//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Dr. Drake 
// Story: Visitor from Another World 
// by Novus Ordo Seclorum 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2

Dr. Drake

Dr. Pascal Drake, PhD, had never experienced as much kindness from his peers, who had known him for years, as he was receiving from the three mares tending to him, who had known him for all of four hours. I could learn a thing or two from these ponies, he thought. Me and the rest of the Earth.
As he struggled toward consciousness, he heard a voice speaking. It sounded feminine, and had a light Canadian accent. (He immediately dismissed this thought; these equines wouldn't know Canada from Cambodia.) Listening more closely, he began to make out individual words.
“…and the results were astounding! I could see into the worlds of Harry Potter, Eragon, even Jason Bourne! Why, the implications of this are just incredible! We’re talking—”
Finally finding his voice, Dr. Drake spoke up. “Are you in the habit of reading other people’s journals without asking permission?”
All three ponies almost jumped out of her respective fur when he spoke. Dr. Drake managed to catch the book as the purple unicorn dropped it. He replaced it in his satchel as the two pegasi and the unicorn gradually calmed down.
“Oh,” the pink-maned pegasus stammered nervously, “y-you’re awake.”
“Yes, I’m awake.” Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out his spectacles and put them on. “Now, I believe introductions are in order. I am Dr. Pascal Drake, PhD, MIT graduate, and ambassador from Earth to…this planet. And you are…?”
“Oh, I’m Twilight.”
“I’m Fluttershy.”
“And I’m Rainbow Dash!”
Jotting these notes down in his journal, Dr. Drake said, “Hmm…I feel like I've heard those names before….” His voice trailed off, and he pulled his laptop out of his satchel. He was shocked to see that he was still receiving the strong Wi-Fi signal from his lab. At least they haven’t destroyed that, he thought with grim satisfaction.
Her curiosity piqued, Twilight asked, “What is that? I've never seen anything like it.”
Dr. Drake glanced up briefly, and then resumed his search. “On my world, we call these ‘laptops’. They are a form of portable computer. Do ponies have computers?”
Twilight looked even more perplexed. “What’s a computer?”
Dr. Drake smiled slightly. “That’s a no, then.” He paused from his work to address her directly. “Imagine every single book, song, and basically iota of information, stored in a virtual database.”
“That would be incredible!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Maybe for an egghead,” Rainbow said to Twilight, earning herself a hoof in the ribs.
Ignoring Rainbow, Dr. Drake continued. “On Earth, we call it the World Wide Web. Web, because it connects every computer in the world! A computer being a machine that can be used to determine things, that is. And, the actual connection, we call the Internet.”
A small pop from his laptop caught his attention. Glancing down, he saw that his computer was done searching. He scrolled down to a Wikipedia link, and clicked on it. “Hmm,” he said, “that must be where I've heard those names!”





“No. Freaking. WAY!”
Rainbow’s elated shout made Dr. Drake cringe. The physicist had always had sensitive ears; it was a wonder he hadn't stopped playing violin yet. In a moment of panic, he wondered if he had left his violin in the lab, until he saw on top of his trunk, near the door to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Rubbing his ears, he said, “Well, yes, to a moderately small portion of my world, you all are very famous.” He closed his eyes in concentration. “My younger sister, Megan, watched this show all the time when she was about eight years old, and I was about fourteen. That was twenty years ago.” He opened his eyes.
“In my world, Earth, every single pony in Equestria is regarded as no more than fiction. Megan wanted me to change that. So I drew up plans for a pan-dimensional traveling device. I was never serious about it until a couple years ago, when I decided to just go for it. As you can see, it worked!”
“Really?” Twilight asked, sounding excited.
“Which one of us was…your sister’s favorite?” Rainbow asked energetically.
Dr. Drake rubbed his forehead. “I don’t remember, it was twenty years ago; that’s about 7300 days!” He thought about what he just said. “Okay, that was really nerdy, but my point is that it was over half of my life ago. I suppose she might remember if I asked her, but as of right now, I can’t.”
“Why not?” Twilight inquired.
“I was going to wait until I had a stronger signal from this world; the stronger the signal, the less energy I need to connect to it. I ended up using a lot more fuel than I planned on, and I am now out.”
“Why couldn't you wait?”
Dr. Drake started. “I…I…”
Fluttershy, finally speaking up, said, “I think we've asked him enough questions for now. If you need somewhere to stay, you can stay here.”
Despite his distress, Dr. Drake managed a smile. “I don’t want charity, but I will pay it off to you somehow.”
Fluttershy smiled back. “I’ll think of something.”


From the journal of Dr. Pascal Drake, PhD

I do not know what the date is today, and I don’t care. It has been five days since I arrived in this world, and I now have a more permanent residence then Fluttershy’s cottage. I have been thinking about a way to get home, so I am developing an Elemental Sweeper: a device that will sweep the ground for iron, copper, chromium, nickel, cobalt, and other important metals. While I will be searching for a substance that will store enough energy to get me home, I might as well enjoy myself! So, I will be building a…new mode of transport. Drake, out.

Dr. Drake