"Or it could happen right now, that's cool too." Jason threw his arms up a bit, letting them land at his sides. Starlight raised her hoof.
"Uh, is now a bad time?" Her eyes shifted between Jason and a silent Davis.
"I mean, there really isn't a good time for this type of thing. Y'know, multidimensional mirrors and all that." Jason gestured toward the mirror to make his point. He looked over to Davis and held back a snicker. Davis currently had his jaw on the floor, occasionally moving his lips as if to form words, a shaky hand pointed at Starlight. "Better be careful, flies think open mouths are free real estate." He heard a sound come from Davis.
"Pi... Tiny pink creature... From mirror..." Davis said.
"I'm not pink, I'm purple." Starlight retorted. After she said that, a second creature (Pony, Jason remembered) planted it's own darker purple hooves onto Jason's dresser. This one also had a horn, though it looked an inch longer than Starlight's, she had purple eyes and seemed to have flat bangs. Said bangs were a deep purple, having a two tone pink highlight near the center. Upon a closer look, Jason noted that she also stood an inch or two taller than Starlight, and had a more prominent chest. Would they even use the word 'chest'? They probably have there own word for it, but I'm still gonna call it a chest until they say otherwise. The eyelashes lead Jason to believe it was female too.
"Wow, you look even more pink when something that's a darker shade of purple shows up." Jason said, gesturing to the newer pony on his dresser, earning a pout from Starlight. "So, who's your friend here?"
"Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said, causing Jason to silently snicker. "It's a pleasure to meet you..." She pointed a hoof at Jason, "You're Jason, right?" He stood up.
"Yes indeed I am." He then pulled his friend up by the shoulder, "And this is my bud Davis."
"Did..." Davis spoke, a blank expression upon his face, "did you, like... Drug me, or, something?" Jason gave him a deadpan look.
"Do I look like the type of guy who'd have anything but super specific medication?" Jason raised his hands, giving them a slight shake, almost like jazz hands. "Because of course sleep medication is gonna make you see candy colored unicorns."
"Actually," Twilight spoke up, "I'm an alicorn." This caused Jason to pause and slowly, ever slowly turn his head to her.
"I... I'm sorry," he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "an ali-what?"
"An alicorn," She continued, "a pony that has traits from all three pony tribes, pegasus, unicorn, and Earth pony." Jason blinked.
"Ok... I know what pegasi and unicorns are, but what in the Hell are Earth ponies? Are they ponies that are from this side of the mirror or...?" Jason trailed off.
"Earth ponies are ponies that don't have wings or horns, but they make up for it with their strength and endurance, they're also the best ponies when it comes to farming." Twilight stated, almost as if she had written this down and recited it.
"So, in other words," Jason said, "they got the short end of the stick."
"What!?" Both Starlight and Twilight asked in disbelief.
"From what I know, pegasi can fly, and from what I've seen, unicorns have freaking magic." Jason spread his arms, "Being good at farming doesn't even compare to the other two."
"Earth ponies are more than just farmers!" Twilight said with a stomp of her hoof, "Two of my best friends happen to be Earth ponies!"
"Hey, don't get mad at me!" Jason raised his hands up in defense, "I'm just going off of the information you gave me!"
"I..." Twilight started, but then wilted, "yeah, sorry, I guess I can't get mad for that."
"Hey," Starlight spoke up, "if we're already starting our question session, shouldn't we get to a more comfortable location, like, say, the living room?" Jason snapped his finger and pointed at Starlight.
"Excellent idea. Hey, Davis, let's ge-" Jason turned to Davis, only to find him sitting back on the bunk, giving the floor the thousand yard stare. Jason began to snap his fingers near Davis' face. "Hey, hey, hello, Earth to Davis." Jason heard one of the ponies behind him whisper 'Earth?' to the other. Whether it was Starlight or Twilight, he didn't know. Davis'eyes lit back up as he swatted Jason's hand away.
"Ok," Davis said, "I can now see why you couldn't explain why you brought me back here. This is... Pretty impossible to explain and still feel sane afterwards." He looked up toward Starlight. "So, you're the unicorn in this situation?"
"Uhh... Yes? Why do you ask?" Starlight nodded.
"And you were here last night?"
"More like seven hours ago," Jason said, "but yeah."
"So... Jason?"
"Yes?"
"Was that dream you told me you had, not a dream?"
"Looks like it." Davis rubbed his forehead to this.
