//------------------------------// // 11. Monday morning // Story: Twilight's World // by grouchopony //------------------------------// Twilight awakened slowly, enjoying the peace and quiet of the dark behind her eyelids. She savored the warmth beneath the blankets, the stillness of her room. Wait. Something's missing. She thought muzzily. Slowly she became aware of various discrepancies. Her pillow felt wrong somehow, perhaps a little too soft. The blankets were a little too heavy. A soft susurration of noise started up from somewhere. As all of these oddities added up, she suddenly realized what was missing. “Spike!” She called out, sitting up abruptly, realizing that the sound of his snoring was absent. The light was dim, but she could make out the features of an unfamiliar room, one that was not her own bedroom. Suddenly the realization of where she was returned to her. She let out a breath that she did not realize she had been holding in. Oh. I'm not at home. I'm here, lost in this strange world. Twilight quickly recalled the events of the previous day. She considered them all carefully. At first, she recalled her disagreeable encounters with the human. Mike. How shocked she had been to have woken up in bed with him. And her disappointment with his sloppy housekeeping. Finally, she had discovered that he was a carnivore and how angry and upset she had been with him. Now that's just not fair! She protested against her own thoughts. You know he gave you critical assistance when you might even have died. And he has been nothing but kind to you, giving you a place to stay. Besides, he's actually an omnivore, and he made that promise to not eat any meat, just for your sake! Then he took you to that restaurant. Oh! That Maple Syrup was so delicious. Her thoughts digressed momentarily. And… And then he comforted me… when I sort of broke down and started crying. Twilight's memory lingered for a moment on the odd sensations she had felt as Mike held her. His 'hand' had been soft, yet firm, and had conformed oddly to the shape of her body where he had held her. It had felt… nice. Twilight's thought's flashed ahead to the movie they had watched. She was struck by a sudden thought, I wonder if Mike did that deliberately? Celestia only knows how low I was feeling, but that movie really helped to raise my spirits. If Mike suspected that I was feeling down, then I really owe him a big thank you. Twilight's thoughts about Mike started to firm up. He was definitely a friend, and if not yet a good friend, he was getting there fast. In fact, she needed to find ways to show that she was his friend as well. That's going to be a problem. So far I'm totally dependent on him. There's not too much I can do for him. Twilight sat upon her bed and worried away at the problem of showing her friendship to Mike. Twilight sighed. Friends… I wonder how the others are doing. Do they even know that I am gone? Yes of course they do. Spike probably came home before supper, decided that I was out on some business and started eating all the ice cream. Only hours later would he have started worrying, finally reaching the conclusion that I was missing. Before the light outside her bedroom window had grown too much brighter, Twilight ended her melacholy ruminations about her friends and went to the washroom. She was grateful that this time the toilet was working and that there was water to wash her face and hooves. But she was displeased with what she saw in the mirror. Ugh. My mane and tail are both a matted mess, and they even look dirty. A bath sure would be nice. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she turned to look at the bathtub behind her. A grin formed on her face. Quickly Twilight inspected the bath, to make sure there would be no undue surprises. That must be the faucet, the red handle is probably for hot water, and the other for cold. But what's this extra hose? Looking up she saw the hose leading up to what looked like a shower head. Cautiously she tried to move it with her magic, to see if it was adjustable. Instead, she found that it levitated right off the wall. Oh, that's so simple and clever, a shower head on a flexible hose. Twilight was familiar with Equestrian showers, mostly they were only found in the homes of well-off ponies, or in the palace. But for the most part, they were little more than a long pipe arching overhead. A few really elaborate ones were constructed like a cage of pipes rising about the bathtub, delivering water through multiple shower heads. Most ponies made do without a shower, they simply had a faucet with an elevated nozzle. And I'll need some mane and tail shampoo. Almost immediately she noticed a container perched in the corner where the tub met two walls. It says 'Shampoo,' well Mike doesn't have a tail, but he does have a mane, so this should do. Though I wonder what 'Conditioner' is? Sounds like something Rarity would know. And that looks like a washcloth. And that nook in the wall looks like it’s got a bar of soap. Good. Having everything she thought she needed. Twilight proceeded to take a shower. It took her a moment to figure out how to kick the water flow over to the shower head, but when she did, she found the sensation of steaming hot jets of water directed upon her coat to be quite relaxing. The shampoo also worked up into a fine lather which gave of a pleasant herbal scent. Twilight quite enjoyed her shower and may have luxuriated in it a good many minutes longer than was strictly necessary, but eventually, she ended it. A quick flash of her magic dried her coat, mane, and tail. Uh-oh. I need a brush. Twilight climbed out of the tub and cast about for something to brush her mane and tail with. She found a most curious brush-like instrument upon the vanity. It