[RGRE] Sci-Twi stuff


                                            2020: also coming back to this


                                            >"Decluttering the deltonium microfilament portal generator..."

                                            "Twilight."

                                            >"Argon charge... online..."

                                            "Twilight?"

                                            >"Shoot!  There's a series of nanowave pulse signatures in the rear-side chromium gel!"

                                            "Twi."

                                            >"This is the worst - now I need to decrease power to the lithium polar jumpdri-"

                                            >Oh, for god's sake.

                                            >You grab Twilight by the shoulders and spin her around.

                                            >You're given a good look at her shocked face before you go in for the kill.

                                            >And by "go in for the kill" you mean "give her smooches"

                                            >By the time you pull back, Twilight (and you too, frankly) is a panting, blushing mess.

                                            >"Y-Yeah, Anon?"

                                            >Hands still on her shoulders, you frog-march her over to a nearby bit of uncluttered workstation - there's a plate with a sandwich and a tiny bag of chips on it.

                                            "You've been working on this 'portal' thing for nine hours straight, Twilight. Have something to eat, for god's sake."

                                            >"That's... that's really sweet, Anon, but I can go for longer withou-"

                                            "And the last time you said that, I had to explain to your dad why I let you work yourself to the point of passing out from hunger. He already thinks I'm a hussy trying to steal you away, Twilight; I don't need him thinking any worse of me."

                                            >Twilight smiles weakly and walks over to the area you cleared away; now including a bottle of cider.

                                            >"Thanks, Anon."

                                            "Hey, that's what boyfriends do."

                                            >She takes a big bite out of the sandwich and closes her eyes, moaning lightly.

                                            >Going an entire day without eating gives you a real good appetite.

                                            >"An' heyah I fought 'oo-"

                                            >You snort.

                                            "Chew first, genius."

                                            >Twilight does.

                                            >"And here I thought you didn't like anything domestic, Anon. You said you had a reputation to uphold."

                                            "That sounds like the sort of talk a girl who doesn't want any more sandwiches."

                                            >Twilight pops a chip into her mouth.

                                            >"Sorry."

                                            "So, how's the portal going?"

                                            >"Great!  The other Twilight said her portal wouldn't reconnect for another year, but mine should get us there in just a few months."

                                            "And that's when we go through?"

                                            >Twilight is silent, and the only noise in her lab/basement is the sounds of various machines beeping and booping.

                                            "Twilight?"

                                            >"...well..."

                                            >You don't like this tone.

                                            >You KNOW this tone.

                                            "Twilight."

                                            >You cross your arms, knowing where this is going, because you've been on the receiving end of this inevitable speech before.

                                            >"Anon, sweetheart, we have no idea what it'll be like on the other side."

                                            >You stay silent; the best way to deal with Twilight's well-intentioned worrying is to let her get it all out of her system.

                                            >"The other-me says that it's safe there, but it wouldn't feel right to force you to come along before I was 100% sure you wouldn't get hurt."

                                            "Mm-hmm."

                                            >"And... and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

                                            >You stare at Twilight, who's staring earnestly back up at you.

                                            >That's sweet, but unnecessary.

                                            >She wriggles uncomfortably in her seat.

                                            "Twilight, do you remember how we met?"

                                            >"...you were drunk, half-naked, and you were ranting at the top of your lungs about how you were from a different human world."

                                            >Oh god, what?

                                            "Exactly."

                                            >Christ, is THAT when she first met you?

                                            >You thought you met in a coffee house!

                                            >God, you must have been wasted that night.

                                            >Just play along, Anon; nod sagely and pretend you already knew that.

                                            "And does that sound like the behaviour of someone who'll just give up without a fight?"

                                            >Where are you GOING with this, Anon?

                                            >God, you're so bad at improvisation.

                                            "You're stuck with me, Sparkle," you tell you, leaning down so that you can boop her on the nose; she immediately sneezes and sprays you with chip crumbs, "Whether you like it or not."

                                            >Twilight wriggles uncomfortably in her seat, but you can see a small smile on her face.

                                            >"Part of why I wanted you to stay put is because something peculiar happens when one crosses the barrier of that particular universe.  There's some sort of quantum breakdown in the delta-wave straighteners.  The end result is an inversion of the subatomic charge, which-"

                                            "Twilight?"

