Worlds Align

by BlueDWarrior

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Twilight Sparkle, Random, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Human, Anthro, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5584

A different spin on TCB, involving anthro ponies. Yes you heard me...

Patrick started the supposed doomsday as a normal human, but he wouldn't end the day as a normal human.

Nor would Equus or Earth ever be the same again...

A TCB written with the prompt of anthro-ponies, because anthro tag. So that much is obvious. Also a more humorous (hopefully) take on things. Expect a lot of slice-of-life silliness as Patrick and others have to get used to a world where the line of 'human' is less as line and more a general concept.

Story may contain some non-X-Rated references and usage of less-than-general themes, such as non-sexual nudity. Do keep this in mind.

Character Box will be updated and altered to show the focus of the story as of the latest chapter(s).

Published 2013-07-07 17:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-07 17:10:01 UTC

End of the World (And I Feel Fine)

The Conversion Bureau:

Worlds Align

= Chapter 1: The End of the World (And I Feel Fine) =

~~ ! ~~ ! ~~ ! ~~

Time...
What is time?
To most modern humans, time is the progression of events that we can observe.
To some theoretical physicists, time is marked by any change at all in the state of the universe. Even the tiniest motion by sub-atomic particles denotes a certain progression of time forward.
To a certain ancient culture, the progression of the stars in the sky was of such importance and wonder, they created a complex astrological system to help track it, which bore a rather complex calendar system.
The Mayans I believe they were, or I guess still are called.
They said that on December 21, 2012, their current calendar would come to a stop, signaling the ending of the current multi-millennial cycle.
A few took this to mean that the Mayans had predicted that time itself would have come to a stop.
I wasn't one of those people who thought that all time would come to a cease, and that the world would implode, or explode, or what have you.
Yet, well, let's say that I just had a feeling something would happen on that day. Something that would mark the end of what we knew up to that point in time.
I just wish I had some warning as to what that something was...

~~ ! ~~ ! ~~ ! ~~

Patrick Taylor - a typical guy in his mid-Twenties in early 21st Century America. He was stuck at a dead-end job for various reasons within and outside his control; just trying to wait for the economy to turn around enough so that he might be able to do SOMETHING with the college degree he spent all of that government money on. At the very least, though, his particular inner circle did include a steady girlfriend; and the both their jobs did pay well enough to have a modest apartment with modest amenities. He couldn't say he was struggling; though at the same time, he did have the distinct feeling of not really getting out of the starting blocks of life all that fast.

"At least me and Becky got enough days off between us to where we can take all of Christmas Week off..." he thought as Rebecca had volunteered herself to go do some late season shopping, so he had the whole apartment to himself for the rest of the short afternoon.

He promptly used that time to take a well-deserved early-afternoon nap.

~~ ! ~~ ! ~~ ! ~~

"Huh, I never knew I could lucid dream during a mid-afternoon nap..." Patrick thought aloud to himself, as he looked out at the dreamscape. It was a meadow that ran infinitely in all directions, topped by a sky of pure blue that also infinitely in every direction. He then saw all kinds of creatures, first miniature horses, then gigantic, flying lizards, then flying fusions of bird-and-cat, and finally all manner of sundry other creatures barreling past his ethereal form.

"Well, I'm glad this is a dream otherwise I'd be quite dead..."

After the very odd herd and flock barreled through and overhead, Patrick stood up and began walking. Towards what he couldn't tell, but figured might as well let the dream progress as best he could. After what felt like a good hour of walking, he felt and saw the scene suddenly shift to a somewhat Victorian looking city, filled with the cutesy looking miniature horses, with the odd bird-cat or giant lizard here and there.

"God this reminds me of something... but what it is I don't know..."

He walked past the neatly uniformed guards, who, instead of stopping and accosting him, let him walk right on past, as if he were expected in that realm. He was then ushered by a sharp-dressed Unicorn through a myriad of hallways, all decorated with coats of arms and portraits of what he could only assume were fairly important horses. But one thing he saw throughout every room he walked through - symbols of a stylized sun and crescent-moon.

