• Published 13th Sep 2014
  • 22,106 Views, 1,240 Comments

Twilight's World - grouchopony



Instead of getting Spike a birthday present, Twilight finds herself trapped in a closed universe. A fictional universe, she believes, where nothing is real. Mike has a different opinion about that.

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16. Recovery

Disclaimer: Wreck-It-Ralph is owned by Disney.
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“A movie about friendship?” A sudden thrill raced up Twilight's spine causing her ears to prick up.

I would really love to see how other humans value friendship.

Not able to contain her excitement she blurted out, “Oh I really want to see that!”

“What's it called?” she asked excitedly even as Mike was turning off the lights to the office

“Hmm?” responded Mike in an absentminded tone. “Oh, It's called ‘Wreck-It-Ralph'.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she contemplated Mike's retreating back. You don't fool me. You're pretending to be casual, but you’re up to something.

As they reached the top of the stairs Mike turned to Twilight saying “Excuse me Twilight, do you mind giving me a han− um no, that's not right. Uh, I need your assistance?”

Twilight giggled. He had been about to say 'hand'. Though what he really should have said was−

“Hoof. The word you want is hoof. ” Twilight corrected. “What kind of help do you need?”

Mike swept into the kitchen he turned to Twilight. “Well if we're going to watch a movie, I thought some snacks would be appropriate. Would you mind carrying those things into the living room?” Mike waved a foreleg at a collection of bowls, glasses and bottles sitting upon the formerly uncluttered kitchen counter. “Take everything except that big bowl. Just put them on the coffee table.”

“I'd be glad to, but what's a coffee table?”

“It's that long low table in front of the sofa.”

“Got it.” Twilight called out, “But I'd call that a tea table.” she said as she levitated the collection of objects Mike had indicated and began walking towards the living room.

Noticing that Mike was not following behind, she stopped. “Aren’t you coming too?” She asked.

“Now Twilight, I'm not the kind of guy who asks a girl to do all the menial labor. My contribution will be to make a fresh batch of popcorn. How do you like it? Plain or buttery?”

Though puzzled by Mike’s use of the word ‘buttery’, she didn’t know what Mike meant by it, Twilight was able to answer the question after a fashion. “I've always eaten popcorn just as it is, maybe with a little salt added.”

Mike nodded. “Plain it is. As for me, I like it buttered. How about if I make a bowl of each? That way you can at least try it.”

“You know you don't have to do anything special to accommodate me.” Twilight protested. “What you've done for me already is exceptional.”

“I know.” Mike replied. “But I really don't mind. I want to do this.”

Accepting that Mike could not be dissuaded from his generosity, Twilight resumed her journey into the living room, placing the various items Mike had asked her to bring onto the tea, no− coffee− table.

She was about to examine the bottles to discern their contents when strange noises from the kitchen distracted her.

- beep, beep -

I've heard those noises before In fact it was yesterday when Mike was preparing that nasty smelling meat. 'Bay-kon' I think he called it.

Twilight quickly made her way to the kitchen, suddenly apprehensive that Mike might have renounced his vow to give up meat.

I'm sure it's nothing like that. Twilight fought to keep an open mind. Mike has repeatedly proven himself to be a being of character.

She found Mike staring at that same box, hanging underneath an overhead cabinet that had been involved in the previous days' disgusting meat preparation.

- vrrmmmm -

The box made the same humming noise she remembered from the previous day. Her apprehensions grew.

Feeling decidedly nervous, Twilight gulped before asking. “What's that thing that's making the noise?”

“That, Twilight, is a microwave oven.”

An oven? Twilight felt a wave of relief as she realized the ominous noise was from a common kitchen appliance. But what's a−?

Again, Mike anticipated her question. “A microwave oven uses radio waves to directly heat the food, while traditional ovens heat the food indirectly through the application of an external heat source.”

“How do radio waves manage to heat food?” was Twilight's next, and obvious, question.

“Well, water molecules are electrically polarized, and radio waves of the right frequency will cause those water molecules to rotate in synchrony with the radio waves. The movement imparted to the water molecules increases their thermal energy. In other words, the water molecules become agitated, causing the water molecules and surrounding molecules to get hotter.”

Twilight was amazed. Directly changing the temperature of something at a molecular level is a high level spell. I've often seen Celestia heat her tea with it, but it's definitely not an easy spell to do. These humans are doing it with a machine, a common oven no less.

“Wow Mike, I must admit that using such a technique for an oven is quite impressive. You say that it works on the water molecules? What if the food has very little water in it?”

Mike grinned at the alicorn, “A very insightful question. If the food has insufficient moisture it simply will not heat, or will heat very slowly. However, water is not the only molecule which is electrically polarized and subject to this heating effect. Oils, fats and greases are also effective heating molecules.

“Right now, those popcorn kernels are resting in a layer of cooking oil which is rapidly getting hotter and-”

- pop! -

Twilight's ears twitched as the first kernel popped. Soon it was followed by the next kernel and then a mounting barrage of popping kernels.

The barrage of noise however, was music to Twilight's ears, easing as it did all of her fears of Mike's potential recidivism.

Soon the popping noises diminished and grew infrequent. Before they were done however, Mike reached out his hand and touched the oven.

- beep! -

The oven's humming noise stopped, as did the sound of popping kernels. Mike depressed a rather large button and the door to the oven suddenly swung open. Reaching inside, he retrieved a colorful object, but Twilight did not see any popcorn. Her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

It's a paper bag! Twilight suddenly realized, and then she thought. How do you cook food in a paper bag, without incinerating everything?

“How do you−” Twilight began to ask, but stopped herself in mid-sentence. “Never mind.”

“What's that?” Mike asked, puzzled by her aborted question.

“It’s nothing.” Twilight replied. “I was just wondering how you were able to cook food at high temperatures without incinerating that paper bag. But I think I've figured it out. No water molecules in the paper, right?”

“Right.” Mike confirmed Twilight's hypothesis making her smile with satisfaction.

“Although,” Mike added, “we generally never cook food with a microwave, it’s no good for cooking food. For the most part it can only be used for heating food.”

Twilight was surprised. Do the microwaves destroy the food's nutritional value? Or maybe they impart some toxicity to it. Twilight felt alarm as that last thought came to her.

“Why is that? Does the oven do something bad to the food?” she asked hesitantly, suddenly wondering if there was a polite way to refuse to eat any of the popcorn.

“No. It doesn’t harm the food in any way.” Mike answered calmly, not noticing the worry behind Twilight's question, busy as he was preparing a second bag of popcorn for the oven.

