The New Problem

The bell rang and Luster Dawn smiled as she left her classroom with her friends. The five of them had been very excited to get some time to relax during the break of the weekend. She walked back to their shared dorm room to pack up as they idly chatted about their plans for the weekend. Ginger was going to head up to Cloudsdale to watch the Wonderbolts. Floral Blossom was going to spend time with her family. Gallop J. Fry was going to try practicing tricks with his skateboard. Yarwood was going to do what yaks did best, smash. But Luster didn't have any plans.

She opened the door to the dorm and waved her friends goodbye, she'd see them again on Monday. She turned to see a dark blue mare standing in the room, she was none too pleased to have been interrupted. "Do you mind, I'm trying to learn how to use my magic. I would dearly like to be able to undo the effect of that the potion that Shaman tricked me into drinking. Or better yet, return to my human self," the mare quipped.

The pink mare smiled, her orange and yellow mane bounced as she nodded when she found something she could do over the weekend. "I can teach you how to use magic, just like my teacher taught me!" she exclaimed.

Moonlight looked her in the eye, her dark blue eyes looking into the pink unicorn's orange eyes. Neither of them flinched, the dark blue mare became uneasy at the smile the pink mare had on her face. She backed up a few steps and tensed up, but Twilight's student didn't chase her. She knew that her classmate would need some space to get used to opening herself up. She instead concentrated on her horn and made it light up with an orange glow. This startled the other unicorn who instinctively tried to cast a spell to counter, but nothing happened. "Relax Moonlight, I'm just showing you where unicorns cast their spells from. We have horns for that reason," Luster said in a soothing voice.

"So what you're saying is, all I have to do is focus my spell into my horn?", the dark blue mare asked.

The pony that was trying to be her mentor felt a bit of pride and she smiled with a nod, "Yeah! It's simple!" she said.

Moonlight closed her eyes and focused all of the magic she could muster into her horn, she was going to try a basic light sphere spell. Her horn glowed with a faint blue glow that intensified rapidly. A sphere of light formed at the end of Moonlight's horn and she released it into the air. The sphere illuminated the room more than the lights had, but it wasn't so bright that Luster had to look away, "You did it, Moonlight!" the pink unicorn exclaimed.

The student of Twilight wasn't ready for what her student was going to do next. She found herself unable to move as she was lifted off the ground in a telekinetic hold. She found herself crashing to the ground swiftly afterwards as the aura vanished. She was surprised and sore at this, but she figured she'd give Moonlight a chance to explain herself. She stood up and looked at her fellow unicorn who was holding her own head with a hoof. A classic sign of a unicorn overexerting themselves.

She frowned as she walked towards the pained unicorn, "Why did you try to lift me up?" she asked.

"So that I could be sure I could move people out of the way or if need be, to safety," Moonlight replied coldly.

Luster wasn't sure about the honesty of this statement, but the other unicorn looked out to the window. As if a voice was calling to her. The dark blue unicorn shook her head, "Why is there suddenly a voice calling me now?" she asked.

The pink unicorn had no idea, but she knew who would. "Come, we'll go to Canterlot and ask my teacher. It'll be a great excuse to get some out of the school, plus I'm sure you'll be able to ask the Princess if she'll restore you to your normal size!" she excitedly exclaimed.

Moonlight showed visible uncertainty, but she had no other options. She nodded ever so slightly to confirm that she will accompany the pink unicorn. Luster smiled and led her friend out of the school and to the train station. She knew that her student wasn't one for talking much unless she had to and she knew that if she pushed any further, it would cause her to snap and that'd ruin any progress she was making.

The lead unicorn ordered two tickets for a train and they boarded for Canterlot. Moonlight immediately appeared unsettled by the idea of being on a train. Her eyes grew widened, she started to shake a bit. Luster helped the other unicorn into a seat, but the dark blue mare's anxiety furthered. The whistle of the train to signal that it was going to start moving sounded off, causing the smaller unicorn to jump out of her seat and start looking around.

The pink unicorn was confused at this behavior, she knew that Moonlight was afraid sometimes. But this didn't look like fear, this looked like agitation. She decided to ask her friend what was bothering her. "Moonlight, what's wrong?", she said in a concerned voice.

A spell ripped from the dark blue unicorn's horn, bathing everything in a gentle blue glow. The glow was barely noticeable by even her, and she was one of Twilight Sparkle's most gifted students. Judging from the fact that no other pony even reacted to this, it would seem that they didn't notice this. It seemed to Luster that it was a random spell, but the moment it went off, the smaller mare relaxed a bit. She climbed back into her seat and sat down, "Sorry about that, my head was pounding and I felt a bit anxious. Sunrise could've been on this train, so I cast a detect magic spell that encompassed the entire length. There isn't any dark magic," she whispered so as to not alert anyone.

"That seems incredibly useful, how long can you maintain the effect of that spell?" Luster asked.

"Roughly thirty seconds and on my own I can cast it once per day. Back when I was home, we had devices that would help us detect these aberrations so I wouldn't need to use the spell," Moonlight replied in a low voice.

