Dreams' Horizon

by DrakeyC

Rating: everyone
Tags: Drama, Luster Dawn, Moondancer, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Colgate, Alternate Universe
Length: 114590

How far do you think a dream can take you? For Twilight Sparkle, that question is not one easily answered.

Twilight Sparkle has always respected the laws of science and magic. It's a respect that got her a scholarship to SGU, where she formed a small but comfortable group of friends and has received top grades in her two years there. It's a life that makes sense.

With her final year beginning and a special instruction from the Princess to bond with a fellow pupil, Twilight has enough to fill her life and her mind. It doesn't make sense that she should have recurring dreams about a mysterious mare, that this mare seems eerily familiar despite being a total stranger, or that she can recall the dreams with unusual clarity.

Twilight has questions about Equestria and about herself, and the answers could reshape her perception of both. She begins her research with a central question:

What lies beyond the edge of a dream?

Featured on Equestria Daily

Published 2020-01-02 13:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-26 23:42:53 UTC

Chapter 2

Celestia’s request was simultaneously specific and vague in conveying her expectations, leaving Twilight in the position of pondering how exactly she was expected to meet them. How do you make a pony your friend? The campus library would certainly have a multitude of books on the subject, but Twilight had the feeling that wasn’t what the Princess had in mind.

As she and Luster stepped out of the auditorium, Twilight reached into her saddle bags and withdrew her student guidebook. She flipped to the page near the front where she had penciled her schedule and room numbers into the calendar provided. She glanced at Luster and saw her looking through her own guidebook, floating in front of her face in an aura of pale amber magic.

Twilight inhaled as quietly as she could to not draw Luster’s attention. Start with a conversation. “Do you know where all your classrooms are located?”

Luster raised her head. “Most of them, yes. Though I wasn’t sure about Magical Geology. Would it be considered a part of magic studies, or a specialized course?”

An opening. Twilight took it. “It’s a specialized course. I was confused too, I had to ask around over the weekend.” She gestured a hoof down the hall. “It’s on the third floor. I can show you, if you like.”

“Thanks, that’d be great.” Luster closed her guidebook and slipped it into her saddle bags. Twilight did the same with hers and let Luster step up beside her before starting forward.

The ground floor of the SGU was where most practical and book courses were held. The second floor had labs and workshops for magic studies courses, and the third floor had specialized classrooms for courses with more esoteric needs in their equipment. Right now the ground floor was full of students coming and going as they moved between the administrative offices sprinkled around the building.

Twilight glanced at Luster out of the corner of her eye; the other mare was looking at the various wall postings and signs they passed. When she noticed Twilight watching her, she turned her head to her and made a small frown. “Yes?”

“Um…” Quick, think of something and don’t admit you were just staring! “What made you want to take Magical Geology?” Twilight congratulated herself on her recovery.

Luster’s face brightened into a sheepish smile. “I like seeing the different ways our unicorn magic can interact with the world. We know so much about magic, but at times, it seems like we actually know nothing.” Her smile turned into one of confidence and she nodded forward. “It’s a challenge, and I’m always ready to tackle a challenge.”

“I believe you,” Twilight replied sincerely, relaxing now that the conversation was going. “I was told I should take it last year. I kept asking Professor Crucible about mineral reagents in my Advanced Alchemy class, and she told me if I really wanted to study that sort of thing, I should take Magical Geology next year. Er, last year’s next year, this year. So I did.”

Luster nodded. “Makes sense to me. Maybe you’ll learn some things you can carry between classes. I’ve got the same hopes for my Weather Studies and Earthen Studies courses, especially Earthen Studies. I figure there has to be something I learn there or in Magical Geology that can be applied to the other.”

“Oh, for sure. I hear Professor Gleam and Mr. Till are personal friends.”

The two reached the doors to the stairwell and moved aside to let a crowd of outcoming students pass, then entered and began ascending the stairs. Twilight looked away and then back at Luster as they reached the second-floor landing. The conversation had stalled again, and she was blanking on how to start it back up.

The Princess should have given Minuette this assignment. I can only make small talk for so long! Before she could stop herself, Twilight had spoken. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Twilight hesitated as she lifted her hoof on the steps to the third floor. She could think of a different question and back off what she had meant to ask, but nothing came to mind and Luster was waiting. “Why did Princess Celestia approach me about this?”

Luster’s expression instantly soured, her eyes dull. “I don’t know. I only know what she told you – she thinks I need a friend.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Luster rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why she insists on it. Just because I prefer to be on my own doesn’t mean I’m lonely or anything.”

Twilight thought over her response as they opened the doors to the third-floor halls. “I’m sure the Princess has good reasons for what she’s doing.”

“So am I, which is about the only reason I agreed to this,” Luster grumbled. She winced and tilted her head. “Er, no offense. You seem very nice, really.”

“None taken. And thank you, you too.”

“I just think it’s kind of a waste of time to be sitting around chatting with ponies I may never see again once I graduate, when I could be in the library studying and learning things I can use when I leave.”

That’s actually fairly sound logic. Twilight didn’t vocalize her agreement – the Princess wanted her to be Luster’s friend, not reinforce her arguments about why she didn’t need one. She and Moondancer will probably get along just fine. I’ll introduce them at lunch. She gasped. Lunch!

“Something wrong?” Luster paused and turned back.

Twilight noticed she had stopped walking when the realization struck her. “Just, um…” She looked at the clock – it was slightly past nine-thirty. “I’m meeting some friends for lunch later. We were going to discuss our schedules and just hang out.”

“Oh.” Luster shook her head. “That’s fine, you don’t need to bring me along. I’d hate to be a third wheel.”

“Sixth wheel, actually. And, no.” Twilight gave her a friendly smile. “I want you to come.”

Luster recoiled. “Really?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded firmly and walked back up to Luster. “If we’re going to be friends, then my friends are your friends. Or they can be, if you want, and if they want.” She grunted and rubbed her forehead. “You know what I mean.”

“Would it upset anypony if I had a textbook to read at the table?” Luster opened her saddle bag and held up a book. Twilight peered at the cover – Myths of Southern Equestria. “I just checked it out last night and only had time to browse the first chapter, but what I read is amazing!” Luster began to flip the book open, her eyes shimmering. “Did you know that each village in the zebra lands used to have its own guardian spirit that emissaries would dress up as when conducting diplomacy?”

“I am definitely going to have to introduce you to Moondancer.”

Twilight and Luster ended up touring the entire school for their classrooms, even the ones they already knew the locations of from past years. As Celestia had told them, their schedules were identical save for three classes – Luster had taken a free period while Twilight had Advanced Astronomy, and she had Earthen Studies in place of Twilight’s Magical Geography.

The third discrepancy had made Luster stop in the middle of the hall when Twilight announced the class.

“Ancient History? Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” Twilight rolled her eyes; she had already endured similar reactions from most others she had mentioned it to. “It seems like a fascinating course.”

“Is it true they recommend students bring their own pillows to class?”

“They do not!” Twilight glared, but Luster ignored her in favor of laughing. “Professor Byblos is a very well-read and highly educated pony. Just because he isn’t a charismatic speaker doesn’t mean that his classes aren’t informative.”

“I heard they send ponies to his classes as a cure for insomnia.”

Twilight’s nostrils flared. “Do you have many more of those jokes?”

“Just those two that I remember, don’t worry.” Luster looked up as they neared an intersection in the hall. “Didn’t you say you’re meeting your friends at noon?”

Twilight followed her gaze to a clock hanging from the ceiling – more than half past eleven. “Want to head to the food court?”

Luster nodded, and the two approached a stairwell and descended to the ground floor. A side-door in the stairwell exited to a sidewalk that ran directly between the SGU main building and the building officially designated the Recreation Commons, ‘RecCom’ for short. It was only one floor plus a basement, to accommodate a ground-floor food court and two gymnasiums, and then various empty rooms in the basement for clubs, presentations, and other student usages.

As they trotted by the grounds where numerous other ponies had already staked out tables on the grass for their use, Twilight looked at her saddle bag. I still need to work out a budget with Twinkleshine. My stipend from Mom and Dad will cover my own meals fine, but I’m not sure what she wants to do for food in the dorm. Last year she had roomed with Moondancer, and given she always ate light, figuring out how to split food costs had been easy. Twinkleshine, Twilight wasn’t sure.

“Everything okay?”

She lifted her head and noticed she had lagged behind Luster, who was ahead of her at the doors to the food court. Twilight nodded. “Sorry. Just thinking about money issues.”

“Oh. Are you a little short for lunch?”

Twilight began to answer but paused when a thought occurred to her. She couldn’t stop herself from slapping her forehead again. I never thought to ask if Luster wanted to eat here! What if she can’t afford it, or doesn’t like food court food?

Luster scrunched her face. “Is that a no?”

“No. I mean, yes, I’m fine.” Twilight lowered her hoof and closed the distance between them. “I didn’t think of what you might want, though. Are you okay eating here?”

“Yeah.” Luster nodded. “I got a scholarship to SGU, it comes with a monthly stipend. As long as I keep an eye on things, I can go for a hayburger without worry.”

Twilight relaxed. “Okay, good. I should have asked when I invited you, but I only just thought of it now.” She sighed and looked away. “I’m sorry. It’s been a few years since I’ve had to make a new friend.”

“It’s fine, really.” Luster gestured her head towards the glass doors. “Come on, let’s go inside before somepony not paying attention comes through and whacks us with the door.”

Twilight stifled a snort. “Good call, it’s happened to me before.”

As to be expected, the food court was a flurry of activity and noise. Neck-high partitions with plants and decorative lights segmented the area into regions, lined with booths on the edges and then filled in with round tables. Against the longest wall were rows of food vendors, all with lines of multiple ponies in front of them. Natural light filled the room from rows of windows high on the walls.

“If I know Minuette, she was the first one here and staked out the perfect table near the lines,” Twilight said. “Look for a blue unicorn with a blue and grey mane. Probably laughing.” Luster nodded, and began scanning the crowd. Twilight followed suit, craning her neck to see the more distant seats.

Luster nudged her. “There.” Twilight checked where her hoof was pointing. Sure enough, Minuette sat with her back to them by one of the aisles between segmented areas, and by the entrance gap in the partitions to boot. Twilight smiled. Minuette claimed her cutie mark was for aptitude in clock-fixing; Twilight suspected it was more about her knack to always arrive early at the locations of group meetings, no matter how implausible it seemed.

The two unicorns weaved through the crowd to the table. Lemon Hearts sat across from Minuette, facing them. She raised her head and waved as they got close. Minuette looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Hey, Twilight!” Her eyes shifted from Twilight to Luster. “And hello, new friend I just met!”

Luster paused at the table as Twilight sat down. “How can we be friends if you just met me?”

Before Minuette could launch into what Twilight was sure would be a sincere yet mildly saccharine justification of her terminology, she cut in. “Minuette, this is Luster Dawn. Luster, meet Minuette and Lemon Hearts.” Lemon Hearts smiled and nodded.

“Twilight didn’t tell me she was bringing a new friend!” Minuette swiveled her head around and thrust a hoof at a nearby table. “They have a spare chair and no one’s sat in it for ten minutes. See if they’ll let you take it.”

“Sure.” Luster walked over to the table and gestured a hoof to get the attention of the four ponies chatting. A nod later, she came back, the chair levitating next to her.

Minuette waited until Luster was properly situated in their circle before speaking. “So, how did you and Twilight meet?”

“Royal mandate,” Luster replied. Twilight caught a snicker while Minuette and Lemon Hearts laughed politely.

“Actually, she’s telling the truth,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia introduced us and asked me to be her friend.”

Minuette gasped. “The Princess asked you to be friends?” She lifted her saddle bag from the floor and peered into it. “I’m gonna need a list of hobbies, likes, dislikes, your dorm room number, and your favorite kind of cheese.” She grabbed a notepad and pencil from her bag and held them toward Luster.

Luster’s head tilted. “My favorite kind of cheese?” She glanced at Twilight. “Is she joking?”

Lemon Hearts rolled her eyes. “The better question with Minuette is ‘how much is she joking’, to which the answer is always ‘maybe’.” She and Twilight laughed while Minuette set the notepad and pencil on the table and slid them toward Luster.

“I just wanna know what food to make for our party this weekend,” Minuette explained. “The girls and I do get-togethers the first Saturday of the month.”

“Um, no thanks.” Luster gently pushed the notepad back across the table. “I’m not one for parties.”

Minuette’s face froze, save for her blinking eyes. “Huh?”

“I don’t go to parties.” Luster shook her head. “But thank you for the invitation.”

Minuette swung a hoof between Luster, Twilight, and Lemon Hearts, her eyes shifting with it. She opened her mouth and thought before speaking. “…Do you have something else planned?”

“Possibly some reading, not sure what yet.”

Lemon Hearts smirked. “Great, we’ve got a new friend for Moondancer.”

“That’s what I said!” Twilight exclaimed.

Luster sighed and turned away from the table. “I appreciate the thought, but again, no thanks. I’m fine just staying in my dorm room studying and maybe read a book.” At Minuette’s crestfallen expression, Luster turned back and quickly added, “But you could drop off some treats, if you wanted. I like chocolate cake.”

Like a switch had been flipped, Minuette gave a firm, determined nod. “I can work within those parameters,” she said evenly. She smiled and pressed her hooves together in front of her.

Luster leaned back in her chair. “Should I be worried?”

“No.” Lemon Hearts tapped Minuette on the shoulder. “You’re scaring the new girl, Minnie.”

Minuette immediately popped a bright smile and scoffed, waving a hoof. “Oh, I’m kidding! If she’s gonna be hanging out with us, she’s gonna have to get used to a little craziness.”

Luster climbed out of her seat. “I’m gonna go get in line for food. Twilight, wanna come?”

Twilight may not have been as socially savvy as Minuette, but she could take a hint. “Sure. Excuse us, girls.” With two nods of agreement, she followed Luster to the vendor lines.

Luster stepped into a line for a hayburger franchise and quickly whirled on Twilight, her mouth set in a line. “I don’t think this is what the Princess had in mind.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m sorry, I forgot that Minuette can come on a little strong when meeting new ponies.” Actually, I was about the same when she and I met. But I had Moondancer to talk me into getting used to her. Who was it that convinced her?

“She practically asked for my emergency contact information!” Luster hesitated as she considered what she had just said, and frowned. “She’s going to ask when we come back, isn’t she?”

Twilight shook her head. “Probably not, she doesn’t go that far.” She sighed and gave Luster a sympathetic look. “I’m not going to force you to be friends with my friends. I just thought it would be nice to introduce you and see what happens.” The line moved forward and they stepped with it. “If you want to leave, you can. I can make up an excuse for you. I won’t make you stay if you’re uncomfortable.”

Luster looked at her evenly. “You mean that, too.” It was a statement, not a question. She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them again her face was calm. “No. Thank you, but no. It wouldn’t be right to ask you to lie for me. Besides, the Princess wants me to make a friend, so making more than one will impress her further, right?”

I’m not sure that approaching this as an assignment you’re going to be marked on is what the Princess wants, either. Twilight kept that thought to herself. I used to think the same way about socializing. She’ll adjust.

“If I stay, can youplease keep Minuette off my back if she starts getting personal like that again? I especially don’t want her to pressure me about that party.”

Luster’s comment got Twilight focused again. She nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her, but I’m curious about the party myself.” Twilight leaned forward. “It’s really just an informal get-together with the five of us. Would it really be so awful if you came by?”

Luster sighed. “Awful, no. Waste of time, yes. It’s our first week of school and I’ll have important things to do.”

Future tense. “You’re planning on being too busy?”

“I need to organize my binders and page dividers, need to get a gauge on the homework workload for each class and allocate enough time each week to handle it all. And of course, I’ll be making sure I have all the textbooks and any books or equipment I may want that isn’t required but would still be helpful.” Luster gave a low grunt and looked away. “I know, I know, I sound ridiculous and paranoid.”

“You sound like me in second year,” Twilight said sincerely.

Luster blinked at her. “Really?”

“Really.” Twilight sheepishingly looked at the ground. “I know it’s probably not going to sink in when I say this, but trust me. Going the year focusing on your studies might get you good grades, but if you take the risk to let them slip a little in exchange for making a few friends, it’s worth it.” She glanced back in the direction of their table. “Very worth it.”

“Books are easier to manage,” Luster mumbled.

“They are, but friends can be helpful in ways books can’t.” Twilight turned back to Luster and smiled. “For example, I like to get to know my teachers outside of the classroom, and a lot of them have told me what to expect this year. I can help you get prepared and even introduce you to the instructors.”

Luster rolled her tongue in her mouth. She said nothing, but the expression on her face screamed ‘I know where this is going’.

Twilight recognized it and continued. “If you come to Minuette’s party this weekend.”

“How long do I need to stay?”

“An hour.”

“Deal.” Luster held out her hoof and Twilight shook it. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Twilight smirked. “Seriously, don’t mention it. Minuette will go into overdrive if she thinks she has a time limit she needs to work within.”

“Aren’t I scared enough already?”

By the time Twilight and Luster had purchased their lunches – Twilight had endured a raised eyebrow and a joke about weight from Luster when she asked for sweetgrass strips on her hayburger – and they made their way back to the table with trays floating in front of them, Twinkleshine and Moondancer had arrived, Minuette was gone, and Lemon Hearts was working her way to the bottom of a massive bowl of fruit salad.

“How can you eat all that?” Twinkleshine asked, watching her friend chew with a small frown and a raised eyebrow. “There’s enough fruit there to set out a platter for all five of us.”

Lemon swallowed and shook her head. “I don’t plan to finish it myself. Minnie wanted one so I got one big enough for both of us when she comes back. You can grab a spoon and have some too, if you like.”

“No, thank you,” Moondancer replied. “I plan to bring my lunches this year.” She looked down at the floor, and her horn glowed pale pink. A sealed plastic container with a knife and fork rose onto the table, and she popped the lid off.

“Salad?” Twinkleshine scrunched her face and stuck out her tongue. “Are you two allergic to sugar or something?”

“Salads are an extremely cost-efficient food supply.” Moondancer raised her head slightly. “Fifty bits buys me—”

“Nevermind, I’ll pass on the budget lecture,” Twinkleshine interrupted. Moondancer huffed and poked a fork into the leafy greens in front of her.

“How about something deep fried and coated in salt?” Twilight asked as she sat down.

“Now you’re speaking my language.” Twinkleshine sniffed in the direction of Twilight’s plate and licked her lips. “I smell sweetgrass. You’re awful and I like it.” Twinkleshine smiled at her, then at Luster. “Hello. You are?”

“Luster Dawn. Nice to meet you.” Luster smiled politely and sat next to Twilight.

“Princess Celestia asked me to make friends with her,” Twilight said. “Luster, meet Twinkleshine and Moondancer." She turned her attention to Moondancer. “I think you two would get along great.”

“Why is that?” Moondancer asked, looking skeptical.

“You both love reading!” Twilight said, trying to make her reveal sound exciting.

Moondancer frowned and lowered her head, her glasses pushing up her nose. “Yes, yes, I read a lot. I think we’ve run that joke into the ground, haven’t we?”

Before Twilight could soothe over the remark, Luster spoke up. “Do you read fiction books or study materials?”

“Either. Both.”

“Oh, cool.” Luster gave a small shrug. “I used to read a lot of fiction as a filly, but I started studying more once I got caught up in school. Haven’t had much time to crack open that sort of thing since I got accepted into SGU.”

“Understandable. I try to set aside time on the weekends to read a bit from something other than a textbook, but I often need to reallocate that time to studying anyway.”

Twilight bit into her hayburger, her chewing helping to hide a pleasant smile. Much better! If only Moondancer had been here when we first showed up.

