Salt Lick City, Ch 2

[captain_borgue]

Rose giggled at Double's banter. It was nice to hear him being jovial, even if it was at Tiny's expense. "Oh, I don't think you have to worry about him coming after you anymore, he knows I'd be very cross if he did. I don't think he's at the point where he likes you yet, but he doesn't actively dislike you. So, you know, progress!" Rose said happily. "But enough idle chitchat- let's get down to the important things. My favorite ice cream ever is limoncello gelato, though I've only ever found one place anywhere that had the kind I really like and Dad likes to buy me a pint as a treat, so I don't want to take that away from him. But my second favorite is orange with chocolatey bits in it. Which is sooooo much tastier than it sounds," Rose said, articulating wildly with her hands.

"Okay, so since we've been walking a while and I don't hear any grumbling, Tiny must be out of range," Rose said, a bit out of nowhere. "Which means it's safe to ask something kinda personal. and I don't wanna seem pushy or anything, just... where do you see us going? Like, relationship wise? Because reality wise we're going kinda downhill-ish, which I'm gonna guess is west," Rose said, laughing a little to cover up nervousness that had been creeping up on her.

[TwentySided]

Doctor Gem Shard - Salt Lick City - Shard's House Outside Deck

"Filly? Prism is eighteen nearly nineteen. So she is clearly able to be out on her own. Why does your world handle their young in such a way?" Gem replied before hearing Fire's question about what exactly blow was, "Its another term for drugs dear. Though I can't really recall which, cocaine?. Even still as Fire said we need to wait and see what Kerrigan has to say, she was one of the heads that let me take on this experiment after all. Sorry Longshot, she shouldn't be too long though. Knowing her she's probably on her way."

[captain_borgue]

A burst of orange flame and a loud 'FWUMP' noise announced Kerrigan's presence to the neighborhood. Her aim was slightly off, as she had intended to appear on the sidewalk, and had instead appeared a foot away from the curb- though she was three houses over, as intended. So it wasn't a terrible error, though it did indicate she would have to practice her aim more often. It didn't take long for her to arrive at Dr. Shard and Dean Firesong's house- though it took some effort to get to their door, as there was quite a bit more magic present than the last time she had visited. Kerrigan couldn't help but assume it had something to do with this guest of theirs- still, no sense in making inferences without evidence.

She knocked smartly on the door with one hand, while sending a text confirming her arrival to Firesong with the other. "I do apologize for how long it took me to respond, today was an unusually busy day," Kerrigan said, the moment the door opened.

If outside the house had been redolent with magic, the interior was pungent with it- almost enough to force Kerrigan to take a step back. Something intensely unusual was going on to warrant such an outpouring of energy- and as a general rule, Kerrigan became suspicious whenever high concentrations of magic were present. "I had rather hoped this visit would be more about tea and pleasantries than business," she said, as close to joviality as she ever got. "On that lighter note what can I do for you?"

[TwentySided]

Double Edge - Salt Lick City - Sidewalk to Ice Cream store

Looking to the street sign read it, making a quick mental note, the parlor near his home being roughly four blocks away from here they should be able to make good time, get there, enjoy some nice ice cream, then arrive at the party a little after Static, should his sister deviate like she sometimes would. "Alright, won't kill me on sight, awesome, a step in the right direction." He chuckled. "I can see that being good citrus is a great balance to bitter, you should try blueberries dipped in chocolate, delicious.

"Okay, so since we've been walking a while and I don't hear any grumbling, Tiny must be out of range, Which means it's safe to ask something kinda personal. and I don't wanna seem pushy or anything, just... where do you see us going? Like, relationship wise? Because reality wise we're going kinda downhill-ish, which I'm gonna guess is west,"

Giving pause, Double thought about his answer before finally speaking, "No, no it's not pushy, I mean I'm rather new at this myself. I mean I've met other mares, but I've never been in a situation where I've liked them like this, this is very different to me. Well, I mean I'm having a great time. You're smart, wonderful to talk to, you've gotten me out of my shell, I mean look I'm not even stuttering anymore. So, that's a first" the zebra said, tightening his grip on the mare's hand ever so slightly, "I mean, I like being around, talking to you, telling you about my day, and hearing about yours. Holding your hand and simply being in your company. I don't really know how far this relationship will go, I'm no soothsayer or seer, but I want to see just how far this path will lead and I hope its all the way."

