Most of her things were just floating behind her. She had a smile on her face. I think she was enjoying this.
After I got tired of watching Twilight walk back and forth, I suggested moving the portal downstairs. Celestia quickly agreed with me. It made Twilight's job easier.
"Do you think she might need help?" I asked Celestia after she had moved the portal. We were both upstairs right now.
"She'll be fine."
"What did she bring?"
"Testing equipment, it seems. I don't know, myself."
"What exactly did you guys tell her to make her bring so much stuff?"
"My sister told Twilight that she would be sent somewhere to study. Luna told her that this 'place' had a different society."
"This isn't what you meant when you said 'study', is it..."
"Not exactly."
"Well... study she shall."
Celestia was amused by Twilight's present antics.
When Twilight was finally finished, she walked back upstairs, a scroll and quill floating in front of her face.
"Oh my gosh! A floating shopping list!" I let out in horror.
Celestia gave me an amused look.
"It is [i]not[/i] a shopping list." said Twilight, "However, it is a [i]check[/i] list. I find checklists very useful in my everyday life. You could say that I am a checklist aficionado." she proudly let out.
"Yeah, they're pretty useful." I said, agreeing with her spirit.
"Phil..." started Twilight, "Now that you're both together and I've been settled in, I was wondering if you could answer my question, now."
"What was... Oh right, right..."
Celestia looked to me.
"She asked me... how I knew that you were the one. How I knew that I wanted you as my fiancée. As my wife."
Celestia gave me a very loving smile. She [i]really[/i] likes when I say wife.
"I told her that it was a long and complicated story, and that I might tell her with you."
Celestia turned to Twilight. Twilight seemed a little nervous.
"What an interesting question." said Celestia, "It is indeed long and complicated. You still seem to be interested in learning."
"I am, Princess."
Celestia nodded. She turned to me. "Very well. Phil, is it alright with you if we tell her?"
"Yeah, o'course."
"This is... a rather private affair." said Celestia, "Should we discuss what we should tell her?"
"I guess. Couldn't hurt."
"Twilight, would you excuse us for a short while?" asked Celestia.
"Of course, Princess." she replied, "I'll be downstairs. There's still so much that I need to take care of."
Twilight left us and went downstairs. Celestia closed the door behind her with magic.
"Phil." she said to me.
"Celestia."
She smiled. "What should we omit?" she asked.
"Chrysalis. As like... a whole."
She nodded. "I agree."
"Red being a thief. And..."
"Should we... omit my... breakdown?"
"When you were drunk?"
She nodded.
"Hmm... That was important to our relationship."
"Chrysalis's appearance was important to our relationship, as well. I... struck you because of her." she briefly looked away.
"Well, we definitely can't tell Twilight about her."
She nodded again.
Celestia and I discussed what to keep out of our story when we told Twilight. I brought up that we didn't need to tell her at all, but Celestia was fine with it.
"Are you ready?" she asked me.
I nodded. "As I'll ever be."
We called Twilight back upstairs.
"Alright Twilight, we've come up with an abridged version of our relationship." I said to her.
"That is a... blunt way of putting it, but yes, he's correct." said Celestia.
I paused for a short while. "What was the question again?"
"Phil..." said Celestia. She smiled at me, a small laugh in her expression. "Twilight wanted to know..."
"I remember! I remember. I remembered it... always. All the time, remember. Remember... all the time... I do. You wanted to know... Uh... how we... knew that each other was [i]the one[/i]. It was kinda hard to word that sentence, I'll be honest."
"It turned out well." said Celestia, encouraging me.
"Thank you." I said, "Anyways... Celestia, would you like to start?"
She nodded. "Twilight." She addressed her fellow Princess. Twilight gave her a serious face. "There are many reasons that I see Phil as [i]the one[/i]. He is a human. He's unique. He's not from Equestria. Perhaps he has his own counterpart as you did. I don't know."
"That'd be neat. Two Phils. I could be twice as lazy." I bet Celestia would like that...
"Yes... Twilight, you are aware of the feelings I have for the life I have grown accustomed to. I was bored in Equestria. In this world, I am no longer held back by my status as a Princess. I feel a certain freedom here that I rarely feel in Equestria. I soon realized that this freedom wasn't because of the world I was in, but because of the one I was with." She glanced at me again. "I was free to share any feeling I chose with Phil. I became infatuated with him. At first, it was nothing more than a playful affection, but the longer I spent with him, the more the feeling grew. We became a couple after merely two weeks together."
"We were together as much as we could be." I said, "We both just wanted someone to cuddle with as we rested or went to bed. Celestia and I usually sat on the couch and cuddled the day away."
"When I left for Equestria, it was devastating. For both of us. I refused to accept it, so I searched for a way back. When we met again... I haven't been that happy in such a long time."
"Then Sarah and Red poked their heads into our lives." I said, "Sarah is a co-worker of mine that I went out for coffee with the day I learned Celestia would come back to me. She and Red became rather important to me. Sarah had an issue of her own that she needed my help with, and Red required a lot of attention to make sure that she didn't act up."
"That's one way of putting it. I became jealous of Red and Sarah. Red had made a mistake, and when she and Phil made up, it upset me. And... Sarah made me very jealous because she worked with Phil every day, away from me. I disliked them, and it affected our relationship."
"We dealt with them though. Red and Sarah are our friends, now."
"Indeed. Phil and I have bonded over this past month. To the point where we would reveal some of our more private secrets. After hearing and understanding each other's secrets, we became even closer. After I told him mine, I asked him to call me his fiancée."
"It might seem like we're engaged." I glanced at Celestia. "And... maybe we are..." She smiled. "But I haven't proposed to her, so it's not official."
"Princess, if you asked him to call you his fiancée, doesn't that mean that [i]you[/i] have already proposed to him?" asked Twilight, a little shocked to hear all this information.
Fair point.
"Perhaps it does." replied Celestia.
"We're not there yet, Twilight." I said to her, "But we want to be. We've been together for a short while, and while we know in our hearts that it is what we want, it's not the right time for it. If I were in Equestria, I would ask her. That's one of the reasons why this is so important to us."
Twilight nodded. She gave me a serious look. "I understand. I'll do my best to find a way."
"Twilight, this relationship is very important to me." said Celestia, "I appreciate your help more than you could know."
"Thank you, Princess Celestia."
Celestia glanced at me, then back to Twilight. She was smiling an excited smile.
"Ohh, I can't believe you get to finally spend time with one of my friends!" Celestia happily let out, excitedly bouncing in place, celebrating to herself.
I gave her a smile. "This should be nice."
Twilight was surprised to see her Princess this excited.
