Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was probably the second largest building in the Castle Town after the Castle. It was an impressive building that stood out due to its dark, mostly purple coloration, while white dominated most of the other buildings in Canterlot. The huge windows indicated that each level had greater height than the average. The architectural style followed the Canterlot pattern and included towers on top. The main entrance was also huge, allowing multiple ponies to enter or exit the building at the same time. A large, round golden emblem hung above the entrance, depicting a four-pointed star with radiant lines around it.

Celestia explained that the school's history dated back to before the Unification. Initially, it was a school to train unicorns with the potential to join the team responsible for raising the Sun and the Moon. The term 'Gifted' referred to those unicorns who could be part of that team. The school not only aimed to strengthen young unicorns' magical capabilities but also to prepare them for the eventual loss of their magic, which inevitably occurred for those who were part of the team. This loss was a cruel but necessary process, as without them, the day and night cycle would cease, yet there were never enough ponies to allow them to recover properly. Consequently, they had to perform their duty until their magic burned out completely. It was both a gift and a curse.

Lazlo could sense the joy radiating from Celestia's smile as she mentioned how happy she was when she and Luna learned that they could take over this duty, thus saving them from the trauma of losing their magic. After this realization, the school was closed for some time. Following their time on the throne, Princess Platinum and Starswirl the Bearded approached Celestia with the idea of reopening the school but with a different focus. The princesses agreed, although Luna chose not to be a part of it, as she was busy focusing on the defenses of Equestria from external forces, given the kingdom's recent establishment and lack of peace. Consequently, the school was re-established, with Starswirl becoming the head stallion and Celestia taking on the role of a teacher. After Starswirl disappeared, Celestia assumed the position of head mare and held it ever since.

The most surprising piece of information about the school, however, was that there were a few pegasi and earth pony students too. While the school's main purpose was to help unicorns improve their magical abilities and knowledge, new subjects were added. Celestia introduced new classes focused on theoretical magic and classes that emphasized pegasus and earth pony magic, which were open for anypony to apply.

The auditorium was big, capable of seating hundreds of ponies. Just like in the universities from his world, this one had also been shaped like those theaters from ancient Greece. Despite its size, as Lazlo stood next to Celestia, who was addressing the crowd, he saw that probably three ponies occupied two seats, and the stairs were also occupied by sitting ponies. Some pegasi even brought in clouds to stand, sit, or lie on. They all switched their attention between him and Celestia, though those who were more focused on the princess were most likely those who weren't students here. Lazlo also spotted familiar faces in the sea of ponies. Fancy Pants, Fleur, and some nobles around them, though most of them didn't seem pleased with the population density. Surprisingly, he also spotted Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. He wondered what they were doing here. Rarity wasn't with them.

"My little ponies!" Celestia spoke. "I welcome all of you! Students and teachers of this school, and from the Canterlot Academy, and everypony else who just happened to hear about this presentation and wished to attend. It brings me so much joy to see so many of you coming here and listen to a very special presentation today!" She then gestured towards Lazlo. "Lazlo Kis here will talk about his world, which has no magic. So without further ado, let's hear it from him." She then turned to him and lit her horn. Lazlo felt something warm around his throat and then he got that feeling when he swallowed a medicine but felt like it got stuck in his throat, but in reality it didn't. This gave him a scare, but luckily it only lasted for a second. "Just a minor spell to increase the volume of your voice, so everypony can hear you and you won't have to yell," she explained, and Lazlo nodded.

"Testing, testing," he spoke and got a little jump scared at his own voice for a moment. It really was like he was talking to a microphone but the speaker was also in his mouth. "Okay, this is weird," he commented before looking at the audience. "Welcome everyone! My name is Lazlo Kis, and I'm a human. I'm going to talk about my world, and how we manage to live without magic, and then I'll answer some of the questions you have. Of course, I won't be able to talk about everything, that would take years probably. But to give you a picture about how does an average human live his life, I'm going to tell you what was one of my usual workdays like."

"But before that, I'm going to tell you about two things, really short, to give you some pointers. First is the computers. I did some research here, and from what I found, the closest thing you have here are a machine and an enchanted core that has the logic and does the calculation, or whatever function it needs to do. Well, our computers are more complex. For an average user, the machine runs an operating system, which is like a base where you can run multiple different programs, whatever you installed on the computer. I know it's not very detailed, but it would take very long to explain, and also, I only know the basics, maybe a little more. But maybe imagine it like you have a base enchantment that you use to open and control other enchantments, or something like that."

He felt a little awkward. One of the troubles he had while preparing for this presentation is how to explain technology that they don't have here, or it's different. It went way better with Twilight because it was one-on-one, so she could cut in with questions, and also she is very smart and can figure things out pretty easily when it comes to science. Actually, she was the one who told him about the works of Equestrian computers and compared them to human ones. He already noticed some of the students started to take notes.