"Oh my God, you fed an interdimensional alien a fucking grilled cheese?" He said, causing Starlight to tilt her head and Twilight to loudly gasp.
"F-F-F-Forbidden word..." Twilight said.
"What?" Jason and Starlight asked.
"D-During Princess Celestia's reign, she made a c-countless amount of words forbidden... That was one of th-th-them."
Jason didn't exactly know how to respond to this. Being against government enforced censorship, he really wanted to comment on the word ban, but the fact that it was during a princess's reign just threw him for a loop. He could hear the two self proclaimed ponies whispering to each other, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts. During a princess's reign... So, when a princess was in charge of the nation... Since when the fuck is a princess in charge of anything?
"Yeah, we should get to the living room if we're going to do this," Jason rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the clock, "I have a feeling this may take a while."
---~<T>~---
"One thousand years?" Jason asked as he gawked at the two ponies. "I have several questions, most of them starting with 'why' and 'how'."
"Actually," Twilight continued, "we just recently celebrated her one thousand one hundred and eleventh year of ruling Equestria."
"Oh my God," Jason said, still gawking, "so she's like a tardigrade."
"Tardigrade?" Twilight asked. The group had been asking and answering questions back and forth for the past half hour, with the Xbox on it's home screen. Starlight and Jason got comfortable in their previous spots while Twilight had a quill and piece of parchment in her magical grasp, a tiny inkwell floating next to her as well. Davis, meanwhile, decided to just hang back and sit on the corner of the couch Jason was at. Jason noted their saddle bags; Starlight's being filled with odd thin sheets of cloth and sticks, while Twilight's were absolutely loaded with the rough paper. Said saddle bags were sitting off in the corner of the room, allowing the interdimensional occupants to get comfortable.
"Yeah," Jason said, "it's like a weird, microscopic creature that can live in any environment and live. I think it also has the longest lifespan of anything on this planet, but I could be wrong."
"Wow." Twilight said as she scritch-scratched onto her parchment. "I wonder how similar the world Sunset lives in is to this one."
"I'd say it's very similar." Starlight said. "They have phones and game systems here. Not to mention we're talking to people right now."
"That reminds me," Twilight turned her attention back to Jason, "what's the scientific name for people?"
"Wait, for what?"
"People, you're species?" Twilight tried to egg him on.
"Uhh, people isn't the name of our species." Jason said with a shake of his head.
"I-It's not?"
"No, our species is human, and the scientific name for human is homo sapien." Jason stated.
"O-Oh." Twilight dragged her quill across the parchment and made a few more scritches onto it. Starlight gave a quiet 'huh' as Twilight gave her a look. "We'll need to ask Sunset what the people in her world are called. Just in case."
"Okie doke, my turn." Jason said as he clapped his hands. "This is, like, the fourth or fifth time I've heard the name 'Sunset', who is she?"
"Sunset's our friend," Starlight began, "she lives in a world incredibly similar to this one." Davis lifted his head and deadpanned at the two ponies.
"And with that piece of info, I can guess this isn't your first time fucking with the boundaries between worlds." Davis' curse caused Twilight to gasp again, but this time a bit more quietly. "And can you stop gasping everytime I say 'fuck'?" Twilight went to gasp, but quickly covered her muzzle with her hooves.
"I-It's just... Princess Celestia must've banned that word for a reason. Everytime you say it, I feel like this house is gonna collapse into itself!" Twilight whisper-yelled as her wings flared out.
"Actually," Starlight gained Twilight's attention, "I've never even heard of that word before today, and I've never heard of Princess Celestia banning words at all."
"That's because the words have almost been forgotten entirely, only her closest staff and students know of the list of forbidden words. Well, staff, students, and family. It wouldn't surprise me if Cadance and Princess Luna knew them."
"In other words," Jason began, "she's almost succeeded in her nation-wide censorship." He started rubbing his stubble as Davis looked to him.
"If I know you, and I do, you don't like this one bit." Davis said, only getting a nod from Jason in return.
"Is there a problem?" Twilight asked. Jason waved his hand in response.
"Let's change the subject. I think it was your turn to ask a question."
Starlight straitened up and bit her lip, thinking of a question. "Ok, what's with the blankets on the windows?" She gestured around the room with a hoof, "It's kind of unsettling." Davis spoke up.
