Moonlight

Moonlight
by milesprower06

Back For Seconds, Part 3

Twilight came forward and set the book between the two of them on the balcony before sitting down, prompting Moondancer to do the same. She looked down at the book, and read the cover.

Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac To All Things Astronomy.

"Now there's a subject I'll admit I haven't spent a whole lot of time on." Moondancer commented.

"I love astronomy. The constellations, the phenomena, the wonders of what's out there beyond." Twilight said, magically flipping open the book to the chapter on meteor showers.

"Now the first key to performing Haycartes' technique is to open your mind to learning. For ponies like you and me, I doubt that's much of a problem. It's your first time, so it probably won't last more than a minute. But let's give it a try, shall we?"

Moondancer nodded, and began to concentrate, magical energy beginning to course through the niches in her horn. Not only did she have to concentrate on the book, but she had to synchronize herself with Twilight's magic, so they would enter the book together. Since Twilight was the more experienced, she let her take the lead.

Their horns glowed brighter, they closed their eyes, and then...

Moondancer wasn't sure what happened. There was no flash, or magical sparkling. The first thing she noticed was different was the surface she was laying on, it wasn't the crystal and marble balcony. It felt softer. She opened her eyes, and found herself on a hill of grass. Nothing but grassy plains surrounded them. She looked up, and was amazed at the amount of stars she saw in the night sky. It was nothing like this in Canterlot or Ponyville, due to light pollution.

"Oh wow..." She said a bit above a whisper.

"Really something, isn't it?"

Moondancer looked to her left to see Twilight laying next to her, noticing that her horn wasn't glowing.

"You don't have to maintain the spell?" She asked, noting that magic wasn't channeling through her horn either.

"Nope. It all depends on the concentration and magnitude of your stream before the spell is cast. You can't study very well if you have to multitask with maintaining a spell."

The two of them noticed streams of light began to pass overhead. Without the light pollution, it was even more stunning than when Ponyville had gathered for the shower a few years ago.

"The chapter on meteor showers and comets." Twilight noted.

Moondancer looked on in awe. She had never seen a meteor shower in such clarity. It was so beautiful. Suddenly, the earth beneath them began to dip away, and before she knew it, they were flying among the stars. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Unfortunately, it was also short lived, as Moondancer blinked, and suddenly found the two of them back on the balcony.

"Ugh, sorry. This book's a tough one to maintain." Twilight said, looking a bit winded from the spell.

"Let me try." Moondancer offered. Her horn lit up, the book began to glow, and they were back in the meteor shower. Moondancer's elation lasted all of five seconds, the same as the second in-book flight, when the balcony returned again.

"Not bad for your first try. It takes a bit of practice, but you'll get it, for sure."

"Yep, I have some books I can practice on back home."

Twilight cleared her throat, as she prepared to move on to the next subject.

"I've been wondering. What would have happened... I mean, what would you have done if I had shown up to your party all that time ago?"

"Probably the same thing I did this time; chicken out. You probably would have figured it out back then, too."

"And maybe it's a good thing it didn't happen then, because if I didn't know what I know about friendship now, I don't think I would've said yes."

"How did you get from a Gifted Unicorns student to... Here?" Moondancer asked, waving a hoof at the castle towering above the balcony.

"For that, we go to another book." Twilight said, ushering her back inside. They made their way back downstairs, towards the front, where there was a small study. Two small bookshelves stood on both the left and right walls. In the center of the room was a small table with a couple of chairs. A reading lantern sat in the center of the table. Twilight magically lit it, and went to the left bookshelf as Moondancer took a seat at the table. Twilight came back to the table with a book. On the front cover, there was her cutie mark, along with five others. The only one she recognized was Pinkie Pie's, from the party in Canterlot.

"This is my scrapbook of memories since I came to Ponyille. Take a look if you like, I'll be back with some after-dinner snacks."

As she turned to go to the kitchen, she noticed Moondancer turn the scrapbook over, open it, and start from the end. She exited the study out into the hallway, and made her way back to the dining room. The kitchen was built behind it. The dishes from dinner were still soaking in the sink, so as she sorted through the available snacks, she split her attention and cleaned the two plates, and put them on the drying rack, having found a bag of baked oat chips, and made her way back to the study, taking a bit longer than she would have preferred. Walking down the front hall, she felt a breeze, seeing the culprit was the open front door. She closed it, and turned into the study, and her concern immediately rose when Moondancer was no longer inside.

"Moondancer?" she asked.

'Maybe she needed to use the bathroom.' Twilight thought, but that possibility evaporated as she looked at the open scrapbook, and noticed teardrops on the very first page.

"Oh no..."

My dearest and most faithful student Twilight,

You know that I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books. Understand that there is more to a young pony's life than studying. So I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location, Ponyville.

And I have an even more essential task for you to complete...

Make some friends.

Enclosed is the Overseer's Checklist.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.