“Yo, Twilight! The weirdo is back!” Spike yelled. There was no reply. “She’s downstairs in the basement just head down.”
Bon Bon and I made our way to the basement. We found Twilight tinkering with the machine she had hooked Lyra up to. “You need some help there?” I asked.
“Hum?” Twilight looked up from the machine. “Oh, is it noon already?”
“Actually its twelve thirty,” Bon Bon replied, and then pointing my way continued. “This one didn’t want to wake up.”
“Hey now, I told you already, I had a weird dream. You’re the one who doesn’t believe me.”
“Why would Princess Luna come to your dream?”
“She was spouting some nonsense about me not being from this world but from it at the same time.”
“Spike!” Twilight yelled over us. “Spike!”
Bon Bon and I got off the stairs and took a seat on some of the chairs Twilight had in the basement. It was only a matter of a few second before Spike came down.
“Yeah?”
“Spike, write a letter to Celestia and ask her if Luna spoke with anypony in Ponyville last night.”
“Sure,” he replied and headed back up the stairs.
“So you’re just going to ask her? What if she thinks I’m some kind of spy and locks me up in a dungeon somewhere, and I’m never seen again?”
“Are you a spy?” Twilight deadpanned.
“Noooooooooo.”
“Well in that case you've got nothing to worry about then, huh?”
“What are you trying to do anyway?” I walked around the machine to get a better look at what Twilight was doing.
“I’m trying to figure out how this machine did whatever it did. This panel is the only panel I haven’t checked under yet but its stuck shut. I can’t even get it off with my magic.”
“Here let me try,” I said and pushed Twilight away. I grabbed two corners of the panel as best I could with hooves and pulled. I instantly flew backwards. “Okay, that doesn’t work so well without fingers. How do you guys deal with hooves?”
Both Twilight and Bon Bon shrugged at the same time. “Magic?” they responded sarcastically.
“Thanks. Big help guys.”
“Anyway why don’t we get started with why you actually came here. I can deal with this later. Bon Bon you’re welcome to join in but the meditation is all you’re going to be able to do.”
Bon Bon waved a hoof. “Nah, its fine, I’ll just watch.”
Two hours of meditation, being told I’m meditating wrong, and being physically bent into positions I didn’t know I could be bent into, I was still no closer to doing any magic.
“Twilight,” I said. “I don’t think this is working.”
“Okay fine, let’s just try some basic magic then.” Twilight levitated a screwdriver from the table and put in on the floor between us. “So, magic is just an energy you can control. Everypony can do it, just in different ways. Pegasi can make themselves lighter to fly. Earth ponies can become abnormally strong and resilient. Unicorns can bend the energy to their will. Your horn acts as a conduit for the magic. To lift the screwdriver just focus on your horn, and think about lifting the screwdriver.”
“Okay, sure.” I tried to focus on my horn but couldn’t. “Twilight, how do I focus on my horn?”
Twilight facehoofed. “It’s going to be a long day.”
Another hour of going through the intricacies of how to focus on a body part I’ve never had before and I was still no closer.
“How about I just think of my horn as a mouse, magic as a mouse cursor and the world as a computer screen?” I suggested.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Um. Sure? I guess?”
“I didn’t understand any of that,” Bon Bon said.
“Just. Whatever,” I said. I started trying what I said but wasn’t really getting anywhere.
“Twilight,” Spike yelled from the top of the stairs. “You got a letter from Celesti-AHHHHHH.”
Spike tripped and fell of the stairs, right on top of me. Apparently physical pain and trying to do magic don’t mix. Somehow I made the screwdriver fly, at what had to be about a hundred miles per hour, into the stupid machine in the middle of the room.
“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked.
“I think my back is broke,” I moaned.
“Well look on the bright side,” Bon Bon said. “You did some magic and got that panel open for Twilight.”
I noticed a familiar white orb roll into my hoof. “Twilight what is this?”
“I don’t know but there are more in that panel of the machine.”
“Well, the last time I saw one of these it was floating over my head then blew up. Then I woke up here.”
Twilight picked up one of the orbs to take a closer look at it. “There’s some writing on it. On, Off, Volume, Push to talk.”
