The-Master

@@Steel Accord, @, Oh, this is the part where I'm supposed to respond, isn't it? "I'm not really a linguist either. I- in fact I'm quite rubbish at it." Probably not the smartest thing to say, but he tried to play it off. "I'm really more of a chronicler, an amateur historian at best. Just another stallion who spends his days sulked up in a corner with old tomes really."

@, As much as he dreaded the idea of socially interacting with these ponies he couldn't refuse an invitation, be it his pet peeve. He silently shuffled up closer so that he wasn't exactly very close, but still enough not to be excluded. "There hasn't been much use for me yet, I guess I'm just waiting till that time comes." He rolled up the scroll, setting aside his little language project for the moment.

Little unbeknownst to everypony present Star had made himself comfortable near the back of the group. It didn't really matter, he liked to keep to himself. He spent most of his time just looking over one of the scrolls that had survived the wreak. It was a rather loose transcript but enough so he could roughly understand the language. Although he found that he was pretty useless at it, as per all other languages he attempted to study. That and the author had very poor hoof writing, indicating that he was definitely not a unicorn. Other than that there was little progress. Old maps were useless, the history was flawed and everything else was utterly pointless. He had saved some, but barley anything of potential use. He planted his face in his hooves, taking a second just to absorb everything, be it from their experience or from the text. He was tired, pretty hungry, and he itched in strange places thanks to the lack of a proper shower. Star certainly hoped this would be all worth it in the end, but more than anything he hoped that Atlantis had proper plumbing.

Half of that seemed to fly over his head, unable to fully come to terms fully with what she was explaining. Sure he was curious, but this was far more than he could have ever expected. "Almost like insects..." He eventually spoke up, turning back to face Cicada. "Well... I guess we must all look odd to you lot. Maybe once we find your queen you could introduce me. Should be... Interesting."

@@Pripyat Pony, After a rather rushed breakfast Murray and Cicada set off towards the mall. It wasn't a very long walk but there seemed to be plenty of people out and about this time of morning. It was a bit cold but not enough to convince him to put on any more layers than usual. "So..." Murray decided to have a go st starting a conversation, considering they had both been rather silent for most of the journey. "...I was wondering if, well if it's okay with you, If you could tell me a bit more about your kind. I'm not wishing to intrude, it's just you guys are a whole new race never before discovered. Some people here would give their right arm just to talk to something like you. I want to know more."

Star dumped his tent in the middle of the ground and looked at it expectantly as if it would spontaneously set itself up. After a few disappointed seconds he decided to give a crack at setting it up manually. After a quick montage for time convenience he was finished, be it an imperfect creation. He was still rather proud of his achievement despite the obvious flaws in the construction. It was rather concerning when he noticed there was nothing holding it to the ground, but shrugged it off as a minor technical issue.

@@Pripyat Pony, She took well to the suggestion, much to his relief. "Well we could always go to the mall. I don't really know my way around here very well, so I can't really name it off by heart. But we can just walk there and see about buying you some new clothes. No problem. We'll head off in few minutes when you're ready then." Considering the clothes she had right now were practically littered with holes it seemed like the best idea at the time.

@@Pripyat Pony, Murray shuffled himself into the kitchen, using the last of the milk to make Cicada breakfast and a cup of coffee. He set the jug and walked back out to the living room with the bowl of cereal. "So... I was thinking... was there anything you wanted to do today? I don't have a job to go to right now, so we can do whatever you want." He handed over the bowl, trying not to spill it everywhere. "We could go get you some new clothes, we could go see some of the sights, go for a walk, do... something. I don't really know what your plan is to get home yet, so... yeah." It's a start. Murray was having a rather hard time masking his obvious nervous interactions and attractions, unexpected for someone like him.

@@Pripyat Pony, Murray went completely wide-eyed for a second, tumbling off the other side of the mattress as soon as he realized she was awake. He landed with a small thud and hit his head against the hard floor. "Sorry... that was an accident. Can we just forget that ever happened?" He stood up rather unsteadily, trying to keep his head faced down so that she might not see the slight shades of crimson creep onto his face. "So... breakfast?"

@@Pripyat Pony, Well, looks like he managed to get some sleep after all. Murray woke to the sharp beams of light creeping through his blinds, shielding his eyes from the rays of death. He didn't have a job to go to anymore, so there wasn't much point in getting up early. Oh, well there was his unexpected house guest. He was still half convinced that was all a dream or some kind of delusion, that he may wake up and find that no one was there. But in the end there was only one guaranteed way to find out. Murray crept out of his bedroom as quietly as he could, still dressed in his sleepwear. He looked around the living room expecting to find an empty floor and no sign of Cicada, but there she was, still sleeping. So it wasn't a dream, wasn't a delusion and he was pretty sure he wasn't crazy. This was still real. Murray decided to try and get over where she slept and into the kitchen, where he had placed the mattress inconveniently blocking his way. Despite the simplicity of the task it still seemed rather daunting. He put his foot forward, reaching out across and over to the other side without brushing her at all. And as quickly as that he lost his balance and fell, landing right next to Cicada on the mattress and landing with a small yelp and a soft thud. Great start to the morning.

@@Pripyat Pony, "Sure, it should be in there somewhere." Murray decided to simply leave her be, she wasn't something that needed to be cared for 24/7. She seemed to be fairly self dependent. When she left for a while it gave him some time to think over what he should do next. He apparently had a changeling in his home, a long way from home and trying to get back. This was all a bit surreal. Maybe things would get better once he was out of the country. When Cicada returned she seemed to be in a far better state than when she was last here. "Well... it's amazing what some fresh air and a slice of toast will do for you." Murray shrugged it off, even if it did seem a bit out of the ordinary. After everything that's happened today this was nothing in comparison. "Well, I'm off to bed. Feel free to do what you want... within reason. Good night." He stood up and departed for his room, laying in a half dazed state across the covers. With all the thoughts buzzing around his head he knew it was going to be a long night.