"The other thing is what I consider humanity's best and worst creation. The internet. Now to explain what it is... Imagine that you're in a room with a door that you can write on. You write anything on it, open the door, and you get there. Not really as in teleportation or anything, but basically you can do almost anything with the help of the internet. Talk with your family or friends in real time, no matter where they are. Read information about a topic you're interested in. Look up the restaurant you plan to go, read the opinions of others about that place, view the menu, or even make a reservation. Or even create your own content that others can watch or read. And many more, it would take forever to even list half of the things that are possible, or became faster, or more accessible thanks to it. It has its dangers and downsides, but that doesn't change the fact that it's my kind's greatest creation so far. Of course, you need a computer to access it and usually a program we call a browser. That imaginary room is the browser."

He observed various reactions to his description, ranging from skepticism to awe, confusion to dreamy fascination. He wondered how each of them imagined these concepts. Did his description created entirely different images in their minds? He conceded that his description might not have been very good, but it was challenging to convey without a visual aid. The idea of asking Celestia for a memory view spell briefly crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, he wanted to accomplish this without resorting to magic.

"Anyway, let's go begin my average day. My alarm rings. Now another great device we have is the phone. Originally it was invented to talk with others in real time no matter the distance, but eventually they got more and more features and nowadays, phones are basically computers that you can hold in one hand. It has a screen that you can control with touching the screen. So my alarm rings on my phone, I turn it off, and go back to sleep." he said, eliciting laughter from himself and several ponies. "Then the next alarm rings and so on. After finally I'm ready to wake up, I do the morning routine that is basically the same as here."

"Once I'm ready, I head to work. I used to live in a relatively large city, and my office was quite far away. Walking, or even using a scooter or bicycle, which is somewhat similar to a scooter but operates differently, would take too long. Another option is the car, which is... imagine a mix of the locomotive and the carriage, where there is an engine that makes it go on it's own but you are not bound to railway, though there are many rules but you can go on the roads. This isn't a bad idea, and usually is pretty fast, but there might be traffic jams, which is basically happens when there are too many cars on the roads and we got stuck. This often happens during the morning rush hour. Additionally, there's usually no available parking near my office. So, public transportation is the best option. We have buses, which are large vehicles capable of transporting many people, trams that operate like smaller trains within the city, and metros, similar to what you have in Manehattan. However, ours are a bit more advanced, we even have driverless metros that operate autonomously with computers. They open and close the doors, wait for a set time at the stations, then proceed to the next stop. And there's no magic involved, so no enchanting the vehicles."

Some of the students looked on in awe upon hearing this.

"Anyway, I almost forgot. Phone. Another important aspect of modern technology. These phones, essentially mini computers, are also called smartphones. Yeah, we like to label our devices as 'smart,' but what do you expect from a species that named itself 'Homo Sapiens,' meaning 'Wise Man,'" he remarked, prompting more chuckles. "Thanks to our technology, these phones, along with more and more 'smart' devices, are capable of many things that make life very easy. For example, I can buy and store my tickets for public transportation on it. I can even check when the vehicle I'm about to take will arrive at the stop, or plan the fastest route for me. This also works when I need to reach a destination but don't know where it is exactly. I can use a navigation system. But how is that possible? Well, I can determine my current position thanks to many satellites orbiting our planet. That's right. Humans are already achieved space traveling, though we are only at the beginning of it. We got to the Moon though. It around sixty, or seventy years ago when the first human set foot on the Moon."

This also elicited looks of wonder and awe from his audience.

"Anyway, I arrive at work. To gain entry, I use my company card, which contains some small electronic technology. I simply touch it to a device on the wall, which scans the card and unlocks the door for me. I spend most of my time at work sitting at my desk and working on my computer. The company I worked for manufactured machines and fully automated production lines for various factories, as well as software, which is like enchantments but more complex. I worked on that software, an MES (Manufacturing Execution System), running on a server, which is essentially a powerful computer that can be accessed via the internet or a private network. In a way, the internet is a vast library of servers that you can access with authorization."

"So I worked on that software, which can be used to oversee the production process, monitor various products, machines, and so on. With this software, you can create tasks, add new products, change parameters of existing products, gather data from the machines, send data to them, view reports on selected products or tasks, and much more that I couldn't possibly list here. But you get the idea, right?" Various responses were seen from the audience. "Of course, all this data is stored in a database, which essentially consists of many tables. In simple terms, you have columns representing different data categories, and rows containing the actual data. For example, a product would have columns for a unique identifier, name, date of addition, quantity produced so far, and so on. Additionally, there would be another table listing all the parameters a product can have, each with its unique identifier, name, and value. Then, there would be another table connecting these two, linking the product identifiers with the parameter identifiers."

