Conversation
Twilight was just getting used to the body as Luna sat, trying to drink tea to suit her nerves. Left foot, right foot, it was starting to get easier. But these humans didn’t even have a tail for balance!
The living room was like the rest of the house that twilight had seen. It was neat and clean, but still had a lived-in feel. A large shelf decorated with books, a sofa and two armchairs with a table, and a strange screen that sat on a stand across from the sofa.
“Okay... so there’s a talking dog, a girl who looks like a human but isn’t, and apparently magic exists?”
“That is the case,” Celestia said.
...
“I don't even know what to say about that.”
Spike, who had been laying on a couch cushion next to the sisters, could only look. “These are the Humans? I kind of expected them to be more... together than this.”
“Spike, be nice,” Twilight said before she fell on the carpet. “Besides, Humans must be great to be able to walk like this.”
Celestia took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell us the full story? For starters, if you’re not human... what are you?”
“I’m a pony,” Twilight said, reaching for her backpack. She pulled out a photo album and handed it to her. “Here, I brought a few from home in case I ran into a friendly face.”
Celestia took the album and opened it up. Twilight had only brought a select few photos, so she knew she’d be in them.
“You’re the purple one, I take it?”
Twilight nodded. “And Spike’s the dragon.”
“Are you sure I can’t have any whiskey?” Luna asked. The glare Celestia gave her sister caused her to shrink back. She turned back to the album and paused. “What’s this you and Spike are holding?”
Twilight had a feeling what Luna was talking about, and as soon as she saw the photo it was confirmed. It was the two of them, both their eyes still wet from tears, and holding a piece of paper in front of them.
“Spike’s adoption certificate. He’s my son.”
“That’s sweet,” Celestia said.
“So he’s really not your pet,” Luna muttered.
“That’s right I’m not,” Spike said. A growl was actually starting to escape his lips.
“Spike,” Twilight warned. She turned to the sisters. “Sorry, we’ve had... less than pleasant experiences with ponies that don’t treat him very well.”
The principal turned back to Twilight and nodded. “This is all so very strange. What brought you here?”
“You saw, Sunset.” she took a deep breath. “Sunset is like me. She isn’t from this world. She’s from Equestria.”
“Really?” Celestia asked. “But... she has paperwork, a Social Security card, everything!”
“Those can be forged,” Luna muttered. “Why is she here?”
She took a deep breath. “Long ago, Sunset used to be the prized student of my mentor, Princess Celestia.”
“Wait, what?” Luna said.
“I don’t quite get it, but there’s another version of both of you in my world. Princess Celestia rules over the day, while Princess Luna rules over the night.”
“We’re both Princesses? Then who’s the king and queen?” Celestia asked.
“There isn’t one. We used to have them, but after our tribes united, we kept Princess as the highest title after one of our founders.” She held up a hand as the two opened their mouths. “I’ll explain that later, but I think you want to hear why I’m here first.”
The two silenced themselves.
“Sunset used to study under Princess Celestia. However, she eventually grew too power-hungry. She disappeared through a magic mirror, which led her here. She recently came back here to steal the Element of Magic.”
“The what now?” Celestia asked.
In response, Twilight took the album and opened to another picture. It was a photo taken just after the defeat of NightMare Moon. It featured all of her friends, each sporting their Element of Harmony, with Spike and the two princesses in as well.
“Magic is one of the six Elements of Harmony. They are very powerful magical artifacts that my friends and I were chosen to wield.” She pointed to her crown. “This crown is mine.”
“That looks like the crown to our Fall Formal,” Celestia noted.
Twilight looked at her. “Sunset tried to swap it out with a fake... maybe that was it.”
“She actually offered to help design the crown. Then she got a petition together to use her idea.”
“And we couldn’t figure out how many of those signatures were the result of her ‘persuasion’.” Luna’s comment came with a heavy voice of resignation.
“I was sent here to get it back. The portal back home won’t open for another month, so I have until then to track Sunset down and get my Element back.”
There was silence for a moment.
“If it wasn’t for the talking dog, I don’t think I’d believe it,” Luna said.
Celestia took a deep breath. “Sunset’s address should be in the school’s computers. Tomorrow I’ll go down there and get it for you, then we can go track her down.”
Twilight nodded. “Thank you, I owe you a lot... but what’s a computer?”
“I’ll tell you after dinner. Right now I need some questions answered. How old is Sunset?”
