, Rising and Flying, although in their own style, said that the idea has a chance. " Daniel replied, completely unperturbed.

I blinked a few times and tried to remember the names. It didn't work. There were no characters like that in the cartoon. So naturally I raised an eyebrow and asked: "Who are they?"

"My friends. That is probably the easiest answer. " Daniel replied, putting his hand on his hip.

I'm sure that a man like him can only have imaginary friends.

With a slight chuckle, I put my hands on my hips and said hurry up: "Okay, okay. Just be more or less tolerant as you have been for the last two days and answer the questions. Is that a good option?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and held up a finger. He paused for a few moments before clicking his tongue and saying, "You missed a nuance."

"Hmm?" I muttered, raising an eyebrow and frowning slightly.

"I haven't come up with a plan for today. So I'll have to improvise. Accordingly, I will not have enough mental strength to keep the new rules in mind. " Daniel said, completely unperturbed.

Damn.

I rubbed my temples lightly and took a few steps forward to finally leave the house. My gaze caught briefly on the door, which was STILL lying on the lawn. Snorting, I wondered aloud: "How can I be a digital artist in a world where electricity is very expensive and technology is not even close to being developed?"

At first, all I could hear was the wind blowing through the branches of the trees. But it was for the best, because after a few seconds Daniel finally spoke: "So you're drawing with a tablet or something, right?"

I took a deep breath and turned to him: "Yes, yes, that's right. Do you have any options?"

Daniel rubbed his chin lightly with his hand and asked slowly, "Can you only draw with a tablet? Or can you at least do something with a simple brush and a piece of paper?"

Well, a long time ago I held a brush.

Sighing, I looked away from Daniel and said reluctantly: "I don't think I can draw anything with a brush. A pencil is still possible because it is generally similar to a pen."

Daniel leaned against the doorjamb before raising an eyebrow and asking, "Hey, are normal paintings even drawn with pencils?"

I opened my mouth to give a quick answer. But he froze. I don't have an answer to that particular question. Even though I'm sure I knew it! I said with a disappointed sigh: "Actually, I have no idea."

"Maybe you're a pioneer?" Daniel offered, holding out his hand. What a strange gesture.

Well, it kind of sounds like an option. But it's kind of embarrassing not to be able to use my teacher's diploma in any way. Again.

I rubbed my forehead lightly in thought before I said slowly, "I think this will work as a temporary measure. I'll draw to order, and when the ponies start to trust me, I'll try to work as an art teacher. "

Almost immediately after I finished speaking, Daniel twirled his arm slightly, as if to warm up. After a few moments he asked: "Do you have everything you need at home? "

I rubbed my hands awkwardly and replied with a forced smile: "Well, I need some kind of white cardboard or just special paper, pencils, and that's it. "

" Okay, wait. " Daniel said before a blue glow enveloped his palm. And with a short flash it was gone.

Yesterday, Ahirata told me that I need at least another week of treatment before I can safely use magic. Oh.

"Why did I get a magic lock in the near future when I entered another world? It just sounds so unfair." "I muttered in displeasure, covering my face with my hand and quickly shaking my head.

" Equipment delivery. "Daniel said, making me jump for a moment. Did he do it that fast? I mean, teleportation is cool and all. But so fast?

With a startled sigh, I decided to accept the situation and took my hand away from my face. Daniel was standing in front of me, holding a large box with sheets of paper and a box of foal pens in one hand. I took the things from his hands and looked at him dispassionately: "Are you kidding me? Children's pencils?"

"It was the first thing I found. And I want you to know that I am buying them out of my own pocket." Daniel replied unperturbed.

I have the feeling that you didn't think for a second to look more closely.

Sighing, I looked at the accessories and asked with a hint of disappointment in my voice: "Of course it's cool. But how am I going to find customers? Walking up to every passing pony and yelling that I'm an artist is, well, weird."

"I don't know, that's how I want to sell flamethrowers." Daniel replied with a shrug. Ugh.

"I'm sure you can't sell anything." I said, clicking my tongue and looking down at him. Which is not very realistic, considering that he is a head taller than me.

I feel that constantly communicating with him has a bad effect on me. Uh, there's nothing positive about this guy.

Suddenly Daniel snapped his fingers and suggested with a hint of excitement in his voice: "Draw me. I don't really like the painting that is currently hanging in my room in the castle. I think my portrait will be an ideal replacement. "

I stared at him for a few seconds without blinking before slowly asking: "How much of a narcissist are you? "

Daniel lifted the corner of his mouth slightly where the scar was before wagging his finger and saying, "I've never been to a psychologist. So attributing any mental problems to me has no normal basis. "

Have you never seen a psychologist? That sounds like evidence that you're in trouble.

