I awoke with a stretch and a yawn, and took a look at my window to see that the sun had barely risen. I motioned to get up, but stopped when I felt something— or somePONY holding me down.

“Oh, yeah…” I tiredly said, not fully awake. “Hey, Twilight. Wakey wakey…” I quietly sang as I tapped her on the tip of her horn with a finger. That surely woke me up, because the moment my finger made contact, I felt a sudden, strong electric shock in my hand, accompanied by a loud *POP* like I just stuck my finger in a wall outlet; NOT very pleasant. I flinched violently as I snatched my hand back. “SHIT…!” I rasped, shaking my now oddly-smoking hand.

“Hmm, good morning, Ty…” Twilight greeted with a smile, yawning and stretching before lifting herself partly off of me, still sitting on my stomach. “Hey, what’s wrong with your hand? Does it still hurt from yesterday?”

“Not from yesterday…” I responded, flexing my tingling fingers as I rose. “You never told me your horn hurt so much while you was asleep…”

“Oh… Sorry. When a unicorn dreams, his or her horn involuntarily surges with energy. How much energy it surges with depends on the vividness and strength of the dream. I was having a particularly interesting one, too. It’s not wise to touch the horn of a sleeping unicorn, y’know.”

“Now you tell me… Which reminds me: You owe me an explanation of your world and what goes on there.”

“You’re right… but then, like you said, we'd be here for days on end with me trying to explain to you exactly how Equestria functions..."

"Got a point there..."

"Hmm..." We both pondered in silence, thinking of a way for me to get a decent amount of insight on Twilight Sparkle's land of origin. Suddenly, she gasped with delight. "I've got it!"

"Wha'ss the plan?"

"Just like how it was better for you to show me a little bit of this world, how’s about I see if I can take you to Equestria for a bit myself?”

"Whaaaat? You can do that??"

"I'm not entirely sure, but there's always room for possibility!"

“Awesome!”

“Buuuut not before you give me a little more information about this world. That, and take a look at my notes and answer the questions I wrote in it.”

“Fair ‘nuff. What, did you want to go back to the city?” I asked, although I was far from willing to go back there after the day WE had...

"Please say no, please say no, please say no, please say no, PLEASE say no!"

“No, no… This time, I just want to get a better idea of what a typical home looks like here.”

"YES!"

“I thought you said you had this house and its immediate surroundings down packed…?”

“I do… but only the outside, the bathroom, this room, and your kitchen. I’ve yet to get a full tour of the inside of this house.”

“You got a point. Okay, le’ss wash up and then I’ll show you.” After we cleaned ourselves up and I lazily threw on a black t-shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts with large red stripes going down the sides, I gave her a quick tour of the house, showing her every room upstairs and downstairs as I briefly described their purposes. She already knew most of everything I was talking about, which seemed to make this pointless. Afterwards, we went back into my room.

“I see that homes in this world are almost exactly like homes in Equestria, minus a few small key differences. For one thing, houses in this world seem to be a little bigger than ones in Equestria... or at least, ones in Ponyville. The biggest thing I'm noticing is the presence of these big black boxes in some of the rooms…” Twilight said.

“What, you mean the Televisions, cable boxes, modem, router, and video game systems?” I asked as I sat back down on the bed.

“If that’s what those boxes with the lights on them are called, then yes. Kind of like the ones in this room I saw when I first came here. What do they even do?”

“Well basically, one of them shows images that people record on these things called cameras, while the other one creates images of its own, which are able to be manipulated by something called a controller. The images the second box produces are only able to be seen when it is connected to the first box with wires. See where I’m gettin’ at?” She stared at me, completely bewildered like I was speaking another language. “…I see that all I managed to do was discombobulate you. Awright, time for a demonstration.” I turned on the TV, which brought up a channel showing highlights from last week’s NBA basketball games. “Now are ya startin’ to get it?”

“Whoa…! I thought you humans weren’t capable of magic. How’d you get those other humans stuck inside of there?” Twilight asked in shock.

“This has nothin’ to do with magic,” I explained. “And these guys ain’t trapped inside of the TV. What you’re seein’ right now is a series of movin’ images that were recorded, kind of like how you record memories into your brain, and projected through this TV, as well as any other TV that people want to have the same images projected through. Get it now?”

