Title:           Celestia on Earth - Chapter 2
Author:          BkCeLesTiA
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/KL2dirsN
First Edit:      Sunday 13th of July 2014 08:48:13 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Sunday 13th of July 2014 08:48:13 PM CDT

>You ride through the woods on the back of Princess Celestia.
>"We have to find somewhere to rest and make plans," she says.
"I'm not sure where we can.  I have a house just a little away from here."
>"Do those documents from your car you were talking about say where you live?"
"Yes."
>"Then the Thing knows where you live, too.  And there will be eyes on it."
"Can't we just smash them up again?  You seem to handle those things pretty well, and even I could take a dozen easily with a better weapon."
>"The smoke goblins are the absolute least of the creatures of darkness.  If you're prepared, they are little more of a nuisance.  Even the least of the others is truly dangerous, though."
"But aren't you some kind of goddess?"
>Celestia laughed, not mockingly, but a lovely sound like pealing bells.  "Whatever gave you that notion?"
"I've never seen anything, I mean any horse, I mean anyone as beautiful as you are.  Like the Sun."
>"I'm flattered, but my only title is Princess.  That will have to do."
"Shouldn't I call you Your Highness or something?"
>"Celestia will do."
"Anyway, can't you just zap them with magic or something?"
>"Back home, I could.  Most of my magic is from Equestria itself, though, and from here, I can use only that which comes from within."
>You think for a while.  If you can't go home, where can you go?  
"I have a friend nearby who is on vacation.  Maybe we could borrow his house."
>"Good.  How do we get there?"
>You are momentarily stumped, and have no idea how to give directions from here, but you suddenly remember you have a picture of it.
>Maybe it has GPS data.
>You pull out your phone, and bring up the picture in your GPS software, and ask for a route.
>Obviously, it's all along roads, but most of them are fairly rural, and you can just stay somewhat off the road and duck into the woods if you have to.
 
>Celestia looks curiously over her shoulder at you as you operate the phone.  "What is that artifact?"
"Well, see this picture?  This is my friend's house where we're going.  But the picture has other information embedded in it, giving its exact location."
>"But I thought there was no magic here."
"This isn't magic.  It's science."
>Satisfied for the moment, she trots on.  Suddenly, the phone says, in a female British accent, "Turn left."
>Celestia jumps a bit.  "Halt!  Who goes there!"
>You should have warned her about that.
"It's actually the phone."
>"It can talk?  Or she?"
>As much as the idea of starring in a smartphone commercial with a horse goddess from another dimension appeals to you, there is not time for this.
"I'll explain it while we travel," you say.
>You explain the concept of a cell phone, and how they're connected by a network of towers that communicate with each other, and make it possible to call basically anyone else with a cell phone.
>Celestia stops for a moment and cocks her head.  Her horn glows, and the screen of your phone slightly dims.  "Oh, I can hear it now."
"I don't think that's good for the phone.  We still need that for a while."
>"Sorry," said Celestia, and resumed walking.  "No wonder I couldn't detect anything.  I was listening to the wrong things.  Fascinating!"
>Suddenly, thinking of the explanation you just gave, you have a sudden fit of paranoia.  You turn off Location Services and put the phone in airplane mode.
>You have no real idea what's going on, but it suddenly seems like a really bad idea to have a GPS device with your precise location connected to the world.
>Luckily, uneventfully, you arrive at you friend's house, a small A-frame on a rural road, shortly before dawn.  You leave Celestia and cross the road to the house.
>After trying the front door, you try the kitchen window.  Open.  You clamber in somewhat awkwardly and unlock the front door, gesturing to Celestia.
 
>Suddenly, as you are at the door gesturing to Celestia to cross, a car suddenly comes over the hill.
>Celestia looks startled and then, as you look, suddenly disappears.
>"Close the door," she says.  You do.
>She is standing next to you.  You lock the door and the deadbolt, and go around the house lowering all the shades and closing curtains.
>She notices that the night outside is giving way to the pre-dawn light, and asks:  "Who raises the Sun in this world?"
"Raises the Sun?"
>"In my world, I raise the Sun.  Another reason I need to get back there."  She said this matter of factly, not like a boast.
"I thought you said you weren't a goddess."
>"In my world, that is just what I do.  My sister, Luna, raises the Moon.  It is, basically, one of our duties."
>You explain that in this universe, the sun is actually a giant ball of gas so far away it takes 8.3 minutes for its light to reach the Earth, and that the Earth is a mostly spherical object that orbits the Sun.
"But in the past, we used to believe it was an object moved by the gods.  One of them was named Apollo, and he drove the Sun with a chariot.  Earlier cultures worshipped the Sun itself."
>"Earlier, you seemed surprised that I could talk.  Why?"
"Well, here, there are animals that look like you, but they aren't sapient, like you or I.  They can't talk in language.  They are mainly kept as pets or for riding."
>"Is that why you were reluctant to ride me?"
"Yes.  It just seemed disrespectful to treat a god -- a princess like an animal."
>"Well, even in my world, it would be highly unusual for one of my subjects to ride me."
>You suppress the inappropriate thoughts this statement provokes.
"So, why do you even have a saddle, anyway?"
>"This is all formal attire, basically for ceremonial purposes," she says, gesturing with her horn at the various ornamental items she wore.
>"I could live without wearing all this stuff, but I'm expected to look like this."
 
