Herp-The one and only moth. Ch. 6 “Different problems”

>*Aaah mornings. It’s always strange seeing the sun come up instead of the moon. No matter how many times I see it, it always feels wrong. –Heh-. Good night, Luna.*

>*So what’re my plans for today?.. Oh right, I don’t have any. It’s a vacation until the meeting. I guess I like this room pretty well. No need to change it or anything. A conversation with that inn keeper might give me some idea as to what this town is. Guess I should go say good morning then… Better not forget my satchel.*

“Good morning.”

>”Morning.”

“… So uuh, I’m new to this town and it seems as though I’ll be spending this week here. I was wondering if-”

>”The whole week?”

“Yup. I’ve got a meeting with Celestia next week and I need a place to stay. This seems like a fair place.”

>”Oh, Celestia? Well I knew you weren’t like any moth I’d seen before, but I didn’t know you were considered royalty approved. Heck even you staying here for more than a day seems odd, but a meeting with Celestia.”

“Iiis that a problem?”

>”No, no problem at all. I’m just surprised that even the royal moths decide to spend their nights in such humble accommodations. It’s quite fascinating if you ask me.”

“Royal-? No no noooo. I’m no royalty. I’m a mere scout sent on a mission.”

>”A scout on a mission to meet Celestia is still a high ranking moth, in my opinion. I’m sure your kind don’t send just any old moths her way.”

>*Actually, more or less, that’d be right.*

“Either way. Does that change anything?”

>”Only my opinion of you.”

“I see… Well regardless, I have to spend the whole week here in Equestria, maybe even more than that. Considering I’ll be staying in this inn, I need to know of worthwhile places here in town. I’ve got to spend my time somehow, y’know?”

>”Worthwhile places, eeh? Well, there’s a library not too far from the town center. It’s this big tree with windows in it, you can’t possibly miss it if you get to the center of town. There’s a marketplace going north past the center of town. And a park off to the west edge. There’s a musician guild to the south-west side off the center if ye feel like hearing or creatin’ somethin’. Someponies like spending their time by the fountain nearby. Sugarcube corner’s a place where a lot of ponies hang out, but I don’t advise it, it’s a very public place and you’d attract a lot of attention.”

“Wouldn’t that be the case if I went anywhere else as well?”

>”Yeea- I guess that’s right. An’ then there’s-”

“I eeh-. Thank you, that’ll do for now. I’ll check out the marketplace and library for today.”

>”Mmmhm, I propose going to the library second. I recon’ once the librarian sees you, she won’t want ta let go of you for a while.”

“Uh huh. Well thank you.”

>”Also, while you’re traveling around, find yourself a better place to stay. This ain’t no place to stay for royalty.”-as he’s heading into a room titled “Inn keep’s room.”

“H-hey, I’m not royalty!”

>”Whatever you say, m’lord.”-as he closes the door behind him.

>*Oh whatever. If he starts calling me m’lord, he can. So, off to the marketplace I guess. Then again. There really isn’t a reason for me to go there. I haven’t even drank half of one jar of nectar yet. I’ll be good on food for a while. To the library then. I may be a soldier but I’m not illiterate. I could go for a nice story to pass the time. If I get a good enough one I might even spend half of the week just reading.*

>*Now that the town’s more lively, I’m posed with the same problem as yesterday. Everywere I go I’m followed by weird looks. Well either way, here’s the center. Now where’s the uuuh-… Wow, that is one BIG tree! I wonder what the librarian’s like. She can’t be as bad as the inn keeper said… I really need to ask him his name next time. Seems like the library’s open though.*

>*Knock**Knock**Knock*…

>The door doesn’t move an inch, but the sound of muffled shouting and arguing can be heard behind it.

>*… Maybe the librarian’s a grumpy old pony? I dunno, I still want a good book.*

>*Knock**Knock**Knock*…

>-from behind the door-“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

>*Huh, that can’t be right, that sounded like a kid. An assistant maybe?*

>The door opens and behind it is-.

>”Yeah, what do ya wa- wa- waaaaaa…”

>*A dragon… A, tiny, little dragon.*

”Yeah, I get that a lot. Anyways, I’m new in town and I heard this is the library. Could I maybe check out a book?”

>”… T-t-t-TWILIGHT!”-as he *SLAM*‘s the door.

>*… Well, wasn’t expecting that… Not surprised though. Wait, there’s somepony behind the door again.*

>-slightly muffled-“Oh come on, Spike. You do this almost every week.”

>-as she opens the door-“It’s very impolite to slam the door at someone’s fa-faa-faaaaaa…”

>*Whoa, an Alicorn. But I thought that Luna and Celestia were the only one’s left.*

>”See? SEE?? I TOLD you! He’s totally freaky!”

>”Spike! Be quiet. Iii’m sorry, Spike’s still a very young dragon, he gets scared easily.”

>”I do not!”

>”Spike. Go opstairs.”

>”What? Why??”

>”Go. Now.”

>”… Well fine. I’ll head upstairs then. But when you come running to me, yelling for help, I WONT.”

>”GO!”

>*Aaand he runs off. Comical.*

>”I’m so so sorry again. I try to keep him from overreacting like that but every time I look away he always does something like this.”

“It’s no problem. I’m sort of getting used to it by now.”

