First Day in Equestria

12 May 2014

01:09 Lucent stands on the pier, watching the ship pull pull in. He catches one of the mooring ropes and carefully ties it to the bollard, the unicorn using his mouth instead of his magic to do the tying. Shading his eyes against the sun, he waits for the ship to finish docking so the unloading can start.

01:23 Ruzeth is the first one off as soon as the gangplank is locked into place, bounding happily down the bridge. Stepping off, he makes a beeline towards town, carrying all his worldly possesions in a saddle bag. He's so eager he forgets his safety instruction, and walks under one of the large cranes, carrying a number of crates on a pallet.

01:32 Lucent watches Ruzeth trot past him, still not used to zebras even after his time working the docks. He frowns as the zebra walks under a loaded crane, too concerned with taking in the sights to pay attention to where he's walking. "Uh- Hey! You there, zebra!" he calls, trotting after Ruzeth. "Don't walk there!"

01:37 Ruzeth doesn't notice the unicorn trotting after him, too busy glancing around at the amazing port. He'd known that he'd see alot of ponies in Equestria, but he didn't actually realize it the magitude of it until he'd arrived. Before then he'd only seen a hoofful of ponies in his life, and now, he was in a bustling city full of Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns with very few of his bretheren. Ruzeth suddenly freezes in shock as he hears a loud "SNAP!!!" as one of the crane lines breaks, dropping its load.

01:54 Lucent 's ears perk up in fear at the terrible sound of a snapped cable. He accelerates to a gallop, watching the pallet start to tip as he closes the distance between him and the frozen zebra. His horn flares with warm yellow light as he pours his energy into a spell. When the unicorn's only a few feet away, there's another ominous twang as the other line on the pallet snaps, dumping its contents ...

01:54 Lucent ... towards the pair. Lucent grits his teeth and an amber hemisphere swirls into existence around the the two of them, just in time to intercept the falling crates. The shield flashes as it blocks the crates, the stallion visibly staggering with each impact as as the crates slide and crash to the ground in front of them. As the dust settles, the empty pallet swinging back and forth from its two ...

01:54 Lucent ... remaining lines, Lucent groans and collapses against Ruzeth, his magic flickering out.

02:05 Ruzeth stands dumbly as the pallet begins to tip, in too much shock to react correctly. Shortly before the second cable snaps he looks up to see the pallet and reacts to get away, but too late. The second line snaps dumping the load right were the Zebra stood when the sheild flared out around him. The sudden bubble left him dumbfounded, wincing with crash of each of the boxes smashing agaist the sheild. Ruzeth notices his savior when Lucent unceremoniously falls against him, though he doesn't immidieatly make the connection between the magical sheild and his companion. The zebra reacts by leaning out to support the unicorn, holding him up as ponies flock to see what happened. The crane opporator quickly lowers the dangling pallet to the ground to prevent any further incidents. Ruzeth at the gawking crowd, that swarmed them. A group of paramedics quickly push through the gathering, rushing forward to inspect the pair. Ruzeth finally speaks up, "I think this zeb-pony needs some help, I think he's the one who saved me."

02:54 Lucent swims in and out of consciousness for a moment, missing what the zebra says to the paramedics. He groans again and opens his eyes, blinking and rubbing his head, then immediately squeaks in surprise at all the ponies gawking at them. The unicorn's ears flatten and he turns away towards Ruzeth, brows furrowing for a moment before he remembers exactly what happened. "Oh... good, you're alright," ...

02:54 Lucent ... he says with relief, before noticing he was leaning on the zebra. He tries to pull away, but stumbles soon after trying to stand on his own, falling back against the supportive zebra.

03:04 Ruzeth gives the unicorn a friendly hug, still holding up the unicorn as he stumbles. "Th-that was you right? I-I'd never seen magic before. Thank you so much." Ruzeth smiles brightly. "My name is Ruzeth," he offers happily. The parametics come over to inspect both Ruzeth and Lucent, pulling the two arpart. They find that the zebra seems to be a little shaken, but not injured.

03:12 Lucent smiles weakly at the zebra. "Um, hi. I'm... Lucent," he says. "Th-that was me, yeah." The unicorn also checks out physically fine, except for a bit of bruising. One of the unicorn paramedics determines him to have overexerted himself, and prescribes that he refrain from using magic for a day -- to which Lucent responds with a shrug and a nod.

03:20 Ruzeth gives a little giggle at the unicorn. "I guess thta means you're off for the day huh? Know a good place to grab a bite to eat? I'm fairly new here." Ruzeth lets out a long sigh of relief as the crowd begins to dispurse, a group of pony coming over to collect the cargo. "I've never seen unicorn magic before. That was pretty impressive...actually I've never seen a unicorn in pony before." Ruzeth turns to get a good look at Lucent, looking him from horn to hoof. The Zebra stallion was only about three quarters the size of the other zebras around.

03:20 < Ruzeth> Ruzeth turns to get a good look at Lucent, looking him from horn to hoof. The Zebra stallion was only about three quarters the size of the other zebras around.

03:33 Lucent turns back to the smaller zebra, looking very relieved himself when the crowd disperses. "Um, yeah. That's magic..." he says, trailing off into an awkward silence. The stallion shifts from hoof to hoof as Ruzeth looks him over. He's stocky and strong for a unicorn, though not nearly as buff as some of the cargo-toting earth ponies walking around near them. Lucent's coat is a pale but warm ...

03:34 Lucent ... yellow, and his mane and tail are two shades of orange. "And.. I'm a unicorn, I guess," he offers, scuffing the ground with a hoof.

03:38 Ruzeth perks up, bouncing around eagerly. "So, I know you're not /supposed/ to do any more magic today according to those other ponies, but what other tricks have you got? And, I kinda figured that with a horn and all." The zebra finally notice Lucents composure and asks, "Whats got you so down anyway? We both came out just fine, thanks to you."

03:44 Lucent flattens his ears and shrinks down slightly. "Err, that's actually... the only thing I can do. Besides basic levitation." He scratches at the back of his neck. "Can we talk about something else?" Two ponies carrying a large crate walk past, and the unicorn steps out of the way. "We should... probably get out of way."

03:49 Ruzeth seems unphaised by the Unicorns response. "Oh? I didn't realize ponies were limited to one spell?" Ruzeth notices the pair and darts out of the way. "Well, as I said, I'm kind of new here. Do you know any place to eat? Thye just kind of feed us dried hay and oats on those ships. Fresh kiwi's don't last too long out there." Ruzeths tail flicks about eagerly. He has his mane and tail sperated into bundles by stripe, a gold ring at the end holding each strand together.

03:55 Lucent looks a little embarrassed as he answers. "Well... um... I don't actually know about that. I don't... know... many unicorns." The unicorn thinks for a bit. "I know a place, yeah," he says, slowly making his way through the bustle of the docks. "This way."

04:01 Ruzeth gives him a confused look, raising an eyebrow. "You dont know many unicorns? But they're like all over the place in equestria right? Its not like Zebrica where you might have only one or two ponies per village..." he comments and he follows beside Lucent, his little legs moving quickly to keep up. "So, whats this place serve? you'll probably have to tell me whats good."