- beep, beep, vrrmmmm -

Having finished attending to the oven, Mike turned around and faced Twilight. “It's just that the oven cannot heat the food beyond the boiling point of water. At that temperature the moisture gets driven out as steam. Most of our food recipes rely on being able to heat the food to higher temperatures.”

“I never thought of that.” stated Twilight, hiding the relief in her voice. “Unless you heat the food to a higher temperature it won't experience caramelization. If the food doesn’t brown then I suppose it would look rather unappetizing.”

And I suppose that's why unicorn chefs don't cook with magic. Twilight thought to herself.

---------------------

Mike carried two bowls of popcorn into the living room, setting them down on the coffee table. Before he did, a rosy glow enveloped the items already present on the table, rearranging them to make room for the bowls Mike was carrying.

“Thanks Twilight.” Mike acknowledged her assistance.

As Twilight made herself comfortable on the couch she observed with interest what Mike was doing at the other side of the room. He was searching through what at first glance appeared to be several bookshelves that surrounded the television.

As Twilight had discovered on her first morning of exploring the house, the objects on those shelves were not books. They were strange flat containers made from an equally strange material that only passingly resembled the cellulose she was familiar with. When, after some trial and error, she had managed to open a few of the cases, she had found that they held nothing other than a mysterious silver disk.

Up till this moment, the mysterious disks had slipped her mind.

Mike gave an “Ah!” of satisfaction and picked out a particular case from the shelves. Twilight observed him extract the silver disk that was inside, holding it carefully by the edges. She presumed that the disk was somehow connected with the movie they were going to watch.

I must have been really upset last night, not to have noticed him pulling out one of those silvery disks. Was the wry thought she expressed to herself.

“What's that silver disk you have there?” she asked Mike, even as he squatted down to push a button on the front face of a black box located underneath his television. With a muted whine, a small tray extruded from the box.

“This,” Mike began, giving the silvery disk a quick shake, “is called a DVD. That's an acronym that stands for 'Digital Versatile Disk'.” He placed it onto the tray that had appeared moments before.

I need to write this down. Twilight thought happily to herself. But at that very moment her calm was brutally shattered. A spasm of horror raced down her spine and stiffened her tail.

WAIT!” Twilight cried out, leaping off the couch. Her outcry caused Mike to startle so badly he attempted to leap up from his squatting position, losing his balance as he did so and crashing backwards down onto the floor. The whole room shook and several small objects fell off the shelving that surrounded the television.

Mike's accident, preceded as it had been by a wild flailing of his arms had wholly drawn Twilight's attention away from her own predicament.

She stepped quickly over to his side, looking him closely in the face. “Mike. Are you okay?” her voice was full of concern.

“Aaaugh.” Mike groaned. “No. I think I hurt my back.” His face was clenched into a grimace of pain.

Mike opened his eyes and looked directly at Twilight who still held her face in front of his. “Forget about me. What about you? You suddenly shouted 'wait' and I could hear in your voice that you were upset.”

Shock descended upon Twilight as she realized that she herself had brought Mike to these straights. The extremity of her outburst had been totally unwarranted.

Twilight closed her eyes momentarily as her face reddened in embarrassment. Nevertheless she owed Mike an explanation. “I'm sorry Mike, I− I got over excited when I realized that I didn't have my notepad with me. I'm sorry that you got hurt because of me.” Twilight lowered her head and gave Mike a brief nuzzle on the cheek to emphasize her apology.

Mike's eyes grew wide. After a moment he smiled and asked. “Your notepad huh?”

“Yes. I know that it was silly of me to make such a fuss about a−” Twilight's confession was interrupted as Mike laid a finger across her muzzle, effectively startling her into silence.

“It's all right Twilight. Heh! All this commotion for a simple notepad. I'd be laughing right now except that it hurts too much.”

“But−” Twilight tried to speak, only to be silenced again by the finger.

“Not your fault Twilight, or at least very little of it is. I probably strained my back yesterday when I was carrying that heavy battery around. Either that or it was from those two times that I slipped and fell on the ice. Back pain is sneaky that way. It usually makes itself known a day or two after the initial injury.”

“You fell twice? I only remember that time when we started laughing after you fixed your generator.”

“Ah, that was the second time. The first was when I first found you half frozen to death outside my back door. I stepped outside to pick you up and slipped on the ice.”

“You hurt yourself while trying to save me?” Twilight's eyes grew moist; she could feel a tear working its way down her cheek.

Mike brought his hand up to her face and wiped the tear away. “Not your fault. I chose to save you. To do what was right. I don't regret that action in the least.” An impish grin suddenly appeared on Mike's face. “Unless of course you're really here to conquer the earth.”

Twilight's tearful gaze was quickly replaced with a glare. Her eyes were narrowed as she raised her left forehoof to rap Mike smartly on the head with it. “Oww!” he exclaimed.

“Enough with the stupid jokes about conquering the earth, it's getting old. Just get up already.”

Acquiescing, Mike's lifted his shoulders preparatory to rolling over and getting up off the floor. Suddenly his face went white and he let out a strangled scream “Auuuugh!” which was quickly followed by a hiss drawn through clenched teeth. There followed several moments of strained breathing as Mike's rigid body slowly relaxed.

Twilight was startled by Mike’s reaction and drew back from him. The pupils of her eyes had constricted in terror at Mike's display of agony, her ears were pinned back.

He's really in a lot of pain. This is something serious. What do I do? She thought frantically.

After a moment she recovered from her involuntary reaction. “Mike, what's wrong?” she asked.

“I told you Twilight that I hurt my back. I was hoping that it was only a minor injury, but I guess that's not the case. This one is starting to feel quite bad.” Mike grimaced again as he attempted to slowly wiggle about and relieve some persistent discomfort. After those feeble efforts, he was panting heavily.

Mike sighed with frustration. “It looks like I'll be sleeping right here on the floor tonight.”

His statement caught Twilight by surprise. “What!? Were you somehow paralyzed when you fell?” she asked Mike, dismay plainly evident in her voice and writ large upon her features.

“Calm down Twilight.” Mike attempted to sooth her. “I'm not paralyzed. It's just that I find it a little too painful to move, at least for now.”

“Don't know what I'm going to do when I have to go to the bathroom.” Mike added sotto voce. Not expecting Twilight to hear him say it.

That's no problem; I can easily levitate him into the bathroom if it comes to that. Twilight thought to herself.

“But Mike,” Twilight's expression was worried, “there must be something wrong with your back. Otherwise you shouldn't be in this much pain.”

Mike let out an exasperated sigh. “Don't worry yourself about it Twilight. The human species has been plagued with back pain since they first assumed an upright posture. This pain is caused by spasming muscles.”