                                            >Your girlfriend opens and closes her mouth several times.

                                            >"...you might turn into a horse."

                                            >You break down into a coughing fit as the spit goes down your air-tubes.

                                            >Twilight helpfully gets up and pats you on the back.

                                            "I w-what?!" you gasp, red-faced and drooling ever-so-slightly, "What do you mean, a horse?!"

                                            >Twilight nods sagely, anxiously wringing the sleeves of her stained lab coat.

                                            >You cough weakly a few more times, and Twilight hands you her cider; you take a swig to clear your throat.

                                            "Why a horse?  I mean, as opposed to a fish or a bird?"

                                            >Twilight shrugs, having no answer for the first time that you can remember.

                                            >"That's something the other-me and I have been discussing.  Apparently the one who created the device that allowed inter-universal travel was also a horse, and he-"

                                            "Oh, that's a load of bullshit."

                                            >Your lips twitch.

                                            "...or, HORSEshit."

                                            >Twilight does her best not to smile, but she loves your terrible sense of humour.

                                            >"The reason I wanted to go alone was because of THIS."

                                            >She reaches into several of her labcoat's pocket, trying to find something.

                                            >Finally, she pulls out a metallic medallion with flashing lights and wires poking out of the surface, and holds it up for you to see.

                                            >There's a crudely-carved Ghostbusters anti-ghost symbol on it, only instead of a ghost, it's a horse.

                                            "Classy."

                                            >"I only had the time - and the resources - to create ONE of these things.  It's a gamma-wave cruncher."

                                            >She points at a random part of the device.

                                            >"The quantum-shift casing increases the variance of the gamma-wave flow, and should resynchronize the tritonic containment splitter."

                                            >She smiles up at you proudly.

                                            "...it increases the... titty chronic spitter?"

                                            >The smile goes away, and Twilight is reminded that SHE'S the genius in this relationship.

                                            >"It makes the part that turns you into a horse ignore you by inverting the signal that turns you into a horse.  Imagine a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, but instead of noise it's something that turns you into a horse."

                                            "Ohhhh."

                                            >Twilight smiles and pats you on the shoulder.

                                            >"You're lucky you're cute, you know that?"

                                            "And YOU'RE lucky I love waking you up with my mouth."

                                            >Twilight blushes and stammers.

                                            >"Th-the point is, Anon," she says, red-faced, "is that I don't have a way of making more than one of these for a few more months, and I want to meet up with my counterpart as soon as I can.  I can't use any of my portable scientific instruments if I'm a horse, and I don't want to even consider the risk of you coming along and getting stuck in the form of an equine when we came back home."

                                            >Twilight gives you a sad smile and walks back to her sandwich, snatching the cider out of your loosened grip.

                                            >"Sorry, sweetheart, but this is one adventure I'm going to have to go along on my own."

                                            >She takes a big bite and starts to fiddle with a a tablet she took apart and hooked up to one of her devices.

                                            >"You'll take care of Spike while I'm gone, right?"

                                            "...yeah, sure thing."

                                            -------

                                            >You are Anon, and it is a few hours later.

                                            >Twilight is asleep at her desk (you draped a blanket over her and moved away the device that looked most likely to start a fire if it got too close to the loose fabric of Twi's labcoat), and you've got that anti-horse device in your hands.

                                            "So she can't make another one of these, huh?"

                                            >You flip the device over in your hands a few times, taking in the beeping lights and trying to ignore the way it vibrates when you hold it at a very specific angle and height relative to the nearest surface directly underneath it.

                                            "Can't be THAT hard to figure out how this works."

                                            >You've been this girl's boyfriend for nearly a whole year, now; you figure you've picked up a few smarty things by now.

                                            >Who says you can't build something that inverts titties, too?


                                            -----------------------------------


                                            >You are Twilight Sparkle, genius and dimensional-traveller.

                                            >You are also the girlfriend of Anonymous, a boy who claimed to be from a whole other universe.

                                            >He was the one who inspired you to study alternate dimensions, and he's ultimately responsible for the trans-dimension communication and transportation device you've managed to build.

