Ballpen

The carriage rolled along the asphalt streets of Manehattan to the clatter of hooves. I, too, wanted to drop everything and gallop away, clanking loudly by my horseshoes.

Too bad the door was locked.

The suppressor burned the horn with its metallic cold.

Yev’eni sat next to me with his hands shackled. No interpreter was needed to see the tension and fear on his face.

“Yev’eni,” I called out to him, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t be upset. I… we’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll send a petition to the Princess of Friendship herself. I’m sure she’ll order you released when it becomes clear that you’re not like other people.”

The alien slowly raised his head. He looked at me and sighed.

“Have Stargaze to thank,” he squeezed out with a terrible accent.

I knocked on the lattice partition that separated the rear windowless compartment of the carriage.

“Soft Grit! Please tell me what they will do to us?”

The unicorn filly with the butterfly net cutie mark who had cast a silence spell on me there at the entrance turned around.

“You will be interrogated,” she snapped. “And detained until the end of the investigation. You were harboring a human, Stargaze. This is a serious violation.”

“Yev'eni did nothing wrong!” I was indignant. “He is not at all like what we were told about humans!”

“It is not for you to decide,” Soft Grit snapped. “The Committee will interrogate him too, and determine the degree of danger he poses to Equestria. And you, young filly, should think with your head before blindly trusting a stranger and hiding him in your own home!”

I turned away. Stretched out on the bench, covering my muzzle with my hooves.

Just two days ago, my biggest problem was getting scolded by Darling Print, our managing editor … And now I’m being taken in a locked carriage across the entire city, in a magic suppressor, like a criminal!

Something nudged me in the side. It was Yev’eni who moved closer.

He said something in a soothing tone.

I looked at him.

“And thank you very much,” I said, sniffling. I even felt ashamed. His problems are much more serious than mine, and he’s still trying to cheer me up!

The carriage turned several times, several gates opened and closed. Then the bolts clanked on the doors of our prison.

“Stargaze Winter, get out,” ordered the earth pony in the uniform of the city guard. Shuddering, I went down to the cobblestones. I turned around, meeting Yev’eni’s gaze – he had already been grabbed under the paws by two strong earth ponies that had broken into the apartment together with Soft Grit.

“Let’s go,” the guard put his hoof on my shoulder. He spoke without malice, but his leg was heavy.

With my head down, I dragged myself across the closed courtyard, where the carriage had driven in, to the side entrance of the nearest building – nothing special, an ordinary three-story office building, like many in Broncklin.

To my surprise, they didn’t take me to the basement, but led me up the stairs to the second floor. I didn’t see any bars or prisoners either – the corridor with shabby doors looked like the office of some small rental agency. The only thing that added variety was a large poster with human muzzles full-face.

I involuntarily slowed my pace. The large sign read “Peoples of humans.” Below it, a smaller red one said, "Use caution. Humans may find race-related talk offensive."

Below were six images. The two humans on the left were very similar to Yev'eni, except for the finer features of the face and the long mane of the right portrait. The two in the middle were darker-skinned, with their manes twisted into thick dreadlocks and curls. The two humans on the right were darker than Yev'eni, but not as dark as the central portraits. Their eyes were narrowed to slits.

Below the portraits were long inscriptions in small, illegible font. From each portrait, long arrows led down to smaller drawings. There were about fifty of them at the bottom of the portrait, and they made my eyes water.

Alas, I was unable to see more closely - the guard pushed me forward. To the door at the end of the corridor, covered with oilcloth, with a cutout for the opening closed with an iron curtain. He stuck his muzzle into the saddle bag for the keys.

I stepped inside.

It looked more like a room in a very cheap hotel than a prison cell. A couch, a folding table, a sink and a toilet in a corner fenced off with plywood...

The lock clanked behind me.

“Wait!” I begged, knocking on the window. “How long do I have to sit here? What will they do to me?”

The guard threw back the shutter.