had a handle like a brush, but the bristles, very stiff and sparse, were capped with curious tiny balls. The bristles, if one could call them such, were wrapped all the way around the business end of the 'brush.' Twilight proceeded to use Mike's strange cylindrical brush. She was quite pleased with how smoothly it glided through the long hairs in her mane and tail; she didn't even have to concentrate on its orientation. It was also a pleasure to not feel any scratching of bristles against her hide. Soon both mane and tail were neatly brushed out and practically glowing. It made her feel good about herself. As Twilight opened the door to the bathroom, she practically ran into Mike. Apparently, he had been waiting patiently just outside the door. “Waugh! Mike! You scared me!” “Morning, Twilight. Wow. You’re looking really nice this morning. Your mane is lovely.” “Why thank you, Mike. I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Let me get out of the way.” Twilight couldn't hide her smile as she exited the bathroom. ---------------- Twilight went downstairs to wait for Mike. She found herself in the kitchen. As she stood there, she pondered the question of how to be a friend to Mike. Well, maybe I can start by getting familiar with his kitchen. That way I could get things for myself and not have him constantly waiting on me. Let’s see, that’s the refrigerator. I'm not sure I want to look inside there. Twilight shuddered as she remembered how much meat had been inside it. That, I think, is a stove. Over there is the kitchen sink; the faucets look comprehensible. And that, if I remember correctly is the kettle Mike used for heating hot water… Twilight levitated the kettle over and examined it closely. It appeared to be made from a white horn-like material, not metal as she would have expected. It also had a long transparent window on its side, by which she could see the water level. That window is very useful; I can plainly see there is not enough water left inside. Next Twilight opened the lid and peered inside; she was surprised to see the bottom on the inside was metal. Twilight returned the kettle to its original spot. She was unsure how it operated, so she thought it best to leave it alone. No! The thought suddenly blazed through her mind. This may not be Equestria, but I refuse to be so helpless that I can't even figure out how to boil water! She levitated the kettle back towards herself again. Let's see. First, it needs to be filled with water. She remembered Mike getting water from the kitchen faucet last night. After a moment’s trial and error, she managed to get water to pour out of the faucet. She played with it for a few seconds and even tried turning the tap all the way as an experiment to see how fast the water would flow. It came out with surprising force. “AUGHHH!” A muted scream sounded from somewhere upstairs. Twilight immediately shut off the water and ran up the stairs. “Mike?” she called out. Hearing the sounds of the shower, she moved up to the door. “Is anything wrong Mike?” “Twilight? Were you playing around with the water?” she heard Mike shouting, though he didn't sound angry. It was probably just an effort to be heard over the running water. “I wasn’t playing with it. I was merely familiarizing myself with the kitchen faucets.” Twilight shouted back. “Well Twilight, when you turned on the water at full flow, it diminished the flow of cold water in my shower. I nearly got scalded by an excess of hot water.” Twilight was mortified, her ears dropped down all the way. “I'm so sorry, Mike. I didn't know.” “That's alright,” he called back cheerily. “You’re not the first guest to do that to me. And it's not the first time I forgot to warn my guest about it. “It's alright if you use the faucet Twilight, just limit your water usage to a moderate flow whenever you know someone is in the shower.” “Okay, thanks, Mike.” Relieved that Mike was not upset with her, Twilight's ears came up again. She made her way back down the stairs, the kettle floating along behind her within her magic's grasp. ---------------- Arriving back in the kitchen, Twilight managed to fill the kettle without scalding Mike. Next, I need to heat the water. From what I've seen, most of Mike's machines run on electricity. If I assume that this kettle does so as well… Ah, then this long bump must be a switch. A little bit of magic and the switch moved, making a clicking noise. Twilight put the kettle back on the counter. After waiting a full five minutes, Twilight saw no evidence that the water was heating. Why is it not heating the water? Twilight wondered. Come on Twilight, are you going to let a kettle beat you? Think! The kettle works on electricity. The presence of the switch agrees with that supposition. And electricity requires an electrical transceiver unit. Or at least a conductor. She thought, remembering that Mike's world did not have any knowledge of Magic. Huh? Where are the wires? Twilight levitated the kettle again, to get a better look at it. It was only when she lifted it up, to have a look at its underside that she noticed a significant detail. In the exact center of the kettle's bottom was a circular depression. The depression contained two concentric rings of metal, and a metal pin stood in the exact center of the depression. Well, there are metal conductors, but I still don't see any wires. Twilight raised herself up, putting her forelegs up on the counter and took a closer look at its contents. She immediately noticed a white disk, the same color as the tea kettle. The disk had a circular protrusion in its center which seemed to match the depression under the kettle. A more detailed look revealed a wire coming out of the side of the disk. I wonder. Twilight mused. Acting upon inspiration, she