That morning was not a good one.
He didn't see Starlight, and he had stumbled into Spike who gave him the cold shoulder.

Or at least he thought.
That's what completely changing direction after looking at him means, right?
Him too huh?

...

Was defending a murder-y enemy combatant really that high on their priorities?

No.

Maybe back in the human realm, where everyone had a ' tribe ' and everyone stuck with them to the end; war crimes or not.
But no. There was no such mob mentality here in pony land; or so it seemed.

He had his doubts.
He would have to get over them quickly though, as Twilight was doing some work on the castle on his way to the cafeteria.

She looked frazzled. Did she even sleep?
She was placing and installing locks. On a door?

Spike's door?

“ Twilight? “ He softly said.

She jumped a bit.

“ Oh! Ponder. “

“ Why are you covering that door? “ Ponder asked in utter confusion.
“ This there something that I shouldn't be dealing with inside? “

Twilight only stared at him and started to sweat.

“ Ye- “

Twilight stopped in the middle of the word.
She looked around for anything to excuse herself from the conversation.
No dice.

“ Um. No. “
“ Not par-titc-ulary. “ She had fumbled the syllables in that last word.
When she looked back to Ponder he had one eyebrow raised, and was looking dead straight at her with all the expression of a rock.

“ Well – I meant to say - “
Her eyes darted around the room.
There was no clearer giveaway. He would not be fooled.

“ I'm just beefing up security after that whole ' Dragon ' ordeal! “
She swung a hoof in a greeting motion.

“ Who knows what unknown dangers Equestria might spring next? “
She almost cringed at herself in response.

Ponder looked unconvinced.

“ Oh. Ok. “
And then he walked away.

Did... did that actually do it?
She stared, dumbfounded, in his direction for awhile before returning to her work.

PonderBright averted his gaze from Twilight's reflection in one of the crystal pillars.
He had been walking a bit slower to give her a chance to ' spy ' on him so he could confirm his suspicions.

' She doesn't trust me. '
' I blew it. '
' The nicest person I've ever met hates me. '

Is all that rung about in his head.

It was distracting.
So distracting.

So distracting he couldn't think about anything else.
This is bad.

He needs constant control over his mind;
else he gets hurt by other people, (intentionally or not)
or he hurts other people.

He was getting dizzy.
Old PonerBright would lament future PonderBright for stumbling around into random objects, defeated by a mere opinion of someone else.

But he was not old PonderBright.
“ Are you ok? “

Starlight's voice.
He was able to zone back in.

“ Starlight! “ Ponder almost excitedly said.
“ Oh. Hi Ponder. “ Starlight gave him her ' confused ' response.

“ Oh. Well. I didn't need you for anything. “ Ponder rebuked.
“ You just startled me. “

Starlight slightly raised one eyebrow. She wasn't entirely buying it.
“ Well see you. “ PonderBright walked away.
“ Oh um. Ok. “ Starlight hoof waved him goodbye.

She had been fooled, no doubt about it.
But it's almost as if he didn't want to do it.
Or at least have the conversation last longer.

Maybe Dream Human Ponder was right, in a indirect sort of sense.
He didn't really belong.
It took this long for him to settle in, and Starlight seemingly got the hang of things after week 1.

He got some big news during breakfast, about what he was going to be doing with the next ~6 or so hours of his life.

“ Starlight, we'll be doing magic lessons again. “,
“ I have some stuff to do around the castle. “

Twilight looked ever so slightly towards the open back doorway, with Spike standing there.

“ Oh. Alright. “ Starlight replied in confusion.
' It wasn't like Twilight to change a schedule, especially not last minute. ' She was thinking.
Her poker face was impenetrable. Twilight was none the wiser.

“ And Ponder -
Ponyville is having it's quarterly Cleanup. “
Apparently whoever had the idea (Twilight, Celestia, or Luna) had scheduled him for it.
He zoned out after that.

Him?
In public in front of hundreds of ponies?

No.
Surely she couldn't be serious?