Twinkleshine leaned to Twilight to whisper, “So this is what it looks like when nerds try to socialize.” Twilight caught herself from bursting out laughing, her full mouth catching. She put a hoof to her lips and finished chewing, swallowing her meal with her amusement. She still interrupted the budding conversation and got the attention of both ponies involved.

“What’s wrong?” Luster asked.

Twilight faked a cough. “I think a chunk went down the wrong tube.” She pulled her drink over to her and sucked on the straw until chilled milk hit her tongue.

“So, Luster.” To Twilight’s relief, Twinkleshine diverted the table’s attention. “How come Princess Celestia asked you to make friends with Twilight?”

Twilight was no longer relieved that Twinkleshine had diverted the table’s attention. She did, however, choke on her drink. Lemon Hearts reached over and clapped her on the back.

Luster sighed. “She thinks I need friends.” She lifted a few hayfries from her tray. “And in answer to your next question, no, I don’t. No offense.” She tossed the treats in her mouth and chewed.

“The Princess tends to have good judgment on things like this,” Lemon said. “I’m sure she wouldn’t say so if she didn’t think it could be helpful for you.”

“I know,” Luster grumbled. “And it’s not like I could say no.”

Twinkleshine shrugged. “Well, you could, but I wouldn’t advise it.” She leaned into the table. “I heard that the last pony who upset the Princess got banished to the moon! For a thousand years!”

Luster gasped and peered at her closer. “What did they do?”

“You really wanna know?” Twinkleshine asked. Luster nodded. Twinkleshine leaned further in. “I heard it was one of the castle servants. They tried to sneak a slice of cake from her lunch spread, and she caught them biting into it. Told them it was the last thing they’d ever taste.” She pulled back, giving Luster an ominous nod.

Luster snorted. “I had my suspicions, but now I know you’re kidding.”

“Darn, too far?” Twinkleshine pouted. “What gave me away?”

“The Princess doesn’t banish ponies to the moon for that. She turns them to stone.”

The five burst out laughing. A few ponies nearby turned their heads and gave them annoyed looks, but they ignored them. As it died down, Twilight watched Luster, who was blushing lightly and quickly went back to eating her lunch.

“I heard laughter!” Sliding into the last open chair, Minuette set down a tray of pastries in front of her. She squeed and clapped her hooves. “Laughter is good! Who made the joke?”

“Um, that’d be me.” Luster mumbled the words to her hayburger like a secret before biting into it.

“And I missed it!” Minuette pouted.

“I can tell you—”

“No you can’t, the moment is past.” Minuette gave her a smile. “I’ll just have to make sure I’m around you for the next one!”

As the group fell into silence for a moment as everypony turned their attention to their meals, Twilight waited until Luster looked her way. When she did, the two locked eyes and Twilight jerked her head towards Minuette. Luster deflated slightly but nodded. Twilight tossed some hayfries in her mouth and waited.

“So, Minuette.” Luster paused to take a drink as Minuette swiveled her head her way. “About that party this weekend…”

“Room three-two-four, you can drop by anytime in the afternoon but we usually start to show up around five.”

“I didn’t say I was coming.”

“Didn’t you, though?” Minuette grinned. “You already told me you didn’t want to come, so you wouldn’t bring it up again unless you had changed your mind!”

“Right.” Luster fidgeted in her seat. “But I probably won’t be there right at five. It depends on how much reading I have to do.”

“No problem, you can bring the books with you! Moonie does.” Minuette gestured a hoof at Moondancer, who perked up and raised her head at the mention of her name, her mouth full of salad. “You can spend the whole night lying on the bed reading if you like! What’s important is that you’re there! And do you know what it means when you’re there and I’m there and we’re all there at the same time?” She beamed. “It means we’re together!”

“Lemon, get the tranquilizer, she’s going full Minuette,” Twinkleshine droned.

“There isn’t a sedative in the world that can bring her down in that state.”

As Luster continued to avoid looking in Minuette’s direction, Twilight cleared her throat. “What did you have planned for the weekend, Minuette?”

Minuette’s smile turned its rays in Twilight’s direction. “I’ve got board games, I’ve ordered a tray of donuts from Joe’s, and I rented a movie from the library.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Which one?”

“Cloudy Days. Ever since they’ve started colorizing all the old black and white reels and putting them in casings, I’ve heard talk that this one looks amazing. And it’s still pretty funny otherwise.”

“Sounds fun.” Twilight smiled and her eyes swiveled toward Luster. “Right?”

“Right.” Luster glanced at Twilight and nodded, then bit into her hayburger and looked off the table and down at her saddle bags.

Twinkleshine stood from the table. “Well, Twilight, I’m sure you and Moondancer can fend her off on your own. Me, I hear the siren song of an Appleloosa Cherry Cheese Poutine calling me.” She began gently trotting towards the food lines.

Lemon grimaced. “How can she eat that stuff? It barely even tastes like food.”

“Don’t judge her, Lemmy,” Minuette said. “It’s not that bad once you acquire a taste for it.”

“You mean once my tastebuds give up and stop screaming every time I shovel a forkful into my mouth?”

As the two chatted, Twilight felt something nudge her hoof. She looked down and saw a folded piece of paper in an aura of amber magic settle on the chair, the magic fading. Without bringing the paper into view, Twilight unfolded it. Words had been scrawled on it.

Thank you.

Twilight raised her eyes to see Luster staring at her, and the two shared a small smile. Twilight then tuned into the conversation and waited for Lemon to finish talking before jumping in.

“I’m just curious, Luster, have you ever tried a Cherry Cheese Poutine?”

Luster paused as the focus of the table redirected her way. She regained her composure and nodded. “Once, just out of curiosity. It’s not for me though.” She gave a small snicker. “When I first saw the ads for it around the food court, I thought it was a new dessert.”

“A dessert?” Minuette asked.

“I mistook the gravy for fudge and the melted cheese for icing or something.”

Minuette gasped, her eyes lighting up. “Hayfries topped with cherries, fudge, and icing? I like this new girl, Twilight. She has good ideas.”

Luster slumped. “You’re going to make it for Saturday, aren’t you?”

“See, she knows me already!”

Chapter 3

Twilight blinked her eyes open and sat up, stretching and yawning. She saw the clock above the dorm room door and smiled; ten after eight, a far more reasonable waking hour.

Twinkleshine lounged on the foot of the other bed, a towel wrapped around her mane. Her student guidebook floated in front of her as she flipped through it. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” Twilight climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen. “Ready for our first day as third years?”

“I hope so.” Twinkleshine raised her head. “Shower’s all yours if you want it.”

“Thank you.” Twilight poured herself a glass of water from the sink and frowned as she considered Twinkleshine’s words. “You were up early, then.”

“Woke up around seven and couldn’t get back to sleep. I decided to own it.” Twinkleshine shrugged. “It happens.”

“Anxious?”

“A little.” Twinkleshine sighed and set her guide on the bed. “I’m blanking on what to research for my thesis. I know, there’s no rush, it doesn’t need to be submitted until the end of the year. Still, I’d at least like an idea of what to look into.”

“Understandable.” Twilight sat next to her, her water floating beside her. “You were looking at jobs in magical engineering after graduation, right? Could think of something in that field.”

“I’ve been trying.” Twinkleshine laid back on the bed and huffed, pursing her lip. “I’ve talked to a few ponies who work in those fields, got some ideas about jobs and what my research could be. But they usually don’t have time to talk to every SGU student who just drops by their office, you know? They’re busy designing airships and improving the energy and plumbing networks and all that stuff. Any idea I might have to research, odds are some engineer out there is already researching it themselves.”

Twilight nodded. “Maybe you could see if any of your professors know ponies who could be helpful. They have to be able to give you some leads, or they may have ideas themselves if they came out of the industry to teach.”

Twinkleshine nodded. “That’s my shortlist of things to do these first couple weeks.” She sat up and shook her head. “But, I’ll worry about it later. Today, we have things to do!”

“Indeed we do!” Twilight hugged her briefly. She then downed her water and skipped to the bathroom door. “I’m going to wash up now so I can dry properly.” She paused in the doorway and turned to point a hoof at Twinkleshine. “And I want us out of this room no later than quarter-to-nine!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Twinkleshine rolled her eyes.

“We’ll be ahead of schedule and ready to learn!” Twilight clapped her hooves. “Today is going to be perfect!”

A shower, a mane brushing, and a bowl of cereal later, Twilight double-checked her supplies for the day as she laid them out on her bed. “Sectioned binder, check. Pens and pencils, check. Student guidebook, check. Bits, check.”

“Hernia, check.”

“What?” Twilight looked up to her roommate by her own bed. Twinkleshine was more casual as she lifted items from her saddlebags to confirm their presence and then dropped them back in.

“If you get stressed like that, you’ll get a hernia.”

“I am not stressed, I am prepared, and I prepare thoroughly so that I don’t get stressed.” Twilight finished her supply check, floated all the items into the air, and slid into the pair of saddlebags on her bed. She lifted the bags onto her back and looked at the clock: nine forty-three. They were two minutes ahead of schedule. “Ready to go?”

“Yup.” Twinkleshine put her bags on and followed Twilight out the door into the hall. The mass of students moving about were more organized than yesterday, none carrying anything bigger than an extra-large saddle bag and all moving in the same direction. Twilight and Twinkleshine joined the mass and followed it into the main hall and the stairs to the second and first floors.

“At least it’s easier to get out today,” Twilight mused as the crowd filtered down the steps. She saw the line ahead shift to allow students coming from the second floor into the mass. I wonder if this is how driving works in Manehattan. Thank goodness Canterlot doesn’t allow carts in the city.

The two got out into the concourse and circled around the fountain. The wide walkway that connected to Canterlot bustled with students coming in from housing in the city. Twilight looked up at an elevated platform adjacent the path – a team of pegasi were landing a chariot with a dozen unicorns on it, and another chariot was circling above waiting to descend. The out-of-town student shuttles. I hear some of the chariots leave their towns by seven-thirty. I can’t imagine having to get up that early every day.

“Any sign of the others?” Twinkleshine asked.

Twilight scanned the crowds around them with new intent. “Hard to tell. Knowing Minuette, she’s already in the classroom at a table with five chairs.”

“Of course, she is.”

Within the main SGU building, the two mares split off into a line of students heading into the stairwell by the doors. They exited on the second floor and headed to Room 206.

The classroom for Basic Alchemic Theory was not quite half full when Twilight and Twinkleshine entered. The various tables of the room had been staked out by a couple pairs or trios of friends, and the instructor wasn’t yet present. Sure enough, Twilight found Minuette and Moondancer at a table with several empty chairs tucked under it.

“Hey, you guys!” Minuette waved a hoof at them. “Come on over.”

The two removed their bags and set them on the table, then sat down, Twilight next to Moondancer and Twinkleshine next to Minuette. Twilight noticed the other two empty chairs left. Six of us?

“Lemon’s late,” Twinkleshine noted.

“She said she was making a stop at the campus store for an extra pack of pens,” Minuette explained. “She wants to be prepared to lend them out and not get them back.”

“Monsters,” Twinkleshine hissed. “What kind of pony doesn’t give back something they borrowed?”

“I lent Twilight my copy of Principles of Magic in first year and never got it back,” Moondancer said evenly. Twilight’s eyes bulged as she continued. “But I don’t worry about it. I just grumble her name under my breath every time I have to borrow a copy from the campus library, and then I move on with my life.”

Twilight winced. “You’re joking, right?”

“Slightly.” Moondancer wrinkled her nose. “Tell me you at least still have it.”

“I do, I’m fairly sure. I might have taken it home with me over summer break and left it with my parents.” Moondancer’s eyes narrowed and Twilight winced in response. “Sorry. It’s in good condition, though!”

Before Moondancer could respond, Minuette cut in by lifting up from her seat and waving a hoof. “Hey, Dawny!”

The ground turned their heads to the doorway, where Luster Dawn was standing in place staring at Minuette with a stunned expression. With Minuette’s outburst, everyone else in the room had begun paying attention to her or Luster. Luster kept her eyes forward and quickly approached the table.

“Was that necessary?” she hissed. “Everypony is staring at us!”

“Do you want me to introduce you?”

“No!”

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes and swiveled her head around the room. “Okay everypony, show’s over, back to the chatter.” At her words most of the students listened and resumed whatever conversation Minuette had interrupted.

Luster took a breath. “Thank you. Also – ‘Dawny’?” She sat down in the empty chair next to Twilight.

Twilight watched her sit and turned away to hide her slight scowl. That’s why there are six chairs. Of course Minuette made room for Luster to join us, I told them we have almost identical schedules. Why didn’t I think of that?

“We all have nicknames,” Minuette replied to Luster. “I’m Minnie, then there’s Moony, Twinkles, Lemmy, and Twi. And Dawny.”

“No one calls us those names except you,” Twinkleshine said. “And only Lemon calls you Minnie.”

“It’s a term of endearment.”

“Just ‘Luster’ is fine, thank you,” Luster said softly. “At least don’t make a habit of a nickname.”

“I’m here!” Lemon Hearts came up from behind Twilight and sat down in the last empty chair on the other side of Minuette. “I am not late!” Twilight glanced at the clock – 8:59.

“Barely, Ms. Hearts.”

The class fell silent and turned their heads to the door. A unicorn stallion gently shut it and approached the front of the room. He had a dark green coat and a dull orange mane with a few specks of grey trying to sneak into view, cut short and neatly combed. His horn lit up orange as he picked up a marker from the tray below the large whiteboard and wrote on it ‘Welcome to Basic Alchemic Theory’. He capped the marker and turned around.

“I am Professor Copper Crucible.” He stood in place and looked over the room as he spoke. “I will be blunt – this course is not highly demanding. If you’ve passed Alchemy in your first two years, and especially if you took an Advanced Alchemy course last year, then there is no reason you cannot pass my course as well. Show up on time, pay attention, and complete the work provided, and you’ll pass just fine. If those expectations are too demanding for you, talk to Princess Celestia.”

He paused and wrinkled his nose. “Are there any questions about these expectations?” Moondancer raised her hoof. “Yes, Ms. Dancer?”

Moondancer lowered her hoof. “You mentioned the second year Advanced Alchemy course. I had heard there is some overlap between them?”

“No.” Crucible shook his head, but then raised his eyes and thought. “Well, mostly no. The first week or two we’ll be covering the basics of the reagents you’ll be given access to for assignments in this year, and then we’ll move on to how one can use magic to affect the outcome of a brew. If you took Advanced Alchemy last year – or, now that I think of it, Magical Herbology – then some of what we’ll be using will already be known to you, but much of it will not be. Think of it as getting a small head start.”

Crucible’s horn glowed orange and he pulled down a rolled-up chart hanging above the whiteboard, revealing a grid of squares in different colors. He extended a pointer and gestured to the chart. “You’re all familiar with the basic types of reagent – Base, Reactionary, Accelerant, Inhibitor, and Catalyst. But—” he tapped the pointer at the end of a row of green boxes, where the last two were a deeper shade, “—what about these two here? Why are they colored differently? No need for hooves, just say it if you know.”

Before Twilight could give the answer, a voice came from the seat next to her. “They’re of the Endothaumic sub-type.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder at Luster; the other mare noticed her attention and gave a small smile.

“Correct, Ms. Dawn.” Crucible nodded. “That means these types of materials react to unicorn magic. Now, we know that all reagents react to unicorn magic in some manner or another, but typically not in a way that would be noticeable or that would affect the result of your brew. Endothaumic materials will react noticeably and your brew will be changed.” He gestured his pointer to other boxes with darker colors than the rest of the chart. “Take note of these darker boxes, those are Endothaumic materials, they exist in all reagent categories. You can find this chart in your copy of Amrita to Zelzist, Reagents of Equestria, Chapter 10.”

He took a breath. “Please be very aware that these reagents are quite dangerous if mishandled. Alkahest, for instance, if infused with even latent magics from levitating a beaker of it, will begin to rapidly dissolve anything it touches, including the beaker, the tabletop, and the floorboards of the classroom.” A couple of students snickered, and Crucible glared in their direction. “That’s not a joke, there’s a reason I call attention to alkahest in particular. Needless to say, that student did not pass this course.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she saw Twinkleshine react the same. A gasp came from somewhere else in the room. “Somepony really burned a hole through the floor?” a stallion asked. A couple students began scanning the floor for signs of repair.

More calmly, Moondancer raised her hoof and spoke when Crucible looked her way. “Does alkahest in such a reactive state pose a risk to ponies?”

“Yes. Fortunately, it is much less reactive with biological material than non-biological, but it would still burn severely and need immediate treatment.” Crucible held up a metal stand with flasks and beakers of various shapes held in it. “This is why, before any practical lessons are given, you will be instructed on how to magically insulate your equipment. This will be your first assignment, given the end of next week. But we will discuss that when we come to it, one thing at a time.”

Crucible set the stand on his desk and picked up his marker again. “For now, I want you all to begin taking notes. I will list the various Endothaumic reagents and briefly discuss them. You may open your textbooks to the chart in Chapter 10 to follow along, if you like.”

The students of the room began pulling out their books and lightly chattering. Twilight set her binder on the table and opened to the first tabbed section. She took a sheet of perforated paper from a pocket in the front of the binder, jotted ‘BAT’ on it, and tore it off and slid it in the plastic tab in the pages.

And now the learning begins.

She glanced at Luster beside her – the mare was mimicking her movements almost exactly with her own set of tabbed pages. She saw Twilight watching her, looked at her binder, and the two shared a smile.

“You’ll need a lab partner for some of these projects,” Twilight said.

Luster’s smile faded and she turned away, sweeping her eyes over the room. “There’s twenty-seven students. Somepony has to be alone.”

“Somepony else can manage it.”

“I can,” Moondancer said.

Luster gave her a slight glare before looking back at Twilight. “Fine.” She shuffled her chair closer and slid her binder over.

Crucible spoke from the front of the room. “Base materials have the second-fewest number of Endothaumic reagents among them, since the idea behind being classified as Base—"

Twilight put the header ‘Base’ at the top of her page and began jotting down Crucible’s listings. She took another look at Luster and saw her do the same. Twilight’s eyes fell on the textbook that Luster had moved, seemingly so that Twilight could see it if she wanted to.

She’s friendly enough once the ice is broken, but she bristles any time somepony approaches her about doing anything with her. It’s not that she’s anti-social. So what’s wrong?

Luster’s behavior in Basic Alchemy set a precedent for the rest of the day. She answered questions when asked, be they about class topics or friendly conversation, but didn’t add much herself when unprompted. Most of the casual chatter was between Minuette and Lemon, Twilight and Moondancer had always been the more studious of the group and Twinkleshine leaned in the same direction during classes. Luster, unsurprisingly, also preferred to focus on the class work. That was just fine for Twilight personally, but she kept wondering if she ought to be more talkative and get her to do the same.

Basic Spellcasting and Equestrian History were even more quiet. The two classrooms had rows of long tables facing the front of the room, which meant Minuette sat with Lemon and Twinkleshine, and Twilight sat behind them with Moondancer and Luster. Again, Twilight wondered if she should make more effort to get Luster talking, but was class really the time? She could confirm Luster was fully self-capable as expected, she didn’t have to ask for any help or even any supplies. Twilight had spied on her notes a couple times to be sure she wasn’t just being quiet, but no, she was following the lessons without issue.

The lunch period between Spellcasting and History was, expectedly, a repeat of Sunday but with the group together instead of meeting up. Minuette had led them into the cafeteria and inexplicably gravitated to a table close to the lines with six chairs already there. Luster had accompanied them and eaten with them and was a bit more talkative than the prior day. It was a relief to see she could be more friendly when she wasn’t concentrating on class. Twilight wondered if that was the explanation, that Luster was focused on her studies to the detriment of socialization.