“I have no idea. If you were a thief or a crook, you would sit for a day before being called in for questioning, and then either get a fine and walk free, or go to the county jail if you don't have enough bits for bail. But you are on the case of Committee, and they have their own procedures. By the way!”

“What’s the matter?”

“Did you really hide a human? How dare you? They're monsters! Didn't he try to eat you?”

I looked at the guard.

“That's not true! Yev'eni is not a monster! He was just very confused when he got here, and I tried to help him!”

“Well, well,” the earth pony muttered skeptically. “He looks like a real monster to me”

“Wait, so you're not from Committee?”

The guard laughed.

“What are you talking about? The Committee has three or four ponies of staff here and a couple of offices that they've snatched from us! If only there were as many humans here as in Canterlot, then...” he cut himself off abruptly. “Anyway, I'm not supposed to chat with you. Sit here and wait until they call you,” he slammed the door.”

I plopped down on the couch and covered my face with my hooves.

And I stayed like that until the same guard, muttering "bon appetit," stuck a bowl of hay and an iron mug of water through the window.

To my surprise, I discovered that my excitement was working up a savage appetite.

The keys rattled in the door again, just as I was about to start kicking it with all my might.

Judging by the frequency of feedings, I've been here for two days already!

And if by internal timekeeping - not less than a week!

I looked at the same guard. Oh, if I were a real magician, and if the suppressor weren't hanging on my horn - I'm afraid I would incinerate him on the spot!

“Well, let's go” the guardian of order muttered. He pushed me to the door of the neighboring office. He looked gloomy, his superiors must have scolded him for talking to the prisoner.

After the semi-dark corridor, the sun was shining in my eyes. Against the bright square of the barred window, the dark silhouette of Soft Grit and a pile of folders in front of her were visible. The walls of the office were covered with dark veneer, there were images of the Sun and the Moon - they must not have had time to move it since the time of the Dyarchy.

“Sit down, Stargaze,” - she ordered. - Rake, you are free to go.

The guard bowed and closed the door of the office. I sat down on the hard stool bolted to the floor.

“Soft Grit!” I blurted out. “Yev'eni is innocent! He didn't even know he had to surrender to the authorities! I told him to stay in the house and not show himself!”

Agent of the Committee grinned.

“That's funny, Stargaze. And your... ward said that he forced you not to report to the guards about him.”

A wave of heat rushed into my muzzle. So he even tried to cover me?

“What are you going to do to us?” I demanded an answer. “They must have fired me in absentia at work!”

“You don't have to worry about problems with work,” Soft Grit brushed off. “And anyway, I ask the questions here, not you. Speaking of questions,” she took something rather heavy and shiny with gold out of the desk drawer.

I stared at the statuette on a gold chain. It depicted the muzzle of some unknown to me pointy-eared animal, with two wide wings on the sides. Soft Grit took a short strap from the same drawer and fastened the thing to a bracket on the table. Probably so that I couldn’t throw the figurine at her head.

“Put this on your neck,” she ordered. She pushed it towards me with telekinesis.

The unknown amulet noticeably pulled my neck down.

“Let’s begin,” Stargaze pulled a pencil and a scroll towards herself. “Your name? This is for the record.”

“Stargaze Winter,” I responded sadly. Then came the standard questions about date of birth, place of work, and relatives. A fly buzzed sadly, beating against the glass.

“Under what circumstances did you meet a human named Evgeniy Komarov?”

“He… he just emerged from my bathroom.”

Soft Grit's pencil trembled.

“Just emerged from the bathtub,” she nodded. “In a locked apartment, right?”

“Yeah. I was really scared, accidentally hit my head and almost choked. If it weren't for Yev'eni...”

Soft Grit methodically rustled her pencil on the paper. I continued telling the story of how I met the human, including the broken lock, my studio, evening gatherings with maps and drawings. The agent shook her head in time with my words, not trying to interrupt or ask questions.

“Tell me,” she said finally. “Did Yevgeny mention a name like "My Little Pony" to you? Perhaps he addressed you like that?”