“That sounds like a walkie-talkie.” Twilight clearly had no idea what I was talking about. “It’s a device we have on earth it lets you talk into it and somebody with another one can hear what you say from a long distance.” I picked up the one by my hoof and looked at it. “It’s completely smooth, how do you work it?”
“It looks like it can only be used with magic. Hmm.” Twilight used some magic to flip open a part of the orb. She pulled out what looked like a ruby. “The power crystal is dead. Spike, go get me a power crystal.”
“Got it,” he responded and rushed up the stairs.
“You think it still works?” Bon Bon asked.
“We’ll know in a minute,” Twilight responded.
“It doesn’t have much of a charge but it’s the only spare we have in the house,” Spike said coming back down with a crystal.
“It will do,” Twilight said and took the crystal, placing it into the orb. “What do I do now?”
“Do whatever you have to do to press the on, then turn the volume up all the way.”
Twilight put the orb down on the table and used her magic on it. The orb lit up. There appeared to be a screen on it too. Twilight read off what it was displaying. “Project Infinity COM Device Delta-32. Scanning.” Twilight looked at me. “It just keeps saying scanning.”
“Another one probably needs to be on in order for it to work.”
“Spike go get another power crystal.”
“We’re out,” he said.
Twilight went over to a desk in the corner of the room and started rummaging through the drawers.
“Um, Twilight,” Bon Bon said. “It says connections found now.”
Twilight rushed back over to the orb. “What do I do now?”
“I guess tap the words,” I replied.
Twilight used her magic on the words. “Devices: Zulu-92. That’s all it says.”
“Tap that then I guess.”
“Connection made.” Twilight looked at me.
“Hold the talk and say something then let it go.”
Twilight used her magic again “Hello?”
“Nothing. Where do you think the other one is?” I asked.
“I don’t know. None of the other orbs look to be function-”
“This is agent Zulu Echo Hotel Niner Two. Please identify yourself.”
“Mom!?”
“Please identify.”
“Press the button! Twilight!” Twilight magicked the button for me. “Mom? Can you hear me?”
“Lauren?”
~~~~~4 Hours Earlier~~~~~
“Hello? Lyra? Teresa?” I heard Bonnie call out from the front door.
“We’re in the kitchen,” Teresa yelled out.
The door to the kitchen opened and in came Bonnie and Lauren’s parents. “She doesn’t look like a pony,” mister Hammonds said. Missus Hammonds smacked him in the back of the head. “Ow. I was just joking.”
“You ass,” missus Hammonds said. “And you must be Teresa,” she continued. “Lovely house you have here.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Teresa responded rubbing the back of her neck.
“Do you have a quiet area so Lyra and I can try some magic?”
Sam jumped off the chair he was sitting on. “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Can I try too? Pleassssseeeee?”
“Is he always like this?” missus Hammonds asked. Teresa just nodded. “Can you sit still and not say anything for an hour?”
“Maybe.”
“No. He can’t,” Teresa said.
Missus Hammonds sighed. “Fine.”
“Yes!”
We all followed Teresa down to her office.
“Wow it looks like a warzone down here,” mister Hammonds said when we noticed the hole in the wall and books everywhere.
“Yeah you can thank this little bugger that came out of nowhere when Lauren was here.” Teresa walked over to the bookshelf. After picking up a few book she grabbed a small orb to show them.
“Where did you get that?” missus Hammons asked.
“I don’t know. This thing just appeared when Lauren was here in hypnosis then proceeded to destroy half my office. Damn thing even broke one of my books in half.”
“Frank, suitcase, bottom right pouch, small chest, get it,” missus Hammons said.
Half a minute later Lauren’s father came back down holding a small chest and handed it to his wife. Lauren’s mother put her right hand on the top of the chest and her hand started to glow. There was a popping noise and the lid of the chest slid open.
“Soooo cool!” Sam said.
Lauren’s mother took out an identical looking orb from the chest. “These are EBI communication devices. They work off magic.” Her right hand glowed again and a door on the orb popped open. She pulled out a magic power crystal. “Unfortunately mine got drained almost immediately after the portal closed. From the looks of it, the one you’ve got there is damaged.”