                                            >He's your muse, and he's stuck with you despite the two of you nearly dying a few times on worlds outside your own galaxy.

                                            >You've even tried finding his home dimension, but he told you not to bother; he was already home.

                                            >You made him swear never to tell anybody, but you squealed like a love-sick boy when he told you that.

                                            >There was one incident where you met a few of your alternate-selves, and most of them were way better off than you were.

                                            >One was rich and funded by the government to produce works of science that outstripped everything you've accomplished.

                                            >The other was tall (tfw 5'11 womanlette), and she didn't need glasses, and she could belt out jokes that were way funnier than anything you're capable of.

                                            >The last one wasn't as smart as you were, but she behaved a lot more like Anon did.

                                            >They seemed to get on like a house on fire, and you were secretly afraid that your boyfriend would leave once he saw other versions of you who were... so much better than you were.

                                            >But he stayed and said that they weren't YOU, so he wasn't going to waste his time with them.

                                            >You knew right then and there that you met the boy you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

                                            >This is why you didn't want him to come with you to this new dimension.

                                            >You know your device will keep you in your human form, but it's tailor-made to you.

                                            >Biometrics, brain scans, metabolism, reaction to very specific stimuli; your entire body has been mapped by a dozen different machines, and the device in your hands is build to react in perspective to all that information about your body.

                                            >To make one for Anon would take months of scanning and computing.

                                            >It breaks your heart to see someone who loves and trusts you as much as he does left behind like this, but you'll make it up to him.

                                            >You'll bring him back home some souvenirs from this new dimension.

                                            >This is a horse dimension, right?

                                            >Boys love horses.

                                            >Hell, your own brother had a horse phase when he was a kid; you're sure you can find something that'll put that beautiful smile back on Anon's face.

                                            >You put down your soldiering iron and sigh, only just now aware of how hungry you are.

                                            >You haven't seen Anon for the last few days, and now nobody is around to make sure you don't forget to eat.

                                            >You inhale through your nose and make a face.

                                            >...or SHOWER, for that matter.

                                            "I think he's upset with me."

                                            >You hope he's not TOO mad with you.

                                            >You only had one other boyfriend, and he once got so angry with you that he didn't talk to you for a whole week.

                                            >To this day, you still don't know what you did to make him angry; but you hope Anon's not that upset right now.

                                            >You decide it's time for a break, and you wander upstairs to make yourself a sandwich.

                                            >You know it won't taste as good as Anon's sandwiches, though.

                                            >[spoiler]That's because he makes them with love.[/spoiler]


                                            ---


                                            >You are Anon, and it is late at night.

                                            >It's been about half a week since Twilight told you that you weren't going with her to the horse dimension, and you decided that that was bullshit.

                                            >You are curled up with Twilight on her couch, having just finished watching the old 1980s Ghostbusters with her.

                                            >She's sound asleep behind you, arms wrapped around your chest and chin resting on your head.

                                            >Normally, you're perfectly happy to remain in this position and enjoy being close to Twilight.

                                            >But you can't; tonight, you're on a mission.

                                            >A mission to figure out just how that whatever-thing Twilight cooked up will keep her from turning into a horse.

                                            >You slowly extract yourself from Twilight's grip, expertly sliding a pillow into the space where you used to be.

                                            >Twilight happily snuggles it tightly against her chest, sleepily nibbling on the corner; right where your ear used to be.

                                            "Unf."

                                            >You regret this already.

                                            >The basement is separated into two sections: the main science section, and the little corner that's all walled off and has a door installed; behind which you have a couch, a TV, and a little mini-fridge for cider and emergency sandwiches.

                                            >You periodically have to drag Twilight away from her work to this little corner so that she can relax properly, and at your insistence she even went out of her way to soundproof the walls.

                                            >That means she won't hear you using her equipment.

                                            >It's not hard to find her medallion; it's sitting under a bright lamp on her work bench, surrounded by parts and various-sized soldiering irons.

                                            >You carefully lift it up and get a good heft of it in your hand.

                                            >It's hard to believe that something that weighs only a few pounds can keep her from turning into a completely different species.