"I have a question, too.  What is it you did when you zapped my phone?"
>Thinking of it, you turned the phone off and started charging it again.
>"I was examining it, and then trying to look inside it.  And listening to it."
"What did you hear?"
>"Mainly noise.  But then I started listening for other noise like it, and there is a lot of it in this world."
"That's called radio frequency.  It's part of the same kind of thing light itself is, but light, like from the Sun, has parts of it that are actually visible.  You can actually see radio frequencies?"
>"Not see them so much as hear.  And only if I concentrate."
"You doing that made it act funny.  Do you mind if I test something?  I have an idea."
>"Not at all."
>You look around the house.  Clearly, you aren't going to try tests like this on your friend's new HDTV or computer, but maybe he has an old cell phone or something.
>You look in the drawer of electronic junk he has, and find an old Android phone with a cracked screen.  There is also a small old TV for watching in the garage.
>It is a quick task to plug in the Android phone to give it a charge and plug in the television.  It isn't long before the phone is up.
"Okay.  Could you do what you did again?"
>Celestia's horn glows slightly again as she examines the phone.  The phone's screen dims and odd patterns appear on it, but it keeps working.
"Now, keep doing that, but just do it a little, harder I guess."
>Now, the screen was bright, but the user interface is basically obliterated.  
"Can you crank that up a little more?"
>Celestia's horn glowed even brighter, and at this point, the phone suddenly gives off a blast of radiance and vibrates.
"Duck and cover your face!"
>You back away just in time, as the phone explodes in a shower of sparks and light, leaving a strange, incandescent mist dancing in the air, slowly dissipating.
"What do you do to do that?"
>"Basically, I just look at it, then push into it."
"Let's try pulling."
>You turn to the TV.
 
"Let's get behind something this time, just in case."
>You feel a bit silly crouching behind a couch peering over it with an extradimensional horse, but an exploding television was probably more dangerous than a phone.
>In any case, you don't want to take chances.
>You turn it on and, since it isn't plugged into any cable, just tune it to a local station.
"Okay, now pull."
>Celestia concentrates, and her horn glows a faint green.  A green glow surrounds the television, and then extends a tendril toward her horn.  More and more of the green energy connects to her horn.
>The TV grows dimmer and dimmer and, ultimately, goes entirely blank.  Celestia looks up.
>You walk over to the TV cautiously and try to turn it on again.  Nothing.  Dead as a doornail.
>"That was interesting.  In my world, I hear nothing in that band of energy but noise, maybe an occasional whistle or hum.  So I usually don't listen to it at all.  Here, you actually use that?"
>You explain it isn't just cell phones and TVs that use that, but basically that almost all human communication is through either wires or RF of some kind, including from satellites in orbit around the planet.
>"You actually put things into space, like the Moon?"
"Nothing as impressive as the Moon, but yes, we put machines into space that then communicate with machines on the ground.  In fact, this TV is connected to one."
>This gives you an idea.  You look out in the front yard to the satellite dish.
"Can you listen to something without destroying it like that?"
>"Yes.  I was probing inside those two machines.  I can just listen, though."
>You crack the curtains and point out the dish.  
"Can you listen in the direction that dish out there is pointing?"
>Celestia cocks her head and concentrates intently.  "Yes, I hear a lot of noise in that direction, but faint and distant.  It isn't just noise, there is something in it."
"That's called a signal.  It's vast amounts of encoded information, transmitted very quickly."
 
>Having another thought, you pull out your phone again and bring up your wardriving app.
>One of the neighbor's routers is just barely visible on it, and you use the "Radar" function to get a general fix on its location.
"Can you listen over in that general direction?  See if you can hear something like what's coming from this."
>You point at your friend's Internet router.
>"Yes.  There is something over there."
"Could you do something like you did to that phone, but less so?  I mean, don't make it explode or destroy it."
>Celestia concentrates briefly.  Within seconds, the router winks off your display.
"Okay, you can stop now."
>Celestia stops.  The router reappears shortly.
>This could be very useful, though you aren't sure how yet.
"Princess, it appears your powers are very destructive to electronics.  So much human technology is electronic that this could be very useful.  Keep it in mind."
>"Something else you should know, Anon.  I can get some energy from the signal with information in it."
"What kind of energy?"
>"I might be able to convert it into magic.  But there's not much in those small machines."
"So, do you have any ideas how we can get you back to Equestria?  What's happening to the Sun while you're gone, anyway?"
>"I am sure my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, can manage that part in my absence.  I am worried about the Thing, though."
"What is this Thing anyway?"
>"A creature we thought neutralized forever.  But our experiment woke it up, and while I was between dimensions, it attacked and sent me here."
>She shudders.  You feel fear yourself, of anything that can frighten a near deity.
>The sun has now fully risen.
>"We both really need to get some rest, because we may have traveling to do."  You lead her to the bedroom and point out your friend's bed.  You turn to leave.
>"No.  We have to stay close together."  She gestures you toward the bed.  You don't argue.