Celestia let out a small laugh. She looked a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry, Princess." said Twilight, "You can count on me."
"Yeah, you can count on her." I said, a smile on my face.
Celestia chuckled. "Thank you, Twilight. I wish you the best of luck. Phil..." She turned to me. She paused. Suddenly, she pushed against me in a hug. I returned her embrace. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
I gave her a quick peck on the lips before she pulled apart. She smiled at me, then stepped away.
Celestia spoke the magic words to cast her spell. The portal opened behind her.
"Goodbye, Twilight and Phil. With any luck, I'll see you soon."
"Goodbye, Princess."
"See ya." I said to her, giving her a small wave.
She turned around, then stepped through. She turned back to us. Our small group shared another round of farewells before the portal finally closed.
I sighed. "I miss her already." I said.
"Don't worry, you'll see her soon." said Twilight.
I smiled at her. "What did you bring?"
"I'll show you."
She led me downstairs into her evil lair. The basement looked completely different. There were various instruments all over the floor. A neatly stacked pile of scrolls sat on the computer table.
"I didn't touch your computer, like I promised." she said to me.
"What is this stuff?" I asked, not presently caring about the computer.
"Well, that is a..."
I don't know how long she had been explaining. I knew what some of the stuff was. I saw a seismograph, I saw... some machine, I saw beakers and vials... The floor was covered in lab equipment. Twilight went through every single one with me in meticulous detail.
I very quickly realized that I didn't care what most of this stuff did. Twilight explained not only what these things were, but what they were used for and how they were used. It got boring fast. I understood most of what she was saying, but she just didn't stop.
Twilight was just happy to be able to explain her methods. I think she just enjoyed speaking to me. She must've known that I was actually understanding her, so she kept going...
"I believe I've covered everything here. Did you have any questions?" she asked me.
I blinked a few times. "I'm... sure if I did, you'd be happy to answer."
"That's right." she proudly stated, "I take it that you don't have any questions right now?"
"No, I don't think so. You've covered just about everything I needed to know. Wow, that was a lot of information... I guess I [i]did[/i] ask. Are you... sure you need all this?"
"It's... a bit excessive, I realize that. I was told that I would be studying a foreign land. I wanted to be prepared."
"Well..." I shrugged. "I guess it worked. Shame, though. Anything you could find out has already been discovered by us humans. I could've said something while you were moving your equipment, but it was kinda fun watching you."
"If any discoveries I could make have already been discovered, then I'll just have to find something new." she said to me.
"There you go, that's the spirit!" I cheerfully said to her, "Twilight, you are going to be amazed at the stuff humans have discovered."
"I'm [i]already[/i] amazed. Ponies haven't been to the moon."
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg."
She opened her eyes wide. "What?"
"Well, maybe not the tip. Like, the tip and like... 20% more. 30%... Bad analogy. Anything you might be curious about, humans have discovered, researched, hypothesized further, and discovered the next step in your line of thinking. Studying my world could give you ponies a technological jumpstart."
The look on her face was priceless. You couldn't [i]pay[/i] for this kind of entertainment. Well, maybe you could...
"Enough time here, and you could become the Mother of Modern Science back in your world with your countless technological breakthroughs."
The thought had interested her.
"No, even better, the Mother of the Modern Age... Although..." I paused. "You don't strike me as someone who would do that."
She blinked. "Oh?" She looked curious.
"You're the kind of scientist that doesn't take shortcuts. The kind of scientist that makes her own discoveries. The kind of scientist that creates her own future. You're a clever, curious little pony, and no amount of discoveries that you didn't make will help sate your curiosity."
She tilted her head. "You sure seem to know a lot about me."
"Celestia told me a lot about you, Twilight. She really respects your skills as a scientist." I said as if I had rehearsed this response. I didn't know if I should tell her about the show. Celestia knew. I didn't know if Luna or Chrysalis knew. Discord definitely knew.
I decided not to tell her. What she doesn't know can't hurt her.
Twilight was humbled by my words. "Did she really say that about me?"
"She did. Celestia is confident in you, Twilight. [i]I'm[/i] confident in you." I gave her a smile. "You'll do great here, Princess Twilight. I'm sure of it."
She had a smile on her face. She believed my words. She was happy to hear that both Celestia and I believed in her. She was happy to hear that Celestia respected her. She was enjoying our conversation.
I'm really good at talking to ponies.
Twilight looked to her equipment. "Hmm..." She picked up her checklist and marked something I didn't see. "I have quite a bit to do while I'm here." she said.
"Maybe you should start tomorrow. It got a bit late while you were going through this."
"You might be right, but I don't know if I'll have time if I do."
"Well, do what you want, then. I have work tomorrow, remember."
"I remember."
"If you need... Uh... an assistant, I'd be glad to help. Celestia told me that you had an assistant back home."
"That's right. He was a young dragon named Spike. I would've brought him with me, but Princess Luna told me that this was not a task for him. Now that I'm here, I can see why she told me that. I had him stay at one of my friend's houses while I was away. Spike would help me with my experiments by retrieving what I asked him for, be it books or tools or even a glass of water, sometimes before I knew I wanted it."
"Sounds nice." I stepped forward towards Twilight's organized mess, looking down at it. "Be careful down here. Try not to trip. Or if you do, try to scream loud enough for me to hear you."
"I'll be fine."
There was a lot of stuff down here, but it had clearly been organized to Twilight's liking.
"Do you want me to help you move the books down here?"
"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."
I smiled at her. She smiled back. The two of us went upstairs and retrieved the books.
As I walked back down, I glanced at the light. It was a bit dim down here... I think...
"Hey Twilight, can you use your magic to remove that light cover?" I asked, pointing up at it.
"Hmm? What? Why?"
"I wanna make it brighter down here for you."
"Oh, alright. No problem. Thank you."
I saw a purple glow surround the light cover. Soon after, it gently drifted down into my arms.
"Alright, that's what I thought." I said, looking up to it. There was an empty socket next to the bulb.
"Oh! You're going to add another lightbulb. Thank you. That will help me a lot."
I set the cover onto the couch and went upstairs. I returned shortly after with a box of lightbulbs. I stood underneath it and reached up with a bulb in my hand to screw it into the empty socket. The entire room got quite a bit brighter.
"Could you..." I picked up the cover.
"Of course."
She returned it to the ceiling.
"Man, that's super useful." I said, "Wish I could use magic..."
"You're very tall." she noticed.
I shrugged. "I get that sometimes."