lowered the kettle down upon the disk. Her sensitive ears detected the faint sound of a spark. Within a minute she could also hear the high pitched hissing sound of millions of microscopic steam bubbles forming and collapsing. I did it! I'm smarter than a kettle. Twilight indulged in a feeling of levity. Just one small step, towards learning about this world, but a giant leap for my self-confidence. Twilight waited patiently for the water to boil and then, like a little filly, spent a few moments watching the water roil. She was amazed to discover that the kettle could turn itself off. ---------------- Twilight wanted to make a cup of tea but could not remember any details about where Mike kept it, other than she was pretty sure it was not in any of the lower drawers. So she started searching the kitchen, looking for tea bags. The first conclusion she reached, was that there was no tea on top of the kitchen counter. So she started searching the upper cabinets. These, however, presented a problem. Twilight could not see into the upper shelves from her natural eye level. Raising herself up on the edge of the counter helped, but not enough. Well then, I've got these new wings, I'll fly up there and have a good look. The search was somewhat tedious because most of the items she found came in little packages and boxes. While concentrating on keeping a steady hover, Twilight needed to levitate the items out of the cabinets and look them over carefully, reading labels in an attempt to discern their contents. “Aha!” Twilight verbalized the triumphant end of her search; levitating a box of something called 'Tetley Tea' in front of her. She was not sure what 'Tetley' was, but the small print on the box identified it as being black (orange pekoe) tea. “You know, I could watch that all day long,” Mike commented from where he stood at the entrance to the kitchen. “Woah-ahh!” Twilight's startlement caused her hover to become radically unstable. She set down quite abruptly in a maneuver best described as a controlled crash. Twilight glared at Mike for startling her. Mike chuckled, “I was thinking that you looked so graceful, hovering there. But I take that thought back.” “Ha Ha. Very funny Mike. I'll have you know that these wings are a─ recent development. I'm rather new to this whole flying thing.” “Then I offer my sincere apologies Twilight. I realize that it's not right to disparage the efforts of a beginner, whatever their undertaking might be. “But Twilight, you surprise me. You weren't born with those wings?” “No, up until a few months ago, I was quite happy living my life as a Unicorn.” she replied glumly. “A Unicorn? What happened? Did you volunteer for some bizarre medical experiment?” “No, it was nothing like that. What happened to me was something unprecedented. My own magic somehow transformed me into, this, an Alicorn.” “You say that as if it were something bad. Tell me; are you now some kind of oddity, like perhaps the only Alicorn in existence?” “What? No.” Twilight was startled at the absurd thought. “I'm not the only Alicorn. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both Alicorns. And so is Princess Ca—” Her voice stopped abruptly. Twilight you idiot! Why did you have to go on and on about Alicorns? Twilight turned her face aside and squeezed her eyes shut, her ears folded down tightly. She waited, expecting Mike to figure things out at any moment and to start treating her differently. Mike, however, remained silent. Twilight was getting fidgety as she waited for the worst to happen. Finally, he spoke. “So, you are now an Alicorn. Does that mean that you are a Princess also?” I knew he would figure it out. “Yes, I am.” she replied morosely, still looking away from Mike. Mike grabbed a chair and surprisingly turned it around to settle himself onto it in a atrange backward position, holding onto the backrest with his hands. “What's wrong Twilight? You say that as if you're unhappy about it.” Momentarily confused by Mike's surprisingly odd seating arrangements, Twilight answered his question without thinking, “I am.” Twilight's eyes irised fully open as she registered surprise at what she had said. She hastened to correct herself, “Ahh; I'm not! Not unhappy to be an Alicorn that is. Being a Princess is an honor and who wouldn't feel honored at that. So, of course, I'm happy that I'm a Princess…” Twilight's voice trailed off. With a woebegone look on her face, she concluded her speech. “Except that I'm not happy when all my friends and neighbors start treating me differently because I'm now a Princess. And now that you know that I'm a Princess you'll be treating me differently as well.” Mike did not answer her right away. Instead, he regarded her with a thoughtful silence. Twilight's heart grew heavy as she waited. Whatever Mike says, he can't help but start treating me like a Princess. Eventually, Mike spoke up again, “I hope you don't mind Twilight, but I don't think I can go around calling you Princess.” Twilight blinked in astonishment, Mike's words were the last thing she had expected him to say. A strange sensation gripped her chest. Mike continued, “The Twilight I've gotten to know over this last day is the only pony that I know. She's a really nice pony, and I think she could use a friend right about now. But as for this Princess, I haven't met her yet.” That strange sensation in Twilight's heart suddenly resolved itself into a feeling of warmth. She was so happy that Mike chose to see her as herself, rather than as a Princess. “I think I can accept that.” Twilight found herself smiling happily. Her eyes felt suspiciously moist. “So−” Mike stood up from his chair and clapped his hands together. Twilight found the hand gesture to be rather odd, though it did sort of punctuate the