Saving Sunset Shimmer

Chapters

Find the Key... Open The Door...
The Gathering Dark
You Need to Tell Her

Find the Key... Open The Door...

The workroom was filled with thrumming, near-blinding energy. At the heart of the blazing aura, a pony hovered in midair... a pony encircled by kaleidoscopic whirling rings of magic potential, in every color and form that magic could take... a spectrum of power, of sheer potential...

A pony whose eyes were glowing beacons of radiance, whose forehooves lifted triumphantly...

... a pony wearing a magician's pointy hat, and a star-spangled cape. The cape wafted majestically on an invisible breeze...

"BEHOLD!" the blue-coated, white-maned pony shouted, her voice booming and echoing. "At long last! The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie possesses awesome power! Absolute power! Power undreamt of by pony kind!"

Her blazing eyes swept downward. She stabbed a forehoof at the lavender pony standing before her, gazing up in wide-eyed astonishment.

"Are you listening to me, Twilight Sparkle? 'Cause Trixie can make you listen! Trixie can do whatever she likes! From this moment forth, there is no will in the universe save Trixie's! Undoubtedly, Trixie is the greatest equine who has ever lived!"

She flung her hooves wide. All about her, a shower of glittering fireworks exploded.

"Trixie..." Twilight called up, in a worried voice.

Trixie gazed down upon her.

And then put her forehooves on her hips.

"Oh c'mon, Twilight," she said conversationally. "You've gotten so serious lately. That was worth a laugh at least." Raising a hoof, she adopted her stage persona once more. "Nay! It deserves far greater! Showponyship such as this deserves a standing ovation! Encore performances! A guaranteed tour!" She pointed at Twilight again. "Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Be thankful Trixie grants you audience today... instead of three weeks from now!"

She lofted both hooves dramatically. "The Great Trixie has... spoken!"

On the other side of the practice room, Tempest Shadow stood with her head lowered, her broken horn blazing. With Starlight Glimmer casting a conic shield on her horn to keep her magic stable, Tempest had been sending a beam of raw power into the hoof-carved focus gem fastened to the collar of Trixie's robe.

And Tempest had finally had enough.

With a toss of her head, she abruptly cut the power. The blazing energies surrounding Trixie whirled away into nothingness. Caught by surprise, the blue pony shrieked, struggled in midair, and then plummeted towards the stone floor, forehooves covering her eyes...

And was snagged by Starlight's cyan magic, inches from pancaking on the slate tiles.

Tempest smirked.

"Pay no attention to that pony behind the curtain..."

Trixie stood up, ostentatiously dusting herself off, then lofted her snout in disdain. "Hmff!" Then she nodded gratefully to Starlight. "Thanks, bestie! At least somepony here appreciates my efforts as guinea pig for this project."

"Not a problem, Trixie," Starlight Glimmer said. "Just try not to get too carried away, huh?" Starlight looked over at Twilight, who was busy copying figures from several measuring instruments onto a clipboard. "What do you think, Twilight? We're able to keep the effect stable, with only a single gem this time, and pretty much indefinitely. That's progress... isn't it?"

"Maybe..." The lavender pony shook her head, looking over her figures. "But progress toward what? It feels like we're just refining things, without really understanding what we've discovered."

"Ahem! What Trixie discovered!"

"By lucky accident..." Tempest muttered sourly.

"Sorry, Trixie." Twilight nodded. "But even with all the work we've put into this, I'm still not certain it amounts to much..."

"It certainly looked impressive to me," said a regal voice from the doorway. The ponies all turned, and found the tall, brilliantly-white Sun Princess striding into the room. Her prismatic mane swirled about her; her golden armored shoes clicked lightly on the slate floor.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight anxiously riffled through pages on her clipboard. "I'm so sorry! Are we late for our presentation? I wanted us to do one more run-through... I might have lost track of time..."

The Princess put up a forehoof, stemming the flood of apologies.

"I was free a little sooner than expected, so I came by early. And you needn't worry about perfection, Twilight. I can see the four of you, working together, have already made remarkable progress."

Twilight sighed.

"I suppose, but... it's still not clear what we can do with this effect. I mean, yeah, we can split magic into its constituent spectra. We can put that into a storage loop, charge it all the way up into a huge potential force. But then how do we refocus and control it? How do we direct it to perform actual spells? How do we make it useful?"

"That's tomorrow..." Celestia gently chided her. "Remember to be proud of what you've accomplished today."

"You're right." Twilight nodded. "It's just... I feel like there's something missing here, something important. And..." She winced uncomfortably. "I'm also wondering if we're the right ponies for this. I mean, we are only students..."

"You are more than merely students, Twilight," Celestia said, "as I've told the head of the Research Magic division -- on more than one occasion! I like to think of you as our Advanced Projects group. You're exploring aspects of magic that ponies are only beginning to understand. And doing so with all the tools and techniques of modern science and research. And, most importantly, you're approaching this with open minds, fresh perspectives. Not to mention a certain willingness to freely experiment, to try things out, even where there's a significant risk of failure..."

She glanced at Trixie as she said this. Trixie shamefacedly tried to hide behind her hat.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Twilight smiled uneasily. "Still, I'm not sure what we should try next. And I don't want us to get stuck, just because we've run out of ideas. Do you know anypony who might be able to suggest something? Maybe someone from the Research Magic division?"

Celestia looked sadly thoughtful.

"There is one pony," she finally said, "who I'd would willingly recommend to help you. But locating her, I fear, may be a challenge."

She glanced around at all of them, and seemingly came to a decision. "Twilight," she went on, "I need to ask something of you... of all of you. I need to ask a personal favor."

"Of course, Your Highness," Twilight said, startled. "What is it?"

"You know that I've guided the studies of several ponies here at the School. What you may not know is that I had a personal protégé once before." Nodding at Twilight's look of surprise, she continued. "Her name was Sunset Shimmer. She had great magical potential, a willingness to learn, and depthless devotion to what she saw as her role as my student. Unfortunately, I didn't properly understand that devotion, not until far too late. We had a... disagreement, and she abandoned her studies, leaving here to seek a path on her own."

"Oh! Where does she live now?" Twilight's horn sang. Her magic brought over a chart of the known lands of Equestria.

Celestia shook her head kindly. "That won't help, I'm afraid. She left here by a... rather unusual means."

She turned, heading for the doorway.

"Come with me, all of you. There's something I need you to look into..."

They followed the Princess as she returned to the royal Audience Hall. There she strode in, with Twilight and her friends close around her.

"Give us the room!" she called out authoritatively.

Her staff hurriedly collected their books and scrolls, and filed out as quickly as possible. The guards waited until the room was clear, then excused themselves, shutting the doors behind them.

And Celestia led the way over to a tall mirror, with an ornate, gem-studded, horseshoe-shaped frame, standing behind a pillar on the left side of the hall.

"The Speculum Vacivitas," she stated. "One of Star Swirl the Bearded's final masterpieces. And despite appearances, it is more than just a mirror. It has the power to create a portal linking our dimension with another: an entire world, suiting the needs of the caster who summons it. Sunset Shimmer, in her anger at me, activated the portal and went through it. What became of her thereafter, I am uncertain."

Twilight was staring at the mirror, her mouth hanging open, in awe at the sight of a relic of her hero's knowledge and expertise.

So Starlight cautiously raised a forehoof. "Why, Your Highness? Can't you just go in after her?"

"Unfortunately not," Celestia replied. "The world that Sunset created actively excludes me -- and my guards and staff. I suppose it's a side-effect of our disagreement. And there is a time limit as well: on the third night following the portal's opening, it closes again. And then it cannot be reopened for an extended period of time. The Research Magic division examined the mirror's workings, and calculated the duration to be thirty moons."

Celestia sighed unhappily.

"At first, Sunset's behavior so enraged me, I was rashly tempted to leave her to her fate, to let her learn from her own mistakes. And there were other... pressing distractions at the time." She smiled at Twilight. "But I quickly came to my senses. She meant too much to me, I could not simply abandon her. Yet there was no way for me to reach her. Every means I used to contact her produced no result. In the end the portal closed, and she was trapped on the other side... in whatever world she created."

Tempest had a thoughtful look on her face. "Thirty moons... two and a half years? How long ago was this?"

Celestia nodded approvingly. "The portal should have reopened some time ago. But nothing has happened, then or since. I've had the mirror watched. I've had its mechanisms rechecked. As far as anyone here knows, it is in proper order. I could only assume, therefore, that Sunset either wasn't able to return... or worse, didn't want to."

She looked at Twilight, a sadly apologetic look in her eyes.

"I didn't mention her to you, Twilight, because I didn't want you to feel there was any competition here. You and Sunset are equally important to me. Both as my students... and as ponies I care deeply about."

"I understand, Your Highness," Twilight said seriously.

Celestia stared into the mirror.

"I deeply regret that my last words with Sunset were so heated, so harsh. I would give much to find her, to reassure her that there is not -- and never has been -- any ill will between us."

"But that was so long ago, Your Highness!" Starlight said.

Tempest nodded. "And if there's been no word of her since..."

Twilight sighed. "I suppose it must be far too late now."

Celestia gave her a look... and a smile.

"Perhaps not, Twilight..."

Her horn shimmered, and Celestia's magic summoned over a large hardbacked book, with a flaming sun icon on its cover. She flipped it open and paged through it.

"This is a journal. One of a pair I gave to Sunset as a gift. Anything written in one appears in the other. I've used it multiple times to try to reach her, both before the portal closed and after, but have gotten no response... until just this morning, when this appeared."

With the tip of a forehoof, she indicated a paragraph on the left-hand page of the Journal, written in a crabbed, uncomfortable script... almost as if the writer was still unfamiliar with using a pen.

"... I'm waiting right on the other side of the portal. Please don't leave me here. I know I can make things right again. I'll do whatever it takes..."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "It looks like Sunset wrote this... right after the portal closed! But if this message only appeared today... then that means..."

"... the two time streams!" Starlight said, seeing it. "There and here! When the portal closed, they became disconnected! So more than thirty moons can have passed here..."

Twilight nodded in amazement. "While they haven't, over there."

Tempest stared at the mirror. She cautiously put out a hoof, touching its surface. "So that means... Sunset might still be on the other side, right after the portal closed."

"Ahem!"

They all looked at Trixie, who was staring at the mirror, her head tilted, a puzzled look on her face.

"Trixie is a little confused," she stated. "If time can become... unstuck, or whatever it was." She waved a forehoof dismissively. "... which Trixie is not certain she believes anyway... then what point is there in having any kind of time-limit on this thing at all? And why thirty moons, specifically?"

Realizing the others were looking at her, she hunched nervously, removing her hat and holding it contritely. "Um... just asking. Trixie will be quiet now."

Celestia eyed her briefly, then smiled. "That, my little pony, is a very insightful question. To my knowledge, it has never been raised in any of the reports from the Research Magic division. This is why I would like to give this to the four of you... in your capacity as my Advanced Projects group. I would like you to examine the mirror yourselves. Approach it with no preconceptions. See if you can find a way to reopen it, to reconnect it with Sunset's world. And, assuming you're able to do that..."

She gazed at the mirror, her voice soft and pained.

"Find Sunset Shimmer. Let her know she's still welcome here... if she wants to return..."

Twilight swallowed nervously. Then she drew herself up proudly.

"We'll do everything we can, Your Highness! We'll find Sunset, and bring her home."

"Thank you, Twilight. I know you'll all do your best. And you, Trixie --" Celestia added, looking at her.

"Me?" Trixie squeaked.

"I would like you, in particular, to examine the mirror's workings from your... uniquely practical perspective. See if you notice anything the Research Magic division might have overlooked, hmm?"