Yet, that didn’t seem right. Moondancer was even more closed-off and focused than either of them, but she could participate in a conversation with friends and might chat in class if it didn’t distract her. Luster was different. Twilight just couldn’t figure out how, and why.

There was little reason to think Luster’s behavior might change its pattern in their last class of the day. It was a class that had virtually every student entering the door slump and sigh as they accepted their fate and filed down the rows of seats running down the semi-circular lecture hall. Even Minuette seemed a little less peppy as she sat down and looked at the bottom of the room.

“Oh, look,” she said. “The teacher left a welcoming message.”

“Abandon hope, all ye who enter?” Lemon Hearts muttered.

Twilight sat down next to Twinkleshine and saw the message.

‘MATH IS COOL!’

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes. “Oh good, it’s one of those teachers.”

“What kind?” Luster sat next to Twilight.

“I believe she means the ‘my class is the cool class’ kind,” Moondancer offered from the other side of her.

Luster frowned. “So? Math is cool.”

Twilight paused in the act of pulling her binder and pencils out of her bag. She likes math? Outside of classes focused on the study of some aspect of magic, math had always been Twilight’s best and most favorite subject.

“Math is a tool used by educators to make dumb students feel dumber and smart students feel smarter,” Twinkleshine replied.

“It’s a valuable skill that will be useful in all aspects of daily life for decades to come,” Luster countered. She flashed a small smirk. “And, I do feel smarter attending these classes, so they’re doing their job by your definition.”

Twilight snorted, happy not just to learn her new friend seemed to share her preference for numbers, but also at her comeback. She made a joke with Twinkleshine! Progress!

The conversation quickly came to a close as the door at the bottom of the hall opened. A pegasi mare with a blue coat and a green mane walked out, a large binder under her wing. The class fell silent as she set the binder on the table, then looked at the whiteboard. She turned back to the class and gestured her head towards it.

“It’s on a whiteboard in a classroom, so it must be true.”

A couple polite chuckles came from the hall.

The mare walked back and forth as she spoke. “I am Professor Fallstreak. Sorry to disappoint you, those expecting Mr. Okta from the previous two years. Third year Mathematics belongs exclusively to me. The first two years are mathematical basics, comparable to what any pony would learn in a normal school. Third year, however, is when the class gets fun.” She smiled proudly, her wings fluttering.

“We will be learning what many in Equestria would consider more esoteric forms of mathematics. Primarily, we’ll concern ourselves with the units of measurement of a unicorn’s magic. I’m sure you all know about re’em and keras or at least have heard of the terms. In this class, we’ll explore what they really mean and how you can apply them to everyday life.”

As Fallstreak continued speaking, Twilight leaned over to Luster. “So, how has your first day been?” she whispered.

Luster kept her eyes on Fallstreak for a moment before turning to Twilight. “Fine, I guess. First week is always boring, handing out schedules of what we’ll cover each class and telling us what textbooks we’ll need and all that. I’d hoped third year might be a bit quicker to just cut to the chase.”

“I know.” Twilight nodded. “If you ask them, the instructors are usually open with what’s coming up next week and will tell you what to read to give you a head start.”

Luster smiled. “Oh, yeah. You said you’d introduce me to some of them?”

“Mhm. We can after class, if you want.”

“Sounds good.”

A shadow fell over the two of them and they whipped their heads around. Fallstreak was in the air above them, wings flapping, front hooves crossed. The ceiling lights shining behind her cast her in shadow as she looked down at the two unicorns.

“Ms. Sparkle. Ms. Dawn. Is there something so important that it could not be discussed outside of class time?”

Luster’s face was bright red as she tried to sink into her chair and bury her face in the desk. Twilight swallowed and shook her head. “No, Professor Fallstreak, we were just—"

“No? But surely it must be something relevant to the class, at least, if you felt the need to discuss it now.”

“Actually, yes.” Twilight brightened a bit. “Luster was interested in meeting with you outside of class. I usually do that with all my professors and know some of them already, so we were agreeing to stay after class and touch base with you.”

Twilight hoped she wasn’t deceiving herself in thinking she saw Fallstreak’s guard drop a bit at her claim. But the professor was not disarmed so easily. Fallstreak smiled and nodded. “That is excellent news, Ms. Sparkle. I was having the same thought myself that perhaps both of you should stay after class and the three of us can have a talk.”

“Exactly!” Twilight knew that wasn’t how she meant it, but she couldn’t back down now or Fallstreak would think she was lying. She noticed Twinkleshine facehoof out of the corner of her eye.

“Wonderful. I’ll even save the two of you some walking distance. The front rows are entirely empty, perhaps the two of you ought to come and sit down closer to me.”

That was a more disagreeable arrangement, but there was hardly any hope of getting out of it now. Twilight meekly nodded and lifted her books. Under Fallstreak’s watchful eye – and the watching eyes of the entire class, for that matter – Twilight and Luster stepped down to the front of the lecture hall. Fallstreak flew down to the front of the room and stood on the other side of the table as Luster approached the second seat. She set her books on the table and moved to sit down.

“Oh, no, each of you take an outside seat, there’s more legroom.” Fallstreak waved a hoof at the far end of the table. Luster nodded and quickly moved further, her books sliding with her. Twilight sat in the outside seat and looked down at Luster. The table was only so long to have three seats between them, but it may as well have been a mile.

“There we go.” Fallstreak flashed a smile. “Now, if there are no further interruptions?” Both mares shook their heads. “Excellent. As I was saying, we will touch briefly on non-unicorn mathematics in our second term. Pegasus wingpower could be seen as comparable to unicorn re’em…”

Getting detention together is a bonding thing friends do, right? Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. I don’t think I’ve had detention since Moondancer and I accidentally teleported that beaker on Lemon’s head back in kindergarten.

She glanced at Luster and saw her frowning at her textbook. She saw Twilight looking at her and Twilight shrugged and mouthed ‘Sorry’. Luster rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her book and the lesson, but Twilight noticed her frown was a bit softer than before.

I can live with it.

Chapter 4

Wednesday morning saw the first floor lecture hall begin to fill as the crowd of unicorns filtered through the doors and took up seats. Minuette led the way down a row and let the other five sit down in the chairs behind her.

“Are you girls excited? Halfway through our first week!” she grinned widely.

“I know!” Twilight grinned happily. “It’s been so amazing!” She pulled her notebook and textbook out of her bags and flipped to a new divider.

“I’ll be amazed if I stay awake long enough to make it to the weekend,” Lemon replied. She raised a hoof to her mouth and stifled a yawn. “I have been up late all week helping classmates get their stuff in order. It’s third year, you would think they would know by now where to check to get the list of textbooks they need and where to check out equipment for experiments. But you would be wrong.”

Sitting beside Twilight, Luster leaned forward and looked at Lemon. “Uh, not to be mean, but, if you’re feeling tired from helping them, couldn’t you just not help them?”

“Lemon doesn’t work that way,” Twinkleshine said. “In elementary school, for a classmate? She built a diorama of the Cloudsdale weather factory all by herself so they could pass the assignment. And they got a better mark than she did.”

“That is not true!” Lemon wrinkled her nose. “I got an eighty-one, they got seventy-nine. And they did help build it, they provided the materials and a diagram of how they wanted it to look. They just didn’t have time to actually build it themselves, but they had made the effort.”

Twilight smiled and tilted her head. “I think that still proves the point.”

Suddenly, the room fell into total darkness. Several students screamed and gasped. Magic auras in a spectrum of colors appeared around the seats as the unicorns lit their horns for light. Twilight did not follow suit, opting to wait patiently with a wide smile; she had met the teacher for this course earlier in the week. He seemed the sort to want to make an entrance.

A wave of sparkling magic in myriad colors washed over the room from the center of the ceiling. In its wake appeared a vast, twinkling starfield. A voice, deep and booming and coming from unknown parts of the room, spoke. “The history of Equestria is the history of ponykind, and for their history, ponies have defined themselves by the universe around them.”

The stars around the room began to swirl together, ghostly images appearing over them – an ancient castle, a giant bear, an elaborate magic crest. The images moved across the walls and ceilings, as though the entire room was spinning. The various images and stars converged on each other, forming into six planets orbiting around a glowing orange sun.

“Today we stand at the dawn of a new epoch in each of your lives, the day when your understanding of astral mechanics and the world itself reaches new heights! Today—"

The planets lit up and were drawn into the sun. The sun swirled into a vortex that funneled toward the bottom of the room. The lights came back on and the ponies watched the magical energy draw into a small, painted blue box with an hourglass on it, held in the hooves of a middle-aged earth pony with a light brown coat, dark mane, and a collar and tie. He closed the box and held it up with a smile.

“Today, you begin your third-year astronomy classes.”

A moment of stunned silence ensued and was then broken by applause from the students. The professor bowed his head and set the blue box on the table nearby. “Thank you, I’m quite proud of that little device.” He nodded back at the class. “I am Doctor Time Turner, astrophysicist and third-year astronomy teacher here at SGU. I’ll be teaching both the basic and advanced courses this year, so for those of you who’ll be back here tomorrow for the advanced class, expect a fair degree of overlap.”

A student on the right side of the room raised a hoof, and Dr. Turner paused and looked at them. “Ah, a question already! Yes?”

The student stood up from his seat. “Princess Celestia said we won’t be covering anything about the dual eclipse. Is that true?”

Dr. Turner turned away, rubbing his chin. He mumbled for a moment before turning back and speaking up. “Unfortunately, yes. The princess felt that the curriculum should be consistent no matter what celestial events may occur during the year to be fair to students who attended the years before and will attend the years after.” He frowned and let out a light sigh. “Truth be told it’s quite a disappointment. There hasn’t been an event like this in a millennium by most estimates, and the predicted effects on magic will be profoundly revealing.” He became more animated as he kept talking. “I can’t say I don’t know a scientist alive who isn’t at least mildly intrigued…”

“For something he isn’t supposed to cover, he sure wants to talk about it,” Luster muttered, slumping in her seat.

Twilight cast an eye her way. “Not a fan of astronomy?”

“Not really.” Luster shrugged. “The stars and planets and all that stuff are, well, up there. I’m interested in subjects I can actually apply here.”

On the other side of her, Moondancer sniffed. “That’s a rather short-sighted perspective.”

Twilight looked down at the instructor – he was still going on about the eclipse. She turned back to Luster. “You can learn all sorts of things from astronomy, Luster.”

“Like?”

“The history of Equestria for one.” Twilight flipped open her textbook to a diagram of the solar system. “You can practically chart our cultural evolution by the planets and the moons.”

Luster perked up a bit and turned closer. “Really?”

“Of course!” Twilight flipped a few more pages until she found a large picture of Equestria’s primary moon. “To ancient Equestrians, the moon was a symbol of evil, because it blocked out the sun every night, making things colder and darker and life harder for ponies.”

“Wait, they had an eclipse every night?”

“Not at all. Back then they thought the sun and the moons revolved around Equestria, so every time the sun went away and the moons appeared, they thought the two of them were chasing the sun away, until the morning when they weakened and the sun could return.”

Twilight pointed to a sketch on the opposite page of a unicorn with a large beard and pointed hat with bells dangling from the brim. “Eventually the great wizard Star Swirl the Bearded realized this was totally wrong. He noticed the moons never rose like the sun did, they were high in the sky every night, and sometimes you could even see them during the day. The reasonable explanation was that it wasn’t the moons and the sun that orbited Equestria, Equestria orbited the sun, and as our planet rotates the sun comes into view and then fades away again. A few years later after documenting the phases of the moons and their positions in the skies, he was able to create a calendar of the lunar cycle to explain how the moons orbited Equestria.

“Ponies were hesitant to believe him at first, but a few other unicorns began to apply Star Swirl’s studies to their own observations, and it all clicked. Then over the years, Star Swirl established his theories that the phases of the moons have direct links to magic, even pegasi and earth pony magic. And once everypony knew that, well, they figured out how to use the moon phases to their advantage - earth ponies had an easier time working the land at this time, pegasi could fly further at this time, and so forth. Ponies began to schedule their lives around the moon, and a few decades later the lunar cycle was used as the basis for the first system of months and years.”

“Wow.” Luster raised her eyebrows. “I knew Star Swirl was credited with discovering the moon’s effect on unicorn magic, but I didn’t know he did all that.”

“Oh that’s nothing!” Twilight waved a hoof. “There’s a story about Star Swirl and an ursa major you have to hear.” She looked through her textbook and frowned. “I don’t think he’s in this one, hang on.” She flipped to the back of the book and began scanning the index.

“Uh, Twilight?”

“Hm?” Twilight raised her head at Luster’s voice. She froze when she took notice of her surroundings.

Every student in the class was watching them, as was Dr. Turner at the end of the row.

Not again. Twilight gulped and slid into her seat. “Sorry?”

To her profound relief, Dr. Turner laughed. “Sorry for being exuberant about class, don’t be ridiculous! You are absolutely correct, the history of the stars is the history of us all!” He paused and gave a small frown and tilt of his head. “Although, the class should keep in mind that the existence of Star Swirl is purely apocryphal, so please do not place one’s stock entirely in the stories of him.”

Twilight replied, “Actually, there’s some very strong evidence that there was a unicorn living approximately eleven hundred years ago that may have created an early lunar calendar that was adopted by the local land holders as a guide for growing their crops.”

Dr. Turner raised his eyebrows. “Are you by chance acquainted with Professor Byblos?”

“I have his ancient history class this afternoon.”

Several groans came from the room. Both Twilight and Dr. Turner ignored them as he continued. “Not terribly surprising. I should say you seem the sort that will find his classes of great intrigue. And I’m sure you’ll do well in them, of course. But if you don’t mind, perhaps discussions of the historical impact of astronomy can be saved for after class?”

“Of course.” Twilight bowed her head. “Sorry, again.”

“Not at all, not at all!” The doctor’s enthusiasm returned with gusto as he trotted down the steps back to the front of the room. “I am pleased to know I have students in the class with such an interest in the subject! It was some decades ago in this very hall that my own fascination with the stars was intensified by the lectures of one…”

Twilight kept facing Luster and trotted backwards on the stone path as they continued forward. “The ursa almost broke a young filly’s horn in its rampage, and that was the point Star Swirl had enough. He drove the ursa back with a magic blast so powerful, it sent it up into the air and it punched a hole in the sky, shattering the ursa into pieces. And that’s where we got the constellation ‘ursa major’ from.”

“Wow.” Luster lifted her eyebrows and looked up at the sky. “Yeah, I’m gonna take a guess that story isn’t true.”

“No.” Twilight shook her head. “Like Dr. Turner said, a lot of the stories about Star Swirl are purely apocryphal, and there’s a lot of speculation that the official evidence about him are about two or three different unicorns living in the same time period that have been conflated into one great wizard. But it still offers insight on what the ancient ponies thought of him.”

The two unicorns were strolling through SGU’s central concourse shortly after classes let out. The grounds were still full of students milling about, but large crowds were making their way into town or to the chariot boarding platforms to go home. Twilight and Luster, however, were making their way down the path to the Royal Canterlot Archives.

“There’s this great book I enjoyed as a filly, ‘Great Myths of the Pre-Classical Era’, that has a lot of the stories about Star Swirl in it. I think the Archives has a copy.”

Luster scrunched her nose. “A filly’s book?”

“Oh, no, it’s an intermediate reading level.” Twilight shrugged. “I just had a very advanced vocabulary.”

The two reached the doors of the archives and waved at the receptionist at the front desk. Beyond the self check-out counters, rows and rows of books stretched back and around the sides of the building. The Royal Canterlot Archives was the largest library in all of Equestria, not merely because of the mountains of bookshelves that made up its three floors, but also for the underground vault where more fragile or dangerous texts were kept in safe storage out of public view. If one could not find a book within the walls of the Archives, it was fair to say that book did not exist anymore.

“I also need to pick up a couple textbooks on mental magic while we’re here,” Luster said.

“Sure. Follow me.” Twilight beamed happily. “I know where pretty much everything in here is.” She let her smile fade. “What do you need textbooks on mental magic for?”

“My thesis,” Luster replied. “I’ve a couple rough ideas in that ballpark, but I want to research them more before I commit to one.”

“Makes sense to me.”

The end of the bookshelves were in sight ahead, where a balcony overlooked a recessed study area. Twilight walked ahead and looked down at the crowd of unicorns.

Sunset Shimmer looked back up at her.

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. Sunset? There was no mistaking her, the waving red and yellow mane and bright orange coat were as vibrant now as when she had dreamed about her days ago. Sitting right in the middle of the study area, nopony else around her. And her eyes, glimmering teal, stared right at Twilight, as though Sunset had been waiting for her.

Twilight knew she ought to head down and say hello to the other unicorn, but found herself unable to move.

“Twilight?” A touch to her shoulder made Twilight jerk from her trance and blink rapidly. She turned her head to Luster and found the other pony giving her a concerned look.

“Luster?”

“You were just standing there and staring off into space.” Luster lowered her hoof. “I asked which way from here and you didn’t even hear me.”

Twilight snapped her head back to the study area. There was no sign of Sunset. Twilight quickly scanned the room, but found nothing. The study area was accessible by staircases around its perimeter, a door outside, and a passage under the balcony to the bathrooms, but all of those exits were too far for Sunset to have run to during the few seconds Twilight had looked away.

How could I have seen her? Was Twinkleshine right? Is Sunset really another student I just don’t remember meeting? But why would she avoid me? And how? Could she have teleported? Maybe, but teleportation isn’t allowed on school grounds. Unless she was just that desperate to get away from me… The last thought sat uncomfortably with Twilight.

“Hellooooo? Twilight?” A pale red hoof waved in front of Twilight’s fade and she turned to Luster again. “Are you okay? We can do this some other time if you’re not feeling well.”

Twilight clenched her eyes and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It’s fine. I just…” She glanced at the study area again. “Did you happen to see an orange unicorn with a red and yellow mane down there?”

Luster shook her head. “No. But, I wasn’t really looking for anypony specific. Who is that?”

“Sunset Shimmer.” The name came from Twilight’s mouth as if she had known it for years.

“Is she another friend of yours?”

“It’s… complicated.” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “Nevermind. Um, mental magics are this way.” She began walking around the balcony, keeping one eye on the study area. She examined each pony down there one at a time, but none of them even bore much of a passing resemblance to Sunset. I couldn’t have just mistaken somepony else for her. I know I saw her.

Twilight diverted her attention back to their walk just in time to catch the shelves they wanted. She turned and felt her body loosen its tension as it moved away from the study area. She furrowed her brow. I wasn’t tense or worried like this in the dream, or when waking up from it. Why now? She glanced at the shelves and paused, sweeping her hoof over them. “Here we are. This shelf down, and the one behind us, are all about different kinds of mental magic.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Luster smiled and began browsing the books.

“I’m going to get some books of my own, did you want to meet up before we leave?”

Luster shook her head. “I’m good, thanks though. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Twilight turned and headed down the shelves to the stairwell. Maybe a few books on mental magic would be good for me, too.

Sighing, Twilight opened her eyes and lifted her head. She saw the lecture hall stretching before her and gasped. “Oh no. Did I fall asleep in class?” She looked around, and then up.

The glowing image of the solar system filled the room above her, planets circling the central sun. But they weren’t moving as quickly as in the classroom demonstration; they seemed to be moving as if in an actual orbit. They also felt different somehow, but Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on what it was.

“Dr. Turner?” She didn’t see any sign of him below. In fact, the room seemed to be empty of students. She frowned. This seemed familiar. “Hello? Anypony?”

There was a low moan and Twilight snapped her head to where it had come from. From a row on the other side of the room an orange mare with a red and yellow mane rose into view, rubbing her head.