04:08 Lucent shrugs as they walk down more quiet streets. "I'm kind of, uh, new in town myself," he says, looking at the ground. "And I'm not very... social." He walks along for a bit, then turns to look at Ruzeth. "It's a sandwich place... do you have sandwiches in Zebrica? I've seen zebras around, at the docks... but I've never really... talked to one."

04:12 Ruzeth shrugs at his comments confusedly, "But...don't you have friends back wherever you came from?" The zebra slinks down a little to be able to still be in Lucent's sight as he looks up at him. Ruzeth snorts at the question and shakes his head amused. "Of course we have sandwiches in Zebrica. We arn't some barbaric country afterall. Though...I get teh feeling the bread is probably of different g rains."

04:21 Lucent shuffles around, not wanting to answer that question. Fortunately for him, the sandwich place comes into view just then. "Wellll... Oh look, food!" he says, pointing at a storefront with a few tables outside. "Maybe. What kind of grains do you use?"

04:26 Ruzeth doesnt even notice him dodge the question, excited to see the place. "Oooh, that does smell good. We used millet alot of times in our bread, sometimes rye." The zebra bounds forward to the stand, peering over the the sandwhiches, many of them contianing things that were quite foreign to him.

04:30 Lucent walks up to the stand behind Ruzeth, glad for the subject to be dropped. "Hmm, I've heard of rye before, but not millet. Most of our breads use wheat." He orders a daffodil and daisy sandwich and some hayfries, and goes to look over the eager zebra's shoulders. "What's got you so fascinated, umm... Ruzeth, was it?"

04:34 Ruzeth continues to peer over the menu, bouncing in place with excitement as he tial wags at a quick pace. "There are soooooooo many new things to try is all. Hmmm...I want something kind of sweet...ummm...." he pauses for a couple seconds, not knowing much about the menu before turning to Lucent, "Ummm how about you pick for me? Something sweet and savory, and yep, it is Ruzeth!"

04:42 Lucent nods, seeming a bit more friendly now that he's back in a familiar place. "Hmm... Might I suggest something with mushrooms? And cherry tomatoes, and a few flowers for garnish?" The unicorn orders for the zebra, and motions him over to a table. "So, um..." he says, fumbling. "I saw you get off the ship. You coming to live here?"

04:45 Ruzeth follows over and plops down in a chair next to the table. "Alrighty, sounds good...I think? I guess I don't really know, but I bet you know what you're doing." Ruzeth gives a quick nod, "I took a temporary position to get over to equestria. Kinda want to get away from home and see the world, explore new places other than teh jungles."

04:54 Lucent nods. "Heh... from what I've seen, this city's pretty alright." He tilts his head. "So... you just left home, then?" In the middle of Ruzeth's response, the sandwich maker brings their food to the table, the dishes looking quite tasty.

04:58 Ruzeth opens his mouth to speak, only to be intereutped by the waiter. Ruzeth's eyes go wide at the sight of the new food. He reaches up and picks up the wrong sandwich, setting the plate down infront of him. "Yep, I kinda left home under the protests of my parents, but...I'm old enough to strike it out on my own," he claims, puffing out his chest. Ruzeth leans down and picks up the sandwhich, opening his mouth to take a bite.

05:01 Lucent opens his mouth to say something as Ruzeth takes the wrong sandwich. "Hey.. um," he says quietly, "that's my sandwich..."

05:04 Ruzeth blushes in embarrassment and sets the sandwhich back down, unharmed. "Oops...heh,heh," he says with a nervous giggle, shoving the plate over to Lucent.

05:11 Lucent passes the other plate over to Ruzeth, and munches on his hayfries. His eyes look wistful. "You just... left, though? Wow..." The unicorn scratches his orange mane. "I'm... er, kind of in the same boat."

05:18 Ruzeth picks up the new sandwich and takes a big bite out of it, murring at the delicious combiations of flavors. "This is pretty good," He comments, talking as he chews. The zebra gives a quick nod, "Yep, I just left, gotta explore the world, plus I had a spirit vision that said it was time for me to head to Equestria. You left too though huh? Why's that?"

05:20 Lucent takes a big bite of his sandwich instead of answering, chewing slowly. Finally, he swallows and sighs. "Let's just say, um... it was... less happy." He looks down at his hayfries and sighs. "I don't know if I want to tell you about it," he says quietly.

05:25 Ruzeth frowns, looking on expectantly as Lucent stops. "Oh, fine, I know! Let me guess! Your entire family was wiped out in that changeling invasion that destroyed half of equestria, where the bugs were so thick it blotted out the sun! Or...maybe it was when that evil dragon came and devistated the world by making everypony crazy and turning everything into soap," the zebra goes on widly, obviously having heard som seriously distorted rumors about what had happened in equestria in the past years.

05:26 < Ruzeth> obviously having heard som seriously distorted rumors about what had happened in equestria in the past years.

05:40 Lucent can't help but chuckle at the zebra's wild guesses. "Uh... I think the news you heard got a little exaggerated. The changelings only attacked Canterlot, and uh... the soap..." He trails off, scratching his head. "I have trouble remembering that day, honestly."

22:29 Ruzeth 's ears droop low at the new. "Aww, but those events sounded so cool. I wanna meet a changling one day, and maybe a dragon." He takes another bite of his sadnwhich, murring hapily at the intersting flavors. "So what did happen then?"

22:36 Inky flattens his ears. "I don't! That'd mean they were invading again, and that'd be terrible!" He munches on some more hayfries before answering Ruzeth's question. "Well... I left. Don't really want to talk about it," he says quietly.

22:39 Ruzeth the Zebra huffs and crosses his legs. "You dont wanna talk about your cool magic, you dont wanna talk about your home...is there anything you do want to talk about?" The zebra asks with a hint of irritation in his voice.

22:50 Lucent sinks down on the cushion, mouth twisting. "S-sorry, I don't really... know you that well, Ruzeth." He stares into his plate, taking another bite of his sandwich. "You think my magic is... cool?" he asks in a small voice, glancing up at the other pony.

22:53 Ruzeth nods vigorously. "Its extremely cool! I mean the way you created that bubble and all? All the magic I'm familiar with is int the form of enchantments and potions, and the enchantments are meerly favors from the spirits of the other realm."

22:57 Lucent 's mouth turns up in a faint smile. "Thanks," he offers, pushing some hayfries around his plate. The unicorn tilts his head and looks back at Ruzeth. "Enchantments and potions? I don't really... know much about magic..."

23:02 Ruzeth returns the smile. "Oh cmon, surely you know potions at least, the magical drinks? And enchantments put magic into objects." He finishes off his sandwhich with one last gulp. "Mmmm that was really tasty, thanks for picking it for me, what was it again?"
12-May-2014 23:04:59] * Lucent nods minutely. "I mean, I know *of* them... I thought you might know how they work," he explains. "Uh... mushrooms and tomatoes, I think? On top of their normal sandwich stuff."

23:11 Ruzeth brightens up as the question is shifted to him. "Oh! Yep, I kinda know how they work. See, for potions its as simple as mixing a bunch of magical elements together and their natural magic mix to do something. Enchantments are just kinda asking for favors from the spirits, though occasionally they ask for tasks back."