Now that she had mentioned it, the difference in our height became very apparent. She was much shorter than I was. She wasn't as short as Luna, but she wasn't as tall as Red. It wasn't a surprise that I was this much taller than her. Even Celestia was quite a bit shorter than I was, and she was at least six feet tall. I never... properly measured her. Six feet and 200 pounds... ish. 'I'll take a large... What? Huh? Extra thick!'
"You're the tallest human I've seen so far." she said. She paused, then took a small step back. "Are you going to bed soon?"
"Yep. Soon-ish."
"Alright." She wrote something down. "When will you leave for work?"
"Like nine." I replied, "And I get home around six."
"Thank you." She wrote something down again. I think she was documenting my schedule.
"One more thing though." I said, taking out my phone, "I gotta print this off."
I sent the words I had translated from the book to the printer. Twilight snapped her gaze to it underneath the desk as it fired up.
I walked over and retrieved the printed sheet, then gave it to Twilight.
She looked it over. "Thank you."
I nodded. "Alright, it's getting late. I gotta go to bed."
She gave me a quick nod. "Of course."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
I turned and headed back upstairs.
Twilight had spent a long time going through her stuff. It was bedtime for me. I made sure the house was tidy, an easy task, brushed my teeth, and retired to my bedroom.
I missed Celestia...
December 2
Oh boy! Work!
I headed into the front room after waking up. The basement door was open and the light was on. I think she fell asleep without turning it off.
I shrugged as I walked past the door and into the kitchen. I made myself a bowl of cereal.
Twilight probably fell asleep with her face in the books. What a cute thought.
I paused, setting my spoon down. If she fell asleep with her head on the books, she'd probably get drool on them. I should check on that.
I stood up.
Was this just an excuse to see her asleep? Yes it was...
I went downstairs. She was definitely asleep, but not on the books, which was good. The books were set on the table I had brought downstairs for her from my garage.
That is probably the most inelegant way of laying on a couch that I have ever seen. Her arm was twisted at a weird angle and was pointing straight up. One of her legs was hanging off the couch. Monsters are gonna get her if she's not careful about that.
And she was snoring. It was... also inelegant.
I went back upstairs because this felt really creepy and I didn't exactly want her to catch me staring at her.
After playing Mario Kart until my second alarm, I opened the door to go to work.
To my surprise, a layer of white was covering the ground. Snow! It was snowing! Oh, how wonderful! The first snow of the season... The sky was grey and snow was falling down. It looked nice.
It was really cold out. I needed another jacket. I went back in and got one from the basement.
As I was grabbing my coat, I heard Twilight snort.
"Wha..." She let out. She was looking at me, still half asleep.
"I'm going to work. Go back to bed."
"You're not Starswirl the Bearded..." she groggily let out.
She stared at me for a few more seconds before lowering her head back onto her pillow.
She's dreaming, how cute...
I forgot to teach her how to use the phone... Oh well...
I put on my coat and walked out the front door.
Work, work, work...
My second coat made the temperature more bearable. I was rather comfortable. It was a pleasant cold. The walk to work didn't take long. Only eight minutes. I would be fine.
When I got to work, there was so much snow on me that I could shake it off. I did so outside.
After walking in and stamping off my shoes, I immediately put out a wet floor sign. No lawsuits here. At least, no lawsuits that would work against us.
"Hey, when did it start snowing?" I asked the previous shift's cashier.
"Like two hours ago." he replied.
I nodded. "Seems about right."
My shift's child labor force started trickling through the doors soon enough.
Things went well for a while. I made sure the floor was kept clean of snow to keep up appearances and avoid any possible issues. Nobody slipped today.
Someone always does, though... Someone always does...
Ah, I see the lovely Sarah was still with us. Actually... now that I'm getting a closer look, she wasn't very lovely at all right now. She looked awful.
"What's up with you?" I asked her, singling her out from the rest of the crew.
"Oh, I just... I haven't... been getting a lot of sleep recently." she replied, emphasizing her point with a yawn.
"Why not? Nervous about your dad?"
She nodded. "He seems more agitated than before."
"Mmm... Still looking for a place to stay?"
"Yes. I'm thinking of an apartment on the other side of town. I can't move yet. I don't have enough money."
"If you're gonna change jobs, I'll give you a... a... I forgot what it was called. Uh... Yeah, don't get stuck at McDongers like me. You're too smart for this place. Uh... Letter of recommendation. That's what bosses do, right?"
"Thank you."
"You've been here just over a month though, so it might not do you much good."
"That's fine. Anything will help."
"You've gotten better at working with people." I said. I noticed Timmy passing by. "You can tolerate standing near Timmy, not many people can do that."
"Ey b0ss, fuck you mang." he said to me, continuing to walk.
I snickered. Sarah let out a small laugh, probably not understanding the reference.
"Thank you, Phil." she said to me.
"Yep. Yep... Alright, let's get to work."
Many hours later.
It was warmer on the walk home. I wrapped one of my sweaters around my waist as I walked.
I entered my home as I normally would. Twilight was not upstairs.
"I'm back, Twilight!" I called.
She didn't respond.
The basement door was open. I walked downstairs. She was sitting on the couch, moving her focus between books and writing things down.
Seems she was doing well...
"Hi, Twilight." I said to her.
She suddenly stopped, then looked up at me. She gave me a small smile. "You startled me."
"That so? I have something else to teach you." I said.
"Really? What is it?"
"I'll tell you in a little while. I need to change. I'll be back."
She nodded. "Alright."
I went back upstairs and into my room. I quickly changed my clothes and grabbed Celestia's old flip phone. I returned to Twilight.
I held the phone out to her. She eyed it, then took it from me. "What... is this?" she asked, examining it.
I got out my phone and sat down next to her. She scooted away from me.
I explained what it was, which prompted a somewhat surprised response from her. I taught her how to use it, same as I taught Celestia.
"Alright, now go ahead and try it out." I said.
She looked to the phone, then navigated to the contacts and called me. My phone began ringing. I loved my service, it worked even in the basement...
I answered my phone and said, "Hello."
Her eyes opened wide. She pulled the phone away from her face and looked to it. "This is... incredible... We don't have this kind of communication technology in Equestria."
"Yeah, I know. I knew you would be surprised." I closed the call. "You can use this to call me while I'm at work. Celestia used this as well."
"The Princess did?"
"Yep. She called me whenever she had an issue or just wanted to talk. It's how she told me about Red so we could track her down."
"You've mentioned Red before. Who is she?"
"She's a pony that came to this world at about the same time Celestia got here this past month. I don't know the details, you'll have to ask Celestia or Luna." Twilight didn't need that we were harboring a fugitive.
"Well, alright... Here, look at this." She reached forward to the notebook and textbook.
I leaned in to see what she was doing.