"I hope I've at least provided a basic understanding of it. The point is, we store a vast amount of data, which is crucial for our customers. So basically, I spend most of my time working on these tasks, like setting up starting databases for new customers, adding new or customized features to the software, testing communication between the software and machines using simulators, and so on. It may sound monotonous at first, but it's quite diverse; things are always at least a little different. I also have to write documentation for both customers and colleagues. For instance, if I customize communication between the software and a machine, or add a new feature, I have to document how it works. It's as tedious as it sounds, but it's part of the job."

"And of course, sometimes we have to support our customers when they encounter problems that we didn't notice before. The challenge is that these customers may be on another continent and in a different time zone. Do you have time zones here?" he asked Celestia, who nodded in affirmation. "Great. So anyway, thanks to the internet, we don't need to travel to them to fix these issues. We can access their servers from our office or even home to address the problem almost immediately. It's pretty awesome, right? This flexibility also allows us to working from home, which we call 'home office.' But of course, we can always go on-site to a customer if needed or requested. Fortunately, we have mobile computers, what we call laptops or notebooks. They may not be as powerful, but they are portable."

"But how do we reach a customer on the other side of the planet? Well, we fly. That's the fastest mode of transportation." This seemed to pique the interest of most pegasi in the audience. "We have airplanes, which are flying machines that are quite fast. I don't know all the specifics since I've never had the pleasure of flying myself, even though it's quite affordable nowadays. However, I'm certain that with an airplane, you can reach virtually anywhere on the planet in less than a day." This was the first time he heard murmuring among the ponies, particularly the pegasus ponies hovering in the clouds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Princess Celestia raise a hoof, and they fell silent once more.

"So... Work's over. Let's head home. But first, a little detour to buy some groceries. I go to the shop near my apartment, grab what I need, and then head to the self-checkout machines. We also have normal cashiers, but there are these machines where you can scan a unique code placed on each product. The screen will list your items and summarize the cost, essentially allowing you to do the cashier's job. You can pay with cash or a card. Speaking of which, we love those cards. We have banks too. They're kind of like the Vault here, but they do more than just store your money. Honestly, I don't know all the details, but basically most things that's got to do with money and is legal can be done there. They give us cards with information like a unique number, your name, expiry date, and codes only you're supposed to know, like a password, but with numbers only. You use the card, and they scan the chip to deduct the money from your bank account. Or nowadays, you can use your card on your smartphone or other 'smart' devices to do the same."

He noticed that not only the audience, but even Princess Celestia, looked thoughtful as he explained the various options for spending one's hard-earned money.

"After I bought everything I wanted, I finally head home. And since the eight hours I spent in front of my computer at work weren't enough, I spend some more time in front of my computer at home. There are many entertainment options available on it, especially thanks to the internet. I can play games, watch a movie, or a video that a random person uploaded, read something interesting, or order something from a different continent because I can't get it in my country. But I can buy it from six thousand kilometers away, and in a few weeks, it will arrive. I also order my lunch for the next week in advance. The internet is pretty great and probably the thing I miss the most after family and friends, of course. So yeah, nightly routine, and off to bed. I check my alarm for tomorrow, even though I can set it to automatically go off every workday. But I still want to make sure, and then lights off."

He glanced at the clock behind him, which showed that he had only spoken for around thirty-five minutes.

"Well, now I can talk about random stuff that comes to mind or go ahead and answer your questions, as I'm sure there are many and even more came up during my presentation," he offered. When he noticed two students standing up, he knew what they had chosen.

Both ponies were unicorns and had a stack of papers in front of them, holding one with their magic. He could guess that one of them was from this school, and the other was from the Canterlot Academy, as both schools' students were seated in one group, except for those pegasi on the clouds.

Both ponies introduced themselves, but he forgot their names the moment the first question was spoken.

"How would you compare everyday life between your world and this world?" was the first question.

"Well, it's surprisingly similar, except for the technology I was talking about. It's like you came up with the same ideas as us, except when magic got involved."

"How different is Equestrian culture from human culture?"

"Since we humans have more cultures than countries, and we have around two hundred countries, I can't say exactly, but I'd say there are many similarities, mostly on the broader scale, like the basics of society. But there are also many different segments, although those differences are relatively small. Overall, our worlds are surprisingly similar."

"Are you planning on bringing any technology from your world, or maybe is any in progress?"

"I talked about a lot of things that are not here and could be. Um... The problem is that most of them require previous technology or infrastructure that you don't have. Also, I don't know much about the base of those things, nor all the relevant details, not to mention the safety issues it might bring. Many of our technologies are dangerous, and it cost many lives to make them as safe as possible, but that doesn't mean they're completely harmless. I know that everything is dangerous to some degree at least, but I'm talking about things that could increase the chance of diseases like cancer."