Trixie's mouth fell open. Then shut. She fiddled with her hat for a moment. Then she nodded, her voice solemn and determined.

"Trixie will do everything in her power, Your Highness."

Three days later, Trixie was long past regretting those words.

She sat at the worktable in Twilight's tower room at the School's library annex, with books and scrolls stacked all around her. Her head was nodding from exhaustion. Her vision was blurred, her eyes felt like sandpaper. She'd stared at more journal entries and diagrams and research reports than she'd ever thought existed.

All concerning one blasted magic mirror!

She glared crossly at the mirror, sitting on the other side of the room where Celestia's guards had moved it so Twilight and her friends could study it in detail. And they had... they all had. They'd examined the mirror's workings, run tests on its aura, even cautiously attempted re-invoking the portal spell.

All to no avail. The mirror remained stubbornly inactive.

So, in typical Twilight fashion, they'd turned to research: gathering and poring over every scrap of information they had: on Star Swirl's final years, on the mirror, on anything that might be relevant.

And none of them more determinedly, more stubbornly, than the Great and Powerful Trixie herself.

Trixie felt like the mirror was taunting her, laughing at her miserably inadequate skill at magic. Much of what she was reading was well beyond her level anyway, as a stage magician. Oh, Trixie was quite at home with mechanisms: enchanted gems, boxes with false backs and hidden compartments, trick blades, and so forth... all the apparatus of the trade. She'd built most of her equipment herself, with her own hooves.

But real magic... artful constructions of spellwork and precision-crafted components that took years to learn and decades to achieve mastery in... it might as well be ancient Ponish to her. Apart from the few practical spells she'd learned to work with her horn.

Trixie was uncomfortably close to admitting she was unqualified for this task... that the Great and Powerful Trixie might be... well, not so great after all...

Her head sank wearily onto her forehooves. Her eyes slid closed.

Trixie is just resting her eyes for a moment, she told herself. The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't fall asleep on the job. She doesn't shirk, doesn't dawdle...

... and she definitely doesn't daydream...

Her thoughts wandered. She drifted into a light doze...

And a mildly scornful regal voice spoke from behind her.

"We see that thou are hard at work."

Trixie looked up. She saw a dark blue alicorn approaching, wearing black peytral and crown, and silver shoes. The alicorn's large cyan eyes gazed at Trixie in a manner that was at once coldly aloof, and yet somehow strangely comforting... as if she was always just on the verge of breaking into a proud smile.

"Princess Luna?" Trixie smiled in relief. Of her two teachers, Trixie definitely preferred the one who appeared to her when her thoughts wandered during the day. The other one... the one who appeared at night, in her dreams, her nightmares... Trixie shuddered, shying away from the memory.

The Princess put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "What troubles thee, Trixie Luna Moon?"

Trixie stared at the piles of books and scrolls morosely.

"Celestia asked me to figure out this mirror, to make it work right again. She wants me to discover something that dozens of expert research ponies weren't able to find."

"And are you not perfectly suited for this task?"

"No." Trixie admitted sadly. "Trixie is no mage. Trixie has no real skill with magic. Just stage magic: tricks with props, sleight-of-hoof, illusion and misdirection. Just trickery... half-baked, barely-good-enough trickery!"

"And is that not why you have been tasked with this?"

Trixie looked up at her, surprised.

"But I thought --"

"What do you bring to this task, Trixie?" Luna interrupted. "What is there here that would not reveal itself to anypony but you?"

Trixie thought about that. "So... I need to stop thinking like a mage... and start thinking like a stage magician?"

Luna nodded. And then she leaned close, whispering urgently in Trixie's ear.

"Find the key, Trixie Luna Moon! Find the key, open the door..."

Luna's eyes suddenly grew wide, sad and frightened.

"... and then come find me," she begged. "Please... come find me, Trixie. It is so cold here... and dark... so cold and lonely..."

Her hoof suddenly lifted from Trixie's shoulder.

Trixie cried out, not wanting her beloved teacher to leave:

"Luna!"

Trixie's head snapped up. She stared around the room uncertainly, wondering who had just shouted... and why her eyes were wet with tears. Scrubbing her face angrily with her hooves, she stared down at the book in front of her. And slammed it shut in annoyance. She wasn't going to find her answers there. Trixie needed to start thinking about this her way, as a stage magician.

"Find the key," Trixie muttered to herself. "Find the key, open the door..." She wasn't certain where that thought had come from, but it seemed important. She struggled to hold onto it, to feel it out. "Find the --"

She suddenly swung to stare at the mirror... at a half-baked hunk of junk botched together by some old mage centuries ago, who'd never even heard of writing anything down clearly, or making it easily understandable...

... and, perhaps, had a reason for that obscurity...

"Wait a second..." Trixie breathed.

Moments later, she was across the room, pry-bar in hoof, grunting loudly as she struggled to lever the cover off the mirror's base.

"Thank you all for coming," Trixie said archly. "Trixie is very tired, and does not wish to have to explain this more than once."

"Are you okay, Trixie?" Starlight asked, worried. "You look awful!"

"The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie knows no rest until she has achieved perfection," she intoned. "And Trixie has finally figured it out!"

"You know how to reactivate the mirror?" Twilight asked eagerly.

Trixie held up a hoof. "All in good time, my attentive audience! Now, Trixie set herself the task of understanding why Star Swirl's mirror only opens for three days, then closes for thirty moons. Trixie particularly wondered at the thirty moons part: it struck her as being unusually exact -- and also familiar. So Trixie looked through all the scrolls and diagrams on the mirror and got nowhere... because they were prepared by tenured researchers who saw Star Swirl as a brilliant sorcerer, a great pony, a grand figure out of history. One and all, they look upon his work as untouchable, unexplainable, masterful genius...

"But Trixie is a stage magician. So Trixie said to herself: who is this Star Swirl character, anyway? Some old spellcaster. Trixie certainly never heard of him. He built a magic mirror? Hah! Trixie could manage far greater with her eyes closed, chained upside down over a vat of chocolate pudding!"

Twilight was staring at Trixie in shock, mouth hanging open. Her right eyelid twitched.

Starlight put a comforting hoof on her shoulders. "Breathe, Twilight... remember to breathe. Go on, Trixie!"

"So, the Great and Powerful Trixie approached the mirror as she would any other trick of the trade. Trixie doesn't believe what she reads about ponies, she doesn't believe what she's told about them. She only believes what she can see, what she can touch with her own hooves! And Trixie doesn't need to know every little detail about the mirror. She only needs to know one thing, the most important thing: how the trick works!"

She led the way over to the mirror, where the levered-off panel had been tossed aside to reveal a fiendishly intricate complex of wiring, lenses, and crystal gems built into its base. Even cataloguing its design had taken the research ponies volumes of detailed lists and figures.

But Trixie hadn't needed to consult any of it.

Trixie touched her forehoof to one gem in particular. Not a particularly large or fancy one. Quite nondescript, really. But one she had quickly zeroed in on as being out of place.

"Know what this is, Twilight?" she asked smugly. "Oh, don't even bother guessing! It's a timing gem. Trixie uses them herself in her act. They can make a trick self-working but then there's no room for error, for playing the crowd. You have to time the performance perfectly, or be caught flat-hoofed, with no hope of recovery."

She tapped the gem, smirking. "And this gem in particular... it's just about the longest-period timing gem that's self-sustaining. Anything longer would need recharging and adjustment. And, more importantly, the gem draws no power. Which is important, because this circuit doesn't provide any. It's just a timing loop. Star Swirl probably just grabbed this gem off the shelf because it was available, and he needed as long a cycle as possible without it being too noticeable.

"And the delay cycle of this gem?" She grinned. "In seconds, it runs to just under thirty moons. Which is why Trixie recognized the duration."

Trixie looked around, at the astonished expressions on their faces. "What? You're surprised the Research Magic ponies didn't see this? How could they? They started from the assumption that Star Swirl was brilliant, that he had a reason for everything, and they were unworthy to question it. So they made their so-called analysis, they estimated the cycle of the timing circuit, they wrote it down in their report... and didn't even bother to ask why it was there in the first place!"

Glowering, Trixie placed her forehooves on the gemstone.

"And if we simply remove this gem..."

She twisted the gemstone, plucked it from its socket. There was a sudden stillness as the nearly inaudible hum of the mirror died away.

"Trixie!" Twilight gasped.

"Relax, Twilight," Trixie muttered, tossing the gem aside. "Trixie has done this before, just to be sure she was right. And now, we replace it with the shortest-period timing gem we have, merely to complete the circuit..." Choosing another gemstone from a box nearby, she slotted it in place and twisted it, locking it in.

The mirror powered up. And with an inrush of magic potential, the plane of the mirror became a swirling magenta vortex, then settled down to a curtain of shimmering light.

"Voila!" Trixie said, lofting her hooves dramatically. "One open portal!"

Turning to her friends, she stabbed a hoof at it. "We could have gone through this thing at any time! Right now, if we wanted to!"

The other ponies stared at her, in stunned amazement.

"Star Swirl..." Starlight finally asked, "... he deliberately added a lock-out delay? Why?"

Trixie shrugged.

"How should I know? Maybe as a way to discourage silly ponies from going through the portal, because then they'd be afraid of getting stuck on the other side. After all, it was only after Sunset went through that Celestia called for the analysis that found the lock-out was thirty moons, instead of forever."

Twilight was agape, utterly floored by the implications. "That's... amazing work, Trixie... really... well done..."

Trixie smiled archly. "Why, thank you, Twilight!"

And then she yawned, and her eyes crossed.

"And now," she murmured sleepily, "the Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie... wants some peanut butter crackers..."

She collapsed in a heap, and snored gently.

Starlight checked on her, then looked at the others in relief. "She's just worn out. I'll put her on the couch so she can rest for a bit. And then I'll put the cover back on the mirror."

"I'll lend a hoof," Tempest said. Together, the two of them lifted the weary showpony and lugged her away...

... leaving Twilight looking up in concern at Princess Celestia, seated quietly beside her. The Princess was wide-eyed, utterly speechless.

"Um... Your Highness?" Twilight asked gently.

Celestia sighed. "That old fool. He was thinking of me," she said. "Star Swirl knew how fascinated I was by the possibility of other worlds beyond the mirror. But he also knew I'd never abandon my throne if there was even the possibility I might be trapped forever on the other side. And as a result..." She shook her head. "Just when you think you've already made enough mistakes!"

"Maybe it's not too late? We can still go through and find her."

Celestia got up and walked to the mirror. She put her hoof to its surface. It still rejected her, the shimmering surface pushing back against her attempts to cross it. Presumably it would still reject her guards as well, and anyone else Sunset was familiar with...

... but not Twilight.

Celestia turned back to her.

"I shouldn't have to ask this of you," she said. "You or your friends. I shouldn't have to put you at risk like this. But... right now, it seems I must. Find her, Twilight! Please find her. She can help you, I know she can."

"I will, Your Highness." Twilight nodded. "I promise!"

A short while later, Tempest Shadow and Twilight were standing before the mirror, wearing hastily-packed carryalls.

"Tempest and I will go through," Twilight said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "See if we can find Sunset on the other side. If we do, we'll come right back. If not, we'll... figure something out. Get a message back, keep looking for her. Starlight, you and Trixie stay here and keep an eye on this end of the portal. We don't want it closing on us while we're over there."

"You got it, Twilight." Starlight nodded. "I'll let Trixie know when she wakes up."

"Spike," Twilight said to him, "you and Grubber stay close to Starlight. Help her and Trixie. Do whatever they need you to do."

"You are coming back, right, Twi?" Spike was wringing his claws anxiously. "You're not gonna get lost over there?"