“Spasming muscles?” she asked. Not quite sure how muscles could cause such levels of pain.

“Yeah, though it's a little more complicated than that. It usually starts out with just a tiny injury that you don't even feel. Whether from strain, disease or injury, a nerve or a muscle becomes inflamed.

“Then the autonomic nervous system does a strange thing. It causes the surrounding muscles to lock up in an effort to keep the injured tissues immobile. This in itself is not painful, but eventually the strain begins to tell on those surrounding tissues and they become inflamed from their constant overwork.

“This inflammatory response grows in a vicious feedback loop. The initial inflamed nerve or muscle induces inflammatory reactions in other muscles or nerves which in turn involve yet more nerves and muscles.

“The only cure is rest. Drugs to help relax over strained muscles are also useful. But I don't have any of those.”

Twilight pondered Mike's description of what was happening in his back. Sore and over strained muscles. I'd bet Lotus Blossom and Aloe could really help him with those. Those two earth ponies can really work some powerful magic with their hooves...

Suddenly Twilight's face lit up. “Mike! I have an idea. I think I can help you.”

Mike's brow wrinkled in a puzzled expression. “Help me? What do you mean?” Suddenly his eye's grew wide as he considered one possibility. “No! No! I would never dream of asking you to carry me into the bathroom.” His face held a frantic expression.

At first Twilight did not understand Mike's comment. It was so− random and unrelated to the topic at hoof. Unless, she thought, his whispered comment from before was something significant and it’s been pressing on his thoughts all this time.

Twilight smirked as she realized the golden opportunity Mike had presented her with.

She leaned forward again, bringing her face, now showing earnest sympathy with both her ears pricked forwards, down close to his. “But Mike, you're in so much pain. I'd be happy to carry you to the bathroom. Do you need to go right now?” Then she lit her horn as if preparing to levitate him then and there.

Mike's eyes got incredibly wide and he positively screamed, “Noooooooo!” Though that outburst soon ended in another spasm of pain. “Aaaauuuugh!” Mike screamed a second time, though not as loudly.

“Hah!, Hah!, Hah!...” Twilight had literally fallen over backwards and was kicking her legs up in the air from laughing so hard. If not for her wings, which she had spread out for stability, she would literally have been rolling on the floor laughing.

Twilight soon ended her laughter, mostly due to guilt over Mike's continued groans of pain. She got back on her hooves and approached Mike again. She sat down with her face over his again.

“I'm sorry Mike. I didn't mean to hurt your back any more. But that was such a perfect opportunity to get back at you for all those terrible jokes you've been throwing at me.”

“You were joking?” He asked, with an enormous expression of relief appeared on his face.

“Yes and no.” Twilight explained. “I really would be willing to help you go to the bathroom.” Mike's eyes again grew wide with apprehension, but before he could say anything Twilight continued. “But I really don't think that will be necessary.”

“Not necessary?” Mike asked, his expression was blank. Apparently the recent series of shocks had reduced his brain to the functionality of a parrot. Twilight sat back on her haunches.

“Exactly. I think I have a way to heal your back and bring those muscles of yours back to normal.”

Mike's expression was now a peculiar mix of fear and hope, at least that's what Twilight thought she saw in it.

“You have a spell that can heal my back?” Mike asked nervously.

Considering how skittish he was about my magic yesterday, I would not be surprised if he was worried about my using healing magic on him.

“No I don't, have a healing spell I mean. Healing spells only work correctly when the spell caster has a thorough knowledge of the physiology of the body being worked on, and I'm not a physician. In fact even a pony physician would not be able to help you since he would have no knowledge of your human physiology.

“What I'm proposing is to give you an Earth pony massage.”

“A massage?” Mike asked querulously. “I don't have any experience of those. Not sure if one will help much.”

“Not a massage. An Earth pony massage.” Twilight corrected him.

Mike's response was to look at Twilight directly in the eyes, as if searching for some hidden meaning in them. Twilight looked back into Mike's eyes. I never noticed before but he has blue-grey eyes. It's an odd color that I've never seen in a pony, but they look like kind eyes.

After a moment of soul gazing, Mike sighed and looked away. “Could you please explain.” he asked.

Twilight was happy to oblige. “Back in Ponyville we have a spa, its run by two lovely Earth pony sisters named Lotus Blossom and Aloe. They provide a special massage called an Earth pony massage. Using their Earth pony magic to sooth and restore sore and abused muscles.

“More than once I've wound up all stiff, sore and beat up. Their Earth pony massage works wonders.”

Mike gave Twilight raised eyebrow, as if questioning her veracity. “Why would a Princess get herself 'beat up' as you so succinctly put it?”

Twilight stretched out a wing. “I told you before, these wings are relatively new, and I'm still learning how to use them.” She blushed suddenly, looking away in embarrassment, “I've become rather intimate with the ground on more occasions than I care to remember.”

Mike chuckled. “I think I understand,” he said while reaching out to rub her shoulder consolingly.

Twilight smiled in response to Mike's gesture and continued with her explanation. “Well during one of those sessions, I got curious as to what Lotus Blossom was doing and watched closely as she manipulated the magic during my massage.

“I think I can do for you what she did for me.”

“You think? Hold on, you've never done this before.” Mike stated accusingly, his eyes widening with alarm.

Now Twilight sighed. “It's true, I haven't done this before. In fact I've never done any sort of Earth pony magic before.”

She looked him steadily in the eye. “But Earth ponies don't do 'spells' like unicorns do. They simply manipulate the natural magic which is present in all living things. And by manipulate I simply mean that they have the ability to move it. They push and pull and move it around; gathering and concentrating or dissipating and dispersing.

“For the Earth pony massage, I will be gently moving magic, your own life-magic, through those sore and inflamed muscles. It should help them to recover their normal state quite rapidly.”

“How rapidly?” Mike asked. He didn't sound nervous at all now. Apparently her explanation had been satisfactory.

“Um, about ten minutes.” Twilight hazarded a guess based on her past experiences in the Ponyville spa. “Maybe longer, since I've never done this before and I'll be sure to act slow and cautious.”

“Alright.” Mike stated. Once more looking her in the eye he said, “I trust you.”

His simple statement made Twilight happy. She was coming to realize that when Mike gave his trust, it truly meant something.

---------------------

It had not been easy for Mike to get ready for the massage. Twilight's levitation was not the same as weightlessness, as she was in fact 'grabbing onto' various portions of his body. As she levitated him, the shifting forces would cause Mike to flex and bend.

Twilight tried to be gentle as she levitated him off the floor and then rotated him face down. But every stretch and pull on his back muscles had a tendency to make them spasm.