I widened my eyes in bewilderment.

“No. Actually, he couldn't. He even learned the word "pony" two days ago.”

“And he expressed surprise when you told him about Equestria? About our peoples, about the princesses? Didn't you think that some of this might be familiar to him?”

I spread my front legs.

“We didn't really understand each other's speech, of course... But it didn't seem that way to me. He was clearly seeing everything I was drawing for the first time in his life.”

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Soft Grit muttered. “You haven't heard the term "brony" from him either?”

“Is this some kind of pony?” I was surprised. “No.”

Soft Grit sighed heavily.

“Okay. Let's move on to other questions. Was Evgeniy trying to act aggressively? Threaten you?”

“Nothing like that!” I blurted out.

“Not even in the first minutes after... your acquaintance?”

“Even then. He was scared and confused. But he didn't try to harm or scare me in any way. Quite the opposite - he tried to calm me down and make friends.”

The pencil flew across the paper. I was thirsty.

“Did he mention anything about his past on Earth? Occupation, education, lifestyle?”

“Where from? Soft, I'm telling you - we only managed to learn a few words of each other's language!”

Soft Grit looked up at me.

“Stargaze, one more question. I warn you right away, it may seem very personal and even unpleasant. But I insist on a truthful answer.”

“What question?” I tensed up.

“The human showed sexual interest in you?”

I jumped up on my stool.

“What?!”

“Answer to the point,” Soft ordered dryly. “Perhaps compliments, hugs, kisses? Attempts at seduction?”

I felt myself blushing again.

“There was nothing like that! Absolutely! Soft Grit, if you...”

“To the point,” the unicorn interrupted me before I could get indignant. “I understand. Thank you,”she scribbled with a pencil. Then she looked up from the paper.

“Stargaze, how would you personally rate your visitor? General impressions, notable details?”

I thought about it, still slightly stunned by the penultimate question.

“It seemed to me that he was a good sentient. And he could be a good friend. For anyone, it would be a terrible shock - to suddenly find yourself in an alien world. And he tried to keep his composure and not to scare me. He came to my aid when the lock broke... and in general, he saved my life when I almost choked! If all humans are like this, then everything we say about them is dirty rumors.”

“Don't make dangerous generalizations, Stargaze,” Soft advised. “There are many lies in rumors, but the part of truth they contain is even more unpleasant. And in general, for the future, get it into your head - you should not blindly trust strangers without making sure of their intentions. The Princess was forced to create the Committee for a reason, believe me.”

I remained silent.

“What will happen to us?” I finally decided to ask, seeing that Soft was in no hurry to continue the interrogation.

“Will?” the unicorn chuckled.

“Of course, I could move your case forward. Harboring humans is a crime against the crown. But I see that you are just a young and foolish pony who succumbed to a sincere impulse of friendship. And Princess Twilight teaches that it is wrong to punish ponies for following the ideals of Friendship. Take off the talisman of truth,” she said.

I carefully took the amulet over my head.

“Am I... am I free?”

“Now the guard will take you to the exit and write a notice for your boss that you were questioned as a witness in the case of the crown. Go and think with your head next time,” Soft Grit ordered.

I stood up. Turned to the door... and froze.

“And Yev'eni?”

Soft Grit sighed very heavily.

“Stargaze. Don't you have enough troubles?”

I waited silently for an answer.

“Your vis-à-vis will be sent to the adaptation camp,” Soft finally gave in. “There he will be examined and his case will be reviewed. If the Commitee decides he is safe and can fit into our society, he will be released. If not, he will remain in government custody until his status is reviewed.”

I winced.

“Adaptation camp? You mean... Ponyville camp?”

Soft Grit gave me a hard look. She put a hoof to her forehead. Her tail lashed irritably at her sides.

“I see. Have you heard enough of the latest rumors? Have you believed that we skin humans alive there?”

I remained silent.

“Haven't you realized yet that you can't blindly believe every rumor? Yes, it's not the most pleasant place, yes, the conditions there are harsh. But for many humans, it's the best way to ensure safety. And not just for Equestrians. But for themselves, too.”