end of their conversation. “What should we have for breakfast?” Oblivious to Twilight's recent crisis, her stomach rumbled. Quiet you. She admonished her unruly gut. “Maybe you could list what you have available,” Twilight replied. “Well. I could offer you a cold breakfast of milk and cereal.” Twilight shook her head. “Some toast. However, I don't have much to put on it. Just some peanut butter and strawberry jam. “Or maybe," he continued upon seeing her puzzled expression. "I could whip up a hot breakfast. Eggs maybe, or perhaps pancakes-” At the mention of pancakes Twilight pounced on a hopeful notion. “Would you have any of that Maple Syrup─ for the pancakes I mean?” Mike smiled at Twilight. “I just so happens that I do.” ---------------- Mike had gotten busy preparing breakfast. Twilight was, however, mildly surprised that all Mike required was a box of 'pancake mix' and some milk. Back home it would have been a more involved process involving flour, salt, sugar, eggs, milk, and baking powder. It was not too long before Mike brought two platters of fluffy pancakes and a bottle of that marvelous Maple Syrup to the table. Then he placed a saucer bearing a mug of hot water, a tea bag and a spoon before Twilight. For himself, he put down a mug of his mysterious cough-ee. “Oh, you’re drinking cough-ee, I remember wanting to try some of that.” Even as she spoke Twilight was working the bottle of Maple Syrup. It had a peculiar seal, like a stopper held down by a spring metal bail to keep it firmly pressed onto the bottle. “Well then, if you give me a minute, I’ll make you a cup. There's nothing like a good cup of morning coffee to go with a sweet stack of pancakes.” A minute of beeps, buzzes and pouring noises ensued. During the wait, Twilight was enjoying the delectable taste of Maple Syrup on her pancakes. Mike returned with a cup of dark, almost black steaming hot liquid, placing it before Twilight. She looked at it dubiously. “It's not the same as what you have in your cup.” stating the obvious. “I know. Coffee is a drink that is rarely appreciated by the first time drinker. Most people find it bitter tasting. For that reason, some experimentation is recommended; adding small amounts of cream and or sugar until it becomes more palatable. “After one becomes acclimated to the taste of coffee, one often finds oneself cutting back on the amount of sugar or cream being used.” Encouraged by Mike's scientific approach to cough-ee drinking Twilight took a cautious sip. It was bitter. An unpleasant streak of bitterness was tasted along most of the back of her tongue. No she did not like it, but scientifically, she had to admit that the bitterness was not overwhelming. “How was it?" Mike asked. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being 'Absolute Bleaugh!' I would have to say it rates about a five or maybe a six.” “As expected,” he replied, pouring a tiny amount of cream into her cup. “Try it now.” Bracing herself for a repeat of her last taste, Twilight was pleasantly surprised. The strong sense of bitterness down the back of her tongue had mostly disappeared. Now she sensed a milder, gentler bitterness across the middle of her tongue. She reported the change. “I'd say the bitterness has decreased significantly. It's now only a three on the 'Bleaugh' scale.” Mike poured a little more cream into the cough-ee. After another taste twilight reported, “Maybe it's down to a two, maybe.” “I think we are at the point of diminishing returns. Any more cream will not noticeably improve the taste but will start overwhelming your mouth with the fatty sensation of cream. Though some people like that, I don't think you would be one of them.” “No,” she replied, thinking about the 'dressing' on her salad last night. “Okay, next we try adding a sweetener like sugar.” Mike indicated the sugar bowl on the table. Twilight, still following the dictates of a scientific experiment added a single spoonful of sugar to her cough-ee. After stirring it in for a moment, she tried another sip. “It's not so bad now. There's still a hint of bitterness, mostly though it’s being masked by the sugar,” she reported thoughtfully. “Perhaps some more sugar…” After a moment. “I can't say I like this cough-ee. But at least it's palatable now.” “Don't worry about it Twilight. Most people start drinking coffee out of necessity, but after a while, they grow used to the taste and continue drinking it for its stimulating effect upon one's mental alertness. “Besides, I enjoy the coffee's bitterness as a counterpoint to the sweetness of this meal. I think the syrup and the coffee complement each other marvelously.” Mike illustrated his comment by soaking his pancakes in syrup and stuffing his mouth with them. Soon followed by a sip of his coffee. Curious about his statement, Twilight tried emulating Mike. Taking a draught of her coffee, she turned to the remains of her pancakes. Mmmm. It's true. The sweetness of the syrup stands out even more after having some of that cough-ee. ---------------- After they had both finished their meal, Twilight took the initiative and magically took hold of their dirty dishes. “Where do you want these Mike? In the sink?” “Yes please, though I would like my mug back,” Mike stated, grabbing his mug from Twilight's magical grasp. “You're drinking more of that stuff? You just had a full cup.” “We, Twilight, are going to do some research. And I find having a hot drink at hand while I'm on the computer to be quite relaxing. Since I hope you will be joining me, perhaps you too would like another cup of coffee, or perhaps some tea.” Computer? What's that? But the idea of research sounds good. I'm pretty good at researching things. “Tea sounds good. I still have the unused tea bag you gave me for breakfast. All I