She had also needed to remove Mike's shirt. She found it frustrating when it turned out he had a second shirt under his outer one. An inner-shirt as she privately chose to call it.

Finally Mike was lying face down on the floor with both his shirts off. He was grimacing in discomfort as his back muscles refused to fully relax.

“All right, I'm going to start now. Let me know what you're feeling from the massage.”

“Okay, I'm ready as I'll ever be.” was Mike's muffled reply. He had his face buried in a pillow obtained from the couch and had his head turned in the direction away from Twilight.

Twilight leaned over Mike and lightly placed one of her fore hooves on his back. Using her magic senses she observed the life-magic that shimmered within Mike’s body. She could even see irregularities in his life-magic where the muscles were injured.

Concentrating on her hoof, she attempted to 'pull' or draw his life-magic towards them. Nothing happened.

Still maintaining her focus, something she had learned through all her years as a unicorn practicing magic, Twilight sought a new technique. Remembering that Earth ponies mostly worked their magic through their hooves she attempted to 'feel' Mike's life-magic with her hoof-magic.

Twilight was such an accomplished unicorn that she had hardly used her hoof-magic for many years now, but her old foalhood skills came back to her. Gradually she began to sense something that she had never sensed before. Her hoof-magic began to impart to her the 'feel' of Mike's life-magic.

Having identified the 'feel' of the life-magic, she tried again to draw it towards her hooves, only now she was able to focus that effort through the new sensations her hoof-magic had revealed to her. Slowly a small wave of Mike's life-magic, thick and viscous like honey accumulated under her hooves.

“Ohhh!” Mike exclaimed.

“Is this hurting you?” Twilight asked anxiously, halting her 'pull' on his life-magic.

“Nooo. That feels─ wonderful.” Though Mike's head was turned away, Twilight could see the corner of what had to be an enormous grin. “It feels like a cooling ice-pack, banishing the pain. Only it's not actually cold.”

Thus encouraged, Twilight began to slide her hoof slowly and gently over Mikes lower back. Wherever a hoof went, a wave of Mike's life-magic oozed along with it.

“Ahhhhhh!” Mike relayed his pleasure, thus buoying up Twilight's mood as well.

Twilight was simply repeating the slow and gentle movements that she had observed Lotus Blossom perform. But she found it to be a thrilling experience. I'm actually doing Earth pony magic. She thought in amazement. It feels so very different from any of the Unicorn magic or Pegasus magic I've done before.

After a few minutes of this Twilight asked Mike how his back was feeling. “Is there any pain left?”

“No. It's all gone, totally gone. I can't believe it.” Mike's reply conveyed his amazement.

Satisfied that the inflammation in Mike's muscles had been eliminated, Twilight moved on to the second stage of the massage, it required a change to her technique.

Twilight now put both fore-hooves on Mike's back allowing her weight to press down on him. With both hooves, she alternately 'pushed' and 'pulled' on the treacly life-magic under her hooves. When she 'pulled', a concentration built up under her hoof. As soon as the concentration had built up to a significant amout, she would 'push' and the concentration of life-magic flowed out and away from her hoof.

She was more aggressive now, using more force to manipulate the magic, each push-pull cycle taking about five seconds to complete, the waves and troughs of life-magic deeper than before. Occasionally she would move a hoof and change the area being worked on.

“Ohhh.” Mike groaned. “Whatever you’re doing, don't stop. It feels like alternating hot and cold packs and it feels goood.”

“What I'm doing now should cause your muscles to heal at a greatly accelerated rate. The flow of life-magic passing through the tissues causes them to heal and rejuvenate.”

Twilight brought the Earth-pony massage to a close by smoothing out any remaining ripples in Mike's life-magic. Letting go of his life-magic, she removed her hooves from Mike's back.

“There, that should do it. How do you feel Mike?” There was no reply.

“Mike?” Twilight raised her voice feeling apprehensive that something had gone wrong.

Mike's lips twitched into a smile. “Five more minutes mommy.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed. He's joking around again. Well I have an answer for that.

“Oww!” Twilight's hoof had made contact with the back of Mike's head.

No way did I hit him as hard as he's pretending I did. Twilight wore a tiny smile.

“Try to get up. You should be feeling a great deal better now.”

Suddenly serious again, Mike pulled in his arms and cautiously raised himself off the floor. As he raised himself higher, his face broke out in a beaming smile.

Testing the limits of his recovery, he started performing a few exercises. Twilight grew alarmed when she saw him bend in half, touching his toes on the floor.

“Go easy on those exercises Mike. You need a good night's sleep before your muscles are fully recovered.”

“Okay. But I'm happy to report that everything seems to be in top working order again.”

Mike got down on one of his knees, bringing his face level with Twilight's. He reached out an arm to touch her shoulder. “Thank you so much Twilight. Never in my life have I ever had such a pleasant cure. You give really, really good massages.”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks Mike. I was happy to be able to help you like you've been helping me all along.” she held his gaze for a moment, then added. “But I think we're running behind schedule with that movie.”

“Yeah, I'm sorry for all the trouble that I've caused. But we can get started now.”

“Wait!” Twilight called out, but this time with less urgency in her voice. “I still need to get my notepad.”

---------------------

Twilight returned from the office in the basement bearing her precious notebook and pen. She had also brought along the two books that Mike had given her. After the movie, she intended to do a bit of studying. Her heart felt light. She was about to watch a movie about friendship.

Upon entering the living room, she saw that Mike was once again wearing his shirts, and that he was sitting on the sofa. Mike, noticing Twilight's arrival in the room, scooted down toward one end of the sofa, leaving ample room for Twilight.

Twilight was puzzled. He has his own chair. Why is he sitting on the couch? She shrugged, not caring where Mike chose to sit.

Twilight hopped up on the sofa and got comfortable. She was levitating a half dozen kernels of popcorn into her mouth, one by one, when Mike suddenly slid down the sofa, seating himself much closer to her.

Twilight was surprised at Mike's move. She looked up at him questioningly.

Upon seeing Twilight's expression. Mike sighed and bowed his head.

“I'm sorry Twilight. I suddenly had a desire to sit close to you. It's been a long and stressful day and I'm feeling a little out of sorts. I thought sitting close to a friend would help.”

“Your day was stressful?” Twilight asked. “From what I saw of your behavior, I thought you were just having a typical human day. If anything has caused you stress, it would have to be my presence. I'm so sorry for that.”

“Don't be sorry Twilight, I willingly chose to help you. I don't regret your presence.