He caught Twilight in the middle of an explanation:
“ So that's why you need - “

“ Um Twilight. “
She looked at him attentively.
“ I uh. “
“ I don't know if I can handle a full 8 hours in THAT social a situation. “

Twilight went into thinking mode; eyes moving to a upward spot in the room and all.

He was expecting something along the lines of ' NAH! Just go straight into the deep end! ', ' You'll do fine, and if you don't there must be something wrong with you! '

He was even more shocked when he heard:

“ You know, you may be right. “ She said haphazardly.
“ I'll let Green Picker know to keep you on one of the more solitary teams before moving you up. “

After a strange look for Starlight, he was off.
He was an abnormally fast eater, an artifact of his past life and yet another wrench in the gears for his social lessons.

He walked past Spike on his way out. Earlier then the other two, like usual.

“ Thanks, Uh. “
“ I've never had anyone actually try to make something more complicated then salads or pasta. “

Twilight found herself staring intensely at the two's interaction.
Spike was unamused.
“ Uh-Huh. “ He responded with eyes narrowing.

Ponder face instantly turned to an expression that can only be explained as : ' Extreme toilet need '
And swept his feet in his desired direction of travel; walking quite fast.

That knocked Twilight out of her gaze. She used some sound amplification magic to glean a utterance from Ponder under his breath as he was leaving :
“ Why do I even try? “

Twilight pulled her wings closed to her body. She was always very expressive with them, even for a winged pony.
“ Oh... “ She quietly muttered with a mix of hurt and depression.

“ Um Spike. “ Twilight beckoned him over with a hoof.
“ Yeah Twilight? “ His tone was much more friendly with her.

“ Um - “ She was drawing a blank. This almost never happens.

She looked like she was straining herself to the other two creatures in the room.
And was that expression... fear?
“ Ah- Never mind. “ She said, sandwiched between nervous smiles.

“ Uh. Ok. “ Spike then left the room, his usual politeness intact.

Starlight, not knowing anything about what is going on, slowly looked over to Twilight. “ So – Magic. “ Twilight dawned a slightly coy smile. Starlight was bad at making small talk when not speaking down from a higher position.
It was fine. You don't need to blend in perfectly for basic introductions anyway.

“ Yes. Magic. “ Twilight finally responded to her half-question.

“ Same time same room? “
“ Yup! “ Twilight was trying to put on a happy demeanor. To distract Starlight, sure, but unknown to anypony including Twilight;
most of that was to distract herself.

Twilight noticed she had walked further ahead. Also,
Starlight had struken up a conversation with Spike.
A new friend?
A NEW FREIND!

She activated her ' spying ' magic, too which she didn't like the name, to check on how they were doing.

“ It's not just me, right? “ Starlight's voice. Over some magical noise. Still very audible though,
“ You thought that was weird too? “

“ Well, yeah. “

Spike shrugged in expression.

“ But It's not like Ponder would notice. “ He said slightly dauntingly.
“ Or probably care. “

“ I – Wouldn't say - “ She was slow to finish her sentence.
“ Look Starlight, “, Spike had interrupted her. “ I know you two are... - Kind of friends. And It's best friendship practice to assume the best. “
“ But I think we all know that friendship isn't exactly high on that ponies priority list. “

“ Oh. “ Starlight looked to the side.
“ I guess your right. “ She said with defeat in her tone.

All of them had not been paying attention to where they were walking, Twilight mainly.
She had sopped in the middle of the hallway, causing them both to crash into her.

“ Oh! Whoops. Sorry. Something was- “ Twilight took a pause.
The two then got to see a look they'd never thought they'd see:
Depression.

“ I was distracted by something. “
“ But the moment has passed. “ Twilight was reassuring herself.
“ I hope. “ She looked back to the path forward, and continued.

Starlight looked to Spike, who almost buried his face in a shrug while looking away.
She looked the other direction to match him, but gained a frown in the process.

Twilight was done looking over her shoulder. She had to find an exit.
She sped around a corner then teleported away.

Her voice was full of worry. But not drive or determination.
Her posture was readying her to move, but to flee, not to hunker down to find a solution.
She found her eyes darting around the room frantically, not searching for a target, but searching for a new threat.