"I've made a bit of progress since you've been gone." she said. She traced a few lines in the notebook and turned a few pages in the textbook, showing me her progress.
"Good job, good job." I said to her.
She smiled. "It looks like he's going through and making changes to spells and other magical things in the book. I've managed to decipher a single spell so far, and from what I've tested, he's discovered ways to increase the potency of some spells."
"Neat. Do you think that's the case with the rest of the book?" Reminds me of the Half-Blood Prince... Twilight would [i]love[/i] Harry Potter.
"It could be. I don't know. But I'm going to find out." she confidently let out.
"You're doing good, Twilight." I said to her, "Keep it up. Would you like some more help?"
"Yes, thank you."
I gave her a smile, then retrieved the journal so I could resume the work I had done on it.
December 5
It was like this for the next couple days. I helped Twilight with the books while I wasn't working. I felt like we were making great progress. It seemed like we would finish well before Twilight's month here was up.
By Twilight's calculations, at the pace we were going, we would be done translating the books on the fifteenth.
I came to Twilight today with a fun idea in mind. It was the same idea I had with Celestia when she first got her, although the context was a bit different.
"Would you like to see the town?" I asked her.
"Hmm?" She looked up from her book. "The town?" She gasped as if she just realized what I meant. She hopped off the couch. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! I can't wait to see the rest of your world! Let me get my things."
"Things?" I asked her.
"If the rest of your world is anything like what I saw the last time I was here..." I watched her pick up some things from her mess as she spoke. "Then I could find out much more than I ever could before."
"You're... bringing all that?" I asked.
"It might be a bit much, but if I'm going to study this world, then I will need my tools."
"I don't... Twilight, I don't think that's what Celestia meant when she said 'study this world'." I said to her.
"Hmm?" She paused and looked to me. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you remember when Celestia first sent you to Ponyville?"
She nodded. "I remember. So, this is more of a lesson on friendship?"
"Yeah, something like that. She sent you here to see the sights. To spend time in a unique setting."
"Alright. I think I understand."
I smiled at her. "You look almost disappointed."
"No, no... It's not that I'm disappointed. I didn't know what to expect when I came to the castle. I couldn't be unprepared when I met the Princess. It turns out that I still wasn't ready."
"Twilight, you are doing wonderful." I said to her, "Bring a few scrolls. You'll be happy you did."
She smiled. "That's a good idea."
"Oh, no magic in public. Period. You're a totally normal human lady in public."
"Alright."
"Grab a... Grab a coat and meet me outside. Or two sweaters. It's getting colder out."
"I'll be out shortly."
"And if you're bringing anything, keep it reasonable."
She nodded.
"Good."
I walked back upstairs and retrieved my keys. I went outside, prepared for the rest of the day.
Twilight came out shortly after, wearing one of my winter coats. My [i]only[/i] winter coat, actually. The arm sleeves reached past her hands and the hem reached past her hips to her thighs.
"This seems like a very large coat." she said to me.
"You look ridiculous." I said to her, a laugh in my voice, "It's perfect. Did you... Did you bring any of your scrolls?"
"Yes, I did." She unzipped her coat and showed me the inner pockets, just full of scrolls.
"Alright. So, you've seen one of these before, right?" I patted the top of my car.
She nodded. "I've seen them, but I haven't been inside one, yet."
"Well, you're in for a treat. This is a vehicle. A car. An automobile." She quickly got out a scroll and wrote as I spoke. "It is our most commonly used form of travel. As you can see..." I gestured to some of the neighbor's cars. "It is... They are incredibly common. A car can be cheap, like mine, or expensive, and the quality will follow the same model. A common sign of maturity among teenagers in our country is gaining the legal ability to drive one through driving tests."
She glanced at the car. "Interesting."
"There are quite a few complicated processes going on under the hood of this thing." I patted the hood. "But we can save that for later. I can give you a demonstration, if you want."
"That would be great! Thank you." she happily said, "It'll be much easier to learn about this world if I start by asking you about it."
I opened my door. "I'll unlock it. Go ahead and in on the other side."
She nodded. "Alright."
Twilight walked around the car and entered the passenger side door.
I put on my seatbelt and turned to her. "Seatbelts are not optional." I said to her.
"Oh! Ok." She quickly put hers on as well.
I turned the car on, watching her as I did. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, but she didn't react too much otherwise.
"Cars aren't like computers. They are easier to understand because you can physically see the parts under the hood moving, albeit at very high speeds. You ponies probably have technology like this already. The pedal on the floor here controls the amount of power the engine puts out to the tires."
She looked down to the pedals at my feet.
"This one is the brake, and this one controls the gears. I don't know everything about it, but if you want to know more, you can look on the computer."
She nodded slowly, writing something down.
"And remember... No magic."
She looked up at me, then nodded again. "I understand."
I looked back and pulled out of the driveway.
"I'm sure you're wondering where we're going." I said to her, "That's a good question, I'm glad you asked."
"But, I didn't..."
"My town is one of many, many, many towns in this world." I explained to Twilight the general facts of the town and the area, as well as the country itself, similar to how I explained it to Celestia when I met her.
Twilight was very interested in what I had to say, poking in her own questions at times, most of which I could answer at this point in the conversation.
"This is all very interesting information..." she said, "But it doesn't answer the question that I had, but didn't get the chance to ask you."
I gave her a small laugh. "Yeah... I distinctly remember Celestia telling me that you liked books and libraries." She gasped. "So, I was going to show you the library here in town."
"Thank you! Oh my goodness, this is great! I've always wanted to visit a human library! I mean, I've looked through the library at Canterlot High, but a school library won't match a real library. A real library has a much wider selection of research materials. Ohh, I can't believe I get to see what a library looks like on another world!"
"Uh... Yeah!" I replied, trying to match her enthusiasm. She was more excited for this than she was about the computer. "You're gonna have a great time, there. I'm pretty sure you're gonna stick around the library until it closes, so I can take you to see more of the town later on. Sound good?"
"That sounds great."
Our library was located near the center of town, across the river from the high school. Twilight gazed out the car windows as I drove, taking in the sights. She took notes on her scrolls at times.
I parked my car and the two of us got out.
Twilight looked at the buildings around the area. This parking lot used to be for a mall, so it connected to multiple buildings as well as the library, such as a clothing store and medical facility. Actually...
I decided to tell her the explanation of the area I had in my head. "Right there." I said, pointing to the library.
She nodded. "I saw it."
"It's been a while since I've been here. I think I still have my library card in my wallet, actually." I pulled out my wallet and checked. "Oh... Guess not." I shrugged. "I can get another if you want to check something out."
"Could [i]I[/i] get a library card?" she asked.