“I… I understand enough to get what you’re saying,” Twilight stated with uncertainty. “But it still sounds like magic to me. Especially since you mentioned how this is similar to recording memories. We have cameras in Equestria, but the images they capture aren’t nearly as… well-defined as this appears to be. They especially don’t move quite so fluently, either. I’m additionally surprised to see that sports like basketball exist here.”

“…Really now? Equestria seems to be lackin’ in terms of technological advances… But then, you ponies have magic to make up for it, while we humans do not. Here, people have invented new things to make life easier, and are still doin’ so this very day.”

“Ahh… So much to learn, yet so little time…” the unicorn murmured.

“Anything else you’d like to see before we get to your notes?”

“Hmm… yes. I’d like to see how this second box of yours works…”

“Okey doke,” I said as I turned on my Xbox 360 and handed Twilight the controller. When the intro for the system came on, she was astounded. Her jaw hung open in amazement. She had such a look of childlike enthusiasm on her face that I couldn’t help but laugh a little. After the intro was done, the game system went through its usual motions of reading the disc inside, then going to the dashboard with a message indicating that I'd signed into my online profile inscribed on the bottom of the screen.

“Wha...? What is that?” Twilight asked as she enveloped the controller in her magic, trying to read the message before it disappeared.

“That’s uh… what happens whenever I turn this thing on. It basically lets me know that I turned it on,” I answered with a small chuckle.

“Interesting…” She said as she twirled the controller, enveloped in her magic and hovering, around while examining it.

“This thing is used for entertainment purposes," I informed. "Would you like to play a game?”

“Sure…”

“Okay, I’ll start you off with somethin’ simple…” I said as I took the controller from her to find and load up a game called “Super Meat Boy.” ...Okay, so maybe NOT so simple, if one's played this particular game long enough.

“Super… Meat Boy?” Twilight asked, perplexed and a little worried. "I dunno about this... Judging by the name, it sounds... gruesome..."

“Gruesome? Ehh, not so much as you might be imagining. It’s a simple run-and-jump game about a sentient cube of meat trying to rescue his lady friend that only needs you to press three buttons out of the 20-somethin’ on this controller. It’s a great start for you!” I told her as the game loaded up.

"Sounds simple enough... Although, a sentient cube of meat? Why is it a cube of meat?" she asked, seeming a bit displeased with the character choice

"Tha'ss jus' the way the game was made... I really don't know myself why they decided t' make the main character a cube o' meat. If it bothers you that much, then you're allowed t' change who you play as so you don't have t' play as the meat cube. Buuuut, he's the easiest character t' play with, so I wouldn't recommend changin' right away."

"I see... Well, I suppose I'll overlook the 'meat cube' thing in the wake of simply learning what this is all about..." Twilight acquiesced, to which I simply nodded.

One extravagantly cartoonish scene after another later, I put Twilight right into the game. I gave her the controller and allowed the game itself to teach her how to play. I have to admit, I was more eager to see how she’d even play the game without fingers, but she somehow managed. She simply laid the controller down on the ground and pushed the necessary buttons with the tips of her fore hooves. As for her performance, she did quite well for her first time, quickly getting the hang of the game’s simple mechanics. She made a few mistakes here and there, but her handi... er, HOOF work was incredible. It was almost like she had fingers. She cleared the first 20 levels in the game with relative ease.

“These ‘video games’ are pretty fun!” She exclaimed. “But this one’s a little too… easy for me."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. It seems kind of dull, and the obstacle courses are much too short. Plus, even if you make a mistake, your character reanimates almost instantly at the start, which serves as very little challenge," she analyzed. "The music is upbeat and exciting, at least."

"True..."

"To an extent..."

"Got anything a bit more challenging?” the unicorn dared.

“Oh, if i'ss a CHALLENGE you're lookin' for... How about we up the ante a little…?” I said with a mischievous grin. “Press the blue X button.” She did so, and the world map in the game changed from a peaceful forest setting to one where everything was on fire, and none of the levels showed that they were complete. “Hard mode activated.”