[TwentySided]

Doctor Gem Shard - Salt Lick City - Shard's House Outside Deck

"Ah Kerrigan, wonderful for you to finally make it." Gem answered, "Forgive my rudeness for not greeting you at the door but as you can see I'm a bit drained at the moment, also thank you for the movie suggestion, it was very fun and we would have finished it had this whole thing not began. Anyways let me introduce you," the unicorn continued, gesturing to Longshot, "Kerrigan this is Longshot, a unicorn from another world, normally not something to believe but when they come from a relic in a basement talking of a world where everything is destroyed, and you go down and verify that indeed the relic is active, you tend to believe them, then lock everything down so that no more can come through." Shard explained before returning to gaze to Longshot, "and Longshot might I introduce you to Dean Hannibal Kerrigan."

[Liberty_Walk]

Liberty nods in confirmation of the nature of the term 'blow,'
"Er, yeah... I was just kidding around. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean don't do any, but I wasn't really thinking he would do that... Right?" He falls silent as Kerrigan arrives, acknowledging her with a nod, but not interrupting.

[Lucy Took]

"Kerrigan, good to see you!" Firesong said after going back to start some more tea. "How about all of you come into the living room and have a seat. I have some water on and some nice white pear tea leaves ready to be steeped. It's been an eventful day, I think everyone is tired and confused at some level or another" she said, sliding open the door and fluttering to her own kitchen and pouring the kettle into a teapot that she set on a tray with several mismatched teacups and a bowl of sugar cubes.

She put the tray on the coffee table in the middle of their living room. "Now. Longshot, would you kindly give a recap of what brought you here? The under five minute version would be best for now, I'm sure Kerrigan would love to hear all the details as time goes on, but an overview of what's going on would be best for everyone at this moment." She said as she sunk into the cushions of the couch, becoming aware of just how tiring her day had been.

[White Mocha]

Longshot - Salt Lick City - Shard's Living Room

Longshot spent too long trying to sort through what the Doctor had said, when exactly did his world's young come into it? When the adult dragon that wasn't the size of the house showed up and turned out to be the po- person they were waiting for, Longshot decided he simply had no idea how this world worked and dropped it for now. Probably not an appropriate topic of discussion at the moment in any case.

Hitting the mental reset button turned out to be much easier once Firesong had given him something else to focus his attention on. "Right. Makes more sense to explain myself before asking about this world. Five minute version huh?" He lifted his chin and rubbed it with his knuckles. "Well, about two hundred years ago ponies and zebra got in a prolonged war that eventually ended civilization as we knew it. It wasn't quite the end of the world, though it might've been better if it had been. Large swaths of land are basically unusable. Clean food and water is almost impossible to come by, so ponies have been killing each other over two hundred year old snack cakes. You can die without dying, living in a rotting body until you go insane... It's been made a nasty place. And that's before the groups that are supposedly trying to rebuild civilization.

Last I was aware of anything that was going on, the 'Grand Pegasus Enclave' was basically invading with only Red Eye, the worst slaver the wasteland's ever seen having any possibility of standing up to them. Well... And maybe the Steel Rangers, but they'd just started into this whole civil war...

Sorry, five minutes. Right. Basically... I gave up. I got wind from a Canterlot ghoul, er... that's one of those dead-but-not-dead ponies I mentioned, he'd told me about this mirror that could supposedly take you from one world to another. To shorten it up; after a long, grueling experience I made it to the mirror-portal and managed to force it open. So... here I am."

[Liberty_Walk]

After a moment of digesting all that Longshot has said, Liberty lets out a long, low whistle. "Daaaaaang... That sounds like hell... I can see why you told me you don't recommend visiting..." he shakes his head slowly.