Twilight blinked. “She was seventeen when she disappeared through the portal, and twelve years have passed since then.”
That got them both to gasp. “Twenty nine? but... she looks only sixteen!”
Twilight thought a bit. “Didn’t you say that Sunset had just left when I came through?”
“Yes,” Celestia said. “She came through the portal, then she ran towards some bushes and rifled through them. When I called her name, she saw me, got scared, and ran off. Not ten seconds later you came through.”
“That doesn’t add up. I spent half a day preparing to follow her. Time must flow differently between the two worlds.”
“...Sure, why not?” Luna said.
“How long ago did Sunset come to your school?” Twilight asked.
“It was about two years ago,” Celestia said. “She started out as a pretty normal girl, but she developed a bad reputation pretty quickly.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean bullying, blackmail, a whole list of offenses,” Luna said, sounding like she was tired from reaching for something forever just inches from her grip. “We’ve been trying to get her suspended for months, but she’s as slippery as an eel. She always does just enough to keep herself safe.”
A ding sounded from the kitchen, causing Luna to perk up. “That means dinner’s ready. Why don’t we eat while we discuss this further.”
Dinner came with two further complications. The first was Luna nearly setting Spike’s plate on the floor. She quickly realized how offensive he might find it and offered to place it on the table with a few big, thick books acting as a high chair.
The second involved Twilight having to use silverware with hands for the first time. It was awkward, but by observing the sisters a bit she made a decent job of it.
At first, the conversation was dominated by Twilight, who was answering questions about Equestria and the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve. The topic turned to Twilight giving a full account of Sunset’s theft.
“Hopefully we can get this solved tomorrow,” Celestia said. “Until then, if anyone asks, we’ll say you’re our niece from out of town, coming to visit a while.”
“Sounds as good a cover as any,” Twilight said. She had to admit Luna was a good cook. She wondered if her Luna was this good.
“As long as we don’t have to keep things up for long,” Luna pointed out. “You said you were going to be here a whole month.”
Twilight nodded. “I’ll stay out of sight as much as possible,” she said. “I just want to get my Element and get back home to the others.”
“Speaking of those others, they look a lot like some of our other students,” Luna said.
That got Twilight to perk up just before another bite entered her mouth. “Who? What are their names?” Spike also looked up from his meal in curiosity.
Luna swallowed a bite before answering. “Let’s see... Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and...” Luna thought a moment. “...Fluttershy. Yes, she’s so quiet it’s hard to remember.”
Twilight actually squealed at that. “That’s them. My friends have alternates here too! Maybe they can help us...”
“Uh, Twilight? They aren’t the same ones we know back home,” Spike said.
“I know that. But Celestia and Luna seem as friendly as the other versions of them.” She turned back to the sisters. “But maybe we won’t need them anyway, if it’s just a visit to Sunset’s house away.”
“Here’s hoping,” Celestia said.
“Still, maybe it’s a good idea to read up on our cultures,” Luna said. “Maybe you should get on the computer after dinner.”
“What is a computer?” Twilight said.
“The technical definition is that it’s an electronic device that stores data. We use them for all kinds of things, but the Internet is the big one.”
Twilight blinked at Celestia’s explanation. “The Internet.”
“It’s a large network of information that connects computers all over the world together. You can get information on just about anything. It’s like having a large library right in your home. ...Twilight? Twilight? Are... are you drooling?”
Luna reached out in front of Twilight and snapped her fingers twice. No reply.
Spike placed a paw on his head. “Good going. I don’t think you could have broken her any faster.”
Then Twilight stood up. “You have to show me this computer!”
Twilight felt her fingers tremble in anticipation as the screen in front of her lit up. It displayed a picture of Celestia and Luna in their home, with several icons all bunched together to the left. She looked down at the smaller device in front of her.
“So... you put the letters in your alphabet in a different order?”
Celestia blinked. “What?”
“Our alphabet has the same letters, but this keyboard has them in a different order. Ours went a, b, c...”
“That’s how our alphabet goes,” Celestia said. “The keyboard is left over from when we used typewriters. Since typing too fast jammed the things, we made the system as inefficient as possible.”
“And you just kept them after this long?”
Celestia shrugged. “Well, the keys are arranged in a convenient way too. Now, you’re going to take the mouse,” she guided Twilight to a small device, “and as you move it, the pointer on the screen moves as well.”