I remained silent. Soft Grit rolled up the scroll in irritation. She pulled the bell cord.

“Go and don't look for any more trouble,” she ordered.

I had almost stepped towards the door - and shuddered.

Details of an article that had been published in the "World of Manehattan" about a year ago came to mind. Some lawsuit with a family of griffins who were trying to prevent them from living in Equestria…

“Soft Grit,” I blurted out decisively. “There is a law. If a citizen of Equestria takes a foreigner on bail, he is allowed to live in the kingdom. Right?”

Soft Grit grimaced as if she had eaten a whole griffonstone lemon.

“Stargaze!” For the first time she raised her voice. “Are you trying to play the lawyer? Look, I might change my mind about your case!”

I stubbornly remained silent. The agent glared at me.

The door creaked, and a guard poked his head into the office.

“You called me, agent?”

“So there is such a law?”

She glared at me.

“Wait,” Soft almost growled at the guard. “Yes. That law exists. And it is only due to pure oversight that they have not yet managed to cancel its effect on humans,” she pulled out a sheet of paper with another pencil from somewhere and threw it at me.

“Fill out the application. And keep in mind - if your ward does something wrong, you will be held accountable in court just like him! Even if you are not involved in it in any way!”

Inwardly rejoicing, I began to enter the necessary information in the tiny fields of the form. Having reached the point "origin of the person being transferred on bail", I hesitated. I wanted to ask Soft Grit, but I realized that she was already boiling like a kettle on the fire - and decided not to risk it. I simply wrote "Human World".

Soft Grit snatched the form from me, shoved it into the folder, and slammed the cover shut. "Take her to the exit, remove the suppressor, and file her as a testifying witness," she ordered. "And wait for me. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

It was only on the first floor that I realized we were in the Bronxlyn police station, seeing the familiar buildings of Dray Square through the barred windows. My guide approached the duty officer's desk and began filling out another form. He handed me the saddlebag that had been taken from me home...

“Stargaze!”

“Yev'eni!” I smiled broadly.

He took a few steps forward and leaned toward me.

“Damn it! I'm so glad to see you!”

“And I'm glad to see you too! Listen... stop! Are you speaking our language?”

Yev'eni smiled broadly. He was wearing some kind of baggy robe and pants that clearly didn't fit his figure. They must have been tailored to look like a minotaur.

“Damn it, my head is still splitting, like I've had a hangover. No, it's all fair, that lady warned me right away that it would be unpleasant. She said she needed to question me, and it would be easier if I could answer the questions in your language. Brrr, it's like a screw was screwed into my skull... But now we can talk to each other!”

I peered into his muzzle. The smile faded. He looked very, very confused... and there was pain in his eyes. And fear.

“Didn't they... do anything to you?”

Yev'eni shook his head.

“She told me... some things. A whole bunch of very strange things. I... I can't quite fit it all into my head, that's all.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Soft Grit stamping her hoof. I turned to her.

“Can we both go?”

“Yes, you can,” the agent snapped. “ Here are your documents. Yevgeny, you are required to come here once a month and report for six months. Is that clear?”

“Exactly,” the human nodded.

“And one last thing,” Soft said. “If you are caught in the slightest offense - the slightest, even if you throw a core in the wrong place - Faust sees, not only you will be arrested. But also your benefactress, who is so eager to take care of you. Do you understand?”

Yev'eni glanced at me briefly.

“I understand everything, Soft Grit. You can be sure that I will be as quiet as a mouse.”

“Although no,” Soft looked at me. “Another warning personally for you, Stargaze.”

I pressed my ears.

“There are philosophical schools that believe that any of the possible worlds is simultaneously someone's fiction. If so, this does not make reality any less real.”

My jaw dropped from this sudden philosophical attack.

“What?!!”

And I heard Yev'eni shudder, sucking in air through clenched teeth.

“Enough,” he hissed. “My brain is about to explode. We're leaving.”

