Chapter 1: The Basics
Alright, let’s start off simple. You’re not in Kansas anymore, kid. The first thing you should know is that you are on the planet Equus, probably in the country of Equestria.
For some reason the English language, written and spoken, lines up almost exactly with the Equuish language that the entire world of Equus speaks and writes. I know that can be kind of mind boggling, but that brings me to my first topic of discussion.
Section 1: Don't Think About It
Yes, you read that correctly. As much as I'd like to pass that off as a joke (and normally I would), it is for the sake of your own sanity that if you see or hear something that you just can't believe, don't think about it. You'll save yourself a lot of sleep that way. I would be a liar if I said I didn't lay awake at night thinking about some of the 'cursed image' level shit I've personally seen since I got here. I'm not sure if Jay is the same in that regard, but I somehow doubt it. I'm not sure he has the brain capacity to come up with a decent 'yo mama' joke, let alone question his own existence. Anyway, I'm getting off topic.
One of the things you absolutely need to know about this world falls under this category. Everyone and their mom knows this here except you, so I'm going to use it as an example so you don't get totally blindsided by it when it inevitably comes up in conversation. It's a bit of a doozy, so prepare yourself. Are you ready?
Equus follows the geocentric astrological model. That means not just the moon, but the sun too rotates around the planet.
Now here's the real kicker. You know those tall ponies sporting the wings and horns, aptly named Luna and Celestia? They control the celestial bodies that rotate around the planet. I'll give you three guesses as to which one drags what flying ball of death through the sky every day.
Now that that has hopefully sunken in, you see the point I'm trying to make. Sometimes, blissful ignorance is preferable.
Just don't think about it. It's healthier for you that way.
Section 2: Magic
Magic is a thing here. I'm not talking about good ol' sleight of hand either. Actual magic, like you'd read about in a fantasy novel, is real here. I have no idea if magic exists back home and we just can't access it, or if our homeworld is completely devoid of what the natives consider a basic building block required for life to form.
I'll get in depth with this topic later, but what you need to know about it for now is that it exists. If you haven't seen it yet, ask Luna to levitate something for you. You see that colorful aura surrounding the floating object and Luna's horn? That's magic. And before you ask, no. You can't perform magic. We've tried. Numerous times. It sucks, I know, but think about it this way. No other race on Equus can perform magic either, just ponies, and the majority of them can't do it in the way you just saw. Hope that makes you feel a bit better about it.
Or you could just not think about it. That works too.
Also, you should probably pick your jaw up off the floor. You're gonna let flies in.
Section 3: The Species of Equus
Once again, I'll get into this more later, but here's the rundown. Unlike Earth, where humans are the only sentient beings on the planet, Equus is home to many species that can talk back. This list includes ponies (obviously), minotaurs, gryphons, dragons, zebra, etc.
As a rule of thumb, any mythological creature you can think of probably exists here, and there's about a 50/50 shot that it can hold an intelligent conversation with you.
I think that should do it for the basic stuff. There's plenty more I could go over, but I don't want this chapter to be overly long and in depth when I'll be covering this stuff in more detail later.
Just remember. Don't think about it.