"Ugh, damn, where have I seen something like this before? Usually my memory isn't this hazy..."

~~ ! ~~

Finally, after what felt like at least another half-hour of walking through and up and down many halls and staircases, he finally arrived at the throne room.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt for you all to invest in some elevators, or escalators, or whatever," Patrick said aloud as he got to the giant double-doors, emblazoned with even more detailed versions of the stylized sun and crescent-moon-over-clouds.

"We will take that under consideration once our business with you is concluded, good sir," he then heard a stern voice said. While it didn't sound intentionally intimidating, it reminded him of a couple of strict aunts that he did not especially enjoy visiting as a kid. "In any case, you may enter when you are ready," the stern voice concluded.

After a few moments of hesitation and thought, Patrick pushed open the giant double-doors, surprised by just how heavy they actually were.

"Man, those doors are something else, oh well I'm here... and... oh boy..." Patrick started as he turned around and was suddenly met with a scene that finally jarred loose just exactly where his dreamscape was.

He stood before a number of Ponies, and several other creatures that seemed to represent the major populations of at least what 'trampled' him earlier. But really had him babbling somewhat incoherently was the two extremely regal figures before him: a pair of mares, quite tall compared to the Ponies and Zebras, with lanky legs and wearing jeweled and finely crafted horseshoes and other regalia. One was white as the driven snow, with an ethereal and flowing mane of several pastels, mostly pink, teals, and aquamarine. The other was slightly smaller and indigo, her mane looking like a starry night sky in and of itself. Both had large prominent marks on their flanks, the stylized sun and the crescent-moon-over-clouds that adorned a lot of the castle all around.

It was as that point he realized just where he was, and whom he was speaking in front of.

"Oh God... Princess Celestia..." he said while pointing at the large white Alicorn. "And... Princess Luna?" he then concluded while pointing at the not-quite-as-large indigo Alicorn.

"Indeed Mister... I believe Patrick... yes?" Princess Celestia responded, warmly but moderately concerned for the human's apparent mental logjam.

"Yeah..." Patrick responded as he took a huge gulp not sure of what it was his subconscious was telling him at the moment.

"It seems that, because you correctly identified us without ourselves having to say anything to that end, that the fourth version of our cultural outreach program has begun, correct?" Princess Luna asked, exuding enough calm to get Patrick to start speaking more coherently.

"If you mean the cartoon that you all apparently were in or whatever, yeah... third year running now..." Patrick replied as he answered the indigo Alicorn.

"Twas a shame that it took some twenty-odd years to get our forms drawn correctly, especially after the fiasco that was the third-generation rewrite," Luna said somewhat despondently, recollecting having to explain, in almost painful detail, exactly how herself and Celestia wanted the Ponies to look for the fourth version; and wanting to avoid more direct contact and conversation until today.

"Once we visit Earth formally, we will have to make time to visit the staff in real-time in order to correct some of the misinterpretations that have gained foothold. I would like the Elements to not have to suffer too much in terms of misunderstanding once the time comes," Celestia added, before coming back to the task at hand.

"Anyway, I would like to explain to you just why you are standing before us. According to the prevailing calendar system on your planet, the slightly modified Gregorian calendar, it is currently December 21, Year 2012 of the Common Era. This date is incredibly important for the fate of both of our worlds," Luna began to explain, now sounding like so many college professors Patrick had some years ago.

"Okay..." Patrick said, wondering if he'd be able to follow this thread all the way through.

"The reason why? An extremely rare event that happens across the whole of the Multiverse. When a planet with sentient life aligns with the center of its home galaxy, and a world that contains a significant amount of what you would recognize as Magic also crosses this path, a very surprising and momentous event occurs," Luna started, while using her magic to show the planet Equestria sat on and Earth, even though they both sat in different dimensions, coming into an alignment, along with a (thankfully) not to scale object representing the center of the Milky Way.

