Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer stood before one of the “electric gateways” (name courtesy of one elated Twilight Sparkle) in the Basement, one that was particularly close to the ground. It was only about thirty hooves up, and Pinkie had already constructed a ladder out of six gigantic discarded toothpicks and a collection of miscellaneous, but no less giant, junk. It was held together with... used giant chewing gum. Gross, but effective. The party mare stood atop the huge bottle cap at the ladder’s peak, gripping a wrench with her mane and working on a strange contraption attached to the gateway.

“How’s it going up there, Pinkie?” Twilight asked, hovering slightly and examining a large floating crystal on the ground, flitting back and forth to find any cracks or imperfections in the polished stone and reviewing the sparking Mana within with a trained eye. The party mare formed a thumbs-up with her mane, making Twilight smile.

“Thank you for helping, Starlight,” Twilight said to her partner, who stood with a wide stance, her horn’s aura pulsating as it pumped Mana into the crystal. “I really need to make sure this Large Mana Crystal is sealed before we attach it to the converter.” She frowned, looking down for a moment. “We only have two of these things, and we can’t make any more unless we can get a stable flow of Mana working.”

“The others went to the other groups, right?” Starlight asked, glancing at Twilight. “Princess Celestia originally brought along about twenty.”

“Mhm.” Twilight nodded, closing one eye and turning her head sideways to get a closer look at the slowly-rotating crystal. It was about twice the size of a pony. “They were filled, too, but the warp spell must’ve pulled extra Mana from them since the Princesses didn’t have enough.” Her face screwed up in worry. “At least we made it to the other side.” She shuddered. “We could’ve ended up in the space between dimensions.”

“But we didn’t!” Pinkie squeaked from atop the contraption. “We’re fine! Everypony’s fine!”

“I just wish I knew where Spike was. I hope he’s okay,” Twilight mewled, frowning heavily. “I hope he’s with the Crystal Empire. They love him and would keep him safe.”

Starlight chewed on her lip. “Wasn’t he on a trip to visit King Thorax before... uh... y’know?”

Twilight gasped, tearing up. “Oh... oh no...” She held her head in her hooves.

“What’s wrong? Thorax is a nice guy, and I’m sure the changelings aren’t too bad.”

“That’s not what I meant, Starlight.” Twilight sat down on the floor, studying her hooves. “The warp spell was supposed to transport every living being in Equestria. The changeling hive was annexed recently, so they should’ve been included. I hope they were included...” She looked up at her ex-pupil. “The ponies here in this giant house are just the ones from Ponyville, and anypony else who was there when the spell was activated.” Several seconds passed in silence. Twilight eventually took to the air again, resuming her task.

“This... feels really weird, though,” Starlight added, frowning. “I’m used to my Mana regenerating whenever I use it. Now, it’s just going down and not coming back up.”

Twilight shrugged. “How do you think I feel? I ran out because I was using mine too recklessly. I was... I was scared, okay? I wanted to at least get Brian on our side.” Her ears folded.

Starlight smiled. “Well, you did,” she congratulated. “Good job, Twiggly.”

Twilight flinched. “What did you just call me?”

Starlight shrunk a little bit. “Twiggly?” she repeated slowly as the alicorn scowled at her.

“Okay, I know you haven’t gotten into the salt.”

Starlight glanced away for a moment. “Well... I thought the nickname was cute.”

“It is pretty cute!” said Pinkie, her voice muffled by the transformer cavity her head was in.

“Not helping, Ponka!” Twilight shot back.

Pinkie’s head lifted out of the cavity with a comedic plop, irritation plain on her pink face. “Hey! I thought we agreed we’d never speak of that night again!”

“Speak of what night again?” Starlight asked, looking between Twilight and Pinkie.

Pinkie was suddenly right next to Starlight. “The night. We’d never speak of. Again,” she hissed into her ear. Starlight yelped, jerking away, her hold on the Mana Crystal dissolving. It fell to the floor, but Twilight dove under it with an "Oof!" as the broad side hit her back.

“Starlight...” Twilight wheezed. Starlight immediately fired up her horn again and lifted the crystal back up, allowing the alicorn to pull herself away, panting.

“Pinkie! You made me drop th—...” Starlight blinked at the empty space next to her. Atop the contraption was a hot pink, curly tail. “How did you... do that?”

“That’s... that’s just a thing she does,” Twilight panted. “Don’t try to understand it. You’ll just make your brain hurt.”

Clunk!

“I got it!” Pinkie squealed in delight, hopping into the air. “It works! The electricity-to-Mana thingy works!” Stepping back onto her makeshift ladder, she used a teensy bit of her earth pony magic to give her enough strength to shove the device’s metal prongs into the socket. Immediately, the air in a radius of about sixty hooves took on a slight blue tint, the device’s Mana Crystal holster sparking with blue lightning.

Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she felt a familiar warmth seeping into her body, especially her head. The void that had been sucking at the inside of her forehead disappeared. She smiled a growing smile, a little gasp escaping her throat. “I... It does work! I have my magic back!” she squeaked. Spreading her hooves wide with a confident look on her face, she stuck her tongue out in concentration, her horn glowing a bright purple. The Mana Crystal’s levitation aura became a mixture of cyan and purple, and the huge stone was lifted up into the air.

With a ker-chak, the crystal was mounted into the device. It glowed a bright, bright blue as the electricity flowed into it, and the entire Basement took on a blue tint.

Twilight’s horn fizzled out, and the void came back for a few seconds. She blinked. “Oh. It’s... not regenerating as fast as it did back on Equus, but it’s better than nothing.” She smiled widely. “Still, YES!” She leapt into the air, flying a few small loop-de-loops in celebration. “Everypony! The magic is back!” she yelled.

A few nearby ponies gasped, their eyes growing wide as they relayed her message. “The magic is back!” “Princess Twilight figured something out!” “Hurrah!”

The whole Basement cheered.

---

Turning away from the Basement door after smoothing the paper sign I had placed on it, I walked to my living room with a plan to plop onto the couch until my family arrived. I just hoped that Twilight and the ponies would listen to me and stay in the basement.

I stopped when I heard familiar slashing noises and upbeat orchestral music coming from my TV. And then, an iconic roar that I could identify in my sleep. Pursing my lips, I stepped in.

Somebody was playing my copy of Monster Hunter 5 Ultimate on my Nintendo Switch.

Or, rather... somepony.

Okay, you can throw a tomato at me for that pun. I deserve it.

My eyes shot to the couch. On it was a little white horned alien and a slate-grey brown one, each gripping a side of the Switch TV Controller Pro with bonus shoulder buttons. The white one’s horn was glowing with a magenta aura, a similar aura manifesting like a bandanna around the grey one’s forehead. The grey one squeaked loudly just before the dragon onscreen launched a powerful fireball, and the white one pressed a button on the controller. The human avatar wielding a comically-oversized sword performed a spectacular sideways roll just barely in time to avoid the fireball. After more squeaks, the avatar rolled forward and struck out with its sword, giving a good cut to the dragon’s face... but, unfortunately, it was not able to roll aside in time to avoid a mighty poisonous backflip-tailwhip.

[Brian fainted.]

[Reward decreased by 2600z.]

[Reward decreased to 0z.]

[Quest failed.]

The grey pony squealed in defeat, the white one flailing its forelimbs about but not squeaking a word.

I felt an urge. A mighty need. An incredible desire to speak two certain words. But I resisted, for the immortal words “git gud” were probably inappropriate here.

The important thing was that these two aliens disobeyed me. I walked up to them calmly, staring down at them with disapproval on my face. They looked back up at me. I looked very carefully at the grey one’s mouth.

“Um... H-hello, Brian... We were... um... just helping ourselves to your recreational simulations?” she squeaked in embarrassment, her cheeks and ears glowing red.

I just stared, crossing my arms. “Did you not hear me when I said you all need to get in my basement?” I scolded.

The white one stood atop the controller, tapping on it with three of her hooves and waving one foreleg around.

“She says we were in the middle of a game and wanted to finish before we left...” squeaked the grey one.

I shook my head. “I can’t take the chance of my family seeing you.” I reached down and picked both of them up between my thumbs and index fingers, making the grey one squeal, before bringing my hands together to cup both of them and walking to the basement.

After recovering from her topple, the grey one looked indignant. “Why is it such a terrible thing for us to meet your family?”

“Two of them are very young and will not be gentle with you,” I said simply.

“Would they not listen to reason?” she argued.

“Nnnnnope,” I replied. “To the basement with you.” She squeaked something else, but since I wasn’t looking at her mouth, I couldn’t tell what she said. “And there better not be any more of you hiding around. They might get stepped on.”

I stared at the “DO NOT ENTER” sign on my basement for a moment. “Hmmmmm.” Now that I thought about it, if I was ten years old and I saw this, I would particularly want to disobey it and see what awesome secret thing was inside. Rolling the aliens into one hand, I used the other to remove the sign.

Would it be unethical to lock the basement? I really hoped my family meeting wouldn’t last too long. I didn’t want to starve the ponies. Maybe even closing it was unethical. I left it cracked for a reason — if a few ponies were late on the gun, they’d still be able to get in if the door was cracked. I really didn’t want to lock any of them out.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I would leave it cracked. After all, these two were indeed late on the gun.

I pushed the door open, and was greeted with a strange cooling sensation on my face. It felt less like cold air and more like a simple aura of calm. The basement seemed to have a weird blue tint as well. Was I just imagining things?

