“Hello,” the biped replied, a bewildered look on its face. “I… uh… I’m sorry, but what exactly are you? And, well, can we have this conversation on the ground?”
Twilight was confused for a second, until she realized that the biped probably would hurt itself falling this distance. Slowly descending, she watched as it, she assumed male by the deeper voice, pulled out a shiny blue pickaxe and broke the pillar, one cube at a time. Once they both were on the ground, Twilight introduced herself.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, princess of Equestria,” she said. “I’m the youngest alicorn in the land, and I used to bear the duty of the Bearer of the Element of Magic. I’m here to research this world and its inhabitants.” The biped nodded as he collected his weapons, storing them in pouches on his belt for future use. “I’m also a bit of an explorer, being one of two ponies to travel between dimensions.” Her last sentence caught his attention.
“I’m an explorer, too,” he replied. “My name is Paulsoaresjr, but everyone calls me Paul. I don’t have any fancy titles, but I’m well known in the community. I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert in inter-dimensional travel myself, having been to both the Nether and the End. Really, though, most Crafters have, so it’s not that special. I made a museum back in Spawn Town, if you want to take a look. I was going to head back soon, anyway.”
Twilight thought for a second. “That would be a tremendous help,” she said.
Paul climbed onto his donkey and set it trotting off to the west, judging by the movement of the sun. Twilight followed close behind. A few minutes later, they happened upon a small wooden shack. Paul placed down a fence post and tied the donkey to it, opened the door, and motioned for Twilight to come inside. When they discovered she couldn't fit through the door, he widened the entrance by another meter, allowing her to get through. Once she was inside, he sealed the entrance and laid down a torch.
As the sun set, Twilight looked through the one square of glass in the hut's wall. Outside, darkness fell quickly, and other bipeds began to appear, along with the occasional green quadruped. Paul explained that these were evil creatures that appeared in the dark. There were many zombies and skeletons, a few tall endermen, and enough creepers to blow even the most highly armored Crafter sky-high.
"Will your donkey be alright?" Twilight asked.
"Ferris will be fine," Paul answered. "Hostile mobs don't notice horses. Not horses from this world, that is. I'm not sure about you."
"I'm a pony," Twilight responded. "I think I should stay in here, just in case."
The two spent the night talking about the basics of this world: the selective gravity, the cubic nature of everything, and death and respawning. The last one intrigued Twilight, until Paul told her that there was no in-between for the two. Near sunup, Twilight was feeling hungry, so she reached into her bags, surprised to find that the bread and apples had flattened and stacked together. This left a lot of room for other things.
Eating one of each, she listened as Paul explained that this world was just one in a huge universe. There were, theoretically, infinite worlds, no two the same. Paul, and some of his friends, lived multiple lives on different worlds. A few of them had dabbled in magic, though there was no way to access it on this world, which had been dubbed 'Mindcrack'.
Once the zombies and skeletons finished burning, the two of them walked outside. Whacking a creeper over the head with his blade, Paul hopped on Ferris' back and bid Twilight follow him south. Trudging along through the savanna, Twilight asked about Paul's friends.
"Well, the one who maintains this world is Guude, so he's first and foremost. Then there's Pause, Beef and Etho, who make up 'Team Canada', and Zisteau, who occasionally joins them in their… I'll call it 'fun'. There's the 'B-Team', Bdoubleo and GenerikB, who get into a lot of trouble here. Doc , Anderz and Baj may be a little hard for you to understand. Sethbling is a scientist, and finally, there's my neighbor, Vechs. He's a trouble maker if I've ever seen one. I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but those are the ones here currently. We actually have a meeting coming up about what to do with these easterly lands, so you'll get to meet all of them soon."
"Neat," Twilight responded after taking it all in. Thinking for a second, she asked, "You do know where that portal I came through is, right?"
"Of course," Paul assured her. "I wrote down the coordinates of every important thing I've come across in my journeys."
"Thank goodness," Twilight sighed.
Their conversation shifted back to Paul's friends, and their various interests and achievements. For the next couple of daylight cycles (Twilight refused to call them days, due to how short they were), Twilight learned much about the inhabitants of Mindcrack. She heard of redstone, and the Crafters well-learned in its ways, Etho, Sethbling, and others. She was told of the excellent artists, Bdoubleo and Arkas, and Guude's sculptures. The secret of creating new worlds in this universe was revealed, including Vechs' methods of sculpting them to his liking.
All this, and more, Twilight wrote in her journal. It wasn't until four daylight cycles later they came upon another portal. At this point, Paul dismounted his donkey and pushed him through. "After you," he told Twilight, motioning towards the portal. She entered, and everything went black.