In Sun's Light

Sunday

Canterlot

“I wish I had a clue where to start. Not much to work with here. Rift residue doesn’t tell where things went, just that they did.”

“Graphite, can you at least tell me who cast the spell?”

“I could, if it wasn’t corrupted. They used an artifact.”

“That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Sir, that broadens our spectrum to unicorns as well. Any unicorn with an artifact, as long as it was charged enough, could have defeated her. And magical artifacts aren’t rare.”

Shining Armor was shocked. “You’re telling me that anypony with a simple artifact could defeat her? She’s that weak?”

“I could move the sun with mine, the Sapphire Alicorn, remember it? Just a big sapphire sculpture, but it houses enough magic to where I could become an immortal alicorn for five minutes at least, once every day, and it’s weak by artifact standards.”

“Could someone have taken it?”

“I have it under lock and key in my art studio, sir. It’s under magical protection too. No one is getting in there. But there could easily be another, more powerful artifact out there.”

“Well how do we tell? Where do we start? If this is that common, then it’s possible we would have to comb the country for the right one. We don’t have that kind of window, Graphite.”

“I know, sir. I would suggest we start with stolen or missing items. That might give us a clue what helped this pony.”

“Alright.” Shining Armor was feeling pretty good about all of this. They had a starting point, and a plan to track down the culprit or possibly the culprit’s artifact. There was one more thing he needed to do.

* * *

After three weeks of community service, Sunset Shimmer was pretty tired. Principal Celestia had let her off pretty easy after her change of heart. She was grateful for that. Still, it was nice to get to sit down at this point, even if it was a disguised, magical, long distance interrogation from the captain of the Royal Guard.

“Shining Armor, I would guess. How can I help you?”

“If you were to teleport an immortal alicorn away from Equestria, where would you send her?”

The question was surprisingly abrupt. Straight to the point, no screwing around. She liked that. “Well, I would send her somewhere where the magic was very low level.”

“Can you explain that?”

“Magic works on a certain energy field that builds up on and below the surface of the world you are on. This energy field works for magic the same way a conductor works for electricity. The more of the conductor there is, the more electricity can run through it, with less energy used. The same works for magic.”

“That seems pretty straightforward. Know any worlds we could start on?”

“I originally took the element of magic to Earth with that concept in mind. I figured it would be possible only I would be able to tap into its energy and use it effectively.”

Alright. Shining thought. We have a good start, at least.

“Thank you, Sunset Shimmer.”

“No problem.”

Monday

Earth

“Two bronies walk into a bar,” Eric said. “Who are they cosplayed as?”

“Berry Punch, for sure. And possibly Rainbow Dash.” Eric was surprised. Rainbow Dash was a main character. Gavin could have easily looked her up to impress him. But how did he know about Berry Punch?

“Well, she is constantly portrayed by the fans as alcoholic.” Gavin said, picking up on Eric’s confusion. “If I had to cosplay as a pony into a bar, I would pick Berry Punch too.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Have you been looking around the fanbase?” Eric’s grin was growing by the second.

“I decided to give it a try. I’ve been watching it all weekend.”

“Why the change?”

“Well… Something has come up.”

“Seriously? You suddenly come back today a new convert, saying ‘Something has come up.’ That’s all you’re going to give me?”

“Yes, that is, for now at least. I’m not sure how to respond to all of this. But, you know more than me. Wings plus horn equals alicorn, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So… Twilight was a unicorn, and Cadence was a Pegasus. What does it mean if a young pony is an alicorn?”

“How old?”

“Same age as the… The… Crusaders?”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

“That’s them.”

“Well… An alicorn that young would presumably grow up to be a very powerful pony. An important one.”

* * *

The filly was getting hungry again. She had been eating nonstop since she woke up, and also reading. She had learned that the two legged things called themselves humans, and they had a lot of gadgets that had buttons too small for hooves, so she had nothing to do. She couldn’t watch the moving pictures on the magic box, she couldn’t make pictures move with the strange remotes with joysticks, and so she was reading. She had been drawn to a book titled The Sun, Moon, and other Celestial Wonders. She was reading all about the sun. It was, first off, much larger than the planet earth. (This, according to what she had read, was where she was.) It was also a huge ball of burning gas, and the moon’s light reflected that of the sun. She liked the moon.