“ Oh... “ She was surprised at herself that a tone and volume this muted didn't belong to Fluttershy.

Her breathing was becoming heavy.

" GIVE- ME- A BREAK! " Ponder panted.
He was not as good as manipulating objects in his mouth as he thought.
" Oh come on! " GreenPicker loudly exclaimed; getting a groaning response from Ponder.
She felt a scowl coming on.
She excused herself, making a mental note of Ponder's general uncooperativeness.

In actuality, this could not be further from the truth.
Ponder WAS an alien, first and formost.
He had not figured out the most effective and efficient way to do things in a entirely new body; in a entirely new way.

His autism or lack of communication skills certainly didn't help that, as he never mentioned that his groan was just a simple disagreement rather then verbal disobedience.

He also was pampered in his old world, in a way. No physical exertion needed: at least not outside of the occasional fist or knife fight.

Fourthly, known to absolutely no one, Alicorns have the lowest metabolic efficiency out of any creature on the planet, or to put it more simply; Alicorns require the most food for their size of any creature in Equestria.

The Fifth reason was made clear later into the day, when he was sent home early for ' not doing the work ' .

He was barely able to open the doors.
He walked slowly, with his head down, panting and sweating, to his room.
150 feet might as well be 3 miles.

After the latest round of self-insults in his head, he was forced to zone back in for his lambasting:
" Ponder? " Twilight.
" What are you doing back so early? ", " The cleanup doesn't end for another 4 hours. " She had understanding in her voice.
' Understanding soon to be gone- ' Ponder quickly thought.
Wait.
No.

' Lets not assume. ' Ponder's oxygen depraved brain managed to churn out.
' This IS Twilight we are talking about here., ' He further idolized.

' She's given me surprise after surprise, and not in the bad, stupid, or evil variety. '
' Lets wait and see. '

" I - Cant - Out of breath - " He panted.
Twilight looked at him with sneered squinted eyes.
" Really? " She had to ask.

Could she not see he was in pain?
Could she not tell he just couldn't do it?

Asking him to repeat what he already implied?
While in this state?
He refused to believe she was that stupid.

He switched his expression from pleading to scowling.
It got her attention.
Good.

" YEs ! " His voice gave out at the end. No big volume when in this state after all.
His legs spread out as he said that, him barely able to catch himself.
His head rotated towards the ground.
Still panting.

They both were about to switch their mentality.
One not of open communication, but slightly defensiveness.

And with defensiveness; must come assumptions.
Assumptions about how the other pony was feeling and thinking, all only for defense; after all. Nothing intentionally harmful to the other pony.

But the other pony doesn't necessarily know that.
In a perfect world, sure. They would.
' That would be the case '
They both were thinking.

Oh how they both fantasized about that perfect world, in that long, long 1.2532 seconds.

They both stared at each other for around a second.

They both decided on the more diplomatic route.

" Twilight. " He managed to get a full word in.
" Please. " His tone strained.
Ponder pulled no punches. Likes usual.
But,
He watched his words,
and he allowed Twilight maximum room for error.
And he -somehow- managed to use an acceptable tone.

" Alright. " She looked down sternly at him, as she had taken off flying similar to RainbowDash when questioning Ponder.
She purposefully landed. She had to ' watch it '. Moving too quickly could set him off, so she thought.
Only a slight negative recoil from Ponder. Good.

" Let me see. " Her tone was not guarded, but flat and serious. Perfect for putting off judgement to a later time. ' Thank you, Celestia. ' She was thinking.
" Let me check your vitals. " She got closer, and raised a hoof to put on his shoulder.
Her horn ignited; leaving as little room for misunderstandings as possible.

He nodded; lowering his head slightly.

She only needed to direct him to the floor with that hoof, and retracted it quickly.
She just needed him still and not wobbling around for a full magic scan.

There was a short delay in the action from both ponies. It was caused by a simple realization : That was very easy.
Like, very very easy.
As in, not even that much harder when compared to getting all defensive.
And they didn't even have to give up anything in the conversation in order to do it.