>“I… See. Well, I presume you came here to check out a book or two. But III don’t think I’ve ever seen you. You’ll need to check in first before I can give you a book or three.”

“Sounds fair. How do I check in?”

>”I’ll give you a form to fill out. Please, come in.”

>*Well she okay. Despite being an Alicorn and having a dragon baby as an assistant, nothing too surprising.*

>”Hold on a sec, I haven’t needed to take out these forms in a while. There aren’t many new ponies who check in. I just need. To find them… Please wait here.”

“Sure, no problem.”

>*Again, she seems perfectly normal… Though I don’t get why she’s rummaging around in that closet like room instead of using her magic. Either way, this library’s pretty small. It’s basically 4 huge shelves filled to the brink with books. I don’t suppose many ponies read in this town then. The statue in the middle seems cool though. There’s quite a bit of interesting things placed around the room on pedestals as well. I wonder what they are…*

>”Aah! Found them!”-as she pops out of the closet-

>”Here then, take this form and fill it out. Would you like some tea while you do? I don’t get much business here anyway.”

>”Uuh, sure.”

>”You can take a seat right there on the sofa by the coffee-table.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

>*That’s nice. I wasn’t expecting this much of a warm welcome. Okay. This form then. I’m male. A moth pony. No insurance. Current residence. Rot forest, T’wai village, house 12. No immediate family… Wait, cutiemark? The hay’s that?*

“Uuhm, excuse me. Twilight, was it?”

>-From a different room-”Yes?”

“Uuh, this thing’s asking me for a cutiemark. What exactly is that?”

>”…”

>”You don’t-… You don’t know what a cutiemark is?”

“No, I don’t. Should I?”

>She pokes her head out of the door and peers directly into your flank.

>*… This is where it starts, isn’t it?*

>”Oh my Celestia. You don’t know what a cutiemark is. You’ve never even seen one before, have you?”

“Well, I may have. I just don’t know what it is.”

>”A cutiemark is something most ponies gain at a young age. The one you get represents your special talent and even a hint at your destiny.”

>*Whaaat is this girl talking about?*

“… I’ve never heard of something like that before. May I see yours?”

>She walks out the door and shows off her flank.

>*Oookay, that’s a tattoo, on her flank. That’s what a cutiemark is? It looks like some white and purple stars. That’s all there is to it.*

”I uuh… What does yours represent?”

>”My special talent is magic.”

“Well that’s cool. So your cutiemark represents what kind of talent you have. Yours happens to be magic. But as you can clearly see, I don’t have one.”-you say as you point out your flank-

“Do I just write non-existant here then?”

>”Write in not found. Everypony has to have a cutiemark, you just haven’t… Found yours yet.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I am a mothpony. And you’re clearly not. So maybe mothponies just don’t get theirs?”

>”But that’s not… So you’re a mothpony then?”

“Yeah. I thought you knew.”

>”I had a hunch but you look so much more different than the ones I’ve seen.”

“Yeeah you can chalk that off to me being an anomaly. I shouldn’t even be alive technically. There isn’t a single other mothpony like me.”

>”… I’m sorry, could you wait here a sec? Your tea is about done.”

“Yeah sure. I’ll just continue filling this out then…”

>The rest of the form seems fairly normal. And Twilight finally comes in with the tea. Looks like she’ll be joining you as she brings two cups.

>”Here you are then. Done filling the form in?”

“Yeah, and thank you for the tea.”

>You pass the form onto her but instead of taking it, she takes your hoof and forces it on the table, along with the form.

>*What the hay is she doi-*

>”Alright, let’s just skip the form for now and move on to more… Personal matters.”

>*Wait, back up- WHAT? OKAY NOW I GET WHAT THAT INN KEEP WAS TALKING ABOUT.*

>She stops dead in her tracks like she’s processing something. You just look at her with a terrified face.

>-Very fast paced thought-*Holyshitisthisactuallyhappeningrightnow? I can’t believe she’s going to turn out to be one of those kinky librarian types!? Can mothponies even procreate with regular ponies??. WHAT. DO I DO. IF I GET KIDS?!?*

>”… … …OhmygoshIcan’tbelievewhatIjustsaiiid!”-She yells out as she backs up away from you at mach 5-

>*Wut?*

>”I’msosorryIdidn’tmeanforittosoundlikethat! Ican’tbelieveIjustmadeitsoundlikeIwascomingontoyouI’msosorryyy!-the next several seconds are completely incomprehensible-”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down! It’s okay! I get it, you made a bad choice of words. It’s perfectly fine! Now just calm down, and tell me what you really meant.”

>”W-Well it’s just that. You’re a mothpony, but unlike any I’ve ever seen. Considering I’m a scientist I’d like to document as much as I could with you. I want to know why you look like you do and why you don’t have a qutiemark yet, how life is in the rot forest and so on.”

“So you want to document my life. Okay. That sounds fine.”

>The next few seconds are followed by the most awkward of silences. She’s too worked up to even look at you straight anymore. Obviously blushing and regretting what she just said.

>*Oh god I CAN’T TAKE AWKWARD SILENCES! Come on, Pollen. THINK OF SOMETHING. You have a dictionary at your disposal, USE IT!*

”So uuh, what do you already know about us mothponies?”