"Mmm... I don't know about that. I think you need an ID to get a library card."
"Oh."
"I could pose as your dad." I said, a small laugh in my voice, "You can pretend you're a little kid."
"I don't... think that would work. I... also do not feel comfortable with that idea."
I shrugged. "Alright."
We walked into the building. Twilight was impressed with the architecture of the building.
As we walked in, we noticed a colorful children's section to our right. The hall leading to the bathrooms was to our left. The central hall a very open area with a high ceiling that gave you a welcome feeling.
Twilight greeted the receptionists working the front desk as we passed.
"You have four hours here to browse and choose books if you were planning on staying." I said, "'Cause then it closes. Here, come over here. I wanna show you something."
I led her to a group of computers against a row of shelves.
"You can use these computers to search for books by name, author, genre, whatever."
She eyed it, then stood in front of it. "By author, huh? I wonder..." She tapped a key on the keyboard with her index finger. Nothing happened. She tapped it again. Nothing. "No, I have to... the mouse..." She grabbed the mouse with her hand and moved it.
"That." I pointed to the icon she needed on the screen.
I helped her start a search. She typed in the Equestrian author A.K. Yearling, and to no surprise, nothing appeared.
"Worth a shot." I said.
She let out a small laugh. "Thank you, Phil." she said to me.
"If we, uh... If we get split up in here, I'll be right over there." I said, gesturing to the big, soft, comfy chairs in a resting area, "And speaking of splitting up, I'm gonna go get a card. Five books. And no magic."
"I won't use magic. I promise."
"Well, I'm gonna keep reminding you. It's hard to break habits."
After this, I headed to the front desk, leaving her alone. She'll be fine, this is probably the safest place in town.
"Hello, I would like to get a library card." I said to one of the ladies at the front desk.
"Of course, we'll just need you to fill this out and show us a photo ID and proof of residence." She gave me a form and a pen.
"Okie dokie." I said to her, taking them.
What a simple and pleasant exchange...
After I was finished, I presented them with the items they needed. She tapped away at her keyboard for a while before saying, "It says here that you already have an account with us, and that you have a late fee that you will need to pay off before you can borrow any more books."
"Mmm... Yeah, that's what I thought. Sorry, that book's gone, I'll just pay for it. How much do I owe ya?"
She tapped some more, then turned the screen for me to see. "With your late fee, the price of the book, and a one dollar fee to replace your card, your total bill is $24.48."
I looked on the screen to verify, then got out my wallet. "Ok. Plastic ok?"
When I finally got my fresh new library card, I returned to where I had left Twilight. She was nowhere to be seen. I looked at the screen, but it seems that someone else had used it after her. Either that, or Twilight really likes baseball.
I crossed my arms across my chest. Well... Ok... I said I'd be in the chairs, so I'll just go there. But before I do...
I picked up an issue of One Piece before I went to my chair. I chose an older issue, as I had already seen everything anyways.
For a while, I just sat in the chair, reading manga and picking up more issues after I was finished. I began to wonder more and more where she was. After about an hour and a half, I decided to get up and look for her.
I wandered around the library, not calling her name because it was a library and that would probably offend her.
I bet they have Harry Potter here, actually. I'll borrow it for her. Later, after I find her.
How hard is it to find one single pretty, purple-haired lady? This is ridiculous.
Idea! The computer's browser would have a history of any searches she made. I'm so smert...
Following my idea, I searched for her possible location on the computer we used. Sure enough, I got a clue that led me to the history section. I felt like an idiot for not having checked here earlier.
I saw Twilight sitting on the ground in the center of a pile of books. She was focusing hard on the book in her arms.
"You know you gotta put those back, right?" I asked her.
She didn't react. She was too engrossed in her book. She turned the page.
"Twilight? Yoo-hoo! Hello! Twilight!" I let out, slightly louder than before.
She looked up to me. "This is incredible!" she suddenly let out, "Humans have been around for so long! I never even had time to think of where humans came from, and yet, I found a book that explained it for me after just a few minutes! Did you know that humans and apes shared common ancestors?"
"Yes. Yes I did." I simply replied.
"Right... Of course..." She seemed slightly embarrassed. "Well, I didn't, but now that I've read about it, it makes sense. Both humans and apes have similar bone structures, and apes can stand upright like humans do. We have monkeys and apes in our world, do you think humans could naturally evolve there? Perhaps there's [i]already[/i] a tribe of humans somewhere..."
"Yeah, I don't know about... Did you read all these?" I asked.
"Some of them."
"Oh, ok... Impressive. Remember to put them all back."
"I know, I know."
"Five books. To bring home. And no magic."
"I won't use magic, Phil." she said to me, "You've said that before. I haven't forgotten."
"I... apologize."
"It's alright."
"Do you need help putting anything away?"
"No, I think I've got it." she said.
"Well... What are you... reading?"
I sat down outside her pile and picked up a book. I looked at the cover. It was definitely a history book.
She explained to me that she was curious about the history of my world. I saw an encyclopedia and an atlas in her pile as well. She was not gonna have fun picking this all up.
"You know, when I was young." I said to her, "When I was in... second grade, when I was... god..." I counted the grades on my fingers. "When I was six or seven or so... We were doing a fun little project. We had unrolled a spool of paper in the hallway, and we were marking it with years. So, being the curious little kid that I was, I noticed that the numbers went all the way down to 1100. And I thought... 'Holy moly, there was an 1100?!' So I had to ask the teacher to confirm my suspicions, you know, cause I just really didn't know at the time. And that was the first time little ol' Phil learned about the existence of years before 1492. It just blew my mind at the time."
She let out a quiet laugh. "You don't think about these things as a child, and when you learn of them, it's a rather startling realization."
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know."
She gave me a questioning look. "Why 1492?"
"Grab your scroll, you're about to learn some human history."
She immediately retrieved a scroll and pencil. She stared at me, ready to write.
"1492 is the year that a man named Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe across the ocean to our land of America. In an effort to reach a country far to the east over land, he set out west over sea. Instead, he found our country between them. Now, while he was not the first man to reach our country, he was the most important. He brought back with him riches from this new land, making him a legendary explorer, and starting a new... a new age of exploration. People flocked by the thousands to this side of the sea, a three month journey by ship. The people native to this land were conquered, and their world was taken by these new settlers."
"That... took a dark turn..." she said, slowly lowering her scroll.
"You have no idea. So anyways, that is the significance of 1492. Every child in America is taught this in schools early on."
"Interesting... Hmm... There's no way that I could study all of human history with my time here."
"Well, stick with the C.E. years. Or, A.D., if you prefer."
"A.D.? What does that mean?"