I lowered my palm to the floor, allowing the little ones to hop off. The grey one gasped, squeaking enthusiastically to her friend. The white one took off her sunglasses and looked around with wide eyes.

The aliens in the basement seemed to be crowded around an electrical outlet on the wall, in which was plugged a device I’d never seen before. It looked makeshift, like it was made with less-than-ideal materials, but the happy smiles on the ponies’ faces warmed my heart. I smiled too, wondering what was going on.

Upon seeing me, Twilight popped out of the crowd and flitted up to my face. I noticed her wings flapped much slower than before. She latched onto my nose. “Brian! We found a way to generate more Mana! Pinkie Pie finished her machine, so we have our magic back! Her machine converts electricity to Mana. I hope you don’t mind,” she squeaked, smiling coyly at me.

I was not under the impression that their device pulled enough electricity to significantly increment my electric bill, so I just smiled. “It’s cool.” Groovy. Twilight had her telekinesis back and all that. I wonder what crazy technology they were using. Aliens were advanced and stuff, right?

“The range only extends to about here, though, so we can only recharge our Mana in the basement,” Twilight added. She nuzzled my nose, smiling in contentment. “Thank you for being patient with us. And... especially me. I’m sorry you had to see me break down earlier. As the Princess of Friendship, I have an image to maintain.”

I snickered. No no, Brian. Don’t laugh at her title. Don’t laugh. Pay respect to royalty.

I started giggling. Damn it, Brian.

Twilight blinked at me, detaching from my face and hovering in front of it. “What? What’s so funny?” she asked.

I sucked in a breath, holding it and willing myself to stop chortling. “Nothing,” I said.

Her eyes got really sad. “Are you laughing at me?”

Oh no, the mouse eyes again. I sighed morosely, shaking my head. “Sorry. It’s just... a little silly to me.”

“Silly? Friendship? But... friendship is magic!”

I couldn’t stop myself from snorting. “Right,” I said.

Twilight frowned at me. “No, it really is! Friendship is magic! Stronger friendship means more magic! And I’m the Princess of Friendship, so my friendship is great and... and... stop laughing!”

I tried and failed to comply.

Twilight scowled, her horn glowing, and a teeny bolt of static electricity zapped my nose. I flinched. “Ow.” I rubbed the impact spot. I think she burnt me a little bit. I sighed, “I guess that’s what I get.”

“Is friendship not as important in this world?”

My eyebrows rose. Ohhhhh, I probably should’ve considered cultural differences. Jeeze, I was stupid. I sucked in a breath to reply, but then there was a knock at my front door. I started, blinking rapidly. “Okay, Twilight, my family’s here. I gotta go. Stay in the basement, alright?” I requested, pointing at her. “It’ll only be for a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” she said, giving me a look I couldn’t identify. I closed the door gently, leaving it cracked just in case a few stray aliens needed to get in.

I opened the front door to reveal four smiling faces. Mom, Simon, and my nephews Jerry and Gary.

“Brahhhhhh!” Simon greeted, wrapping me in a hug that smelled like a day at the beach. Saltwater, suntan lotion, and sand all assaulted my nose. “Sup? We brought eats!”

Mom smiled wider and held up a glass pan covered in tinfoil. “I made cornflake chicken casserole!”

Jerry and Gary both held up family-sized bags of Doritos and bottles of Mountain Dew. “Blaze it!” they chorused. That was such an old joke, I wanted to facepalm. Maybe kids today shouldn’t have access to the internet.

Simon turned around and held up a cooler. “And I brought the beer!”

My family just about trampled me as they entered my house, setting up quite the feast on my kitchen counter. All the while, my eyes flicked about, searching for any little eyes or technicolor fur/hair.

“So, sweetie, has anything interesting happened lately? Well, y’know, other than Dexter Corp?” Mom asked, smiling sweetly at me. I’ll be honest; she looked like a white Pocahontas.

My smile was like one chiseled into a sculpture. “Nope,” I lied, looking aside.

!!

I could’ve sworn I just saw a rainbow tail disappear behind a cabinet. I really hoped my mind was playing tricks on me.

“Wehehell, I went surfing at Galveston a week ago or so. There was soooo much trash, brah. It was kinda sad,” Simon said. “I fell off my board ‘cause a cardboard box nailed my ankle.”

I made a face. “Gross,” I commented. Simon nodded. He continued to tell his story, with me only half paying attention, instead still scanning the environment. We listened to Simon’s admittedly hilarious surfing stories for about half an hour, me slowly eating my helping of casserole.

Jerry stood up. “I’m full,” he said, pushing away a three-quarters-full plate of casserole with Dorito-cheese-covered fingers. “C’mon, Gary, let’s go play Monster Hunter!”

