~--- "Dude, the hell was that?" Dan said over the phone. Jason's tone softened as he pondered what it might've been. "I don't know, sounded like it could've been one of my boxes though." "Let's hope it wasn't one of the ones filled with your Yugioh cards." "Ugh, don't say that." Jason stood up, taking his phone with him, "I don't want to think about the mess I'd have to clean up if it is." He walked passed his kitchen and down the hall, heading for his room. "That would really suck, especially if it got under your bed and behind your dresser." "Please stop." "Ha, you have fun with that, I gotta use the can." ---~
~--- "You... Stupid... Drawers..." Starlight growled quietly under her breath, pulling her head back as if she were pulling a rope attached to the drawers themselves. "Why... Won't you... Open..." A small thunk could barely heard whenever she pulled, but the drawers remained stuck, only opening a centimeter or two. Eventually, she heard what she could only describe as cloth rubbing on metal. She froze, eyes wide, as her magic left her horn, the blue glow fading from the drawers. Oh no, oh no, oh no... She thought to herself as she stood still. Now what? What are they going to do? What if they know who I am? What if they call the authorities? Does Ponyville even have authorities to call? Would Twilight count... Her expression fell, What if Twilight finds out about this!? How could I possibly explain this to her!? That I fell into somepony else's house against my own volition, like Tartarus she'd believe that! Maybe... She would believe me. She's my teacher, my friend, she'd have to believe me! She knows me more than I know myself! Why won't this pony behind me say anything!? Her ear flicked and she heard something rub against the carpet behind her. Yes, something was behind her. She felt a bit of irritation rise up within her, as she waited for the other to say something, to do something. But they remained silent. Whoever was behind her remained silent, and it frustrated her. She knew somepony was behind her, Or even some creature! She thought. Who's to say that I'm even in Ponyville? I could be halfway across the world in Minotaur territory for all I know! What did Twilight call that area again? Labyr? That sounds right. She ground her teeth together, the waiting grating on her nerves. She decided she had enough of this. With a short inhalation of air, she turned on her hooves. Her mind had to register just what she saw. ---~
~--- Jason pulled back the curtain that separated his room from the hall, immediaty stopping whatever he was doing when he saw... A thing. A pinkish thing. Wait, is that pink? He narrowed his eyes, trying to discern whether or not the thing in front of him was pink or not. Jesus, that color is bordering on pink and purple, it's like an ill Majin Buu. He smiled, Haha, Ill Flash. His focus returned to the thing, no, the creature in front of him. He could see the back of the creature gently raise and fall with what he assumed to be breathing. Man, it's like someone spilled paint on a dog. He remained silent, taking in what he saw. The creature had pink(?) fur and deep purple hair. Actually, it had a purple tail, too. Both the hair and tail had a blue stripe going through them. I guess that would be considered a highlight, wouldn't it? The creature reminded him of a mix between a dog and cat with how it's back was shaped, looking more docile than harmful in his opinion. Than again, that tail is more like a horse's... He narrowed his eyes, Is... Is the hair styled? Holy shit the hair is styled. HOLY SHIT THAT'S A HORN! His breathing hitched as he drew his head back. He hadn't seen the horn when he walked in, the creature's hair getting in the way. If my animal biology classes were anything to remember, animals that have horns or antlers usually use them in terrifying ways! Narwhals, moose, goats, you name it! It's ear flicked, causing him to step back a little, not wanting to be on the wrong end of that horn. Against his better judgement, he examined the animal a bit more. Looking to it's legs, he stood in bafflement. It looks like it's standing on cylinders... The legs were thick, whether or not it was muscle, he didn't know. The front legs were completely straight, the rear ones looking like horse legs that had been fattened up a little. It's kinda cute... ... Shut up brain. After scolding his mind, he looked back to the creature, particularly where it's legs touched the floor. They ended in what he new for a fact were hooves, although a weird bastardization of hooves is more what he would call them. Suddenly, it turned, bearing an almost human like face, it's eyes being the oddest shade of blue he'd ever seen. The eyes were large, larger than what should be normal, and where the mouth and nose would be on a person, were on a slightly extended muzzle. The muzzle itself wasn't that long, though. It would've been cute to him in an uncanny valley type of cute, if it weren't for the almost human-like face to be sporting a very human looking expression. The large eyes were lidded, it's brow furrowed, and its mouth held an open frown, flat teeth revealing themselves. It's expression felt somewhere between frustration and anger, neither option being a good one. What held Jason's attention the most, however, was the horn. It seemed only a few inches long from this perspective, now being closer to him. He could see that it wasn't sharp, barely looking as if it could pierce anything. A small spiral-like indentation ran from the base of the skull to the tip of the horn. He saw the creature's expression had changed as it looked to him, almost like it was studying him. The open frown was now just a little pout and it's brow had risen, it's eyes no longer lidded. It almost looked... Surprised to see him. ---~