@@Pripyat Pony, This was harder to answer than Murray originally thought. He rummaged through his cupboards and shelves but didn't really come up with much of a result. "Well... I have toast, cereal... some noodles... and not much else. I haven't really done any shopping this week, sorry. Help yourself to whatever you want." he shut the fridge when he noticed the surprising lack of milk, making a mental note to do the shopping tomorrow if he could. He wasn't too sure exactly how long to expect his guest for. Murray set about laying out a bed for Cicada, bringing out a spare mattress into the living room along with a fitted sheet, blanket and pillows. It seemed to come together nicely, it would do for the night. Looking back at the time it was getting close to eleven at night, about time he thought about getting some sleep himself. Murray slumped up against the couch and looked over towards Cicada with a rather tired expression. "Well... feel free to do what you want. Phones over there, doors unlocked whenever you need to leave and everything else should be easy to figure out. I'm sorry this isn't exactly a 'quality' place to stay, but it's only temporary."

@@Pripyat Pony, Right... I'm now taking a Changeling to my apartment to help her find the rest of her kind. Out of all the weird dreams I've had this tops it. In the end Murray just conceded to play along with it. "My car isn't too far from here. It isn't the... best machine on the roads, but it's lasted me this long. Come on, let's get going." It was starting to get a bit darker as they went on, Murray keeping close to the girl/changeling next to him, keeping a grasp on her hand. "It should be just around this corner." It was just an old Hilux Surf, the years of punishment showing through across it's black paintwork. Murray fumbled with his keys a bit before opening the doors and letting Cicada get inside. The trip home was a short one with very little conversation, but that didn't stop him asking if she was okay every once and a while. The apartment block was rather generic, a solid brickwork structure extending twenty floors up. The apartment itself was much the same, a basic living room with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. It had plenty of space,but much of it was cluttered with random possessions and things from home. He always planned to get it all sorted out, but never did in the end. "Well... here we are. Make yourself at home." He shut the door behind him, making sure the locks were all firmly in place. "I'll set up another bed here in a minute. Did you want... something to eat? What exactly does your kind eat or... feed on?" How does one ask this without sounding stupid?

@@Pripyat Pony, "Just over near Brooklyn, not too far from here. Maybe you can... I don't know... call someone?" Then something occurred to him, something he hadn't thought of before. "Are you here alone? Maybe if there's more of... your kind here we can find them." I never thought I'd have to say that. "Let's head back to my place and we can start from there. I'm keeping my end of the deal."

@@Pripyat Pony, “Last time I checked we were in New York, but I don’t plan on staying long. I’ll probably be heading home in a day or two.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black leather wallet, leaving the money for the coffee on the table. “I think we should go now.”

@@Pripyat Pony, Murray rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'll keep up my end. Let's get out of here before anyone else gets any ideas. Change into someone other than Lady Ga Ga and we can get out foo here. You'll need a place to stay and, well... I doubt you can afford a room."

@@Pripyat Pony, Well... that was rather unexpected. Murray sat there stunned for a good few seconds before muttering something that resembled words of disbelief. "H- h- how did you...? What the...? I..." He wasn't exactly sure what to think at this point; should he be scared or rather attracted Murray quickly looked around to see if any pony else had noticed the transformation, and to see if he was in fact still awake. After dismissing both he looked back to Cicada with a rather baffled expression like he'd been slapped in the face. "Okay, okay... I might be starting to believe you. Presuming I haven't gone crazy... and you are in fact real... I guess I should do something." He looked back at his watch again, this time with allot more urgency. "It's getting late. We better get back to my place. We can sort out the rest from there. Please could you... change into something a bit less... conspicuous?"

(OCC: Don't worry, I am fully aware of that, and I never referred to Ocean being the one who have the order oringinally. It was simply Star reflecting over what he's learn about her so far. He's a rather inquisitive pony. And this is now just random filler. Yay!)

@@Pripyat Pony, Murray couldn't help but smile in return. "Okay then, you're on. If it turns out that you are in fact telling the truth then I'll help you with anything you need to get home. But if it turns out that you were lying... then I'm leaving and you're on your own for now." He leaned forward rather expectantly."Well, let's see what you can do then."

"Walking... Oh good fun." Star muttered sarcastically under his breath. So far his impression of Ocean was a less than plesent one, especially considering what Steel had mentioned to him earlier. But it really wasn't important right now, all that mattered was that they found what they came for.

@@Pripyat Pony, He planted his face in his hands and let out a deep sigh. There was really only one way he was going to get around this. He needed to take a step back. “Okay… okay, I believe you. So you’re a… Changeling from a land called Equestria. I- I’m doing my best to understand.” She took another sip of his coffee before looking back at her with a curious eye. “Assuming you are a Changeling… is this what you usually look like? Do you all look like this?”

Star Keeper glared nervously at the weapon, an uneasy trust between the two. "I really can't, it's just not for me. I'll leave the fighting to the soldiers for now. I'm more use out of danger than in the middle of it." He pushed aside the hilt with his hoof, allowing himself some breathing space.

There was no end to this. Anypony? Hive Mind? "Alright... please try not to yell. People might start to think you're a bit crazy." To be quite honest he was starting to think so too. "I don't know what else to say. Y-you keep talking like this is some kind of fairy tale, but it's not." He looked at the time on his watch quickly, noticing the day drawing to a close. This was all getting to him more than he cared to admit. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I- I just don't want to deal with this right now, I have enough going on in my life as it is. Call the police or something if you're lost, and just try to act a bit more... Human for a while."