“As to the causes of my stress, well first there was that one hour lineup at the grocery store checkout, oh, and before that there was that psychotic woman driver in the parking lot. And yes, later when I had that argument with you and you told me that I'm not real, that was quite a shock.

“I had quite a bit of anxiety there before I realized the truth and was able to prove that I was real after all. And yes, there was a little while there when I was wondering if the universe itself might not be real, but that wasn't for long.

“But forget all those. The biggest stress inducer by far, outweighing all the rest, was hurting my back. Pain has a strange way of burning through my reserves of strength, and that back pain was really bad...” Mike's voice trailed off into silence, as if embarrassed by his weakness.

Twilight looked up at Mike and considered his confession of need. It didn't take her long to reach a decision. Raising herself up, she moved herself over to his side and leaned up against him.

“I don't mind Mike. If it makes a friend feel better, I'd gladly sit close to them.” she stated with a calm voice.

Mike reached out an arm and clasped her shoulder in a friendly hug. “Thanks.”

Twilight giggled. “So let's get started with this movie, we are half an hour behind schedule now.”

“We have a schedule?” Mike asked in puzzlement.

“Of course.” Twilight answered primly, “And it's your fault that we're half an hour behind.” While teasing Mike, Twilight neglected to watch what she was doing and accidentally levitated her next munch of popcorn out of Mike's bowl.

Twilight's eyes opened wide as a strange taste flooded her mouth. She realized immediately what must have happened.

I'm eating Mike's popcorn. Twilight took another tentative chew. It's─ not bad. Not bad at all. In fact− more chewing ensued, and then a swallow. I think I like it with butter.

She levitated another munch from Mike's bowl.

“Hey!” shouted Mike. “That's my popcorn. Get your own!”

Twilight munched away on her purloined kernels, then winked at Mike and giggled.

Mike smiled, confirming that he was only joking. “I'm glad you like it. But leave some for me.”

Mike let go of Twilight and reached over to the coffee table, picking up an elongated oddly shaped device. To Twilight's eyes it was all curves and bulges, somewhat shaped like the body of a wasp, its upper surface covered with buttons.

Twilight just had to ask some questions about it. “I gather that you use that thing to control the television. Why does it have such an odd shape, and how does it work?”

Mike smiled, and put his arm around Twilight again, giving her a quick hug. “I love your curiosity, you know that?”

Twilight smiled. Mike's easy reply, accepting her inquisitive nature, boosted her own spirits tremendously.

“To answer your question, this is called a remote, which is short for remote control unit. The shape is arbitrary, except that the manufacturer was attempting to make it ergonomically efficient. It works by sending−”

“Wait, what does that word 'ergonomical' mean?” Twilight just had to interrupt Mike. Having been Celestia's personal student, and a very studious one at that, it was not every day that she ran into a word she had never encountered before.

Mike blinked, caught off guard by her question. His mouth opened as if to speak, and then closed again. Eventually he found his voice. “You know, I've never looked up the exact meaning of that word, it just sort of came into general use over the last few decades.

“It's called 'ergonomics', and my guess is that it's simply the study of human factors in the design and efficiency of the tools, artifacts and processes that we use.”

Twilight's pen was flying across her notebook, but her gaze never wavered from Mike. She was hanging on his every word.

“For example, this remote here, is shaped in such a manner as to be easily cradled in a human hand, yet leaves my thumb free to access all the buttons on its top surface. Additionally, its surface has been given a non-slip texture which makes it easier to hold on to without dropping it.

“Or take for example a simple chair. A few decades ago, office workers frequently complained of back pain. Often it became severe enough that they were forced to take many days off of work. Then some people started to design chairs that accommodated the peculiarities of the human body, taking into account our physiology and our posture while working. People using those new chairs started feeling better, having fewer incidents of back pain. The people were happy and the employer was even happier due to their increased productivity.

“Or take simple tools. For thousands of years a hammer was nothing but a lump of metal on the end of a straight handle. But recently, I've been seeing hammers that have a slight curve to the handle. So instead of stressing my wrist like this−” Mike held out his right foreleg, holding the remote and tilting his hand at the joint in such an extreme manner that the remote was aligned in parallel with the axis of his foreleg. “−an ergonomic hammer would reduce that stress.” Mike's wrist and the remote tilted up by about fifteen degrees.

“You know, It would be fascinating to see what a pony style hammer looks like. Even if you don't have a formal science of ergonomics, I imagine your own physiology must have had a strong influence on the shape of your tools.

“Heh. I can't imagine anything more stupid than asking a pony to use a human style hammer. What would they do with it, grab the handle with their teeth? Ouch!”

Twilight held a fake grin as her mind raced back to an incident when a bunch of construction ponies had come into Sugar Cube corner. While Twilight had been waiting for Pinkie to finish up in the back, she could not help but overhear the conversation between the construction ponies. She remembered how surprised she had been that much of their conversation had been about the relative merits of various dentists.

It all makes sense now. Those construction workers would be very interested in dental care because gripping the hammers and other tools in their teeth would eventually damage their teeth.

And if they hurt their teeth, then they can't work. Oh! This sounds exactly like those chairs that Mike mentioned. Suddenly Twilight was excited again, as she saw the connection between workplace injury and tool design.

Twilight cleared her throat to get Mike's attention. “Thanks Mike. Ergonomics. We certainly don't have anything like that back in Equestria, but I am very glad you told me about it. This is an idea that I think will be very much appreciated by everypony.”

Mike smiled. “Glad I could help.” He then turned back towards the television.

Holding out the remote, Mike pressed a button. Soon the movie began to play. Twilight hurriedly finished writing up her notes on ergonomics.

---------------------

Mike allowed the commercial preambles to play in their entirety since Twilight was curious to see what insights they might offer.

She nearly jumped out of her hide when the room shook from the sound of exploding skyrockets.

She tried, and failed, to elicit any meaning from an assembly of monsters having a party. The human girl with a fish's tail simply confused her and flying machines that had faces and talked with mouths... well she did not know what to make of those.

“Okay Mike, what was that we just saw? I simply don't know what to make of it.”

Mike did something with the remote which caused the images to stop moving. “Those were commercials advertising the availability of several other movies. The first commercial was for a movie about a bunch of monsters going to college and how they became friends.

“The second commercial is for an old children’s story about a mermaid who falls in love with a prince, but they come from two incompatible worlds.”

Twilight nodded at that one. It had similar counterparts in equestrian literature.

“And the third commercial. Well, all I can say is that human children love to anthropomorphize, believing and imagining that an animal or a toy or some other object, in this case airplanes, are alive and sentient and talk just like people. It's an imaginative bit of nonsense that only a child can appreciate.”