~--- Starlight's mind finally registered what was in front of her, but she couldn't believe it. She had only seen creatures like this once, and that was when she visited Sunset's world. That would certainly explain why the lamp was twice her height. The creature, that she quickly determined was a he, wore a plain black shirt, along with a pair of black... Uhh... What did Sunset call them? Jeems? No, that's not it. Whatever, they're pants for now, I'll just go with that. Dirty blonde mane--I mean hair, red-brown stubble, chubby cheeks, green eyes... She quickly listed off everything she could about him, What color even is his skin, I want to say... Apricot? That's not right. It's not pink... Or maybe it's just a really bright pink? White pink? Her eyes drifted to his right hand, which had been raised. In it, rested what she remembered was a phone. I think Sunset called them smart phones. It was wider than what she had seen in Sunset's world. Then again, that could just be due to her perspective. "Hey." She heard a tired voice speak. She looked to the man's face, "Hey, dude?" but it didn't come from him. She realised that while she had been studying him, he had been doing the same with her, his eyes held a tinge of fear and curiosity. She looked to the phone. If what she remembered was correct, phones allowed ponies, or people rather, to communicate long distance without the need for magic. Since the voice came from in front of her, and the man himself hadn't said anything, that could only mean the voice came from the phone. "Dude, hello? You still there? It says you disconnected from the XenoVerse server." Slowly, the man in front of her raised the phone higher until it was just a few inches from his mouth. "I'll... Call you back." He spoke, his voice sounded young, but contained a little gruff. The stubble paired with the voice lead Starlight to believe he was only in his early twenties, maybe even twenty itself. The man, No, man doesn't sound right anymore, and boy would just be insulting... I'll think on this later. The person swiped his thumb across the screen, tapped it, and with a weird tune, the screen had darkened, leaving the two of them in silence. Slowly, the... Male crouched, tilting his head to the left a bit. "What in the world are you?" He whispered, just liud enough for her to hear. "Well, I'm a pony, for starters." Starlight replied. The young man's eyes widened as he fell back onto his rear, his jaw open in surprise. Starlight raised a hoof, taking a step back. Her ears splayed back as an uneasy smile made it's way onto her face. "You, uhh, weren't expecting a response... We're you?" The young man blinked. "Uh... I guess you could... say that." The two wordlessly stared at each other. Clearly uncomfortable, the young man covered his mouth as he cleared his throat. "So, umm... I... Do you have a name?" "Starlight, Starlight Glimmer." She said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof. "Uh huh..." The young man said. Silence helf reign over the room once more. "And..." Starlight waved her hoof in a circle, "What is your name?" She pointed at him with the same hoof. His eyes lit up. "Oh! Right, uh, m-my name's Jason! I-Sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude just, uhh... ... Please tell me this experience is weird for you too." "Well," She started, "it's not everyday you fall into somepony else's room for no reason." She could see the young man, Jason as she now knew, mouth the word 'pony' in confusion. "Er, I guess it would be someone in your case." "Uh huh," He said, not to anyone in particular. Starlight could see the gears in his head turning, trying to work with what it's being exposed to, she remembered that feeling well. A low growl sounded through the room and she felt her cheeks warm up. Jason obviously heard it too, as he looked staright at her, her ears splaying back even more than before. After noticing her embarrassment, he chuckled, seeming a little more at ease. "Uh, hungry?" Starlight bit her lip, "Maybe just a little." She said. "I ate a pretty light dinner." "Heh." Jason stood back to his full height, Starlight now eye-level with his stomach. "Nothing wrong with a midnight snack I suppose." He walked over to his doorway, hand grasping the corner of the wall. "Want me to make something?" "What?" Starlight stepped back a bit. "No, I could ask you to do that." She heard him chuckle again. "I insist. After all, it's not everyday someone falls into your room for no reason." He looked at the pink pony over his shoulder, a small grin had formed while he spoke. "Or, I guess it would be some pony in your case." So he can tell jokes. Starlight smiled a little as she rolled her eyes. She took a glance at his teeth. Canines and incisors. Something in common with the people in Sunset's world. She nodded her head, "I guess I can indulge a little." She heard Jason chuckle again as she followed him out the door. The hallway was decently short and taller than what a normal Ponyville house would have. Not quite as wide, though. She'd need to poke her head into a room just to turn the other way. Speaking of which, four doorways. The doorways closest to the last room were the only ones with actual doors, and they were adjacent from each other. The next two doors used curtains as well. ---~