"Don't worry, bud," Grubber said, patting his shoulder. "The boss ain't gonna let anything happen to her!"

Hearing this, Celestia apparently decided to make it official.

"Tempest," she said sternly, "I am placing you in charge of Twilight's well-being. See to it she returns safely, whatever happens."

Tempest nodded. "Understood." She glanced at Twilight. "So don't give me any trouble, huh? Unless you want to get carried back."

Twilight smiled up at her. Then she turned to face the mirror.

She gritted her teeth.

Sunset went through this -- and she wrote back from the other side, so it has to be safe... right?

Tempest glanced down at her. "Nervous?"

"A little," Twilight allowed.

"Good. Nice to know I'm not the only one."

As they'd planned, Tempest stepped up to the mirror first. She put a hoof cautiously through the shimmering plane of the portal, feeling it out.

And then, without hesitation, she dove straight through it, disappearing from sight.

Twilight blinked, startled.

She waited a couple minutes, as Tempest had suggested. And then, when the other pony hadn't returned, she stepped to the mirror herself.

Gingerly, she pushed her way through it. And was gone.

Unable to take it any longer, Spike dashed across the floor towards the mirror. "Twilight!"

"Spike! Wait!" Grubber chased after him. Lunging, he just managed to catch hold of the dragon's tail... but Spike had already plunged through the plane of the mirror. The portal's suction hauled Grubber in as well, with a loud yelp that was abruptly cut off.

Silence fell.

Starlight nervously exchanged a look with Celestia.

"Well..." Starlight said, "at least this way they'll have help, right?"

The Gathering Dark

Twilight took the sudden change of form as well as could be expected.

"Yaaaaaaaaaa!"

She knelt on the cold, gray concrete path, staring at the bizarre, spidery things on the ends of her forelimbs, feeling anxiously for a horn and tail that weren't there, trying to sort out exactly who and what she was...

"Twilight?"

Blinking, she looked down at the purple, green-eyed creature putting a worried paw on her knee.

"Spike, you're not supposed to -- wait, are you a dog?"

"I... think so! But I have no idea what you are..."

Suddenly, Twilight felt a steadying hand on her shoulder. She looked up...

At Tempest. The maroon face, large watchful eyes, and plume-like mane were unmistakable. But otherwise, she looked as strange as Twilight now felt. Tempest was standing on her hind limbs, dressed in some kind of black leather garment, which looked like it had lost an argument with a zipper-and-buckle factory.

Tempest glanced around, then smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Twilight, you get used to it. It must be something to do with the portal spell: it helps us adapt to... wherever this place is..."

"Why doesn't it bother you?" Twilight asked, as the taller girl helped her to stand on her own two... feet, she thought in surprise.

"Who says it doesn't?" Tempest examined one of her own hands uneasily. "Remember, I used to live on the street. It teaches you to adapt quickly."

Tempest glanced around again, at the grim-looking brick building in front of them, the rearing horse statue behind... but mostly at the sky. It was heavily overcast. The clouds were ragged, leaden swirls scudding across the sky in a brisk wind.

"For an alternate world," Tempest said, "that's meant to grant the caster their greatest wish, somehow I pictured it being... oh, I don't know, sunnier?"

Twilight nodded. "It's chilly, too." She'd acquired clothes as part of her transformation, a light blue blouse and a purple skirt with her cutie mark on it. And... shoes, she thought, on her feet. Yet even so, she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. "I wish I'd thought to bring a cloak!"

"You could always go back and get one," Tempest suggested. "I'll wait."

Twilight looked ill. "I... think I'll let my stomach settle down a bit first, before going through all that again..."

"Bleagh! Tell me about it!" Grubber groaned, as he came to. "Spike! Why do I keep letting you drag me into stuff like this?"

Then he looked around at himself, and up at Tempest.

"Aw, geez, boss! Spike gets to be a dog. Why do I gotta be a snake?"

Twilight smiled down at him. "A python, actually," she said. "Malayopython reticulatus."

"Uh... yeah. One of them."

"Probably due to your personality being so warm and cuddly, Grubber." Tempest reached down and picked him up. For want of anywhere else to put him, she draped his diamond-patterned length across her shoulders.

"Yeah, well. There is that!" Grubber peered around at everything from his new perch. "Hey, you wouldn't have a mouse-flavored cupcake on you, would you, boss?"

"Quiet, Grubber," Tempest warned him. "Remember, snakes are seen, not heard."

"Story of my life..." he grumbled, rolling his eyes. Then he suddenly jolted in surprise.

"Yo, boss!" he whispered to her. "We got incoming!"

"Hey!" a voice called, from the building entrance in front of them.

Looking up, Tempest and Twilight saw a stranger running down the sidewalk towards them: a tall girl with red-and-yellow hair, dressed in a black jacket, a bookbag slung on her back.

Tempest quickly stepped forward, putting herself in front of Twilight. "All right," she called back. "That's close enough. Who are you?"

The girl came to a startled halt, staring at them desperately. "Did you two just come through the portal?"

Tempest motioned for Twilight to remain silent.

"What portal?"

The girl stood there for a moment, gritting her teeth. Then she swung off her backpack and dug into it. "My journal... all these new messages just started appearing in it... so I thought... well, I hoped..."

She was paging through a hardback book with a flaming sun cutie-mark on its cover... the same as the one on her shirt.

Twilight leaned around Tempest, eyes wide. "Are you Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset stared in surprise at something on a page of the journal. Then she looked up. "Are you Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes!" Twilight said, overjoyed. Darting around Tempest, she flung herself at Sunset, hugging her tightly. Caught by surprise, Sunset uneasily returned the hug, with a look of confused relief.

Tempest glanced at Grubber. "And here we thought it was going to be difficult..."

"Don't jinx it, boss!" Grubber whispered back.

"Oh, and this is Tempest!" Twilight said. "She's a friend of mine."

"Uh, nice to meet you." Sunset uneasily put out a hand. "Are you like... her bodyguard or something? Back home, I mean?"

Tempest stared at the hand, momentarily puzzled, then shrugged and shook it. "Let's just say I take Twilight's safety very seriously."

"I'm so glad we ran into you, Sunset!" Twilight said. "Princess Celestia asked us to find you, and I wouldn't have known where to start looking..."

"Princess Celestia!" Sunset drew back. "But... she shut the portal on me! She abandoned me here!"

"No-no-no!" Twilight waved her hands. "It's not like that at all! The portal had a time limit. It closed on its own. But we were able to reopen it! And Celestia... look, the portal wouldn't let her through, so she sent us. She wanted you to know she regrets what happened. She wants to make it right if she can. She says you're welcome to come back, any time. She's waiting for us on the other side of the portal, right now!"

"She is?" Sunset stared at the portal in stunned silence. "Oh..."

Tempest looked at Twilight.

"Might just be me, but I'm not getting that whole 'you just saved me from being marooned in another dimension, thank you, thank you' vibe here." Tempest looked at Sunset. "Mind letting us in on what the problem is?"

"I do want to go home -- more than anything." Sunset turned to look at the large building beyond the statue. "But... I have some friends here, and..."

"You made friends?" Twilight asked, astonished. "Here?"

"Well, of course!" Sunset stared at her. "Twilight, this world's inhabitants aren't just illusions, or holograms, or anything like that. They're ponies... uh, I mean people... just like you and me!"

Sunset's gaze fell, in shame. "And they were unbelievably kind to me when I showed up here, even though I was a complete stranger. I can't just abandon them..."

"So..." Twilight asked, "you're saying... you want to stay here?"

"No! I want to go back! It's just... look, Twilight, when I came here, some of Equestria's magic came through with me. It altered this world, made it over to suit my wishes. And then when the portal closed, that magic was cut off, forcibly. I think that's left this world... broken, somehow. It's different from when I arrived. It's darker, colder. It just feels wrong. And that's my fault. I made this happen! I just..."

She stared up at the building again.

"I just can't go back... not until I straighten this out. My friends here, they deserve that much from me..."

She put a hand to her head. "Look, I know this isn't your problem. And I'm in no position to ask anything. But... I'm not that sure I can do this on my own! Since you're here, Twilight... could I maybe, possibly ask your help in fixing this? Please?"

"You mean..." Twilight asked, in increasing excitement, "stick around and help explore a totally different dimension... with a totally different society... that no other ponies have ever seen before?"

"Uh oh," Tempest whispered to Grubber. "I know that look..."

Sunset blinked. "Uh, yeah? I suppose?"

"Yes!" Twilight punched the air. "Count me in! We'd be glad to help! Right, Tempest?"

Tempest frowned at her.

"Twilight, a certain very important pony charged me with making sure you got back home safely. And this... well, it's kind of the exact opposite!"

Spike reached up and put a paw on Twilight's knee. "I'll help, Twi!"

"Uh, I don't want to alarm you," Sunset said, staring at him, "but your dog just talked."

"Oh, yeah," Grubber said. "The dog can't keep his mouth shut." Then his eyes went wide. "Oops!"

Sunset stared at him. And then at Tempest. "I know this is asking a lot. And any time you decide it's safer to head back to Equestria, I won't stop you. But I have to do this. It's important!"

Tempest glanced uneasily between Sunset and Twilight -- from one set of pleading eyes to another.

"You know," she said, "in a test of magic, either one of you could likely mop the floor with me. So why am I suddenly the grownup here?" She sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"What the hay... I'm not your truant officer, Twilight. I'm just along to make sure you don't fall down a well or something."

"Yes!" Twilight said. She turned to Sunset. "So, what do we need to do?"

"First," Sunset said, "let's talk with my friends here, get everyone on the same page. They'll probably be in homeroom in the School."

"This is a school?" Twilight said, staring at the castle-like building.

Sunset shrugged. "I've never known anything but life at school, so this is what I found when I got here."

"Hmph." Tempest frowned. "Couldn't you have wished for something... a little grander?"

"It's not exactly up to me." Sunset shrugged. "Supposedly, it's what I need, not what I want. Though it's really hard figuring out why, half the time."

"Let me borrow your journal," Twilight said. "I want to send the Princess a message, let her know what we're doing." Taking the book from Sunset, she fumbled it open. And then stared in bafflement at the pen Sunset was offering her.

"Oh, I forgot! I'm not sure I know how to write yet, without my horn."

Spike held up his paws. "I'd help you, Twi, but..."

"Don't worry, I'll write," Sunset said, taking the journal back. "Tell me what to say."

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight dictated, "Tempest and I have found Sunset. We need to help her take care of one or two things here, so we may be a while. Will write more when we know it. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Wait... you're Celestia's personal student now?" Sunset asked.

"Uh... yeah?" Twilight admitted uncomfortably.

"Wow." Sunset's face fell. "She didn't waste any time, did she? It's been what... less than a week at the outside?"

"Errr..." Twilight gritted her teeth. "It's been... a bit longer than that. When the portal closes, time can pass differently on either side. It's actually been... well... a few years..."

"Years!" Sunset looked horrified. "But what about..."

Her mouth shut tightly, miserably. She shut her eyes, anguished.

"I really messed this up, didn't I? It's no wonder you're her student now."

"So's Tempest," Twilight said quickly. "In fact, there's a whole group of us back home. It's why we came to find you, Sunset. We could really use your help with a project we're working on."

"Me? Seriously?"

Twilight nodded. "Princess Celestia recommended you personally."

Sunset was silent for a moment.

"That's way more than I deserve." She shook her head. "If I can be any help to you, Twilight, I will. It'll pay you back for having to come get me."

Twilight smiled. "We'll deal with that later. First, let's go find your friends..."

She started to turn towards the entrance to the School, but Sunset put up a hand. "Hold up! We can't go in that way. Like I said, things have gotten... darker here. Principal Celestia has gone missing, and..."

