Episode I

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Have you ever had one of those moments where you just wanted to go back to sleep, but reluctantly had no choice in the matter, as you promised someone you'd help them out with something? Well, let me tell you how my first officially scheduled interview with Twilight Sparkle, the Faithful Student of Princess Celestia, and the bearer of the Element of Magic, went...

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I feel a hoof nudge my side, forcing my eyes to shift open. My vision is instantly greeted with a pair of purple eyes coming from a lavender unicorn with an unusually wide smile on her face.

Under normal circumstances, I would question why there's a unicorn in my room, but since I've known this particular unicorn for about a week, now, I feel more accustomed to the gesture.

However, the alarm clock on my nightstand speaks otherwise on how welcoming I feel like being.

"Twilight," I begin to mumble, elevating my head slightly up from my pillow, "why, oh why are you waking me up at four in the morning?!"

She giggles slightly and replies, "Well duh, Justin! I told you I'd be back early today, didn't I? And plus, you did say that it would be safest if I showed up early so that I could avoid being detected from any of your brothers, didn't you?"

I rub my chin, recalling her last visit which, ironically, was last week... our first meeting. With a defeated sigh/yawn combo, I nod my head. "Alright, then... point taken." I then rub my eyes and turn my lamp on. "So, before we start on this interview, can I get you anything? Maybe a glass of water, or something?"

She smiles and nods her head. "Oh, um... well, if it isn't too much of a bother... just a small glass of water, please."

I nod and, somehow, shoot a smile back at her, despite the grumpy feeling in the back of my head. I guess one of her advantages is that it's difficult, if not impossible, to keep being upset with her... and besides that, I did bring this upon myself.

After all, it's not every day that I get to see her... only once a week, due to the portal's limitations... and only on hourly rotations. As such, she said she's willing to help me learn more about her and her world, and I to her in exchange.

And last week, before the portal closed, she passed me a crystal that, when tapped onto a TV screen, allows me to watch a series of recordings about her and her friends, as well as their adventures, misadventures, and heroic deeds as if through some sort of cartoon series.

As I walk into the kitchen to get two glasses of water - one for each of us, that is - I recall what I was able to learn about her from the crystal throughout the week.

Her name is Twilight Sparkle, a noble of a city called Canterlot. Canterlot, being the capital city of Equestria, is a kingdom inhabited by colorful talking aliens called "Ponies" which, to be blunt, slightly resemble the animals of the same name on Earth... but with several noticeable differences, aside from the cartoon-like body structure of them. It houses the ruler of the nation, Princess Celestia, and fairly recently, her sister Princess Luna.

Twilight has five very close friends that live in Ponyville, which is now her home town. Together, they saved the kingdom from two threats - the sister of her mentor and the self-proclaimed "Spirit of Chaos", Discord.

Last week, the latest adventure that she had was something about her forgetting to learn something about friendship, which she thought was what Princess Celestia ordered her to do to remain living there and be her student.

Gotta be honest... the crystal didn't go into too much details on what was going through her mind, but calling it an "overreaction" is quite an understatement!

So that's pretty much the story there. The rest, as they say, is history... or as I would say, history in the making.

I open the door to my room and bring the two cups of water inside. Twilight, after hearing me tap three distinct knocks on the floor with my foot, materializes from, what she would call, an invisibility spell.

She smiles at me as I offer her a glass. With a thankful nod, she then levitates it from my grasp and takes a gentle sip, before sitting on the carpet.

I nod in response before quietly closing my door and walking up to her.

Though it's dark, I'm able to get a clear grasp of her height. Surprisingly enough, she's definitely a lot smaller than any ponies from Earth. Basically, if she were to stand on the tips of her hind legs, her head would barely be able to reach my waist.

But I digress.

I sit cross-legged about a meter in front of her, facing towards the little unicorn, and take a sip of my water. I then set the glass on the floor and clear my throat.

"So, I guess you'd like to hear about my week?"

She nods her head in anticipation. "Yes, please... if it's alright with you, that is."

I nod with a smile. "Of course... though please bear in mind that it's probably nothing as notable as your average day in Equestria... or Ponyville, to be precise."

I then relay the events of my week to her. How I went all across Diamond Peaks, my hometown, to find a job, but failing miserably. I tell her that my mom's still doing well, and that she, like everyone else, isn't aware of the portal under my bed just yet.