"I believe that it meant 'after death'. As the story goes, a religious icon, known as Jesus Christ, was born on year zero. Or... one, I'm not... And when he died, at the age of 32, the years became A.D. According to official records though, he was born in 4 B.C.E."
"Wait, that doesn't make sense." she said.
I shrugged. "I'm sure I didn't say it correctly. There was another meaning for A.D., I just can't remember it. It was Latin, I know that. Attero Dominatus. No wait, that's a song. Anyways, to get rid of any religious undertones and avoid any confusion, we use B.C.E. and C.E., which are 'before current era' and 'current era'. Interesting thing though, the man I spoke about was real, it's just that his history and life is wildly disputed due to the shroud of religious myths around his life."
She blinked. "That's very, very interesting... We ponies aren't a very religious species, though I [i]have[/i] heard of some who view our Princesses as Gods."
"I view Celestia as a God, but that's because she's my fiancée and I'm [i]supposed[/i] to see her like that." I replied, "Also she's really pretty and smart."
She let out a small laugh. "Phil, do you... follow any religions?"
"Uh... Nah. I [i]want[/i] to think that there's something after death, but I just can't bring myself to believe it. I kinda have a fleeting belief in some gods at times, but it's not something I base my life on. How about you, Twilight?"
"Hmm... While I don't believe that a god created the world we live in, I believe that there's something out there that's far above us ponies."
"Mmm... Yeah, same..." Specifically, your god would be Lauren Faust...
"I'm a scientist. I have a scientific view of the world."
"You know, that brings up another point..." I said, "We don't have magic in our world, yet the sun and moonrise same as yours."
"Interesting..." A classic response.
"Our universe does not function on magic. It functions purely on physics. As such, the earth has orbited the sun and spins on its axis to give us the days since its creation, never changing. The moon is likewise caught in the earth's gravitational field."
She stared at me as I spoke.
"Controlling the sun and the moon with your magic breaks many of our known laws of physics. If Luna and Celestia could do that here, they could bring about the end of the world."
She blinked a few times. She was thinking in that head of hers. Finally, she gave me a very creative reply, "Interesting..." She looked down to her book. "You've given me a lot to think about."
"Mmm... Alright, I'm gonna let you think. If you don't need me, I'm gonna head back to the chairs."
"I'll be there soon." she said to me.
She was thinking hard about what I told her. I think I may have broken her. My new Princess is defective, I think I need a replacement. Can I get the older model back? This new streamlined model has a few bugs. The older model had a few kinks, but the extra padding made her more durable.
So, as I told Twilight, I returned to the chair. I had another issue of One Piece with me.
As I should have expected, Twilight had not appeared anytime soon. I sighed, then stood up. I had been watching the clock for the past thirty minutes or so. It was 8:30 right now. She didn't have long.
I went on another quest to find her. As I looked, I passed by the fiction section and picked up the first Harry Potter book.
She had moved from her original location to a new one. I hypothesized that she was now studying astronomy, and as I suspected, she was sitting on the floor in the astronomy section, surrounded by books, reading.
"Having fun?" I asked her.
"Oh, yes! I've been learning so much about..."
I held up my hand to stop her from ranting again. "You have less than thirty minutes. Start packing up."
"It's that late already?" she asked.
I held my hand out to her. She took it and I pulled her to her feet. She was rather light.
She bent down and picked up some of the books, then put them onto the shelf behind her in the correct place as according to the numbers. She quickly cleaned up her temporary workspace, leaving a small pile of books for herself.
She picked up her pile and held it in her arms. It was a bit of a struggle for her, but she had it under control.
"Want me to carry some?" I asked.
"That would be great, thank you." she said.
She held out the pile. I took three off the top.
"Ready to go?"
She nodded. "I'm ready."
The two of us made our way to the front desk. We placed our books onto the counter and the nice lady started scanning them.
"What's that book?" asked Twilight, noticing the book I picked out.
"It's a story book." I said to her, "I thought you'd like it."
"Oh, it's for me?" She seemed happy to hear that I picked her out a book.
For her books, Twilight chose two history books, an astronomy book, an encyclopedia, and a book that seemed to be related to culture. No anatomy books today. We don't need any more demonstrations in human anatomy in my house right now, thank you very much... Also Celestia would rip my head off... And even worse, Celestia would get really angry with me. Twilight can demonstrate human anatomy by herself if she wants, I don't care.
After loading the books into the car, I drove the two of us home. It was snowing right now, so I had to be careful on the roads.
"I'm gonna have to shovel." I said aloud, starting a conversation.
Twilight looked to the ground as I drove. "Does... snow become a problem when you drive?" she asked.
"Yes, yes it does. Driving on ice will do exactly what you think it will."
"That sounds dangerous. Yet, people still drive while it snows?"
"Yep. No stopping us. The city has workers that clear the snow off the streets so it's not as dangerous, but before they start working, it can be very, very dangerous. Especially to people not used to or not comfortable with driving on snow. I'm comfortable driving on snow, though. I'm confident in my abilities."
"You won't get a lot of traction with snowy roads. These cars are so heavy..." She was thinking about something. "You humans must've thought about this beforehand..."
"Exactly. This isn't our first winter. Do you ponies have a lot of issue with the snow?"
"Sometimes. I imagine that it's a lot like how humans function in the snow."
"Mmm... Yeah... I hope it doesn't snow long. I don't wanna have to shovel again tomorrow."
"I could help you shovel." she said to me.
"Really? Well that'd be really nice of you, Twilight. I should be able to take care of it, though. I'll get it done fast."
"It would go even faster with two shovels."
"Good point. Thanks." I replied, not interested in arguing about shoveling alone.
I pulled into the driveway. After we brought the books inside, I went directly back outside. It was still just a light snow.
At this time of night, it was very dark out, especially with no street lights. I turned on my front porch light.
I went to the garage and retrieved a shovel. Twilight was standing outside the side garage door. I picked up a second shovel for her, having actually forgotten about her. Whoops.
"Just the sidewalk and driveway." I said to her, "We'll just clear off what's there. It's still light snow, so it'll be easy."
"You can count on me." she said with a smile.
Like I said, it was fast. It took less than fifteen minutes for us to clear the snow. I wiped the snow off my car, then retrieved a tarp from the garage to cover the windshield. It was a quick and easy way to clear snow off the windshield every morning.
While I was at it, I made sure the ice scraper was still in the car.
Twilight and I returned to the house, slightly more exhausted than when we had started.
"My hands are cold." she said to me, rubbing them together.
"Oh. Yeah, gloves are near the coats. And hats. And boots. Cold stuff. Did you have fun at the library?" I asked.