"Wait... Principal Celestia?" Twilight asked, her eyes wide.

Sunset nodded. "There's a lot of things we should talk about... later. What matters right now is, the Vice Principal has taken charge. And she's put this place on lockdown. Or the next best thing. There are security guards at the doors now, and you need a student ID to get in." She showed them a card with her photo on it.

Twilight looked up at Tempest. "Uh oh! We don't have those."

Tempest smiled easily.

"Who ever said we needed them? Either of you have a butter knife?"

They stared at her, confused.

Tempest casually unzipped a pocket on her jacket's sleeve. "Not to worry... I just happen to have one..."

"I keep thinking it can't get any worse," Rainbow grumbled. "I've really got to stop thinking that..."

Having passed word round during morning classes, Sunset and her friends were finally convened around a table in the cafeteria. And Sunset's friends each had something to complain about.

"Luna's gone bonkers with the security," Rainbow went on. "The guards were setting up metal detectors at the doors this morning. And she's banned sports equipment in class! I mean, how am I supposed to work on my rad moves if I have to go all the way to my gym locker to get my skateboard?"

"And they'll be doing bag checks soon," Fluttershy said miserably. "Which means I won't be able to sneak in any of my little friends to keep me company." Opening her bookbag, she lifted out a white rabbit and cuddled him anxiously.

Rarity patted her shoulder. "I hear Luna's planning on instituting a school uniform," she said, "like they have at Crystal Prep." Rarity made a face. "Now, I'm all for setting a proper tone and all, but how am I supposed to set trends and demonstrate what fabulous truly means, if I have to walk around looking exactly the same as everyone else?"

"Ughh! Rarity!" Rainbow frowned at her. "Kinda thinking what we're wearing isn't the most important thing right now?"

Pinkie Pie sighed. "I hear she's going to ban eating during class! But what happens if I need an emergency cupcake to tide me over until lunchtime?"

"That's... not really --" Twilight began, but Rainbow waved a hand.

"No, no, she's got a point there... sugar-crazed Pinkie Pie is bad enough. But sugar-deprived Pinkie Pie? Uhh, let's just say you don't wanna go there..."

Applejack was seated quietly, arms folded about her, eyes lowered in silent misery. It took a moment to realize what was different about her.

"Oh, A.J.!" Sunset said. "Your hat! They didn't..."

"Naw." The farm girl shrugged. "I just left it at home today. Figured I'd save the hassle of having them impound it on me."

Sunset looked around at her unhappy friends. Her jaw set firmly.

"Don't worry, gang. We're going to fix this. We're going to figure out what happened, and get things back the way they were. Twilight, Tempest, and I, we're going to make it right! I promise!"

The others stared at her, surprised by her intensity. "If y'all got a plan, Sunset, Ah'll back ya a hunnerd percent," Applejack said doubtfully, "but why's it such a big deal to you? After all, you only just got here yourself."

"Yeah!" Rainbow added. "I mean, sure, things are bad... but it's just how things are, now. Why're you taking it so personally?"

Sunset gritted her teeth. She'd been dreading this moment.

"Well... it's because..."

Pinkie suddenly perked up. "Oooh! Is it because you're all from some alternate world? And you're actually ponies there, in some school run by a Princess? And you came through some kind of magic mirror to get here, and the magic made Sunset all powerful and popular for a while, but then the magic got taken away, which is why we don't remember and things are so cold and gloomy and scary? And now Sunset doesn't feel like she can go home until she puts things right again?"

"Eeeyeah..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Pretty sure that's not it, Pinkie."

"Actually..." Spike said in surprise, "she's got it more or less right."

"Ohmygosh!" Rarity gasped. "Your dog can talk?"

"Oh, sure!" Spike struck a pose. "And where we come from, I'm not even a dog! I'm a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!"

Grubber glanced at Tempest, who shrugged. "Just for the record," he said, "I can talk too... but I wasn't gonna say anything about it..."

The others stared at him. And Twilight stared at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, how did you know all that?"

"Ehh, just a lucky guess!" she replied breezily.

"Now hang on a minute," Applejack said. "Lemme get this straight... you three are ponies?"

"From another world?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"And there's a Princess there?" Rarity gasped. "In a lovely castle? With handsome guards, and exquisite tapestries, and everything?"

Twilight grimaced, looking around at them all. "Uhm, yeah?"

Rainbow's eyes goggled. "That... is... so... AWESOME!"

The others agreed enthusiastically. They hugged Sunset and the others excitedly. When they'd finally calmed down a bit, Applejack rapped the table for attention.

"Right, simmer down, y'all," she said. "So what's the plan? And how can we help?"

Sunset looked to Twilight... who shrugged, and nodded back to her.

"It's your world, Sunset. You tell us what to do!"

"Right... okay!" Sunset nodded. "First thing we need to do is get Principal Celestia back... which means we need to figure out what happened to her. When did any of us see her last?"

They all thought about it.

"The day before all the rainclouds rolled in," Rarity said, "she was on the loudspeaker in the morning, reminding us the Spring Fling dance was coming up soon."

"Before Luna cancelled it," Rainbow grumbled.

"And Ah remember her talkin' with Granny Smith in the lunchroom," Applejack said. "About ways to make up for the cutbacks in the free lunch program."

"And she was bus monitor in the afternoon," Fluttershy said. She ducked her head sheepishly. "She was kind enough to warn me Angel was trying to climb out of my backpack."

"And after school," Rainbow said, "when I was practicing my goal kicks on the playing field, I remember looking over at Celestia's office window, and I saw Luna looking out of it. And then Luna drew the blinds -- really suspiciously!"

"Luna..." Sunset thought back. "Hang on... Luna has a lot of buried resentment of Celestia, because Celestia is Principal of the School, while Luna's been stuck as VP for like, forever..."

"How d'ya know all that?" Applejack asked, puzzled.

"It's... a long story." Sunset didn't think now was the time to go into her empathy talent. "But that means... maybe..."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "You think maybe Luna got rid of Celestia? I don't mean bumped her off or anything creepy like that. Just... got her fired, or transferred, or something, so Luna could take over and run the place?"

"Well," Twilight said, "Luna has been acting somewhat... extreme, from what you've been saying. It would explain a lot."

"But... wanting to get rid of Celestia?" Fluttershy asked. "Why? She's always been so nice! And she and Luna have always gotten along so well..."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Luna has always been a little... intense, but I don't see her going that far..."

Sunset shook her head. "You'd be surprised what ponies... I mean people, can be driven to, if they feel their goals are being frustrated. And right now, it seems like the only lead we have to go on..."

"Hold on now!" Applejack said. "If we're gonna accuse a Vice Principal of pulling off somethin' like that, we're gonna need a heap of proof! Where're we going to find it?"

"Is there anyone," Twilight asked, "who might have seen what happened? Like a secretary, or office worker, who'd have been around Celestia's office at the time?"

The others shook their heads. "Celestia and Luna pretty much handle all the admin stuff themselves," said Rainbow.

Fluttershy nodded. "It's amazing, how they run the entire school all on their own."

Rarity nodded. "It's quite the performance, really, every single day!"

Tempest grinned at Twilight. "I imagine the Great and Powerful Trixie could take a lesson or two from that..."

"Ahem!"

They all turned, and found a blue-skinned, white-haired girl standing nearby, tapping her shoe crossly.

"All right!" she demanded. "The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to know how you did it! Trixie doesn't like anyone messing with her stuff!"

"Trixie?" Twilight asked, amazed. "What are you doing here? I thought we left you--"

"You thought you left Trixie confused and uncertain, not knowing who committed this perfidy! But Trixie has evidence!"

"Not now, Trixie!" Rainbow said in disgust.

"Wait, you know her?" Twilight said, eyes wide.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, yeah! But whatever she's on about, you can be sure there ain't a lick of sense to it."

But Trixie was holding up her phone, on the screen of which there was a photo. It was a selfie, with Trixie and Sunset side by side, smiling at the camera.

Trixie glared at Sunset. "How did you do it? How did you take this photo with Trixie and then sneak it onto Trixie's phone, when said phone has not left Trixie's possession for a moment!" She paused for a moment. "That would actually make a really good trick for Trixie's act... but Trixie still demands to know how you did it!"

"Hold on," Sunset said. "Earlier, while the portal's magic was still active, and I was so popular, I did take a lot of selfies with people here. But I thought all that went away when the portal closed."

Rarity was already checking her phone. "I have one too, darling!" She showed a picture -- of herself, Sunset, and Applejack arm-in-arm.

The others checked their phones, finding similar pictures stored on them. By discreet questioning, they found the same was true for most of the students at the tables around them.

"So..." Twilight said, "the removal of Equestrian magic didn't change everything. It didn't remove these pictures from everyone's phones. I wonder why?"

Sunset shrugged. "Professional courtesy? After all, these phones are this world's equivalent of magic mirrors. Or maybe it's a kind of technology that Star Swirl's magic couldn't take into account. Either way, it's proof of what I was saying, about being a world-famous recording star when I got here."

"Ah was kinda takin' you at your word on that," Applejack said, "but it sure looks like you were tellin' the truth. An' don't that beat all!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said. "It's like finding out reality doesn't work at all the way that you think it does!"

"That's just you all the time, Pinkie," Rainbow told her.

"I know! But I thought I was the only one! Hee hee hee!"

"But... if the removal of magic didn't affect our phones," Sunset went on. "Maybe there are other devices here that still have a record of what happened with Luna and Celestia..."

"The security cameras!" Rainbow smacked the table. "Luna had them installed a while back. You know, when there was that rash of breakins in the neighborhood? They're all over the place, recording 24/7..."

"Is there one in Celestia's office?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah..." Sunset nodded. "If it's a kind of black, bubble-like thing on the ceiling? I noticed it myself when Celestia called me to her office the first day. I was going to ask what they were."

"Cameras..." Twilight looked around, puzzled. "You mean, someone sits around watching everything, all day long?"

"Nah! There's recording machines." Rainbow hooked a thumb. "Up in the security office. I was shredding up and down the hall near there one day when they'd accidentally left the door open. I only caught a glimpse, but there's a rack of machines and screens in there. It records everything so they can check it out later if they need to."

"So one of them machines," Applejack said, "might've caught what happened, in Celestia's office? Well, that's a start... but how're we going to get in there to check?"

"Really!" Rarity said. "It's not like Luna will just let us in herself!"

"Maybe... if we asked really nicely?" Fluttershy offered timidly.

"Hmph," Tempest said, crossing her arms. "There's an old saying: it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. Though myself, I've always found them equally difficult. In this case, I say we let ourselves in."

"Like with that window earlier?" Sunset asked her, smiling.

Tempest smiled back. "Where is this security office?"

A few minutes later they were up on the second floor, in a short side corridor, which was in shadow due to the overhead lights being burnt out.

Rainbow and Applejack hung back near the intersection, on watch. And Tempest knelt by the door, staring at the unfamiliar-looking lock.

"What do you think, Grubber?" she asked him.

"I dunno, boss," he replied, peering at the lock. "This is the kind of lock they have in the cities, back home. I'm more used to locks I can actually see into..."

Tempest nodded. "I'm afraid this is a bit beyond me too," she finally said. "And whoever put this lock in, they knew what they were doing. We can't pry the door open... and I'd prefer not to force it. We might have to see if we can sneak the key somehow..."

"Or..." said a voice from behind them, "you could just leave it to the professionals? Hmm? Someone with experience picking locks?"

"Trixie!" Applejack warned. "Now ain't the time!"

"Oh, excuse me!" Trixie huffed on her nails and examined them. "From what you were saying, it sounded so important. And who better to deal with an annoying lock, than the world's foremost escape artiste?" Trixie posed dramatically, in a non-existent spotlight.