"Oh, that's because this place turns into an oven during the summer." With a thumb, he pointed to the large blanket that hung behind the couch he and Jason sat on. "This window especially sucks between nine AM and nine PM, the sun is at an angle that just shoves light into the room. So the blankets are to try and keep both the light and heat out. Of course, the real problem with this place is that it's exterior is made of metal, so it both attracts heat and traps it inside." He turned to Jason. "I don't know how, but I keep forgetting how shitty this place is." Twilight gave a quiet 'eep' as Davis swore. "Oh don't you tell me shit is also a forbidden word."
"The amount of words Princess Celestia banned over the years is enough to fill at least three books." Twilight wilted as she said this. After rubbing the bridge of his nose, Jason took the short silence that followed as an opportunity to ask another question.
"So, are there any other princesses other than this 'Celestia' that keeps popping up."
"Actually, you're talking to one." Starlight said as she wrapped a hoof around Twilight. "Twilight here is the Princess of Friendship!" This, to Twilight's chagrin, earned a quiet snicker from Jason and a stunned look from Davis, one that, very slowly, inched into a smile.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Jason said as he spasmed a bit, keeping himself together. "Princess of what again?"
"Princess of Friendship," Starlight said again, "and yes, we know it sounds silly, but there's also a Princess of Love and a chaotic goat, so we're kind of used to it." Davis immediately stood up, hands raised, and walked through the living room to the kitchen.
"I'm out! I'm out! I'm checking my texts!" Davis spoke as he went down the hall. Both Starlight and Twilight had puzzled looks as they watched Davis leave. They turned to the still snickering Jason.
"If you're wondering about his reaction, he hates goats," Jason explained, "he says they're the spawns of Satan, but I personally believe spiders are the spawns of Satan."
"Who's Satan?" Twilight asked.
"One of the names of the Devil." Jason shrugged as he spoke. "Either that or some other demonic entity that has been mistakenly associated with the Devil over the centuries."
"Devil?" Starlight tilted her head.
"Haven't explained that either it seems, uhh..." Jason began snapping to try and jog up an explanation. "Starlight, remember when I told you what Hell was?" She nodded in response. "Ok, the Devil is basically the ruler slash prisoner of Hell. He's like a prison king of sorts... Only this prison happens to be filled with fire and brimstone."
"Hell?" Twilight asked.
"Oh! I can answer this!" Starlight said as she turned to Twilight. "Hell is kind of like Tartarus, except souls go there to be punished for eternity."
"That... Sounds like what happened to Tirek, actually." Twilight looked into the corner of her vision, tapping her chin. Starlight looked down as she blinked.
"Tirek... Tirek... That name sounds familiar but I can't place it."
"Tirek was a prisoner of Tartarus," Twilight rubbed her leg as she seemed to recall something. At least to Jason it looked like she was recalling something. "He escaped a while ago and wreaked havoc across Equestria, stealing the magic from Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. He stole the magic from my friends... He also stole Discord's chaos magic. It was a miracle we even beat him and sent him back to Tartarus." Twilight looked down. "He's also the reason I don't have a house anymore."
Well that was an info dump. Jason thought.
"Wait, you used to live in a house?" Starlight asked.
"Yes, well, it was a library, but it also functioned as a house." Twilight heard Starlight giggle.
"Is it rude to say it's more believable to see you living in a library than a proper house?" Starlight asked with a kind smile, showing Twilight that she meant nothing by it. Twilight and Starlight had turned their attention to Jason, noticing that he was just staring at the two of them. He absentmindedly scratched his stubble and was about to say something before Davis walked back into the kitchen.
"Alright, I think I'm composed now." Davis looked over to the two ponies sitting on the couch opposite of the TV. "... On second thought, no amount of self-composing would get me ready for this." With that, he once again sat beside Jason.
"I... Damn it, Davis," Jason said, hearing a tiny gasp from Twilight, "you made me forget my question."
"Not my fault you have the attention span of a gold fish." Davis said.
"Says the guy who couldn't spell the word 'ghost' for the first eleven years he was alive." Jason shot back.
"How the Hell was I supposed to know there's an 'h' in 'ghost'?" Davis threw his hands into the air.
"Maybe by looking at any Scooby-Doo thing, like the thirteen ghosts special, that you own." Jason said. Davis looked over to the ponies.
"Do you wanna just ask a question while Jason and I try to think of one?" Davis said.
"Sure," Twilight nodded, "I've actually been wondering what's in front of us." She pointed her hoof to the TV that sat parallel to the couch she and Starlight were sitting on. Starlight's eyes grew, to Jason it looked like she was trying to hold in some excitement. Starlight threw her hoof up, looking to Jason.
