Lyra's World

“So how do I fix my cutie mark?” I asked, holding the potion that would let me astrally project. “Do I just wish for it to happen, and poof?”

“That might work,” Twilight said, “but I don’t recommend it. The astral plane is fundamentally chaotic.”

“So…” I prompted.

“A journey you will face, in that shifting place,” Zecora volunteered. “Tools you must find, to focus your mind.”

“Anything you imagine should just appear,” Twilight added. “If you clear your mind and meditate, your subconscious should be able to guide you to what you need.”

“And if I don’t?” I asked. “Because I’ve never actually been any good at that sort of thing, except when I was lost in the music, and that stopped working when I lost my cutie mark. So it’s sort of a chicken and egg thing.”

“Then you’ll have to imagine a scientific procedure to fix your cutie mark,” Twilight said. “If you didn’t have a cutie mark it would just be a matter of sparking inspiration, which the astral plane is very good at, but I suppose you’d need to find a way to get rid of your current one first.”

“So, Tirek,” I said. “I summon Tirek to steal my magic –“

“If you don’t have magic you can’t get a cutie mark,” Twilight said.

“Step 2:” I said. “I imagine a new source of pure magic to replace what Tirek took. Then, zebra spirit journey time.”

Twilight and Zecora looked at each other. Zecora shrugged.

“Sounds like a plan,” Twilight said. “Just be careful, and take your time. There’s no hurry. You have a thousand years of astral projection for each day that passes in the physical world.”

“Um…” I said. “How long does the potion last? Less than a day, I hope?”

“As soon as we see your cutie mark change, we’ll bring you out,” Twilight said. “We’ll be watching. Don’t worry.”

I nodded, and drank the potion. My eyes closed, and my body slumped to the floor… but I didn’t go with it. Then the world started fading… until…