Tempest shrugged. "You really think you can get this open?"

Trixie drew a pin from her hair. "Watch and learn!"

Tempest reluctantly moved aside, and Trixie set to work, jigging the pin around in the lock, tongue between her teeth, humming busily to herself...

Five minutes later, she thumped the door in frustration. "Come on! Open, you stupid door!"

"So much for that idea." Sunset looked around. "Anyone have another?"

Tempest thought for a moment.

"Rainbow," she called. "Does this room have a window?"

"Sure it does... but we're up on the second floor here!"

Tempest smiled. "Second story work... how appropriate. Sunset, you and the others wait here. Twilight and I will take care of it... and you, Trixie," she added, eyeing her.

"Me?"

"Well, this is a job for the world's foremost escape artiste, right?"

Preening a little, Trixie willingly followed after them.

Outside, the sky was definitely grimmer than before. It was darkly overcast, the ragged cloudbanks looming threateningly, as if a rainstorm was about to start any minute.

They stood close to one of the side wings of the building, looking up at the office window they wanted. Tempest had counted the windows twice, just to be sure they had the right one.

Trixie stared up at it, hands on hips. "So what now? Do we go swipe a ladder or something? How do we get up there?"

"We don't," Tempest told her. "Here, you'll be needing this." She tucked the butter knife in the pocket of Trixie's skirt.

"Huh? What's that for? What? HEY! WAUGHHHHH!"

Tempest had grabbed her up and, with a mighty heave, flung the smaller girl up into the air. Trixie desperately flailed about, and just managed to slap her hands onto the sill of the office window, stopping herself from tumbling back down again.

"Are you out of your mind?" she yelled down.

"You're up there, aren't you?" Tempest replied calmly. "Get to work, master escape artiste. We'll keep watch down here."

Grumbling, Trixie struggled a bit, sneakers scuffing against the brickwork. Then she determinedly managed to haul herself up far enough to have one hand free. Pulling out the butter knife, she set to work on the window sash.

"Uhhh, if she slips," Grubber asked nervously, "you are gonna catch her, right, boss?"

Tempest smirked. "I'll give it serious consideration..."

Twilight was staring up at Trixie, amazed. "She's a lot like our Trixie, isn't she?"

"A little too much, for my liking," Tempest muttered. "I'm still not comfortable around our version."

"I mean," Twilight went on, "she complains and brags a lot, but when it really counts she doesn't back down, she doesn't give up. It's like she's got something to prove to everyone -- or maybe to herself."

"True..." Tempest reluctantly nodded. "That may be why I put up with her."

"And what if..." Twilight went on, "what if everyone back home has a duplicate here? Celestia, me, you, Starlight, Trixie..."

Spike stared up at her. "Even Grubber and me?"

"Don't see why not," Twilight agreed. "Pretty much everyone we know could be here. Except for Sunset, maybe -- she invoked the spell that linked the portal to this world. But anyone else is fair game, I suppose."

"I certainly hope not," Tempest said. "The thought of there being more than one of that pink-haired girl..."

"Hey! Are you two going to stand down there chattering all day?"

They looked up. Trixie was inside the room already. She leaned casually on the windowsill, examining her fingernails. "Told you I could do it! No thanks to you two! Feel free to sing Trixie's praises! Come on, you know you wanna!"

"Nice work, Trixie!" Twilight said willingly.

"Oh, thanks!" Trixie sneered, "Twilight whatever-your-name-was! I'm gonna go let the others in. See you when you get back up here!"

Trixie ducked inside, and slammed the window sash down, hard.

Twilight and Tempest looked at each other.

"Definitely like our Trixie..." Tempest said with a smile.

On the other side of the portal, in the tower workroom, Starlight was alternating between checking that the mirror was still operating properly -- as far as she was able to tell -- and reading over Star Swirl's journals, just to be sure she had the various spells associated with mirror magic clear in her mind. In case things go south in a hurry, she told herself. Because they usually do...

And while she was at it, out of habit Starlight was doing a mental cross-comparison of the mirror's spell components with those of other translocative spells she knew of. After all, if one could find a common link between teleportation, dimensional portals, and even time-transference...

... well now, that'd be pretty cool, wouldn't it?

On the couch, Trixie was still asleep, mumbling and muttering to herself.

"Hello, Princess Luna..." she murmured dreamily.

Princess... Luna? Starlight shook her head in amusement, wondering what grandiose fantasy her showpony friend was dreaming about... and half-wishing there was some way she could join in the fun.

"Trixie found the key, and opened the door..." Trixie whispered. She smiled contentedly, as if expecting praise as usual.

And then:

"WHAT?"

Starlight's head snapped round, just in time to see Trixie tumble off the couch and hit the floor with a thump, her eyes wide and staring. Then Trixie leapt to her hooves and dashed over to the mirror, hurriedly hoisting up the cover over its base and staring into its workings. Her gaze darted back and forth in mounting fright.

"Trixie, what's the matter?" Starlight asked, hurrying over. Only to be grabbed by Trixie's forehooves and shaken like a rag doll.

"Three days, Starlight!" Trixie shouted. "I was so worn out, I wasn't thinking clearly! I completely forgot! The portal shuts down after three days! How could I forget three days, Starlight!"

"But... you replaced the timing gem," Starlight said. "We checked the rest of it over, there wasn't another as far as we could see."

"But why did the portal close after three days? What if the lock-out gem wasn't just a delay? What if it was keeping something else from running out too fast? Or... or burning out... or boiling over... whatever!"

"I've been keeping an eye on it," Starlight assured her. "It seems to be working fine, near as I can tell. And it's been nowhere near three days yet."

"But what if it's no longer three days?" Trixie demanded. "What if it's less? The portal might shut down any second! Ohhhh!" Trixie's hooves danced frantically. "I can't have screwed this up, Starlight! I just can't! Our friends are over there now, and if they end up stuck there, it'll be all Trixie's fault!"

"Wait... Trixie, how did you know Twilight and the others went through the portal? You were sound asleep for that."

"Oh, Princess Luna mentioned it..." Trixie distractedly waved a hoof as she turned back to the mirror, tracing silver leads and counting gemstones.

"Princess who?" Starlight eyed her. "You feeling all right, Trixie?"

Trixie looked up and stared back at her for a moment, with a puzzled, somewhat saddened look on her face. Then she shook her head furiously. "Starlight! Try to keep up! We need to check the mirror again! We need to make sure the portal stays open! The Great and Powerful Trixie's reputation is on the line here!"

"Okay! Okay!" Starlight waved her hooves soothingly. "Calm down, Trixie! We'll check it over again, both of us. It'll be all right."

But Trixie wasn't listening. She had her hooves pressed to her temples, shaking her head anxiously. "Urrgh! Trixie hasn't found the key yet!" she muttered. "Trixie was sure she'd found it... what else could it be?"

"What else...?" Starlight suddenly fell silent, thinking for a moment. And then she looked at the piles of journals on the table. "No, wait... that can't be right... I checked it over myself!"

"What! What is it?" Trixie was beside herself with anxiety.

Starlight went back to the table and pulled over a lengthy scroll. On it was the Research Magic division's attempt to unroll the portal spell into its original spell components -- and now that Starlight knew what she was looking for, she also knew where to find it. Her hoof tapped several sections of the diagram, in order.

"Aha! Star Swirl was a far better mage than a mechanic, and he hid it really well... but there's a decay aspect threaded into the spell itself. Probably to ensure the portal doesn't stay open indefinitely. Star Swirl's notes did say contact between dimensions could have unforeseen, potentially damaging effects. He must have added this to prevent that from happening, same as with the timing gem."

"So... how long do we have?" Trixie asked.

"I can't tell, just from looking at this," Starlight admitted. "There are parts of the spell that depend on the physical components of the mirror."

Trixie's teeth gritted. "Like the timing gem?"

Starlight nodded. "That might affect the spell's delay... or it might not. The only way to be sure would be to cancel the spell, rewrite it, and recast it without the delay aspect. And we can't possibly do that, not until Twilight and the others get back!"

"So... what do we do, Starlight?"

Starlight fretted, debating with herself. And then reached with her magic for the hardback book with the flaring sun mark on its cover, which Celestia had left with them in case they needed it.

"We do what Twilight would do: we let everypony know, so we're all on the same page, and can work on this as a group."

"Uhhh, do we have to mention that Trixie, well... might have screwed up again? Twilight might be really cross. She might even kick Trixie out of the group..."

"Trixie! You know Twilight. She doesn't think like that! She always says, we don't assign blame, we figure out what the problem is and work on that together -- with everypony's help. And hey --" She patted Trixie's shoulder encouragingly. "If you hadn't been pulling an all-nighter, we might not have gotten this far. So why should anypony be mad just because you forgot something? As long as you remember in time to do something about it?"

Trixie smiled gratefully. And then put on an arch expression. "Well, of course, Starlight! The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie knows no limits in assisting her friends!"

Starlight rolled her eyes. Then she grabbed a quill in her magic, and began scribbling industriously on an open page in the journal.

When Tempest and Twilight returned to the security office, they found the others inside. Rainbow was sitting at the bank of video screens, eagerly prodding switches and fiddling with knobs just to see what they did.

Sunset held up her journal. "Twilight, do you have a friend named Starlight Glimmer? I think this message might be for you."

Twilight skimmed the scribbled note, her eyes widening. "Uh oh! We might have less time than I thought. Trixie and Starlight found a timing component in the portal spell. They're not sure if it means the portal closes in three days now... or three minutes!"

Sunset's friends looked at each other. "Then we'd best get this sorted out," Applejack declared. "And get you folks back home, pronto!"

They turned to the bank of video screens. Rainbow had worked out how to select a video stream, and how to scrub the video back and forth in time.

"There!" Sunset leaned over Rainbow's shoulder to point at a screen. "That's Celestia's office!"

"Okay... so let's find the right time..." Rainbow grabbed a knob and fast-forwarded the video. There followed a lengthy period of Celestia sitting at her desk, working through a stack of paperwork that never seemed to get any shorter. Occasionally she would turn to the filing cabinet, but for well over two hours by the video's time clock, she did nothing but mark paper and consult reference books.

"Wow..." Applejack said, "I knew Celestia did a lot for the school. But I never realized how monotonous her job is!"

"Okay! Here we go!" Rainbow called. "Luna just walked in!"

There followed a lengthy, apparently heated discussion -- which Rainbow scrolled through quickly, pronouncing it "boring". And then they saw Luna walk quickly out of the room...

And Celestia wasn't there anymore.

"Scroll back, Rainbow!" Rarity said. "I didn't see what happened."

"Neither did I!" Fluttershy said. "It was too quick!"

Rainbow slammed the video into reverse, until both of the Principals were visible in the room again. Then she hit Play.

"-- why must you always be the perfect one, the proper one!" Luna was shouting.

"I've told you before," Celestia said patiently. "The Education Association..."

"Who runs this school?" Luna thundered. "Who works hard to keep it going, day in and day out? Is it them... or us?"

Celestia eyed her. Clearly this wasn't the first time she'd has this argument. "You need to be patient, Luna. Just for a little while longer."

"Patient? Ha! Jam tomorrow, Celestia! Never jam today! And you're so concerned with making sure your students feel comfortable, appreciated, and safe... all the while leaving it to me to ensure they meet the minimum requirements for behavioral and academic excellence --"

"Just like at Crystal Prep?" Celestia interrupted, with an arched eyebrow.

"I should have stayed at Crystal Prep!" Luna tossed her hands in frustration. "Their methods may be a little harsh, but at least they know how to reward hard work and excellence!"

"Luna..."

Luna leaned on the desk, glaring at her. "Prove that I mean anything to you at all!"

"What? How?"