23:13 Lucent finishes his own sandwich, and starts to finish up his hayfries too. "They just... mix? Like, anypony can do it?" He chews thoughtfully. "What kind of 'tasks'?"

23:16 Ruzeth rubs his chin in thought, "Well, ya...I suppose that anypony /could/ make them, but we guard those recipes fairly well. As far as the tasks go, I was asked to come here by a spirit. Not sure why though yet."

23:18 Lucent nods. "Right, right..." He tilts his head. "So... you did some enchantment, and got... asked, to come here?" His brows furrow in confusion.

23:20 Ruzeth shakes his head, "Nononono, I was just asked to come here by a spirit. The tasks don't always come with an enchantment, and not all enchantments require tasks. Its just kind keeping them happy."

23:21 Lucent eats the last of his hayfries. "Oh. Huh. So... you were just asked to come to Equestria?

23:22 Ruzeth says, "Yep, during a smoke dream whilst I was training with the shaman. They didn't believe me though...something about being too young and stuff...so I just bolted."

23:29 Lucent 's eyes widen slightly as Ruzeth mentions (again) that he just ran away; the unicorn seems rather impressed. "What're you going to do here? Are you going to get a job? Where are you going to live?" he asks with concern, having recently run into similar problems himself.

23:34 Ruzeth looks at the other pony confusedly, "A...job? WHy would I need a job? I'll just talk to the village shaman and get them to take me under as a new student once I tell him of my quest...and...I guess I'll just live with them and help them out with whatever they need..."

23:38 Lucent shakes his head. "We don't have a 'village shaman' in Seaddle--" He cuts himself off, rubbing his muzzle with a hoof as he thinks. "Well... actually, maybe. I don't know much about the... zebra part of town. Maybe there's one there?" The stallion shrugs. "Hopefully there is."

23:44 Ruzeth 's ears flatten against his head. "N-no village shaman? I really hope there's one. I don't know what I'm going to do if that happens." The zebra slinks down a bit into the cushion now, "But...but surely the spirits wouldn't leave me stranded would they?"

23:49 Lucent twists his mouth and shrugs again. "I... don't know. You're the one who knows about spirits. Would they?"

23:52 Ruzeth says, "Unless...unless they are putting me through a test or something maybe...Like sometimes shamans tell of being put through tests before becoming fully accpeted...maybe...I hope not. I wanna be good enough without having to prove myself..."

00:01 Lucent tentatively reaches over to give Ruzeth a few pat on the shoulder. "You seem, um... pretty confident and good at stuff. I think you'll be fine." He adds a quiet "Better than me, anyway" as an afterthought, then stands up. "So..."

00:05 Ruzeth bounces at under the pats, looking a little glum. "Ya...maybe...I don't even know if I'd be good at working or anything though..." The zebra's ear twitches at the addition and frowns at thim. "But...but you saved me and everything, and have a job." The zebra stands up as well.

00:10 Lucent frowns at the glum zebra. "I'm sure you're good at something. I mean... all I can do is manual labor... and most of the earth ponies are better at it than me." The unicorn looks at the ground and scuffs a hoof. "Saving you was... luck, really. Right place, right time."

00:17 Ruzeth shakes his head. "I dont' think I do...not unless I can make myself useful as a healer or something...but even then I doubt this place has all the herbs I know..." THe zebra walks around the table and gives hima couple pats, "Nah, No other pony could of saved me. Its your talent!"

00:24 Lucent curls his tail to cover the twin light sparkles on his flank, and shrinks under the pats. "Well... maybe," he says, unintentionally echoing the zebra. "You can heal stuff?"

00:28 Ruzeth gives a slight shrug. "I mean...I know a little bit about herbs and stuff. Training under the shaman you learn quite a bit about herbs and potions, so I know a little bit..."

00:39 Lucent nods. "So, shamans like... teach you all this zebra-y stuff, I guess?" The unicorn sighs, looking a little jealous, then starts to slowly walk towards the street, waiting for Ruzeth to follow along.

00:43 Ruzeth bounds after Lucent with a large smile on his face. "Yep! They teach all sorts of stuff, kind of who everypony goes to for advice." The small zebra doesn't notice Lucents jealousness as he speaks. "So...where to now?"

00:45 Lucent rubs his muzzle with a hoof. "To everypony, huh?" He looks down at the bouncing zebra, some of Ruzeth's excitement rubbing off on him. "Well... why don't we see if we can find one?"

00:48 Ruzeth gives an excited shout and hugs Lucent tightly. "Oooh! Could we? That would be great!" He goes silent for a little bit before asking, "So...where would we find them?"

00:54 Lucent squeaks and stops walking at the sudden hug, not expecting the zebra to thank him like that. He shifts around awkwardly in Ruzeth's embrace. "Um... somewhere near the docks? I think I can find the general area..."

00:58 Ruzeth holds the hug for a couple of long seconds before breaking away, "Oh? Well...I guess we'll just have to find one together, lead the way!" The zebra becomes even more energetic and bouncy than he was before.

01:01 Lucent takes a moment to recover from the hug, ending up with a small smile on his face. "Okay, I think it's this way," he says, heading off towards the docks. The zebra's energy is infectious, and Lucent finds a happy little bounce in his stride too -- especially as he mulls over potentially getting advice on what to do about his own problems.

01:06 Ruzeth follows along quickly, the idea of seeing another zebra in equestria making him happy. A grin was plastered wide across his face, glad to see that his friend was smiling as well. Ruzeth looks around eagerly as they walk, still taking in all the sights around.

01:11 Lucent reaches the docks and heads south, growing more unsure about where he's heading. These streets are unfamiliar to him, and he begins to get a little worried until he another zebra walking along in the other direction.

01:16 Ruzeth felt more at home as he entered the slummy neighborhood. Sure the place was a little run down, but it wosn't absolutly terrible, and at first glance the other zebras seemed nice enough, returning him a friendly smile. He did not, however, notice the resentful looks they have his unicorn companion. "Ooh, yep, this place is where we might find one after all." Ruzeth waves back eagerly at his kinfolk.

01:20 Lucent shrinks down under the stares, trying to hide behind Ruzeth to little success. "M-maybe this was a bad plan," he stammers. "T-they don't seem to l-like me."

01:23 Ruzeth is still quite obivious to the stares and gives Lucent a queer glance. "What do you mean? The other zebras are so friendly! Look at those happie grins. We'll find that shamin in no time."

01:27 Lucent shakes his head and ducks even lower. "T-they're not grinning at me... um, do you know where a shaman might live? Like... how to find one?"

01:31 Ruzeth rolls his eyes at Lucent, "Oh cmon, quit being such a scardycat. The best way is just to ask one of them." The zebra makes his way over to one of fellow zebras in the area, a happy smile on his face.

04:14 Lucent holds out a hoof to try to stop Ruzeth, but it's too late. He doesn't follow him, hanging back for a bit. Eventually the odd looks make him uncomfortable enough that he decides he'd rather risk talking to the strange zebra with Ruzeth, and he slowly approaches the two of them, trying to keep a low profile.