"I did, yes. Thank you for taking me there, Phil. I've learned so much, already."
"That's great, Twilight." I happily replied, "I'm glad. You certainly took your time though. I almost fell asleep on that chair."
"I'm sorry. There were just so many interesting books. I couldn't just choose five."
"I'll admit, limiting it to five was a little unfair, but we [i]do[/i] still have something to do."
"You're right. I can do more research when I'm finished with my task."
I smiled at her. "You're doing amazing work here, Twilight."
She smiled back. "It's all thanks to your help."
I've been studying the other book, but ok. "We've been out a while. I bet you're hungry."
She blinked. Her eyes widened. "I'm starving!"
"You just noticed?" I asked with a laugh.
"I wasn't thinking about it before! I haven't eaten in hours!"
"Well, how does grilled cheese sound?"
Her stomach growled.
"I guess it sounds good." I said, another laugh in my voice.
This is nice. I'm treating Twilight like a friend and she's treating me the same. I'm trying not to view her as I viewed Celestia.
I've been giving her compliments often to keep her spirits up. I know that the spell is in the books, I've seen Chrysalis cast it. She'll discover that spell and we'll all have a celebration. There will be cheese! For everyone!
This is going really well so far. The only issue I see right now would be finding a spell to bring me to Equestria, but even if we don't find it, Celestia would still be able to visit me more often, which was a win in my book. Then we'd get married and have triplets and accidentally have one more younger child and we'll live happily ever after.
After we ate, I went downstairs to help Twilight with the books. Twilight and I bonded these past few days as we looked through the books. This was nice. This was a good idea. Celestia has good ideas.
After a while of this, I went back upstairs and went to bed.
December 6
The basement door was open. I asked down the stairs, "You up?"
"I am. I just woke up."
"Alright. Come on up, I'll make you some breakfast."
I met Twilight at the kitchen table for food. I made the two of us eggs, which she appreciated.
I had time before I had to leave. I invited Twilight to play Mario Kart with me, which she accepted. We played until I had to go. Twilight, being the quick learner that she was, played much better than her first time.
"You brought up some very good points yesterday." she said as we played.
"That so?"
"Your sun and moon aren't controlled by magic. They travel along their path due to the forces of gravity and momentum. Which has led me to question how our own celestial bodies move through the sky. Clearly, the sun and moon are controlled by our Princess's magic... but like you said, they don't seem to conform to the laws of physics in your world. They must adhere to a different set of laws... Or perhaps they don't follow [i]any[/i] known laws. Of course, this is all assuming that our worlds follow the same fundamental laws. From what I've seen, there are some key differences between our worlds, namely the use of magic in our world. In my world, magic is one of the governing forces of nature. In your world, it seems magic is non-existent."
"You would have an easier time understanding the differences because you know more about magic than I do. There not being any magic here makes it hard to study it."
"I have a few theories."
"I bet you do."
"They're guesses at best, but they are theories nonetheless. If I only had some way to prove them..."
"'Tis the plight of the modern scientist. No longer do we need to question why we become hungry. Nowadays, our scientists are questioning the existence of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies or the existence of anti-particles."
Twilight looked to me for a few moments before she crashed into a wall in game. She snapped her attention back to it.
"You're more intelligent than you seem." she let out.
So basically, I look stupid. "You're mistaking an abundance of trivia answers for intelligence. I might not even understand what I'm talking about, I could just be regurgitating information I saw."
"No, you know exactly what you're talking about. Your knowledge is limited by the current studies that others have done, but you're still smart enough to retain and understand this knowledge."
"Well... I appreciate that."
After my second alarm went off, I headed out. Twilight had stopped playing and returned downstairs to her lair.
I am pleased with how things are going.
I forgot to shovel again... Work was boring. Nothing to report. I went right back home after. It was still snowing on the way back home. I shoveled when I got home.
Twilight and I continued our studies on our books. The journal was actually pretty interesting. Star Song had a rather exciting life. It seemed he had a wide variety of skills. I assumed 'he' because the journal said that he found his assistant attractive. We didn't know if the assistant was a mare or stallion. Or whether Star Song was gay or not. That would also affect our guess.
From what I have gathered so far, Star Song was primarily a 'spellcrafter'. It's what he called himself, at least. He was also an archeologist and explorer. He spoke more of his discoveries than any spells he may have created. Which was a total of zero so far, as far as the journal went.
Twilight was making discoveries of her own with her book. It seemed she had more luck than I, having discovered another improved spell and an interesting potion. She was super proud of this. I was proud of her as well. I'm sure Celestia was proud of her, too.
So that was that day. It was a few days later before we discovered anything else interesting.
December 10
"Uh..." I reread what I just wrote onto my paper. I was midway through a rather interesting monologue.
Twilight glanced at me.
I doubled my efforts, doing my best to finish this page quickly. Twilight noticed my increase in effort and read what I copied down. Her eyes widened.
"Are you sure you copied that correctly?" she asked me.
"I'm still working on it."
She stared at what I was writing.
Line after line was written out on my page. I had given up on writing in my phone. I basically forgot about it, really.
This journal page was written differently than the other pages. The text changed and style often, corresponding to what I was writing down.
Twilight looked to the journal, verifying what I was writing.
"Oh, no..." she quietly let out.
I turned the page. The next one was blank. The page after that continued as if the previous hadn't happened.
Twilight took the notebook from me.
[i]Curse this blasted spell. I can't work like this. If I can't find a cure, this may be the end of my research. Even the Princess couldn't help me.
My assistant keeps forgetting who I am. I keep changing. This isn't right. This isn't what I wanted. Who would want this? My hooves keep changing from young to old and back to young again. My magic fades. I can't control it. My assistant has told me that my cutie mark has disappeared. I don't understand. I still see it.
I can't stand this. I must keep working. I will not let this research go to waste. If nopony else can help me, then I will help myself.[/i]
Twilight lowered the page. "This is horrible... What happened to him?"
"He mentioned his hooves changing from young to old. Do you think he tried to cast a spell related to time?"
"Maybe. I don't know of a spell that can remove a cutie mark."
"Mmm..."
"Keep reading. There has to be something else to that spell."
"He said the Princess couldn't help him. Does that mean he spoke with Princess Celestia?"
"Maybe. It may have been a different Princess from his own time. We don't know when Star Song was alive. Princess Celestia should have remembered a situation like this."
"Hmm..."
Two days later, Twilight discovered something in her own book, the spell book.
"He's crossed out some notes here." said Twilight.
I looked to her book. They weren't just crossed out, they were covered up with ink.
"Think you can read it?" I asked.
"No, I don't think so... Unless..."
She stood up, placing the book onto the table.