really need to do is refresh the hot water.” Soon they found themselves equipped with their hot drinks. Mike led the way, taking Twilight down to the basement. Twilight was puzzled as to what could be of interest down there. Her question was answered when he approached a door located adjacent to the stairs. Opening the door Mike led the way inside, turning on the lights. At first, all Twilight saw was the opposite wall. It was a long wall and had two small windows mounted just under the ceiling. Otherwise, the wall was unadorned. Initially, Twilight thought the room to be rather sparsely appointed. Turning her head quickly disabused her of that impression. The wall behind and to the right of the opened door was filled with bookshelves which were in turn filled with books. Twilight found herself drawn to them like a magnet, her eyes first drawn to what appeared to be a book on astronomy. Just as she was about to pull that book out, she noticed that the entire wall holding the door she had entered through was also covered with bookshelves. It too held mostly books, but there was also an assortment of odd knickknacks and devices. Diverted from the astronomy book, Twilight now found her attention being drawn to a protruding shelf which held a most peculiar large sphere. The sphere was covered with colorful irregular shapes and writing. She also saw that the sphere's surface was oddly textured with wrinkles, bumps and shallow depressions. She walked up close to nuzzle it and feel its texture. Surprisingly, it rotated freely under her touch. “What's this?” Her curiosity drove her to ask. “That, Twilight, is what we call a Globe of the World. It is a physical representation of our world. The blue areas represent the seas and oceans. The colored areas delineate the political boundaries of the various nations as found upon the continental landmasses.” “But─ it's spherical,” she voiced her confusion. “That's right; our world, the Earth, is round. A sphere if you will. An oblate spheroid when described with scientific exactitude.” Twilight’s ear flicked as she heard that Mike called his world the ‘Earth’, but it was only a trivial distraction. She had a more serious question to ask. “But how can the world be a sphere? Won't things, ponies, uhh, pee-pull, fall off?” Mike sighed. “And we are back to our conversation of last night, where we were discussing the differences between our two cosmologies. Just give me a second to collect my thoughts. “You must have gravity in your universe Twilight.” “Of course we do. It is a natural force that emanates straight upward from the ground.” “Wait?” Now Mike appeared perplexed. “You say that gravity 'emanates' upwards from the ground? That does not make sense. The word emanate implies that it is something that can be observed and apprehended.” “Of course it can. I have magic for manipulating the gravity emanations. Here let me show you.” Twilight focused her thoughts and shaped her magic to produce the spell for reversing gravity's emanations. Her horn flashed. She could feel the magic flowing out, but nothing happened. What? I know that spell works! I used it to find the Crystal Heart in Sombra's dark tower. I did not forget it. Twilight reviewed her magic carefully and cast the spell again. “Something's wrong Mike.” Twilight announced apprehensively, “That spell should have worked. I should be walking on your ceiling right now.” Mike released an anxious puff of air. “I suspect Twilight, that you have just run up against one of the fundamental differences between our two universes. “In this universe, every particle that has mass exerts an attractive force upon every other particle that has mass. And before I forget, that same force is the reason why our world assumes its spherical shape. The combined attractions of all the particles in that body work out to be equivalent to an attraction towards the center of mass of the whole body. All the particles get scrunched down under their own weight, spreading out against each other to form a sphere. “At any coordinate, down is the direction towards the sphere’s center. Up is the direction directly outwards, away from the center.” “That is so extraordinary. I can even see how it would result in a spherical world, and why ponies don't fall off the sides, your world truly has no sides. But why would my gravity magic fail to work?” “Our more advanced theories propose that gravitational attraction comes not from any emanation such as you are familiar with, but is simply the warping of space-time.” The warping of space-time? What the hay is space-time? “Space-time? Warping?” “I'm sorry Twilight. I really know very little about that theory except that it involves some really difficult mathematics. You’re going to have to do some self-study on that one. About all I can tell you is that our universe has four dimensions. There are the three spatial dimensions that we are all familiar with, length, width, breath, and there is the fourth dimension we call time, hence the term space-time.” “I love self-study. Do some of your books cover this subject of space-time?” She asked eagerly. Mike had a thoughtful look for a moment. "You know some of them might. I think I have a good book for introducing you to the concepts of Special Relativity, which you will need before starting in on General Relativity which is the theory that covers gravity and the warping of space-time.” Mike was searching through his shelves. “I don't think I got rid of it,” he muttered. After a minute's searching, he exclaimed “Found it!” and came back with a thin white book. The cover held the title 'Space and Time in Special Relativity' by 'N David Mermin.' “Here you go,” he said. “It's an easy read, yet technically very accurate and insightful.” “Thank you, Mike.” Twilight