“Oh boy, the same levels, but on fire," she dryly remarked. "I said 'challenging,' Ty, not 'repetitive...'"

"Hmph. For someone as bright as I figure you are, I thought you'd know better than t' judge a book by its cover."

"Well... contrary to popular belief, you actually CAN judge a book by its cover in some cases. I mean, the--!"

"Ah!" I interrupted. "This ain't no book. Jus' go back t' level one an' see what I mean..."

"So you really don’t think I can handle something just a little more taxing, huh?” Twilight asked.

"Oh, no... I KNOW you can't handle it in this case..."

“Is that so? Well, Ty, prepared to be proven wrong.”

"Good luck..." I wished her with an evil chuckle. I knew she’d be eating those words in a few minutes. As I expected, the amount of times I saw her mess up rose dramatically. She was determined to surprise me, however; especially because I couldn’t hold in my snickering at every time she died in the game. She grunted, groaned, and complained at each mistake she’d made that wound up sending Meat Boy flying into a buzz saw or falling into a bottomless pit and being forced to restart the level... just like a true gamer.

"Wha'ss wrong, Twi? Havin' a bit o' trouble?" I asked triumphantly, intentionally trying to get a rise out of her.

"No... I jus-- Uuugh!!" she tried to deny before sending Meat Boy to yet another untimely end while attempting to grab one of the game's collectible items.

"Jus'... *snort* give up on the Band-Aid... You're not gonna--!"

"Darn it!!" she shouted in frustration as we watched the game's protagonist go flying off a cliff and into yet another bottomless pit. "Oh my gosh, I don't understand it... This game... it's so simple, yet so... so ANNOYING!"

"Welcome t' MY world..." I concurred as I watched her continue to fail miserably time and time again. At one point, her horn was glowing as if she was going to blow up my TV. She eventually got stuck on a level for a good twenty minutes before she finally rage quit.

“I’m glad YOU’RE having a good time over there!” she yelled, her mane frazzled with stress.

“I-I’m sorry, Twi! But I w-was hopin’ you’d p-prove me wrong!” I choked out through fits of laughter. She growled at me.

“You know what? Why don’t YOU give this headache of a game a try?” she challenged, tossing the controller over to me.

“Sure, I’ll humor you. I’mma make this look easy, too. And I’m gonna start from the first level.” I boasted. Surely enough, I made it through level after level, not making as many mistakes as Twilight did… that is, until I got to the level she’d gotten stuck on, where I’d gotten stuck on it almost twice as long as she did.

“Grr… Dammit…!” I angrily rasped as I died for the umpteenth time. I could hear the purple unicorn laughing at my hypocrisy, but I did my best to tune it out as I died again and again. “Oh, my F—…! Daaah, come on!” I complained, finding a ridiculous excuse for every time I screwed up in the game.

"My my, Ty, you seem to be struggling a bit."

"Tee-hee, Twili--! Shhhit! I was RIGHT there!"

"Not so amusing now, is it?"

"Oh, I'mma show YOU amusin', you little--!" With a stroke of luck, I eventually managed to beat the level I was stuck on.

“See? Makin’ it look easy!” I proclaimed with a false triumphant smile. The vein protruding from my forehead told a different story.

“Ha! You look about as angry as I was,” Twilight responded through her laughter. “If not angrier.”

“Nah, yo! I swear your laughin’ was messin’ me up!” I brazenly lied, making the unicorn laugh even harder as she went belly-up on the floor.

"Right... Haha, blame ME for your mistakes..." she joked through her laughter. I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I thought of a way to get her back.

“You know what? Take this!” I playfully said as I poked her belly. She flinched, but was still laughing.

“Don’t do that! I’m ticklish!” She said as she giggled.

"Ticklish? Oh yea, I'mma have fun wit' that..."

“Oh, well you shouldn’t-a told me that,” I replied as I got off of the bed and onto the floor to give her the old tickle torture.

“No! W-wait! Ple-he-he-he-ase!” She begged. I ignored her pleas as I tickled her into tears of laughter. A few seconds of tickling later, I saw her horn light up, followed by the magenta-colored glow enveloping me.

“WHOA!” I screamed as I flew into the air and crashed on my bed. “I take it you don’t like being tickled…?” I asked with a chuckle as I recovered.