Twilight watched the demonstration, her eyes widening. “How does this work?”
“You can look it up online. Now, move your cursor over to that icon and right click... that is, click with the right button.”
The screen showed a single screen with a strange word. “Google?”
“That’s the name of the search engine. Now listen, you have to be careful what you read on this thing. Any idiot can post anything on here with no regard to whether or not it’s true. So I’m directing you to an online encyclopedia that actually cites sources.”
It took a bit of maneuvering, but Celestia taught Twilight how to get onto the front page.
“Okay then, now just type what you want to learn about in the search bar.”
Celestia didn’t give any instruction after that, and Twilight thought she knew why. She had noticed her ability to learn quickly, and now she wanted to see Twilight learn by trial and error.
She tried typing. When the words didn’t appear, she brought the pointer to the search bar and clicked. Then she typed “car” and hit the button labeled go.
The search results came up. Twilight only took a moment to click on the first one.
Twilight fell into an unresponsive state quickly, and Celestia thought it best to leave her to it. She sat on the couch, with Spike laying on the cushion next to her and Luna on the dog’s other side.
“Already in study mode. I’ll be lucky if I can get her to sleep tonight.”
Luna actually smirked at that. “Are you sure you’re the child in that relationship?”
Spike shrugged... or at least, tried to. “I love Twilight, and she has taken care of me since I’ve hatched, but she can get... obsessive when it comes to learning. I have to keep her in line when she does that.”
Celestia smiled. “Well then, she’s lucky to have you.”
Spike grinned. “Um... you wouldn’t happen to have anything for me to do, would you? Any comic books or anything?”
She shook her head. “Afraid not.”
Luna perked up. “I have an idea.” She picked up what looked like a small screen on the end table next to her. “I can download some comics and games on my tablet for you.”
Spike tilted his head. “Download?”
“We can buy things on the Internet and store them in these devices electronically,” Celestia explained. “That includes things for you to do.”
Spike brightened. “Cool... uh, are you sure you’re not spending too much money on us? We’re already getting free food...”
“It’s a drop in the bucket,” Luna promised. “Not come on, come over here and tell me what looks interesting to you...”
“...Paper.”
Everyone stopped and looked at Twilight.
“Paper. I need paper. If there’s anything like this oil in Equestria, I can revolutionize technology in a generation! Do you have any paper? And quills?”
“Oh Celestia,” Spike muttered.
“Excuse me?” Celestia said.
Spike blinked. “Oh, right... you’re not all-powerful, are you?”
Celestia blinked and turned back to Twilight. “Why don’t I show you how to save those pages so we can print them out later?”
“...I can just make these in a physical form?”
“...And there goes the last chance she’s sleeping tonight,” Spike sighed.
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Oh good lord...
Twilight on the internet in this version is so hilarious. Poor Spike...
Here's hoping Twilight doesn't discover the dark side of the Internet. You can find some pretty messed up stuff if you're not careful.
6901753 You can find it even if you ARE careful.
6901814
Maybe Celestia has the safe search turned on.
Twilight with an entire library at her fingertips, or an entire library of libraries, she'll be a while that's for sure. There's no way it's going to be as simple as going to Sunset's place though, things are never that easy. Looking to see what happens next.
Excellent work on this latest chapter. :-D The emotional content, exchanges and humor are all great in all the right places. And, to be fair, a lot of the more caring pet owners DO treat their pets like their own kids, so there actually IS a certain amount of Fridge Brilliance to Spike still being a dog in this universe. And, it might be kind of funny if Human Luna ended up meeting and adopting a possum like her equine counterpart some time after this adventure is over.
At any rate, I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration.
Heh. By the way, the modern keyboard isn't just to force people to type slower. As someone who types 110 words per minute thanks to that awesome high school typing class, I know what I'm talking about. :)
The idea was to put the most commonly used letters on the main row, with progressively less used keys farther away from the common center. This is why "z" is all the way on the far left, because it isn't used nearly as often as "f" or "j", which are used a lot. The most commonly used consonants and vowels were then placed with an eye toward how often they cropped up in language, and then what would allow for the greatest ease with the least strain. It's actually a very complicated piece of work, and surprisingly effective. A lot of thought went into the modern keyboard, which is why it's never been replaced.
6901837 One word: Hyperlinks
I wonder if Sunset did the friendship sundering in this universe?