Soon I get to the part where my grandmother passed away. She pauses her writing and gives me a comforting hug, to which I accept, albeit a little taken aback by the sudden intrusion of personal space. I decide to count it as one of the "cultural differences" that we and they have... with them being a bit more touchy-feely. I explain to her that it was about a couple days after she left. I did tell her about her health back then, but she didn't expect it to be a terminal sickness.

After the heartwarming moment, and the passage of tears, I change the subject to a much brighter matter. I tell her about some of the jokes one of my relatives said during the service.

"And so she waited until his wife and children got back, before telling them that she used to change his diapers." I say with a light chuckle. Twilight's holding her mouth to keep the laughter from breaking the barrier.

She's fighting a losing battle, though.

"Then when he thought she couldn't embarrass him even more, she told him, 'And if you stay here longer, you might get to change mine, too!'"

That does the trick. Twilight's laughter escapes past her forehooves, and before long, she has to remove them from her mouth to hold onto her chest.

After about thirty seconds, her laughter subsides. I give her a mischievous smirk and rub my chin in thought.

"Wow... didn't think librarians could laugh that hard... let alone, nobles of Camelot!"

She tilts her head at the name I mentioned. "Uh... Camelot? Don't you mean Canterlot?"

I plant my face into my palm and snicker. "Right, Canterlot. Forgot that there are puns in-between our towns' names."

Her eyes widen in bewilderment. "Wait, so there's literally a town in this world called 'Camelot'?"

I shake my head and reply, "No. It's actually the name of a mythological place in Britain... which is an entirely different continent than what we're currently in."

"Oh... so it's like Griffonstone is to Equestria, or the Dragonlands?"

I scratch the back of my head and shrug. "I guess... depends on who runs those places."

"It's alright. Considering the similarities of our worlds, It'd be safe enough to assume that our jurisdictions and national divisions are operated in a similar aspect."

And so, we continue talking about the towns in-between our worlds. Pretty soon, an hour passes, and her horn starts to flicker to life.

"Oh... looks like it's been an hour already! I should probably get back home, now." she says, eyeing me cheerfully. "I'm glad to know that you're recovering well from your grandmother's loss..." her ears fold back, "... but I'm sorry for your loss, nonetheless."

I wave a dismissive hand her way, but pull her into a hug. "Thanks, Twi... but it's fine. She was in pain, so it's probably for the best... even if I find myself hurting more each day. It's one of the few traits many of us humans have that's our strong suit... we can adapt to change quite well."

She returns the hug and, for a brief moment, I swear I could hear her sniffle. Regardless, though, once we break from the hug, I hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming from outside the bedroom door.

"Well, looks like Gracie's up. Better check on her, and see what she's up to this time." I say, wincing as I hear the sound of something loud falling in the kitchen. "And I might wanna be fast, so she doesn't get herself into too much trouble."

"Okay. I'll be back next week, then... but maybe I should arrive during the day time?"

I give her a thumbs-up, and an expectant smile. "Sounds good! I'll see you then... take care of yourself, Twi."

She smiles before waving her hoof and turning towards my bed. "Thanks... and you too, Justin."

Once she approaches the darkness under my bed, her body starts to sink below the surface, in a fashion similar to walking down a stairway. She pauses, though, and turns around, giving me one last joyful smile.

"So does eleven sound good?" she asks.

As I make my way towards my door, I nod and shrug before replying, "It's a date, then!"

I pause as I grip the door handle, then turn around and shake my head. "N-not like that, though! I mean, it's... uh..."

She giggles and winks at me, though. "Don't worry, I know what you meant... see you then!" As the shadow begins to fade, however, she manages to squeeze in one final message before the rift locks for the week.

"Though if you manage to bring me a daisy sandwich, I'll gratefully accept it!"

With a playful roll of the eyes, and a niece to bail out of trouble, I turn back around and open the door.

As the rest of the night/morning goes through without a hitch, having taken the blame for my niece only knocking the trash can down (by accident), I relax on my bed again and stare up at the ceiling, unable to get those few remaining hours of sleep back.

"Smooth one, Justin... now you've got a magical talking pony demanding you for food... what's next, a talking dragon?"

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"Twilight, can I come with you next time?"

"Hmm? Oh! Uh... yeah, sure! Sure you can, Spike... as long as you promise you won't freak out, alright?"

Author's Note

EPISODE I: COMPLETE!

Episode 2 Status: 100% (Posted!)