It was a disappointment to the pink mare, she felt like she was going to be able to tell her teacher that there was a great new spell. She felt like the other mare was watching her carefully. "You're strong in magic, stronger than anyone else on this train," the dark blue unicorn said quietly, a hint of confusion in her voice.

It was as if her entire world view had been turned upside down, as if everything had been challenged. She knew that Moonlight didn't have a high opinion of the ponies. "So what you're saying is that I could hold my own if Sunrise were to try anything funny," Luster concluded.

Moonlight snapped out of her stupor, "You wouldn't last fifteen seconds against him. You have raw power, even more power than I do. But like me four years ago, you lack experience. He's trained his entire life to defend himself, he knows how to fight. You've lived your entire life in an era of peace, I can tell by the way you carry yourself and your lax attitude. He'd take advantage of this to take your magic and knock you out. Don't bother trying to fight him, Luster. I don't want to see any innocents getting hurt because of me," she warned bluntly.

This candor took the pink unicorn by surprise, she wasn't expecting the bluntness from her student. The dark blue unicorn stood up from her seat, "I'm going to go out back and watch the scenery go by. If you would like to join me, you're welcome to," she offered.

Luster nodded and smiled, but deep down she was confused. Her teacher had always taught her magic and had taught her to use her incredible gift for it to help others. Now she wouldn't be able to help her student with her greatest issue. It would be something she would have to bring up with her teacher, but she wasn't aware of how she would do it. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that her friends were there. They had always seemed to be able to point her in the right direction.

She was alone though and wasn't half the teacher her own teacher was, but a friend needed her. Even if the other mare didn't consider her a friend. She stood up and walked to the back of the train where a member of the train crew tipped their hat to her. She opened up the back door to see Moonlight leaning against the rail, standing on her back hooves. Her posture suggested that if she did fall, she would fall backwards into the train, instead of into the rail. "We don't have cabooses where I come from anymore. They were phased out when my parents were young. Seeing one up close for the first time in my life is a wonderful experience," she said with a content smile.

Luster was taken aback by this, for the first time, she saw Moonlight at peace. The smaller mare didn't have an ounce of tension in her stance or her face, she just seemed like she was enjoying herself. "I know you're standing there, Luster Dawn, you can come join me if you'd like. I told you that you're welcome to," the dark blue mare said calmly.

The pink unicorn nodded, her orange and yellow mane moving in the wind as she stepped out on to the back platform of the train. There was a silence between the two of them for a moment. But it wasn't awkward or tense, questions rose in Luster Dawn's mind, but she didn't know how to approach how to ask any of them. "You're wondering why I'm relaxed at the moment. You're also wondering how I knew it was you who had come out of the train car. Oh, and you're wondering why I'm not trying to yell at you or drive you away," Moonlight said to her with a sly smile on her face.

Luster was shocked, everything that the other unicorn had said was entirely accurate. "Y-yes, but how did you know?" she asked.

"I didn't. I merely guessed based on evidence," the dark blue mare said as she turned her head to look at the larger unicorn.

"That was a very accurate guess," the pink unicorn observed.

"It's part of my job," Moonlight pointed out.

The two of them fell silent for another couple of minutes. But then the dark blue unicorn went back to watching the scenery go by. "This is my first time ever being on a train. Typically when I have to travel long distances, my employer would book a flight for me to get where I had to go. Trains were very rare there, but I always wanted to ride one. Just getting to watch the grasslands go past, the rivers and the animals. Feeling the wind in one's hair, it's so relaxing. I... don't know if I'll ever get to go home, but if I do, I won't forget any of this. All of this is beautiful and it just makes me want to stop Sunrise even more, so that no one can harm any of this. Your world is serene and peaceful, Luster... and I envy you," she said, hiding her emotion in her voice.

Luster nodded and placed her hoof on the smaller unicorn's shoulder, "If you can't go back to your world, I hope that you can make Equestria your home. You seem like you've gone through a lot," she said.

Moonlight started to grow a little again, surprising the both of them. The dark blue unicorn didn't resist a hoof on her shoulder, but she started to wonder why she wanted to return to her world. There was constant conflict there, she had to endure going out to track down aberrations with little sleep and no help. She sighed a little and then smiled, "Perhaps I will consider staying here, this place seems better than where I came from anyhow," she said.

The pink unicorn was surprised but she smiled gently, "Twilight would tell you to not make your decision until you were sure," she said.

The two of them shared a knowing nod as the train pulled into the station. They didn't know if Twilight was in the middle of her council meeting or not, but they were determined to see her. For Luster, she was happy to be going to see her mentor once again, she couldn't wait to tell her all of the wonderful things that happened in Ponyville. For Moonlight however, she was afraid of what Twilight would do. The two of them hadn't exactly gotten along in the past. Fear gripped her mind and she gulped, but a squeeze on her shoulder told her that she wasn't alone in this. She nodded with a hint of confidence, she was ready to talk to the Princess about what was happening to her, so long as Luster was there.