It wasn't hard for Thomas to find the shop, because Spike was waiting outside. The storefront had a large sign above it that declared 'QUILLS AND SOFAS'. Below that hung another sign, equally sized, that said simply 'RECLINERS'.

"Quills and sofas, huh?" Thomas scratched the mask with a smirk. "Guess this is the place."

Spike nodded as he jogged out from around the corner. "There you are. Got it all handled?" He spotted the write in Thomas' hand. "There you go. We can get what we want with that, uh, so long as your account has enough. It has it written on it, so we can't get into any trouble."

"Good." Thomas gave the writ a quick glance before putting it away. "So what kinds of things do they have?" He reached for the door, but it swung open for him.

Behind that opening stood a pony that looked rather dapper. "Good afternoon." He glanced to Thomas' hand, then off to Spike. "Are you accompanying them, Spike?"

Spike waved as he slipped past Thomas. "Hey, Davenport! Yeah, new guy, Thomas, this is Davenport. Davenport, Thomas."

Davenport leaned closer, peering at Thomas' hand. "Hmm, B-17." He strode away. "This way. Have you already selected your residence?"

Thomas nodded. "Yeah, and it's pretty empty. That why I'm here."

"As expected." He walked between a pair of display couches. "Please, walk this way and examine this beautiful sofa." He ran a hoof over it gently. "Big enough for even a tall one like yourself, but cozy for anypony else stopping by too."

Spike walked over to the couch. "A big boy." He plopped himself onto it. "Soft and cushy."

Davenport smirked proudly. "One of my favorite lines of sofas." He nodded as he turned back to Thomas. "Very popular, hard to keep in stock."

"That's not the exact shape I was looking for." Thomas continued deeper into the store. "I like the style, though."

"The style?" Davenport caught up quickly, trotting up beside him. "Well, if you prefer that color, how about—" He guided him towards a darker shade that was similarly plush. "—something in this shade?"

"I've never understood those who go for lighter colors when it comes to furnishings." Thomas let himself sink into the new sofa. He sinks his hands down on either side with a smile. "But I've always been a fan of dark colors."

"Excellent choice!" Davenport's pride visibly grew. "Now, in your line of business—"

"You don't know what I do," said Thomas.

"Oh, really?" Davenport seemed to deflate. "I'm sure it's very interesting." He leaned in with a smile. "I've yet to meet a human that does life in a boring way."

Spike scoffed at that. "He has a point. You guys sure do love keeping it interesting."

"We just try and have a good time." Thomas stretched, letting his feet hang over the edge of the sofa. "Is that common with us?"

"Oh yes, very much so." Davenport nodded. "Now, you've selected a sofa. You need somewhere to work. May I suggest a nice work table? If you are looking for some sort of artistic outlet, you can draw there, paint, sculpt, play with glue and sparkles, anything."

Thomas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Something simple and reliable would be appreciated."

Davenport rushed to a table, waving at it. "Like this." It hit him a moment later. "Ah, and we have chairs. Optional for ponies, but much more required for our beloved human customers."

"Yeah, definitely need a chair." Thomas walked around the table, eying it carefully. "I like it. Hardwood, smooth finish, nice legs."

"I only carry high quality products!" Davenport laughed at his own words. "Spike, do you know where our new friend lives?"

"Yep." Spike slid off the couch. "It's on this street."

"A simple delivery." Davenport closed his eyes and bowed deeply. "All you have left is bedding of some kind, and quills and ink, of course."

"Of course." Thomas laughed at the idea. "As if I could avoid that."

"Indeed." Davenport showed off his row of quills, preened to be pristine. "We carry standard and extra long feathers, dyed or natural. For ink, we have many shades to offer."

Spike smirked as he scribbled something down with a quill of his own. "Here's where to deliver everything."

"Wonderful, Spike!" He started adding numbers together. "Let's see... Sofa, table, chair, bedding." He pushed a piece of paper forward. "This price, plus taxes and tariffs."

