“Twilight, are you sure this will work?”

Princess Celestia strained to hide the concern on her face as she watched her former student prepare for a major spell of her own design. She’d been told that the spell would let them gaze upon other worlds, as if they were there in person. It was one of those high-power spells, and Twilight had never cast it before – it was all pure theory that was about to be put into practice. It was, in fact, such an incredibly costly spell that the very incarnation of Magic was uncertain she’d have enough power to pump into it and had asked Princess Celestia to help.

Princess Celestia, after all, rarely used any magic besides minor telekinesis, sending messages, and moving the sun. She had plenty to spare. And now they were standing in a specially-cleared room of the castle, about to break the “most power put in a single spell” record.

“Almost entirely, pri- I mean Celestia,” Twilight Sparkle tried to assure.

“Okay Twilight. But if you destroy the world or something, I am so holding that against you,” Celestia relented.

“Why would you think this’d destroy the world?”

“With all this magic we’re about to put into your new spell… if it fails, that energy has to go somewhere.”

“I guess so. But I’m confident enough in this,” Twilight insisted as she lit her horn. “Okay… here goes.”

Twilight braced herself in concentration with her wings out wide. She rapidly raised the power of the spell she was weaving, and reached her natural limit shortly after. If she used any more, she’d put her body in danger. A thin golden line pierced the room in front of Twilight, from floor to ceiling, perhaps further – there was no clear way to tell unless somepony were to see it on another floor and burst in to talk about it.

As the thin beam wavered, Celestia took her cue and engaged her own magic. Standing on the opposite side, she pumped her own phenomenal cosmic power into the spell being woven before her. The feedback allowed Twilight to tap into her element (which she had planned to happen), giving her the ominous white eyes.

With all that power, the column very quickly expanded, engulfing the two princesses, then the room they were standing in. The entire castle quickly followed.

Between the two of them, the blackout must’ve lasted a good ten minutes. All they could do was pump magic into the spell, nothing else.

When it was over, nothing had changed. Or so the princesses thought. There was no projection or similar effect of the kind that would let them “gaze upon another world”… nothing at all seemed to be different in any meaningful way.

With a huff, of which Celestia couldn’t tell if it was for apparently failing or for being completely exhausted, Twilight stomped out of the room. She was back within seconds, looking more surprised and confused than anything.

“Is something wrong, Twilight?”

“Celestia… we started around midday, right?”

“Yes we did. I should know.”

“You would. And we weren’t out for more than a few hours, right?”

“It certainly feels that way.”

“But when I just looked out of the window, it was morning outside.”

“That can’t be right. I haven’t cycled the sun, and Luna would’ve contacted me if she had to do it in my place.”

“It gets worse.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “How could it possibly be?”

“From this high up, I could see water in the general direction of Manehattan.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Twilight shook her head. “See for yourself.”

Celestia galloped out of the room, found the nearest balcony, and took off. At a fair altitude above Canterlot Castle, she slowly looked all around, finding water all around an island containing Ponyville, Canterlot, and a handful of other settlements. No Manehattan, no Appleoosa, no Crystal Empire…

Celestia teleported back in the experiment room with a frightened expression, surprising Twilight.

“It’s gone, Twilight. I don’t know how, or why it’s all reversed, but most of Equestria is gone.”

“That is strange, Princess,” Twilight said, forgetting she was on equal standing with Celestia and thus had no obligation to call her by title. “You’d think it’d be Canterlot and the surrounding area that’d be gone.”

“How are you so calm, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Well, just before you came back I heard something interesting.”

Celestia calmed down almost immediately. This was potentially very good news. “What did you hear?”

“I heard myself, saying ‘I guess nothing happened. And it looked so promising.’ So I’m guessing there’s more to our current situation.”

Suddenly, Princess Luna stormed into the room. “Celestia, where is our moon!?” she shouted.

“What do you mean, dear sister?”

“We can no longer feel our connection with our moon. What else would we mean?”

Princess Celestia raised a foreleg in concentration. “Now that you mention it, neither can I feel the sun. That’s certainly strange, because I’d seen it right there when I was outside just now…”

A sudden shout behind her broke Celestia’s concentration. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

“Twilight Sparkle, what do you think you are doing?” asked the night princess.

“I’m trying to confirm a theory,” Twilight beamed.

“I hear you, Twilight,” another, unseen Twilight faintly shouted.

“Great! What’s the status over there, Twilight?”

“Everything’s perfectly normal. We’re a little weak from using so much power, but I guess something did happen, right?”

“Right, just don’t ever cast that spell again.”

“Sister,” Luna called out. “There are vessels approaching the edge of the land. We do believe the natives must be restless.”

Author's Note

This obviously happens during the other chapter, leading directly into Princip's big scene.

No name jokes to explain here, move along.