Twilight blinked. “Sunset?”

The mare noticed her and lowered her hoof. “Twilight?”

Twilight walked to the end of her row and paused at the stairs. Opposite her, Sunset approached and stood at the end of her row, the stairs between them. After a moment of silence, Sunset waved. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

Sunset scanned the room and raised her eyebrows. “Fancy seeing you here again.”

“Yeah…” Twilight looked the pony over. Every detail was exactly as she remembered it. The same two-toned hair in the same wavy style, the orange of her mane, the sun cutie-mark, the bright teal eyes that were giving her a curious stare. Twilight blushed and shook her head. “Sorry. Just, you look the same.”

“Well, yeah.” Sunset shifted her weight from side to side and looked herself over. “Was I supposed to go get my mane cut or something?”

“No. You look great.”

The motion of one of the illusory planets circling the air above drew Twilight’s gaze up to watch. She swept her eyes through the image to the sun at the center, crackling and glowing bright orange and yellow. “Why are we here?”

“You tell me.” Sunset shrugged. “I’ve never had much interest in astronomy. Barely even know the names of the planets.”

“Really?” Twilight gave her a surprised look. She pointed a hoof at the outermost planet, pale red and orange. “That’s Ninurtu, the planet that encircles the solar system gathering the sun’s rays.” She moved her hoof to a much smaller planet, this one various shades of blue. “Then comes Eniku, the planet that brings light and joy to the universe.” She then pointed to a planet within it, a deep red. “And then, just beyond Equus’ orbit, Negalu is the planet that defends us from outsiders.” Twilight moved her hoof to a tiny yellow planet and a large grey planet within it. “Finally, within the orbit of Equus, Inashu shields us from the sun’s heat and light when it grows too harsh, and Bunabu guards the sun itself.”

Sunset scrunched her face. “Who says all that stuff?”

“It’s why they’re named,” Twilight explained. “Ancient words for Healing, Hope, Bravery, Beauty, and Strength. Virtues of great importance to the first pony tribes who founded Equestria. They gave every planet a role to play in the cosmos and came up with stories about how they filled those roles.”

“Oh. Cool, I guess.” Sunset stepped closer, watching the planets with Twilight.

“Then, of course, there’s our planet Equus, and our moons. The primary moon is Nasenu, and the secondary moon is Elinu.”

“Primary?”

Twilight nodded. “Elinu reflects much less light than Nasenu, thus it’s darker in the sky and less explored. So, Nasenu is the primary moon and Elinu is the secondary moon.”

“Huh.” Sunset lifted her eyebrows. “I’d heard it the other way around. But then I never paid much attention to this stuff.” She tilted her head. “I heard there’s gonna be some kind of eclipse soon?”

“Yup.” Twilight pointed towards the image of Equus. “We’re not exactly sure when, but in the near future, Nasenu will be completely in the shadow of Elinu in regards to their positions between Equus and the sun. Normally the two orbit Equus at different speeds, so a dual eclipse like this is beyond once-in-a-lifetime, more like once-in-a-hundred lifetimes.”

“Wow. I guess I’ll keep an eye out for that.” Sunset gave a small chuckle. “I never thought I’d learn something new from a dream. Thanks, Twilight.” She raised a hoof and gave a gentle punch to Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight inhaled sharply and cried out. An electric shock went through her body, setting every nerve on fire and her senses on high alert. Her hooves buckled under her and she tumbled forward.

“Twilight!”

As she rolled down the stairs, the white and grey study hall and the colors of the planets and Sunset all blurred together.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs and flopped on her back, the swirling colors above her looked like faces watching her. Then as one they dropped from the sky and fell towards her.

Twilight sat up suddenly in bed, staring at the wall. Her heart pounded in her ears, yet she felt a strange sense of peace. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and looked around the room. Twinkleshine was still sleeping peacefully, and the open curtains were letting in hints of morning light from outside. She squinted at the clock hands over the door – shortly before six.

Too early to start moving around, I’d wake her up. Twilight lay back in her bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

One dream is nothing. Two dreams is weird. She shook her head. You spent a lot of time yesterday chatting with Luster about astronomy. It’s just really heavy on your mind, so of course you dreamed about it. And then Luster has a sun cutie mark and a two-toned mane, so you thought of Sunset. Makes sense. Nothing unusual.

A part of her brain reminded her that she had dreamed of Sunset before she met Luster.

Twilight ignored that part of her brain and turned her head on her pillow.

Chapter 5

“Tired?”

At the question, Twilight raised her head from her bowl of soup and looked into the concerned eyes of Lemon Hearts. She shook her head. “No. Just thinking.” She lifted her spoon to her lips and slurped.

“Must be kinda intense. You didn’t even hear my question.”

Twilight winced. “Sorry.”

The two sat in some café Twilight hadn’t caught the name of, after she had gone into Canterlot for lunch and found Lemon in line here. It was a small, cozy café, though roomy enough for a fair amount of seating. The owner seemed to be going for some sort of rustic theme, judging from the decorative farm implements on the walls and the bare-wood tabletops.

The small businesses around the SGU tended to have a high turnover rate as ponies opened up shops to cater to students, then either folded or moved to another location. Twilight recalled a pastry shop had been in this place last year; she remembered because she had sworn never to go to it again after the outrageous price they had charged for a pair of cookies that were far too small and far too sweet. The café was a definite improvement, her soup had been far more reasonably priced and had a mild spiciness to give it a bit of punch.

“Did you plan to bring anything to Minuette’s tonight?” Lemon asked.

Twilight pondered the question. “Maybe a book or two. Why?”

“She’s ordering in pizzas for dinner and wanted to confirm nopony else was bringing food.”

“Oh. No, then, go ahead.” Twilight dipped her spoon into her soup for another slurp.

Across from her, Lemon poked a knife at a wrap on a small paper plate. “So, what’s on your mind that you didn’t hear me?”

Twilight didn’t answer right away. She let her spoon click on the rim of her bowl and sat back. “I’ve been having some weird dreams lately. Have you ever heard of a mare named Sunset Shimmer?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“I’ve dreamed about her twice this week.” Twilight scrunched her face at the sudden lift of Lemon’s eyebrows. “Not like that!” She shook her head. “We’re just hanging out, like we usually do. The first time we were in the library, then in a classroom.”

“Okay.” Lemon shrugged. “What’s weird about them?”

“I have no idea who this mare is, Lemon! But I’ve dreamed about her twice, vividly. I remember her eyes, her coat, her mane, her voice. It’s like she’s a real pony.”

“What’s she look like?”

“Red and yellow mane, orange coat, teal eyes. Sun-shaped cutie mark. If I could draw worth anything I could sketch an exact portrait of her from memory.” Twilight took a breath before continuing. “There are two possibilities – either this mare actually exists, or she does not. If she does, then it is highly improbable I could have such clear and consistent recollections about her identity but don’t remember meeting her in real life. If she does not, then the question must be asked of why I’ve had two dreams about an imaginary mare.”

“Dreams are sometimes considered a reflection of one’s inner psyche,” Lemon recited. “Are you having any trouble lately in your life that Sunset somehow alleviates?”

Twilight rolled her tongue in her mouth and thought. “No. All things considered life is pretty good right now. I’m worried about doing well, but that’s natural and I’ve never had dreams like this before.”

“She does not provide you any outlet for socialization about topics you can’t discuss with your friends?”

Twilight’s eyes snapped back to Lemon. “What? No, I love you guys! Moondancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine, you! You four are the best friends a girl could ask for. And I have Luster too, now.”

Lemon murmured as Twilight began to lift her soup spoon. “Why did you note Luster as an afterthought?”

“I didn’t!” Twilight let her spoon drop back into the bowl. “What are you inferring?”

“Nothing. I just make note of what you said and how you said it.”

“Well, good.” Twilight huffed. “Because Luster is my friend, and I’m glad she is making friends with my friends so we can all be friends. The six of us can be one big happy group of friends.”

“You’re raising your voice.”

“I am not!” The hoof meeting her face was practically subconscious. Twilight lowered it. “Okay, if I’m to be totally honest here…” she slumped slightly. “It’s awkward that I have to make friends with her.” She quickly amended, “and I am her friend, and don’t mind it, she’s a good pony. It’s just… pressure I don’t need. And she’s a challenge.”

“A challenge?” Lemon lifted her wrap and took a bite as she listened.

“Princess Celestia said Luster needed a friend. It follows that making more than one would be better, right? But I keep having to push Luster to spend time with you guys and even when she goes along with it, I’m not sure she actually likes it. And if I’m forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to do, she’s definitely not going to make friends with you girls and not going to want to be my friend anymore either.”

Twilight sighed. Her ears dropped as she stared at her soup, noodles bobbing on the surfaces. “Without you guys, the two of us get along well, but we talk about studying and assignments most of the time and I’m not sure if that’s what the Princess expected. But I don’t have any ideas for other things to talk to her about, so what can I do? I’m not good at this friend-making stuff.”

She shook her head. “The Princess should have picked somepony else for this.”

“The Princess picked the perfect pony for this.”

Twilight perked up. “What?”

Lemon waved a hoof. “You’re trying to push Luster out of her comfort zone, but you’re being very attentive about how well she’s responding to your efforts. That’s a good thing. If you weren’t forcing her to make an effort, I’d say you’re not trying hard enough, and if you weren’t worried about how she’s handling it then you’d be oblivious about her needs. Maybe you’re worrying a bit too much, sure, but worrying is perfectly normal for this kind of thing.” She took a bite of her wrap.

“I can’t refute any of that.” Twilight gave a small smile. “Thanks.”

Lemon held up a hoof as she chewed and swallowed. “No problem. And I’ll bet this is related to the dreams, too. You said Sunset is red, yellow and orange with a sun cutie mark. Sounds like she’s a parallel to Luster, and that you’re projecting your difficulties getting along with Luster onto Sunset because you find her easier to get along with.”

“I dreamed about Sunset before I met Luster, though.”

“The first time may have just been a fluke, a normal, random dream. But your subconscious picked up on Sunset as a substitute for Luster and ran with it.”

Twilight tried to think of a reason Lemon might be wrong. It makes sense, sort of. But it still doesn’t feel right. Something about her dreams with Sunset felt odd, but she didn’t have the words to articulate how or why. She couldn’t even identify it well enough to classify it as a good or bad kind of odd. Luster wasn’t odd. Well, no odder than any other pony with a quirk or two. The kind of dreams Twilight had of Sunset didn’t fit Luster.

She sighed and fiddled with her soup spoon. “Do you think she’ll come tonight?”

“To Minuette’s place?” Lemon shrugged. “I’m not completely sure, but I think she will. She doesn’t seem the kind to go back on her word.”

“She’s also not the kind to go to parties, but I made her.” Twilight sighed again and twirled her spoon in her soup.

Lemon frowned. “You didn’t make her do anything, Twilight.”

Twilight looked away. “I, um, may have offered academic support if she came.”

“Ah.” Lemon thought for a moment. “Well, could always swing by her place and let her know she doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.”

“I don’t know where she lives.”

Lemon inclined her head. “Well, then there’s only one thing to do – see how tonight plays out and hope it goes well.”

Twilight wished she could hide her face in her soup.

The last bowl was wiped out, rinsed, and set in the draining board next to the sink. Her chore done, Twilight pulled the stopper out of the sink and let the water drain.

“Did you wanna head over soon?” Twinkleshine asked.

She looked over her shoulder at her friend, laying on her bed, browsing her notebook.

“You look like you’re busy.”

“Nothing that can’t wait.” Twinkleshine snapped the notebook shut and sat up. “It’s quarter after five, don’t wanna wait too long.”

“Right.” Twilight walked to her bed and lifted her saddle bags filled with her notebook and a book for light reading onto her back. She looked at the top of the copy of Legends of the Stars she had checked out – she couldn’t help herself after her talk with Luster – and hesitated for a moment.

If Luster was there, the night would probably be awkward, at least for Twilight. If she wasn’t, then it more certainly would be awkward for most of them. She took a breath and shook her head. It’s too late, it’s done, see where it goes.

Twinkleshine hopped off the bed, stretched, and grabbed her keys from the table between the beds. “Any time you wanna be back by?”

“Within reason, but Minuette is usually good about knowing when it’s that time.”

“True.”

Twilight approached the door and waited for Twinkleshine to flick off the lights of the room before she exited into the hall. Her friend followed soon after and locked the door behind them.

The hallways of the SGU dorm were considerably quieter on weekends than weekdays. Weekdays, students were always coming and going, but on the weekends the only sounds were the muffled music and cheers of various student get-togethers happening, and they were comparatively few. The rest of the student body were studying, in town, or at a friend’s room.

Twilight and Twinkleshine headed to the main hall where the stairwells of the four floors of the building ran up and down the walls to the ground floor. They passed over the walkway between the two wings to the second part of the third-floor dorms. As they neared room 324, Twilight paused and stared.

Luster Dawn was down the hall – right in front of Minuette’s door judging from the distance – pacing in a circle staring at the floor. Twilight couldn’t quite see but it looked like her mouth was moving.

“Yo!” Twinkleshine waved a hoof as she passed Twilight. Twilight grimaced and followed her.

Luster stopped in her pacing and looked their way. “Oh! Um, hi.” She waved back.

“Everything okay?” Twinkleshine asked, stopping in front of her.

“Yeah, fine. Just…” Luster rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at the number on Minuette’s door. “Was trying to figure out if I was too early or too late, but you two are here now, so I guess that answers that question.”

Awkwardness, hesitation, self-doubt. Be supportive, you can do it! Twilight’s brain screamed at her. She snapped to attention and obeyed. “Minuette is usually fine with us coming by any time, as long as we’re here.”

The door swung open with a sing-song “And you a-a-are!” Minuette thrust her muzzle into the hall with a wide grin. “I like hallway parties, but it’s more comfy in a room with chairs.” She stepped back in. “Come on, if you want invitations you’ll need to give me warning next time.”

Closest to the door, Luster Dawn breathed deep and headed in. Twinkleshine followed and Twilight brought up the rear. The door clicked shut behind her.

Naturally, Minuette’s dorm room was the exact same layout as Twilight and Twinkleshine’s, and every other room on the third floor. Yet while Twilight and Twinkleshine had agreed on the practicality of not worrying about furnishings beyond the necessary, Minuette had taken the time to spruce her dorm room up. A white lampshade with colored tissue paper sat on the nightstand light, pictures of the group filled the wall above the dresser, and her kitchen cabinet doors were covered with white paper that had been doodled on with crayon.

Moondancer reclined on a bed reading a book and Lemon Hearts sat at the table munching on a strawberry-iced donut. She waved to the new group and swallowed what was in her mouth. “Hey, guys.”

As Twilight set her saddle bag by the dresser, she saw Luster staring at Moondancer. Luster then looked at Twilight. “Are we late? When did she arrive?”

Moondancer raised her eyes. “I was here at exactly five, as expected.”

“Don’t sweat it, Dawny!” Minuette put a hoof around her neck and ruffled her mane, prompting the mare to try and pull away. “Moony is always on time.”

“Well, yes.” Moondancer sniffed. “Agreement was to be here at five, so I—"

“It’s okay, Moony, we know!” Minuette turned her grin her way and released Luster. “So, pizza should be here sometime around six. We could put the movie on or play a game and watch the movie over pizza.”

“Movie?” Luster looked at Twilight again.

Twilight wasn’t quite sure how to decipher the look on Luster’s face. Fear, surprise, worry, annoyance? She pushed it aside and nodded. “Minuette rented a movie from the library, Cloudy Skies. She said so at lunch, remember?”

“No.” Luster mumbled her answer and shuffled her hooves.

“Game first,” Twinkleshine said, drawing the group’s attention. She grabbed a donut with white icing from a box on the counter and licked her lips. “By the time the movie is over we might wanna call it a night.”

“Agreed,” Moondancer chimed in.

“Great!” Minuette gestured to a short stack of boxes on the kitchen counter. “I’ve got Tourist, Dragon Pit, Dragon Pit Deluxe, Caper…”

Twilight cut in. “Something all six of us can play. And preferably a game we can complete within an hour so we aren’t here too late for the movie.”

“I have also brought a game.” Moondancer said. She lifted two small cardboard boxes from the bed beside her, rows of cards in them. “For help studying, I made a set of Trivia Trot cards based on the different subjects of third year. We could do individuals, or with three teams we could do round robin rules.”

“Trivia on school subjects?” Twinkleshine faked a gag and stuck out her tongue. “Why are you trying to make us learn on a Saturday?”

Moondancer rolled her eyes and set the cards back down.

“For something quick, Caper should be fine,” Twilight said.

“I’m game,” Lemon nodded.

“Great!” Minuette took the box from the stack, set it on the empty bed, and began to pull out the board and pieces. Lemon stood and moved the chairs over to the bed along with a hoofstool and a pair of folding chairs from against the wall. Minuette unfolded the board, a grid showing a large castle with various rooms. She then set a series of colored plastic ponies in starting positions.

As the group gravitated to the game area, Luster leaned into Twilight. “I’ve never played this before,” she whispered.

“Oh, you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.” Twilight swept a hoof over the board. “The idea is that one of Princess Celestia’s servants stole something of hers from the castle – a book, a key, a crown, a bag of bits, a scepter, or a cake. We have to figure out what was stolen, from what room, and who did it. We’re dealt cards that tell us what wasn’t the location, item, and pony, and by moving around the rooms and making guesses to see the cards of other players, you can deduce the truth and make the correct accusation to win the game.”

Luster relaxed. “Seems simple enough.”

“It’s a classic,” Twinkleshine said. She wrinkled her nose. “Though they keep trying to ruin it with expanded editions and alternate rulesets.”

“I thought the Thief version was fun,” Lemon said. She turned to Luster. “That’s a version where one of the players knows they’re the Thief and has to try to secretly steal the items from the different rooms without being found out.”

“It was way too complicated.” Twinkleshine shook her head. “They needed a way for the Thief to be able to steal the items without the player just announcing, ‘Hey I’m the Thief and I just stole that item’. So they introduced a bunch of magic-infused pieces and rules about how all players had to magically manipulate items to allow the Thief to do the same and mark items as stolen. It should have been fun, but it was a drag.”

“I rather enjoyed it,” Moondancer said evenly. “One had to keep track of the thefts and sabotages of equipment to notice the pattern of the Thief’s movements and deduce their location. There’s a reason the game gave each player notepads.”

“Of course you’d like the version that involves a lot of writing and note-taking,” Twinkleshine said.

“And of course you wouldn’t,” Moondancer replied.

Minuette thrust her hooves out “Okay, girls, that’s enough! We are here to have fun, not to argue! If you want to argue, we can play Real Estate.”

“No!” came a chorus of five replies.

Luster quickly shook her head and stuck out her tongue. “That game is how you destroy friendships.”

The others chuckled lightly. Minuette lifted the three decks of cards and began to shuffle.

Moondancer adjusted her glasses and raised her head. “The culprit was Petunia Petals, in the Observatory, stealing the Crown.” She lifted the envelope in the center of the board, opened the flap, and removed the three cards inside. She smiled widely and turned them around to show them to the rest of the group. “I win.”

The others groaned and set their cards down. “I had two out of three right,” Lemon mumbled. “Couldn’t figure out the room.”

“I had the room figured out by my third turn,” Twilight glared at the four different room cards in her hand. “It was everything else that eluded me.” She glanced at Luster; the other mare sorted her cards into their three categories and placed them in the middle of the board. “How’d you do?”

Luster turned to her. “I didn’t have anything solid to base an accusation on, but I had narrowed the options down to two each. I didn’t get the chance to move to the right rooms to start narrowing it down more.”