"And that event would be..."

"What we would call a 'wellspring of magic' being created in the world without. Effectively bestowing the world in the middle of this formation, in this case your Earth, with Magic," Luna concluded, as she dispelled the projection.

"Really..." Patrick answered incredulously.

Princess Celestia then began to speak. "Indeed, Patrick. As of this day, Earth will first become imbued with a mana - specific to your world and unique to itself. As the creatures that inhabit Earth begin to recognize its existence, they will begin to use it, mostly subconsciously at first. Before long, life on Earth will begin using explicit magic, much like the beings that live here on Equus, and all other worlds and realms with Magic."

"So, basically a fluke of metaphysics will cause magic, or the mana that makes magic, to flow on Earth?" Patrick asked, having decided to just play along with the dream, and wondering if he had read a few fan-fiction too many during the summer and early fall.

"Furthermore, while most cultures who even notice this happening would just leave the second world to figure things out on their own, we believe that humans would benefit greatly from beings that can help them, oh how could one put it, adjust to a world filled with physics-enhancing or defying Magic," Princess Luna added.

Patrick did not know what to think of all of this at all, except that for a dream, it was extraordinarily detailed.

Princess Celestia then began speaking again. "However, we cannot appear on Earth without an actual pathway there. I have set up something to solve that little issue, but we need a volunteer to act as a beacon, if you will, in order to make the entire plan work."

"So is that why I'm here?" Patrick asked, wondering just where this was all going.

"In short, yes. This flask contains a liquid that will turn your body into that of a Pony; after which, we'd then use your link to our Mana to create the pathway across the dimensional sub-space to Earth. Of course you can refuse this offer, but we'd then have to keep asking random humans until someone agreed, and time is of the essence," Luna explained, as a small Erlenmeyer flask appeared, filled with a purplish liquid, not unlike cough syrup by how it looked.

Patrick looked at the flask, and smelled the liquid, noting the grape-ish scent. It seemed to radiate energy, like holding a flask full of hot water. He took in the totality of the Princesses minor presentation, as he contemplated his next course of action.

Alright, so a tall Pony Princess over little Ponies just said I can drink this flask full of something in order to become a little Pony. At which point this world of Ponies and whatever else would have a highway to Earth. If this wasn't an insane dream I don't know what is. But might as well see whatever else my brain wants to spit out at me...

"So if I agree, I just drink this and I go back to Earth and wait for the other contact?" Patrick asked, still looking at the roughly 8 ounces in the flask.

"Indeed, I believe you should recognize her relatively easily," Princess Celestia answered.

Patrick took a few more moments to think things over. After mulling things over, he figured the fact that since he was in a dream, ostensibly, whatever decision he made wouldn't matter in the long run. So he made the decision he thought would at least keep the vision going.

"Alright then, I accept," Patrick stated somewhat nonchalantly, as he drunk every drop of the liquid in the flask.

After a few moments, he saw a flash of green, not unlike what he could remember seeing in so many St. Patrick's Day Parades, and then black.

~~ ! ~~

Patrick woke up groggy as all get out, entire body aching somewhat, especially his head. He rolled over to look at the clock, which read 3:50 PM; showing he had only been asleep for an hour at the most. Despite that, it felt like he had been out drinking all the night previous, and was in the middle of a hellacious hangover.

"God what in the hell happened in that last hour. I couldn't have been sleep-drinking, otherwise there'd be a bottle near me, and I don't know what could get me blasted that fast..." he said aloud as he made to get out of the bed, and promptly stumbled over himself and face-planting on the floor. The oddest thing being he felt two parts of him touch floor before anything else when he made contact.

"OW! GOD... now my whole face hurts instead of my head!" he shouted as he rubbed his face and temple, only to strike something relatively long and hard directly in the center of it. Not only that, he noticed that his face wasn't quite the right shape as he felt around it.