"Ooh! Ooh! Can I show her?" Starlight asked excitedly.
"Uhh... Do you remember how to use the controller?" Jason asked, turning on the controller without the broken right stick and handing it over to Starlight, Davis looking on with wide eyes.
"Yep!" As Starlight said this, the controller was wrapped in the blue glow that Jason had associated with Starlight's magic. He noted that the magic felt like putting your hand through a tub of glitter. That was a fun day in first grade. Starlight turned her attention to Twilight. "Oh, this is going to be fun! Now I get to show you something." With her magic, Starlight pushed buttons and flicked sticks, showing Twilight what each button did. The two seemed to be in their own little world as Starlight explained what the controller did and it interacted with the 'Xbox'. Jason just watched as this happened, a small smile forming on his face. He felt like that one kid on the block who got a new Super Nintendo and other children were clammering to play some Mario World.
"Oh my God..." Davis finally said, "you actually showed a fucking alien how to use an Xbox..." Davis paused, not hearing Twilight gasp at the swear was now a new experience to him. "I don't know whether to slap in the back of head or pat you on the back." Jason covered his own mouth. "Dude, are you about to sneeze?"
"No." Jason said behind his hand.
"Then... why?" Davis gestured to Jason's hand.
"I have the biggest grin I've ever had in my life right now." Jason said, his words still muffled a tiny bit. He then gestured to the two ponies. "This has to be the most adorable thing I've seen in my life." Well, not as adorable as a little German Shepherd puppy running around and licking faces, but this is a close second. Jason thought.
"Not as cute as a baby Pitbull running around and licking faces," Davis said with a small smile, "but yeah, I can see what you mean."
"Spotify?" Davis and Jason, hand still covering his mouth, turned to the two ponies once more. "What's that?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know," Starlight shook her head, "Jason didn't show me all of the features on here, just a little of what the controller can do." She turned to Jason and Davis. "What's Spotify?"
"Music app." Davis said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It allows you listen to songs that are available on it."
"What kind of songs!?" Twilight asked with flared wings, sparkles in her eyes.
"Oh, y'know, songs." Davis said as he cocked his head toward Jason.
"I'm sorry," Jason said, "weren't you the one that was getting pissy with me for showing one of them how to use an Xbox? Now you don't have a problem with me showing two of them human music?" Jason didn't hear a noise from Twilight, maybe she was getting accustomed to swearing.
"Y'know, you're right." Davis held his out toward Starlight, whom still had the controller in her magic. "Hand me the controller." Davis said with a smirk.
"Don't you do it." Jason said to Davis. "I don't trust your choice of music."
"Aww, why's that?"
"Because I don't think death metal is exactly the best way to introduce another species to our music."
"Who said anything about death metal?" Davis said, his smirk growing wider.
"Screamo?"
"Nope."
"Thrash?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Then what?"
"Let me have the controller," Davis turned to the two ponies, "and I will show you what I mean."
Starlight looked between Davis and Jason, she seemed to be trying to decide. The intense stare Twilight was giving her didn't seem to be helping either. Jason could see the tension on his otherworldy friend's face, so he waved his hand.
"Alright, fine," Jason sighed, "just don't make it intense. Alright, Davis?"
"Don't worry," Davis said, "I'm sure you'll like the song I pick." Starlight looked to Jason as she gently floated the controller into Davis palm. He opened Spotify and immediately went to the search bar, letting out a small sigh as the keyboard popped up. "I keep forgetting that Xbox and PS4 have different keyboard set up." He turned to Jason, "Cover your eyes." All Jason did was block Davis and the TV from his vision. "That's not covering your eyes."
"I can't see the TV, so I'm pretty sure we're fine." Jason rolled his eyes. It feels like someone decided to shove a stick up his ass... Actually, that would make him happy. Badum-Tsh! He grinned to himself as he closed his eyes, silent chuckles escaping him.
"Know what, whatever, it's not a big deal." Davis said. Jason could hear the flick of the stick and the buttons getting tapped. He's pretty slow with console keyboards, I guess I could ask Starlight another question.
"Hey, Starlight?" Jason asked. Starlight responded by flicking her ear, not taking her sights off of the Tele. Does... Does that mean she's listening? Jason opened his mouth, and paused. Fuck... I can't think of any questions... Guess I'll just do what I usually do. "What would you do if it started to rain chocolate?"
"I would probably find Discord and tell him to stop it." Starlight replied. Jason was quick to speak.