[Lucy Took]

Firesong nodded in silence, the whole thing still seemed to surreal to process. Everything did. She poured Longshot a cup of tea and handed it to him before taking a cup herself. "I'm sorry about the world you had to live in. I wish we could help, but it sounds like it's beyond help. At least any that we could offer you. We haven't engaged in a full out war in centuries, all threats seem to be taken care by the Elements of Harmony within days of the threat's arrival, we're ill equipped to even think about warfare. What we can offer you however is a peaceful life for yourself. And snack cakes if you want them, though real cake is so much better. Our lives might have events in them to make them interesting and exciting, but deadly is rarely an issue."

Fire turned to Kerrigan with another cup of tea. "And for the record Kerrigan, we can vouch that at the very least the part of his story about coming through the mirror is true. Doc checked the mirror and it was recently used. Aside from that if I can feel the magical energy in here as a pegisus I'm sure you notice it even more than I can. This pony has obviously been through trauma, I figured that out of any of us you would be the best equipped to handle finding him a place to adjust to this world."

[Liberty_Walk]

"And if it matters, I'm more than willing to offer up me and my uncle's couch, for him to sleep on. It's no hardship, we keep it pretty quiet over there. And he won't be too far from Doc' Shard, if they need to talk." Liberty shrugs, not sure where to go from there, "You know, if that'll help."

[White Mocha]

Longshot reached out for the tea, but his hand was still curled up in the not quite a fist and bumped the cup with his knuckles. He scowled, grabbing it in his magic instead and muttered, "An explaination of these," he held up his hands, fingers splayed, "would be much appreciated."

He leaned back, stopping to smell the tea deeply before drinking. He'd had tea once before at Tenpony, so he knew what it was. It had actually been one of the highlights of that trip. But this was in a whole other class. His 'mmm' of pleasure as he drank was a bit louder than he'd intended...

He kept the cup floating nearby as he looked at this dragon. "Not to... rude I guess, but nopony mentioned what exactly makes you qualified for this."

[captain_borgue]

"Hello, Firesong. A pleasure to see you, as always. Hello, Dr. Shard- I am glad my cinematic suggestion was to your liking, though I suspect we like the film for dramatically different reasons. a pity you didn't get to see the ending that somehow neatly ties up every disparate story arc in a big flashy song number," Kerrigan said, with a brief smile, before picking up a cup of tea and waiting for the... eccentric looking stallion on their couch to start talking.

And talk he did. Kerrigan stood in the living room, occasionally sipping her tea, with the barest hint of expression on her face. From the moment this bedraggled newcomer started talking, it took every fiber of self control to keep herself from speaking, until such time as a break in this utterly preposterous narrative was offered. "I do not begrudge you to wonder about my credentials- as well you should, as any person claiming to be an expert ought to be scrutinized. That being said- my name is Hannibal Kerrigan. I have a BS in pre-med, a BS in psychology, a Masters in Sociology, a Masters in Psychiatry, a PhD in Neurobiology, and a PsyD in Behavioral Psychology. I came to Equestria when my Clan became the second dragon Clan in history to normalize relations with Equestria after centuries of saber rattling, I was the only dragon student at the university while pursuing my studies, and up until fairly recently the only dragon on staff. I can read and operate fMRIs, prescribe medications, interpret PET and CAT scans of the brain, and basically if there is something amiss inside your head, I can do everything except physically cutting it out, as I am not a surgeon. Though I could tell said surgeon exactly where and what to cut." Kerrigan said, matter-of-factly, with a bit of slipping into a more vernacular delivery.

"That being said- living arrangements seems to be under proposal at this point. And although I am certain you wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone here, the fact remains that under exceptional trauma, the brain sometimes 'reverts' to earlier schema, and I do not want to find out that in the midst of a flashback you injured anyone. Despite the generous offer, I believe that crashing on mr. Walk's couch may not be in the best interests of either of you," Kerrigan said, sipping her tea. "There is a sleep study lab on the University campus, however, that I believe will be most suitable for short-term habitation. It is designed to closely resemble a typical domicile to facilitate a sense of comfort and, thus, enable normative sleep patterns- but it is also monitored via sensors for unusual activity. I will not be literally watching you sleep, nor will anypony else- but if you have a vivid flashback and wake up screaming and thrashing, motion detectors and audio sensors will inform us of it. The risk of you inadvertently harming anypony would be greatly diminished."