Gary shot up like a rocket. “Yeah!” he squeaked.

I shot an arm out to block their path. “Wash your hands first. Seriously. No food around the Switch.” Eating food while playing video games is how you jam the buttons. I may be busy with my job at Garry-Locksmith, but my game consoles were sacred. I would not permit desecration by those too young and foolish to handle them correctly.

“Kay,” Gary and Jerry both scoffed, their footsteps thumping as they dashed across my living room to the bathroom. The sound of flowing water soon met my ears. I squinted at them. I think I had something more important to keep an eye on than the ponies... assuming they weren’t stupid enough to show themselves when I very specifically told them not to.

“I need to use the bathroom as well,” Mom said, getting up and walking away.

Simon shrugged, leaning backwards and closing his eyes.

---

“They... they move so fast,” Twilight muttered from her perch behind the giant flatscreen ArcanoVision, peeking up every so often to get a look. Upon seeing Brian turn his head to face her, she quickly ducked down. Her quill scribbled away on a notebook, taking notes on Brian’s rambunctious nephews. They were smaller than Brian, but they moved a lot faster and were much more clumsy. They did not watch their steps, and they seemed to bumble about without caring what objects their shins struck. After falling onto the carpet with loud bangs, they simply popped right back up and kept going. They held no regard for the well-being of things clutched in their claws, eagerly tossing them around or hitting them upon the walls or other objects. Twilight imagined the kind of carnage they would cause if they found their way to Brian’s basement. Her levitation was excellent, but the kind of power contained in creatures the size of Ursa Majors was not to be trifled with. Stealth was, by far, the best option.

She peeked above the television screen again to see Brian’s enormous face less than five hooves away, staring daggers at her. Her blood ran cold, and she squealed in fright, ducking down again and shivering.

“Twilight,” Brian whispered at a volume comparable to a pony. “I thought I told you to stay in my basement.”

Twilight rose up just enough for her eyes to behold Brian. She couldn’t stop shaking. “I... I’m sorry! I was curious!” she squeaked.

Rainbow Dash’s head popped up next to Twilight’s. “I kinda was too,” she admitted. Twilight looked to her side to see Rainbow licking at a hoofful of salt. “Also, the salt’s really good.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight scolded. “Princess Celestia issued a royal decree against eating the salt here!”

Rainbow shrugged. “S'not hurting anypony.” She smirked. “Also, have you tried the casserole Brian’s mom made? It’s great!”

One could look into Brian’s eyes and see the gears of his head turning. He stared, baffled, at Rainbow. “Wait... I thought you guys were herbivores?”

“Yeah?” Rainbow replied.

“That’s chicken casserole.”

Rainbow blinked. Several seconds passed. Rainbow stumbled a little bit, almost losing her balance. She licked at her salt again. “Tasted fine to me.”

Twilight gawked hugely at her multicolored friend. “You ate meat!?”

Rainbow shrugged awkwardly. “I dunno; I was... I was just eating the giant corn flakes and the sauce they’re in.”

“The sauce is made with chicken broth,” Brian added.

Rainbow's eyes deepened, visibly disturbed. She began licking her salty hoof with a hint of desperation. “I’m not smashed enough forfthh... this...” she slurred.

Twilight slapped Rainbow’s hoof, spilling the salt away and off the edge of the thingy holding the massive ArcanoVision to the wall.

“Nooooo!” Rainbow whined, reaching after it. She slipped and fell off, her wings flapping helplessly as her intoxicated mind was unable to get its bearings. Thankfully, Brian held his hand out to catch her, quickly placing her back on the AV mount. Rainbow tried to get up, but collapsed. “Unnhhh...” she groaned, holding her head in her hooves.

“Uncle Brian!!” one of the nephews roared. “You’re blocking the TV!”

Brian quickly grabbed Twilight and Rainbow in his massive claws, closing them around them. “Sorry,” he replied in his default massive voice tone. Twilight fidgeted in his grasp, unable to see anything, only feeling the momentum of his strides as he took her and Rainbow Dash somewhere.

The claws soon opened, dropping the two onto the floor covered with giant carpet. Twilight scurried upright, feeling the gentle glow of Mana flowing into her. She realized that she was in front of the Basement door. Brian stood over them, pointing at it, rapidly looking around to make sure the other Giants couldn’t see them. “Basement, now,” he whispered firmly.

“I just want to study your kind!” Twilight protested, frowning. She flinched, hard, when Brian’s massive claws snapped, still pointing at the doorway. The massive sound made her ears ring. “Okay, okay! Okay!” she squeaked, picking up a limp, drooling Rainbow Dash in a levitation aura and galloping through the gap in the massive door.

She heard Brian breathe an almighty sigh, his colossal footsteps walking away.