She walked to her pile of tools and picked up a magnifying glass, then returned to the table.
She turned the page over and began looking at the back of the page with the magnifying glass. She was trying to see the impressions of the quill that were made on the page before it was crossed out... Clever...
"I need... more light..." she grumbled.
"I got light." I said, turning on my phone's flashlight, "Will this help?"
"It... It's too much light."
"Alright, I'll go find something better." I said.
"Thank you."
I went upstairs and returned with a mini hand-held flashlight.
"How about this?" I shined it on the page.
"That's perfect. Hold it still, right there."
Holding things still was not my specialty. Nonetheless, I did my best.
"I... can see... some lines... but..." She moved the magnifying glass a bit. "I..." She sighed. "I can't make anything out."
She leaned back against the couch, giving up.
"Maybe... a microscope?" I suggested.
"Maybe... There are some problems with that, though. It would be difficult to secure the page without damaging it. This is too old a book. Even if it wasn't, the likelihood of somepony pressing down with enough force to leave an impression using a quill is very low. There's no longer enough evidence on the page to prove what was there."
"Mmm... If you say so, I guess. Well, no sense worrying about it. Back to work."
"You're right." She leaned forward and looked back to the book. "I'll try looking at it again, later."
I noticed that she was actually rather close to the end of the book. Maybe a hundred more pages. I... had absolutely no idea. The hundred pages was an uneducated guess.
I returned to my own book. Being a journal, there was no typed out filler, so I wasn't even halfway through.
"Hey Twilight..." I said after a while, "Do you think that crossed out part was what caused him to write about... his issues?"
"It might be."
"If it was, then I'm glad he crossed it out. We can't risk you testing something so dangerous. We all love you too much to have that happen to you."
"Thank you, Phil. That means a lot to me." She had a pleased smile on her face.
"I haven't seen anything else about that spell in here." I said.
"There may not be another entry."
"I guess. Alright, I'll keep reading."
"Hey Phil?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
For what? "You're welcome, Twilight."
I think she needed another break. I'll take her to the library again tomorrow. Speaking of library...
"Have you read any of those books I gave you?"
"I have. You picked out a great story."
"Well, I'm glad you liked it. Tell you what... Tomorrow, we can head back and get you the next few books in the series. Sound good?"
"It does. Thank you."
"And maybe we can go out and get some pizza."
She smiled at me. "That sounds great."
I smiled back. Twilight was so polite.
December 13
As I said, Twilight and I went to the library again today after I got home from work. She returned the books she had borrowed, and we got the next three books in the Harry Potter series. Twilight was pretty happy to be able to continue reading them.
And as I said, we went to Pizza Hut to pick up a pizza that I had ordered beforehand, because I'm smert like that.
It was a plain cheese pizza. No meat for Twilight. Not unless Celestia was in the room, at least... I'm not apologizing.
Twilight admired the size of the building across the street from the restaurant. To my knowledge, it was an industrial building of sorts. It spanned a few city blocks along the river.
"Is every town like this one?" she asked me.
"Nope, not really. There are thousands of towns out there. Maybe even millions, depending on your definition of what a town is. They are all unique and they all have their own specialty. For instance, our town, while small, has a surprising industrial presence. I believe... one of our companies creates the engines of ships that are... they're massive. They're super massive. Like... Half of a city block kind of massive."
She blinked. "Incredible..."
"And you know that big white building across the river? That's the headquarters for a country-wide company with hundreds of other locations. So we're not an empty town, by any means."
"I would love to see the rest of your world." she said to me.
I smiled. "I bet you would. Maybe if you had like a year with nothing to do, I could take you and Celestia traveling around my world."
"Would it really take that long?"
"It... might. Maybe more like six months or so. Depends on... Basically, it won't work out, is what I was saying. There's so much to do and so much to see. But... I'd like to. Especially with Celestia. I wanted to show her everything."
"I'm sure she would have loved it."
"Yeah. But oh well. At least she can do the same in your world."
"That's something to look forward to."
"It definitely is."
I brought the pizza and Twilight back home. At least one of these things was going to be eaten tonight.
I brought in our pizza and set it on the living room table. I brought out some paper plates and some soda for us from the kitchen. Twilight placed a piece onto her plate and sat on the couch.
I joined her on the couch, picking up a piece for myself.
"Wanna watch a movie?" I asked with my mouth full of pizza.
She looked to me. "Hmm?"
I swallowed. "A movie. Wanna watch a movie?"
"Oh! Alright. What will we watch?"
"That... is a very good question. Mmm..." I took another bite. "Uh..." Celestia liked funny kid movies... I wonder what kind of movies Twilight would like... Oh! I know! Lord of the Rings! Twilight loves fantasy. I think... "I got one. Stay here, I gotta set it up."
I wiped my hands off with a napkin and stood up, then walked to the TV. Alright... I gotta connect this guy to the network...
It didn't look like it had Wi-Fi. At least, I didn't look long enough to make sure. Instead, I snaked a cable all the way up the stairwell from the basement and plugged it directly into my network. I got lazy.
I made the TV display the screen of my computer that was downstairs.
I paused as I remembered that one of the movies begins with someone murdering someone else by strangulation. Which one it actually was eluded me. Maybe not Lord of the Rings... Maybe a movie series that's a little less murdery... Maybe a movie that's not four hours long.
Um... Well... She'd like How to Train your Dragon. Ok, good idea. She even has a dragon of her own. Oh boy... Hope she doesn't get offended...
When I had finally managed to start the movie, I returned to the couch.
Twilight and I sat separated from each other. We weren't a couple, and we weren't [i]going[/i] to be a couple. This was perfectly adequate for us. We sat together on the couch as friends, eating our pizza.
Twilight was intrigued by the movie. I gave her a brief overview of the animation process during the beginning, and answered any questions as she asked.
Twilight's reactions made this really fun, and I liked this movie too, so I enjoyed it even more.
We were about an hour into the movie when I heard something strange. It sounded like my conscience trying to break through the walls I had trapped it in. No wait, it was my door. False alarm.
Twilight and I looked to the door. The knocking got louder. Ok, someone was here... I paused the movie and got up.
Probably Trevor or something. He's terrible. It's not related to the current situation, he's just terrible.
So, I opened the door. To my surprise, it was...
"Sarah! What a pleasant sur... Sarah?"
She stared up at me. As soon as she saw me, tears began to stream down her face. She hiccupped as she reached a hand up to try to wipe away her tears.
"Sarah?" I asked again, concern in my voice.
Twilight stood up and moved so she could see her.
"He [i]hic[/i]... He [i]hic[/i]... He kicked me oooouutt!"