Stifling a short laugh, I finally took a few seconds to process the idea. My style of drawing is not suitable for portraits. After all, I mostly paint in the avant-garde or abstractionist style. How am I supposed to do a portrait?

But I want money. At least a little bit. Just to eat and not to walk up seven thousand stairs. I don't really like the image of a hungry artist. In the end, I sighed and said slowly, "But okay. I'll draw you a portrait. Just remember that this is not my specialty, so the result will be unexpected."

"It will do for me. Then you draw here and I'll take care of the sale." Daniel said before quickly starting the march to Ponyville. Wait.

Are you dumb?

"Are you stupid? How am I supposed to paint your portrait if you're not here?" I asked with a strange mixture of annoyance and amusement in my voice. But the first was much more.

"Oh, yes, my mistake. I'll fix it now." Daniel said before he took out of his pocket the thing I least expected. A smartphone. As I watched in surprise, he quickly swiped his finger across the screen several times.

"Take pictures." Daniel commanded calmly and suddenly threw the phone at me. Caught off guard, I only managed to drop the paper and pencils on the floor. There was no time left and the smartphone fell next to me, right screen down.

On the one hand, I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't catch it. And on the other hand, what the hell is going on?

Shaking my head quickly, I picked up the smartphone from the ground and took a quick look at it. The screen, though a little cracked, was illuminated and the charge was at eighty-nine percent. Turning my attention to Daniel, I asked, extremely embarrassed: "How can your phone be almost one hundred percent charged when you've been in Equestria for almost a year?"

Daniel put his hand on his hip and said, as if it were elementary, "Twilight developed a weakened version of the lightning spell to charge my phone. It's sort of a payment for letting her study it. "

I just stared at the burning phone screen for a while without blinking before I said irritably, "Why didn't you tell me about this before? Can you imagine how bored I was when my phone died two days ago? "

In response to my indignation. Daniel just rubbed his ear with his hand and said calmly, "First of all, don't shout. Second, you didn't say you needed it. So stop whining and take a picture of me. Then I won't have to stay here and waste my time."

"You're obnoxious," I muttered before picking up my phone and taking some quick pictures of Daniel. They turned out to be very poor quality and blurry, as if the camera had never been wiped. But honestly? I'm too lazy to take new ones.

I reluctantly held up my finger to tell Daniel that the photos had been taken. He gave a quick nod and turned back to Ponyville before saying, "Okay, I went to sell flamethrowers. I'll check on you in a few hours. "

I wish you wouldn't sell anything.

I took a deep breath and looked at the photos I had taken. I have no idea how to draw this. Especially with my style of drawing. Especially with my primitive equipment.

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. Extremely unethical. Extremely dubious. And just a stupid idea. I hold Daniel's smartphone in my hand. At worst, I might get some inspiration from looking at the information on it.

"And at best, I'll be able to understand why he acts, well, the way he does," I mumble hesitantly, holding the phone in my hand. This is, well, really wrong. I wouldn't like it if someone tampered with my phone to find out something personal.

I'm just looking at the gallery. Yes, just that. Just to look at Daniel from different angles and get a better idea of how to draw a portrait. No personal information.

Sighing, I nodded to myself and pressed my finger on the gallery. The first photos were the ones I took a few minutes ago. Nothing interesting. With a quick flick of my finger, I scrolled through the gallery of older photos.

.

.

.

Nothing. The gallery just didn't scroll down. Before I took the photos now, the gallery was completely empty. It seemed like forever I was just sitting there, actively blinking at it. Like, what kind of person can use a phone and have ZERO photos on it?

No, well, now I definitely have to find something. Nodding to myself, I pressed myself against the wall of my house and left the gallery. But even here I was haunted by a certain emptiness. The only non-standard application was SoundCloud. There is NOT even a YouTube!

It just looks so lame and weird. What kind of person doesn't have YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or something on their smartphone these days?

I stared blankly at the phone screen for a while, trying to think of something. Maybe this is a sign that I should stop and not go any further? Or are you still trying to get into the notes?

"Okay. I will focus on the fact that Daniel is cut off from the outside world. That's enough for me to be inspired. "I mumbled quickly before putting my smartphone in my pocket and finally picking up some pens and a box of pencils from the floor.

As I walked to my house with all my things, I suddenly remembered something and muttered in disappointment: "Damn, I should have asked Daniel to get something to eat."

I guess I'm really going to be a hungry artist for a while.

POV: Daniel Ctumer
Time: Two hours after the meeting with Arthur.
Location: Ponyville.

Who knew I could sell a whole batch of flamethrowers in a town that hates me?