                                            >You eye up the portal device she's just about finished building; frankly, it's hard to believe that she built this thing in her parent's basement, too.

                                            >Frankly, this entire situation seems incredibly contrived.

                                            "Whatever."

                                            >You shrug and walk over to the first device that you know to be a phase-flow scanner.

                                            >You place the device into the input hole and start it up.

                                            >Time to get to work.

                                            >You've got a few months to figure how this big bitch works ("this big bitch" referring to the device, not your girlfriend) and then somehow build a second one.

                                            >All without your genius-level IQ girlfriend noticing.

                                            >Easy-peasy lemon squeezey.


                                            ---


                                            >You are Anon, and you're fucking READY for another radical trans-universal insertion.

                                            >You've got your science-bag on your back (aka a backback with the machine you built), and you can hear Twilight dialing up her universe-fucker device.

                                            "Ready to go?"

                                            >To her credit, Twilight manages to catch her titty-flipper medallion after an impressive series of catches and throws, like someone trying to catch a slippery bar of soap in the shower.

                                            >"Anon!" she shrieks, staring at you in horror, "What did I tell you?!  The portal device isn't safe without a-"

                                            "-I got my own tit-complex machine here!"

                                            >"Stop calling it that!"

                                            "No, look!"

                                            >You turn around so that she can see the mass of wires and circuit boards poking out of your old school backpack.

                                            >Meanwhile, the transporting machine of hers starts up, and a keening wail fills the air.

                                            >You spin back around with a big, proud smile on your face.

                                            >Twilight's face, however, is somewhere between "horror" and "pride".

                                            >"HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT?!"

                                            >Twilight's voice is now barely heard over the roaring of her machine.

                                            >The circular gate is glowing a searing blue, and the handcrank she used to start it up is spinning while making the noise of an air raid siren.

                                            "I PUT YOUR DEVICE THROUGH A BUNCH OF SCANNING MACHINES!"

                                            >It's like being in a club, where you can barely hear your own voice even if you shout at the top of your lungs.

                                            >The gate is flashing violently now, leaving splashes of after-images on your eyes that force you to look away.

                                            >"WHAT?!"

                                            >Twilight's voice sounds like a whisper.

                                            >Loose papers are being blown around you as a gale-force wind kicks up, and code scrolls down the computer terminal's screen faster than you can read it.

                                            "I SAID," you shout back, "I SCANNED YOUR DEVICE!  I HAVE ONE TOO!"

                                            >"YOU HAVE TO WHAT?!" shouts Twilight, "YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE BEFORE WE LEFT!"

                                            >...No, you don't have to poo-

                                            >Twilight fights against the wind, stumbling over to the starting device.

                                            >She hesitantly reaches out to the hand crank, but thinks better of it when she watches a piece of her research notes turn into confetti when the wind blows it into the spinning handle.

                                            >"I CAN'T SHUT IT DOWN!"

                                            >She turns to you, looking scared for the first time.

                                            >The scrolling code on the computer screen finally halts, and for a moment you're afraid the entire system had hung.

                                            >This is a new teleporting machine Twilight had to build, since there was some sort of mutable force in this new universe that was interfering with the one you two normally use.

                                            >Needless to say, it's completely untested.

                                            >The noise from the handcrank reaches a fever pitch, and the blue glow from the gate turns an impossibly bright white.

                                            >Twilight mouths something you think might have been "Brace yourself", but it's now impossible to hear anything other than the deafening roars of the teleporter

                                            >The tit-machine on your back suddenly begins to burn hot enough to feel its searing heat through the backpack and your shirt, and for a moment you're afraid that you fucked up.

                                            >Maybe this wasn't the best idea you've ever had.

                                            >You get tunnel vision, and you're having a hard time judging which direction is up.

                                            >Twilight reaches out to you, but you can't move your arms.

                                            >Which muscles make your arms move, anyway?

                                            >It's taking all your brainpower just to remain standing, let alone figure out how the rest of your body works.

                                            >The last thing you're aware of is a sudden bout of dizziness.

                                            >You lock eyes with Twilight (just in case she's the last thing you ever see), and everything goes dark.

                                            ---

                                            >"Ugh..."

                                            >You open your eyes, slowly, feeling as though you just got run over by a truck.