"Ok, wait, what the..." he said as he stood up, somewhat oddly but overall was reasonably vertical. He lugged his frame forward, unsteady from the hangover-like symptoms and residual grogginess he was experiencing.

His mind would be jarred completely alert and active the second he crossed the mirror, and saw a whole lot of the green he saw flash before his eyes before his dream ended; far too much of the shamrock green in that mirror.

"WHAT IN THE HELL JUST... I... WHAT?!" Patrick shouted, as he stumbled backward and onto his bed, thankful he and his girlfriend had arranged the bedroom the way they did. He finally began to take stock of himself, and his shock, disappointingly, would not abate.

His entire body was covered in thin, but reasonably dense shamrock-green coat, minus the palms of his hands which were a darker-shade and more like regular human palms. He felt around his head, and noticed his ears were not in the correct placement, along the side, but instead along the top corners, and far too long for anything human.

"Oh God... please don't tell me... that... oh man..." he began to say to himself in a mild panic, trying his best not to shout as to not attract the attention of any of his neighbors that were home. He sat with his legs drawn in, face resting on his knees, and felt along his lower legs. He noticed they now terminated in hooves, though they were nothing like the hooves of any horse on Earth. In fact... they looked suspiciously like the hooves of a certain line of cartoon ponies.

That... please... was it... it couldn't be... he thought to himself as he stood up again, gingerly, and forced himself to look in the full-body mirror. He then saw his entire figure and began to quail again. His entire body was reconfigured as some kind of hybrid of his original human body, and the body of those cartoon Ponies he had taken a shine to in the last few months. His upper body looked like a decently built male of his age, though muscle definition was a tad obscured by his green coat. His legs weren't necessarily unguligrade like a horse's, instead more like a plantigrade human's (though not quite the same shape still). He was mildly thankful for that, since he could at least walk without having to think about it terribly hard. They still had that odd shape that made his legs look like something out of a Mega Man game than any horse-like animal he ever saw (though he had to admit it made them look cuter and had to be far easier to draw). He also noticed an impressively long tail and mixed hair and mane, that was chalk white with some streaks of fiery orange interspersed between. His snout wasn't that long compared to his face, angular so that any Equestrian that saw him would recognize him as male. What drew his attention, aside from everything else, was the rounded-tip horn jutting at almost a 45 degree angle from his forehead. He, as his brain silently recalibrated itself to his now changed form, just quietly trotted over to his bed, drew the thick blanket over himself, and began to just stare at his laptop that was still on.

Oh God... what have I done... what am I supposed to do... when Becky gets back she is going to completely freak out... then who knows what she might call after me... I could spend the rest of my life in some kind of Area-51 Facility... or even worse... Patrick began to think, tail poking out from under the blanket as his mind began to race as to who and what would try and get their hands on him.

Just then he heard a notification on his computer, the musical sting like a chip-tune version of the Friendship is Magic theme song. He looked at the screen, and saw the strange looking icon on the laptop's taskbar, and a message that said "T.S. wants to start a conversation. Accept/Decline?"

"Because this day couldn't get any weirder..." Patrick said to himself as he reached out with a green hand and clicked Accept with the touchpad, which thankfully still worked despite his hands as they were.

"GREETINGS FROM EQUESTRIA!" shouted a usually cheery twenty-something year old female over the speakers. "I'd take it you're the Pony I'm supposed to be talking to for this whole thing, yeah?!"

"I guess," Patrick said somewhat despondently, wondering just what the girl, or mare as it were, had to do.

"Oh come on, don't sound so down. Trust me you're going to love it once we get everything set up. Hey you could be a celebrity as the first Earth-born visitor to Equus!" the mare continued, not even bothering to activate the video portion of the communication software.

"I... I just don't know what to think right now... I really want to just go back to sleep..." Patrick said, has he had begun to bury his face somewhat in his blanket.