6901930 Most likely not.
Still catching up on all the fics in this story, but forgot Twilight would be stuck here for a month. At least that gives her more time to deal with Sunset though also means she'll be gone from Equestria for a long time (haven't read through the other parallel fic yet). Oh dear, Twilight with a month to spend on the computer, this isn't going to end well. She'll probably end up trying to drag back at least several boxes of printed articles with her to Equestria. If she doesn't just try to load it all up in a car and drive that through the portal.
That would be a sight to see.
I always love the idea of Twilight actually figuring out the internet and... well, yeah, going into obsession mode. Technically Spike's the child (well, dog now), but more than half the time he's looking after her. I doubt it'll be as easy as going to Sunset's home address and getting the crown back . Nice explanation for why the Fall Formal crown just happens to look like the Element of Magic (part of Sunset's plan), as well as for the time discrepancy between worlds. Wonder if Sunset got fake identity papers (and probable fake address), or if she replaced the native Sunset. The rest of the Mane Six have already been mentioned, but I always find it intriguing, the possibility of Twilight and Sunset's counterparts being involved somehow too (since you're not following the movie exactly of course).
It occurred to me that given how responsible the principal and her sister are, I think the moment Twilight suggests kickstarting Equestria's Industrial Revolution, she'd want to show the girl the down side to rampant industrial development. In a world of magic, much of what oil is used for can be replaced with alternative power sources. That would be better for a world of magical creatures than filling the atmosphere and waterways with industrial pollutants. Especially since Celestia has the opportunity to head that particular nightmare off at the very beginning.
As for stuff like the Internet, use magical crystal tech, and some magical holographics, and you don't need electricity or any of that. Just enchanted crystals, for CPU, memory, and wifi. And considering rock farmers in Equestria grow gemstones to order, they're ideally suited to leapfrog our own technology and jump straight to optical computing.
Ah, memories of when I first came to know the Net....
And Twilight and Spike continue to settle in.
6901880
The keyboard thing combined with her inability to give a basic description of a combustion engine's workings (something I learned at, like, 9, from the Magic School Bus), leads me to believe this Celestia is a better administrator than teacher...
6902454 you know, I had a similar idea to make use of Crystals of the magic version of our world. EX: like maybe use gravity crystals for an aircraft fighter jet or maybe for a cab rider (all they need to do is push or pull on the petals to move their carriers around). Heat crystals for spa and hot baths and for the colder climates and stuff. Oh maybe use crystal tech for a telephone replacement. The Possiblities are endless here.
I wish Twilight luck…you all know what's on there…
Twilight has discovered the internet... and sleep is now a thing of the past.
6901880
That's not entirely accurate: there was some slowing down involved because typewriters had to prevent the jamming of the physical imprinting keys. It was most definitely not an intentional design feature, however: it was an accidental consequence of actual method of preventing the keys from jamming — forcing the keyboard layout to work in a way that kept any of the most commonly used letters in the English language from being next to each other. A and S, and I and O are the only ones in the top 10 that are adjacent, and the former pair are also the only ones in the home row. E, T, O, N, and A are the top five and except for T they are all off to the sides. The home row really is the median point.
You are quite correct about the three least used letters though: Z, X, and Q are all off in the corners.
I'm not sure how I feel about Celestia and Luna here, maybe it needs a bit more expansion on their emotions and reactions but it's almost like they're a pair of talking heads and Twilight just reacts to every new revelation from the human world
Actually Equestria has computers. Although they are rather big, clunky beasts. Similar to early 1940's or 50's computers.
Not to mention they have Techno Music (which takes digitized musical samples, and combines them), Arcade Games (which are computer games in their own special tower. Which has the same basis as a computer), and powerful scientific machines which take readings and convert it into data.
So I don't know why Twilight was confused about what Computers are. I mean she's seen them, worked with them before, and they are a thing in Equestria.
But I do hope that she brings mass produced computers, printers, and the internet to Equestria.
Please tell me the Internet will be a thing in the NuptialVerse after Twilight goes back?
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6901880
Actually, historically speaking. They were an intentional design to force people to type slower, and yes a 110 words a minute is quick. When typewriters were first a thing, quickly typing was a sure way to jam the keys. By setting them up as they did, they made things slower, but also made it so that it would jam less.
History of the Keyboard. (Chapter 3, paragraph 2.)