Mike's description about the first movie was tugging at Twilight's mind. “About that first movie. You said that it was about how the monsters became friends?”

“Yes. Though I would not recommend watching that movie unless you have some time to waste.”

“Why is that?”

“Every great movie has a unifying concept or theme which pulls it together emotionally. They sort of lost their way with that one, giving it a jumble of emotional themes.”

Twilight had heard enough. “Okay Mike, let's continue.”

Mike clicked a button on his remote again. And the display on the television changed.

Twilight shivered when she read a display with bold shields and the 'FBI' label. It was an ominous warning. She hoped that Mike was not doing anything illegal.

A few more quick scenes appeared that Twilight figured were some sort of self-identification.

The actual start of the movie was so confusing that she nearly missed it. It showed a 'box' with a television in it, emitting some very strange noised and melodies. Upon the television she saw strange red figure made up of squares. What clued her in that the movie was starting was the voice speaking.

“My names Ralph, and I'm a bad guy-” A yellow something, also made of square pieces, blew out puffs of (square pieces) smoke and pushed the (square pieces) tree stump over to an indeterminate pile of (square pieces) something. A sign was stuck into the pile declaring it to be a dump. The voice continued.

“Ahh, let's see. I'm nine feet tall and I weigh six hundred and forty three pounds, −”

Yay! Pounds. I don't know what measurement system Mike is using, but if they can use pounds in this movie why doesn't he use them?

The red figure, which Twilight assumed to be Ralph, threw a temper tantrum and pounded at the dump. It spoke and words of text appeared above it, echoing its speech.

Hey, you moved my stump!

“Got a little bit of temper on me. My passion bubbles very near the surface I guess. Not gonna lie.”

Twilight watched growing more and more confused. The narration voice was talking, the little red human made of squares was talking and all the images, made of squares as they were, were terrible to look at.

Twilight tried to maintain an open mind, as apparently a large building was constructed within seconds. For some unaccountable reason, the red figure started destroying it.

Twilight watched in horror as the red figure plucked another tiny figure from out of a window and threw it across the screen eliciting a tiny scream that faded away.

Not able to take it any longer, Twilight used her magic to press the button on the remote which caused the images to freeze. She had been watching how Mike used the device.

“Mike! Why are we watching this? This is simply horrible. That monster is hurting others. And the images are giving me a headache as well.”

“Please remain patient Twilight, stay with it for just another minute or two, and I guarantee you, you will start seeing Ralph in a different light.”

“Ralph? You mean the red figure who is trying to wreck the building.” She asked.

Mike nodded confirmation.

“That’s not very likely, He’s a monster.” She muttered under her breath. Twilight turned her attention back to the movie as Mike started it playing again.

“The thing is, fixing is the name of the game, literally. Fix it Felix Junior.−”

A multitude of tiny figures appeared in the windows of the building and called out in unison..

Fix it Felix!

Suddenly, the image changed to show a hammer. Twilight twitched as she recognized it. She realized that it had to be a 'human' style hammer, and that it was basically indistinguishable from an equestrian hammer.

Note to self. Do not let Mike see an 'equestrian hammer'. After what he said earlier, that would be kind of embarrassing. Her brow furrowed. Why are ponies using human style hammers?

Another (square pieces) character suddenly appeared next to the (square pieces) hammer.

I can fix it!

The story grew even more confusing for her when a blue figure somehow began correcting the destruction left behind by the antagonistic red figure.

“So naturally the guy with the name Fix it Felix is the good guy, He's nice enough as good guys go. Definitely fixes stuff really well. But, heh, if you've got a magic hammer from your father, how hard can it be.−”

Magic does not work like that. Twilight observed with some indignation.

As Twilight observed the movie, the characters were suddenly assembled on the roof of a now spotless building. A round golden object suddenly appeared above Felix and the smaller characters.

“When Felix does a good job, he gets a medal. But, are there medals for wrecking stuff really well? To that I say 'HAH'!”

Suddenly the tiny figures all grabbed the large monster and threw it off the roof.

Yay! Twilight cheered internally as she watched the red monster tumble down the side of the tall building.

She watched it splat into a puddle of mud and lay motionless. Oh no! They killed it. Why would they want to hurt it like that?

Twilight was distraught at the untimely end to the monster and almost missed what happened next. The camera pulled back and she recognized that she had been watching crude images presented on a television. A legend appeared near the top of the movie screen declaring that the scene they had been watching was from 'Thirty Years Ago'. It had all been some sort of flashback.

The narrator's next words caught at Twilight's attention.

“I just gotta say− it becomes kind of hard to love your job when no one seems to like you for doing it.”

That just seems so backwards to me. She thought. With a Cutie Mark you know what you love, what you're good at before you find your job. Only a human could end up in a situation like that.

Suddenly the camera dove through the television and into the world of the Fix it Felix game. Everything she had observed earlier, with its painful-to-watch squares, was now crisp and clear yet recognizably the same identical character or object.

The camera's viewpoint swooped around the building making Twilight feel as if she was actually flying around it. Soon the camera's viewpoint ended up on the ground again, showing the figure of the red character, Ralph, lying prone in the mud. Ralph got up out of the mud and made his way dejectedly over to a mountain of bricks off in the distance.

Well, I'm glad that he didn't die. But he's still a horrid beast.

Twilight watched as Ralph made his bed out of a pile of bricks. Suddenly the monster looked very lonely as he gazed up from his bed into the apartments at the top of the building. The narrator resumed talking.

“But, if I'm really honest with myself, I see Felix up there getting patted on the back, people giving him pie, thanking him and so happy to see him all the time.−”

The view of the apartment faded out, to be replaced by a view of Ralph who was suddenly revealed to be the narrator who had been talking all along.

“Sometimes I think─ Man, sure must be nice being the good guy.”

Twilight stopped the movie again.

“Mike! What exactly is going on here? First I learn to despise this Ralph monster and now I'm starting to feel sorry for him. And their world confuses me. Are there actually tiny people living inside the television boxes?”

“Alright Twilight. Yes, Ralph is the main protagonist for this story. As to why− well that's a little more complicated.”

“As you know Twilight, us humans don't have magic, but we do have video games. A video game is simply a computer program that's designed to show a visual representation of an imaginary world and lets a human interact with that world. Personally I think that the effect is just a little bit like your enchanted book.”

Twilight started when she heard that comparison. Mike did not notice, and continued with his explanation.

“The player, a real human in the real world, can control events in the imaginary world of the video game by means of various buttons and levers on the game console. In actuality the computer program is simply responding to that user's inputs and changes the images presented on the screen accordingly.

“Do you remember that I told you human children like to anthropomorphize, imagining how animals and inanimate objects can be human?” Mike asked.