Bonnie raised her hand. “Sorry that was me. It was just floating over Lauren’s head so I kind of batted it into the wall.”
“Well, between the two I might have enough extra parts to hotwire one to work. Frank, go to the closest Radio Shack and get me a soldering iron, solder, one of those big batteries flashlights use, and some twelve gauge wire.”
“I guess I’m driving then,” Bonnie reluctantly said.
“Thanks, Bonnie,” missus Hammons said.
After Bonnie and Lauren’s father left, we went onto me trying to be able to do magic again. “Okay, you’re going to have to relearn your meditation. If there was actually a normal level of magic in this world it wouldn’t be an issue, but there isn’t. Instead of focusing on your body you have to try and focus on the small amounts of magical energy in the air.”
“We have to meditate?” Sam asked. “I’m out.” Sam got up and left the room.
“I told you he couldn’t sit still. Well, I guess I’ll go make lunch or something,” Teresa said and left.
“Just you and me then,” I said.
“Might as well start meditating then.”
After about a half hour I still wasn’t doing any magic. “Don’t worry about it,” missus Hammons said. “It took me a long while before I could even notice the magic here.”
“Hey we’re back,” Bonnie interrupted the meditation session.
“They were out of twelve gauge wire so I just picked up like 6 headphones. I hope that works,” mister Hammons said.
“That will work,” missus Hammons replied. “Lyra why don’t you go get some lunch while I work on this.”
“Okay,” I said and walked upstairs to the kitchen.
“Hey, how’s the whole magic thing going?” Teresa asked.
“Not very well,” I replied, sitting down, I picked up an apple and started eating it. “She’s going to try and get that thing working now.”
“Cool, cool. I guess we’ll just wait then?”
“Yeah, I hope it doesn’t take too long. What do you guys do for fun around here?”
“Well, we could watch a movie.”
“I don’t know what that is but okay.”
Teresa, Bonnie and I went upstairs. Every wall of Teresa’s room had posters on it; each one seemed to be about the same thing. Twilight. “I guess that’s the Twilight book Sam was talking about?”
“Oh please tell me you aren’t going to make us watch that,” Bonnie moaned.
“Nah, I’ll let Lyra pick.”
“I don’t know anything about these movie things.”
“All my movies are on that shelf.” Teresa pointed at one of the bookcase in her room. “Just pick one that you think looks good.”
“Okay.” I walked over to the book case. I couldn’t read any of them so I just picked one at random. “How about this one?” I handed it to Teresa.
“Inception. That’s a good one.” Teresa opened the case, took out some disc thing and put it into a device. She pressed some things on the device and on another thing above it. The large thing on the wall lit up with moving pictures. “How is this not magic again?”
~~
“So wait. None of that was real?”
“Nope, all actors,” Teresa responded.
“But it looked real.”
“That’s the point. Come on let’s see what’s going on with that communication device.” We went downstairs and found Lauren’s parents sitting in the kitchen. The device didn’t look so nice anymore. Missus Hammons had the two power crystals connected to a large thing which I assume was the flashlight battery. The other ends of the crystals were connected into the one orb. The other orb had connections coming out of it going into the first one. To top it off the first orb had cords wrapped all around it.
I could see the first orb had writing on it. “Hey that’s something I recognize finally.”
“You can read that?” Teresa asked.
“Yeah. Right now it just says Project Infinity COM Device Zulu-92 with the word, scanning, flashing.”
“Yeah it’s been like that for the past ten minutes. Unless somebody in Equestria has another one I don’t think we’re going to get anything,” missus Hammons said.
“So we wait?” I asked, and that’s what we did. After about ten minutes Teresa got bored so we went back up to Teresa’s room. She wanted to check something called Facebook.
How can they have all these things that lets everyone talk to each other instantly like they are in the same room and not think its magic?
“Guys! Come quick! They got somebody on that thing!” Sam screamed from down the stairs.
We rushed back down into the kitchen. “-tel Niner Two. Please identify yourself.”
“Who did she get?” I asked.
“We don’t know, there was just a hello from it,” mister Hammons said.
“Please identify,” missus Hammons said into the device again.
“Mom? Can you hear me?”
“Lauren?”