"But if you know it's dangerous, why do you have them?" he asked back, instead of letting the other move on to the next question.

"It's not like everyone will get cancer. The benefits far outweigh the risks. And our medicine has developed so much that many diseases basically disappeared. Also, the most dangerous things are the safest because we have worked the hardest on making them safe."

Many more questions were asked, mostly general, as they were collected before the presentation. Most were about humans in general, the planet, or how things work there that need magic here.

"If there is no magic there, who controls the weather?"

"Mother Nature. We can't control the wea-" he paused, then thought for a moment. "Well, we can somewhat control it. I've heard of some cases where they shot something up in the sky to prevent a blizzard, but it also prevented rain, making it a very dry year. Otherwise, we can mostly predict the weather."

"What about moving the Sun and the Moon?"

"Our Sun is huge. Earth could fit into our Sun over a million times. Earth moves around the Sun in an ellipse, which creates the seasons. It also rotates around its own axis, creating the day and night cycle as the Sun will always illuminate different parts of the planet. Basically the same with the Moon, but in that case, the Moon is smaller and rotates around Earth. It doesn't have its own light but reflects the Sun's light and can be seen during the day too sometimes, depending on its position at the moment."

"What powers your technology and how do you get that power?"

"Electricity. And we get it in many ways, mostly by heating up water and using the steam to move a big turbine, or by other means to create kinetic energy and then convert that into electricity somehow. We have several methods for that, like burning wood, coal, or splitting atoms. I'm really not well-versed in the exact workings of these things."

Then after some time, free questioning came, and almost everyone raised a hoof. Lazlo began randomly pointing at them.

"How can you calculate such things, like the Sun's size?"

"We had the help of machines and several very smart mathematicians. They calculated how far away the Sun is, how big it could be, and we also know how hot it is. The surface is around six thousand degrees Celsius, and the core is around fifteen million, give or take." He could feel Celestia's stare the whole time he was talking about the Sun. It seemed even she was surprised at that. Then again, he never mentioned this to Twilight during the study session, it probably slipped his mind back then.

"You said that the internet is your kind's best and worst creation. What did you mean by that?"

"Anyone can put anything on it, even anonymously. On one hand, it's good because that means everyone has a chance to share something of value, and also the many great things I mentioned that are possible thanks to it. But that also means that people can do bad things and avoid the consequences, because they might never find out the identity of someone who, for example, used it to steal money from someone or put fake information about something or someone."

"Do you think these computers, the internet, and other technologies that you talked about can be created and used here?"

"Certainly. Though I don't know anything about how those enchantments work, so it might not be possible with those, but it can be done the same way humans did."

"How do you think our society would change if we'll have those technologies you talked about?"

"I have no idea. There would be changes, that's for sure. But what percentage of those changes would be positive, neutral, and negative? I can't even guess. Many things have improved significantly, like healthcare or communication. However, they have also caused damage to our environment. Overall, I think it's positive for humanity, and we're constantly developing new or more effective ways that often decrease the negative effects. So I can only give you perspective, not an answer."

Almost three hours passed since the start of the presentation when Princess Celestia finally put an end to it. It didn't take long for everyone to leave the auditorium, and many walked up to him and thanked him. When only the Princess remained, she turned to him.

"Thank you for this presentation. Even I managed to learn a few new things."

"Be honest, how horrible was I?"

"It's clear that you don't have experience in it, however, the answers were great," she smiled at him.

"So... very," she laughed at this.

"I hope you'll come and present in the future. I'm sure the students would be happy to learn more about your world," Celestia said as she gave a nuzzle to the human.

"Sure," they said their goodbyes and both went on their own ways. When he got out of the building, he saw Twilight and the others waiting for him.

"You?" he asked as a greeting.

"Rarity sent a message that she can't go back to Ponyville because Opal got sick, so I asked the Princess if I can move my birthday party here. She gave us the ballroom in the castle. We came a day early to let Rarity know, have time to prepare, and while we're here, we decided to listen to your presentation," Twilight answered.

That sounded weird. He hadn't seen Rarity much in the past few days. Still, he didn't know much about pet keeping, and it made sense that she might not want to put a sick animal on a train.

"So... You think the Princess can extend my stay?" he asked somewhat jokingly.

"Well, I might be able to convince her, but it'll be a big favor, so you owe me big," Twilight answered, and everyone laughed. "Let's go visit Rarity to let her know too."

With that, they all walked back to the castle, discussing the presentation, mostly criticizing Lazlo on how hard it was to understand what he was speaking about.

Author's Note

Busy, busy, busy. Same excuses as before.
I hope you found this presentation as horrible, as I do. Can't have Lazlo be good at everything, right?
But now, basically finished with this mini-arc and can go back to the episodes. Twilight can finally have her birthday, soon.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!