04:23 Ruzeth waves a hoof at the zebra he approached, walking up comly and confidently. Ruzeth sticks out his hoof in greeting, "Hey there! I'm Ruzeth," he states happily. The other zebra reluctantly returned the hoofshake, casting a glare at Ruzeths companion that even the zebra noticed this time. "I'm Quarum." The new pony replies tersly. "What are you and your Unicorn doing here?"

04:29 Lucent slinks up to the pair of them, offering a timid "H-hi" before a glare from Quarum silences him with a meep. The stocky unicorn keeps Ruzeth between him and the other zebra, ears flat against his head.

04:39 Ruzeth winces as he catches the glare, reaching up a hoof to place on Lucent protectivly. "I-I just came from Zebrica on one of the boats and was looking for this towns shaman,"Ruzeth says nervously, his voice a little shaky. Quarum gives the pair a smirk. "This towns shaman? Heh heh heh, little zebra, you are not in your tribal lands anymore. This town has no shaman, most of those zebra's that can leave here. And..." He shoots a glance at Lucent, "I would be careful who you consider a friend around here."

04:49 Lucent leans into Ruzeth slightly, glad for the protective hoof. He puts one of his forelegs around the smaller zebra, supporting him too. When Quarum suddenly looks at him, he flinches, shrinking down at the zebra's words. "H-hey, I don't mean any harm..." the unicorn says, his voice wavering.

05:02 Ruzeth relaxes slightly as Lucent returns the hoof. "Umm n-no shaman?" Ruzeth repeats timidly, shaking a little at the implication. His ears fold downwards and his face purses into a deep frown. "But but...Hey! Lucent here saved my life today. Whats wrong with him?" Ruzeth moves into a more defesensive stance of Lucent. Quarum shakes his head sadly, "No...no shaman little one. You best be finding your way home from here if you can." He turns to look at Lucent through Ruzeth, "And you many not /mean/ any harm, but you ponies cause enough problems for us zebras." He says with more than a hint of agression in his voice.

05:08 Lucent gives Ruzeth a small comforting squeeze as he sees him frown. The unicorn cringes at the other zebra's tone, staring at the ground. "S-sorry," he mumbles, "I didn't know..." He tugs gently at Ruzeth. "We should go," he whispers.

05:13 Ruzeth glances at Lucent and gives him a slight nod. The zebra forces a smile at Quarum and says, "Well...thank you for your help then....I...guess...I'll be going...then." Ruzeths voice wavers and he slinks away, backing up, biting his lip. Quarum gives the two a hard look as they retreat. "Please little zebra, go home for your own sake. You shouldn't stay here in equestria."

05:19 Lucent steers them towards a side street, trying to get them out of sight of Quarum as soon as possible. As soon as the other zebra's out of view, he lets out a loud sigh of relief and sits down, wiping a few drops of sweat off his brow. "That... wasn't what I expected at /all/" says the unicorn, his ears still flat. "Sorry about the shaman." He seems quite disappointed himself that they couldn't find ...

05:19 Lucent ... one.

05:29 Ruzeth is cowed as he walks with Lucent, the spring in his step that he'd been carrying all day noticabley absent form his current gait and the Zebra looks like he might be about to burst into tears. He leans into the unicorn and lets out a long sigh. "Maybe...maybe he's wrong? Hopefully...he was the only one we talked to after all." The zebra stands in silence for a moment before asking, "What did he mean by ponies causing the zebras probelms?"

05:34 Lucent tentatively pulls the zebra towards him, trying to give him a gentle hug. "Maybe... I'm not ready to talk to somepony else if they're all like that, though." He hangs his head sadly. "I... I don't know what he meant. I haven't been here long." The unicorn stares off into space, eyes roving over the dilapidated alley they were in. "Have you noticed how, um... run-down everything seems? Maybe ...

05:34 Lucent ... that's related..."

06:21 Ruzeth leans into the hug, still looking down out the ground, his entire body broadcasting his glumness. "I doubt they all will be like that. He was the only one who seemed to have a problem with you," the zebra remarks oblivious to the looks Lucent had recieved from others. Ruzeth gives a forlorn glance at the aging and neglected buildings and paths that seemed to form this part of the town. "Ya...its not as kept up as the parts we walked around earlier...but why would that be? I dont see how ponies could cause it..." Quarum says,"Ya...its not as kept up as the parts we walked around earlier...but why would that be? I dont see how ponies could cause it..."

06:29 Lucent 's mouth twists. "Umm, actually... most of them were giving me looks like that." He squeezes the zebra tighter, seeing that he was nowhere near his usual bouncy, happy self. Watching Ruzeth glance over the buildings, he shrugs. "I dunno. But it seems like a problem... y'know?" The unicorn turns to the zebra, his face serious. "What if there is no shaman? What're you going to do?" he asks, worried.

00:55 Ruzeth looks at Lucent in disbelief. "Oh cmon, surely not every zebra was giving you a look liek that. It was probably just that one grumpy one." The zebra leans in closely to the hug sighing, "Ya...it is a bit of a problem..." Ruzeth slinks down and folds his ears flat against his head, looking up at Lucent with tears in his eyes. "No! There has to be a shamman here. That pony has to be wrong...I...I..." Tears begin to roll down the young zebras face as he thinks about that possibility.

01:07 Lucent pulls Ruzeth tightly against his chest as the zebra begins to cry, his tears soaking into the unicorn's yellow coat. He holds the smaller pony comfortingly, squeezing him with his big forelegs and trying to calm him down. "Shhh. You're right, we did only ask one," the unicorn says. Steeling himself, he continues. "They can't all be that grumpy. Let's try again." Lucent knew he was only a year or ...

01:07 Lucent ... two older than Ruzeth at most, but somehow still felt strangely responsible for the younger zebra; maybe it was because they'd both left their homes behind.

01:15 Ruzeth leans against him, wrapping his hooves loosely around the pony's back, crying into his chest. His quiet weeping dapens the unicorns caot with his warm tears and soaks into Ruzeths facial fur as well. His friends kind words do little to stop the wave of anxiety that was overtaking the young colt. "But...but what if you're right? What will I do then?" he asks fitfully.

01:26 Lucent ruffles a hoof through the zebra's mane, making the little metal rings jingle. "I... don't know," he says, being honest. "We'll worry about that if we come to it, okay?" The unicorn tries to keep the worry out of his voice, but isn't entirely successful. He gets to his hooves, keeping one foreleg around Ruzeth, and tries to pull the zebra up with him. "C'mon, Ruzeth."

01:34 Ruzeth shakes his head under the pressure of the hoof, the rings sounding like a fiant wind chime. The zebra stiffles his crying a little bit, sniffling as he tries to dry his face on his leg. "Thanks Lucent...for offering to help me," the zebra says quietly. He's still crying faintly but he slowly gets to his feet with Lucent. "I just hope he wasn't right..."

01:42 Lucent gives Ruzeth a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to thank me. You just remind me of... me, is all." He offers the zebra his foreleg to dry the rest of his tears on, and gives him a small smile. "Let's, um, try to find some friendlier zebras." The unicorn's ears flatten slightly at the thought of the glares he's going to get, but he tries to push those thoughts out of his mind.

