MLP FIM Fan-Fiction: Starting from Scratch

Chapter 8

Aaron woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He had put a light blanket over Twilight with his magic to avoid disturbing her from sleeping last night, and turned the lights off. He fell asleep quicker than he normally did, and he stretched as a bundle of parchment tumbled into his lap. He unrolled it to see what he would call handwriting, but he was the only one with actual hands.

Aaron,
I've gone out to get you some land for you to build a shop. Your crafting skills are astonishing, and if you were to have a Cutie Mark like ponies do, it would likely involve this.

I've also decided to let you stay in my Castle due to your skeletal structure. It would be safer for you to live here. That said, I'll need to get you a place to clean up properly. If you need something, feel free to let Spike know while I'm out.        Twilight Sparkle

Aaron smiled, "You certainly seem to know what you're doing, don't you, Miss Sparkle?" Aaron got out of his bed, cleaned himself up as best as he could, put on some fresh clothes, and opened the door of his room to see a purple and green dragon about two-thirds Aaron's size standing a few yards from the door.

Aaron was caught unexpected for a moment, but remembered that he had seen the dragon helping Twilight out where he could. "I presume that you're Spike, then?" Aaron queried.

"That's right," Spike stammered. Aaron realized that the new eye was making the dragon feel nervous, so he activated the visor.

"Sorry about the unexpected change on my face, Spike," Aaron apologized, "Is this easier to manage?"

The dragon nodded, regaining his composure, "Twilight wanted me to see you to breakfast. I never got your name."

"I'm Aaron Deltian," Aaron introduced, "But you can call me Aaron. After all, I'm technically indebted to Miss Sparkle for saving my life."

Spike led Aaron to the dining room. "I've noticed that you're always referring to Twilight and Starlight through their last names," Spike noted, "Twilight has told me that she would prefer for you to use her first name. Why do you call them by that phrasing?"

"Oh, that! Well, I suppose it's for two reasons," Aaron explained, "One, it's an old habit that I developed during my time on my planet of origin. The prefixes Miss, Mister, Mrs, Mr, and Ms are terms typically used for someone who is usually more knowledgeable about a subject. Two, it can also used as a sign of a casual indicator of someone respecting another's superiority, whether it's age, a professional degree, or a social status. Miss Sparkle has told me to not use any royalty terminology with her, so I feel the safest option for me is what I use."

By the time Spike and Aaron arrived at the table, Starlight was in the process of eating her meal. "Good morning, Starlight!" Spike greeted.

"Morning Spike," she responded once she swallowed her current bite and turned to Aaron, "How did everything go yesterday, Aaron?"

"Miss Glimmer, please!" Aaron replied, his hand sliding down his face, "It's not like that. Even if it was, we barely even know each other!"

Spike looked between Starlight and Aaron. "What the heck is going on?" he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Twilight had already completed her task list for today, and was having a late breakfast with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and AppleJack. Twilight was finishing up her encounter with Aaron and Starlight, "This morning, when I saw that he had put a blanket over me for last night, I rushed out and wrote a note explaining where I went! Honestly, Starlight just has the wrong idea!"

"I can't make any guesses for why that happened," Rainbow admitted, "I can't seem to figure that human's mindset out."

"Twilight, I think it's obvious to me that, if nothing else, you've got a small crush on him; you have no reason to worry!" Rarity explained.

"I don't know, Rarity," Twilight replied, "Not only is he a completely different species, but he's from another world. His social norms could be different from our's."

"Here's what I'm seein'," AppleJack commented, "When you saw Aaron flyin' around in the sky and his new eye, you saw his callin'. When Starlight teased you playfully, both you and Aaron responded in a similar manner. How I see it, you two have some kind of connection that isn't as easily explained as most friendships."

Twilight was still wound up, but had calmed down some, "It's not like I can just ask that kind of question to him; I don't even know my answer to it!"

"Calm down, sugar cube," AppleJack soothed, "I'll tell you what, Big Mac and I need help with Apple Buck Season, so if you send Aaron my way, I'll talk to him."

"Good thinking AppleJack," Rarity encouraged, "Why not have Twilight go with, more for an alibi to keep everything casual?"

Rainbow agreed, "Yeah. If nothing else, you can help Big Mac!"

* * *

"So, Miss AppleJack and Mister Big Macintosh want our help with harvesting their orchard?" Aaron recalled, "Why call me in?"

"Your abstract thinkin' might be able to help streamline our process some," AppleJack replied, "And you don't need to be usin' your formality with my family. If Twilight is part of my family, so are you."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, walking to the entrance of the property.

"Alright, everyone's present and accounted for today, so let's get started," AppleJack took the lead, "Twilight, Big Mac, you two will work together, while Aaron and I will see how things work out."

The group of four split the orchard's acres in half, having Granny Smith keep time of how long it took for each team to get things done. Twilight and Big Mac headed for the other side of the orchard, "Well, let's get kickin'," AppleJack encouraged, "We don't got all day."

"Right, lead the way,... AppleJack." Aaron stumbled over his words, trying to drop his Earthen formalities as he followed AppleJack into the farm.