                                            >Your feet are numb, your hands are burning, and you hope to god that it's SWEAT you're covered in.

                                            >Because Twilight was half-right; you forgot to take a piss before you left, and you really hope that your first experience in this new universe isn't having to sit around and wait for your pants to dry off.

                                            >Something warm and heavy is sitting on your gut, and you hope that doesn't mean you fucked your stomach.

                                            "T-Twi?  Light-bright?"

                                            >The warm weight on your stomach shifts.

                                            >"T-Told you to n-never call me that."

                                            >You grin and rest your hand on what you're now aware is your girlfriend, staring peacefully up at the cloudy sky.

                                            "C'mon, that toy was dope."

                                            >You run your fingers through your girlfriend's fur.

                                            "Don't tell me you didn't have one as a ki-"

                                            >...

                                            >You rub your hand across that patch of body now, feeling the warm flesh under the scruffy hair.

                                            >You're honestly afraid to look down.

                                            "Twilight?"

                                            >"Y-Yeah, Anon?" she responds weakly

                                            "Please tell me you forgot to trim."

                                            >"Give me some credit, Anon," Twilight responds, sounding a bit cross, "I know I get lost in my work, but I still pay attention to my hygiene."

                                            >PLEASE let you be molesting your girlfriend right now.

                                            >You hear Twilight huff; the part of her body you're touching lowers, like someone's stomach when they exhale.

                                            >"You're nowhere near my, uh... 'place'."

                                            >Aw, fuck.

                                            >You slowly raise your head, forcing yourself to look down at the Wookie your girlfriend has surely turned into.

                                            >The sight that greets you is... a lot more adorable than you thought it would be.

                                            "Oh my god."

                                            >There's a small purple horse sitting on your very human lap, wearing human clothes that are completely the wrong size and shape for her.

                                            "Twilight?"

                                            >The horse looks up at you, glasses perched on its widdle snoot, and its mane up in a tight bun.

                                            >"Yeah, Anon?"

                                            >She blinks blearily, one eye at a time.

                                            >"Why are you so big?"

                                            >You slowly shake your head.

                                            "I'm not big, Twi... you're SMALL."

                                            >Twilight blinks, not taking this in.

                                            >"What are you talking about?"

                                            "Y-You're... you're a horse."

                                            >[spoiler]It's just like the gypsy woman said![/spoiler]

                                            >Twilight blinks a few more times, and then you watch as her eyes cross slightly as they focus on her new purple snout.

                                            >"I'm a.... I'm a...?"

                                            >Twilight leaps away from you and immediately gets tangled in her clothes.

                                            >"I'm a horse!" she shrieks, panicked, "Anon, I'm a horse!  How did this happen?!"

                                            >Oh, god.

                                            >You get into a kneeling position and hold your hands out towards Twilight.

                                            "For god's sake, calm down!"

                                            >You try to grab your girlfriend (marefriend?) and get her untangled, but she won't stop fussing.

                                            "Stop wriggling!"

                                            >PSSSSSSSSSSH

                                            >You shriek as the tit-machine on your back suddenly becomes a lot less hot.

                                            >Two twin trails of white smoke, resembling what comes off of dry ice, spray out of the exhaust ports you installed.

                                            >You're not a genius like Twilight is, so the machine you put together isn't as small or efficient as her's was.

                                            >...but, you mean, it worked, so you're clearly not an idiot.

                                            >"What was that noise?!"

                                            "That was the exhaust on my anti-horse device."

                                            >"...is that what that did?"

                                            >Her head pops out of one of the sleeves, and all you can see is her muzzle.

                                            >"Did you do this?!  Were you the one who messed with the portal device?!  AM I A HORSE BECAUSE OF YOU?!"

                                            >It takes a bit of work, but you manage to undo all the buttons on Twilight's clothes and to yank your newly-equine girlfriend out of them.

                                            >Adorably, she wriggles in your grip like a fussy toddler.

                                            >"Anon!"

                                            >She shoves her new front hooves towards her groin, whipping her head around furiously.

                                            >"Don't do that, I'm completely naked!"

                                            >>"And why would that matter, Twilight?"