Moondancer and Lemon Hearts were gathering up the pieces of the game when there was a knock at the door. Minuette looked up at the clock. “Perfect timing!” She grabbed a change purse off the dresser and opened the door. The talk between her and the delivery pony was muffled, but after a few moments Minuette came back inside hoisting three pizza boxes and a paper bag. She tossed her purse back on the dresser and slid the pizza boxes onto the kitchen counter. “Come and get it!”

The five mares migrated to the table, bringing their chairs with them, and then moved on to the counter. Minuette opened the boxes and gestured to each as she spoke. “We have three-cheese, mushrooms with green peppers and olives, and everything.” She took six drink cans out of the paper bag and then dumped it on the counter, a pile of napkins, paper plates, straws, and cups of dip clattering out.

Twinkleshine took a plate and licked her lips as she floated three slices of the everything out of the box. She set them on her plate and grabbed one of the drink cans, then sat down at the table.

Lemon watched her and wrinkled her nose. “I see at least three things on that plate that should not be considered pizza toppings.”

Twinkleshine stuck her tongue out. “If it can go in my mouth, it can go on my slice.” She raised one and bit into it without breaking eye contact. Lemon grimaced and turned away.

Twilight floated two slices of veggie pizza onto a plate and watched Luster take two slices of cheese. “You like yours simple?” she asked.

Luster nodded. “Just cheese and maybe something like tomatoes or cucumber. You?”

“I’m not a fan of plain cheese.” Twilight squirmed in place a bit. “Pizza with just cheese and nothing else feels wrong somehow.”

When the six had gotten their meals and sat at the table, Lemon swallowed her bite and cleared her throat. “Did we wanna put on the movie while we’re eating?” A chorus of muffled agreements and nods answered her.

Lemon stepped away from the table and walked to between the beds. A black plastic casing the size of a large textbook lifted into view and she set it on the bed. A wide crystal sat on the top of the box and a panel with buttons and a digital readout were on the side. Lemon lifted a video cassette and pressed the top of the player box – a slot lifted up and she slid the video in and pushed it back down. She pressed two of the buttons and the crystal lit up, projecting a glowing blue-green rectangle on the curtains. Lemon turned the player to face one of the walls and began adjusting a dial, the projected rectangle changing size.

“Amazing stuff, isn’t it?” Twinkleshine watched the player, eyes gleaming with restrained wonder. “When we were fillies, movies had to be stored on massive reels bigger than that whole box.”

Luster looked at her. “Really?”

“Yup.” Twinkleshine nodded. “They only played in black and white, and the audio recordings were separate reels and were pretty much never properly synchronized with the visuals.”

“Wow.” Luster nodded and looked at the player in new appreciation.

“Haven’t you ever seen a movie, Dawny?” Minuette asked.

Luster shook her head. “We had a small theater in my hometown, but my parents never took me and I never really wanted to go.”

Hometown? Twilight was struck by the fact she had no idea where Luster was from. Should she have asked by now?

“Well, that is the future there.” Twinkleshine smiled at the player. “Now movies can simultaneously record color images and audio on the same magnetic tape, and on way smaller reels than before. Then the player box projects it all through a finely tuned crystal that works as power for the whole thing and also converts the signals on the tape into audio-visual output – that is, the projection.”

“Cool.” Luster tilted her head. “Though, why use the reels at all?”

“Uh, we kinda have to have a tape to play a movie from.”

“Do you?” Luster peered at the player. “You can encode images and sound on magic crystals, right? I’d wager the quality of the output would be a lot higher, being that crystal can’t degrade or be damaged as easily.” She tilted her eyes up. “Though granted, I don’t know if anypony has ever tried to encode audio and visual data onto the same crystal…”

Twilight tapped Luster on the shoulder. “Luster?” She pointed across the table and Luster turned her head.

Twinkleshine stared at Luster, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. Luster leaned away. “Uh, I say something?”

Twinkleshine’s head snapped to stare at Moondancer. “Moondancer, is everything she just said true?”

“I suppose.” Moondancer glanced at Luster. “Ponies have been using a form of runic inscription to imprint short moving pictures and voice samples on crystals for decades. Though I don’t know if the same crystal could handle both audio and visual data, and I’ve never heard of it done in such quantity of data as a movie. You’d need a pretty high-quality crystal with a lot of magical potential to store that level of information.” She raised her eyebrows and nodded. “But, theoretically, if you had such a crystal and could figure out the inscribing spells you’d need to imprint both audio and visual onto it, I don’t see why it couldn’t be done.”

Twinkleshine looked between the two and slowly split into a wide grin. “You two are geniuses.”

“Thank you,” Moondancer said politely.

“Yeah, thanks,” Luster replied with more confusion.

Twinkleshine looked back at the player box. Lemon had finished adjusting it and the starting title of the movie was displayed against the wall.

“Twinkles?” Minuette called softly.

“Think the library has blueprints on that thing?” Twinkleshine whispered.

“Probably. Why?”

“I think I just got an idea for my thesis.”

Twilight smiled proudly. “Dr. Harvest, stole the Cake, from the Ballroom!” Lemon calmly lifted a card from her hand and slid it across the board. Twilight leaned her head down and lifted the edge. “Oh, come on!” She slid the card back.

“And that’s another bite!” Twinkleshine laughed.

Twilight lifted a piece of pizza from a plate in front of her and grimaced. It was half-eaten, cold, and covered in three types of congealed cheese. She bit into it, tore off what was between her teeth, and tried to swallow while doing as little chewing – or tasting – as possible. It barely helped. “It tastes like dried glue.” She coughed and took a drink of water from a glass.

“It does not, don’t be a drama queen,” Minuette teased.

“You want a bite?” Twilight held the slice out to her.

“Nope.” Minuette shook her head. “The rules of Pizza Caper are clear, you bite when you get a guess wrong.”

“The rules are unfair, Twinkleshine would scarf it down no problem.”

“Hey, cold pizza is as nasty to me as any of you!” Twinkleshine sniffed. “I have some standards.”

“My turn.” Lemon picked the dice up in her magic and rolled.

“Pardon me a moment.” Luster slid her chair back and stepped down.

As Lemon moved her piece into a room and announced a suggestion, Twilight watched Luster step not to the bathroom door, but the dorm door. She slipped outside and the door gently closed behind her.

Is she leaving? Twilight looked up at the clock and winced. Almost nine. I told her she only had to be here an hour. “Excuse me too, girls.” She climbed out of her chair and went into the hall.

Luster sat with her back to the wall, her eyes closed. As Twilight stepped out Luster opened her eyes, saw it was her, and closed them again.

Twilight sat next to her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Her voice was soft.

The rest of the hallway was silent but for the muffled talking from the room they had just left and the distant sound of music from another room down the hall. The two sat in silence for a moment, Luster with her eyes closed and Twilight staring at the wall.

Can’t stay out here forever, they’ll come looking for us. Get it out. Twilight took a breath. “Thanks for coming tonight. I’m sorry we got busy with the movie and then this other game, but you did way more than I asked and I appreciate it. If you wanna leave that’s okay, I’ll tell them the pizza wasn’t sitting well with you, or something. And we can go around and meet the teachers together over the week.”

“You think I was planning to leave?” Luster looked over at her.

“Well, that’s why you came out here, isn’t it?” Twilight replied.

“I wanted some air. It started to get a bit stuffy and noisy in there.” Luster shook her head. “I was actually planning to head back inside in a sec.”

“Oh… sorry.” Twilight turned away and grit her teeth. Stupid, don’t assume, now you look like a jerk who thinks bad of her!

“Stop it.” Twilight looked back and saw Luster giving her a light glare.

“Stop what?”

“You’re feeling bad about what you said. Don’t.” Luster shook her head. “I don’t like ponies feeling bad on my account. And don’t apologize for feeling that way, either. That’s just the same problem.”

“…Okay then.” Twilight stifled the urge to apologize anyway.

The two fell back into silence, though this time Luster was watching the wall with Twilight. Twilight glanced at her a couple times just to examine her, but did her best to keep her eyes on the wall.

“You’re not very discreet about that, either.”

Darn.

“Sor—" Twilight bit off the automatic response. “If I’m making you uncomfortable, I can go back inside.”

“Uncomfortable?” Luster barked out a short laugh. “Twilight, you’ve made me feel the most comfortable I’ve felt since I came to SGU.”

Twilight recoiled. “What?”

Luster lightly tapped a hoof on the wall. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done anything like this? Don’t answer that, trick question, the answer is never. I can’t remember ever having a pizza party with ponies that aren’t relatives, or playing board games with them. Not since I was a filly, at least. But…” she smiled. “It isn’t that. You know the best part?”

Twilight lightly shook her head.

“Nothing. Just, not doing anything in particular. Being here, like Minuette said, is enough. Not talking to each other, or even looking at each other. Just watching the movie and eating…” She looked up at the ceiling lights and inhaled deeply. “It’s… nice.”

“I see.”

The two words were all that Twilight could manage as all her anxiety over the evening drained out of her. She’s enjoying herself, really enjoying herself. She’s happy. Twilight broke into a grin and laughed.

Luster gave her a confused look. “What’s so funny?”

“I thought I had forced you to come, that you’d hate it here and this was all a bad idea. But…” Twilight directed her smile her way. “I’m happy to realize I was totally wrong.”

Luster raised an eyebrow. “Well, not totally. You did force me to come… but I’m glad you did.” She put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and gave a reassuring pat.

“Does this mean you’ll consider coming to these things every month?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll think about it.” Luster shrugged and let her hoof drop. “For now, maybe we should get back inside, huh? Before they come looking for us.”

“Sure.” Twilight stood and held the door open, letting Luster head in before following and letting the door swing behind her.

Chapter 6

“Let’s see…” Moondancer took the pristine pocketbook from the shelf and flipped to a specific page. She scanned it and frowned. “It’s still there.”

Twilight glanced her way from a display of school calendars. “Hm?”

“Page 121 of The Rear Shelf.” Moondancer held the book open and gestured to the page. “They misspelled ‘ominous’ as ‘ominos’. And this is the second edition of the book with a new foreword from the author, so it ought to have been corrected.”

“Oh.” Twilight shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t notice it.”

“I sent her two letters.” Moondancer sighed and put the book back, giving it a forlorn look. “It is disappointing when such talented ponies make such minor errors and refuse to correct them.” She pulled aside to let a stallion pass by her, munching from a bowl of hayfries.

The ‘Author’s Bungalow at Canterlot’ – the inane acronym had made her groan when it opened – was always a bit busy on Sunday afternoons. The other six days of the week the shop was a simple bookstore with a seating area for reading and relaxing. Sundays however, a food cart parked outside and customers were allowed to eat their meals in the seating area of the store, provided they had no unpaid merchandise with them. Thus, Sundays always saw an influx of customers more interested in eating than reading.

Twilight was grateful the food cart days had stayed limited to just Sundays.

She turned back to the shelf of school calendars and raised her eyebrows as one caught her eye. “Ooo, this one is astronomy themed! Every day you get a picture of a constellation, star, planet, or other celestial object, and a brief description of it.” She pulled it down and turned it around to read the examples on the back of the box.

Moondancer eyed the package. “I find it likely there is nothing on that calendar you wouldn’t already be well aware of.”

“Oh, it’s not for me, it’s for Luster. Since the party went so well and it’s the end of our first week of school, I thought I might get her a little gift. She was interested in the myths of the constellations, something like this could be a casual way to feed her curiosity.”

“In that case, it sounds good.” Moondancer nodded.

Twilight picked up a book she had set down on a table nearby and lifted it with the calendar. “I’m ready to check out, then. You?”

“Yes.” Moondancer held up three pocketbooks. “These will suffice.”

The two joined the short light up to the front counter. Moondancer eyed the book Twilight was carrying. “Thank you, by the way. You don’t have to buy me that.”

Twilight glanced at the book – Principles of Magic -Revised Edition- “Well, consider it my apology for forgetting about yours for two years. And I will find it, promise! I’m really sure it’s at my parents’ place.” She looked at a clock on the wall. “I’d drop by and look around, but I’m afraid I have a meeting in an hour.”

“No rush. But I do appreciate the thought.” Moondancer raised her eyes to Twilight’s face. “May I ask what this meeting is about?”

“Luster.” Twilight replied.

The pony in front of them stepped forward, moving the line up. Moondancer smiled. “You seem in better spirits about Luster. Lemon told me you’ve been anxious about her.”

The mention deflated Twilight’s mood only slightly, but she nodded. “I’ve never had to make friends with another pony before by royal command. And Luster starts to pull away whenever it seems she’s getting close to us. I’m not sure what to make of her.”

“Some ponies make friends differently than others. It took time for you to get used to being around Minuette and Lemon Hearts, and even longer for me to.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah. No offense to Minuette, but she can come on a bit strong. But I owe you for convincing me that she settles down.”

“You owe nothing.” Moondancer shook her head. “We met by happenstance is all.”

The pony at the counter left and the two stepped up. “You first.” Twilight sidestepped and let Moondancer set her purchases on the counter. She looked at the calendar floating next to her.

If nothing else, Luster will appreciate the gesture. And, Moondancer is right. We became friends naturally, I can’t expect a friendship to happen because I force it. Moondancer and I became friends because we grew up together, but it took time for me to become friends with Minuette and Lemon Hearts

When Twilight had enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns, she’d met Twinkleshine in Mathematics and slowly made friends by virtue of them sitting next to each other and helping each other with assignments. Moondancer had made friends with Minuette and Lemon Hearts when she was grouped with them for an Alchemy project. I’d never given her social circle much thought until that day. I invited her to lunch with Twinkleshine and she said she already had plans. The two groups had gone to lunch and shopping together, and the rest was history.

Moondancer reassured me that she wouldn’t force me to be friends with her friends, as long as I respected that she didn’t want to have to choose between us. But she’s never had to; she just supported me as I got used to them. Twilight smiled softly. I never realized I was handling Luster just like Moondancer handled me. Maybe that’s why it’s worked out so well.

Twilight jumped as something nudged her hoof and she snapped to focus. Moondancer gestured a hoof to the counter, and Twilight gave the cashier her items. As they were scanned, Twilight turned back to her thoughts. I’d probably have never become friends with Minuette or Lemon Hearts if Moondancer hadn’t brought us together. And I’d never have become friends with Twinkleshine if we didn’t arbitrarily choose to sit next to each other. She absentmindedly took the items as the cashier pushed them back to her and slid them into her saddle. Maybe Luster just hasn’t been as lucky to meet the right ponies to be friends with.

The thought made Twilight’s chest swell as she remembered their conversation in the hall last night. But now she has. I was able to do that for her. She could make friends that she stays in touch with for years to come. The realization she’d had a positive effect on Luster’s life that could keep growing was almost prideful. Is pride the right word? It feels selfish to be proud of something like this… honored. Yes, that seems better. I’m honored to have been able to help Luster.

The two exited onto the street and walked around the line of ponies at the food cart outside. Twilight turned to Moondancer. “Do you think you’ll stay friends with Luster even if I’m not pushing the two of you?”

Moondancer tilted her eyes up as she considered the question. “I wouldn’t refuse her if she asked me out like this or wanted to work with me in a class. And she’s a nice pony. I haven’t had much one-on-one time with her, but I think we could get along fine.” She looked at Twilight. “Why?”

“I just want to be sure I’m not her only real connection she forms with us. If she’s a friend now, I hope it’s genuine.”

“I’m sure you’re worrying about nothing.” Moondancer shook her head. “It takes time to develop a bond like that.”

“I know. I just really want this to go well for her. She seems like a genuinely nice pony. She deserves friends she can rely on.” Twilight reached into her bag and held a book to Moondancer. “Before I go to the school and forget, for you.”

Moondancer took the fresh copy of Principals of Magic -Revised Edition- and smiled. “Thank you.”

Twilight looked in her bag at the boxed calendar. “Do you know where Luster is staying? I’ve meant to ask.”

“I believe Minuette knows, she asked last night.”

“Good.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll drop this off to her after my meeting. See you, Moondancer.”

As she waved and turned to the right to head in the direction of SGU, she heard Moondancer call after her. “If you’re not seeing Luster until later, what meeting about her are you attending?”

The secretary looked up from her desk and gave a short nod. “You can head up now.”

“Thank you.” Twilight stood from her seat in the waiting area of SGU’s administrative offices and approached a door behind the desk. She swung it open into a small room, not much bigger than a closet, and closed the door behind her. The floor was inlaid with a circular rune, Old Ponish text carved along the outer rim and swooping lines crossing from one side to the other that, when taken together, formed the image of a swirling sun.

Twilight stomped her hoof twice and the rune lit up with shining gold magic. She lurched slightly as a magic circle rose up from the rune and lifted her into the air, swiftly but gently carrying her up the passage. Locked doors to the second and third floor of SGU passed by her and the circle slowed to a halt at the top of the shaft. The circle spread out to the walls and flashed, and the long shaft below Twilight’s hooves faded below a solid floor that had materialized.

Twilight took a breath. She had been here twice before, once each year when she’d been informed she had won the Clover Award for Achievement. This was the first time she had arranged to come here on her own. She raised a hoof and knocked twice.

“Come in, Twilight.”

Twilight turned the knob and swung the door open.

Princess Celestia’s office sat on the fourth floor of SGU, the size of a classroom with a couple more rooms behind doors that Twilight had never seen. However, calling it an ‘office’ seemed unfitting.

The room didn’t have a solid wall anywhere in sight but for the door frames. Every other surface was a pane of glass, rising high overhead and steepling to give the room its roof, a pane with a sun emblem in the center. A desk and chair were against one wall, another wall had a meeting area with multiple wooden chairs along a rectangular table, and the third wall had a chaise lounge with easy chairs and a circular table.

Celestia’s office had never felt like the office of a school administrator, not even the personal chambers of an alicorn princess. It was more like a welcoming seating room that happened to be where the most powerful pony in Equestria preferred to do her work.

“Twilight.” Celestia looked over her desk and moved aside the paperwork in front of her. She stood and walked around the desk, not looking away. “I hope you are doing well.”

Twilight knelt. “Yes, Princess. Thank you for seeing me. I’ll not take too much of your time.”

“I ask you to only take as much of my time as you need.” Celestia moved to the chaise lounge and sat down. She gestured a hoof to one of the easy chairs. “Come, have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Twilight approached her and sat down opposite her.

“Do you need a drink?”

“No, thank you.” Twilight fidgeted in her seat. Meeting Celestia had never been entirely comfortable for her. She was the Princess of the Sun, the most powerful pony in Equestria in more ways than one. She had been taught to observe proper decorum when meeting nobility, but in her past meetings with Celestia, the Princess hadn’t acted like the handful of nobles Twilight had met before. She was much more casual and relaxed, she didn’t stand on ceremony or silently tut-tut at a slip of Twilight’s manners. It made conversation with her simultaneously relaxing and stressing as she tried to feel out how she was expected to act.

“What can I do for you?” Celestia sat patiently and waited.

“I wanted to speak to you about Luster Dawn.”

Celestia frowned. “Oh? Is everything alright?”

“Yes!” Twilight rapidly shook her head. “No, everything is fine. I just thought that it had been a week since you gave us our… assignment, so perhaps you may like an update.”

“I see.” Celestia slowly nodded. “Then by all means, proceed.”

“Right. Yes.” Twilight paused. She had spent the wait time to come up here organizing her thoughts into a mental essay of talking points to run down, but once she had stepped through the door, her papers were blown away and she now struggled to remember them. “Um… well, it’s going good.”

What to bring up first? The party, her interest in astronomy, difficulty getting her to open up? That should be first, but what if it gives the wrong impression?

“Twilight.”

She jerked out of her thoughts.

Celestia had a gentle smile on her face as she spoke. “Do you recall what I said when I asked you to be Luster’s friend?”