She watched the stranger over her cup of tea. There was a great deal about his story that seemed to be crafted solely for shock value, or to garner sympathy. The narrative, what little there was, had gaping holes and convenient-for-the-story villains and monsters, with no explanations of the how or why of any of it. Of course, there was no doubt more to this delusion, and exploring it could provide insight into the mind that crafted it- she would have to find a way to coax him into revealing more of this fantasy world. Not that she suspected this awakward stranger had somehow pulled a fast one and duped Firesong and Dr. Shard into thinking he'd stepped through a portal- no, Doc and Fire were not so easily fooled. Which meant that Kerrigan was willing to accept that he was from another world, but that did not equate to being some kind of ultra-refugee from an apocalypse, especially given some of his mannerisms. One would expect an individual who came of age in a warlike environment to be physically impressive, in both muscle tone and agility. They would have a heightened sense of spacial awareness, coordination, and reflexes, as a lack of these skills would not enable the individual to survive in that setting. This guy, though, seemed to be flabbergasted by the concept of holding things. Mentally, Kerrigan pegged him as paranoid-delusional, possibly messianic complex, and showing signs of PTSD. She'd know more if he stayed in the sleep lab in the short term. Long-term planning was simply not possible at this stage.

"Thank you for the tea," Kerrigan said, setting down her cup. "It is most welcome after today's events- and that is not even including the new Greek chapter's pledge mixer. I am confident they will prove themselves to be responsible, but at the same time I am leery that they may not," she said, addressing Firesong. "Oh, and we have a fascinating new student that I think you will want to meet, once he has acclimated a bit."

[TwentySided]

Doctor Gem Shard - Salt Lick City - Shard's Living Room

Taking a cup of tea of his own, Gem listened to Longshot's story listening intently, though it was very much crunched into a more appropriated time span which Gem was very thankful for. The ice pack on his head was certainly helping, but at the same time trying to wrap his head around the entirely foreign world was certainly not helping with the aching. However he was not necessarily surprised about this. Gem had no real reference about how this sort of world worked, It was after all an entirely new, how could one pony every explain all of that in such a span of time? Even hours of time given to learning of all this and he probably wouldn't even be scratching the surface.

Turning his attention to Hannibal, the unicorn waited for a break in her speech before clearing his throat, *ahem* "Sorry but I do believe there is something else we need to attend to. We might want to schedule an appointment and physical with Doctor Honey Heart, after all Longshot is from an entirely different world and in such a state as it is in, I highly doubt medicine is of great concern when compared to survival. We don't know if he is in fact carrying anything that our bodies are not accustomed to, moreover I doubt he has any antibodies that have adapted to some of our diseases as well."

Looking to Longshot, the doctor tried to explain further, "It wouldn't be anything to terrible, Dr.Heart would be there to see your condition, determine your overall health and give a few shots to prevent a few diseases, nothing too bad, simply, tetanus, rabies if you have ever been bitten by a wild animal, mumps, measles, this seasons influenza, hepatitis A and B, PPV, just to name a few."

[Lucy Took]

"The sleep study lab sounds like a perfect place to stay. It's comfortable and you'd have a degree of privacy as well as long as you don't end up having sleep issues. Not to mention it's right next to the medical clinic so if your immune system were to fail you there would be a doctor close by with medications." Firesong said, trying not to visibly pull back at the thought of all of the viruses and bacteria that could have been spread around. She wasn't normally a germaphobe, but she made a mental note to have someone come over in the morning to have the furniture disinfected, just in case. Transdimensional illnesses that Gem,Prism and herself had no immunity to sounded like something she didn't want to mess with. "In fact, I see no reason for you to head over now, there's always a doctor on call and they can give you a quick check up and you can get cleaned up. I'm sure Kerrigan could have you over in a flash thanks to dragon magic."