The sun was low - Twilight must have raised it above the horizon not long ago. I wondered if I'd have time to get to work today. I glanced sideways at the tower clock...

And, cheerfully tossing my mane, I decided to laze around. The certificate that I held in front of me with telekinesis gave me a legal day off until this evening.

I looked at Yev'eni. He was looking around, as if enchanted.

“Do you like the city?” I asked cheerfully.

“Huh?” his gaze focused on me. “The city... yes. So strange. It seems so similar to our cities. And at the same time...” he looked at the figure of the postman, cutting across the rooftops.

“What's sparkling there?”

I put my hoof to my eyes.

“The Crystaller Building. If you want, we can go and take a closer look.”

Yev’eni winced.

“Not now. I… I’m a little tired. And everyone’s already staring at us like I’m a monkey in a cage. You know, let’s go back. I need to pull myself together. Think about my next doing…”

It’s true. I myself kept catching glances from passersby. The ponies turned around, watching us with their eyes. I heard the foal’s voice, “A monster! Mom, look, a monster!” Yev’eni winced.

“You know what?” I said decisively, shoving a piece of paper into his paws. “Let’s catch a taxi. I’m tired too, and I don’t want to walk across half the city.”

Well, I wouldn’t mind a walk… But the onlookers started to bother me, too. I stepped to the edge of the cobblestones, looking for the yellow carriage.

The human looked around.

“Manehattan, huh?” he muttered. “What does that mean?”

"Maned Island in the Swamp," I translated. “It's from the language of deer, not ponies. According to legend, there was once a village of them on this site, after which the city was named.”

“Deer?” Yev'eni shook his head. “Stargaze, this is all very interesting, but I'll ask you about it later. I'm already overloaded with information.”

At that moment, I noticed an empty taxi and sped up. The human hurried after me.

The earth pony in harness turned to look at me.

“Where are you going, filly?” then he noticed Yev'eni, and his eyes widened for a second. However, with true professional calm, he did not ask any questions.

“Ferrier Hill.”

“Three bits.”

Yev'eni followed the gold coins that migrated from my bag to the taxi driver.

"Stargaze, may I see your money?" he asked, when we had already settled into the cabin. Not exactly comfortable - Yev'eni's head was hitting the ceiling - but he seemed to care little.

I handed him the bit. Yev'eni twirled it in his fingers, glanced at the star on the back - the coin was newly minted.

"Gold coins," he smiled faintly. "Funny."

“Mmm?”

“In my world, no one pays in gold anymore. And such a piece would be enough to live comfortably for a month or two - tightening your belt,” he returned the coin to me. “You know, we have such sweets - chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. At first it seemed to me that you were paying...“ he hesitated, “the cab driver with them.”

I plopped down on my favorite sofa with sincere pleasure. Yev'eni sank into the chair occupied during the interworld invasion and closed his eyes.

After half an hour, I was too lazy to lie around and be silent. I went to the kitchen and sadly discovered that the salad I had prepared shortly before the arrest could be thrown out. I had to limit myself to sandwiches - hay for me, with carrot dressing for the guest.

“Don't you want to eat?”

Yev'eni raised his eyelids.

“Eat? Yeah... something to eat wouldn't hurt.”

“Headache, huh?” I asked understandingly. “I'd offer you a pill, but I'm not sure our painkillers would help you. Maybe coffee?”

“Coffee? Probably,” Yev'eni answered somehow inappropriately, and still looked at the wall.

I moved closer.

“You don't look well.”

“Not well?” the human muttered. “Well, I guess not well...” he took a weak bite of his sandwich, chewed a piece and put the plate with the sandwich on the nightstand.

I walked around him and looked into his eyes.

“Yev'eni. What's wrong?”

The same crazy look fell on me, like the first time we met.

“That lady who's an agent, she told me something,” Yev'eni muttered.

He covered his muzzle with his paws.

“Something, motherfuck!” - he roared. His fist hit the armrest with all his might.