“Not… at… all…” Twilight answered, out of breath. “That was fun... and I think… I’ve gotten enough information about that to suit me… for now, anyway. Now, let’s… look at the notebook."

“Aight. Bring it here,” I said, prompting Twilight to fetch the notebook from inside of the book bag on the floor. She tossed it to me with a hoof and hopped onto the bed with me. I quickly flipped through the pages of the book to see that she managed fill up almost every page (front and back) with neatly organized cursive handwriting (or, hoof-writing… or something like that). I whistled in amazement as I closed the book.

“That’s a lotta notes an' questions… And you wrote it all in cursive... Amazing.”

“I’m a very studious mare, Ty. Had we gone beyond that big city and not had those little run-ins, I’d probably have had a lot more.”

“Right… sorry about that,” I glumly said, rubbing the back of my head.

“It’s fine. Besides, that whole day was actually kind of fun!” Twilight said with cheer. “Now, as for my questions…”

“Okey doke,” I agreed, reopening the notebook to the first page. “Let’s see here… ‘What are those big shiny things with the wheels on them…?’ Those, my dear lavender friend, are ‘cars.’”

“Cars?” Twilight asked with a head tilt.

“Yeah. They are a method of transportation for us humans. The average human can only run at a speed somewhere between six an' ten miles per hour. Cars are able to move more than ten times that speed.”

“Ohh, I see! They’re like carriages, but without the need for ponies— or ‘humans’ to pull them!”

“Exactly! Also, the terms that apply to humans are ‘person’ for singular, and ‘people’ for plural. How fast can a pony run?"

"Hmm... I'd estimate somewhere between ten and twenty miles on average, but I could be mistaken. I'm a bit astounded you have measurements like that here. What other forms of measurements exist in this world?"

"A lot of 'em. But distance-wise, there exists inches, feet, yards, an' so on. We also have the metric system, which I think is easier on the brain than the other one."

"Really?? Measurement styles here are identical, then..."

"Indeed. Now what else do you have here…” I asked as I searched through the book for more questions. Thank goodness this pony had a whole lot more notes than questions, which I assume meant that she was able to answer the majority of her own questions during the trip. “Ahh, here’s one… ‘What is a human’s diet…?’ Well, Twi, most humans are omnivores.”

“Omnivores? Wow, that type of diet is extremely rare amongst citizens of Equestria! All ponies are herbivores, but some of the animals we have there, such as dragons and maticores, are carnivorous.”

“So mythological creatures actually exist there, huh? Interestin’… But yea, most humans are omnivorous. There's a select few that choose only t' eat plants, which we call either 'vegans' or 'vegetarians' based on how exclusive their diet is."

"Wow... Humans have that kind of free choice when it comes to food sources?"

"In some cases, yea."

"...How about you?" she asked. "Are you omnivorous or do you prefer not to consume other animals?"

"THAT, I'm a bit afraid t' answer..."

"...Will you judge me based on my answer?"

"Of course not, Ty... We're friends now."

"Well then, tha'ss good t' know. Because I myself am an omnivore. Not t' say I WON'T survive without meat, but yea, i'ss a pretty prominent part o' my diet."

"Intriguing..." she pensively murmured, not seeming in the least bit afraid of my confession.

"Huh... I thought you'd at least be a LITTLE rattled... You mus' be pretty open-minded..."

"You're not afraid t' know that I eat other animals an' you don't?"

"No, not at all... Why?"

"I dunno... I jus' thought that would make you think differently about me because of it."

"Nope. Your dietary choices are what keep you up and running throughout the day. It's not my place to judge you based on what you rely on for sustenance. I mean hay, one of my best friends eats rocks and jewels for sustenance."

"...REALLY now...?" I asked, at this point mind-blown.

"Yes indeed. Besides, it's not like you eat ponies... right?"

"Correct. Y'know, I like you a lot more already," I confessed in relief. "You're cute, open-minded, intelligent, AND you're givin' me the education of a lifetime..."

"R-really?? You... think of me that way already?" she asked, seemingly taken by surprise as I noticed her cheeks turning a bright, pale pink as she fought an involuntary smile.

"Yep..."