Twilight’s mind raced. “…I think I could paraphrase?” she laughed awkwardly.

Celestia’s expression didn’t waver. “I said that I wasn’t forcing this task upon you and would not be upset if you refused it, because I knew asking you to be friends with a pony you’d never met before is not a straightforward request.” She peered at Twilight. “Do you know why I said these things?”

Twilight hesitated before shaking her head.

“I said them because I wanted to ensure above all else that you would be comfortable trying to be Luster’s friend. I also told either of you that you could come speak to me if you needed anything, because I wanted to support the two of you in this together if you were having trouble.” Celestia inhaled. “What I am trying to say, Twilight, is that you do not need to be nervous. Even if you were to tell me that you and Luster hate each other, I would not be upset with you.”

Twilight felt sheepish as she finished. “Of course, Princess. Sorry.” Wait… “You said that either of us could come to you? Has Luster spoken to you?”

“Not since our initial meeting, no.”

Would she tell me if she had? Twilight shook her head to dismiss the thought. Of course she would, Princess Celestia would never lie to us about something like this. And even if she did, it would be because she thought it best. She has the wisdom of centuries, after all.

“Now, when you are ready, tell me plainly how things are going between you and Luster.”

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed deep. Plainly. She opened her eyes and exhaled.

“It’s going well. I think Luster and I are getting along great. I don’t know if I would exactly call us friends, certainly not close friends, but we’ve spent time together outside of class. I invited her to a party with my other friends on Saturday and she said she really enjoyed herself.”

Celestia’s expression brightened. “That’s wonderful news, Twilight.”

“Thank you.” Twilight’s eyes darted away. “I just want to make sure, moving on, that she isn’t being friends with them just for my sake or just because they’re friends of mine. I hope she can form real relationships with all of us – or at least, the ones she wants to be friends with.”

“Of course.” Celestia bowed her head. “I knew I had made the right decision in entrusting you with this, Twilight. I had a feeling you were just the pony she needed.”

Twilight blushed furiously under the praise. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. But I didn’t really do much. I just tried to be a good friend like you asked.” She wrinkled her nose. “To be honest, I’ve been stressing about how to do that since this began. I didn’t want to push her too hard or too far, but I knew I had to make the effort somehow.”

“Well, there’ll be no more stressing now,” Celestia said firmly, raising her head. “I think it’s fair to say that you and Luster have begun forging a bond together, and it will continue to grow naturally over time. Luster may not show it often, but she has a very kind spirit. She just needs the right environment to help her nurture and show it.”

That isn’t just an observation. Something about the way Celestia spoke about Luster seemed more intimate than Twilight would expect. “Princess, if you don’t mind my asking, how come you’ve taken such an interest in Luster? I only ask because, meaning no disrespect whatsoever, I usually don’t hear about you taking such a personal role in a single student’s affairs.”

Twilight watched Celestia’s face. The princess remained calm and serene, but Twilight thought she saw flickers of emotion in her eyes, though she couldn’t tell what. Celestia said nothing for a moment and then nodded.

“You are correct, Twilight. Unfortunate though it may be, I am sure many students at SGU have trouble making friends. The difference is that I was made aware of Luster’s difficulties and asked to aid her.”

“By?”

“Her parents, naturally.” The princess raised a hoof and shook her head. “But I am afraid that Luster’s personal life and family is something I’m not willing to discuss without her permission. Luster may be your friend, but she is still entitled to privacy.”

“Oh. Right.” Twilight winced. “Sorry.”

“Not at all. I know you ask only out of concern and curiosity, not to pry. Though, I will say the fact that I was approached about Luster by her parents is something she is not aware of. I would appreciate it if you kept it that way.” Celestia gave her an even look.

“Of course, Princess,” Twilight said quickly. “My lips are sealed.” She mimed pulling a zipper across her muzzle.

Celestia chuckled softly. “Thank you. I leave it to you if you want to tell Luster you came to me. I do not think she would terribly mind if she knew, but it is up to you.”

“I was going to see her after our talk. I’ll mention it to her.” Twilight reached into her bag and held up her present. “I got her a day calendar for the school year. She seemed interested in learning more about the stars.” She held the calendar toward Celestia.

Celestia looked it over, nodded, and offered it back. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” Twilight beamed happily and put the calendar back in her bag. Celestia looked at a clock hanging from the wall. “If there is nothing else terribly pressing, Twilight, perhaps we should adjourn so you can deliver it?”

Twilight looked at the clock. “Oh, yes! Sorry, I’m sure you have lots of big important meetings to get to!” she gave an awkward laugh.

“Not particularly. But I do have work all the same.”

The two stood and Twilight kneeled. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Princess.”

“Of course.” Celestia draped a wing over Twilight and bowed her head. “If there is ever anything you need, Twilight, you need only ask.”

Twilight stood in place as Celestia moved back to her desk. Her eyes darted to the clock again and the pale orange sun on its face. Anything…

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I do have a quick question. Not about Luster.”

“Oh?” Celestia stopped as she rounded her desk and looked back at Twilight. “Go on.”

Twilight walked up to her before speaking. “Do you know anypony named Sunset Shimmer?”

“Sunset Shimmer?” Celestia’s brow creased as she pondered the name. “I don’t believe so. Is she another student?”

Twilight rubbed her neck. “No. This will sound a little weird, but I’ve been having dreams about her all week. And they’re so vivid and feel so real. I can picture her so clearly like she’s actually here. And I have no idea who she is or why I keep dreaming about her.”

“I see.” Celestia gave a small tilt of the head. “I cannot say what the cause may be, but I would suggest perhaps keeping a journal of when you dream of her and what occurs. If you suspect there is some meaning to the dreams, it may reveal itself over time.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “I never thought of that. That’s so obvious, though.” She gave a snort and a chuckle. “Thank you, Princess.”

“Sometimes when something is hidden right before our noses, our eyes overlook it until another points it out.”

As Moondancer had suggested, Minuette did know where Luster was staying – as well as her food allergies, birthday, favorite color, and numerous other information Minuette was somehow able to remember without resorting to some sort of filing system to keep track. The relevant information was that Luster was staying in the SGU dorms.

Twilight approached Room 129 and knocked twice. She heard rustling and the clatter of a chair before the door swung up.

“Twilight?” Luster stood in the doorway. “What’s up?”

Twilight raised a hoof to wave. “Hey. Was wondering if I could just talk to you for a sec.”

“Sure. Come in.” Luster stepped back to let Twilight enter.

A small bed ran along the room lengthwise from under the window, with just enough room between the edge of the bed and the opposite wall to walk comfortably. The bed was elevated to allow room for storage drawers underneath, and a desk with a chair was at the foot of the bed. The only other feature of note was the closet behind the door.

Twilight had stayed in one of the first floor dorm rooms during her first year at SGU because the cost was cheaper. She had pleaded with her parents to put her in one of the shared rooms in her second year. As the joke went, first floor rooms were the missing link between bedrooms and broom closets.

Luster hopped on the edge of the bed. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” Twilight had to wedge against the wall to close the door behind her, grunting as it squeezed past.

“Sorry about the small room.” Luster shrugged. “I kinda like the first floor rooms, though. They’re cozy.”

“I suppose.”Twilight forced an awkward laugh. “I guess we won’t be hosting any get-togethers in your room, eh?”

To her relief, Luster laughed politely. “Probably not.”

Twilight relaxed. “Well, it’s been a week since we were introduced, and I think after last night, we can safely say it’s going well.”

Luster smiled. “Yeah. Thanks for putting up with me. I know it isn’t easy sometimes.”

“That’s not true. But, let’s not argue over it.” Twilight opened the flap of her bag and withdrew the day calendar. “I thought it might be nice to mark the occasion, so I got you a gift.”

She held the calendar out and Luster took it. Her eyes stared as she turned the box over and examined the sample images.

“Oh…”

Twilight winced. “Sorry. Do you not like it?”

“I do.” Luster opened the flap on the box and pulled the calendar out and unwrapped the plastic. “But I didn’t even think of getting you anything. I’m sorry.”

“No!” Twilight cried. “No, no sorries, this is a good thing! Gifts are a good thing! You didn’t need to get me anything, I wasn’t expecting something in return.”

“I know, but you even thought to get me something, and I didn’t.” Luster set the calendar on the table and stood to hug Twilight. “Thank you. And I do like it, really.”

Twilight patted her on the back. “Well, I’m glad.” She pulled back and smiled at Luster. “If you really want to get me a gift, then just keep being my friend.”

Luster grimaced and stuck out her tongue. “That was cheesier than last night’s pizza.”

The two burst out laughing. “I know. It just came out.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I may not be an expert on friendship, and I’m no social butterfly, but my friendships are important to me. I wanted you to know that it doesn’t matter if we’ve only known each other a week, our friendship is as real as the one I share with any of the others, and I’m glad to have it.”

Luster’s coat turned a deeper shade of pink. “Thank you, Twilight. That means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it.” Twilight winked at her and turned to the door. “If you don’t mind, I have some things to do tonight, but if you need anything, my room with Twinkleshine is 341. Just come up and knock.” She reached for the door handle.

“Twilight?”

Twilight paused as she pulled the door open and glanced back to see Luster watching her. “Yes?”

Luster frowned and shook her head. “Nevermind.”

“No, what?” Twilight waited.

“Erm, well…” Luster snorted. “I know this sounds silly, but it looked like your cutie mark was glowing.”

“My cutie mark?” Twilight twisted her head further back to look at the six-pointed star on her flank.

“Must have been a trick of the light or something.” Luster looked at her curtains and pulled them together tighter with a tug of amber magic.

“Well, if you notice it glowing again, let me know.” Twilight tapped her mark with a small smirk. “Don’t want it acting up and doing magic stuff or I don’t know what.”

Luster giggled. “Sure.”

Twilight pulled the door open. “See you Monday.”

“See you Monday.”

The door to Luster’s room closed and Twilight took a moment to inhale, smiling proudly.

I think this third year is going to be one to remember.

END OF PART ONE

Author's Note

Author's note

Chapter 7

Twilight rolled her eyes and waved a hoof in the air. “I told her that she was putting too much silver sulfate in, but Twinkleshine was adamant she had done her calculations properly.”

Head balanced on her hoof across the table, Sunset smirked. “She hadn’t.”

“Nope. But I let her do it because I could tell she hadn’t measured out enough to do any serious damage. Just made a big blast of black smoke that sent her coughing and stumbling away.”

“And you let her do this.”

“You haven’t tried to talk Twinkleshine out of being certain she’s right. You’d have an easier time convincing the moons to stop orbiting Equestria.”

“Fair enough.” Sunset giggled. “And it is funny. I’d probably have done the same. In fact, I’m sure I would. And I’d have rubbed it in.”

“I didn’t.” Twilight shook her head. “I helped her up and waited until she stopped hacking, and then she mumbled ‘where did I mess up’ and I showed her where. Then Luster got going with advice on how if she was trying to blow up the classroom, she should have used this mixture instead, and of course we all got on her.” Twilight laughed. “Then of course when Lemon tried to make fun, Twinkleshine just had to bring up that time she got her head stuck in a flask, and Lemon got super-embarrassed because she hates that story…”

“She got her head stuck in a flask?”

“She was trying out a growth spell and used a flask as a test subject. Twinkleshine dared her to see if it was big enough to fit her head in, and well, turned out she hadn’t properly calculated how long the growth spell would last.” Twilight shrugged. “She was fine. Just had a headache for the rest of the day.”

“Hah.”

The two were chatting inside a recreation of Twilight’s alchemy classroom. For some reason the dreamscape had generated the classroom with experiments still in progress on the tables, which had set Twilight off on an anecdote about her friend’s experiment literally blowing up in her face. Sunset had been patient to listen.

Twilight noticed Sunset looking at her curiously. “What?”

“So what magical mishap story about you would your friends tell me?”

“I don’t have one.” Twilight sniffed and raised her nose. “I measure everything carefully and double-check my work before casting or mixing anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Sunset sat back. “Here’s one of mine, then. About midway through second year, we’re in the middle of alchemy class, and one of my friends starts talking about how she’s about to master teleportation and she’ll probably be better at it than any of us.”

“Oh no.” Twilight put a hoof to her forehead.

“Me, being such a good, caring friend, dared her to show us right there and then if she’s so confident.” Sunset raised her eyes to the ceiling. “It didn’t exactly work out how she tried.”

“Where’d she end up?”

“Oh, she was fine. But the table teleported into the middle of someone’s dorm room.” Sunset snickered. “Lucky for us the alchemy experiments went with the table instead of just crashing to the floor. But the six of us still got detention. As far as the instructor was concerned we were all culpable.”

“Detention.” Twilight gave her a disapproving look and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m friends with a delinquent.”

“Hey, you said you and Luster got detention too!” Sunset shot back.

“That was different; we got detention for being friends.”

Sunset’s expression softened. “So, how are things going with Luster now? I remember you said you weren’t sure about her being part of the group and it was rough.”

Twilight nodded. “At first. But she’s really opened up to us. I can’t say I know her as well as the others; I’ve known them for years and Luster for just a month. But having her with us feels normal. Like the six of us were meant to be friends.”

“I know that feel.” Sunset smiled wide. “I guess I was the ‘Luster’ to my friends. They all knew each other, but I was an outsider who got welcomed in. Not because of the Princess, it was just chance. Then over time I realized I wasn’t a sixth wheel anymore, I was one of the group.” She looked away and rubbed her left hoof against her right. “I’d never really had friends growing up. The occasional playmate or classmate I spoke to outside of school sometimes, but an actual group of friends to hang out with? That was new.”

Sunset’s chest swelled and closed her eyes. “I remember when I realized that during lunch when two of them couldn’t make it but the other three were still chatting with me and I was chatting with them. It suddenly struck me, ‘these are my friends. I belong with them. They accept me’.” She blushed and gave a small laugh. “It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Twilight watched Sunset reminisce, the light from the windows playing off her coat and her face looking peaceful and content. Twilight darted her eyes down. “I wonder if Luster has had a moment like that.”

Sunset opened her eyes and sat up. “I would be surprised if she hasn’t. And if not, it’s definitely coming. Regardless, you’ve done a great thing for Luster. I know that better than anypony. You should be proud.”

Sunset began to reach across the table to take Twilight’s hoof, but when her eyes lowered to them she stilled. Twilight looked down and the two silently withdrew their hooves.

Don’t need to make that mistake again.

“Things are good for me, too,” Sunset said instead. “I got my thesis for researching the magical properties of sunlight approved and can start actually working on it.”

“Oh. Congratulations.” Twilight scrunched her face. “I’m kind of at a dead end on mine.”

“What are you studying?”

“Long-range teleportation.”

Sunset shrugged. “That doesn’t seem so complicated. I mean, teleportation isn’t a basic spell, but most students can master it by second year.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s not that simple.” She sat up and lit her horn. A beam of magenta light drew out a sphere in the air. “A teleportation spell temporarily converts a pony’s body into a wave of magical particles, transfers them to a set point, and reforms them.” As Twilight spoke, her magic orb turned into a series of smaller orbs, floated through the air towards Sunset, and then reformed into the larger orb.

“Right. So what’s the catch?”

“The further you travel, the longer you exist only as a wave of magic, and the more magic it takes to cast the spell. Magic waves travel fast enough that the difference between teleporting two meters or twenty meters is less than a microsecond, but it’s a lot in terms of the amount of power and concentration it takes to do it safely and successfully. And eventually, there’s a point where a unicorn just can’t channel that amount of magic.”

She scowled. “I’ve known I wanted to do my thesis on this topic since second year, I thought I could come up with at least some idea of how to crack that problem by now. But I haven’t.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it.” Sunset smiled. “You’re a smart pony, and you’ve got the entire year to think of it. And I can tell just from this you’re passionate about it. So trust me when I say – you’ll find a way.”

Twilight blushed lightly and looked away. “Thank you, Sunset.”

“Any time, Twilight.”

Twinkleshine waved a donut with white icing in the air. “Do you want the last one?”

Sitting on her bed, Twilight looked up from her journal and shook her head. “Go ahead.”

Twinkleshine bit into the donut and sat down at the table with a glass of apple juice and a small bowl of fruit. Twilight took a sip of milk from her nightstand and went back to writing. She first focused on transcribing as much detail of the room and its contents as she could recall; her conversation with Sunset would come easy enough after.

A week into the school semester, Twilight had come to expect dreams about her two or three times a week. She noted the dates in her dream journal, of course, but there was no pattern or schedule that she could discern; she had once dreamt of her twice in a row, another time it was a full week between dreams. That time, she had been surprised to find herself worried that she might not see Sunset again. When she opened her eyes on the dreamscape of the cafeteria and saw Sunset, she had almost hugged her before she remembered better.

Attempts to locate any sign of Sunset in the real world had failed. There was no record of anyone with her name attending the school, no one she had directly asked recognized the name, when she had gone across the city to visit her parents for the day they said they couldn’t remember her ever knowing anyone with even a similar name. Twilight had only seen Sunset outside of the dreams once or twice after that day in the library with Luster, but she always vanished when Twilight closed her eyes or turned away.

While the occasional sighting was still a bit perplexing – the best explanation Twilight could come up with was that it was her mind playing tricks – she had become quite happy to dream about Sunset. Even if she was just some figment of Twilight’s mind, she was a good listener and often had good advice. And Twilight found her very easy to talk to. Sunset was assured about her choices in life and where they were taking her, and she claimed she preferred to tackle problems head-on without fear. She had been a voice of support and confidence and courage when Twilight needed them for matters great and small.

Is it strange to consider a pony who only exists in your head a friend? Twilight’s pencil stilled as she pondered the idea. Was it all that different from how so many fillies and colts had imaginary friends? Twilight would have thought herself far too old and mature for that, but perhaps not. She couldn’t think of any significant stresses that might cause her to hallucinate such a thing, her third year was going well so far. Surely if she was under some sort of pressure that would cause her to hallucinate an ideal friend, she would be self-aware of it.

“Twinkleshine?” She asked.

Twinkleshine paused while biting off half of what was left of her donut. “Hm?” She looked over at Twilight as she chewed.

“Do you think I’m stressed over anything?”

Twinkleshine’s eyes darted to the side. “Well, wouldn’t you know that better than me?”

“One would think.”

Twilight returned to her journal. Her writing had subconsciously devolved into her speculations on what Sunset meant, as often happened when she wrote these. She began transcribing what they had talked about, hearing each word in her head being spoken with Sunset’s voice. When she was done she read it over – there was nothing of significance there, just idle chatter like she might have with any one of her friends. She began a new paragraph for a final thought.

Can one’s own mind keep secrets from them? And if it could, how would you know? She frowned and shook her head. No. That is the road that leads to paranoia and madness. I must be rational about this. Every mystery has an answer. You just need to piece together enough clues.

Her cherry cheese poutine forgotten beside her on the cafeteria table, Twinkleshine scribbled furiously on a notepad. She smiled when she finished and held it across the table. “How’s this?” The magic aura around the pad shifted from blue to pink as Moondancer took it and looked it over. She speared a clump of curled noodles on her plate and chewed as she thought, then nodded as she swallowed.

“Presuming this is a rough concept, it has potential. But you’ll need to be very careful etching into the crystal. One mistake and the entire audio-visual output could be compromised. Encoding information on this level of compression means a much lower margin for error.”

“I don’t make errors. And thank you.” Twinkleshine beamed and took the notepad back. She set it down and took a sip of her drink while looking her notes over.

Twilight watched and waved a fry at her. “Regretting not taking Runes and Symbols with the rest of us now?”