"Make me co-Principal of this School!" Luna shouted. "You don't need anyone's permission! You can just do it! What's stopping you?" Even though they couldn't see Luna's face on the screen, they could hear the anguish in her voice. "Show me that you've always believed in me!"

Celestia stared back at her in silence... for just a little too long.

Luna jabbed a finger at her. "You're weak-willed, Celestia! And spineless! And... and... selfish! You've never cared about me at all! You just brought me in to hand out demerits and turn the lights off at night! And always, always you've been in... my... way!"

Luna crossed to the door, yanked it open.

"I wish I'd never come here! No wait, that way you'd win, as usual! I wish you were gone, and I was in charge! I HATE YOU!"

She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Celestia rose from her desk, reaching out a hand, a pained look on her face.

And then, in a swirling flash of light... she suddenly wasn't there.

"Woah..." Rainbow breathed. She quickly scrubbed the video back, replayed it. It showed the same thing.

Celestia had simply vanished.

Everyone was silent for a long moment.

"I declare!" Applejack finally said. "Must be that Equestrian magic you talked about, Sunset! Luna used it to make Celestia... disappear, or whatever. And now she's in charge, just like she wanted. Boy, howdy! This thing just got dangerous!"

"Indeed!" Rarity said. "What if she decides to make us go away, too?"

"We need to make our move before she has a chance!" Rainbow pounded the desk. "Stop her dead in her tracks! Right, Sunset?"

"Um... Sunset?" Fluttershy asked meekly. "Are you okay?"

Sunset was staring at the screen, rubbing a shoulder with a hand, an anguished look on her face.

"It hurts just as much," she said quietly, "seeing it from the outside."

She looked around at them. "I'm sorry, everyone. I think this might be my fault," she said. "You remember I mentioned there's a Celestia in my world, too --"

"The Princess?" Rarity asked -- eagerly, despite her fears.

"Yeah, well... when I came here, I had a lot of pent-up resentment for her. And my magic was still active, granting my wishes. When Luna called me to her office, well... let's just say that I understand her resentment. And I might have wished that there was something I could do to help. Maybe my magic rubbed off on her somehow, so that she was able to make Celestia... go away."

"Oooh!" Fluttershy moaned. "Can we get her back?"

Twilight nodded. "Even magic can't make things just disappear. Though it can teleport them... or put them in a limbo state, where they're locked away from everything else..."

Sunset nodded. "We just have to hope that's what happened to Celestia. And that we can talk Luna into bringing her back. And that's not going to be easy, trust me! It's going to be really hard to convince Luna to do that."

"Convince me to do what?" asked a cold, strict voice behind them.

They turned. Vice Principal Luna was standing in the doorway, flanked by two security guards.

The students all stared at her in frightened silence. Luna stared back, with icy aloofness.

"This goes rather beyond a demerit... don't you think?"

Sunset recovered first. She turned to look at Twilight... and then at Tempest.

"You two have done more than enough," she whispered. "Get Twilight home, safe!"

Tempest stared back at her in surprise. And then nodded.

"Tempest..." Twilight said, worriedly.

"Well?" Luna shouted at her guards. "Don''t just stand there! Arrest them!"

"Twilight! With me!" Tempest grabbed her arm and dragged her over toward the window. Shoving it open, she clambered through into the chill wind outside. Clinging to the windowsill, she eyed the drop, then simply let herself fall. She hit the grass, rolling to take the hit, but even so was limping slightly when she stood up.

"You all right, boss?" Grubber asked, clinging fearfully about her neck. "Wish I could have shut my eyes for that one..."

"I've been worse." She stared up at the window, held up her arms. "Twilight! Jump! Now!"

At the window, Twilight looked back into the room. The guards had charged in to stop her and Tempest, but Sunset and Applejack had flung themselves in their way, scuffling with them in order to slow them down.

"Go, Twilight!" Sunset called over her shoulder.

Uneasily, Twilight swung out through the window, shut her eyes, and then let go...

And felt Tempest catch her easily, and set her on the ground.

"Twi-- uh, bark bark!" It was Spike, standing anxiously on the windowsill. Twilight put up her arms and he leapt down into them. Hugging him in relief, she put him in her backpack for safety.

Then Tempest leaned close, her voice cold and stern. "Twilight, if I tell you to run, I want you to head for the mirror portal. Don't look back, just get through it. And then... shut it behind you!"

"Tempest!"

"You heard me!" Tempest snapped. "Don't worry about me, Sunset, or anyone else here! Just get back to Equestria. And stay there!"

Before Twilight could respond, Tempest grabbed her hand and tugged her into a run. Together, they raced along the side of the building, turned the corner...

... and ran smack into more security guards, who were fanning out to encircle the school grounds. There were enough of them that even Tempest didn't want to turn it into a fight.

At least... not yet.

The guards quickly surrounded them, and wordlessly marched them back towards the School entrance.

Tempest eyed the rearing horse statue as they approached it.

"Twilight..." she whispered, timing it... "RUN!"

But Twilight stood where she was. "No, Tempest," she said, uncomfortably. "We came here to find Sunset. We can't just abandon her. Or her friends. We have to help them!"

Tempest stared at her, shocked. And then rolled her eyes, groaning in frustration.

She glanced around at the guards. "You ever have one of those days? When they just don't listen to you?"

The guards looked at each other. And nodded sadly.

You Need to Tell Her

Luna's office was, if anything, even darker than Twilight had expected. With the stormy weather outside, there was almost no natural lighting coming through the blinds, and the room lights were off. A heavy-shaded reading lamp on the desk cast a weak pool of light -- and put Luna's stern features in shadowed contrast as she glared across the desk at Sunset, Twilight, and their friends. The only one not present was Trixie -- true to form, she'd pulled a magician's exit during the confrontation with the guards, and vanished amongst the crowds of students in the halls.

"I have always had my suspicions about you, Sunset Shimmer," Luna was saying, "But now I've finally found out who the real ringleader is here... the cause of all these breakins..."

She stared levelly across the desk.

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Look..." Twilight said, "I can explain --"

"Non-students!" Luna snapped, overruling her. "Trespassing on school grounds, breaking and entering -- into a security office, no less!" Her eyebrow raised. "Which demonstrates either admirable self-confidence, or severe lack of information..."

She rose from the desk, and moved to the blinds, peering through the slats at the gathering storm.

"... and that is not even touching on the disappearance of Principal Celestia. Which I have every reason to believe you must be involved with."

"Now hang on a minute!" Applejack shouted. "We saw what happened with Celestia! On the security video!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow added. "You made her disappear... somehow! And now you want to pin it on Twilight?"

"That doesn't seem very nice," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Indeed! Most unflattering," Rarity added.

"Yeah!" Pinkie bounced agitatedly in her seat. "The mark of a really meany-mean-meany-pants!"

"Enough!" Luna thundered, swinging to face them. Her arms were crossed, her fingers drumming on her arm -- nervously, even as she scowled at them.

In the silence that followed, there was a soft buzzing from Sunset's schoolbag. Sunset exchanged a nervous glance with Twilight. "The journal!" she whispered.

"Starlight?" Twilight whispered back. "What if it's about the portal? What if it's a warning that it's about to close!"

"Excuse me!" Luna glared at them. "Do I have your full attention?"

Sunset and Twilight fell silent, eyeing her nervously.

Luna let out an exasperated breath. "Given all that has happened," she said. "And given your apparent unwillingness to present a full accounting for yourselves, I feel I'd be more than well advised to simply hand you over to the authorities and be done with it. I'm sure they must have official records on some of you..." She gave Tempest a distrusting glare... which Tempest returned with a dark scowl of her own.

"And then we might finally get this School back to some kind of order!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Principal Celestia never called in the police. She always said we were smart enough to work things out amongst ourselves..."

Luna stormed back to the desk, slammed a fist on it.

"I... am not... Celestia!"

Fluttershy quailed, looking like she wanted to cry.

Luna took a breath, composing herself. "And if we cannot achieve order, then perhaps it's even time to reconsider Principal Cinch's offer... to merge CHS with Crystal Prep, and finally bring this school's academic standards and discipline up to par!"

The students stared at her, in varying shades of disbelief, horror, and angry resentment.

"But before I go to that extreme," Luna went on, "there is one question I want answered. One thing I want settled, once and for all..."

She looked from Sunset, to Tempest... and then to Twilight. "Who are you three? What are you doing here?"

Luna leaned on her desk, glaring down at Twilight in particular.

"Who are you, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight hunched, peering up at Luna's fierce, unflinching scowl. Her hands twisted the hem of her skirt. Twilight felt alone, on the spot, and helpless. She tried to think of something -- anything -- to say that would get them out of this mess. And came up with nothing.

And then Sunset leaned towards her. "Twilight," she whispered, "you need to tell her."

"I can't! She'll never believe me! She'll think we're crazy!"

"We're short on time," Sunset said. "We need to go for broke. Trust me, Twilight... the truth! It's the only way Luna will believe us!"

"Uhhh..." Twilight looked back to Luna.

"Well?" Luna demanded.

Twilight swallowed, then nodded. She looked Luna right in the eye.

"The truth," she said firmly, calmly, "is that we're from an alternate universe... Sunset, Tempest, and I. A universe based on magic. It's connected to this one by a portal, hidden in the horse statue out front. The portal links universes based on the needs of the caster who opens it. Sunset opened the portal, and ended up here... where she became trapped when the portal closed on her. Tempest and I came through, hoping to find her -- to bring her home."

She looked up at Luna... pleadingly... hopingly...

"That's all we're here for! To rescue Sunset! We're not entirely sure why Principal Celestia has disappeared! But we do want to help find her, and bring her back... if we still can..."

Her gaze fell, her head drooped.

"That's it. That's the whole story. And I wouldn't be surprised if you don't --"

"An alternate universe... based on magic..." Luna said evenly, an eyebrow raised. From her tone, she didn't believe Twilight, and she didn't disbelieve, either. She sounded... cautiously curious, if anything. "So, presumably, the three of you would be able to work magic? And thereby prove what you're saying is true?"

"Well..." Twilight winced. "That's the thing. Even though the portal is reopened, I haven't been able to work any spells here. Can either of you?"

Tempest shook her head, and so did Sunset. "And it's not for lack of trying," Sunset said. "And that's weird, because I created -- I mean, I opened the portal to this world in the first place! So my magic should have returned by now. But I'm still unable to change things here. Believe me, I wish I could!"

"Then you'll forgive me," Luna said darkly, "if I find your claims difficult to credit. So... if there's nothing else?"

"Wait!" Sunset said. "Give me a chance to prove it!"

"Sunset..." Twilight whispered.

But Sunset held up a hand. Her eyes locked with Luna's.

"Do you have a coin on you?"

Looking doubtful, Luna opened a desk drawer and produced a silver coin, which she held up.

"Put it on the desk," Sunset said, "heads-up. Put your hand over it."

Luna did so, eyeing Sunset for any sign of deception or trickery.

Sunset took a breath, then focused her gaze on Luna's hand... on the coin beneath it. All I have to do, she thought, is flip it over. How hard can inverting one coin be, out of the entirety of this universe I brought into being...

Sunset gritted her teeth, felt for the magic, for the strange automatic thereness she'd experienced before, whenever things just happened the way she wanted them to. Hoping against hope, that it was just a matter of having the portal open so Equestrian magic could soak into this world again, making the impossible possible...

Luna sighed in annoyance. "Is something meant to be happening?"

"Come on, Sunset!" Applejack breathed tensely. "You can do it!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow said. "Uh... whatever it is you're doing! Go for it!"

"We believe in you, dearest!" Rarity added.

"You can bring Celestia back!" Fluttershy whispered. "We know you can!"