"That's the second time you've mentioned that name..." Jason mumbled under his breath. "Okay, second question-"
"Hey, I still get to ask my question." Starlight swiveled her head to Jason for a second and looked back to the TV. Suddenly, music began to play, this song being incredibly familiar to Jason. He began to clap and stomp to the song, Davis joining him a second after.
"So," Davis said, "you sorry for doubting me?"
"I will always doubt you," Jason said, "and I'll never be sorry for it." Jason stood up as the first verse began. Clapping and stomping, the two friends sang along, only missing a beat here or there. Jason sat back down, resting his legs as he had started pacing sometime before the second verse. He turned to Starlight, "Ok, what was it you wanted to ask?"
"Oh, uh..." Starlight's ears perked up as she looked to the side, only to splay back down. "Sorry, I kinda forgot my question."
"Hey, it's no problem!" Jason said as he scratched his neck. "It happens to the best of us."
"I have a question." Twilight asked in an even tone. Sounds like she's been wanting to ask this one for a while. Jason thought to himself. "How and when did you find the mirror that connects this world" Twilight gestured to the rest of the room, "to our world?" Jason, to his own chagrin, felt a bit intimidated by, what is practically a plush toy come to life.
"Is it me, or did the tone in this room shift a little?" Jason said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "Umm..." He spared a slight glance to Davis.
"Hey, don't look at me!" Davis said, raising his hands. "She asked you!"
"But you were there, too!"
"You funded it!"
"Alright! Fine!" Jason rubbed his shoulder, letting out a sigh. He looked to Twilight as he chewed the inside of his cheek. "Well... Um... Do you want the long or short of it?"
"What ever gets me details." She said as she floated her quill and parchment in front of her.
"Well... Alrighty then." Jason said, rubbing his hands together, sitting forward.
---~<T>~---
"Pillar of fire..." Twilight mumbled to herself, the scritch-scratching of her quill onto rough paper hadn't stopped since Jason started, Davis filling in little gaps here and there, explaining what Jason couldn't, resulting in Twilight having almost an inch thick pile of paper on a turned over basket, alongside a couple of cups of water. "What happened after that?"
"Not a lot, if I'm being honest." Jason sipped his own cup as he sat back down, having paced through the living room and kitchen while he recanted the events. "We just kinda sat there for few seconds to see if anything would happen. Lo and behold! Nothing happened. So we just played games and talked for a while until we had to head back home." His looked to his right, staring into space. "Now that I think about it, it's kind of anticlimactic." He turned back to the ponies. "Anyways, I came home, put the mirror up on my wall, and just goofed off until she plopped out of it," he gestured to Starlight, whom in return looked off to the side to avoid Twilight's gaze, "at least I'm assuming she plopped out, since I was in a different room when it happened. You can ask Starlight for the rest of the details." Davis found this to be a good time to jump in.
"What, you're just going to gloss over the fact the fact that you fed an alien that might have been allergic to anything in this stupid house a fucking grilled cheese." Cue a flinch from Twilight. "Stop that." He turned back to Jason. "Like, I know it's stupid to be harking on it for this long, but the fact still remains."
"Oh, I'm sorry for not exactly knowing how to approach the situation of someone just showing up in my room." Jason responded. "I'll admit, I didn't tackle the situation in the best way... But I was also really tired and hungry, so you can just shut up you fffff" He looked over to the ponies and turned back to Davis, "fflan." Davis, slowly, took a step back, narrowing his eyes at Jason.
"Ok, I can tell what you were intending to call me, but the fact that you called me a flan kinda hurts more somehow."
"Deal with it, you mediocre pastry dish."
Jason heard a thump to his right, Twilight had taken this moment to hop off the couch. "Well, I think that's all we need for now." Within her purple glow, the papers and quill were put back into her saddle bags, said bags being placed on her back, Starlight following suit. "Thank you for your hospitality, but we really must be going." Twilight gave the quickest of bows and forlornly looked to the TV before turning and heading for the back room.
"Well, I guess I'll see ya later, then." Jason just gave a little wave to the two ponies, Starlight returning the sentiment.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back over in a bit..." Starlight looked to Twilight's retreating form, "though it may be with more paper. See you later." Starlight trotted after Twilight, the clops of her hooves sounding against the hard tile of the kitchen before becoming muffled thumps against the hallway carpet. Jason could just barely see the two ponies walk through the mirror, Starlight quickly glancing back then hopping through.
"Ok..." Jason turned to Davis, "now put on some heavy metal."