DAiE Ch. 1 Interlude - The Magic

>You are Doctor Anonymous. Among other things, you have developed sapient AI, conquered gravity (mostly) and produced free energy for 5.301 seconds.
>And right now, you are scared out of your mind.
>You look out the door. The world outside seems so far away, even as you can see Twilight Sparkle waiting patiently for you to step out.
>Taking in a deep breath of the air indoors, you take your first few steps outside.
>This isn't so bad. In fact, you might even be able to survive out here!
>Oh shit, what happens when you need to breathe again? What if when you breathe the unfiltered air, some terrible pony disease floats into your body and kills you!? What if-
>No. No, you have to do this. You don't have your rebreather, and if you're going to get a grip on this situation, you need to take this walk with Twilight.
>With great trepidation, you take your first step outside.
>Every muscle in your body tenses, as if waiting for something to smack you in the face, or for your lungs to collapse, or... or...
>Nothing.
>Nothing happens!
>You did it!
>You made it outside!
>With a celebratory fist pump, you look to Twilight Sparkle for approval.
>She smiles, shaking her head a little bit. "Well.. you did it. That was one step. Now.. another?"
>ohgodohmanohgodohman

>After much coercing and bargaining, Twilight finally gets you outside.
>This... isn't so bad. It's unsanitary, sure, but it was a price you'll have to pay. Maybe if you can get some hands on some tools, you can start making new safety equipment.
>"So... are all humans this nervous about the outdoors?"
"Oh, no, no, not at all. Most of them aren't aware just how disgusting the natural world is."
>Twilight's ears droop a little, and you can tell you should probably lay off comments like that.
"Ah, could you perhaps tell me a bit about Equestria, and ponies? I'm afraid I'm feeling rather... displaced. Fascinated, but displaced."
>Twilight's expression lights up at the chance to explain things. You see a lot of yourself in her.
>"Well, Equestria is the homeland of the ponies, of which there are three kinds, well- four, but the fourth is incredibly rare. There are Earth ponies, who are incredibly strong and hardy. Then there are Pegasi ponies, who can fly and control weather. Finally, there's Unicorns like me, we can use our horns to harness magic!"
"Control weather. Magic. You're joking right?"
>Twilight cocks her head at you, you've stopped, and only now do you notice the clopping of her hooves, which comes to a halt quickly after you stop walking.
>"No... why would I joke about magic?"

"You seemed like such a scientific, rational mind, Twilight. How on Earth can you buy into -magic-?"
>She seems a little offended now. "What are you talking about? Do they... not have magic where you're from?"
>Do they what?
"...no. Show me."
>You can't believe you're acquiescing to this nonsense, but the inquisitive beast within you can never be contained.
>Twilight gives you a determined look, and then closes her eyes, and a strange purple glow begins to emanate from her horn.
>The glow suddenly arcs off her horn and into the air, flying off in various directions, and landing on various small stones lying about the deserted road. The stones fly up into the air between you and Twilight, and hover there for a second, before arranging themselves into a crude mirror of the shape of your now gape-jawed face.
"I. What. I. Who? How?! I... what?!"
>Twilight can only grin as she lowers her horn, the glow dissipating and the rocks falling down to the ground.
>You can't believe you're acquiescing to this nonsense, but a purple pony just levitate a bunch of goddamn rocks with no visible tools. Or tools made of light? Or... what?

"That's not possible. It's prestidigitation. It's nanotech. It's... it's..."
>"It's magic, Anonymous." Twilight says, giving you a bright smile. "I can't believe you've never seen it before."
"Well, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. 'Magic' doesn't explain anything, Twilight. Unless..."
>"Unless?" She asks, almost playfully.
"Unless... well. When my assistant, Albert, said that I wasn't on 'my' Earth anymore, what he meant was, (and I've arrived at the same conclusion), that I am from a parallel dimension."
>Twilight nods. "I suspected as much."
"On -my- earth, magic is pure superstition. But in a completely different timeline, there could be any number of explanations for why the laws of physics might behave differently."
>You're immediately struck by the urge to run to your lab and begin experimenting, but the crushing reality that you have no way of accessing your lab hits you.
"I.. I'm not entirely sure this is 'magic', per se, Twilight, but it's a good enough word for it for now."
>Twilight rolls her eyes, but gives you another smile, as you begin walking down further down the path from the building you left.
>Your mind is drawn back to that pink crystal, and its ability to seemingly change the laws of physics... could that have been the same force Twilight just used?