"Oooh!" Pinkie shivered with excitement. "I wish I had some popcorn!"

Vice-Principal Luna looked around at all of them, seemingly about to call an end to it.

And then suddenly looked down at her hand. And snatched it away, as if scalded.

Resting on the desk where there had been a silver coin... was a shining disc of solid gold. A hundred-bit coin, if Sunset was any judge. The residual energy of transfiguration had left it scorching hot. The wood of the desk underneath was charred, wisps of smoke rising all around it.

"Woah!" Sunset said. "When I finally come through, I don't mess around with small change, huh?"

Luna was staring at the coin, still rubbing her hand -- though whether it was from discomfort or disquiet was hard to say. "Well..." she said, lost for words. "That was... astonishing, to say the least." She looked up at Twilight again.

"A magic portal, you said?" Luna's gaze as she looked at Twilight, was penetrating, evaluating... and intrigued. "Now that is something I'd very much like to see..."

Luna moved to the door, gesturing to the security detail, who herded the students after her. Luna opened the door.

And faced a wall of angry students. At the forefront of whom was...

"Trixie?" Twilight gasped, overjoyed.

The magician smirked. "Do I know how to work a crowd, or don't I? You can thank Trixie later!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna demanded.

"Well!" said Trixie, blowing on her nails and buffing them on her blouse. "Someone might have gone around letting everyone know that Sunset and her friends found out what you did to Principal Celestia! And that they know how to get her back!" She smiled around at the other students. "Which is what everyone here wants, am I right?"

"We want Celestia back!" the students shouted. "Yeah! What happened to her? Bring her back, right now!"

Luna's teeth ground. "Looks like we can add encouraging disobedience and inciting riot to the list..." she snarled.

"Let us show you the portal first," Twilight said, soothingly. "Let us prove what we're saying is the truth."

Luna glared at her.

"It had better be."

With seemingly the whole school population following them, they made their way out to the front of the school. And into a night-dark storm, with blustery winds. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled. When the rain finally fell, it would be falling sideways.

Sunset stared up at the sky anxiously. "This must be why Star Swirl put a time-limit on the portal. The darkness here, it's getting worse... if we don't do something soon, this world will start coming apart at the seams!"

They struggled down the sidewalk and over to the rearing horse statue... and then found themselves in an area of relative calm, the eye of the storm. With Vice Principal Luna looking on, her arms folded and a doubtful look on her face, Twilight demonstrated passing her hand through the faintly shimmering curtain of the portal, showed it stretching away to infinity beyond.

"And you say there's magic," Luna said, "in this other world?" Once again, Luna's voice betrayed neither doubt nor belief. She simply stated it, like a proposition to be proven or disproven. "Can any of you work it?"

Twilight nodded. "That's... something else you might not accept. In our world, we're actually ponies. Unicorns, to be specific. And all unicorns have the ability to direct and apply magic."

Luna stared at her. "Really," she said dryly. "Thus far, with one admittedly startling exception, I have seen no evidence. It would take quite the display to convince me..."

Tempest leaned closer to Twilight. "What about... you know?"

"Our little party trick?" Twilight replied, nodding. "That could work!" She turned to Sunset. "It's something we've been working on," she said. "It's actually what we wanted your advice about!"

"Well, all right then," Sunset replied readily, "let's do it!"

"There's just one problem," Tempest pointed out. "We don't have our horns In this world. And I don't see how we can direct the magic required without them."

Sunset looked from one of them to the other.

"Hey," she finally said, with a casual shrug, "you just have to think outside the box! Or in this case... outside the universe." Grinning, she reached into her bookbag.

A quick journal note and a lengthy, hoof-biting wait later, the portal shimmered and then disgorged a blue-skinned, white-haired girl, wearing a magician's hat and star-spangled cape. Tempest caught her as she plummeted woozily toward the pavement.

"Ugh! Next time, given a choice, the Great and Powerful Trixie would rather walk!"

"Trixie?" Applejack asked, astounded.

Rainbow stared at her. "You mean, you're from this other world too?"

"What are you babbling about?" asked an annoyed voice behind them. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is right here!"

In shock, everyone looked from one of the two girls to the other. Apart from the magician's cloak and hat that the Trixie who'd stepped from the portal was wearing, the two of them were otherwise identical.

The two Trixies approached each other, stared at each other... and, as one, broke into overjoyed smiles.

"You know..." pony Trixie said, "this could work wonders for Trixie's act!"

"Indeed!" human Trixie replied. "Trixie could literally be in two places at once!"

"We might even be able to work the Moonshot Manticore Mouthdive! If Trixie could only figure out how to avoid being swallowed!"

"Oooh! Trixie has no idea what that is," human Trixie said. "But Trixie is dying to know more!"

"Uh, Trixie...?" Twilight reminded her.

"Of course, of course," pony Trixie said, waving a hand, "A showpony's work is never done! Duty calls!"

"It always does," human Trixie agreed. "Because..."

"The show must go on!" they chorused together.

"Trixie!"

"Yes, yes, all right, Twilight! Slave driver! Now, Trixie brought along the focus gem like you asked." She tapped the gem on her collar. "And the spare that we were using before, to redirect the beam." Dipping into her hat, she brought out the second gem. "So... what's next?"

Twilight looked at Tempest. Who turned to look at Sunset.

"Sunset," she said, quietly and evenly. "I need you to keep an eye on Twilight for me. Don't let anything happen to her... and I mean anything!"

Sunset put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "You can count on me, Tempest."

Tempest nodded. And then turned and passed through the portal, disappearing from sight.

The others quickly arranged themselves. Twilight stood beside the portal, holding the redirecting gem. Pony Trixie stood a short distance away. And Sunset and the others stood well back, amongst the crowd of other students.

At Twilight's nod, Sunset scribbled a note in her journal.

Seconds later, the portal flickered, and a beam of blue, crackling magic projected through it. Twilight quickly held the redirecting gem in it, using it to aim the beam at the gemstone on Trixie's collar. The beam refracted, split, and then spiraled outward, into rings of blazing spectal magic, which increased in intensity as the storage loop charged up.

Surrounded by the whirling spectrum of power, Trixie rose into the air, eyes blazing, hands spread wide.

"BEHOLD!" her voice boomed. "The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie is a sorceror without peer in multiple dimensions!

Everyone was staring up at her, bedazzled by the display of scintillating magic energies... and none more so than the five friends standing together with Sunset.

"Now that is something!" Applejack breathed.

"Truly magnificent! Rarity nodded. "I've never seen such glorious colors!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow shouted, punching a fist in the air.

"Wow..." Fluttershy whispered, overcome with awe.

"YAY!" Pinkie screamed, her hair curling in excitement.

Applejack looked at Sunset. "Boy howdy! I bet back home, you can do some right powerful magic, Sunset," she said. "Just like that, huh?"

"Not by myself," Sunset admitted. She shook her head, amazed. "I'd need friends to help with something like this -- good friends!"

"Well, she's got friends!" Rainbow said. "Right here! Right, gals?"

"You said, it, Rainbow!" Pinkie laughed.

"Absolutely!" Rarity agreed.

Sunset felt her friends' comforting hands resting on her shoulders, saw the warmly reassuring smiles on their faces. And for the first time in a long while, she felt... well, like she belonged. Sunset looked up at Trixie, hovering in midair. The magician had her own circle of friends, and with their help was able to do magic of a kind that Sunset could only dream about...

... and Sunset felt charged up with a sense of sheer wonder, a boundless, unfettered optimism that she hadn't felt in what seemed like ages...

I need to get back home, she thought. And be a part of something like that again... if only they'll let me...

Overcome with excitement,she pumped a fist in the air. "All right, Trixie!" she shouted. "Way to go!"

The students all around her were shouting as well... cheering, applauding, roaring excitedly.

The Trixie in midair suddenly looked round, realizing that there was something different about the flow of magic spiralling all around her. It was expanding steadily outwards... and upwards as well. Before she could say or do anything, it abruptly overloaded...

... and a pillar of roaring energy blasted into the looming, cloud-filled skies.

Trixie cowered, covering her eyes, as magic blazed all around her, lighting the entire block in front of the school as if it was midday. The arcs of spectral color swirled about her, expanding outwards. They chased away the clouds, which swept back as if scalded, swirling away into vapor. Revealed in their wake was a perfectly clear, sun-filled afternoon sky.

The chill winds fell silent. A pleasant, summery warmth swept over the crowd. It was like going from winter, to spring, and then summer, in the blink of an eye.

"Woah..." Twilight whispered, eyes wide, forcing herself to hold the redirecting gem steady. "Celestia was right! How did we do that?"

Trixie was staring around, just as dumbstruck as everyone else. Then she remembered, and resumed her stage voice.

"The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie... uhhh, meant to do that! And now... as thrilling as this has been, Trixie feels it is time to bring this act to a close. Hint, hint!" she added anxiously.

Sunset looked to Twilight, who nodded. Sunset jotted another note in her journal.

The beam from the portal tapered off, and then disappeared. The blazing energies around Trixie faded, and she descended to the ground, landing softly on her sneakered feet. She looked around nervously, then got control of herself. Dusting off her cloak, she removed her hat and took a deep bow to the cheering, applauding students.

"Thank you! Thank you all! You've been a marvelous audience! Trixie could not have wished for better!"

The human Trixie rushed over and hugged her. "Trixie has never had the privilege of being her own audience before! And for such a impressive performance!"

In the meantime, Tempest had reemerged through the portal, shaking her head to clear it of the disorientation. Taking in the scene, she grinned. "You'd better watch out Twilight," she muttered. "Or we'll be going home with two of her!"

"Yeah!" Applejack agreed. "Never thought anyone could appreciate Trixie as much as Trixie does!"

"Ya know," Rainbow muttered dryly, "I think Trixie's waited her whole life for this?"

"Ain't that the truth!" Applejack said.

"Vice Principal Luna?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you okay?"

Everyone turned to look. Luna was staring around, at the sky, at the portal, at Twilight and her friends. She looked utterly shattered.

"Uhm," Twilight said, nervously glancing at the gem in her hand. "I'm sorry! Did we do something wrong?"

"What?" Luna looked at her, astounded. "No! Not in the least, Twilight! I'm astonished... and humbled. Everything you and your friends have been saying -- well, it's clear that I must believe you, that I must trust you. And Twilight," she said, an urgent tone in her voice, "I apologize for doubting you earlier... because now I need to ask something important of you. I need to ask a favor, of you and your friends."

"Of course! What?"

Luna sighed.

"I give you all my word, I do not know what has happened to Celestia. Yes, I saw what you saw on the security recording. I can only say it was not my doing. Yes, I was cross with her, but even given the power to do so I would not have sent her away like that. Yet I awoke yesterday morning, and found Celestia was simply... gone. No explanation, no note or message. No reason for her to leave without word. When I saw the recording myself... it frightened me, made me distrust you..."

Then, astonishingly, Vice Principal Luna... smiled.

"I don't any more. I need your help, to determine what has happened to Celestia. And to bring her back. Please... help me to bring her back. I did not want to send her away. I would not wish to be without her. I do not want to have to go on running this place by myself... alone!"

"I don't think anyone here would want to be without her!" Fluttershy said miserably.

Around them the students all nodded in agreement.

"Then perhaps," said a warm, confident voice behind them, "it's a good thing you won't have to be!"

They all turned, to find Principal Celestia walking around the statue. Behind her, a taxicab was just pulling away from the curb.

"I'm sorry, Luna! There was a family emergency, and I rushed out of my apartment like a madwoman, without my phone, without even leaving a note. And then there was a service outage, so I couldn't call to let you know where I was. And then there were delays at the airport. And it took forever getting a cab back here. Honestly! It was like every power in the universe was trying to keep me from returning, or even letting you know I was safe!"

