Very coincidentally and very suspiciously, Twilight just happened to have a violin lying around in her house’s storage room. Her dad helped fish the case from the mountain of random things in the tiny room, then cleaned the dust that had grayed out the black case.

“Two years ago, when Twilight started playing the piano, she convinced Shining to learn the violin,” Twilight’s dad said as he carried the case to Twilight’s room. “Unfortunately, he was very busy with the police academy and didn’t even start. We’ve had this violin gathering dust ever since.”

“So you suggesting I learn the violin was simply because you already had a violin?” Sunset said, crossing her arms.

“In my defense,” Twilight said as she opened her room’s door, “I do think the violin is actually a good choice to help you with your dexterity and strength. Plus, it might lead to more, uhm…” She eyed her dad. “Research samples.”

Sunset deadpanned. “Right.” Though playing an instrument didn’t increase the chances of triggering a Harmonic Resonance, Sunset decided to still give it a try, if only to get her pesky fingers under control. Besides, she did need something to do whenever Celestia and Luna started bickering with each other.

“Alright,” Twilight’s dad said, placing the violin upon Twilight’s bed. “I’ll leave you girls alone. You can go to sleep any time, but try not to make too much noise after eleven.”

As soon as he left, Twilight opened the case and picked up the bright brown instrument. She hefted it onto her shoulder, pressed her chin on the pad, and placed her fingers in a very weird shape upon the strings.

“I don’t know much about it, but I learned the chords to help my brother before he had to quit,” Twilight explained. She then picked the strange stick from the case and placed it on the strings. She then drew the stick across the strings, producing a very unpleasant screech. Twilight blushed. “Whoa, it detuned horribly after two years.”

“I’m glad that’s not how it’s supposed to sound,” Sunset said, still cringing from the sound.

Twilight reached into the case once more and brought up a strange box. She pressed a button, which made the little screen on the box show some lines. Twilight connected a cable to the box, then placed the other end of the cable, which was a sort of clip, and attached it to the far end of the violin.

“This is a tuner,” Twilight said. “If I plug the strings, it’ll tell us whether they’re tuned or not, and how to tune it.” To demonstrate, she plucked one of the strings, producing a single note. The tuner’s screen quickly changed into something, but before Sunset could read, Twilight manipulated some valve-looking objects at the end of the instrument, then plucked the string again.

The process continued, with Twilight explaining the different parts of the violin as she manipulated them. Finally, she removed the tuner and put it back into the case.

“Do you know anything about music, Sunset?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not any more than the basics.”

“Alright. Then, since you’re doing this to master your fingers, let’s start with a simple chord.” She handed the instrument to Sunset and explained how to place it on her shoulder. The final position was incredibly uncomfortable, and it got worse when she had to hold the violin with her left hand and put her fingers in the most unnatural positions she could imagine, even more so when Twilight told her to keep them there and not move them at all.

“How can you even play like this?” Sunset asked.

Twilight shrugged. “I guess people get used to it. Now, grab the bow like this and carefully draw it through the strings.”

Sunset did so, and the screech she produced made her ears ring painfully.

“Softer, more gently. Also, stretch your arm from the elbow, not the shoulder. No, like this, see? And turn your hand like this to move the bow in a straight line. Yes, like that.”

Little by little, Sunset started getting the hang of it. It took her twenty minutes to stop making the horrible screeching, but her hand on the bow was wobbly, and her fingers on the strings were starting to hurt. Ten more minutes later, she had to put the instrument away. Her fingers and her hands were sore and shaky that she just couldn’t keep playing.

“I’ll lend it to you so you can practice at home,” Twilight said as she put the violin back into the case. “But if you need to, I can recommend a good music school. That’s where I learned the piano.”