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well we adults don't anthropomorphize, but we still have fond memories of the joy our imaginations brought to us when we were children. This movie incorporates that into its basic premise. The supposition that those little characters we witness in our video games are somehow− alive.”

Mike paused to think for a moment. “You know, our discussion from earlier today, about characters being created for a story, is perhaps very relevant to this movie.”

Twilight's eyes were riveted on Mike. She had made the same connection in her own thoughts.

“The story that you have seen so far, is simply Ralph recounting his own back story. And he seems to be unhappy with the limitations imposed upon him by his back story.

“Ralph's back story boils down to three or four short sentences. 'I'm Ralph, a big brute who lives in a stump. One day some people arbitrarily dispossessed me of my stump, moving it to the dump. In a fit of anger I must seek retribution by dispossessing them of their home. But by the rules of the game, I am forever destined to fail.'

A lump formed in Twilight's throat as she felt sorrow for Ralph's plight. Ralph isn't the monster. The true monster here is the universe he's in, the video game that consigned him to his violent role and a fate of loneliness and frustration.

Mike hugged Twilight. “You know that this is just a story, that none of it is real, right?”

“Yes of course I know that.” Twilight sniffed. “It's just that suddenly, now that I know what is happening, this story has become so sad.”

“Cheer up Twilight. Ralph has a big adventure ahead of him. Why don't we watch the movie and discover what kind of life he finds as he looks for something beyond his destiny.”

‘Something beyond his destiny.’ Pondered Twilight. Is such a thing possible?

---------------------

“...Turns out I don't need a medal to tell me that I'm a good guy. Cause if that little kid likes me− How bad can I be?”

Twilight closed her eyes, damming up her tears. The end of Ralph's soliloquy had expressed such a profound sentiment.

Twilight sniffed, feeling a little moisture in her nose. Another sniff sounded beside her, causing her eyes to open in astonishment.

She looked up at Mike and saw that his eyes too were brimming with tears.

“Mike, were you crying?” Twilight asked solicitously, suddenly reminded of her brother.

“It's nothing really. I love that ending to the movie, but no matter how many times I see it, it always gets to me.” He raised his hands and wiped his tears away. “There, all better.”

Mike had suddenly recovered his composure and was smiling again. “Man, I really like that movie.” He turned to Twilight, “So how about you?” he asked her with a grin.

“I really liked it too. Though they started out with considerable animosity, the friendship that grew between Ralph and the little girl was very touching. I'm glad that they became friends, but I'm not sure how it happened. That little girl was quite unpleasant at times and was very manipulative in the way she got him to initially help her.”

“It was the moment she showed him her home.” Mike answered.

“How do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Does showing your home have a special cultural significance to humans?”

Mike laughed. “No. Ralph suddenly developed a compassion for the girl when he realized that she was living in a dump, consisting of odd scraps of garbage, just like he was. At that point his heart changed and he truly wanted to help her. That's when he realized that they both shared a common hardship, loneliness.” Mike spoke the last word softly.

I think Mike's analysis is correct, they were both lonely. That's very perceptive of him. Thought Twilight.

Twilight spoke again “I liked the movie, but there were some scenes I really think it could have done better without.”

“What? You mean the scene where the villain pulled the heart out of the zombie’s chest? You screamed like a little girl.”

“Urrrgh.” Twilight's ears wilted and an expression of absolute disgust filled her face. “Yes Mike, that scene, and please, don't ever describe it to me again.”

“Alright Twilight. I promise I won't mention that again.”

That was not quite enough for Twilight who drew back from Mike and gave him a poke the side.

“Oof!” Mike grunted.

“Besides,” she added, “I am a girl, so what does it matter if I scream like one?”

“It doesn't, it doesn’t matter at all.” Mike agreed vehemently, clutching protectively at his side.

Twilight offered another comment about the movie. “I also found those Sigh-bugs to be very disturbing.”

“How can you say that? They were an essential element to the whole storyline.”

“Oh I agree with you. They were essential to the plot, but I still don't like them. They remind me entirely too much of Parasprites.”

Mike was surprised. “Your world has Cybugs?”

Twilight made a face at Mike. “Of course not, Parasprites are a far cry short of those Sigh-bugs. But once you've suffered through an infestation of one kind of rapidly multiplying insect vermin you develop an aversion to all of them.

“And then there was the scene near the end, where King Candy ended up driving right into the mouth of a massive Sigh-bug. Brrrr.” Twilight gave an involuntary shudder. “I don't like to see anyone die, even a fictitious villain like King Candy.”

Mike smiled and took up the argument “Oh come now Twilight, he continued to live on in the Cybug.”

“I would have to disagree with you there Mike. Earlier in the movie Lieutenant Kal-hoon stated quite clearly that the Sigh-bugs become what they eat. We even saw the Sigh-bug eat Ralph's weapon and suddenly its legs turned into weapons.

“It's obvious to me that King Candy died, and the Sigh-bug only became a duplicate of him.”

“Au contrair, mon petit étranger, In the world of video games, the code is the character, and the character is the code, we saw that in that surrealistic scene where King Candy manipulated the game code to retrieve the medal. The Cybug assimilated King Candy's code and it continued to live on in the Cybug.”

“Is that what that was? I was wondering what was going on at that point. But I'd still have to disagree with you. King Candy's code may have been assimilated, but that implies it is definitely subordinate to the Sigh-bug's code. King Candy's code now exists as a mere adjunct of the Sigh-bug.” Twilight delivered that last with a huge grin on her face.

“He may be an adjunct, but his code still exists, so he is still technically 'alive'.” Mike countered with an equally huge grin to Twilight's.

“He's lost his free will to a Sigh-bug.”

“The Cybug allowed him free reign over his body.”

“If you can call that bloated monstrosity his body.”

Suddenly the two of them burst out laughing. The argument had reached the point of absurdity.

“You win Twilight. I grant you that King Candy did possibly perish when the Cybug ate him. That was a fun discussion; you're really good at debating.”

“Thank you Mike, I really enjoyed debating with you as well.”

“I'm just glad you enjoyed our evening together.” was Mike's reply.

---------------------

Mike stifled a yawn and then dragged his hand down his face. Twilight thought Mike looked quite comical as his face distorted under the pull of his hand.

Mike spoke, “Well look at that, it's past ten o'clock already. I'm beat.

“Twilight, you said that I should get a good night's rest for my back to finish healing. I think I'll do just that. Thank you so much Twilight for your company this evening.” Mike raised himself from the couch, grabbed several items from the coffee table and made his way into the kitchen.