took the book in her magic, flipping eagerly through the pages. Oh, this is great. I have a whole new area for scientific study. This book has math formulas and plenty of diagrams to help explain things. I am so going to read this today! “But enough distractions Twilight, what I really brought you down here for, is to show you my computer.” “Computer? You mentioned that word before. What is it?” “This.” Mike gestured towards the wall furthest from the door. Twilight saw what appeared to be a large human-sized desk which appeared to be fully thirty hooves in length. It extended nearly the full length of the wall, which itself was about forty hooves foot long. In the center of the desk was a curved arrangement of what appeared to be three TVs facing towards a human chair. In front of the center TV, was a flat tray with a great number of small boxes adorning its surface; each little box had a letter imprinted on top. Off to the side was a large black box, seemingly unrelated to the other devices. Though she didn't know what it was called, she remembered using something similar in the Mirror World. Mike's 'computer', however, was significantly different from the apparatus she had used the Mirror World. The extra TVs confused her. “So, your computer is a collection of three TVs?" She asked. "Are we going to watch more movies?” Mike smiled. “We could, but the large television upstairs is more suitable for such activities. No, I plan on using this computer for some constructive research. Now please, make yourself comfortable.” ---------------- “Twilight, I am going to teach you how to use this computer. I expect that over the next few days we will be spending a lot of time down here making good use of it. You'll see that in a moment. “Now let’s begin. This button here...” Mike indicated a circular bump on the black box that was off to the side, “is the main power button. If you press it like so-” Mike performed the action, “-the computer should start up.” The black box began to whine, and emit several clicks and similar noises. Twilight felt a little apprehensive causing her ears to fall back. “Don't worry about the noises Twilight. Some parts have rapidly spinning components, that's some of the noise, and other parts get hot and necessitate the use of a fan to keep them cool. That's really all that you are hearing.” Twilight appreciated Mike's explanation. It may be irrational, but unexplained noises make me half expect something to come crawling out of the box. She felt her ears start to rise back up until a series of clicks and a b-r-r-r-p noise emanated from the box. “What about the clicks and thumps I am hearing?” she asked. “Those rapidly spinning devices I mentioned are storage devices. Imagine if you would, my bookshelves over there to be situated on a spinning carousel. The noises are made by a mechanical arm, moving up and down from one shelf to another.” Twilight's ears shot up, and her eyes twinkled as she had an amusing image of herself, standing in the middle of her library, while the tree and all the library shelves spun around her like the carousel Mike had mentioned. I just might be able to create a spell to do that. It should blow even Pinkies mind. She conjectured in amusement. Despite the discussion about storage devices and Twilight's inner amusements, she had continued to watch with interest the three TV panels as they started flashing images and mysterious text. After a minute the images stabilized. “What you saw flashing on the screens were mostly just some self-diagnostic messages as the computer boots up. I like to have them presented to me as a reassurance that the startup is proceeding normally.” “ 'boots up?' ” Again Twilight was forced to ask about an unfamiliar term. “A somewhat prosaic term. It derives from a colloquial expression 'to lift oneself up by one's bootstraps.'” “Bootstraps?” “Do ponies ever wear boots?” “Yes, ponies use them when walking through snow and slush or mud.” “Well, suppose you affixed straps or handles to those boots. You grab those straps on your boots and pull upwards. Adults used to use that imagery to boggle the mind of credulous youngsters, who would imagine that was a technique by which one could levitate oneself. “The imagery is apt however when describing how a computer starts up. The only thing a computer knows when it starts is to immediately start executing instructions beginning at the first address in its memory.” Memory? Twilight wondered. Does the computer have a mind? “Those instructions are extremely minimal, just barely sufficient to have the computer read in the first block from its storage device; execution control is passed on to the instructions embedded in that first block. “That first block contains sufficient instructions to be able to locate a much more complete set of startup instructions that are found somewhere else on the storage device. Execution control is now passed to those more advanced start-up instructions. “Finally, those advanced start up instructions, will find and load, in the correct order, all the various components of the full operating system. And when that is complete, control is passed to the fully realized operating system.” The computer played a short four note melody. Mike continued. “And now we can see the evidence in front of us that the boot up is complete and the operating system is ready.” “Operating System?” “The Operating System is a program which facilitates all interactions within the computer; any interaction between any parties present on this machine. Whether that party is a program, the operating system itself, a human or a pony, the computer's hardware or even some other external computer.” Execution. Programs. Hardware. I sort of follow his meaning, but I'm falling behind. “Mike, I'm getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and new terminology. Spherical worlds, space-time, gravity, warped space, special relativity, general relativity, boot up, Operating System and─ and spinning bookshelves. “Do you have some paper and maybe a feather quill that I can write with? If you don’t have any quills, I could pluck one of my feathers, though I’d rather not.” Mike appeared nonplussed, “A quill? You write with a quill?” “Yes, you take a large feather and cut the tip into a nib, dip the quill in ink-” “Yes, I know what a quill is.” Mike interrupted her. “It's just that quills went out of vogue over one hundred years ago. They were replaced by fountain pens, similar in concept to quills, only much more durable. And about fifty years ago fountain pens were replaced by ball-point pens.” Twilight felt annoyed, Mike's explanation had felt a little condescending. She had used quills successfully for all her short life. She was not about to abjure their use just because humans had moved on to something marginally better. “That's all very good Mike, but do you have anything that I can use?” she asked pointedly. Mike blinked, surprised by her tone. He then grimaced. “I'm sorry Twilight. That was rather rude of me. I just…” Mike broke off his words and turned to his desk. After rummaging through several drawers, Mike presented Twilight with a notebook and a long straight implement. She supposed that it was one of those ‘ball point pens.' “Here,” he said softly, “use these. I'll give you a few moments to make your notes…” Mike turned his attention away from her, now seemingly focused on sipping his cough-ee. Twilight was delighted by the notebook. It had, according to the cover, over three hundred pages, and was cunningly bound into a booklet via a spiral metal spring wound through a row of holes along the top edge of the paper. She was puzzled however as to why the paper was marked with horizontal green lines. The 'ball-point pen' however defeated her. And Mike had neglected to give her any ink. “Mike, I can't write with this ball-point pen thing you gave me. It has no nib. And I don’t have any ink.” “Huh?” Mike turned towards Twilight; he appeared confused by her question. “This ball-point pen thing does not write.” “Oh… Well, let me see that.” As Mike reached for the pen, Twilight thought that he was acting more subdued than from what he had been like before. “There.” Mike depressed one end of the ball-point pen, and with a 'click,' a metallic point appeared on the other end. “It should work for you now,” he replied quietly. Yes, Mike definitely seems quieter and less voluble than before. Twilight observed. “Is something wrong Mike?” she asked. “No, nothing's wrong.” he denied quickly. “Mike, we may only recently have become friends, but I think I can tell that something is bothering you. Won't you please share it with me?” “I'm just upset with myself Twilight. It's nothing you need to worry about.” “Now that's where you’re wrong. A friend can help simply by listening to your worries and concerns. When you share with a friend, the problem can seem lighter, and sometimes that friend can offer a perspective you never even thought of. “Please tell me, Mike, I would like to help.” Mike hesitated, he seemed torn between telling her his thoughts and holding them to himself. Eventually, he spoke. “I am upset with myself Twilight. Because I let my habit of always explaining everything, in great and excessive detail, take over. I constantly bore people, putting them off with my incessant explanations of everything around us. And I did that to you earlier. I'm so sorry for that.” Mike had ended his speech looking down at the floor, unable to meet her eye. Twilight's ears were laid back, flattened by the sadness she heard in his voice. What? He's not boring me at all. I'm thrilled to be learning all these new things. “That's simply not true Mike. I may have been a little annoyed earlier because I thought you spoke condescendingly about my use of feather quills. But I love your explanations. So much so, that I'm just bursting with questions I never seem to get a chance to ask. My greatest problem is that I've had no means of keeping track all this new information, much less my questions.” Twilight raised the notepad higher and jiggled it to emphasize her last sentence. “Really? I’m not boring you?” Mike asked. His expression held a hopeful look. “No, you're not. You’re not boring in the least little bit.” Twilight stated with a smile. “I'll tell you a secret Mike, some of my friends have me pegged as being an egghead and boring too.” “So, you understood how I felt.” Mike appeared surprised “Without a doubt.” She assured him. “Now, if you can just give me some ink I can start writing all this stuff down.” “You don't need ink Twilight. The pen comes pre-loaded with enough ink to fill that entire notebook. Just write with it.” Upon hearing that Twilight caused the 'pen' to start flying over the notebook's pages. Hey! This 'pen' is great. The writing is sharp and precise. The ink doesn't blot or run, and it doesn't fade at all! Maybe Mike was right to talk condescendingly about quill pens. And I certainly won’t need to pluck one of my feathers. ---------------- In but a few minutes Twilight had caught up on her notes. She simply loved the way the notepad allowed her to write on both sides of the page while still keeping everything organized via its spring binding. Heh, Rainbow won’t be able to blow away these notes in a storm of flying papers. Twilight looked up from the last page she had been writing. “I'm ready Mike.” “Okay, what you see now is the log-on screen. Think of it as a door, asking for the correct password, the key to the door if you will; before it allows us permission to interact with the