The alarm clock buzzed.

Aurora groaned and sat upright in bed, glancing at the clock. It was Tuesday.

The days sure seem to fly by this time of year, she thought. but bonker my headache, ow.

Unbeknownst to her but similarly knownst to any outside observer, she had said the same thing three times before already, and was slowly working herself, completely obliviously, into a rut.

So for the fourth time that week, she stepped out of bed, dressed, ate breakfast, and moved to her study and her latest project...something she'd been working on for ages and so impressive that it might just change society forever.

Of course, she reasoned, it must also be completely secret...if others had this power, they might use it in unwise ways...

She flipped through her notes. I've got the semantics down pat, but the base magic is missing something...something that could rewrite the strands of reality just so-- she scribbled a few lines. No, no, that'd never work.

Sitting back, she thought to herself what a difficult practice the creation of magic is. The more complicated spells involved words, that was true, but also require intense concentration to twist, caress the magic carefully into the proper shape, as it were.

It's like trying to fold a real, living breathing crane out of origami paper, she sighed. Perhaps it's just too difficult, maybe I should cancel the meeting.

She continued her note taking, absentmindedly clasping at her necklace.

--<>-------Meanwhile, our regularly scheduled program-------<>--/

The alarm clock buzzed.

Illesio groaned and sat upright in bed, glancing at the clock. It was Sunday.

What the hell happened yesterday? I can't remember a thing.

She cursed as her head caught up to her mind. Got the worst hangover, too. Must've been out too late again.

She rolled out of bed and shrieked as she promptly fell through the floor.

"Sorry," said Clear Sight, "but we've got a situation on our hands."

In a few moments, she found herself back in the ALPHA Technology Center, with her memories quickly resurfacing.

"Sweet Celestia," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I always forget how disorienting starting the new day is, could you at least try and soften the mental blow?"

Clear Sight handed her a glass of coconut water.

"Alright then, guess you're well prepared," she replied. "Yeah, we've got a situation on our hands. We know who has the Control Fragment and nearly why she's using it. Evening Aurora."

Walking up towards them, Res nodded. "Yep, Evening Aurora's behind this. She must have got the Fragment pretty recently, because I don't remember her wearing it last time I saw her...when was that? Geez, I can't remember."

"Wasn't it at that magic convention last year?" Clear Sight said. "Arcanacon?"

Res tapped his forehead. "Yeah, that's it. I remember now, because we were talking about how good of a name that was. Anyway, she sent me a letter that was lost in the mail, I don't know what it's about, but she had arranged to meet me this afternoon to talk about something, again, I don't know, and when I didn't know, she had a total mental breakdown, like WHOOF." He gestured widely. "Literally and figuratively. Insane."

Illesio shivered. "She started to use her mind control powers on the rest of us, which was the wierdest thing, although she seemed too mad at Res to...to either be able to or want to control him. She didn't seem like she knew what she was doing," she frowned, "which was the strangest part about it."

"And that's when I called you," concluded Res. "That's the extent of what we know. What do you think?"

Clear Sight put his head in his hooves. In a few minutes, he raised his head. "This is so fricking complicated. What the actual hell is going on here? So we've got four days, four shots left before the collapse of the universe, and not only do we have to deal with increasingly improbable twisting of reality, but a mentally unstable mare with mind control powers who can call upon, perfectly unknowingly, literally everyone in the nation on our backs with the vengeance of the most unstoppable force in the world: an angry woman. Add to that that something definitely is off with Clear Thought, Doc, and Star Swirl, and we have a recipe for the best loser lasagna ever created. Great." He put his head down again.

"Well, nothing for it," he sighed, getting up. "I think the best term of order for today is to just go with the flow. I'll see if I can track the letter, and you go meet her at the appointed time, which to be safe," he gestured to Res, "should be about an hour early, I'd say about one thirty."

Res nodded. "Just what I was thinking. We should see what her motivations are and see if she really knows what the Fragment can do. Who should I take this time?" He looked uncertainly at Illesio. "If what I remember about her is correct, you probably...shouldn't come, Illesio."

After seeming to think for a minute, Clear Sight frowned. "No...I've got an idea. Take her and nobody else. This might just work," he muttered to himself.

Res looked at him imploringly, but Clear Sight waved him off. "No, trust me on this. Now go plan out something, I've got to meet with the Bearers, sort out what's up with our plot hole investigation committee, find that lost letter, and I've got a lunch appointment with the Dark One to keep. I wish I could come with you guys, but I'd hate to see what could happen when the Memory Fragment's mind controlled. Catch ya later."

He walked briskly from the room, and Res gave Illesio a look of exasperation.

"Is this," Illesio said, "another one of his subtle plots to hook us up?"

"No, and that's why I'm worried," replied Res.

"Actually," said Clear Sight, popping his head out from around the corner, "I didn't mean Dark One in that way, whoops. I just meant Stygian, his name is literally 'very dark,' just wanted to make sure you weren't confused. I'm not into that kind of magic. Sorry," he disappeared again.

"Honestly," said Res, "I wonder why I don't worry more."

--<>-------Not necessarily at the same moment,-------<>--/

Another broken quill fell onto the floor.

Why does nothing work? thought Evening Aurora to herself, her head laid despondently upon the desk. I can feel that I'm so close, it's just one step away...

She toyed with another quill and then snapped it, throwing it down with the other quills that met the same fate. Why, why can't I think of anything?

She had tried hundreds of different theories, each one more desperate than the last, on how to make her spell work, but it just wasn't going well for her. Every time she thought she had it, the magic would fold in upon itself and fail entirely. Nothing, not even a destructive failure indicated it was ever going to work. But she still felt she already knew the answer, that it was just inches away at the corner of her eyesight, but whenever she tried to fix her mind's eye on it, it slipped away...

Fix my mind's eye on it...

She sat bolt upright, scrawling notes as quickly as she could. That's it...Crazy, but still...

Settling down into her chair, she tried to relax entirely. I don't fix my mind's eye on it at all...I let it come to my mind's eye instead. That mindset's exactly what my magic was lacking.

She tried to eliminate her thought's ordered, analytical form, molded from years of training, and revert it to a more loose, fluid state.

And that's when it finally clicked.

--<>-------Aaaaaand break.-------<>--/

Author's Note

I have nothing to write at this particular moment now

but now, a week later i do.
Holy cow how did I miss that? I accidentally had Res snap his fingers.
hmm flaking out a bit here, anatomy is tricky to remember sometimes
now the issue is fixed. Great job!

do you think 'clasped' is also anatomically incorrect, cause just personally I'd let it slide

Cheers,
Betless