“Nope.” Twinkleshine shook her head. “After enduring a Monday of classes capped by Mathematics, sleeping in is worth it.” She wrinkled her nose as she flipped through her notepad. “Although considering all the free time I’m spending reading books on the subject anyway, maybe it doesn’t matter.”

“But you’re having fun, right?” Lemon Hearts said.

“You bet!” Twinkleshine grinned and flipped her pad shut. “A crystal movie projector? It’s like something out of science fiction!”

“Assuming you can actually make it work,” Luster said. “We’re talking about converting sounds and images into magical data that can be imprinted on a crystal, stored for long periods of time, and then converted back into sounds and images later. The runes for a basic projector crystal reading from a cassette are complex enough.”

“I’ll figure it out,” Twinkleshine vowed. “Moondancer is the biggest egghead this school has ever seen. If she says it’s plausible, it can be done.”

Moondancer lifted her eyebrows. “I believe that is a compliment, so, thank you.”

Setting her half-eaten hayburger down, Minuette opened her mouth to speak, and was interrupted by a loud plastic clatter. The girls turned their heads to a stallion several hooves away that was staring at an upside-down cafeteria tray, fries and the parts of a fully-dressed burger scattered across the floor. He glanced at the nearby tables of ponies watching him and looked sheepish.

“Sorry…” His horn lit pale orange and he levitated the tray and began to clean up his mess.

“Here.” Lemon Hearts climbed down from her chair with a napkin and began helping.

“Thanks.” The stallion frowned. “Dunno what happened, just lost my concentration and it dropped.”

“It happens.” The floor cleaned, Lemon smiled and stepped back, and the stallion dumped his tray into a garbage bag before heading back to the lines.

“At least he didn’t have a drink,” Moondancer said.

Minuette brightened. “Back to the subject, I got my approval for my thesis!” She grinned and clapped her hooves.

“Congratulations!” Lemon leaned over to her and patted her on the back.

“What are you studying?” Luster asked.

Minuette smiled proudly. “Alchemical cooking!”

Luster and Twilight shared a look of confusion. Moondancer raised her hoof. “That isn’t a thing.”

“Exactly!” Minuette leaned in, her eyes shining. “Of course everyone knows alchemy, but I’m interested in how it affects the properties of food. Sure, there’s been some research on preservatives and increasing the nutritional value, but what if alchemy could lower cooking times or enhance the flavor? No one really knows, because no one has ever cared to find out. I do.”

“As long as you don’t end up baking cupcakes that turn us into newts,” Twinkleshine said. “So, that’s all of us who have received approval for our thesis, right?”

Lemon swallowed a mouthful of salad and looked around the table. “I think so. I’m studying the effects of the sun and moons on unicorn magic, Twinkleshine has her projector, Moondancer…” She paused. “Er, what was yours again?”

Moondancer gave a small smile and adjusted her glasses. “I’m going to do a paper on Hoofenberg’s uncertainty principle.”

The table fell silent as the other five ponies all looked at each other. Twilight coughed lightly. “Pardon?”

“The very words make my head hurt,” Twinkeshine muttered, stabbing her fork into her poutine.

“It’s not very hard to understand.” Moondancer lightly cleared her throat. “The laws of magic transference clearly state–”

“Moony, sweetie, no,” Minuette interrupted. She gave a gentle pat to Moondancer’s hoof on the table and smiled. “We love you and we’re sure it’s important and you’ll do well, but please no.”

Moondancer frowned and lifted a fork of pasta from her tray. “Well, yes, it is important. Expanding our understanding of Hoofenberg’s theories could revolutionize numerous fields of advanced magic.”

“We’ll take your word for it.” Minuette patted her hoof again. Moondancer popped her fork in her mouth and chewed without a response.

Twinkleshine spoke up. “I don’t think Luster got confirmed on hers. Or if she has, she hasn’t told us.”

A spoon of soup in her mouth, Luster paused as everyone in the table looked at her. She pulled the spoon out and swallowed. “Pardon?”

“What’s your thesis on?” Minuette asked.

“Oh. Um… it’s a pretty uninteresting topic, and rather obscure. You guys would just be bored if I explained it.”

Twinkleshine scoffed. “Boring, obscure magic is practically Moondancer’s favorite subject.”

Moondancer began to reply, then stopped and gave a small shrug. “I was about to protest that joke but I can’t entirely disagree with it. Fair enough.”

Twilight looked at Luster as she took another slurp of soup. She’s never mentioned her thesis that I can recall, either. Just something to do with mental magic, I think.

“Well?” Lemon prompted. “If you don’t want to tell us that’s fine, but we’re just wondering if it’s been submitted and approved.”

Luster lowered her spoon and nodded. “Yes, I submitted it last week and got approval yesterday.”

“Woo-hoo!” Minuette cheered.

“Then we’re all confirmed,” Lemon finished. “With almost the full year to finish, we’ll be sure to pass. Plenty of time to research and organize our thoughts.”

Twilight frowned and glared at the bite of hayburger she had left. “Yeah, good thing.” She shoved the food into her mouth and chewed.

Luster watched her. “Something wrong?”

“I’m still stuck on mine. The long-range teleportation?”

The group nodded and murmured.

“Still stuck on breaching the Psilomb barrier?” Moondancer asked.

“Like I’ve been nailed to it.” Twilight slumped onto the table and sighed. “If I can’t crack this, I can’t even theorize how long-range teleportation would work, and I’ll fail utterly.”

Lemon leaned over the table. “Hey, look at me.” Twilight turned her eyes her way. “You will not fail. The thesis is about you demonstrating your knowledge and proficiency in a particular field and how you plan to explore it when you graduate. They don’t expect us to all successfully pull off what we plan to do. I mean, we’re students, and some researchers out there have spent decades on the topics we’re researching.”

“I know, but still.” Twilight eyed a hayfry by her mouth and lapped out her tongue to scoop it into her mouth. “It’s still frustrating.”

“Have you considered applying wormhole theory?” Moondancer said.

“Huh?”

“Wormhole theory,” Moondancer repeated. “If the distance factor is limited by how much magic a unicorn can muster, then why not circumvent it? I’ve not delved into teleportation much myself, but I’m sure the theories of trans-dimensional travel could be of at least some use. I know a few books that may be promising.”

Twilight gasped and jumped up. She grinned and clapped her hooves. “Moondancer, you’re a genius!”

Moondancer gave a small smile. “I hear that a lot lately.”

Twilight looked at her saddle bags on the ground beside her chair. Her horn lit magenta and opened the flap. “What books do you recommend?” She saw a small notebook and pen in her bag and willed them to float up to her. The items glowed momentarily and wobbled, but didn’t lift up.

“The one that would probably be more helpful to your research is A Treatise–”

“Hang on.” Twilight frowned and focused on her horn. The notebook and pen flickered for a moment before lighting up in magic. She smiled and floated them onto the table and flipped the book open. “Go on.”

With classes concluded for the day, the main concourse of SGU was full of ponies coming out of the main building and splitting off to go to their dorms, into town, or to the library. Twilight bumped into a few of them and mumbled apologies without looking away from Moondancer’s recommended reading.

“This is exactly what I needed.” She rolled her eyes and grinned at Luster. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask Moondancer for leads before, that pony knows everything.”

Keeping pace with her as the two circled the central fountain, Luster smiled at her. “You’re sure excited. At least you’re not moping anymore.”

“Of course I’m excited!” Twilight slipped the notebook back into her saddle bags. “Long-range teleportation could solve so many societal problems.” She turned her head behind them and pointed to the elevated platform across the campus grounds. “Think of all the out-of-town students that have to get up an hour earlier than us every morning to be flown in by the pegasi. With a long-range teleportation spell, maybe an escorting unicorn could just teleport them all here in a moment. It’d be quicker, safer, and the SGU could accommodate way more students from outside Canterlot.”

“True.” Luster nodded. “I guess with cutting-edge research like that, it’s not always easy to immediately envision all the ways it could be applied.”

“Exactly.” Twilight took a breath. “But, I’m not going to get carried away fantasizing about the possibilities until I can actually make real progress. Which I can now!” Her grin widened even further. Okay, maybe she had lied to Luster just a little, because her mind was racing with the potential applications her breakthrough could mean.

The two stepped through the doors of the Royal Canterlot Archives. The crowd was a bit thinner here – most students right out of class didn’t come to study more.

Twilight scanned the rows and rows of bookshelves spread throughout the archives. Her gaze stopped on the card catalogue. “I have to go look up where to find all these. Moondancer said they’re a bit spread out.”

“Okay. I need to check some books out for my thesis research but I know where I’m going.” Luster waved to Twilight and began walking deeper into the library.

Twilight turned to her. “Did you want some help?”

Luster stopped and looked back. “No, I’m good. I know which books I need, just have to go grab them.”

“I meant with your thesis in general. Moondancer and I are pretty smart – er, not that you’re not smart!” Twilight winced. “I just mean, if you need any help with the project, at all, for anything, you can ask. There’s no rules against getting help on the thesis as long as the pony submitting does the majority of the work and writes the final paper alone.”

Luster smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m pretty confident I’ve got this covered.”

Twilight approached her as she spoke. “Well, you said it was on obscure magic, which implies it might be difficult to research, so I just want to make sure you know that we’re here for you if you need a hoof. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right.” Luster kept smiling. “I know you’re here, and thank you, Twilight. But, really, I’m fine. I’ve got this.”

“Good to know. So, what are you studying?”

Luster gave a wave of her hoof. “Oh, you know, stuff. Really, it’s uninteresting, you wouldn’t care.” She turned again and waved. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay!”

Twilight waved back until Luster turned down an aisle out of view. You’re my friend, of course I care what you’re studying. Why didn’t I say that out loud before she got away?

She pulled aside to let a stallion pass by her, then turned and walked back to the library entrance where the card catalogs were. She looked at Moondancer’s list and saw only Luster smiling and waving at her. A perfectly happy friend going on their way. Except...

I may not be a social expert, but I know fake smiles when I see them.

Chapter 9

“These ones are the last samples from Batch 13.” Minuette slid four plates onto the table and pushed two in front of Twilight. Each held a small cupcake and had a paper note in front of it that read ‘A’ for one and ‘B’ for the other.

Sitting at the table in Minuette’s dorm room, Twilight took the two cupcakes in her magic and bit into one. She chewed, thought, and swallowed. “Cupcake ‘A’ has a bit more of a tart taste compared to the previous batch.” She took a sip of water from a bottle beside her and then bit into the other cupcake. “‘B’ is more sweet.”

Next to her, Moondancer set both of her cupcakes back on their plates. “I concur, and I will add that sample ‘B’ tastes more similar to the control.” She wrinkled her nose. “I also detected a bit of a peculiar odor with sample ‘A’. Not unpleasant, but noticeable.”

“The taste I expected, the smell, not so much.” Minuette smiled happily and picked up a pencil to make notes in a binder on the counter. Next to her was a rack with several jars and bottles of various alchemy reagents, and a large bowl of dull brown batter with a ladle leaning on the edge. She set her pencil down and slid the binder back. “On to Batch 14!”

Twilight looked at her ‘A’ cupcake a bit more cautiously. “What was in ‘A’ anyway?’

“Ah, ah!” Minuette shook her head. “I can’t tell you that, this is blind taste-testing!” She set a smaller bowl next to the large bowl of batter and ladled some of the batter into it. She then pulled the smaller bowl over to the rack of ingredients and shifted position until her body blocked their sight of what she was doing.

Moondancer nodded. “I do trust you will not be feeding us anything unseemly.”

“Oh, no, this is mild stuff.” Minuette waved a hoof. “I’ll have the batch ready in about twenty minutes.”

Twilight looked at the notebook in front of her. “In that case, you two can help me with my own thesis.” She looked between Moondancer and Minuette to see if they were listening before continuing. “So, I am to research the cause of my dreams about this mysterious pony named Sunset Shimmer. Step one – although one cannot disprove a negative, I can provide reasonable evidence that they are not normal, mundane dreams.”

“How so?” Moondancer asked.

Twilight flipped a page back to where she had made point-form notes. “First, these dreams have happened on a consistent basis, two or three times a week since the school year began. Second, they are unusually vivid – I recognize that is a subjective thing to quantify, but I nonetheless contend it is a valid observation. Third, the one time Sunset and I made physical contact in the dream, I had an unusual reaction and the dream ended shortly thereafter. This im–”

“Wait, what?” Minuette interrupted. “You had a reaction?”

Twilight paused and raised her head to see both her friends looking at her, Moondancer more curious and Minuette more concerned. She nodded. “Sunset patted me on the back, and it triggered some sort of spasm that caused me – in my dream – to lose my balance and fall down a flight of stairs. We’ve avoided physical contact since.”

Moondancer nodded. “For safety’s sake, good call. But I’d say you ought to attempt to make contact the next time you see her and see if the same thing occurs. Try to touch her yourself rather than the other way around.”

“That is part of the plan, yes.” Twilight paused. It makes perfect logical sense to do that. A result must be reproducible by an identical experiment to verify a result. She frowned. I still don’t like it. Just thinking about that fall, when she touched me… it makes no sense for it to unnerve me like this.

“Twilight?” Moondancer’s hoof in her face made Twilight jerk out of her thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. Just, thinking.” Twilight cleared her throat and looked back at her notes. She resumed reading to calm herself. “As I was saying, I had a reaction to physical contact with Sunset and the dream ended. This implies some sort of unusual manifestation within the dream that could affect the dream itself. Fourth, Sunset seems to have knowledge of things I do not. I need to verify this but I am fairly sure it has happened. Fifth and finally, Sunset’s appearance and personality have been consistent across multiple dreams. Given the nature of dreams it is unlikely she would be identical every time and remember past times she’s appeared to me, especially if she is not based on somepony I actually know and is apparently just a construct of my imagination.”

Twilight finished and nodded firmly. “I think there is certainly reasonable cause to believe these dreams are somehow magical in nature. I now need to prove it.”

“How will you do that?” Moondancer asked.

Twilight turned back to the empty page in her notebook and set her pencil to the paper. “First, set up some sort of ward to detect any foreign magical influences on me while I sleep. That’s the most elementary step.Once I have some sort of data on what kind of magic it is, I can form hypotheses about the what, how, and why.”

“Sounds like a solid plan to me,” Minuette said. She slipped her cupcake tray into the oven and shut the door, then grabbed a timer on the counter and twisted the dial.

Moondancer nodded, a hoof held to her chin. “I believe you are overlooking one other thing you ought to look into.”

“Oh?”

“The ‘who’. Clearly, if this is some sort of magic influencing your dreams, there is something or someone causing it.”

Twilight stilled. “I… hadn’t thought of it that way.” She furrowed her brow. “Well, not necessarily. It could be some sort of latent magic that’s affecting me indirectly, right?”

“Could it?” Minuette sat at the table with a glass of milk. “I mean, I’m no expert on this type of magic, but I’d figure that if there was some sort of magic something or whatever that it could give you these dreams by accident, it’d be causing a lot more problems than just your dreams.”

“Absolutely.” Moondancer nodded. “But I’ve not heard of anything else unusual happening.”

“Fair enough.” Twilight made a note. “I guess, third point of research then – consider who may be causing these dreams and what motive they might have.” As she put her pencil to the paper to dot the period, she held it there and stared at the words. “I’m really not sure what to do with that train of thought. The idea somepony might be purposefully using some sort of mental magic on me is...”

“Hey, don’t assume it’s a bad thing,” Minuette said. She winced. “I mean, yeah, obviously someone using magic on you without permission or telling you is bad. But they aren’t trying to do anything bad with it, right? You’ve been pretty happy chatting about Sunset before. Maybe whoever is doing this is doing it for a good reason.” She stopped and sighed. “Though that still doesn’t make it okay.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Twilight frowned and tapped her pencil on the paper. “That could be a lead, though. If somepony is giving me magical dreams, they must have a reason. But what could that reason be?”

“That’s far too broad a topic to get into.” Moondancer shook her head. “There could be any amount of data they may be interested in.” She paused and inclined her head. “That said, though, if somepony were conducting some sort of experiment on you, they’d need some way to monitor you. Has anypony unusual been taking an interest in you lately?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Not that I can recall.” She looked over at Moondancer. “Just the same ponies I usually interact with.” In her peripheral, Twilight saw Minuette open her mouth and lean forward, but she stopped.

“Minuette?” Twilight turned her head in her direction.

“It’s nothing, it’s silly.”

“What is?” Twilight looked at her closely.

Minuette fidgeted in her chair. “Well, just…you have made a new friend recently.”

Twilight sat back. “Luster? No, that’s impossible. I’d already considered if the dreams could be related to her, but I had the first dream the night before I even met her. So the timeline doesn’t line up.”

Moondancer murmured. “Actually, didn’t you say Celestia was the one who asked you to be her friend? And she had been planning to introduce you two?”

“Yes?” Twilight turned back to her. “Why?”

“Well, if she was going to introduce you two on orientation day, she probably would have told Luster about it. You didn’t know about her before you met her, but it is possible she may have known you.”

“No, Moony, no.” Minuette held up a hoof and shook her head. “Like we said, what about motive? Luster has no reason to do something like this.”

“Twilight says she’s spoken to Sunset about Luster before, and many other topics. And she’s had problems opening up to us. Perhaps the initial dream was to gauge Twilight’s character under an illusory alias, and then when Twilight demonstrated a willingness to consult with Sunset about Luster, Luster continued the experiment to better know how Twilight felt about her.” Moondancer gave a small shrug. “If I knew I was going to meet somepony new and the Princess herself was expecting us to be friends, using dream magic to meet them before actually meeting them and then to keep tabs on what they think about me… it almost seems logical.”

Minuette huffed. “You’re leaving out one critical point that undermines everything you just said – Luster is our friend,” She leaned forward, her eyes narrowed at Moondancer. “She wouldn’t do this to Twilight, or any of us. And you’re just speculating. There’s not even a shred of real proof it might be her.”

“Yes, there is,” Twilight said suddenly, her eyes going wide. She looked between the two. “Luster’s thesis. She won’t tell any of us what it is, she was downright angry when I kept pressing. But I’ve been to the library with her in the past. She’s checked out books on mental magic and said they were for her thesis.”

Minuette and Moondancer shared a glance. “That is unnerving…” Moondancer said lowly.

“No.” Minuette shook her head more fiercely. “We shouldn’t even be considering this, it’s absurd. We know Luster, she wouldn’t do something like this.”

“I want to agree,” Twilight whispered, “but it lines up perfectly. Like Moondancer said, when you really think about it, it makes sense…” She inhaled. “You’re right, Minuette. Luster is a friend and I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. But even circumstantial evidence is still evidence, and right now I don’t have much else to speculate on.”

“Twilight…” Minuette gave her a concerned look. “You and Luster just had a big argument the other day and she already doesn’t want to talk to you. Approaching her about this–”

“I’m not going to talk to Luster,” Twilight interrupted. “One way or the other, whatever is causing these dreams, Sunset herself is the key. So, I’ll start with her. I already have my dream journals detailing what I remember each morning, which is usually extensive. Whoever is using Sunset to talk to me, if they’ve been using her as a fake identity then there is a simple dichotomy that they have either been lying or told the truth about her life. If they’ve lied, then there will be inconsistencies in her stories. And if they’ve been truthful, those journals are clues I can use to piece together who it could be.”

“That makes sense.” Moondancer gave a firm nod. “For your own peace of mind, I’d start with questions related to Luster. If Sunset is somehow Luster, then pressing her on that will either make her slip up and reveal herself, or she’ll try to tell a lie you can catch her in.”

“Or, it could tip Luster off that Twilight is on to her and she’ll call this all off.” Minuette winced. “If it is Luster, even. Which is a big if.”

“If Sunset were to change her behavior after Twilight questioned her about Luster, that would still be a clear give-away,” Moondancer replied.