The moon… Just thinking about it made her choke up. Either the moon or the sun had appeared in her dreams every night. She couldn’t place it, but every time she looked at the moon, it seemed like there was something she was missing. She felt like there was something on the moon she loved so much, and it tortured her to not know what that something was. She knew it was her memory loss. She still didn’t even know her own name.

But she wouldn’t let it bother her now, in the middle of the day. Luckily, the mean stallion hadn’t made her forget her numbers. The clock on the wall said 3:55. She figured it must be getting pretty late. Where was Gavin?

She hadn’t thought of that before. When would he come back? What if he didn’t? Had he just trapped her in a house too big for her with nothing to do? How long before her food started to rot? Now she was worrying. She got up and started to pace as she waited. He hadn’t told her when he would be back, or for that matter where he was. What if he had left her?!

Just then, the door squeaked as it opened. Gavin stepped in, saying “I’m home!” and scaring her half to death, making her scream at the top of her lungs and bolt right into a table just the right height to smack her across the forehead. Then she stumbled and fell, and started to cry, rubbing her head.

“Oh!” Gavin shouted, running to her and picking her up. “Are you alright?” He commenced to calm her down before attempting to talk to her again.” Does it still hurt?” She shook her head.

“I’m glad you’re back.” She said, still in a somber mood. “I was beginning to think you had left me.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that! You’re still recovering, you were scared and alone, and I won’t do that to you again. I was at school, and then at soccer practice.”

“Oh!” That made sense. “Will you be gone this long every day?”

“Well… I don’t know how we’ll do this, actually. I have a game on Friday. It’ll be dark when I get back home.”

“Can I just come with you?”

“Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Oh… Alright.”

The rest of the day was spent in silence as they both read and Gavin did his homework. It was nearing sunset when Gavin finally spoke again.

“Do you want to see something amazing?” He asked.

“Sure.” The filly said, after looking at him quizzically and nodding.

He picked her up and put her in his backpack, then hiked up into the wilderness, stopping on top of a large hill overlooking the countryside, then set the bag down and took the filly out, cradling her in his arms.

“This is my favorite view.” The filly looked out at the sunset painting the green countryside golden. There were houses in the distance, and a river made its way through the meadows. At spots, trees lined the bank. A highway out of town was bustling with cars at the edge of the hills. The scene, with the sun setting behind the distant mountains, was beautiful. There was something more to it. It seemed like something about this sunset made her feel welcome, happy. She instinctively reacted to the sun by getting a warm feeling in her chest; like this was something she was supposed to see. It made her feel loved. The filly smiled and curled up in Gavin’s arms, watching the scene for a while before drifting off to sleep.

Gavin reflected on that day. He didn’t know why, but the filly had suddenly opened up to him. He hadn’t received any words from her all weekend. He could only guess it was because of school. She had probably been scared of being alone again. He had to think of something to do for game day, he couldn’t leave her here for hours while he left town. But something told him he shouldn’t let her be seen either. He was in for a crazy week.

* * *

“Alright, Graphite.” Shining armor cast the spell to turn the both of them human. “Are you sure this… Thing of yours works?”

Graphite pulled out a silver plated device with a reflective black screen that was flashing obscure runes in blue and yellow as he set it.

“Yes, it will work. And it is not a thing. It’s called a jumper. I can set coordinates on dimensional planes and transport there with a press of the button.”

“I still don’t get why we don’t use the mirror.”

“The mirror leads to a dimensional parallel, an alternate form of this world. Residue like we found on the ground in Celestia’s chamber means she was not sent to a parallel world. So we can’t go to a parallel either. Now grab one end of this thing.” Shining Armor did so, and Graphite pressed the button.

The sensation was like jumping upside down off of a cliff in the middle of the rain while being attacked by butterflies. All the tingling sensations, all the back flips his stomach did and the cold feeling made him feel terrible once his feet were back on solid ground. It made him dizzy and he fell over, making Graphite chuckle.

“What was that sound for, guard?”

“Most people don’t fall over, sir.”

“Quit with the attitude.”

“Look at it this way.” Graphite said as he helped Shining up. “You may be the commanding officer, but I know my stuff more than you do. These people, this culture... Hmm... Looks like an American setting. McDonalds down the street... Yep! There’s the flag. So, for now, I’m Greg, and you’re Spencer. If we get in a conversation, follow my lead.”