//------------------------------// // 2 Informative Saturdays // Story: When the Sun Met the Moon and the Stars Collided // by Snowmanmelting //------------------------------// Twilight's expectations on how to get up the next day proved to be too much. And she didn't even have an idea what they were, exactly. It surely must have been some unconscious manifestation. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that she remembered half of what happened the day before. Too much information to process, too many facts, an excessive amount of instructions to remember, and various introductions ended up making her head pure chaos. Twilight could have a very good capacity for retention and memory, but even for her, it proved to be too much. Especially when, at the same time, she was trying to forget about other things. The effect of the painkillers had already passed, so when she woke up, she was hit with a five-second panic and a wave of pure pain as she suddenly tried to get up. Until a quick look reminded her of where she was and she lay back on the bed with forcibly relaxed muscles. Twilight wasn't the type of po-- person who found it hard to get up, or who liked to stay in bed before getting ready for the day. Maybe it was because she always stayed late for some reason or another, and when she woke up it was in time or about to fall behind schedule. However, this time it took a few minutes to gather the will to move. Not only because of that wave of anguish that together with the pain kept her tied to the bed. But also because the sheets were comfortable, soft, and very warm. At least she had managed to rest more than any previous day. She should thank Sunset Shimmer for insisting that she sleep in her bed. After finally gathering the will to get up, Twilight decided to comb what would probably be a messy mane with her fingers. She didn't feel like going to the bathroom because it meant looking in the mirror and ruining the neutral mood she had. Having an eye without being able to function in the right way was more than enough. "Good morning..." she greeted after checking that it was around ten o'clock in the morning. Sunset Shimmer returned the greeting from the living room table, never looking up from the papers in front of her. And since there was no sign of Celestia, Twilight decided to occupy the seat next to the girl as discreetly as possible. Her violet eyes watched with curiosity what seemed to have her so busy. It didn't take long to discover that it was level five Algebra according to the book on the side of the table. But the formulas that the redhead wrote at full speed on the paper were too familiar. They reminded Twilight of her time at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and the Spell Theory classes. The intermediate ones, the advanced ones had much more complex limits. Twilight continued to watch and swallow the effervescent curiosity of asking the purpose of magic formulas if in this world magic was supposed to be nonexistent. Were there exceptions? Could it be reduced to a specific group in particular? Or is it that they were subject to variability according to species, as in Equestria? If this was the case, then the chances of reopening the portal could be greatly amplified. "...Twilight?" The girl in question left her trance, looking up at a now clear space since everything had been organized in a neat pile in a corner, to meet the expectant look of Sunset Shimmer. She didn't have to give any kind of response to make it clear that she had no idea what the question was. "I'm gonna make some oatmeal with milk and honey. Do you like it? If not, I can make you something else..." the redhead repeated slowly. Twilight just gave a little nod. "That would be fine. Thank you." The redhead mimicked her affirmative gesture, and without further ado went to the kitchen a few meters behind her initial position. The apartment didn't have big spaces in comparison to the typical Equestrian architecture, but was a size comfortable enough to put several furniture without obtaining the sensation it reduced much of the space. It was more than enough for two people to live in, or maybe three if necessary changes were made. Three, thought the purple-haired girl. Not knowing whether to feel guilty for breaking into the daily lives of the inhabitants of the home or grateful to whoever was the deity of this world for having such luck. Sunset Shimmer reappeared in a short time with two bowls of oatmeal and, after a second trip, with a couple of spoons, ground cinnamon and a pot of honey. "So, did you sleep well?" asked the redhead while throwing a small spoonful of each item to her breakfast. "Yes." Twilight decided to put her last mental note into practice before she forgot it. "Thanks, again." The other girl just nodded as a sign that it was nothing, like the night before. She was definitely more grateful for being lucky enough to run into such nice people. The only sound that followed for a couple of minutes was that of the metal spoons against the ceramic bowls, the ticking of the clock, and more occasionally, the quick sound that was reproduced by the... cell? No, cell phone, or something like that. Those rectangular touchscreen objects that everyone interacted with constantly, everywhere, at all times. Twilight didn't understand exactly what they did, what made them so valuable and indispensable to everyday life, or why it was so important to own one. "I suppose you have a few questions, right?" Said the redhead once she put aside the technological device, taking her out of the self-absorption again. A few was a very vague and short word to describe the complexity of her insatiable curiosity as intense as a headache, which fortunately was starting to die a little. Millions, would be, a more appropriate term. In another moment, she would have packed the girl with questions. Thousands of questions about this universe and how it's magic worked —if it existed, based on what she saw a few minutes ago— their customs and culture, technological advances, the political system... She could write hundreds of books, reports or monographs on each subject! Twilight had paid attention to all her surroundings since crossing the portal, taking mental notes of every detail. But if she had to start somewhere, among so many things, she was most curious about since the previous night was how Sunset Shimmer had ended up here. The mirror portal was in a rather unusual section in the Canterlot Castle, and only someone with regular access could have found it. Of course, there was the possibility that five years ago it was located in a different place, but it was clear that it wasn't of public knowledge. Still, she didn't have the slightest right nor was it her business to ask, having met her less than twenty-four hours ago. Therefore, she crossed it off the endless list and went back to digging for something else of real relevance. One appeared, or rather several, that she hadn't been able to solve after all these days and that she had unconsciously pushed to the bottom of her memory. Not as deep as certain other facts. But let's say that it being a trigger for her bad decisions, Twilight preferred to take it as something light that would be solved