Luna rushed over and hugged her. "I'm sorry as well, Tia! I'm afraid I let my concern about your disappearance get out of hand. I felt it necessary to take charge here at the School. And I... may have gone a little overboard..."

"A little?" Rainbow muttered in disbelief. The others shushed her.

"Well," Celestia replied, "I'm sure you acted as you thought best, in a trying situation. And I see you've had some... rather unusual help." Celestia looked around at Twilight and her friends. "I could see the light show as the cab was pulling up. I'd very much like to hear more about it. But right now, let's get things back in order here, you and I. We'll make an announcement to the students, reassure them we're both in charge again, and then work on restoring order... together."

"Tia?" Luna looked puzzled. This was clearly not what she'd expected.

"Luna, I'm proud of you. In the face of a crisis, you didn't falter, you didn't let the School go to wrack and ruin. You held things together, even in the face of your uncertainties and self-doubt. That's deserving of proper recognition." She shook her head, in silent frustration. "The Education Association might be unwilling to make the title official. But I'd like to go forward with our plan anyway. So from now on, you and I will be acting as co-Principals, here at the School."

"I... I don't know what to say! Aside from the obvious. Thank you, Tia!"

"Thank you, Luna!" Celestia turned to Twilight and her friends. "And thanks as well, to your young assistants here." She smiled around at them, a proud, knowing smile. "It's clear that as usual, we're hosting the best and brightest at CHS. I couldn't ask for better!"

Tempest, Trixie, Sunset, and Twilight all smiled at each other. All around them, the students cheered willingly, both for Celestia's safe return, and for the heroes of the hour.

Then Twilight suddenly looked very worried. "Sunset, give me your journal! We need to send a message to Starlight... and to our Celestia! Let them know everything turned out all right!"

Sunset held up the journal and her pen.

"Just tell me what to say, Twilight, and I'll write it. It's the least I can do to begin paying you back for all this!"

Things got back to normal fairly quickly, all things considered -- though it wasn't too surprising. The one constant in school life, in any universe, was that no matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, no matter how closely the world teetered on the brink of disaster... there were always classes the next day. Always an exam or pop quiz to worry about. Always the latest rumors and gossip to catch up on. Always something mundane to refocus attention on the here and now.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, as a demonstration of their new working relationship, jointly announced the Spring Fling dance had been reinstated. And as a courtesy to their... guests from the other world, it would be held that evening, after school.

The Fling itself was decorated and put on in record time, even for Pinkie Pie. And Sunset Shimmer, for her efforts in returning things to normal at CHS, was elected Princess by a landslide straw vote.

And when Principal Celestia finally placed the golden foil crown with its plastic magenta gemstone on Sunset's head, Sunset made sure that her friends, both old and new, were standing right there with her. "Because without their help," she told the watching students and teachers, "this wouldn't have been possible... and who knows where I'd have ended up!"

All too soon, the Fling was over, and they were all standing before the rearing horse statue again, before the faintly shimmering curtain of the portal, ready to go home.

"I find it astounding to contemplate," Principal Celestia said. "An entire other world. Inhabited by... ponies, you said? And based on magic?"

"Even stranger," Vice Principal Luna added, "is the thought that our entire world may have been created, brought into existence, merely by Sunset's opening the portal to pass through into it."

Sunset gritted her teeth. "That's... something I try not to think too hard about. Though I do have to say, considering the friends I've made here... as universes go I could have done a lot worse!"

"I'm pleased to hear you say that," Celestia said, "And I hope you realize you're more than welcome here. There's much we could learn from you, about your world and its magic... and perhaps in the process, about our world, as well."

Sunset smiled gratefully. "I do feel welcome here," she said. "More than you know. But... I really need to go back home. I promised to help Twilight and her friends with the work they're doing. And... I have a teacher of my own back there. To whom I owe a huge apology..."

Applejack smiled sadly at her. "You'll come back and visit us, won'tcha?"

"You darn well better!" Rainbow added, tensely. "Or you're gonna have one heck of a detention for skipping classes!"

"I think we can bend the rules in this case," Principal Celestia said diplomatically. "And consider Sunset to be on... extended leave? Due to issues at home?"

"Thanks!" Sunset said. "Though to be honest, I'm not sure how long it'll be before I can come back."

"Well, when you do, dearest," Rarity said firmly, "we'll be here waiting for you!"

"Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"We won't forget you, Sunset!" Fluttershy said meekly. "We've only known you a few days but, well, it's not going to feel the same without you!"

Sunset looked at her five friends. And then pulled them all into one large group hug.

"It's not going to be the same for me, either," she whispered. "I'm going to miss all of you. And I'll be back as soon as I can... Celestia willing."

The Principal gave her a curious look, and Sunset blushed. "Uh, sorry... different Celestia!"

Then Sunset turned, and faced the portal. She glanced at Twilight and Tempest, standing beside her, with Spike and Grubber at their heels.

Okay, Sunset thought, time to face the music...

Together, they stepped through the portal, and disappeared.

Pinkie Pie hurried over to put a hand to the marble wall of the statue -- and felt only solid stone. The portal was closed again.

"Awww... I was hopin' we could go visit their world -- that would totally rock!"

"Ya know," Rainbow said, scratching her chin thoughtfully, "speaking of rockin', what Sunset was sayin' earlier... about being a world-famous music star when she got here? Well hey, what about us? We're all into music, kinda sorta. Why don't we form a band? All we need is some practice!"

Applejack nodded. "That'd be a sweet way to remember our friends, from that other world," she said. "I'm in. I can play guitar."

"Ahem, backup guitar?" Rainbow corrected. "I'm obviously lead guitar!"

"Fine, whatever!"

"I call drums!" Pinkie shouted.

"I can design some marvelous costumes for us!" Rarity added.

"Oh, it sounds wonderful!" Fluttershy said. "I'm in too!"

"All righty then," Applejack said. "So... what're we gonna call ourselves?"

Rainbow looked smug. "What else? The Rainbooms! I know... awesome name, right?"

In the vast, echoing corridors of the Royal Palace of Canterlot, the sound of hooves was at once comfortingly familiar... and a disquieting reminder of what lay ahead. Sunset shivered as the group of five ponies -- plus a dragon and a hedgehog -- approached the doors of the Royal Audience Hall together.

"It'll be okay, Sunset," Twilight said, putting a hoof on her withers, "And don't worry. We're here for you if you need us."

"Thanks, Twilight." Sunset smiled gratefully. "But this is something I need to do on my own. I messed up. I need to make it right, one last time."

As they reached the tall, gilded doors, the doors swept open, revealing the length of the Hall beyond and the Sun Throne at its far end. Princess Celestia was seated upon the throne, her golden regalia shining in the brilliant sunlight that streamed through the arched windows.

As they'd planned, Twilight and her friends accompanied Sunset most of the way up the length of red carpet, and then came to a halt. Sunset continued onward the rest of the way, to stand alone before the Throne itself.

Sunset risked a look upward... and tensed. Celestia's face was set calmly, regally. She gazed down upon Sunset with neither recognition nor rancor. You are here, her look said. And I am listening. You have my full attention.

"Princess Celestia," Sunset said. She felt miserably small, listening to the echoes of her words bouncing back from the silent chamber. "The last time we saw each other, I was your impatient little student, who couldn't see beyond her own selfish ambitions. I thought I knew better than you, what I needed and wanted. I was wrong. I didn't know any better. I insulted you, I betrayed you, and then... and then I abandoned you, ran away through the mirror into a different universe, seeking something I was never going to find there. I apologize... for the things I said, for the things I did."

She looked up, into the eyes of her teacher, her mentor. The one and only Princess of all Equestria...

"I come before you a changed pony, humbly seeking forgiveness, guidance, and knowledge."

The Princess's wings flared, and she rose from her seat. Sunset backed up a step nervously, as the white alicorn strode down the Throne's ramp to stand before her, gazing down at her with an unreadably intense stare.

"Or..." Sunset mumbled, crouching nervously, "I could just go, and you'll never have to see me again..."

And then, Sunset suddenly realized why Celestia looked that way. Her Highness was simply speechless, struggling to find words to express how strongly she felt. Finally, she spoke.

"I... I've missed you, Sunset Shimmer."

Tears welled up in Sunset's eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

Celestia swept her close, into a warm neck-hug, which went on at length.

Finally, Celestia drew back, clearing her throat and trying to act regal once again... though the smile on her face totally destroyed the image. "It's good to have you back with us, Sunset. And for more than merely personal reasons. I'm sure Twilight has mentioned the project she and her friends have been working on."

"I... had a first-hoof demonstration," Sunset said. "It was amazing!"

"If you're willing, they could greatly benefit from your assistance and guidance. We can consider it to be part of your studies... that is, assuming you want to return to them?"

"I'll be glad to help," Sunset agreed. "Twilight and her friends did me such a huge favor in coming to find me. I want to pay them back for it."

Sunset looked over her shoulder at Twilight and the others, standing there with happy smiles on their faces.

Twilight in particular... She has no clue, Sunset thought.

Looking up at Celestia, Sunset motioned for the Princess to lean close again, and dropped her voice to a whisper.

"I haven't said anything, Your Highness. About... you know. Because you told me not to, but..."

Sunset glanced at Twilight again.

"You need to tell her. She needs to know. They all do. They deserve to know what they're up against."

Celestia stared at her, looking hesitant, worried...

... then she sighed, nodding in acknowledgement.

"You're right, Sunset. I have kept this from them -- from everyone -- for far too long. Perhaps it's finally time I stopped thinking like a chessmaster... and started putting all my cards on the table, hmm?"

Sunset risked a smile. "That's a mixed metaphor, Your Highness!"

Celestia smiled back. She gently stroked Sunset's mane with a hoof.

"You're allowed them, Sunset," she said, "when you're a true Princess..."

In Twilight's tower room, Trixie was sitting at the worktable, her head nodding over a book of spells. Having had a taste, even indirectly, of real, powerful magic, Trixie was determined to learn, to develop her skills... to truly become Great and Powerful...

... if only it wasn't so boring!

Her eyes slid shut, her thoughts drifted...

She felt a hoof at her shoulder and looked up... into the stern, yet proud face of Princess Luna.

"Princess! Did Trixie find the key this time?" she asked anxiously.

"You have done excellently, Trixie Luna Moon," the Princess replied, "my diligent student!"

"When Trixie finds you, and finally sets you free... will we still be able to spend time together?"

Luna smiled. "I can think of nothing I would like better. You have much to learn... and I would be proud to teach you."

Overcome, Trixie turned and reached out her forehooves, wanting to hug her kind, understanding teacher, to hold onto her forever and ever...

And blinked, startled. There was no one there.

Trixie swallowed, and wiped her eyes. Why am I crying? she wondered.

"Did Trixie find the key?" she whispered aloud.

"Hey, Trixie?" called a voice from the stairs leading down to the doorway. It was Sunset Shimmer. "You still at work up there?"

Wiping her snout, Trixie cleared her throat. "Well, of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not shirk in her studies!"

"Well, if you're at a good stopping point, Twilight suggested we take a break and go have a snack at Pony Joe's." Sunset laughed. "I mean, I was there just last week! But at the same time, I haven't been there for years! I guess it's true what they say... there's always Pony Joe's! You wanna come along?"

Trixie stared at her books, her studies. And seemed to hear a voice whispering to her in her head:

Go, my diligent student. You have more than earned a break...

Trixie drew herself up haughtily. "The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie..." she declared, "... would like that very much, actually."

Jumping up from the table, Trixie galloped down the stairs to join her new friend.

And the door shut behind them both.

The End

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro.
No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.