//------------------------------//
// Once Again About the Mirror 
// Story: Society as We Know It 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

Starlight looked at the horeshoe-shaped mirror surrounded by a cobbled-up yet functional-looking wooden magical contraption of lights, containers, and cables.
"It's not really that of a secret," she said, looking at the small crowd of creatures in the spacious castle library—not just ponies, but also changelings, griffons, dragons, and even a few yaks there.
Twilight nodded. "While we don't benefit much from announcing its existence to everyone, we also don't benefit much from keeping hush-hush about the mirror." She became anxious. "If that's how you say it." She glanced at Starlight.
She replied with a shrug.
"What's it do?" one of the griffons asked, raising a claw.
"Well, it's not really a mirror," Twilight said. "It's more of a portal, you see."
This elicited more than a few gasps. The younger ones among the audience gasped even louder than their parents or the other adults.
"So, anyone can teleport?" Ember, who was part of the crowd, asked with crossed arms. "Sounds like a good advantage to me."
"Will you be able to mass-produce this kind of magical item?" another griffon asked, wearing a simple hat.
"Uh, Galena," Twilight spoke up, "if you allow me to explain—"
"Is this the same mirror that those two went through some time ago?" Thorax asked.
"If you meant the ones who almost caused inter-universe incident, then yes," Twilight said, giving Thorax a stern look.
Thorax gulped.
"Can Twilight pony get to exhibition already?!" Prince Rutherford, a bulky and hair yak dressed in golden decorations, asked.
"Wait, you're asking me to show you how it works?" Twilight said.
"Well, we want to know where it's a portal to," one of the press ponies, Press Release, said, levitating a pencil and pad of paper with her magic. Then, she stepped forward. "I volunteer to join the trip with you."
"Uh, I'm not so sure about that," Starlight said.
"And, why so?" she said back, taking on a more aggressive tone.
"I think I mentioned the word 'inter-universe,'" Twilight answered. "Are you sure you're willing to handle going to another dimension?"
The unicorn nodded. "I've been to the most dangerous of locations just to snap a shot and to get a scoop. I think I can handle it."
"But," Twilight went on, sounding more and more worried, "one final word: You're not going to be a pony at the other end of the portal."
Then, more gasps.
"Hold up!" Ember yelled. "You're saying that this portal changes your form? Just like some of your unicorn spells and potions?"
"Let's just say that...I don't know." She sighed. Then, a grin sparked on her face. "I knew that camera would come in handy!"
"Handy?" Press Release repeated.
She galloped to one of the bookshelves, took out one of the books using her magic, and took out something else. She levitated that something else in full view of everyone in the room as she walked back to the mirror.
It was a heavy, quite unwieldy, boxy gray and black object with camera lens on one side. With her magic, Twilight flipped open one side of the box.
"It's a camera, like the ones in this world," Twilight said. "Only, somehow, they've made more types of cameras. This one can not only take pictures but also take videos—something that only the most advanced and the most expensive of cameras can do here, they have in abundance and at a cheap price over there."
"So, you've encountered a future version of Equestria?" Press Release asked. "Wait, then why won't you be a pony when you go to the future of this same world?"
"It's not a future version of Equestria. It's more of...a different yet same world."
"An alternate Equestria?"
"You could say it like that," Starlight said.
"So, what is at the other side? Is there, say, a Princess Celestia and a Princess Luna over there or what?"
"Not really as Princesses, but as principals."
"Of a school?" Press Release said, bending her neck a little. "That sounds interesting." She jotted down a few notes on the paper.
"Just tell it straight to us, Twilight," Ember said. "What world is out there?"
"I've heard some of the stories from them," Thorax added, "but, they're now kind of fuzzy in my head."
"We demand knowledge!" Rutherford demanded, stomping the floor and causing more than a few to move away from him.
"I'm in with them, too," Galena said, raising her claw.
Twilight sighed.
Starlight grinned.
"We'll do this in two parts," Twilight began. "First, a quick run-down of what this world is: It's, like what Press Release said, an alternate Equestria where our Princesses are principals, there are versions of us there but mostly as either students or teachers or just someone that doesn't live that far away from the school the portal drops you in to, and there's no magic."
Even more gasps from the crowd.
"A world with no magic?!" Press Release yelled. "How does the weather go? Do they experience lots of storms or droughts or other meteorological calamities? And, what about the plants? It's probably swarming with creepy vines and other sorts of strange plants right now! And, they've managed to build a school in the middle of such a wasteland?!"
The crowd erupted into a furor of questions filled with curiosity and a hint of fear, asking for knowledge in order to quell that nagging thought.