Twilight jumped off the couch and followed after him, levitating the remaining paraphernalia of their party off the table, carrying it along with her. “Here, I'll help!” she called out.

In the kitchen, she watched with interest as Mike loaded the dishwasher, inserted a tablet, (upon asking, she found out that it was just detergent), and pushed a button to start the machine.

That machine is so simple to use. I wish we had dishwasher's in Equestria, Spike would love it.

Not long after that Mike had completed a trip to the bathroom and was headed off to bed. He stopped by Twilight's room.

“Good night Twilight.”

“Good night Mike. If you don't mind, I think I will stay up a while longer and start reading one of those books you loaned me.”

“No problem. See you in the morning.” Mike waved and turned towards his bedroom.

---------------------

Twilight felt alive again. Her gloom and dissociation for the past two days had been stifling, crushing her spirit. Now, suddenly, she was filled with hope.

Looking back she felt the turning point had come when Mike had proven to her that he was real. And beyond that he had shown her that she was in a real universe, not some closed off reality bubble from a damaged enchanted book.

She was full of joy just knowing that Mike was her friend, intrigued by all the wonderful new science that surrounded her. A whole new reality just brimming with new things to discover surrounded her. And to top it all off, there was a possibility that she might be able to get home again.

Thanks Mike, for waking me up. Without your help I think I might have given up and died.

Twilight's heart was so full and she just had to let it out.

Suddenly an idea seized her. Quickly she brought up her notepad and turned to a fresh page.

Dear Princess Celestia.

It has been a long time since I wrote you a friendship report.

Yes, I know that I am now a Princess and that I no longer have a duty to report to you. But know this. In my heart I will always be your faithful student. And even though this letter will never find its way to you, I have such a desire to tell you what I have learned that I can barely contain myself.

When you think you are lost, completely and irrevocably lost, lost without hope and without light, at times like those it is a true friend who searches for you in your darkness and guides you back to the light.

I thought I was lost, inside a pocket universe created by a damaged enchanted story. I though I was lost in a story with no escape, no hope, and no friends, that all whom I met were fictitious characters. Incapable of friendship.

Then I met somepony, only he's not a pony, he's something called a human, and his name is Mike.

When I first met Mike, I was near death's door.
He saved my life and took me into his home.
He has shown me kindness and generosity.
He has been honest and loyal and frequently makes me laugh.
In short, Mike became my friend.

Only− I was drowning in despair, because despite my initial joy at meeting Mike, I believed him to be no more than a character. A mere shell of a pony (Mike would use the word 'person' instead of the word 'pony'.)

Mike showed himself to be a true friend when he recognized my inner despair. He convinced me to divulge my fears, even though I knew such knowledge would destroy him. And then Mike did something wonderful, he banished those fears.

You see, Mike proved to me, to my complete satisfaction using nothing but logic and reason, that he was a real pony (or person as he would say). And further to that, he showed me, again to my complete satisfaction, that this universe where I find myself is in fact a real universe.

Mike gave me so much today.

Today, I found out that I have a true friend.

Today, I found out that I am alive in a new universe full of limitless possibilities.

And today, I found a hope that there is some way to get home.

Because, as Mike told me, If I'm not lost in a pocket universe created by an enchanted book, then I arrived in this universe by some other mechanism. And I mean to discover what that mechanism is.

Full of hope and abounding with joy- Your faithful student.

Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight carefully tore the sheets she had written her letter on out of her notebook. The perforations along the tops of the sheets allowed them to separate cleanly. She rolled them up as a she would a scroll.

Another sheet from the notebook was transmuted into a seal bearing her own mark. She slipped it around the rolled up pages, holding them together.

Twilight knew she was only acting out a whim, that this letter could never reach Celestia, but her heart demanded that she go through all the motions properly. To provide closure.

Taking care to do everything right, Twilight's horn glowed brightly, invoking the spell that Celestia taught her after she became a Princess. It was a spell that transformed the letter directly into magical dragon smoke, much as if Spike had incinerated it.

The rolled up letter vanished instantly with a brilliant flare, leaving a swirl of sparkling smoke behind. Twilight watched for a few moments as the smoke circled aimlessly around the room. Darting about as though it were a frantic bird trapped within the room.

Twilight sighed. She hadn't expected the letter would be able to reach Celestia. They were in two distinct universes after all.

Ignoring the smoke, Twilight turned her attention to the book she had brought to her room. She gazed at the cover.

Let's see 'Space and Time in Special Relativity'.

She opened the thin volume and started reading the preface:

The special theory of relativity, alone among the areas of modern physics, can in large part be honestly explained to someone with no formal background in physics and none in mathematics beyond a little algebra and geometry.

Oooo! This is so exciting...

---------------------

Twilight did not notice when a certain swirl of sparkling smoke suddenly stopped circling the room and departed through the open doorway. It wriggled through the air, proceeding down the stairway and entered the living room. From there it made a beeline to the fireplace. By chance, the fireplace's damper had been left open a crack, allowing the smoke to find its way up the chimney flue.

Attaining to the outside air, the magical swirl of dragon smoke vanished into the overcast night. Straight as an arrow it streaked across the ice covered fields. Proceeding onward, it came to a forest of crystal covered trees, passing over them as well.

Bare moments later, the smoke slowed down, descending upon a monolith in the forest. The monolith was a glacial erratic, an enormous boulder that had been abandoned by some retreating glacier from the last ice-age. The wisp of smoke circled around the boulder, as if hunting for something.

The pause was brief however, for soon the smoke had picked up the scent of whatever it was seeking and dove straight into the boulder, vanishing utterly.

Twilight's letter, addressed to Princess Celestia, had found a way to depart the Earth.

Author's Note:

(1) 'munch of popcorn': Twilight does not have hands, so I could not write 'handful of popcorn'.
While it's true that Twilight could have used her hooves, allowing me to write 'hoof-full of popcorn' I felt that she would never do that unless she had no other choice. She is a very accomplished magic user after all.
I was unable to look up any word which indicated a grouping of popcorn, so I was forced to make up an appropriate phrase. I must say, the phrase does have a nice ring to it. It even sounds tasty.

(2) 'mon petit étranger': French for 'my little alien'.
Hmm. Mike's French is a little odd. Although 'étranger' can mean 'alien', it's more common usage is 'foreigner' or 'stranger'. Defiantly not what Mike was going for. (Psst: Blame google translate.)

(3) Addendum (Oct 23, 2015). re: 'Earth Pony Massage' - I just noticed this week that some card has added my story to a group called "Massage is Love...maybe desire?"
I think that's hilarious. And all because of this chapter.
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As always, constructive feedback is welcome.