[captain_borgue]

"All the way, huh? Seems a bit presumptuous- it's just ice cream," Rose said teasingly, before bumping double with her hip. "Good thing you waited until Tiny was out of earshot to say that. Could give the wrong impression," she added, laughing. "Ok, so here's my plan. For now, we make it like, official, you know? Like on facebook and everything. Then we just sort of see how things go on their own. I mean we're already exclusive, so it's not like it'll surprise anyone. We are exclusive, right? You don't have any other starry-eyed blind girls waiting in the wings?" Rose said, batting her eyelashes- or what she assumed batting her eyelashes was, as she had no real reference point for the gesture beyond books.

"Oh hey, that reminds me! I have a prezzie for you! Well, not here, it's back at the school. But I think you'll like it. Though, really, it's more of a prezzie for me, but- oh nevermind, you'll see," she said, babbling excitedly. She had found a text-to-braille conversion printer/fax machine at the electronics store a few weeks ago when she went in to get a new screen for her phone- or rather, Tiny had actually found it, and Rose had bought it. Still, she hoped he liked the gift- even if it was more for her benefit than his.

[White Mocha]

Longshot was confused by all the credentials the dragon reeled off. Either she was an extremly smooth talker, which seemed in line with the species, or she was actually as intelligent and well trained as she claimed. Given that Gem Shard had already demonstrated his expertise, Longshot decided to trust that his friend was an expert too.

There was one point that stopped him cold though. He stiffened up a bit and narrowed his eyes. He relaxed again as he realized no insult was ment. Still, he wasn't one to let it pass.

Looking straight at Kerrigan, he spoke just a little lower than usual. "I have never injured anyone I hadn't intended to injure." Considering that matter settled, he turned to the Doctor. "Medical care isn't cheep anywhere. I don't exactly have any... currency. Actually, you still use those bits here? I might have a couple."

[Lucy Took]

Firesong looked at him in confusion. "Currency? Why would you need that for medical care? I'm not sure if your coins count here or not, someone in that field would have to give them a look. And if they aren't the same kind we use here I'm sure you could trade them for real currency to someone who finds them novel. But that's not the point. You don't have to pay for medical care, no one does. We pay taxes and they fund the hospitals so that everyone can get care whenever they need it. You don't even have to worry about food. The fact that you came from another world will make you of interest to the university enough to snag you a meal plan. Of course once you've acclimated you should be free to take classes and look for work, but none of that is necessary now."

[White Mocha]

Longshot chuckled. "That's exactly what we used them for in the waste. Somepony would buy them as curios." He went to dig in his saddlebags only to find it'd been shifted into shape more suitable to his new form. He shrugged out of his backpack and produced from it a trio of golden coins. "Here we go, three bits. Funny, they seem smaller..."

[TwentySided]

Doctor Gem Shard - Salt Lick City - Shard's Living Room

"Longshot, we aren't saying that you would, but I do have to agree with Kerrigan on this." Gem answered, "PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, can easily cause someone to act without them fulling knowing what is actually going on. We are simply trying to act with caution. After all you are the first to come from another world such as your own and we have no idea what concerns you'll need."

Gazing over to the coin, Gem raised an eyebrow, on the front was the emblem of Equestria, very similarly produced to their own, however the date certainly and condition were certainly interesting. Reading the bottom it appeared to be roughly two years ahead of the current date, moreover it looked aged, erosion had grim had certainly obscured the face of the coin. "Might I suggest if you are going to be selling this coin? You might want to wait a year or two. It's a bit off from our own and people might think that you are a counterfeiter of some sorts."

"Oh stupid!" Gem remembered almost hitting himself in the head before remembering his migraine, "Kerrigan We are going to need to send a message to the royals. I am certain that they would very much like to hear that the mirror is actually working." He felt rather dumb for having such a fact be nearly forgotten, after all the entirety of the project had come from Celestia looking to see if the mirror would actually be functioning after all these years. Why exactly this had piqued the alicorn's interest he really didn't know, but then again political stand points or what have ever the original reason was not necessarily his forte.