01:54 Ruzeth and Lucent spend all afternoon in the Zebra ward, but each time they were met with a range of outward hostility to to cool dislike with an occasionally ambivalent individual in the mix. Each of them though, said the same thing, that ther was no shaman in the city. Many suggested that Ruzeth head back home nd some warned him to keep away from ponies like Lucent. As the day progressed Ruzeth became more and more dejected as the reality dawned on him that he would not find a teacher here. He did however, learn of the alleged mistreatment of his race and the stories behind why that location was so worn down. Finally the pair give up and return to the docks. Ruzeths entire body hung low and he looked as though he was on the verge of breaking down.

02:02 Lucent didn't look so good either, having spent an entire afternoon getting hostile looks and listening to his new friend being told to stay away from him, not to mention hearing about how other ponies had mistreated the zebras. But he tried not to let it show too much, trying to be there for Ruzeth, who he was sure had it much, much worse. The unicorn drapes a foreleg over the zebra's withers and ...

02:02 Lucent ... leans down his head to be close to the same level him. "I'm sorry," he says quietly, "I know you were really counting on finding a shaman..."

02:08 Ruzeth bites his lip to hold back the tears that threatened to well up inside of him. Ruzeth rests his head against Lucent and lets out a long sigh. "Lucent...what am I going to do? I've got no skills and I dont want to end up sad like those others..." He puts both legs around Lucent, hugging him for comfort.

02:18 Lucent lets the zebra hug him, providing a warm, fuzzy support for the smaller pony. "Wellll....," he says, mulling something over. "Um, you can stay with me while we figure something out, at least," he finally says.

02:22 Ruzeth feels his chest swell a little in gratitude. "Th-thank you Lucent, I'll...I'll find a way to make it up to you. I hope we can figure something out." A brief smile flashes across the zebra's face before returning back to his sadness.

02:26 Lucent feels the zebra get happy briefly before returning to being down, and frowns, his own ears drooping. "H-hey, there's still some light out," he says, not sure how long he can go without breaking down somewhat himself. "Why don't we go to the park?"

02:33 Ruzeth leans against him and lets out a sigh. "Ya...maybe...anything to distract from whats happened..." The zebra begins to feel bad about the fact that he's quite obviously getthing his friend down and retracts his words. "I mean...why dont maybe I just go to the park and you can go hang out with your other friends. I need some time to think," he quickly corrects, his new words having an audible layer of guilt to them.

02:38 Lucent scuffs at the ground with a hoof. "Well... um, actually... I don't... really have any other friends, here," Lucent says slowly, staring at the ground. "I'm not the most... social of ponies." He looks up, sniffling. "Besides, you don't even know where the park is, right?" says the unicorn, grinning weakly.

03:12 Ruzeth folds his ears back even more at Lucent's revelation. "You have no friends here?" the zebra asks in stunned shock. "But, you're such a great pony..." After further consideration his ears perk up slightly in realization, "Wait...you consider me to be a friend?"

03:16 Lucent shrugs, his ears drooping. "Um, like I said... new here, and not very social." He scratches at his neck. "Uh... yeah, I do. After you stuck up for me back there, and... y'know..." he says, trailing off. "It's okay if you don't, though," the unicorn says sadly, looking at the ground.

03:22 Ruzeth nuzzles against Lucent gently, his ears perking up even more. "No...its just...I feel like I'm just getting you down and you've already done so much to help me." The zebra's eyes water once again, though this time not in sadness, but in joy. "I'd happily consider you as a friend," He says, much more enthusiasm in his voice than he'd been in awhile.

03:27 Lucent looks up, his own eyes getting a little watery. "Thank you," he says quietly, briefly returning the nuzzle before starting to walk towards the park. "C'mon, then, there's only so much daylight left!" The unicorn has a jaunty bounce in his stride as he walks, happy to have found a friend. "I told you before, I think," he says as he walks. "You... kinda remind me of myself. Except littler," he ...

03:27 Lucent ... adds, giving the shorter zebra a friendly little mane ruffle.

03:35 Ruzeth scurries along behind the yellow stallion with more than a little bounce in his step. Glancing up at the sky he notices that its already tending towards the early evening. "Ya...it is getting kinda late isn't it, better not dawdle then." The zebra gives a small laugh and shakes his tail. "I'm not /that/ much littler. I'm almost 16 after all."

03:40 Lucent chuckles. "I'm almost 18 myself, so I'm a bit older than you, young'n," he says, grinning. The pair of them walk into the park, everything lit a warm orange in the fading sunlight as the sun sinks slowly towards the woods bordering the town. "It's... probably not what you're used to," the unicorn says, gesturing at the trees. "But it's pretty nice."

03:49 Ruzeth smiles back at Lucent, "That pretty much makes you an old grey stallion then," He teases with a little bit of a chuckle. The zebra takes in the wonderful sight of the park, basking in the radiant light that bathed it. "Well, no...its not quite like home, but after 2 weeks at sea this is a welcomed relief. I was beginning to worry that this place was all city."

03:55 Lucent laughs. "I suppose so." He lays down in the grass, looking around at the park before turning back to Ruzeth. "Two weeks, huh? That sounds like a long time to spend cooped up on a boat... probably why you were so eager to get into town, huh?" He glances back at the the few buildings between them and the woods, the park being almost on the edge of town. "There's some nice places in it, and there's ...

03:55 Lucent ... the woods fairly nearby... though I've heard there's dangerous stuff in there." The unicorn's ears flatten at the thought, not being especially brave.

04:01 Ruzeth glances out into the clearing, looking longingly in the forest. "Ya...two weeks is torture when you're used to roaming around the forests of home. Its a good think I was so eager as well, otherwise how would I of gotten you to save me?" He puts a hoof to his snout in contemplation, "I bet there's some really neat stuff in there too. With your magic and my knowledge, we could probablyl be safe and discover them."

04:04 Lucent shakes his head vigorously. "Nuh-uh. No way." He lowers his head to the ground, ears flattened. "I'm not really... good at magic. You heard what the medics said... that stunt drained me for like... the whole day, at least." He squeezes his eyes shut. "It's too dangerous."

04:13 Ruzeth gives the unicorn a solid affectionate punch to the shoulder. "Oh cmon! You did just fine keeping both of us alive. Besides, I should be able to keep us away from the creatures out there." The Zebra throws one leg around his companion. "Cmon, there might even be some good herbs out there for potions."

04:18 Lucent shudders, the zebra able to feel him shake quite clearly. "It's not really... reliable," he admits. "I can't do it very well. But... m-maybe," he says, not wanting to completely shut down the zebra. "D-Definitely not now. Not at night." The unicorn looks up at the sun as it starts to sink behind the trees. "It's getting late... we ought to head back."

04:29 Ruzeth lets out a long sigh as he feels his friend shake. "Well, I think you can do it when you actually need to do it. Have you ever had it fail when you're in trouble?" The zebra does nod his head in agreement at the second part. "No, not at night, not when we don't know the area or the creatures yet." Ruzeth slowly gets to his feet with a bit of reluctance. "Ya...I suppose..."

04:32 Lucent thinks, and shakes his head. "Not... really. Kind of. It's... complicated." He scratches the back of his mane, and tilts his head at Ruzeth's reluctance. "What? Um, do you want to stay out here a bit longer?" he asks, still laying on the ground.