"The Princesses will get you good and sorted out once we're done. Now I just need you to sit exactly still where you are. Princess Luna made some modifications to your portable computing device, and I need to be able to use it to lock onto your mana signature," the mare said, still oblivious to the video portion of the video-chat she was supposed to have activated.

No wonder that moon symbol was there in the bottom corner, and here I thought my wall-paper had rotated and I just forgot about it... Patrick thought to himself, as he sat in front of the laptop.

After a few moments of some mild humming coming over from the mare's end of the line, she started speaking again. "Alright then, you can relax. Now I just need to get the orientation of your space right, and I can pop on over to finalize the pathway!"

At least she's excited for this... Patrick thought to himself as he stretched his now usually thick legs and hooves out in front of him, the laptop now off on the far-side of the bed. What in the hell am I going to do about my clothes, of course I have no idea how I'm supposed to negotiate a tail through them...

Just then, felt a resonation within his horn, instinctively recognizing another Unicorn's Magic being used somewhere near him. He looked all around for some kind of sign for it, only to see a magical circle above him. A magenta and violet circle, with all kinds of arcane looking runes and curves and lines plastered on his ceiling... directly above his bed... in fact directly above him.

"Hey, Miss, I think you might want to reorient that circle or whatever... it doesn't seem safe where it is..." Patrick tried to shout at the magic circle, not even knowing if the mare on the other side could hear him.

~~ ! ~~

"Twilight, are you absolutely sure about this?" Spike asked, genuinely afraid for Twilight traveling to a new world unassisted.

"Oh don't be such a worry. Luna and I practiced this before, when we visited Quadlio. The people there were awfully nice too, though they're really shouty when they use their magic," Twilight said, as she absentmindedly sat in her circle waiting for the pathway to complete itself.

She was quite surprised when the circle completed itself without her noticing, and she promptly fell through the floor. Onward and upward (or downward?) into a brave, new world!

~~ ! ~~

Patrick had backed up some outside of the border of the circle, at least he hoped, as he heard the screaming of a mare getting louder, though he couldn't tell exactly from where it was coming.

He ducked around the bed and set his laptop on the floor, hopeful that whoever was about to land on his bed wouldn't go bouncing off in his direction.

And with that, the circle shone brightly, as the screaming mare landed with a soft thud on the reasonably soft and momentum-soaking mattress and comforters.

"OW! OW! OW! How could I mess up the angle on the portal that bad? I thought I had it down..." Twilight said as she rolled over to sit up on her hips. Which was odd since Ponies generally did not sit up on their hips.

"Um... I... uhh..." Patrick was at a loss for words as he stared at the Purple coated-and-maned Unicorn mare. She had quite a smooth and lean build, about what a young lady who didn't engage in strenuous physical activity should have, as far as Patrick could figure. Her face looked about right for a female Pony stuck in that kind of form, given how his own face looked and what he could remember at that moment about Pony faces. He then noticed her torso, and was immediately (and somewhat ashamedly) draw to her bust, which was probably cup size smaller than Rebecca's. The purple anthro-mare also had to be shorter than Rebecca by a good 5 inches, though Patrick figured that he was now only even in height with Becky himself. The mare, for her part, just stared at the blanket covered stallion standing on only two legs instead of being on all fours. She barely registered how he looked until she turned around and looked in Patrick and Rebecca's full length mirror... and got an eye-full of how she looked herself.

"WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME HAPPENED TO ME!?" the Mulberry-ish mare shouted, completely shocked she now resembled a human female almost as much as she did an Equestrian Unicorn mare that she was supposed to look like. Her hair/mane stretched about down to her shoulders, as her tail was long like Patricks, although nowhere near as unkempt. Even her two-toned streaks adjusted to the new length automatically, as if the universe itself just reset her form to match the world. It was at that point that Patrick's brain had finally completely registered what he was staring at all this time.