"As always, people are willing to drop absolutely anything if it benefits them." I grinned as I walked to my 'younger brother's' house with a huge sack of gold on my back. Yes, the ponies had bought flamethrowers fast enough. I didn't even have to set up a counter or anything. I just went in and sold.

"No matter how I feel about Pinkie Pie, I am very grateful that she bought a flamethrower along with fifty fuel capsules." I said with a satisfied sigh, feeling the weight of the golden bag on my shoulder. It's almost hard for me!

"Thank you, Daniel, for the opportunity to light so many candles for the cake at once!" The familiar mare's voice squeaked excitedly. After a quick glance, I saw that she was leaning out of a hollow tree. By the way, there were a lot of flamethrowers sticking out of her mane, which she had bought.

I think she can teleport, too. She just doesn't demonstrate it as vividly as I do.

With a snort, I raised what was left of my right hand slightly in a kind of greeting. And then he said in a restrained voice, "Hi, Pinkie. Can you please go away? Your high-pitched voice is giving me a headache."

"Of course! Anyway, my friends and I will have all the time in the next chapter, at the party!" Pinkie squeaked happily before climbing back into the hollow. I guess she teleported from there.

Shaking my head slightly, I continued walking towards Arthur's house with the bag of gold on my shoulder. Thanks to the glasses, I could see that he wasn't on the doorstep. At least this meant that he had not stood still for two hours trying to find inspiration.

In the worst case, he sees me in the window and quickly draws something and calls it an abstraction.

"Well, hope for the best and prepare for the worst." I said to myself when I was only a dozen feet from the entrance to Arthur's house. I admit, the weight of the bag of gold made me take distances a little more seriously.

Anyway, after a few moments, I finally crossed the threshold of the house and tried to find the artist. A quick glance to the left didn't give me much to think about. He's not in the kitchen, so he's somewhere in the hall.

Nodding to myself, I quickly walked down the hall and saw Arthur lying on the couch. When he noticed me, he let out a yawn and said, holding up a piece of paper: "I'm tired of waiting. And I almost fell asleep! Eh, here's your portrait."

By the way, his yawn is completely fake. I speak like a person who was in a drama club as a child.

Deciding to ignore it, I threw the bag of gold on the ground and picked up my portrait. But before I could even focus on it, Arthur asked in surprise, "Wait, where did you get that bag?"

Grinning, I triumphantly raised what was left of my right hand and looked him in the eye: "I sold the first batch of flamethrowers. Another success."

Arthur looked at me in disbelief, but said nothing. With a grunt, I finally turned my eyes to the portrait. In the center was a human figure painted in various shades of red. Starting from maroon, somewhere where the face should be, to almost pink at the fingertips. It should also be noted that there was some sort of mist around the figure. Or maybe it's just that Arthur did a lot of laundry in one place. In any case, everything except the human figure and the mist was just black.

Of course, I would prefer a classic portrait. Well, at least one where my features are visible. But there is something here. I think the maroon part of my face is a scar.

I stared at the painting for a while before I said in a measured voice, "This is not even close to what I wanted, but okay. A new painting in my room is not that serious a task. And it could always be worse. "

Arthur snorted irritably and asked with folded arms, "Maybe you'll pay me then? I would not refuse compensation for moral damages. "Yes, it's easy to insult an artist. How much do you want? " I asked, rolling my eyes. Arthur is just incredibly terrible at portraying emotion. I'm ashamed of him.

Unfortunately, he did not answer immediately and said uncertainly: "Um, I have no idea what the exchange rate is between the local currency and the dollar. Can you tell me?"

I've done anything in Equestria. But definitely not an attempt to determine the exchange rate.

"How much did you charge for such art when you were on Earth?" I asked calmly.

Arthur was confused for a moment before he rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, I would charge about twenty dollars for such a drawing. About that."

It takes too long to count down. With a snort, I pulled the bag of gold I arrived in town with today out of my pocket. I threw it at Arthur's feet and said calmly, "I'm too lazy to count it exactly. So consider it payment, moral compensation you don't need, and pocket money."

"Little brother," I finished with a tiny, toothless grin.

"Ugh." Arthur replied, making it clear that it was better not to say that anymore.

Actually, it didn't work out very well. I can tease people better. Much better.

With a barely perceptible nod to myself, I grabbed a large bag of gold and said, heading for the exit, "Okay, I'm leaving. I have to continue working on the Everfree issue."

"And what are you going to do?" Arthur asked, suspicion in his voice.

I turned my head slightly towards him and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Arthur. It's an excellent idea. And I promise that your house will not be damaged. "

Without giving him a chance to answer, I turned my head toward the exit and continued walking forward. A few seconds later, my foot stepped outside of Arthur's house, which allowed my eyes to look at the tree line. Everfree forest.

A great place to take another leap forward.