04:38 Ruzeth nods back at the unicorn, laying back down on the ground. "Ya...I wouldn't mind it. The air out here," Ruzeth takes a deep breath inhaling t he scent of the forest, "Smells so much better than the salt spray on the docks. Do you live close to them?"

04:41 Lucent takes a good sniff himself. "It is nice," he agrees. "And... yeah, I do live near the docks," he says, his ears folding down. "Sorry..."

04:47 Ruzeth ruffles the Unicorns mane this time, allowing his hoof to brush against the bone out of curiouslty. "DOnt worry about it. Its nothing I can't live with for your generosity."

04:53 Lucent smiles, but starts when the zebra brushes up against his horn. He meeps and pulls away slightly, before slowly moving his head back. "I-I don't know how long you can stay there," the unicorn says. "Probably not supposed to have two ponies there..."

05:01 Ruzeth frowns as Lucent pulls away, "Did I do something wrong?" The zebra frowns even further, "What? They'd kick you out for having a marefriend live there? Surely worse come to worse we can claim lovers, though...if that happens I'd like to be pulling my fair share."

05:03 Lucent shakes his head. "No, horns are just... sensitive. I don't really get why, since they're like... bone, but..." He shrugs. "I mean... I guess not... wait, what??" The unicorn turns to look at the zebra, eyes wide. "But you're like... a guy!"

05:06 Ruzeth snickers at Lucents reaction, getting to his feet. "Relax, I'm just messing around, and thinking of ways to skirt the rules. I don't like you like that, so far, I'm only into mares."

05:09 Lucent blinks again, still in shock. "Wha... is that like, a thing? That seems... wrong." He rests his head in his hoof, thinking.

05:15 Ruzeth sighs and shakes his head, "Oh cmon, of coures its a thing. I've met plenty of stallions who swing both ways, or mares who only like the fillies." Ruzeth runs his hoof over the unicorns horn again teasingly.

05:17 Lucent shivers under the zebra's touch. "Aahh... please don't touch that," he says, pulling away and standing up. "I've never heard of anything like that..." The sun's set now, and the evening light was fast growing dim. "We should head back."

05:26 Ruzeth pulls his hoof away with a grin on his face. "Allright fine, its just so funny that you shiver over that." The zebra just shakes his head amused. "Well, it happens." Ruzeth waits for Lucent to begin to lead the way back home.

05:29 Lucent grumbles. "It feels really... weird, when you touch it." He stands up tall, hopefully holding his horn out of reach of the shorter zebra, and heads back towards the docks, leading Ruzeth towards a shabby looking apartment building.

05:36 Ruzeth follows behind quickly, not looking to mess with Lucent's horn anymore. The salty breeze alerts him to the nearing of the docks as they arrive at the appartment. "So this is home then?"

05:41 Lucent nods. "Yeah." He opens the door to the apartment building, a passing earth pony giving Ruzeth an odd look as he follows the unicorn inside. Once inside, he heads up to the second floor and unlocks the door to a small, cramped apartment. "This is my home now," the unicorn says, turning on the lights and waving a hoof at the tiny space. It's... clean, at least, but could more accurately be ...

05:41 Lucent ... described as incredibly sparse and bare-bones. There's very few trinkets or knick-knacks anywhere, and the only thing that catches Ruzeth's eye is a small photo frame on the bedside table.

20:17 Ruzeth smiles as he looks around the sparse room, the size kind of reminded him of his own room back home. "Oh, this place is nice, sure is cozy in here, and Oh! whos this?" he asks, trotting over to the bedside table and picking up the frame. He looks aroudn at the rest of the room, noticing how sparsly decorated it is and frowns, but doesn't say anything.

20:34 Lucent walks after Ruzeth, and reaches out a hoof to stop him from picking up the picture, but he's too late. The photo in the frame is of a young Lucent -- slightly younger than Ruzeth is now -- next to two earth ponies: a younger filly who's smiling brightly and an older stallion who looks rather bored. Lucent himself has a weak smile on his face. "H-hey, put--" he starts to say, his ears flattening, ...

20:34 Lucent ... before he sighs. "It's me and my siblings."

20:49 Ruzeth smiles as he looks into the picture, looking back and forth between it and Lucent. "Aww, you looked so happy here," the zebra observes in a joyful voice. "Where are your brother and sister? Did either of them come here with you?" he asks hopefully. "What about your parents? Was it just you three?"

21:14 Lucent smiles and laughs weakly. "Heh, yeah... No, they didn't come. They stayed with my parents." The unicorn's smile turns into a small frown as he mentions his parents. "Um, Ruzeth," he starts, trying to change the subject, "did you have any brothers or sisters?"

21:23 Ruzeth doesnt even seem to notice as Lucent dodges the instead smiling brightly as he thinks back to his tribe. "Of course I had brothers and sisters, doesnt everypony? I'm actually kind of supprised that you had so few. At last count..." The zebra goes silent for a second, thinking. "I hab 34 brothers and 37 sisters back at home and several of them were close friends. My best brother, however, was Mackenna, who came from mother Ximena. I tried to con

21:23 < Ruzeth> who came from mother Ximena. I tried to convince him to come along but..." The zebra takes a deep breathe, tears in his eyes, "He refused, choosing to stay with the tribe.

21:31 Lucent 's eyes bug out and he tilts his head, incredulous. "Thirty-four, thirty-s-- what?" he repeats. Catching something odd about the phrasing 'mother Ximena', he hazards a guess about how the zebra was counting. "I meant like... biological siblings. Doesn't that matter?" Seeing Ruzeth get teary-eyed, he steps forward and drapes a comforting foreleg over the zebra's withers.

21:40 Ruzeth head tilts and raises an eyebrow at Lucent, confused at the question. "But we are all one tribe, one blood unless we marry outside. Why should it matter which mother one comes from? Everyone is either brother, sister, mother, father, son or daughter. We are all family." The young zebra leans into the comforting embrace of his friend, still crying slightly as he thinks on his tribe back at home, and how he misses them.

21:58 Lucent seems a little unsure of what to do to comfort the zebra, finally settling on giving him a gentle squeeze. "That sounds... kind of nice," he says, thinking of his own family. "That's not really how it works with us, but I'm sure they still think of you like family even if you're over here..."

22:19 Ruzeth smiles slightly at the squeeze, reaching up to dry his eyes on his furn. "Ya...I know they do..." He says softly. "Its just, I kind of miss then now. Especially after a day of today..." The zebra's ears flatten even further, "Its not? But...oh maybe thats why it feels so different over here...why those zebra's are so grumpy."

22:55 Lucent nods. "Over here, your family is just your direct relatives... parents, brothers and stuff," he says, some unhappiness creeping into his voice. "You're stuck with 'em." He rubs his muzzle with his other forehoof, using Ruzeth to support himself. "Wouldn't all those zebras be from different... tribes? Or villages? Whatever you called them?"

23:03 Ruzeth sighs and looks down on the ground. "Everypony still looks after each other right?" the young zebra askes hopefully, this time giving Lucent a sqeeze upon noticing his sadness. Ruzeth hmms and puts a hoof to his snout, "Ya...I suppose many of them would be. See, usually its 1 tribe, 1 village, but in some of the larger villages...errr cities I guess, you have multiple tribes living together, and even some of those who are members of other tribes there to trade and stuff. I guess here is kinda like that."