I recoiled.

Yev'eni looked at me. Muttered something incomprehensible.

“Sorry,” he said dully. “I shouldn't yell at you. It's just... shit, Stargaze, in my people's language there is a word that means "to be surprised to the utmost degree and at the same time - to be very angry." That's how I feel right now.”

I sat down next to him. Put my hoof on his paw.

“Tell me.”

Yev'eni clenched his fists.

“Something about how I got here.”

“Through the bath?” I shuddered. “I've been afraid to use it myself these days. Who knows, maybe I'll get sucked into the neighboring world too.”

A dull chuckle rang out.

“Don't be afraid. You're in no danger. Well, if you're careful.”

I waited for him to continue.

“They know about my world. I'm not the first one to come here from it. I remember you trying to tell me something like that, but she told me more.”

“They know how we get here, Stargaze,” Yev'eni winced. “I'm never going back.”

I winced too.

“I... I'm sorry.”

Yev'eni laughed again, low in his throat.

“Death,” he said.

My ears perked up.

“What?”

“Death. They don't know why or how, but some humans, when they die, are reborn in this world. Just like me.”

Now my fur is standing on end.

No wonder he looks like he's been hit on the head...

“When I got into my own shower,” Yev'eni muttered. “I thought I'd fallen through somewhere and popped up here, in your bathtub. But in reality, I slipped, hit the back of my head, fell into the water and must have drowned. I have nowhere to go back to, Stargaze. I'm dead.”

I shook my mane, trying to comprehend what I'd said.

“Don't say that. You're alive. Here you are, sitting in my chair and breaking my armrests. I don't know what kind of magic tricks these are, but... But even...”

“Magic tricks?” He shook his head. “Oh yeah, to find yourself in a magical world where even the Sun is moved across the sky by sorcery... I thought that kind of thing was only written in shitty fantasy... Stargaze. You know what the weirdest thing is?”

I closed my eyes.

“Even weirder?!”

“Yeah. It's not just your world that knows about us. We know about you too.”

“Where from?”

“There was such a series. You... do you have movies here?” I nodded silently. “Well, there was a fantasy movie. Or rather, a multi-episode cartoon. About the magical land of ponies, Equestria. I first learned about it from Soft Grit, but, according to her, it was - and is - very popular in my world. It created a whole subculture. Fans, comics, product placement and all that...”

“Like the Daring Do series?”

“Daring Do?” Yev'eni looked at me blankly. “Well, I don't know... maybe this works for everyone? You know, who ran through the forest with a ski - and after his death he ended up with elves and hobbits?” I didn't quite understand what skis had to do with it and who elves and hobbits were, but I think I got the idea. “Well, that's it. Fans of this cartoon... after their death, they started ending up here. With you. In the world it was filmed about.”

My head was spinning from such revelations.

“Maybe... Maybe one of you visited our world before? And then, when he came back, he created the movie you're talking about?”

“Maybe...” muttered Yev'eni. “Soft Grit said that they themselves know very little about this phenomenon. You know, I haven't even watched the cartoon you were talking about. No, now that I've been told about it, I remembered some pictures on the Internet with pink ponies. But you know, I didn't look into it. There are so many franchises, you can't watch them all. Although... Although...”

He rubbed his forehead vigorously.

“Listen. I remember something like this. I have a cousin niece, she's nine years old. Once I went to visit her family, there were showing cartoons on TV. There was some huge red monster that blew up a tree, and then shot laser beams at a purple horse with wings...”

“Purple horse?” I barely held back a giggle. I ran into Yev'eni's puzzled look.

“Sorry, but... You're talking about Tirek's fight with the Princess of Friendship. And you better not call her a "purple horse" in front of everyone! She won't order you executed, but other ponies might not appreciate it. It sounds almost like "pink monkey."”

Now Yev'eni laughed too.

“I'll keep that in mind for the future. Listen, so do you often get attacked by monsters here?”