“We’ll see,” Sunset replied. “For now, let’s get back to studying.”

~~~~~~~~

Sunset stared at the screen. She had seen these computers before, and Twilight had given her a very basic explanation of what they were and what they could do, but it had been so basic that Sunset had barely understood. Now, however, after learning about binary code and electronic circuitry and basic computer science, she was marveled at this specific piece of technology.

The basics were almost identical to how magic worked, except that they used electricity and electric pulses instead of magical pulses from the Harmonic Veil. However, one thing stood out to Sunset, and it was the fact that computers could connect and interact with other computers in a very complex web whose reach and possibilities simply baffled her. Could she do something similar with magic? Could she connect several spells or enchantments together to form a magical computer?

The idea alone excited her.

“So, even though it tries to gather all the knowledge of humankind, it’s an open-collaboration by world-wide volunteers,” Twilight said. “A lot of people, myself included, do our best to keep the facts straight and the information accurate, but sometimes there are ill-spirited individuals that will modify an article and add jokes or inaccuracies just to mess with others. So always remember to cross-reference the information with peer-reviewed papers and books.”

Sunset nodded. She didn’t like the idea of reading potentially adulterated information, but she had to appreciate the effort, especially when the articles did include references to actual papers and books. And she could always go to the library and make sure everything was accurate. And, of course, the fact that she could see this online encyclopedia from any device with internet connection was a plus.

She’d only need to get her hooves on one of these devices. Somehow.

A knock to the door distracted them. “Come in!” Twilight said, and Shining entered the room with a large cardboard box on one hand. “Oh, pizza’s here!” Shining snickered at how quickly Twilight ran and stole the box from him, then left without a word.

“You’re awfully excited,” Sunset noted. She knew pizza was also a thing in Equestria, but Canterlot ponies tended to turn their noses away from such foods, so there weren’t many restaurants that served them. It was also said to be a greasy and fatty kind of food, so Sunset, who always took care of her own health, had never even wanted to try it.

“Well, my parents almost never let me have pizza,” Twilight said as she opened the box, revealing the disc-like dish. “I think they were ok with it today simply because this is my first sleepover.” Without waiting another second, she grabbed one of the slices and gave it a large bite. She hummed happily.

Sunset rolled her eyes and leaned in to look at the pizza. She picked a slice, which was quite hot, watching the cheese stretch and some of the sauce drip down. She gave it a sniff and noticed that her mouth started watering. There probably was some kind of spice in there. With a shrug, she gave it a tentative bite.

To her surprise, it was actually pretty good. With her other hand, she picked one of the red round slices. It looked like nothing she’d ever seen before. “What’s this?”

“Pepperoni,” Twilight said, already picking a second slice. “You know, sausages of cured pork seasoned… with…” Her eyes widened as she turned a horrified glance at Sunset. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry!”

Sunset blinked. “Sorry for what?”

Twilight blushed and bit her lower lip. “I mean… You…” She briefly turned her face towards her door, as if making sure no one was there to listen, then continued in a much softer voice. “You’re a pony, aren’t you?”

“Unicorn, but yes,” Sunset said, raising an eyebrow at the girl’s odd behavior.

“Well… I mean… You’re not supposed to eat, uhm… meat… do you?”

“Oh,” Sunset said. “Oh, I see.” She eyed the red slice of meat in her fingers. Then put it in her mouth, enjoying both the flavor and Twilight’s dumbfounded expression. “Yes, ponies don’t usually eat meat. Seafood, sometimes, but never something like you humans do. However, Celestia doesn’t know I’m a unicorn, so during my first week here, she prepared eggs and bacon for breakfast. I’ll admit I had to… run to the bathroom… as soon as I realized what I had just eaten. But the anatomy encyclopedias do mention that you humans are omnivorous, and more surprisingly still, that most flowers are poisonous to you.”

Twilight cocked her head. “Flowers?”

“Oh yes, we ponies eat flowers. Not all of them, but most. Daisy sandwiches are very good, but I can’t have them in this body. So after a few days of consideration, I decided to adhere to your species’ dietary needs. As long as I don’t think too much about it, I’ll be fine.”

“Ok…” Twilight said. “I’m glad I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I should’ve asked you before letting my brother order for us.”

“It’s all good,” Sunset replied. “Now, let’s finish this so we can return to our studies.”

~~~~~~~~

“Did you have fun?” Luna asked as soon as Sunset entered the car. The three-day sleepover had come to an end, and it was time to return to the sisters’ apartment.

“It was very productive,” Sunset replied as she fastened her seatbelt. “I learned quite a lot about this world.”