"I know this is gonna surprise all of you," Twilght said, "but...they've managed to live pretty well without magic for such a long time. It's just as clean and as green as our good ol' Equestria!"
"So, there are clear skies and nice grass? Not the pegasus, I mean."
"Just imagine a mix of Ponyville and Manehattan. Or, just the suburbs of Manehattan. It's pretty close to that."
"Without magic?!" a colt shouted. "That's unbelievable!"
"Yes, I know, it's unbelievable," Twilight said. "But, that's just the quick run-down. I could go on more: that those who populate the world aren't ponies but are these bipedal...creatures. Oh, by the way, if you're a pony, you'll turn into such a bipedal creature. I don't know about other species, but Spike turned into a dog when he—"
"So, you're saying that if I, Dragon Lord Ember, go there, I'll be a dog?"
"Well, yes."
"Are dogs ruling over these bipedal creatures or are they're the ones being ruled over like how ponies are doing it now? Or, are they on equal footing?"
Twilight laughed nervously, staring at Ember with an uneasy smile.
Ember closed her eyes a little, giving herself a mean look. "I guess that means that we dragons aren't so lucky if we go there, huh?"
"Moving on!"
Ember groaned.
"Oh, I almost forgot—" Twilight looked at Thorax "—because of that one time where those two changelings went through the mirror, I figured out that changelings become those same bipedal creatures that ponies turn into."
"Over the dogs, I guess," Ember muttered, snarling right after.
Twilight glanced at the angry dragon. "Eh-heh. I'll get back to you after the show."
Then, she cleared her throat, still levitating the camera.
"So, you might be wondering why I brought this camera here from the other world!"
"It's to record your trip there so, when you come back, we can look at the footage and see this all-new alternate and other Equestria ourselves," Press Release said.
There was silence for a few seonds.
"Do you have a projector?"
Starlight pushed a projector into view. "Ready!"
Twilight gasped. "I almost forgot that one, too!"
The alicorn put down the camera, picked up a book from one of the top shelves, and brought it down with her magic, her horn glowing that purple glow along with the book.
She placed it down on the small table beside the mirror. Grabbing a quill from beside the book—which had that stylized sun on the cover—she opened the book and furiously wrote down several lines, closed it, and brought it to an open slot or space at the contraption.
"Had to make it work more quietly," Twilight said. "Sometimes, it's just too noisy when other ponies might be doing delicate work in other rooms." She put on a grin.
Starlight looked at her oddly
Then, the glass of the mirror swirled and twisted, emitting a purple glow and a strange sound.
Everyone gazed upon it, all amazed and bedazzled at the now-working portal.
Twilight levitated her camera. "So, I don't wanna waste anymore of your time—I hope five minutes would be enough to cover as much as I could?" She looked at Starlight. "You know how to keep them busy right for five minutes? Make it ten, just in case I bump into something." She looked at the audience. "Well, wish me, uh, well!" She waved at them and leaped into the mirror with her camera.
And, everyone gasped.
Except Starlight. She smiled.
Then, she looked at the audience. "Alright! While we wait for Twilight to come back, what about we play some board games? Like chess or checkers?" Starlight levitated two board games from behind the contraption.
Many of those in the audience just looked at each other. They all shrugged.



It had grown to a quiet, weary time. Creatures of all kinds interacted with each other as they played various table games—a game of cards, a game of chess, a game of checkers, a game of "One-Pony Business." Some settled for simple talk—a yak relaying a tale, a legend, of his homeland; a griffon and a pony cracking jokes together and doing their best to make those around the table laugh; a dragon groaning as she listened to a changeling retell what just happened at arts and crafts time back at the hive.
Starlight wasn't even playing a game anymore. She merely observed a match between two ponies—one was wearing a pair of glasses. Her eyes darted around the board, analyzing each and every piece that it covered, seeing what potential moves it could take—analyzing each move and checking which one was the best possible move. With every questionable move that was made, she restrained herself from shouting at them, from ranting at them about how easy it was to see the pitfalls of such a mistake. Not to mention what happened when there were moves that went below the dubious level—moves that simply astounded her mind, making her mentally slap herself on the face.
Yet, she kept a calm face and a cheery tone throughout.
Then, a sound.
Everyone turned towards the glowing mirror.
Then, a bright flash of purple light, blinding them.
When it was over—when they opened their eyes and caught first a passing glimpse—they saw Twilight Sparkle, smiling. The camera was laying on the floor, though she quickly picked it up with her magic.
"Alright, everypony! I knew it would be ten minutes, but that means more than enough video to show you what this alternate Equestria is all about!"
The crowd gathered close to her, combining hushed whispers and outspoken concerns.