~--- Pony. Jason thought. Pony, pony, pony, pony. A talking creature called itself a pony. Talking creature, talking creature, talking creature. Fuck, I still can't wrap my head around this. I have a talking creature in my house, and I just up and invited it to have a snack. Did I have a stroke or something? I feel there has been some universal malfunction. Either that or the hereditary dementia has finally settled in. While he was thinking, he could hear the heavy thumps of Starlight's hooves on his hallway carpet. It was calming in a way. He had only noticed they entered the kitchen when those thumps turned into clops. He turned to Starlight. "You might wanna go ahead of into the living room." Jason said while pointing behind him. "Why's that?" Starlight tilted her head. "Well, one," He lifted a finger, "it could be a minute or two before something is actually made. And two," Another finger, "you're in the way of the fridge door." Starlight looked to her right to indeed see that a refrigerator was right there, put into a little alcove under a cabinet. If the door were to be open, her face would have a very intimate relationship with it. "Oh! Sorry, I'll just get out of your way then." The pink pony said, walking around him and into the living room. She heard him chuckle. "You're beginning to sound like me." "What do you mean?" "My friends have this ongoing list of what I'll say sorry about. Dan says I'm more Canadian than he is." "Um... Canadian?" "Oh, sorry, you probably don't know what that is. The joke is that they say sorry a lot." "Hmm. I understand, I have a friend who's like that." Jason turned his attention back to his fridge. Opening the door, he rummaged around for anything his new guest might like. Fuck, I don't know what there diet is... Her diet... Her teeth were flat like an herbivore, but she could still like cheese for all I know. Vegetarian or vegan? "Hey, Starlight?" "Yes?" "Are you a vegan or a vegetarian?" "Vegetarian." Huh, thought that would be more difficult. He moved condiments and other food stuffs around, settling for some cheese and butter. "How's a grilled cheese sound?" "Wait, you're cooking?" Jason could here more thump-thumping of her hooves hitting the carpet, suggesting she'd be coming his way. "I don't think I could make you cook, that wouldn't be right." "Nonsense, besides, I haven't even had dinner yet." He stood to his full height, placing a few slices of cheese onto the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. He grabbed a bag of white bread and took eight slices out. "You're a guest, just get comfortable and this should be done in a few minutes." "Are you sure I'm not imposing." Starlight wilted a little. "Nah, you're fine." Jason pulled a skillet from inside his oven and placed on the stove, turning it on high. Square off of butter, toss on to skillet, move butter around a bit, place bread on skillet, place cheese on bread, place bread on cheese. He mentally listed off the steps for a grilled cheese, for his own sake so he didn't end up with another mess like last week. "So..." "Yes?" Starlight asked. "You said your name was Starlight... Glimmer? Right?" "Uh, yes." "And you also called yourself a pony?" "Oh, are we trading information?" Starlight perked up a little, "If you want we can do it where you ask a question then I ask a question." "Aight, that sounds fun." Jason pulled the first grilled cheese and prepared a second. "So, can I go on with my second question, or do you want to ask one?" "I'll answer your second one. Yes, I am a pony, an unicorn pony to be exact." Jason paused with the second grilled cheese, he looked at the off-pink pony that was now sitting on his couch. "Unicorn?" "Yes." She nodded. Jason blinked. "Y'know, I don't know why it didn't click in my head sooner," he returned to the grilled cheese, "but that would definitely be what you are." He pulled the second one off, rebuttered the skillet and prepared a third, placing the second on top of the first. "What do you mean?" She tilted her head to the side. Adorable... "Well, you're an equine with a horn on her head. That's pretty much a unicorn. It just didn't register in my head that what I was talking to was a union." "Union?" "Shut up, I meant to say unicorn." He pointed his spatula at Starlight, causing her to giggle. "Ok, my turn!" Starlight hummed to herself. "Ok, what's that?" Jason had to turn to her to see what she was pointing at. Following her hoof, he looked to his TV, the menu screen of XenoVerse 2 on full display. "That, my equine friend, is known as a television." "It's... Uh... TV for short, right?" "Yes indeed it--Wait, how do you know that?" "I have a friend who has one," Starlight rubbed the back of her neck, "she said she'd show hers to me the next time I came over. Looks like I'm getting to see one now, though." "Huh." Jason