23:09 Lucent shakes his head. "A bit, but not much. Feels like you're on your own a lot..." He pulls away from Ruzeth and flops onto his bed with a sigh.

23:13 Ruzeth slinks down at that comment, feeling kind of glum. "Oh...its much different from home then here..." As Lucent falls over, he looks around the room and notices the absence of a couch or another bed. Turning to look at his friend he gives a faint smile and says, "I guess we're sleeping together tonight then?"

23:16 Lucent meeps in surprise, rolling onto his side so he can look back at the zebra. "What? No, you can sleep on the.... um, huh. Hmm." He stares into the bedside table, looking conflicted.

23:21 Ruzeth gives a small smile towards his friend and looks around the room once again to see if he somehow managed to miss something. "Ummm...are you gonna make me sleep on the floor?" He asks, a hurtful tone lingering in his voice.

23:37 Lucent rolls to his hooves and shakes his head. "No, I'll take the floor. You can have the bed tonight." He steps down off the bed and gives Ruzeth a weak smile.

23:41 Ruzeth sighs and frowns at his friend, also getting up off of the bed. "No, you've welcomed me into your house and saved me earlier today. I'm not going to let you sleep on the floor as well while I get the bed. If your not comfortable sharing, I'll get the floor." Ruzeth argues back calmly, without even a hint of disapointment in his voice.

23:48 Lucent shakes his head again. "No, you've been cooped up on a ship for weeks. I couldn't make you sleep on the floor." He lays down on the floor in front of the zebra, as though to prove a point.

23:51 Ruzeth walks up beside Lucent and lays down as well, keeping a little bit of seperation between the two. "No, I'm not going to sleep on that bed this evening then. Take it or don't take it, I'm sleeping on the floor," the zebra states emphatically.

23:55 Lucent squeezes his eyes shut briefly and sighs, moistening his lips while he fumbles for what to say. "Um... well, what can I do to get you to take the bed?"

23:59 Ruzeth shakes his head and smiles at Lucent. "Look, you're obviously uncomfortable sharing a bed with me, so you can't do anything to make me take it from you. I'd feel too bad."

00:02 Lucent stretches out his forelegs in front of him, raising them in the air in slight exasperation. "But this is dumb. I'm not gonna let you sleep on the floor, but my bed is tiny..."

00:08 Ruzeth crosses his hooves infront of himself. "Well, I'm not sleeping on the bed, you can have it really! I don't mind. And your right, your bed is tiny, we'd probably have to be sleeping up against each other in order to share it."

00:10 Lucent looks back at the zebra. "Why not? You don't /owe/ me anything. I'm trying to help you!"

00:13 Ruzeth rolls his eyes incredulously, "Sure I do. You've been super nice to me since I've got here, save my life, bought me both lunch and dinner, tried to help me find some help and took me into your home. The /least/ i can do is at least let you have the bed."

00:22 Lucent blushes faintly in embarrassment as Ruzeth rattles off a list of everything he's done to help today, and rolls over to face away from the zebra. "Well... yeah, but... but I don't want you to try to repay me," he says quietly, curling up on himself. "You just looked like a pony who needed help, so... I helped." The unicorn sighs.

00:28 Ruzeth reaches over an puts a hoof on the curlying pony, rubbing at his shoulders. "Me not sleeping on the bed isn't repaying you, I'm just makeing it so you don't have ot make another saccrifice for me. I did need help, but no need to over do it." Ruzeth gives the unicorn a couple pats on the shoulder.

00:33 Lucent sighs, not seeming to mind the pats. One of his ears twitches, perking up slightly. "Well... okay, if you /really/ insist," he says, not getting up just yet. "I'll get a camping mattress or something tomorrow so you don't have to keep doing this."

00:38 Ruzeth nods at Lucent and then, upon realizng he doesn't see him speaks up, "Yes, I do really insist. If you arn't comfortable sharing a bed, I'll crash on the floor for a night and then I can get one in the morning" Ruzeth scoots over against his frend and drapes a hoof around him in a half hug.

00:43 < Sir_Reginald> was just trying to share something I thought was nice, sheesh

00:52 Lucent scooches backwards minutely, pressing his back against Ruzeth. "I haven't shared a bed since I was much younger," he muses. "My sister used to be awfully scared of thunder..."

00:55 Ruzeth continues to hold him in a hug, a smile plastered accross his face. "Thats kind of adorable," he says with a giggle. "I'm afraid I cant match /that/ level of cute."

01:03 Lucent grins, reliving some uncommon fond memories. "Probably not," he says, "but we could try. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad." The unicorn sighs, his nostalgia trip ending in a rude crash. "I miss them, sometimes. A lot of the times."

01:11 Ruzeth breathes out a sigh of relief as his buddy relents. "I'm not opposed to trying either, I'm sure we can make it work." Ruzeth gives him a squeeze. "Well, how far away are they? Maybe we could visit them sometime. I do know my way around roughing it."

01:14 Lucent smiles at the squeeze and starts to get up, but stops and shakes his head violently when Ruzeth suggests visiting. "No! No, we can't visit. No way."

01:19 Ruzeth frowns and pulls away as Lucent suddenly gets quite negative, killing some of the positive energy that had been building. "What? Why not? You miss them afterall. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you as well."

01:28 Lucent folds his ears down, letting out a shaky sigh. "No... I don't think so. I, um... I didn't leave on good terms..." He sits up and looks down at Ruzeth, his eyes watery.

01:32 Ruzeth looks up worriedly at his friend and also gets up, hugging him close and giving him a couple pats on the back. "Wh-what happened? Surely they couldn't hate you that much. You're family afterall."

01:40 Lucent leans down and nuzzles into the zebra's jingly mane, sniffling softly. "I mean... Amber probably doesn't hate me. We always got along alright. But the rest..." He trails off and wraps his forelegs around Ruzeth, hugging him a little tighter than is comfortable.

01:44 Ruzeth moves his hoove up to back behind lucents head and ruffles his mane. "There there, I'm sure they don't hate you, even if whatever you did made them disapointed in you. Lets go back to happier things, you don't have to tell me if you don't feel comfortable about it."

01:52 Lucent shifts around at the odd feeling of having his mane ruffled, but doesn't pull away. He nuzzles the zebra's head, squeezing his eyes shut. A single tear runs down his face. "But... I didn't *do* anything," he mumbles very quietly.

01:58 Ruzeth stops ruffling his friends mane and pulls back, stunned when he reveals that. "What! But if you didn't do anything why would they hate you or be disapointed in you. If you didn't do anything whats not to like?"

02:03 Lucent sniffles loudly. "C-can we talk about something else," he asks, tears brimming in his eyes. "I..." the unicorn starts, trailing off. He turns around and clambers onto his bed, burying himself under the covers.

02:08 Ruzeth puffs his lips out in disapointment as his friend slinks off, deciding to drop the subject. He slowly eases himself up onto the bed, finding that he had to basically spoon with Lucent in order to be comfortable. "There there," he says, strokeing his freinds mane. "Nevermind, we can drop it for now."