Spike held up a talon to wait. "Woah, newcomer. Pretty sure he gets one off, right?"

Davenport looked confused a moment. "Oh, yes! You are correct. You are within the first month?" When Thomas nodded, so did Davenport. "Then no taxes or fees, Princess Celestia's orders."

Thomas rubbed his hands together. "Lucky me. Guess I should pick out a quill." He browsed them quickly. "Green, bright and cheerful, and you probably have blue and purple ink?"

"All sorts of colors." Davenport grabbed a bottle of ink. "These are a basic trio of colors, red, black, and indigo. I'll include them for free, so long as you promise to come back and purchase your own supply."

Thomas left the store with a big smile, the writ gone, and looking quite happy. "Man, it should always be that easy to get the essentials. Oh, speaking of that. How do I handle dinner? Do I have to get another writ?"

Spike chuckled under his breath. "Just tell them what you like, and they'll bring you stuff. They'll send you a bill every month based on what you ordered, then you can go pay them back. Since you just moved in, you've got some credit. But we usually don't buy raw stuff anyways, unless we're throwing a party, or stocking a pantry for later."

Thomas considered that. "That's awful civilized." He crouched down in front of Spike. "It's all too easy. What's the catch? Nothing is this easy. Ever. The sun always sets."

Spike huffed at Thomas' comment. "Seriously? Don't you think we'd be used to humans coming here by now? Ponies know what's up."

"About that!" Thomas rose to his feet. "How do they know about humans? I sure didn't know about living magic horses before I got here."

"Well." Spike hopped over a small stone as he walked. "I can explain this one. So you know how Equestria is ruled by a Princess? Well, she kinda opens portals, sometimes to recruit humans." He twirled to face Thomas. "When the local ponies couldn't get it done. You guys are very tricky, so she would put out a call, one would show up, and usually fix it, or make it worse. A bit of a luck of the draw. That's how the system started, rating humans on how agreeable they were."

Thomas stopped walking as he gazed over Ponyville. "So I'm not the first. In fact, I might not be the thousandth? Probably won't be the last?"

"You can never be sure, but odds are good there'll be another someday." Spike shrugged lightly. "You weren't even called here by a princess, that's kinda rare actually. So be proud of that."

"Proud? Sure." Thomas grimaced and followed Spike again. "Still, I guess it's okay. Just a surprise, not being a unique snowflake."

Spike smirked and laughed. "You get used to it. Most do." He hopped up over a log by the road. "You don't seem the type that'd go nuts about it."

"Heh, maybe." Thomas rubbed along the back of his neck as they kept walking. "So, how do I contact them and find out what happened?"

"Them?" Spike jogged up to Thomas' house and stopped by the door. "Them who?"

"I don't know, people, humans!" Thomas gestured widely at the world around them. "Others like me. I want to figure out what happened and if I can find my friends, so that I can tell them what happened."

Spike clapped his hands. "Oh! There's a pony in town, runs a bit of a meeting, once a moon. Her name's Lyra. You'll want to chat with her and visit the group. They talk about, um, human stuff? I dunno, never went myself."

Thomas breathed in deeply and smiled. "Thanks, Spike. Can you help me get there?"

"I can point you at her. Lyra's pretty nice. Also kinda into humans? You might find her a bit weird, but she means well." Spike pointed off through the trees. "She's probably in the park right now."

"You are awesome!" Thomas clapped his hands as he took off running, a smile growing across his face as he neared the edge of the town, where it became an open park with ponies lounging, and others playing little games among themselves. One seemed to have hooves stuck in the air as they sat at a table, scratching something into a sketchbook.

Thomas hurried over and skidded to a stop. "Lyra?"

"Yes, who wants to know?" She looked up and finally saw Thomas. "Oh! Hey!" She was all smiles at that point. "Didn't realize you were a human." Her eyes fell to his hand. "And a friendly one, nice! Have a seat."