                                            >You're both drawn towards the new (and very familiar) voice.

                                            >Another purple horse walks out of the treeline, a big excited grin on her face.

                                            >>"Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"

                                            >Twilight (your Twilight) blinks owlishly at this new horse.

                                            >"T-Twilight?  You're the other-me?"

                                            >Other-Twilight nods calmly.

                                            >>"That's right."

                                            >Her horn lights up (you only just now noticed she has one) and a strange purple light tinges your vision.

                                            >>"I'll bring you back home so that we can talk."

                                            "Wait, wha-?"

                                            >And that's when the universe imploded.


                                            ----------------------------------------------


                                            >You are Anon, and you are currently vomiting.

                                            >"Oh, god."

                                            >>"Is he alright?"

                                            >Still vomiting.

                                            >"He's always had a sensitive tummy."

                                            >>"Is this his first time teleporting?"

                                            >"No, we've teleported before."

                                            >STILL vomiting.

                                            >>"This is why I don't bring my assistants with me."

                                            >You feel something hard and round pat you on the back.

                                            >"He's not my assistant; he's my boyfriend.  That's it, sweetie, just let it out.  You'll feel better soon."

                                            >>"Your boyfriend?  What did you say his name was again?"

                                            >"Anonymous."

                                            >>"Anonymous... I'll remember that."

                                            >...aaaaaaand done.

                                            "Fuck me."

                                            >"Sorry, love, but not until you clean up a bit."

                                            >You shakily get to your feet and glance around.

                                            >You're in the middle of a large, rectangular room.

                                            >Purple crystal spires stretch up to the ceiling, reaching out from the ground like arms escaping the earth.

                                            >They look like stalactites and stalagmites if they were somehow geodes, and somebody chipped away the rocky outer layer.

                                            "Wow..."

                                            >A rich red carpet stretches from one side of the room to the other, perfectly flat and without any wrinkles.

                                            >Perfectly flawless... except for the pool of vomit slowly soaking into the fabric.

                                            >You grin sheepishly at Sparkle.

                                            "Uh... sorry about that."

                                            >Sparkle waves it off, not looking concerned.

                                            >>"I should be the one apologizing.  When Twilight told me that she had a partner who teleported to other worlds with her, I presumed that our methods of transportation were the same; but I'm starting to think I was wrong."

                                            >Sparkle rubs her chin, wings twitch-

                                            >Wait, wings?

                                            >Why does she have wi-

                                            >You know what?

                                            >You'll ask some other time.

                                            >She's already a horse with a horn on its head; why the fuck wouldn't she have wings too?

                                            >>"Though Twilight didn't mention she was bringing said partner with her today."

                                            >Twilight glares at you, and you have the decency to grin sheepishly.

                                            >"That's because he wasn't supposed to be coming with me, Twilight."

                                            >Twilight paws at the little medallion on the floor with a hoof, causing it to buzz and give off smoke.

                                            >"Anon, here, is a stowaway."

                                            >To your (and probably Twilight's) surprise, Sparkle, makes a cooing noise at this.

                                            >>"Aww, he couldn't bear to stay away from his special somepony?  That's adorable!"

                                            >You exchange a glance with Twilight.

                                            "Yeah, whatever.  Look, I'm more concerned about how one of us-"

                                            >You gesture between you and your girlfriend a few times.

                                            "-isn't in the physical form they're started out in."

                                            >Sparkle blinks up at you in surprise.

                                            >>"You're not supposed to look like this?"

                                            >Twilight sadly shakes her head.

                                            >"I had a device - we BOTH had a device - that would preserve our physical forms.  There's an energy surrounding this universe that seems to target the physical properties of any living creature that enters or leaves it, and I built a device that would protect against those forces.  Unfortunately..."

                                            >She paws at the smoldering circular device, which boops miserably.

                                            >"...it broke.  Something went wrong, one way or another, and it didn't work."

                                            >Twilight glances unhappily up at you, and you grimace back.

                                            >Sparkle smiles sadly at the two of you.

                                            >>"It's going to be okay; we'll figure out a way to get you back to normal.  The beautiful thing about physics is that it's all just applied math.  And mathematical equations are balanced; if you get the answer by going left to right, you can use that answer and discover the variables by going right to left.  If my hypothesis is correct, departing from this universe should restore you to your base form."

