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// 25 - You've Got Mail 
// Story: Perchance to Dream 
// by David Silver 
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I was at work, doing what I was paid to do. As it turns out, construction near churches has been a thorn in the side of development for quite a long time. Entire buildings have been constructed that could topple over in a stiff breeze just to avoid being in the way of a church.

It was my current job to make sure our project would not meet the same sort of publicity fate. I bounced between regulations and plans, fired off emails, and made phone calls to pull it together. Of course, I wouldn't be doing the building. Heck, our company wasn't doing the building, not directly, but it was my job to make sure that could go through without friction.

One of the less flattering names heaped upon me was a very practical one. I was the lubricator. They applied me to where two things might rub up and chafe and I made sure everything glided smoothly.

"You look occupied." It was Twilight.

"I am," I confessed, but I didn't quite have the heart to banish Twiight. "What's up?"

She became my companion, watching the work I did and asking little questions here and there. She even spotted a typo for me just before I could hit send. "Thanks." I smiled at her as I corrected it. She looked so pleased with herself. A living spellcheck, that was handy.

"Say, don't you have princess things to be doing?" I wasn't trying to tell her to go away, I was genuinely curious.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You'd think so, but the map seems to love choosing my friends. I have nothing specific planned for today besides continued research into your condition. Next time, we should try the experiment Spike proposed."

Spike proposed? Ah, it came to me. "You'll have roses around?"

"Roses?" Twilight blinked.

I flashed my teeth a brief moment. "So I can strike a pose as I go."

"Oh!" Twilight burst into a giggle. "Yes, right. I'll get those before you arrive."

There was a knock at my door, but no delay before Kevin came in. "Linda, have a moment?"

I snapped my eyes over to him and swiveled my chair. "What's on your mind?"

He stepped briskly to my desk. "Sorry for barging in. It's not that critical. I was looking into what we'll need for the trip. He held his hands out. "We can get the huge one with plenty of room and it doesn't even need a special license. Have you driven anything that big before?"

I hadn't, and said as much, "No, but this feels sudden. Aren't we settled on that?"

The noise of an incoming mail, along with a little equine squeak, came from my computer.

Kevin was not deaf, alas. He glanced to the left, where my monitors were and caught a glimpse of a tail flipping off the screen. He smirked as if he had put it together. "You got one of those desktop buddies?"

A reasonable excuse, and one I took. "Oh, yes. Just a little program I installed, for fun."

I hoped that would set things over, but then, wouldn't you know it, Twilight peeked back in and looked around.

"Aw, cute," complimented Kevin. "Where'd you download it? Does it have the rest of the Mane 6? I have to have that."

I tensed faintly. "Oh, just something somebody emailed me." I gave a hopefully convincing laugh. "No idea where it originally came from."

Twilight perked an ear between the both of us, watching.

"Does she look around randomly or what?" He reached for my webcam and gave it a prod. "Hello there, Twilight."

"Hello," replied Twilight.

He blinked, surprised a moment before his smile grew. "It's listening? That's fantastic! You're an amazing program, Twilight."

"Thank you," she replied as my chest pounded. "I am a program," she said in a not entirely convincing way. "Do you want me to check your email for you?"

"Uh... You can do that?"

"That is what programs do, isn't it? Oh! Do you want to 'surf'? The web is a fascinating place." Twilight bobbed her head.

He was getting suspicious. I had to act. "Well! I have to get back to work, Kevin, and so do you."

Kevin crouched down a little to be more even with the monitor. "Hold up. Where are you from?" The last he asked of Twilight.

Twilight pointed up at a text file that was sitting on my desktop. "I'm from here," she lied, badly.

He snorted. "Right... Who made you?

"Humans, of course." She nodded, looking confident in her reply.

Ugh, it was all going downhill, and quickly. "Kevin..."

He reached a foot behind himself and nudged the door closed. "Look, whatever you have here... I'm not here to bust you."

An exasperated sigh forced its way free. There was a good and growing chance Kevin would notice, eventually. He was going to live with me, for Christ's sake. "A secret is only assured with two people, you know the rest."

Kevin put up his hands quickly. "Woah, easy there, Linda. I'm not your enemy. And that... is actually Twilight?"

"I'm a program!" insisted Twilight, not seeming to quite grasp that the gig was thoroughly up.

I put a hand over Twilight's image as if that would help somehow. "It's complicated!"

"Tell me." He backed up a little. "I mean, not right now." He glanced through the blinded windows of my office. "We both have work to do, but, seriously, fill me in, maybe over lunch? I'm not here to rat you out, promise."

"Can I emphasize any harder how important you not talk to anyone, no matter how much of a friend they are?" I sank back into my chair, defeated. "If you want to meet Twilight, be good."

He made a boy scout salute, then fled.

Twilight put a hoof behind her head. "Sorry... I thought..."

"What were you thinking!?" I was angry, I admit it. "Why didn't you just stay off the screen once you were already off? I could have been in the clear."

She had the humility to dip her head. Her ears went down and her tail hung limp. She looked so miserable I couldn't stay angry at her, even if I was! I was so annoyed. I just couldn't keep scowling at her. "Look, it's..." I huffed. "It's too late to cry about now. What do you plan to do with another human that you can't actually meet?"

Twilight perked right up at that. "Oh! Will we meet properly then? Will I be allowed to ask him a few questions? Not that you haven't been anything but forthright, but a second opinion and perspective would be invaluable!"

I steepled my fingers and leaned towards the screen. "He will want to visit."

Twilight tilted her head. "He can't. It's not even possible at this time." She reached forward and tapped the monitor from the inside. "Computer monitors make poor mirror portals." She perked her ears suddenly. "Even if we had one of those tuned to your world, he'd become a pony if he came here."

I gave a slow blink at that. "Would he turn back when he went home?"

Twilight quickly nodded. "Mirror portals work both ways."

I gave a little chuckle at that. "I don't think he'd be that upset then, if it was only for a little while and he knew it."

It was time to explain some things... "So, you may not have noticed, but he recognized who you were right away."

"I meant to ask about that." Twilight sat on her haunches. "Did you tell him about me?"

"He's told me more about you than the other way around," I assured. "You exist here, in this world, as a fiction."

Twilight's big eyes gave the slowest blink. "Come again?"

I could have explained it to her, or... It was just a quick search later and soon she was staring with a combination of awe and horror as the first episode of the series played for her.

I let her do that as I got back to work. I had things to get done and, like most of my life, there was a time limit.

By the time the show was over, I hit send on the last email I could for the moment without a reply. "How'd you like it?"

Twilight looked like she was reeling. "It was... strangely accurate, and wildly off all at the same time. If his opinions of me and Equestria are fashioned solely off such productions, he's going to be in for a few surprises." She turned to face me instead of the inactive video. "Still, thank you, for showing it to me. About him, is he a good person?"

I shrugged a bit. "He's not a saint."

"What?"

"He's not perfect, but he's good, I think." I felt self-conscious on judging him. "He hasn't done wrong by me, and we'll be sharing a house in not very long, if you recall."

Twilight brightly smiled. "I do, and this is great! If he's aware of my presence and doesn't mind, then I can visit you in a less cluttered environment when you're not so busy."

I smiled faintly, Twilight's eagerness infecting me. "Speaking of that, I think it's time to get some lunch. You be good, Twilight."

"Until later, Linda." She faded away.

I rose up from my chair and headed for the door. There were things to do, lunch being high among them.