later on its own. It was time to test if it really would be like that. If there was any small chance of being able to return home. "Is it okay if I ask, what you know about... about the portal?" Sunset Shimmer blinked in surprise for a second, before recomposing and continuing as she did two minutes ago. "Well... I know that it opens for about three days every... thirty? Yes, thirty moons. I can't tell you if there are more, I haven't encountered any." Thirty moons. Thirty moons were equal to two and a half years. She couldn't go back to Equestria, her home, for thirty moons, for two and a half years. And worst of all, Twilight wasn't surprised. She had no idea why, maybe it had to do with the fact that the portal was closed when she found it again and that was when she decided to take a route in the opposite direction of the previous one that resulted in the worst decision in the history of worst decisions she could have ever made, not only in the last month but in her whole life because she chose to stay with that stupid positivism that the sun would come out at any moment and everything would end well perfect and radiant but resulted in-- "Are you okay?" She wasn't surprised. Not with the portal, nor her attitude, nor the consequences. She wasn't surprised at all. On the contrary, it was so, so obvious. Twilight swallowed almost without chewing an entire spoonful of her breakfast. She was in a neutral mood today, she didn't want to ruin it. She wasn't going to ruin it. As much as the involuntary tear that escaped her left eye tried to prove otherwise. Twilight placed a hand on her cheek to cover it, pretending to rest her head on her hand. "Yeah, it's nothing..." she mumbled, making circles with the spoon in her oatmeal. She was hungry, but now she felt as if her stomach had closed. "You didn't know." It was a statement with a more inquisitive tone than anything else. Twilight denied slowly, not knowing if the headache had finally subsided or if it was the opposite. "The information about portals is in the restricted section of the Canterlot Library. And I couldn't go to the Princess to ask her for permission." Actually, she could have sought her out to inform her of the opening of the portal. Even if the Princess was angry because of the "scandal" that Twilight had been the protagonist of at the rehearsal of her brother's wedding. Would that have been a better option, now knowing this new information? Maybe yes. Or maybe not and she would be still sitting in the same place now. Did it make sense to think about this fifteen days later? No, not at all. Anyway, making a wedding when you had the entire city on high alert about an unknown enemy was absurd. But in Canterlot everyone always liked to give that appearance of peace and self-sufficiency typical of the nobility, even though everyone knew that it was non-existent when it came to the capital of Equestria. "I thought it would open in less time." In much less time, but, again, it didn't surprise her. So for the sake of her mental stability, she decided to shrug her shoulders and dismiss the matter for the moment. "I guess I'll have to get used to this world, then." Besides, it wasn't as if someone on the other side of the mirror cared, no matter how much it hurt. Ergo, the only thing left for her to do was think of a long-term plan. Sunset Shimmer looked at her funny for a second, blinking, before answering. "…Okay." She instantly recomposed as if she didn't want to look much into that subject. "I assume you're going to want some recommendations, then, right?" Twilight tried to nod in the most controlled way possible, to hide her childlike enthusiasm at the thought of learning new things and finally being able to resolve some doubts. "Where do you think should I start?" Improve hand motility? Though she was sure she had improved a lot by learning by imitation and by, well, trial and error. Become familiar with all those technological devices? That was part of their culture in a certain way, right? Sunset Shimmer thought for a moment, biting the tip of her thumb of one hand while drumming the fingers of the other on the table. "The first thing that comes to mind, and I guess you already know this, but... Don't tell people that you come from a parallel dimension, much less that they all are... uh, talking equines." Twilight couldn't help frowning at such a description, even though it had some kind of accuracy. The redhead looked at her with a guilty expression. "Here, magic doesn't exist, it isn't something that can be proven by science or technology. Plus humans are the only ones with the ability of abstract thinking and articulated language. I know for a fact that they won’t take you very seriously." It was nothing that the —Damned? Blissful?— experience didn't show her, but might as well know why exactly. In Equestria, magic manifested itself in all possible forms. One lived with both the internal one and the external that possessed the rest of the living beings that surrounded them. It was natural and could be easily explained through scientific laws and paradigms that applied nothing more than to that reality. If this was a world based on science and technology, where magic had no possible explanation, then it made sense that it was considered as something fictitious and non-existent. Still, when she had the chance, she wanted to find out the exact purpose for the formulas she had seen before. "Another thing is the use of hands." Sunset Shimmer now listed with her fingers. Twilight just watched her, paying close attention and enlisted herself to take mental notes. "I see you take the spoon the right way, so I don’t think you'll spend a lot of time learning how to write." The ex-unicorn nodded, encouraged at the thought of being able to have summaries and notes on a piece of paper. There was a point where certain things were inevitable to forget. Maybe, if she carried a notebook with her, it would be a little simpler. What followed was a little overview of general technology, the basic functions of household appliances, or things already common in society such as television and air conditioning. The importance of the cell phone along with the inter...net, which together were the great communicational tools of the century, and another few questions and answers that Twilight commented on when she felt was the right moment. Despite everything, the morning ended up taking an interesting and positive turn. Sunset Shimmer managed to ease several of her doubts regarding cultural behavior. And about an hour and a half later, both teenagers found themselves involved in a lively conversation. Unfortunately, when it came for Twilight to inquire about her human counterpart, Celestia arrived with lunch and they were forced to change the subject. Anyhow, there was time for that and many more questions, she would be here for two and a half years. But this time she would do things right, take slow steps. She would think the possibilities over and over again, to then evaluate all the possible options and work out a plan on how to live here until the portal opened up again. After all, the worst had already happened, the best and most logical thing to do was to leave it all behind and simply move on.