                                            >Sparkle smiles sympathetically at you.

                                            >>"Don't you worry, sir," says Sparkle solemnly, "We'll get you changed from a monkey back into a pony in no-time."

                                            >Twilight darts in front of you, taking a wide-legged stance.

                                            >It takes you a second to realize it's defensive; she's trying to protect you from Sparkle.

                                            >"No, that's not the case at all!  H-He's supposed to be a monk-er... a human!  I'm the one who got turned into a pony!"

                                            >Sparkle's grin freezes, and she shuffles her hooves awkwardly.

                                            >>"So you were," she mutters, "So you were... w-well, what I said stands; you should turn back when you go back home."

                                            >An awkward silence descends onto the two of you, and Sparkle shrinks under your gaze.

                                            >>"S-So!" she squeaks, "Who wants to talk about science?!"

                                            >You grin and pat Twilight on the head.

                                            "Yup, she's you."

                                            >Twilight scoffs and doesn't even break eye-contact with Sparkle.

                                            >"Toss off."

                                            "Love you too.  Listen, do you think we outta try and figure out why you turned into a horse-"

                                            >>"Pony."

                                            "-Pony, and why I didn't?"

                                            >Twilight stares longingly at the pack on your back and her hand-held device, but shakes her head.

                                            >"We can figure that out later, Anon.  I came here for a reason, and that was to exchange scientific information with my counterpart, here."

                                            >Wait a minute.

                                            "We did-YOU didn't come here to experience adventure, like all the other times we've gone off exploring?"

                                            >Twilight just shrugs unapologetically.

                                            >"Not every trip has to be an adventure, Anon.  I found out that this world was permeated with a bizarre form of energy, and so I found a way to contact my counterpart and organize a visit."

                                            >Sparkle jumps up and down excitedly.

                                            >>"This is so interesting!  I wanted to tell your Twilight everything about our world, of course, but-"

                                            >"-But," interrupts Twilight, looking grumpy, "Half the fun of exploring is figuring it out on my own!  What sort of scientist would I be if I let every Twilight tell me every secret about their world and warn me of every little piece of danger?"

                                            >Yeah, that sounds like her.

                                            "I can't even argue with that, Twi.  It's way too exciting, jumping into these worlds feet-first along side you."

                                            >You kneel down and stroke her head.

                                            "I wouldn't trade it for the world."

                                            >You move on to her ears, which makes one of Twilight's hing legs start to kick.

                                            >A dopey grin spreads across Twilight's face, and she leans into your hands.

                                            "Well," you grin, amused, "Maybe this pony body isn't so bad after all."

                                            >You miss the slightly uncomfortable look on Sparkle's face.

                                            >Without warning, Twilight is enveloped in a purple light and she (along with her devices) gets lifted up into the air, hovering a couple of inches above the ground.

                                            >She's gently pulled away from you until she's out of your reach.

                                            >>"Wow, okay..." groans Sparkle, laughing uncomfortably, "How about we keep it PG-13, here?"

                                            >What?

                                            "What?"

                                            >>"N-Nothing..."

                                            >WHAT?

                                            >>"Tell you what, Anonymous," says Sparkle, still looking uncomfortable, "Twilight and I have a lot of sciencey stuff to talk about it, and it'll all probably be very boring to you.  I know you're a stallion, and so you're probably not very familiar with advanced science stuff, so...  How about I call my brother in, and you two can entertain each other for a few hours?"

                                            >Twilight, who now looks fascinated at the light still covering her, nods absently.

                                            >"Yeah, we outta get down to busine-Twilight, how the hell are you doing this?"

                                            >Twilight doggy-paddles in the air a couple of times, not moving forward an inch.

                                            >"C'mon, let's get my chromium ion generator hooked up!  I wanna see if this purple stuff works the same way a nanowave frequency shift does!  What do you call this?"

                                            >Sparkle trots away down a hallway, pulling Twilight along with her like a purple balloon.

                                            >>"It's magic, silly!"

                                            >"I refuse to believe that.  In fact, never use that word in front of me ever again."