02:12 Lucent still sniffs, but having Ruzeth's body pressed up against his wide back, basically hugging him, is helping him to feel better. "T-thanks, Ruzeth," he says quietly, unsure how else he can really show his appreciation in this position.

02:14 Ruzeth smiles and and continues to stroke Lucent's mane. The though of hugging Lucent crossed his mind, but he didn't want to mke him feel uncomfortable. "No, thank you for taking me in and tolerating me."

02:19 Lucent snorts and chuckles, his body shaking against Ruzeth's. "Tolerate you? You're just like me: young, away from home, no idea what you're going to do now... There's no way I could leave you on the streets."

02:32 Ruzeth begins to tear up as Lucent points out his current circumstance, though he tries to hide it. "Ya...I know..." he bemoans glummly. His tears begin to dampen Lucents mane even as he tries to dry them.

02:37 Lucent lays there quietly until he feels the back of his neck start to dampen and realizes that Ruzeth is crying again. "S-sorry," he says, rolling over and scooting back so that he's facing the zebra. "I didn't mean to bring that up." He wraps his strong legs around the sad zebra and pulls him to his chest in a powerful hug. "It'll be okay..."

02:44 Ruzeth sniffles a couple times in his friends arms, hugging Lucent back tightly. "But...but you're right...what am I going to do now?" he asks fruitlessly, still teary eyed. "I'm stuck here in a foriegn land with no pony who cares about me..."

02:48 Lucent pulls Ruzeth's muzzle into his chest ruff, and leans down to nuzzle at the top of his head. "*I* care about you, Ruzeth," he says firmly. Briefly his mind wanders to thinking about how many ponies care about /him/, but this is terribly depressing and he tries to cut it off before his ears visibly droop too much.

02:55 Ruzeth buries his muzzle into Lucent's chest and dries his eyes slightly on his fur. The zebra gives a couple more sniffles as he finally manages to stop the crying. His ears perk up just slighly, "I know Lucent, I care about you too, and I'm sure, so does your family." Ruzeth snuggles into his freind and closes his eyes, letting his head rest on Lucents chest.

03:03 Lucent 's ears perk up when Ruzeth says that he cares about him too, and he smiles warmly at the zebra, gently rubbing his back. When Ruzeth brings up his family again, he breaths in sharply. "Well," he says, "...thank you, Ruzeth, that means...a lot to me." The unicorn's ears droop slightly, but he pushes those thoughts out of his mind, closing his eyes and pressing his nose into the zebra's mane, ...

03:03 Lucent ... focusing on the new warmth of his new friend instead of his all-too-familiar past.

03:12 Ruzeth gives Lucent a nuzzle of affirmation before taking a couple deep breaths. "Would you mind hitting the lights?" The zebra asks kindly turning his head so that he could watch the magic at work. His tail swishes slightly in anticipation.

03:13 Lucent blinks, having forgotten they were on. "Oh, right. Just a sec." He starts disentangling himself from Ruzeth, making to get out of bed.

03:14 Ruzeth keeps his front legs locked in an embrace. "Do you really need to break the hug to flip them off with a spell? I thought it was just all in the mind?" The zebra observes curiously.

03:15 Lucent freezes. "A s-spell? I was just going to walk over and hit the switch..."

03:19 Ruzeth looks up at his friend with a frown. "Oh cmon, you can do things like that with your mind and you're just gonna walk over to them? Seems a bit of a waste of time, plus I'm kind of enjoying laying here..."

03:23 Lucent sighs. "Well I can't, like... er, I'm not quite... um... I could try, I guess," he says, stumbling over his words before giving in. He squeezes his eyes shut in concentration, and a single spark flies out of his horn before it's enveloped in a warm amber glow, shedding a tiny amount of light onto the bed. Eyes crossed slightly as he tries to look at his own horn, Lucent takes on an odd ...

03:24 Lucent ... expression, halfway between a happy grin and a shameful grimace. "Okay, now I just gotta..." he mumbles to himself, casting out with his mind to try find the light switch.

03:28 Ruzeth giggles excitedly as the unicorn agrees to try watching in glee as the unicorn lights up his horn. The young zebra snickers to himself at the strange look that crosses his friends face. Ruzeth poisees himself to give the stallion a big hug if he manages to turn it off.

03:30 Lucent finds the switch and grabs on, the switch wreathed in the same amber glow across the room. The light around his horn flickers as he concentrates, seeming to have to focus a lot to accomplish something so simple. After a couple of seconds, the switch flips and plunges the room into darkness, save for the glow of his horn which winks out almost immediately afterwards. Lucent flops back down in the ...

03:30 Lucent ... bed, breathing hard for a few seconds.

03:33 Ruzeth gives a joyous squee and hugs Lucent tight, giggling excitedly. "Oh, magic is so cool. You kind of make me wish I was a unicorn," he exclaims, a bright smile on his face as he gazes up at his friend, the room only illuminated by the pale moonlight.

03:38 Lucent oofs in surprise at the tight hug, then grins weakly back at the excited zebra. "You really think so?" he says, sounding unsure. His ears droop slightly. "Being a unicorn is... alright."

03:44 Ruzeth nods at his friend excitedly, "Not only do I think so, I know so. I mean, you can move stuff without touching it and...whatever it was you did back there." The zebra considers the possibilities before asking ,"Hey! Can you like shoot fire and stuff out of your horn as well? I heard stories about things like that."

03:50 Lucent shakes his head. "No, no. Like I said, that and basic levitation are all I can do." He thinks briefly. "And making light, I guess. But no fire or anything crazy."

03:54 Ruzeth giggles and nuzzles agianst his friend. "Well, that's still very cool you know? I bet telekinesis comes in all sorts of hoofy. Though, come to think of it, you havn't been using it very often. Why is that?"

03:56 Lucent hems and haws before finally answering, "I'm... bad at it." He digs himself down into the pillows, trying to hide his face.

03:59 Ruzeth shakes his head, a smile plastered on his face, "I guess that just means you need to practice more. You'll get better." The young zebra gives a wide yawn, resting his head on Lucents chest. Seems despite all his energy the day was getting to him.

04:04 Lucent nods unenthusiastically. "Yeah... practice," he says with no heart at all. The stocky unicorn yawns too, laying back on his pillow and gently hugging his friend again. "Goodnight, Ruzeth."

04:07 Ruzeth hugs into and snuggles against his friend. "Nini, Lucent, may the moon spirit watch over you as you sleep." He closes his eyes, taking a couple large deep breaths.

04:09 Lucent closes his eyes and giggles a little at the zebra's goodnight. "The moon spirit?" he asks, curious.

04:15 Ruzeth says, "Yes, she keeps the nightmares away and watches over you as you sleep at night, keeping your body safe as well. She speaks to me sometimes, this blue shadowy form that looks like an owl the size of a pony, but yet, not quite solid."

04:18 Lucent nods as he listens to the zebra. "Sounds a lot like our Princess Luna," he muses sleepily. "Well... goodnight."

04:23 Ruzeth takes a couple more deep breaths before drifting off into a deep slumber. The young zebra is quite as he sleeps, but cuddles up against Lucent even more.

04:26 Lucent shifts his legs around to hug Ruzeth loosely as he drifts off to sleep himself.