Luna started the engine. “And you decided to pick up a hobby, too,” she said, eyeing the violin case on the back seats. “We’ll have to set up times for you to practice so that we don’t bother the neighbors.”

“Sure.” It wasn’t like Sunset was particularly interested in the instrument, so even if she only had an hour a day to practice, that’d be good enough to master the use of her fingers and hands. In fact, another thing was taking most of her mind, so she decided to speak. “Say, how can I get a computer?”

Raising an eyebrow, Luna briefly glanced at her before looking back at the road. “Well, computers are fairly expensive.”

Sunset hummed. She supposed that a machine that powerful and versatile couldn’t be cheap. But, well, she was sure she could use Twilight’s computer, seeing as to how she visited her house practically every weekend.

“By the way, Sunset,” Luna said. “Are you aware that Twilight’s birthday is coming up?”

“I am now,” Sunset replied.

“Her mother asked me to invite you,” Luna continued with a smile. “It’s going to be in two weeks.”

Sunset shrugged. “Sure. I mean, I already go to her house every week.”

“And…” Luna said slowly, and Sunset braced herself for what she knew was coming. “Any ideas of what you’ll get her as a present?”

“I don’t know,” Sunset answered honestly. “I don’t have any money to get her anything in the first place.”

“Well, I’m sure I can help you with that, as long as it’s reasonably priced… But, well, you have two weeks to think it over.”

“Uh-huh.”

They didn’t say anything else the rest of the way.

During the next week, Sunset fell into a nice routine. Since students had to go to school and adults had to work, the apartment complex was mostly empty during the first hours of the day, which meant that Sunset had that much time to dedicate to her violin practice. She had initially seen it as just muscle workout, but as soon as she moved on to playing scales, she realized that she found the sounds of the instrument to be quite agreeable. Plus, having her mind rest from all her studying for a few hours actually improved her concentration.

After her violin practice, Sunset would get lunch, which Celestia prepared before going to work, and if needed, Sunset just had to throw it into the microwave. And of course, she had found the machine to be quite interesting. It seemed that a lot of humanity’s technology relied on electrical energy while ponykind was still stuck on steam and firewood.

Once lunch had been properly consumed, Sunset would read the many books she’d both taken from the library and from Twilight. Human scientific and technological developments were so thorough that it was impossible to completely learn one subject without at least knowing the basics of ten more subjects. Everything was related somehow, and Sunset was simply fascinated.

On Thursday night, Sunset was surprised when Celestia, during dinner, presented Sunset with a small flat cardboard box.

“What’s this?” Sunset said, accepting the rather heavy box.

“Well, Luna told me you wanted a computer,” Celestia said. “This one is rather cheap, I admit, but it’ll work just fine.”

Sunset opened the box, and sure enough, there was a small, silver portable computer. She opened it, finding that the screen was rather small, at least compared to Twilight’s own computer. “Thanks,” she said slowly. She didn’t really know how to feel about Celestia giving her such an expensive item. What was the woman’s game? Sunset narrowed her eyes as she brushed her fingers through the keys.

“I hope it can help you with your research,” Celestia added with a smile. “How’s it been progressing, by the way?”

“Good,” Sunset replied.

“... Anything of note?”

Sunset sighed. She really didn’t want to tell Celestia anything, but she supposed she needed to keep the woman willing to keep providing her with a place to stay, food, and, apparently, random but useful gifts. “We’ve been doing some discoverings on the nature of magic. Your world’s technology has offered some interesting insights.”

That seemed to satisfy Celestia, as the woman nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. If you need anything else, you can always knock on my door.”

Sunset fought the urge to roll her eyes. Those were the same words Princess Celestia had said when Sunset became her student. Such a big lie to tell a filly that used to worship her.

“Sure.”

Author's Note

A sort of transition chapter, though a few important things were established.

I did consider having Sunset learn the guitar, but the violin is a much more common partner to the piano, and I really wanted Twilight to play the piano.

Also, I didn't want Sunset to be a vegetarian as a human because how could I prevent her from enjoying things like pepperoni or bacon? Though you won't find her eating a raw, bloody piece of meat like I've seen some people get (shudder)

Hope you liked it! Leave a comment if so!