"Are you OK, Twilight?"
"You're alright?"
"Do you need a glass of water or something, Princess?"
"Tell us what happened over there!"
"Can you give us the video already? I've been waiting here since I got first to the venue!"
"This is crazy! How did you survive without magic, Princess Twilight?"
"You look fine! That's good!"
"Yaks demand footage now!"
"Quiet!" Twilight bellowed.
Everyone then went quiet. Starlight's horn was already glowing.
Twilight looked at Starlight and gave her a mean look—a grouchy frown.
Starlight stepped back, shying away.
"Everyone!" Twilight said, camear still in her magical glow. "Let's do this in an orderly fashion. Get to your seats—all of you. Those who are officially of the press, sit right in front. No lying!"
Everyone shuffled their way to their seats, with the paparazzi ponies and a few other creatures—a few griffons, several changelings, a couple of yaks, and some dragons—moving their way towards the front chairs.
Starlight lit her horn up again.
"I and Sunset Shimmer—my friend over in the alternate Equestria—figured out a way to translate those videos into a usuable magic form for our projectors. It's a trying combination of more than a hoofful of spells but, I assure you, it gets easier the more you use it."
Then, she levitated the camera on to the table right in front of the large projector. Her horn glowed.
A few curtains floated towards the green windows, dimming the room.
"It's all set up, Starlight?" Twilight asked.
Starlight nodded and gave her an approving hoof.
Twilight nodded back. "Then, get ready for a wild ride out of this world, everyone!"
She zapped the camera with a beam of magic.
The camera glowed and ejected out a beam of light like a projector.
A bright white screen at first.
"Ooh's!" and "Ah's!" went out from the audience.
The screen now displayed a group of friends—bipedal creatures with colors that seemed awfully familiar and voices that sounded eerily close to known figures and personalities.
"Now, wave for the camera!" Twilight said, her voice there but herself not really there as someone who looked a lot like her but not quite like her waved for the camera alongside the rest of her friends.
"Hiya, ponies!" Pinkie Pie—yet, not the same Pinkie Pie—shouted. "And, other magical animals out there! That's what Twilight said, right? The Princess one, not the student one, right?"
The Twilight Sparkle on screen gave Pinkie an annoyed look adorned with her thick glasses. Pinkie shyed away with a wide grin.
They neared the camera.
"It's still weird visiting myself," the on-screen Twilight said as she neared the Twilight holding the camera. "But, I'm getting used to it." She smiled.
"Ah' don't think Ah'll get used to talkin' to another me!" Applejack—but, not quite Applejack—said. "A twin me wou'd be mor' than enough to freak me out, let alone a magical pony that does all the farmin'."
"So, uh, why exactly are you recording this again?" Fluttershy asked.
"Because I think it's about time more of us know about this world," the Twilight off-screen said, walking back so that everyone could be seen in a single shot. "Enough time has passed for it to be safe. I think Sunset's told you the rest already, keeping you up-to-date about how our Equestria is doing."
The girl with the yellow and red hair nodded, holding a book that had a stylized sun on it.
"So, I have like five to ten minutes," Twilight said. "What do you think I should record in that span of time?"
"What about just us hanging out?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"She does have a point," Rarity said, mildly raising a finger in the air. "If the magic in your world is based on friendship, then we might as well show them something that's not that far-off—this could be our worlds' common ground!"
"Actually, I was about to tell you girls that," Twilight said.
"Aww, come on!" Rainbow yelled, complaining.
"This is going to be one long five-to-ten-minutes, I guess," Twilight muttered.



Finally, the video ended and the camera stopped glowing. Starlight took out the projector and Twilight took out the curtains, bringing in the full sunlight and the full sunshine back into the room, brightening it up.
"So, I understand if you need some more time to process what you've just witnessed," Twilight said. "But, I'm sure that, with the days and weeks passing by, we can come to terms with how we can use this mirror for more than just visiting another world." She paced the room, looking at the audience. "So, we might still keep this a secret. It all depends on your reactions right at this very moment." Then, she took a few steps forward towards everyone else.
Starlight did so, too.
"What do you think?"
Everyone's eyes were wide open, all their mouths were wide open, and they were all quiet. They didn't say a word.
"Uh, everyone? You're allowed to speak. Uh, say a word? Please?"
Starlight placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I think that's a sign that we're not supposed to show them this yet."
"I don't know," Twilight said. "At least the press ought to be writing this down, right?"
"Uh..."
"They're not, are they?"
"No."
Twilight groaned. "Nevermind, then?"
Starlight sighed. Then, a little smile. "Can I go back when they go?" she whispered.