“Often?” I shook my head. “Well, it depends on what you mean by “often”. Over the last seven years… Nightmare Moon returned, then Discord was freed, although he almost didn’t harm anyone, then the Canterlot wedding and the Plunderseeds’ attack. Then, actually, Tirek attacked us, and after that everything was calm. Well, at least except Ponyville – but that’s a special place, with the Everfree and the entrance to Tartarus nearby, something happens there all the time. Oh yeah, and the war with Storm – but it was overseas and didn’t affect Equestria. Besides, all of that happened in the capital, and here in Manehattan, I don’t remember any cataclysms. Oh, and Sombra was reborn – but that was in the Empire, far to the north, and he didn’t have time to harm anyone before he was destroyed either.”

Yev’eni shook his head.

“It sounds like you guys are constantly fighting here.”

I laughed.

“And I thought that humans were constantly fighting each other!

“Oh, what are you…” Yev’eni stopped short. He swallowed.

I looked at him, puzzled.

“A couple of days ago, I would have said you were exaggerating,” he breathed out. “That our last big war ended seventy-three years ago. And now…” he shook his head.

“You know, this whole thing about being in here,” he continued after a pause, “it’s kind of nonlinear. We get thrown in randomly from a time span of eleven years. I got in about the middle,” he looked through the wall again.

“I got news from home, Stargaze,” he muttered.

“Good?” I immediately realized that the question was stupid.

“No, Stargaze. Not good at all,” he stopped short. “I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry.”

There was silence. I tried to think of something to say to Yev'eni to cheer him up. There was no need to explain - only a really stupid pony wouldn't understand what he was talking about.

“Sounds like some kind of joke from Discord,” I finally said.

“Discord?” Yev'eni rubbed his forehead. “I'll have to learn a lot about your world. Soft Grit said something like that too, and added "but he denies his involvement."”

He stood up. He poured himself some water, drank it down in one gulp, and returned to his chair.

“You know, she was very surprised - the agent, I mean - that I was thrown so far away. And that I didn't know anything about the cartoon. Before me, everyone was thrown somewhere where the action took place. What did she call them ... Ponyville or Ponywood Forest, something like that.”

"Ponyville and the Everfree Forest," I corrected him automatically.

“Well, yeah, exactly. At first, those who sincerely wanted to be here were transferred, - Yev’eni chuckled. “Then - those who were just fascinated by the cartoon. I was the first case when someone who had heard about it out of the corner of an ear was sucked in. She really didn’t want to let me go. She said that your princess would want to personally examine me.”

“So that’s why she was so angry!” I realized.

“Probably,” Yev’eni muttered. “Damn, she also said something about “incidents”. As I understand it, some of the first ones transferred, when they realized that all this was real, their roof was tored," seeing my puzzled look, he corrected himself, “I mean, their minds couldn’t handle the shock. And some of them did some bad things. She refused to give details…”

“I understand. To be honest, there are such rumors about humans here... Well, let's say, bad ones. To be honest, at first that's why I was so scared of you too.”

“At first, yes... I almost fainted myself then.”

“Well, in the end, she agreed to let me go, in exchange for a promise that I would show up at the first call to let myself be studied. By the way!” Yev'eni looked at me. “Stargaze! So it was you who talked her into letting me out on bail, instead of sending me to this prison of yours for humans?”

I felt myself blushing. I nodded silently.

“Thank you,” he said warmly.

“You're welcome,” I responded. “If a friend is in trouble, you have to help him!”

“A friend?” Yev'eni said with some surprise in his voice.

“Of course!” I raised my head in bewilderment. “Aren’t you?”

Yev'eni sighed. He smiled sadly.

“Sorry, Stargaze. We probably just don't so easy...” he cut himself off mid-sentence. “I... I'm really glad you're my friend. Thank you so much. And for that. And for messing around with me.”

I leaned on the armrest, rising up on my hind legs and looking into the human's muzzle.

“Everything will be fine, Yev'eni. Even if you can't come back - Equestria is a wonderful place. You’ll like it here.”