In a flash, Princess Twilight soon found herself at home in her crystal castle. Landing on all fours, she let out a groan. The portal’s teleportation along with her body changing back into a pony was a dizzying experience. However, she had long gotten used to this. With a simple shake of her head, her dizziness all but vanished.
Relieved by her headache, she glanced back at the crystal mirror. Immediately, she spotted a single shielded twisted cable piercing through the glass. Against all logic, the cable was still in good condition, which was great for Twilight since the cable itself was needed for her experiment to work.
She then looked to her left and saw her prize, a custom built personal computer that was made back in the human world. A rather fancy machine compared to the ones at Canterlot High, but powerful in its own right. And expensive to boot.
“Alright, time to see if everything works,” Twilight said to herself. Using her magic, she gently pressed the on button, causing her computer to roar with life. Of course she already knew it was working. She and Sunset had already built it in the human world with all the necessary applications installed. The only thing left to do was to make sure the internet was working
She glanced over to a nearby desk, which had all the other necessities that made a computer work. A keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor. All high-quality items that she paid with her bits. The other Rainbow suggested she should’ve gotten something more powerful; but Twilight refused, telling her friend that what she had was more than enough.
As the computer slowly began to boot, a knock could be heard from the other side of the room. “Princess, are you there? It’s me, Starlight. Can I come in?”
“I’m here, Starlight,” Twilight replied. “Is Spike with you too?”
“Yes, he’s right next to me.”
“Oh, good timing. I’m just finishing up my latest experiment here. Feel free to come in. There’s a lot I need to show you two.”
The door to the mirror room creaked open, revealing Princess Twilight’s longtime friend and assistant, Spike. Alongside him was Starlight Glimmer, a former enemy of the Princess and her friends. The two have butted heads in the past; however, they’ve made amends after reaching an understanding of one another.
“Wow, it looks like you’ve been… busy,” said Starlight. She gaped at the crystal mirror, then toward the personal computer. “That thing is supposed to be from the human world, right?”
“Yes, it is,” replied Twilight, beaming. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? The humans may not have any magic, but they’ve certainly made it up with the ability to innovate. Thousands of people use these machines, whether it be for everyday life or entertainment.”
Curious, Spike approached the PC and began to examine the machine. “I remember seeing these things when we first visited Canterlot High, but I don’t remember them being as big as this.”
“That’s because this PC has much more capabilities compared to the ones CHS uses. Not only is this thing capable of daily activities, but it can also stream movies and play games!”
Starlight cocked a brow. “Streaming movies? Playing games? What exactly are you talking about, Princess?”
“I’ll explain everything in due time, Starlight. Right now, I just need to make sure everything is working exactly the way I want it to. And please, call me Twilight.”
“Uh… okay? Do any of your friends know about this computer?”
“I plan on telling them once I finish things up here. I just got to make sure one last component works before I go.”
“If it’s okay, Twilight, I can go get our friends for you,” said Spike.
“That’ll be helpful, Spike, thank you. Just tell the girls to meet me at my castle in the next hour, all right.”
With Twilight’s consent, Spike left the mirror room, leaving the two mares by themselves with the computer. Curious, Starlight approached the large device and began to ask more questions. “Say, Twilight, what did you mean when you say humans use these things as part of their everyday lives? Does it provide a kind of spell that makes life easier or something?”
Twilight shook her head. “Oh, no. Nothing like that, Starlight. It’s like I said, humans have no magical capabilities whatsoever. However, they made up for that shortcoming by their use of technology.”
“Okay, I get that, but how does this thing work?”
Twilight paused for a bit as she pondered on how to answer her pupil’s question. “Alright, how about this. Say for example somepony here in Ponyville wants to send a letter, using no magic, to his family who lives in Vanhoover. What they usually do is write up that letter, seal it up in an envelope, and go to the post office to send it. That letter itself can take up to several days or perhaps weeks to get to its destination, provided that there are no delays.”
Starlight blinked. “Then what the heck does this thing do? Send the letter in an instant?”
“Correct!” replied Twilight, causing her pupil’s eyes to go wide. “This device has the capabilities of sending letters instantly with a click of a button. Although there are some requirements that must be made first, it’s a common feature humans use for their machines.”
“So, it's just like how you used to write letters to Princess Celestia? Excluding the whole dragon fire thing?”
“Yup!”
“But how could any pony write a letter on this thing?” asked Starlight as she gawked at the machine. “There’s nothing here I can write on.”
“You use this item right here,” Twilight replied. Using her magic, she lifted the keyboard off of her computer desk, revealing it to her student. “Notice that most of these buttons have letters and numbers? You can use these to spell out words, calculations or all kinds of stuff. Compared to writing on a piece of paper, this thing is much easier to use.”
“But where will the words go? I don’t see any paper here.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. It appeared that she needed a more hands on approach for this type of explanation.
She looked back at the monitor and saw the computer had finished booting. “Okay, Starlight, why don’t I just show you the capabilities of this machine instead of explaining everything all at once? You think that might help?”
Starlight shrugged. “Uh… sure, why not?”
Twilight smiled. As she placed the keyboard back down on the desk, she grasped the mouse and began to move it with her magic. “Pay attention to what’s on the screen, Starlight.”
After a few clicks the screen flashed a strange blue symbol before changing it again into an empty white page. Grasping the keyboard again, Twilight began pressing a few buttons. She didn’t type much, but it was enough to show her student an example of what the PC could do.
“Incredible,” said Starlight. “The letters… they all appear in an instant.”
“That’s correct,” replied Twilight. “By using this keyboard, I can write down more words than even the fastest writer in Equestria.”
“It’ll certainly make writing letters much faster, that’s for sure. But how would you even send these letters in the first place? Didn’t you say it was instant?”
“That is an explanation for another time, Starlight. I’ll tell you more about that when our friends arrive.” Suddenly, Twilight let out a yawn as the weight of exhaustion befell on her entire body. “As for me, I’m feeling a bit tired.”
“You’ve been working all morning?” asked Starlight.
“I woke up early so that I could work with Sunset and my counterpart. It took us all morning, but I think everything is all set up. I just need a little nap before everypony gets here.”
“Should I teleport you to your room then? Make things a little quicker?”
“That would be helpful, Starlight, thank you. Just promise me you won’t use the computer just yet, alright? There’s still a couple of things I need to check before I begin my presentation with the girls.”
Starlight nodded as her horn began to flicker. In a split second, she and Twilight pop out of the room, leaving it empty.