"Wow... I-I don't know what to say... um... Thank you, Ty..."

"No problem, Twi," I plainly replied, patting her on the head before continuing to sift through her notes. "Okay, next… ‘Whose job is it to change the weather in this world?’… That’s a weird one. The weather changes completely on its own here.” The unicorn’s eyes widened in shock.

“Seriously?? In my world, the Pegasi, which is the plural term for Pegasus in case you were wondering, are totally responsible for everything weather-related but the movement of the sun and moon.”

“Ya don’t say? How bizarre…” I murmured as I gave her a confused look. "Pegasuses exist in your world??"

"Yes. There are four races of pony that reside in my world: The Unicorn, like myself, The Pegasus, who has Wings, but no Horn to utilize magic with, The Earth Pony, which have neither Wings NOR a Horn, and last but CERTAINLY not least, the Alicorn, which is a pony who has both Wings AND a Horn... It's worth note that each and every race of pony has their own specific strengths and weaknesses that qualitatively differentiate us from one another."

“Whaaaaa...?" My interest in seeing this 'Equestria' was amplified tenfold. "Anyway, what’s next…? Ah; ‘Is there a ruler of America? If so, are they a deity?’ Yes, there technically is a ruler of America, but not in sense of a dictator or monarch. Here, we have a President, tons of government officials, and a voting system that allows the general population to choose who they want as leader. And no, they are not a deity. They are just as human as I am. In fact, I personally don’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘god’ of any kind in this world. But, there are many others throughout this planet that follow many various philosophies, theories, and everything in between on the existence of a god, or of many gods. It’s pretty complicated, Twi.” She stared at me with a most intense look of bewilderment.

“…Wow,” She finally managed to squeak out. “I am familiar with the type of government you’re talking about, as Ponyville, the town I live in, has a mayor who has the same types of officials under her, as well as being chosen by the citizens of the town, but… the possible nonexistence of a supreme ruler…? I can’t even begin to fathom what that would be like… Not to mention what you said about there being different paths of thought on the existence of one or more… mind-blowing, to say the least. In Equestria, we have two nearly-omniscient Alicorns ruling over our fair land. They are also Princesses, so they have very strong influence on all kinds of things, from international relations, to simple laws and rules in each city in Equestria.”

“I see… Okay, one more before we make the trip. That sound good?”

“Why stop so soon?” Twilight asked, showing a bit of disappointment.

“I’ll look through and answer more questions later if you want. Besides, from the looks of the notes you took, you seem to be very good at answerin’ your own questions,” I assured. “I’m mainly lookin’ for questions that your notes may not answer for you. Now let’s see here… ‘Who raises the sun and moon in this world?’ Kind of an odd one… Well, Twi, I will tell you that the moon moves all by itself, and that the sun don’t move at all; instead, this planet moves around the sun!”

“WHAT??” Twilight asked with extreme shock. “But… how?? That can’t be scientifically possible!”

“Oh, but it is… What, do your Princess/Goddesses move the sun and moon around in your world?” I asked sarcastically, smirking.

“Well… yeah, actually. One is known as Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Sun and Daylight. The other is known as Princess Luna, the Princess of the Moon and Night. I'm actually a student directly under Princess Celestia. She's taught me everything I know about magic, and in turn, I study the magic of friendship and report my findings to her. This little detour has proven rich in valuable information, and it's all thanks to you, Ty!” My smirk dropped immediately into an idiotic slack-jawed stare.

“…we’re goin’ to Equestria,” I said in a dramatically low, deep voice. I had forgotten to eat or even put on shoes due to my excitement for going to another world— no, another UNIVERSE. “Let’s go!” I said with noticeable excitement. “Oh, and bring the notebook with you so I can answer any questions you have about this world while we’re in yours.” Twilight nodded in agreement as she grabbed her notebook.

“Alright. I'm not entirely sure this spell will work the same way as it did when it brought me here, and it may take a bit more concentration, seeing as I'm bringing you along with me. Cross your... uh..."

"Fingers," I answered for her.

"...and prepare to be amazed!” Twilight announced as she placed a hoof on my leg and picked the notebook up in her mouth as she powered up her horn, and with a *POOF*, we were gone...