pulled the third grilled cheese onto another plate and prepped a final one. "So, this isn't my next question, but it's a question nonetheless. Do you know the just of it?" "Of what? A TV?" "Yep." "From how I remember Sunset put it, she said it uses moving pictures along with sound... I think." "Yeah, that's basically it. Next question, are you pink or purple?" "What?" "Sorry, but that question has been burning a hole in my head for a while." "My coat is a pale purple." "Ah." He pulled the final grilled cheese off and put it onto the second plate. Turning off the stove, he put the skillet in the empty sink, took both plates to the living room, and handed Starlight the freshest one. "Bon appetit." He stood there, waiting for her to grab it. Grab it. Grab. "I did not think this through." Jason said. The plate was covered in a blue glow, causing Jason to yelp and draw his hand back. As he did so, the plate stayed, floating in the air, only dropping an inch or so. The bottom sandwich floated away from the plate towards Starlight's muzzle. She proceeded to take a big ol' chomp out of the corner, leaving toasted crums on the corners of her mouth. She smiled. "Mmm, thish ish good." Her eyes widened and she quickly gulped. "Heh, sorry." A concerned frown found it's way to her face. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." Jason just pointed. "Blue. Float. Plate. Sandwich. Why? How?" "Hm?" A befuddled look graced Starlight's features before realization struck. "Oh, you've never seen magic before!" "When you say magic, I think smoke and mirrors and deception and all that junk! What I'm seeing is candy colored telekinesis!" "Well, you're not wrong." "Could you please explain how you're doing that?" "Sorry," She grinned, tilting her head once more, "but I still have to ask my question first." "Uh, fine, but I still want to know how you do that!" "Will do!" Starlight tapped her chin with a hoof as she presumably thought of a question, continuing to munch on her sandwich. From Jason's perspective, her eyes seemed to have landed on a small table, which contained many things. "Ok, what's this?" A black controller floated toward her in that same blue glow. "That?" Jason asked. "That's just a controller." "A controller?" She narrowed her eyes at it. "What does it control, exactly?" "It doesn't really control anything." Starlight looked to him with confused eyes. Jason put down his sandwiches before raising his hands. "Before you ask another question, do you want me to show you what it does?" "Yes!" She scooted closer, only to scoot back. "Sorry, I got excited." "That's alright, here," he took the controller out of here blue grasp, weirding him out a little, "first, you turn it on by pushing this X button in the center," doing so, the button glew white. He held it up a little, "Now, the controller doesn't really do anything by itself. Instead, it needs to be connected to a game system to really do what it's supposed to do." "Game system?" Starlight tapped her chin again. "I think Sunset said something about owning one. She didn't get to show me it though." "Looks like you're going to get a first hand experience then." He positioned the controller in his hands so Starlight could see a bit more. He explained how the sticks and buttons worked, Starlight making a few connections between it and the arcade systems back in Ponyville. Jason had to laugh at that name, Starlight just left it when he said it sounded silly. She eventually explained to him how magic worked, something about thaumic energy being conducted through the horn. He wanted to know just what thaumic meant when Starlight asked another question, yawning before hand. "How late is it here? You said you hadn't eaten dinner yet earlier, so it can't be that late, right?" "It's about," Jason pushed the center button on his controller, looking at the displayed time, "three forty-two in the morning." "What!?" Starlight jumped off the couch to her hooves. "How long have I been awake!?" "Last time I checked the time was, like, three hours ago, but I was still getting blasted around then. I'd say you've been here about, maybe an hour, hour and fifteen minutes at most." "I need to get home." Starlight walked passed Jason and through his kitchen, Jason following behind. "I need to get back to sleep." "Yeah, I can understand that, but why are we going back here, though?" "I fell out of the mirror back here." She stated matter-of-factly. Jason stopped walking, gears turning in his head. Starlight must've heard the lack of steps behind her because she turned her head to look at him, mostly because she couldn't turn her whole body. "Are you ok?" "You said you fell out of the mirror?" "Yes. I did just say that." Jason blinked at this. "Why, is it not supposed to do that?" "What is the name of your world?" Jason asked. "Oh, well I already told you I live in a small town called Ponyville. The planet I live on is called Equus, nation, Equestria." Jason remained silent for a few seconds. "... No way..." "Uh, what was that?" "Y... You... Came from the mirror?" "Yes?" Starlight took a step back, or forward rather. "I thought I said that already." "It works!?" Jason stepped back, nearly falling over, but caught himself on the edge of a door way. Be careful, alien guests are still guests. He thought. "No freaking