Thomas did so, taking the bench across from her. "Thanks." He propped up on his arms. "I was told you can help me."

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah!" She leaned in over the table. "Name's Lyra, you know that. You're a human, bet you know that too." She snickered softly. "Always so excited to meet one of you. Where did you come from?"

"I'm not sure anymore." Thomas held out his hands. "My name is Thomas."

"Thomas. Hi! I've seen a few humans since coming to Ponyville." She placed both her front hooves onto the table. "You can trust me with anything." She put one of those hooves at her chest. "I've heard it before. I'm used to strange human things, so don't be worried."

He examined Lyra for a moment. "Yeah. I can see that." He gestured down at the book. "What were you working on?"

"Art. Drawing stuff." She pointed at Thomas. "I like drawing, especially humans. I don't know how you guys pull it off, but it's so interesting!"

She flipped to the next page and started a new doodle. "Also, I love that mask. Have you showed Zecora? I bet she'd go nuts."

Thomas blinked down at her. "Zecora loves masks?"

"Oh, absolutely! I bet you two would have a ton to talk about." She sighed happily. "It was such a great day when I found out you humans love music."

"I bet you guys do too." He rubbed behind his head. "Um, I heard you run a group, for humans?"

Lyra jumped to her feet. "That's right! Full Moon Friendship Circle, next week!" She scurried over the bench and stood close to him. "For all humans, locals and newcomers alike, just sit around and talk, sharing experiences, showing off talents, comparing ourselves against one another. Good times." She thrust a hoof at Thomas. "Want to join?"

"Absolutely! Sounds perfect." Thomas sat down, patting Lyra on the back. "I've got a question, though, and I hope you won't get mad."

"What? Ask me anything. Seriously." She waggled her eyebrows. "I doubt you have a question I won't answer."

He smirked a bit at the thought of her answering anything. "Do you know any other way I could talk to a human?" He shook his head. "Like, from back home?"

Her mood dropped. "Oh, well..." She rubbed her hooves together. "That hasn't ever happened. Coming here is kind of a one way street. You'd have to ask the princess directly, but so far I know, once you're here, you're here forever."

"Ah..." Thomas wilted at the thought. "No way back, then."

"Not as far as I know." Lyra shook herself out. "Humans are tough. You'll get over it."

"I guess so." He grunted out a sigh at the thought. "And I bet I'm not the first human you ever saw be annoyed about that."

"It happens." She shrugged lightly. "You can always try and send messages out. Maybe you'd be the first one who gets one back."

"Maybe." He didn't sound all that confident. "Well, since you seem comfy about humans, I'll go ahead and ask; Bestiality, what is its definition on this world?"

Lyra stared at him a moment. "Bestiality?"

"Where I come from, a human and a not-human is that. And it's considered bad. Mind, where I come from, only humans talk." Thomas shrugged. "Here, everything talks. Chatted up a few friendly horses and a dragon so far. Wouldn't be shocked if a friendly rock struck up a conversation."

Lyra nodded to his point. "Alright." She flicked at the air. "We call it something different. Here, we call it mixed. As for it being okay or not?" She shrugged. "If the two creatures want to be together, who are the rest of us to get in the way? Adults get to decide that on their own."

"Good to know." Thomas flashed a thumbs-up. "Nothing worse than making friends with someone and later finding out it was illegal for me to get closer with them, y'know?"

"I suppose not." She snickered at that. "You are a dirty human." She sneered at him. "Dirty dirty human."

"Sorry?" Thomas shrugged, unsure of where that left them. "Um."

She broke into giggles, unable to stop herself. "Don't worry. I've been called perverted plenty of times." She slapped a hoof against Thomas. "I like humans, dirty or not."

He smirked down at her. "Just glad you're accepting."

"Yeah, nothing to worry about." Lyra skipped away. "Glad to help! See you next moon cycle!"

Author's Note

House get! Lyra meet! It's time to meet some other humans. Should be good, right?

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