Dear lord, it's a naked, anthro Twilight Sparkle, and she's in my room... Patrick thought to himself, as he contemplated if he should approach the now distressed Unicorn-morph.

Celestia... what happened to me... this... I... I don't know... I'm... I... Twilight thought as she staggered backward, her brain already rewiring itself to walk on twos instead of fours. She bumped into Patrick backside-first, which elicited a brief shriek from the confused mare.

"I... um... Welcome... to... Earth?" Patrick said tepidly, trying not to touch Twilight beyond what he absolutely had to, not sure what she might to do him or his surroundings in her mental state.

Twilight spun around, her eyes welling with tears. "How... how... HOW CAN I GO HOME LOOKING LIKE THIS!?" she shouted at full throat, not realizing that she was in an apartment and not a separate domicile. She had her arms flared out, unintentionally inviting Patrick to look at her still uncovered, Mulberry body; Patrick having to use every ounce of will-power not to ogle the distressed but attractive Unicorn-morph.

Ok, obviously distressed Unicorn mare, that's at least an 8 out 10, flailing her arms about trying to rationalize her current form... I'm fairly sure that this can't get worse... Patrick thought to himself, before he heard the front door lock clicking in the familiar way someone with a key unlocking it would. Oh no... oh no... this isn't good... he immediately thought to himself, as he tried to make any kind of motion that'd get Twilight to quiet down for a few moments to think.

Twilight, obviously oblivious to the nuances of human non-verbal communication, kept rambling on, "Oh Celestia, my life is ruined. I can't stay in Ponyville like this. I might not even be able to stay in Equestria period like this! If I go back, Celestia might throw me in a dungeon as a monster. Or stick me in a lab. Or stick me in a dungeon that's surrounded by a lab..."

Her ramblings though were cut short by a hyperventilating Patrick and a Rebecca, who just stared at the 5'3" and 5'8", purple and green, horned, cartoonish-ly anthropomorphic, and quite naked (sans blanket) Ponies.

"Are... you two... in costumes?" Rebecca asked, having quietly put down the bags of gifts in a nice, safe place where hopefully she wouldn't thrash them in her soon to be blind rage.

"If I said we weren't... would it make you feel any better?" Richard asked only halfway turned around, with Twilight hiding somewhat behind him.

"No, probably not..." Rebecca replied as she calmly approached the green Unicorn-morph, now even in height with her, and calmly proceeded to grab him by the neck and throttle him, legitimately attempting to choke the very life out of him. She pushed him backwards on to the bed, taking advantage of his lack of coordination, and straddled herself along his chest, using her additional weight to increase his difficulty breathing.

"Stop it... he didn't do anything wrong... I just... we just..." Twilight tried to say, completely inexperienced at trying to defuse a situation of domestic violence of any kind, let alone one involving a species she was entirely unfamiliar with.

"SHUT UP! CANT YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO STRANGLE MY BOYFRIEND FOR BEING A CHEATING FREAK!?" Rebecca shouted in rage at Twilight, which made Twilight back away a good two more feet.

"I do believe that will be quite enough for now..." all three of them heard resound through the air in the apartment. Rebecca's rage was broken, thankfully before Patrick's larynx was, as she dismounted her now half-Pony boyfriend's chest. The matronly voice they all heard heralded a brief flash of light, which was followed by the vision of a very regal looking anthropomorphic Pony, quite a bit taller than Twilight; in fact taller than everyone there at a cool 6'2". She had a long sharp horn, a figure that any model would kill for, possibly literally, and large wings that, even while folded, would imply a rather impressive span. Her regalia were now formed as a very impressive and ornately stitched gown, colors and patterns of daybreak and midday, intoning her position as the very avatar of the Equus Sun.

"P-P-Princess Celestia. Oh I am so glad you're here, could you... um... please... help me out a little here... pretty please?" Twilight said, almost pleading like a small child.