This delay was very short. The time frame of thoughts like these operates in milliseconds, after all.
But it was just enough time for the other to notice, and them to both to help each other zone back in.

After another short and awkward pause form Twilight, the scan began.
Twilight's ears were flooded with:
" BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM "

Oh my god.
She didn't believe it.
He was going to have a heart attack.

She immediately pressed the Emergency button on Discord's Amulet, which lost it's invisibility as soon as she grabbed it.
Discord appeared in a full cop uniform, albeit one from Ponder's world. He only had to look around a bit before he realized what was going on.

" Hm. "
" Twilight, I get that I'm supposed to listen to you when you press that thing- " Discord pulled his own copy of his necklace out of cloak to show them both.
" But this is - "

" Discord, Please. " Twilight was serious.
" Alright fine. "
" BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM BA-BUM/BA-BUM "
The sleep from Discord's eyes instantly vanished.
" Alright. " He snapped a few fingers, poised to snap some more.
" On it. "

The room was now filled with ' back - up ' hearts, many different sizes and shapes.
Was that square-ish one made of metal?

Her attention was back to Ponder, who was looking between the two very fast, starting to breath heavily again.

" No No! " She muttered to herself.
She tried to take a informative tone. Mostly successful.
" All this is just a precaution ."

He seemed to calm down a bit.
Now sitting entirely on the floor, the two watched him for a bit.
Except the ' little bit ' they had to watch him for turned into not so much a ' little bit ' anymore.
It had almost been 4 minutes.

Finally, after Twilight and Discord were starting to share looks of ' What's next? ' Ponder's heart rate began to fall.
But very, very, VERY slowly.

The crisis was over, after about 30 minutes of waiting.
" It's a shame that I have to ask, but can I give Ponder a big hug - "
" NO! " Twilight interrupted Discord.
She cleared her throat.
" No. "
" You may not. " She toned that last one as an order.

" Oh. Alright. " The now disappointed Discord did not seem to understand, he also had alien biology, but he seemed to understand where Twilight was coming from.
With a quick snap and a spiral into himself, he faded and popped from existence, but with no added sound.

Twilight sighed a sigh of minor disappointment.
He was trying.
And apparently so was Ponder.

A little too hard?
No. If anypony could have predicted this, this would not have happened.
Ponder would not have pushed himself that hard,
GreenPicker would not allowed him to do so,
and none of the organizers would have place him in that position, including herself.

Twilight and Ponder shared a look of understanding before he opened his door and headed inside.

Starlight, left alone in the library for quite some time, was sitting on her usual pillow.
Hoof supporting her bored head, engrossed in yet another magic book.
This one she had read before.
She had read all these before.

" Twilight! " Starlight perked up as Twilight walked past the entrance, looking worn out and tired.
There would be no magic lesson today.

* sigh *
She quickly got up and walked over to Twilight to catch her before she disappeared into her room.
" Long day huh? "

" Ehhh - " Twilight almost sounded fine. Didn't quite look it though.
" Sort of. " She strained her posture.

" It's fine though. Problem -" Twilight yawned " solved! "
Starlight held back a giggle.

" Sorry that your friendship and magic lessons keep getting postponed. " Twilight continued.
Starlight was sure glad for ONE of those.

" I'll make it up to you the day after. I already have arrangements tomorrow. " Twilight closed her eyes as she put a signalling hoof down to the floor.

Twilight walked away.

Starlight gave her a short wave, as she didn't really know what was best to say in response.
She returned to her re-re-reading, head slipping out of her hoof and onto the table.
She grunted a grunt of frustration.

She was even frustrated about being frustrated :
Because she didn't even know what she was originally frustrated for.

Author's Note

I am open to PM. No discord or email. Do not use email. Please.
I am open to work, even collaborations. I can't draw. Muscle condition.

Want to test my writing with this one. Will try to write more and more challenging subjects as time goes on.
All criticism minus something that can only be seen as a nitpick will be appreciated.

Previous stories are centered around a main theme with second aspects on simulation accuracy.
This chapter is centered around simulation accuracy with secondary aspects on a theme.

Which one do you like more?