"So, what's the fourth kind of pony?
>You're eager to get off the topic of magic. A world where anyone could rewrite the very principles you've spent your life studying, and for any reason, is difficult to wrap your considerably brain around.
>Twilight considers the topic carefully before responding. "They're called Alicorns. They're combinations of all three types of pony: They're strong, magical and can fly. I only know of two, though: My teacher, Princess Celestia, and her sister, Princess Luna."
>She looks off into the distance, and on a far away mountain you think you can see a city, perching against the face of the massive ridge.
>"She's the ruler of Equestria, she and her sister use their magic to raise the sun and moon every day and every night."
"Huh. In my world, the Earth rotates around the Sun, and the moon rotates around the Earth at such an axis that it gives the illusion that they are 'rising' and 'falling'."
>Twilight's left eyebrow raises incredulously. "That sounds very odd."
"Yes, well, two magical ponies controlling celestial bodies sounds equally odd to me."
>She giggles, "Yeah, I guess it would."

>After some time, your conversation begins to wind down, and you're stuck asking little questions.
"So, you're saying you just take the word 'everybody' and replace it with 'everypony'?"
>"I'd say you're the one replacing things, Anonymous." Twilight retorted, giggling.
>There are many such odd parallels between this Equestria place and your Earth. Throughout the night, you've been making mental notes to research more into certain subjects.
"This has been quite a nice little walk, Twilight. Although I must admit, I'm somewhat glad it's so dark out. I -am- an alien, and I otherwise might be attracting some attention."
>Still, there's little real concern in your mind.
"Then again, no society that could create such a knowledgeable, clever per... pony, could be so bad."
>Then again, your society created you.
>Twilight looks up at you, the mood change brought on by your inner dialogue obviously having been very striking to her. "Is... something wrong, Anonymous?"
"Oh... no, not immediately."

>Although, something IS quite wrong, and it only just occurred to you.
"Ah, actually, now that you mention it... it's getting rather late. Where am I going to sleep?"
>Twilight's eyes drift towards the sky in thought, blinking a few times before returning back to you.
>"Well, you can stay at my place tonight, if you want. It's not a permanent solution, the library isn't really set up to accommodate guests, but it is a roof over your he-
"The library. You live in a library?"
>"Yeah, isn't that great?"
"That's. Awesome."
>Suddenly taken by a strange impulse, you and Twilight leap into the air, giving each other a high five (or is it high hoof?) and landing together in sweet poses.
>BOOKS. FUCK YEAH.
>You shake yourself out of it.
"Where... where the hell did that come from?"
>Twilight looks around, her face turning an even deeper shade of purple from embarrassment. "I... don't know."
"...yeah, we've been out to late."

>You make your way to Twilight's house. Resisting the temptation to dive into a (literal) new world of literature, you instead find a place to crash and wish Twilight a good night.
>What follows is one of the deepest sleeps of your life. It seems like being shot through an extradimensional portal by a possibly magic crystal took more out of you than you thought.
>In your dreams, you run over the extraordinary events of the day. You see the seven ponies you've met, the crystal, you remember falling. Falling, back - and to the left.
>And... something else. A voice. A mocking, almost sinister voice. Something about... chaos?
>You are awoken by the cheerful, metallic ring of Albert's voice. "Wake up, Doctor, you need to get ready! You don't want to be late for Pinkie's party!"
>Your eyes shoot open.
"oh dear sweet science."