Celestia simply drew a long breath as she first took care of the issue of Twilight and Patrick's nudity; quickly forming clothes and dressing them - a dark purple skirt and pink blouse for Twilight, and a white t-shirt with orange trim, and dark green pants for Patrick. "Alright, well now that out of the way, let's try and sort this whole situation out." She teleported a chair from the kitchen area into the bedroom, and sat herself down for a rather lengthy Q and A session.

~~ ! ~~

"And so you agreed to it? Just like that?!" Rebecca replied, with a mix of frustration and incredulous-ness. The idea of the metaphysical mess that lead to the whole situation made enough sense for her to not dismiss it outright, demonstrations of Celestia and Twilight's magic enough to convince her of that. What really troubled her was just how readily her boyfriend agreed to be lynchpin for the entire effort that day.

"Well, I thought it was all just a dream, literally. I figured 'pick the choice that'd keep the dream going.' And, well, here we are," Patrick responded defensively, slowly getting used to his new tail so he didn't accidentally sit on it and cause himself pain at the base of his spine.

"I'm sorry for not explaining the consequences more thoroughly, an oversight on our part. But as I said during your 'dream sequence', time was of the essence. We essentially had only 48 hours to form the link between worlds; otherwise we would have had to wait until Earth found Equus on its own, or our worlds realigned, which would have taken another several millennia.

Twilight raised her hand, and was recognized by Celestia to speak. "Excuse me Princess Celestia, but why is that that we are in these humanoid forms? I mean I don't want to offend Rebecca or any other human, but it's just a little... um... disconcerting."

Celestia placed a hand under a chin, taking a brief moment to appreciate the strangeness of the situation before answering. "Apparently, something about the mana produced in this world causes a reaction with anything that has significant mana and that isn't already human. They are transformed into a more human-like form, while preserving the qualities that made their original form unique and recognizable. If I remember my special English terms correctly, the term is anthropomorphization, or assigning human qualities to something that isn't already human." Patrick and Rebecca just nodded in agreement, as the term seemed to make sense as it applied to the three Pony-morphs.

"In any case, the link will grow more stable over time. And I will have to begin working out how exactly we are going to present ourselves to public at large," Celestia began to reason aloud. The other three there could swear they heard the gears turning in her head. She then continued. "In any case, Patrick, unless you would like to stay in Equestria until I make my announcement at large, you should do your best to avoid human contact, aside from Rebecca here, until then."

While Patrick did not exactly appreciate the suggestion of a self-imposed house-arrest, it was certainly better than walking down the street as a 5'8" anthro-Unicorn. "If I could make one suggestion Princess: could you please maybe make the announcement post-Christmas, I think that would be best for all involved given how important the holiday is to most people."

Celestia thought for a few moments, and responded. "That does sound like a wonderful suggestion. And I would greatly appreciate it if your lovely friend and yourself, of course, would join me. If you choose to do so, I will ensure that all costs are reimbursed or otherwise taken care of." She then smiled a wide smile that set everyone else at ease, or at least as much as they could be given the circumstances.

"So Twilight, should we be off?" Celestia asked of her faithful student.

"Um, if you don't mind, could I stay here for a little while? I mean if Rebecca and Patrick would mind a house guest for a while..." Twilight asked sheepishly.

Rebecca agreed having mostly gotten over her initial fit of rage; while Patrick agreed because of his interest in how the hell magic was actually supposed to work.

"Hrm, that should be fine," Celestia replied. Before she left, she added one last thing. "Oh, whenever you are ready to leave, to use Patrick's computer to message Princess Luna back in Canterlot. You know she really has taken quite a shine to your technological devices, wouldn't be surprised if she's busy making magic-equivalents as we're speaking.

~~ ! ~~

"Huzzah! Yet another victory for my squad. Not even a mechanical mouse and keyboard are mighty enough to stand against good old Equestrian Magic!" Luna shouted to herself as she 'typed' a far more modest message to her opponent's online. She had indeed taken quite the shine to the human computers and their networks.