operating system. “And the password, which needs to be typed, is 'H,' 't,'-” “Wait. I realize that you type into that thing. But why is it so complicated?” “What do you mean complicated? What could be simpler, one key, one letter.” “That's not how Equestrian typewriters work. We simply have two pads, one for each foreleg.” “How could that even work? At best you could only use two letters, one per pad.” “It's really very simple Mike. When the pony presses down on the pad, a mechanical linkage causes the strike bar to hit the paper on the platen. But here's the critical part, an enchantment in the pad senses the letter intended by the typist, instantly forming it on the head of the strike bar. The enchantment is a variation of the spell I used to create that wrench for you yesterday. It's all very simple really. Well maybe not the enchantment, but operating one is quite simple. ” Mike seemed quite astonished at the concept, his mouth had dropped open. Coming out of his daze he replied, “Wow that sounds like a typesetters dream.” “Actually the basic mechanism and enchantment was invented by a typesetter. A unicorn named Quick Cast. “A few years later, a journalist by the name of Scarlet Letter, did a feature article on Quick Cast and his thriving business. She realized that Quick Cast's typesetting machine could be adapted for typing ordinary print onto paper. Together they invented the typewriter.” Twilight grinned as she saw Mike shaking his head in astonishment. “Well, I'm sorry to say Twilight; our typewriters put a much greater burden on our typists. We must either search laboriously for each and every key we need to type, or we must memorize that letter's position on the keyboard. I trust that you will be able to handle such a burden.” “Yes, of course, I'll find some way to manage.” “Okay. So as I was saying the password is 'H,' 't,' '65,' 'Big,' 'Red,' 'Shoe,' and then you hit the 'Enter' key.” With a final keystroke, Mike did exactly that. And suddenly the screens were transformed. Each TV screen took on a brilliant blue image of some abstract art. A type of flag composed of four sections seemed to be placed in the center of the TVs. Columns of tiny pictures lined the sides on one TV, while hardly any tiny pictures appeared anywhere on the other TV’s. “At this time Twilight; I would like to introduce you to the desktop metaphor.” ---------------- Over the next ten minutes or so, Mike introduced Twilight to the computer. She learned about the desktop metaphor, using the mouse and its buttons, icons and how to manipulate them via the mouse pointer. She learned that she could click and drag the icons and even double-click them to cause interesting things to happen. Twilight’s pen was working furiously, the notebook’s pages disappearing under a wave of ink. “But what I really need to show you twilight, is the crowning achievement of computerdom, the Internet.” “What’s that?” She asked eagerly. “What you see before you is one computer. With whatever information I have amassed and have stored upon my local storage devices. But out there, in the wide world are millions of other computers, each having their own unique bodies of information. “The Internet is a system of networks, spanning the entire world, which interconnects all of those computers, allowing them to share information with each other.” “By network, you obviously mean a group of interconnected or interrelated objects, right?” “Yes, of course. Twilight, if you would, please put your mouse over that icon there, the one that looks like a curled up fox, and double-click it…” That's a fox? Oh, I guess I can kind of see the head of a fox, but it's tail looks like it's on fire. “Why does it look like a fox with its tail on fire?” she asked. Mike chuckled, “An apt image don't you think? The program that icon represents is called FireFox. Don't worry, it's got nothing to do with real foxes. No animals are being burned. It's just a rather unique name that the creators dreamed up to distinguish their product.” Twilight double-clicked on the icon as Mike requested, eager to see the fabled internet. Another large rectangle opened up on the display. Along the left side was a column of very small icons associated with some text. Some of the text looked like names. “Put your mouse on any one of those labels along the left side and click on it.” Twilight did so, the large white rectangular area changed. It now proudly displayed, in large letters, the message "Server not found." “What!” Mike exclaimed loudly. He appeared to be quite upset. Grabbing the mouse from Twilight, he rapidly moved the mouse pointer down to the bottom right corner of the display. Mike selected and clicked on something, but was too fast for Twilight to follow, she barely had time to notice a bar move up from the bottom edge of the display before it was gone again, replaced by a small rectangular display which was in turn quickly replaced by a large one. The large display had a simple picture on it which drew her eyes. It appeared to be three objects (icons again?) arranged in linear sequence with lines connecting them. On the left was an icon that appeared to resemble a computer display, in the center, was an icon that looked like a park bench? On the right was a round icon that reminded Twilight suspiciously of the ‘Globe' Mike had on his shelf. Clearly overlaying the line which joined the park bench and the world was a large red ‘X’. Twilight was not sure what the diagram represented, but possibly the red 'X' indicated something was wrong. “Noooo.” Mike groaned, dropping his head to clunk it on the desk in front of him. “Is something the matter?” Twilight asked. Mike raised his head back up and looked at Twilight. “Yes, something is wrong. The connection to the Internet is down.”