way! You're telling me my mirror actually works!?" "Um... Yes?" Starlight stuck her rear end in one of the rooms, doing a k-turn to face Jason properly. "Why, did you do something to it?" "Uh... Uhh..." He slapped his face with both hands, dragging them down his face. "Ok, so, earlier today, much, much earlier today, my friends and I did this stupid little ritual in a building with that mirror," he pointed to his room, "and nothing happened. No one else wanted the mirror so I took it here, to my place, and wow I have a magic freaking mirror in my room! "Wait," Starlight pleaded, "you said you weren't familiar with Equestrian magic, why would you go and try to make a portal to Equestria? "That's the thing!" He pointed at his room again. "It wasn't supposed to go to Equestria! It was supposed to be a portal to Hell!" His arm dropped back to his side. "At least, that's what the instructions said." "What's Hell?" Starlight cocked her head a bit. "Uhhh... Do you have religions where you're from?" "Only a few, some of them either haven't gotten much ground or just don't go anywhere." "Huh, kinda the opposite here. We have dozens of religions, two of the most prevalent ones contain a part of the afterlife known as Hell. To make a long explanation short, when you've been bad and die, your soul is sent to Hell to rot and burn for eternity." "Yikes! That's a bit much, isn't it?" "You're criticising a religion that also has a God that will smite you if you use his name in vain." "Yeesh." Starlight lowers her head a little, then raises it again with a questioning look. "Why would you want to go there in the first place?" "Personally," Jason began, "I don't believe in Hell. I just wanted to see if anything would happen." He clapped his hands together. "And now I have a portal to another planet and slash or dimension! This is absolutely crazy!" "So, you created this mirror portal just earlier today, right?" "I'd say before breakfast, yeah." "Hmm..." With her rear still in one of the rooms, Starlight rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Yeah?" "That was a little bit before I got my new mirror." She stopped her chin rubbing session. "I'm going to have to ask Trixie where and how she found it." "Why's that?" "She's the one that got the mirror in the first place. I thought she just had one lying around, but if the mirror portal was only created today..." Starlight trailed off. "Hey, for all we know, the mirror itself might have actually existed long before the portal was made." "That's also a fair point." Starlight, pulling her rear from one of the off rooms, headed back for Jason's. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later." She paused mid step. "Actually, could you help me up into the mirror, your drawers won't open and I'm too tired to levitate myself right now." "Huh? Oh, sure." Jason followed the pale purple unicorn back to his room, the curtain still drawn. "And what do you mean my drawers won't open, they should be fine." "Well..." Starlight absentmindedly rubbed her other leg with a hoof, biting her lip, "I panicked when I heard you say something, so I tried opening your drawers to use them as steps so I could go back through the mirror and hopefully not be sent to jail or prison or... Where ever it is ponies who break and enter get sent to. So I tried opening the drawers and they wouldn't open. I was also trying not to break them, so I didn't exactly pull all that hard, either. "Here," As they entered the room, Jason pointed to a thin, brown, wooden shelf stuck between the built-in dresser and the green dresser. Almost indistinguishable from the wall. "The drawers were blocked off by this." "Oh... Hehe... Woops." Starlight watched Jason pull the shelf from it's place, putting into a closet right next to the built-in dresser. After that, he pulled the drawers out for her. "Here you go." "Thanks." Starlight hopped up the drawers onto the top and gave a small wave to Jason. "See you again." "See ya." Jason gave a two fingered salute as he watched Starlight walk through the mirror as if it were water. No, He thought, not water, more like a Stargate. He returned to the living room, clicking away on his Xbox for YouTube and setting it on a Game Grumps playlist to fall asleep too. A random thought flew through his head, Starlight, Sunset, Trixie... One of these is not like the other. ---~
~--- Starlight reemerged back on her side of the mirror, being careful not to step on anything this time. Hopping down, she looked at it. The blue shimmer was no longer there, looking like any other mirror, excluding the hexagon pattern in the center. "I wonder if I can still put my pictures on it." She said, absentmindedly. Using her magic, pictures of her friends floated from her nightstand over to her. She took one in her hoof and pushed it up to the mirror, it didn't go through. She bit her lip, grabbing the picture in her magic again, she moved it and placed her hoof on the mirror, it went through. She let out a sigh of relief as she stacked the pictures in front of her mirror, I'll put them up tomorrow... Or, later today, I suppose. She hopped into her bed, pulling the covers over her as she yawned. Snuggling up, a thought ran through her head, Should I see Trixie first and ask her about the mirror, or tell Twilight about the mirror first?