Twilight sighed. “And confirm something I don’t want confirmed. In a best case scenario, Sunset will have no suspicious reaction to questions about Luster which would incline me to believe she knows nothing about her beyond what I’ve said.”

She took a breath. “But, until I dream of Sunset again or talk to Luster, there’s nothing more to do for that theory. In the meantime there are other leads I can pursue to get more information. Moondancer?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll need your help this weekend, if you have time. I’d like to prepare a thaumometer. If some sort of magic is being used on me, it ought to be detectable when I sleep, right?”

“Naturally.” Moondancer nodded. “I’ll need to check the magic shops in Canterlot for an appropriate spell crystal, but it won’t be a problem.”

“Good, and thank you. I’ll reimburse you the cost.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Minuette asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Thank you, but not yet. I just–” Twilight stopped and sniffed the air. “What is that smell?”

The other two mares sniffed, and Minuette whirled her head towards the oven – a thin stream of pale smoke was coming from inside.

“No!” She pulled the oven door open with her magic and the smoke billowed out. Moondancer and Twilight ran to the windows, and pulled back the curtains and threw up the sashes. Gusts of magical wind blew the smoke out into the open. Twilight coughed, her eyes watering from the smoke that went past her, and looked back to the kitchen area.

Minuette pulled a tray of dark brown and black cupcakes from the oven. With a dismayed look, she tossed them on the counter and grabbed her binder and pen.

“Important note – Batch 14’s cooking time is greatly reduced, monitor closely when conducting further testing.”

“The influence of solar energy on magic is well-documented, but not fully understood.” Dr. Turner paused and glanced around the hall of students. The air was filled with the scratching of pens and pencils taking notes, and he continued. “Preliminary research suggests a connection between the sun’s influence on one’s magic and the relative positions of Equus and Bunabu at the time of their birth.” The doctor looked up at the pale blue magical projection of the solar system in the air overhead, and then reached to his desk to the box projecting the image. He pressed two buttons on the side and two of the planets lit up red.

“One theory as to why concerned a foal’s exposure to the sun, but that is a broad umbrella to make assumptions under. For one thing, it’s been asked how it can be certain that it is the time of birth and not conception that is of importance…”

In a far row of the hall, Lemon Hearts leaned over in her seat to whisper. “I’ll let you copy my notes over lunch if you want.”

Twilight jerked and turned her head. “Huh?”

“You seem a bit spaced-out.” Lemon nodded at Twilight’s notebook; Twilight followed her eyes and saw the lined paper in front of her entirely blank but for the date in the upper corner.

“Sorry.” Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Need to share?” Lemon asked.

Twilight eyed Dr. Turner at the bottom of the room; he was enraptured in his lecture, gesturing to the projection of the solar system with a pointer. She slumped onto her book. “It’s a bit much to get it out in the middle of a lesson.”

“I didn’t mean talk,” Lemon replied, still taking notes. “Write it out and I’ll have a read. If nothing else, it’ll get your thoughts organized.”

Twilight sat up and looked at the paper. She picked up her pencil in her magic and put it on the first line.

“Write as though you were saying the words,” Lemon whispered.

Twilight nodded and did as told. Her pencil began to move and she let her mind pour out.

Luster is avoiding me and I’m worried about why. I know, of course she’d avoid me, but it’s been two days since the alchemy incident and she’s been distant ever since. I don’t know what it’s been like for you girls but every time we have a class together, she tries to avoid even looking at me. Did I really hurt her feelings that much? I didn’t mean to, and I want to tell her I’m sorry, but if she’s that angry about it then maybe I shouldn’t?

Twilight paused as she considered bringing up the other point. She decided to preface it and kept writing.

And there’s something else, something I really don’t want to consider but I can’t get it out of my head. It’s possible Luster could be the one causing my dreams about Sunset. I don’t know how or why, but she’s really secretive about her thesis and I know it’s on mental magic. It’s circumstantial evidence, entirely too little to accuse her of anything and I don’t even really believe it’s her. But just the possibility is unsettling and I can’t shake it. I don’t want to think about a friend this way. What does it say about ME that I’m so suspicious of her for such flimsy reasons? And what does it say about our friendship? Am I a bad friend? How can I even try to apologize to Luster if this is how I’m thinking of her?

She set her pencil down and inhaled. “Done.”

“Feel better?”

“No.” Twilight leaned forward and looked past Lemon. Moondancer sat on the other side of her, paying rapt attention to the lecture. Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Luster didn’t take Advanced Astronomy; it was just the three of them. I’ll be seeing them in Magical Geology in the afternoon. I hope. Luster hasn’t sat with us all week in other classes. She likely won’t today, either.”

“We’ll talk about it later, I promise,” Lemon whispered.

Twilight nodded. “I’ll try to pay attention now. Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Twilight picked up her pencil again and did her best to concentrate on Dr. Turner’s words.

“If it is indeed a matter of relative positionings of the planets and entirely unrelated to sun exposure, then ought we to expect an inverse relation at an opposite position?” Dr. Turner chuckled. “Well, that is where the most curious thing was discovered…”

Lemon finished reading and offered the paper back to Twilight. “You’re right to be concerned about Luster’s feelings. Whatever her thesis is about, clearly it’s a touchy subject for her.”

Walking next to her down the halls of SGU, Twilight took the paper, folded it, and slipped it into her saddle bag. “And the second part?”

Lemon’s brow creased. “If you sincerely think Luster could be behind your dreams, then to be honest, no, it doesn’t reflect well on you.” When Twilight looked away she quickly continued, “But, I think your concern is more about you wanting to be sure it isn’t Luster rather than genuine suspicion. It’s always off-putting to think a friend could be doing something behind your back.”

On the other side of Twilight, Moondancer spoke up. “Having been there for the discussion, I agree with Lemon Hearts. True, Luster is the most viable candidate for who could be behind the dreams, but you’ve not even begun vetting other possible candidates. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you are able to quickly rule her out, given how circumstantial the evidence against her is.”

“I know.” The three reached the stairwell doors and pushed them open. “So, what should I do?” Twilight asked as they descended the stairs.

“Talk to Luster,” Lemon said simply. “About the argument and the dreams.”

Twilight recoiled. “Just, bring the dreams up to her directly?”

“Not in an accusing way.” Lemon shook her head. “Just explain to her that you’ve been having odd dreams and you’re wondering if she has some insights.”

Moondancer pursed a lip. “Come to think of it, did you ever tell Luster about the dreams?”

“No. I brought them up to you girls because I wasn’t sure what to make of them. And then once Luster and I began to really get along, I wasn’t asking around about them anymore.”

Lemon nodded. “Then, from her perspective, if we presume her innocence – and we should – she has no idea why you might be suspicious of her. You’re just a friend having some unusual dreams and you’re wondering if a friend who is studying mental magic could have any ideas on them.”

“So, lie?” Twilight frowned. “I don’t know…”

“It’s not pleasant, but it’s perhaps the best option,” Lemon said. “Lying to one’s friends is rarely advisable. But a white lie to spare feelings is sometimes the preferable course to blunt honesty. Especially in circumstances like this where you and Luster are already not talking. If you come right out and tell her you’re suspicious of her, even if you don’t really believe that it’s her, it will just do more damage to your friendship.”

“...You’re right.” Twilight took a breath as they exited the stairwell and headed for the cafeteria. “I told Twinkleshine about it last night and she said I should just be open with Luster about it, and whatever happens, happens. I didn’t like the sound of that, either.”

“Yeah, she would say that.” Lemon rolled her eyes.

Twilight turned her head at the tone in her voice. “Pardon?”

“Nevermind.” Lemon waved a hoof. “It’s not worth thinking about anymore.”

As they passed the entrance of the building, Twilight stepped away. “I have to skip lunch today to hit the library.”

Moondancer adjusted her glasses. “What for?”

“There’s a couple books on mental magic I want to check out. Not specifically related to Luster, just for possible leads into dream magic. I still have a thesis to do, after all.”

“Sounds good.” Lemon waved. “Good luck!”

Twilight waved back and turned forward. She hopped down the small flights of stairs to the doors and exited outside. She opted to trot across the grass to reach the library and avoid the usual crowd of students moving around the central fountain.

Dream magic… I’ve never really given much thought to it before. Now, it’s the central subject of my research and my personal life. She passed through the doors of the Royal Canterlot Archives and headed towards the card catalog, pulling aside to let two students going out pass her. She reached the balcony overlooking the central study area and paused to scan the students below.

The last time I was here with Luster, I saw a vision of Sunset down there. Today there was nothing. She walked along the balcony and then turned to look down parallel rows of shelves, and followed them until she saw the plaque for mental magics. She looked down the shelves and took a breath before going down them.

The books in each section were organized by number, of course, but in turn they were numbered so as to be separated into subtopics. So it was that the shelves marked ‘7.14.’ were almost entirely about magic related to dreams and sleep. Twilight looked over the spines.

Luster may have been here as recently as this morning in this same section. She pulled out one of the books she was looking for and examined it. If she was, then… She turned the book over, flipped open the back cover, and pulled out the card. Various different colored inks had stamped the student ID numbers for past borrowers down rows of lines.

One of those could be Luster’s… Twilight put the card back, closed the book, and slipped it into her saddle bag. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

One of us is being a horrible friend. And I’m not sure which one would make me feel better.

She shook her head and looked back at the shelf. Well, I’m going to find out soon enough. She found the next book on her reading list and pulled it down.

Twinkleshine swallowed her mouthful of food and smiled. “Professor Gleam assured me that emeralds are the best gemstones to use for high-level compression runes. I’m going to head out on the weekend to see what the costs run on magical ones. If I can find a good quality gem, even just a small one, I can do some early testing.”

“Great!” Minuette grinned at her from across the lunch table. “I had some promising results with my taste-testing, but also a few hiccups. Thanks again for helping me, Moondancer.”

“Certainly.” Moondancer nodded and poked a fork into her salad.

“Uh, girls?”

The four mares turned their heads, Minuette leaning back to see better.

A few hooves away from their table, Luster Dawn stood with a tray of food beside her. She awkwardly smiled and took a step closer. “Hi...um, can I sit here?”

“Of course you can, Dawny!” Minuette pushed a chair out from the table.

“Thank you.” Luster stepped closer and slid her tray onto the table before climbing into the chair. She coughed lightly. “I know I’ve been avoiding you girls lately. I’d like to just, stop doing that, if it’s okay.”

Lemon nodded. “You didn’t do anything to us, Luster. Whatever reason you had for needing space, if it’s settled, then we’re happy to have you back.”

“Actually, about that.” Luster looked around the table. “Has anypony seen Twilight? I checked the lines and didn’t see her.”

Moondancer glanced at Minuette and saw her catch her look before she spoke. “She had to go to the library. She’s changed her thesis subject.”

“Oh. Okay, then.” Luster nodded and turned her attention to her food, swirling a spoon in a bowl of soup.

“Is it something urgent?” Lemon asked.

“No, no. Well, yes… no.” Luster frowned. “I just need to talk to her about some stuff. Privately. Important stuff, but private stuff. So… you know.”

Twinkleshine nodded. “We gotcha. Sorry she ain’t here.”

“It’s fine. I’ll see her, eventually.” Luster lifted her spoon to her lips and blew on it. She kept her eyes trained on it as she whispered, “Somepony please end this awkward silence.”

Lemon spoke up brightly. “Dr. Turner’s class today was really insightful. A lot of what he covered could be applied directly to my thesis.”

The table fell back into conversation. Even as she listened to Lemon, Luster’s eyes kept straying to the sixth, empty chair at the table. She inhaled deeply and dipped her spoon back into her soup.

I’m sorry, Twilight.

Chapter 10

Sunset rolled her eyes and snorted. “Naturally, once I showed my work in front of the class and demonstrated that yes, I can do all of the equations from memory, that little twerp shut up and sat down. At least the professor was on my side and gave me extra marks on the day’s assignment for the trouble.”

“You’ve had problems with Blueblood before, you mentioned?” Twilight asked. Sunset nodded.

The two were seated on beds in an illusory dorm room the dreamscape had conjured for them. The room was nondescript and undecorated, so Twilight had no clues to identify whose room it might be. Instead she had spent the majority of the dream letting Sunset do most of the talking.

“That little turd has always wanted to stick it to me ever since first year. I got paired with him for a project and he insisted I should do the work because I’m a commoner. He’s a noble, he doesn’t need to learn this stuff to be a success.” Sunset rolled her eyes and huffed. “Drives me nuts that those kinds of pampered jerks can get by in life on just their family name and their money that they didn’t do anything to earn.”

“I know.” Twilight nodded. I don’t know any nobles named Blueblood, but I’ve never kept up with the nobility and celebrity scene. One of my friends may know the name. “Which subject was it?”

“Alchemy.” Sunset shrugged. “And sure, alchemy is right up my alley so I did do it all by myself, after I kept poking him to help out and offered easy ways he could. Since he didn’t do any of the work, I made sure the teacher knew it, and he got a big fat zero. He accused me of trying to sink his grades because I was jealous of his wealth and looks.” She tossed her mane and put her nose in the air. “As if. He’ll probably end up marrying some gold-digging wench who won’t even have half the looks and brains I have.”

“Probably,” Twilight agreed.

Sunset lowered her head. “Er, that was a joke.”

“Oh.” Twilight shook her head and smiled. “Ha ha. Sorry, didn’t catch that.”

“You okay?” Sunset tilted her head. “You’ve been quiet tonight.”

No. Caught. Bad! Twilight tried to keep any panic or hesitation from showing on her face. “I’m fine. Just, in a quiet mood.”

“Okay.” Sunset nodded. “I’m just not used to this sort of thing being one-sided. I mentioned it to a friend who studies psychology and she said that talking to you can be healthy for me, if handled properly.”

“I see.” Trying to manipulate and prod me into agreeing and talking more? Or just making a causal comment? Twilight’s brow creased. “That goes both ways, right? We can be open with each other, about anything.”

“Sure, I guess.” Sunset frowned. “There is something, isn’t there?”

Stupid! You talked yourself into a corner! She knows something is up and you just gave yourself an invitation to tell her! Quick, think of a good lie! “Well…” Twilight fidgeted and looked away, trying to use hesitation to mask her hasty improvisation. “I really messed up an assignment in class this week.”

“Ah.” Sunset nodded sagely. “Yup, that’ll do it. What happened?”

“The equipment apparently didn’t have the proper magic insulation spells applied, so some magic contaminated it and it…” Twilight let out a breath. “It was going to blow up, I think, but a friend stabilized it and it was just a bit of a mess to scrape off the ceiling.”

“Good.” Sunset smiled. “You’ll just have to be more careful next time. Insulation spells can be tricky; you have to filter out all outside magical interference, even just from telekinesis. And it’s not always easy to detect your magical aura on something since we get so used to our own magic.” She held up a hoof. “Maybe next time, ask somepony to help you with it?”

“I will.” Twilight looked at Sunset’s face, trying to scan it for some emotion or thought she could decipher. I didn’t even mention I had a partner. If this was Luster, wouldn’t she have mentioned or asked about my partner? Surely she’d slip up. At the least she wouldn’t have said that, would she? She would have spoken under the presumption I was working with somepony else already. But she didn’t.

“Enjoying the view?”

Twilight jerked out of her thoughts and realized Sunset was giving her a cocked eyebrow and a small smirk.

“What?”

“You were just staring at me.”

Twilight felt her cheeks grow hot. “S-sorry!”

“No, it’s fine.” Sunset put a hoof to her chest. “I may not have the ego of some ponies, but I enjoy being the center of attention now and then.” She winced. “Er, I didn’t mean you have an ego. I meant Blueblood does, he was still on my mind. You don't have an ego at all, you’re smart but you're chill about it.”

Luster definitely wouldn’t talk like that. At all. Twilight nodded. “No offense taken. And, really, sorry. Just, yes, there are things on my mind.”

“Like what?” Sunset turned serious again. “You can tell me. Like you said, let’s be open.”

Darn. “I can’t on this. This is something I have to keep to myself. I wish I could talk about it, I really do. But I can’t.”

“Suit yourself.” Sunset lifted her hooves in a shrug. “I mean, not like you can tell anypony else, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just a joke.” Sunset rocked her head and smirked. “I mean, I talk to myself a lot, but if you start talking to me about me behind my back, I might have to get some professional help, you know?”

“...Right…”

Twilight chewed the spoonful of cereal in her mouth and swallowed. She flipped the page in her journal and raised a pen to make notes. “Every single thing I can recall that Sunset mentioned last night lines up perfectly with prior things she’s said. Not everything is something she’s directly said before, but there are no outright contradictions.”

“So is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” Twinkleshine sipped her glass of milk.

“It’s a… a thing.” Twilight reached her pen up to scratch her ear as she looked over her journal. “If her stories are consistent across multiple dreams, then that would suggest she’s either an extremely skilled liar, or she’s a real pony talking openly about herself.”

Twinkleshine shook her head. “It’s the latter. Given how frequently you’ve talked to Sunset and how many notes you have on her, it’d be very difficult to come up with a consistent set of lies across more than a month. They’d have to keep even more copious notes than you are and review them regularly to know what to say if you ask them something.”

Twilight considered the point and nodded. “Very true. Then, if she’s a real pony, she must be here studying at the SGU.”

“Then why haven’t you seen her face-to-face yet?”

“Whatever magic is connecting us in our dreams must distort her appearance.” Twilight’s brow lifted. “Which also means that she probably doesn’t even see me as looking like I do, thereby further explaining why she wouldn’t approach me in the real world. For that matter, we may not even sound the same. If we don’t know what the other really looks like, we could pass right by each other in the halls and not know it.”

“Right.” Twinkleshine took a bite out of her half-eaten carrot muffin and set it back on her plate. “So what now?” she asked through a mouth full of food.

“Use the clues I have to track her down. Working on that hypothesis, somepony out there on the campus every day is Sunset Shimmer. But even then, I’m assuming that’s her real name, and no one I’ve mentioned the name to recognizes her, so maybe not. So that makes things quite a bit harder, but still not impossible.” Twilight flipped back through her journal to the first page. “She’s talked about classes a lot. If I can peg a specific time and place she might be, I can go there when she ought to be there and see if she’s there. Even if she doesn’t look like she does in my dreams or have the right, I may still recognize her somehow, or notice something identifiable about her.” She tapped the end of her pen on the paper. Did she ever mention any of her teachers? Hmm...

“Why not just invite her someplace?”

Twilight’s pen stilled. “What?’

Twinkleshine shrugged. “Ask her to come to a specific place at a specific time some day. See if she shows up. You can wear something distinctive like a hair ribbon or a bag or something, so she’ll know it’s you even if you don’t look to her the same as you do for real.”

Twilight blinked. “That… is a very good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You were overthinking it.” Twinkleshine took another sip of her milk. “I’ve told you, sometimes you need to just be direct and honest and stop worrying. Openness is the best policy.”

“Right.” Twilight smiled and turned back to her cereal, lifting a spoon to her mouth.

“You keep things bottled up, try and spare somepony’s feelings, and you’re just setting things up to explode when the truth comes out. And then nopony is happy.”

Twilight paused at the tone in Twinkleshine’s voice and lifted her eyes to see her friend looking off into spare, her eyes narrowed.

Twilight swallowed her cereal. “Something bothering you?”

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes and turned back to the table. “Lemon Hearts.”

“Oh?” She had said something the other day, didn’t she? “What happened?”

Twinkleshine grit her teeth. “She thinks my crystal projector is a waste of time.”

“What?” Twilight sat upright. “That doesn’t sound like her.”

“Fine, she didn’t say it exactly like that, but it’s what she meant.” Twinkleshine huffed and angrily bit off a large piece of muffin.

“What did she say? What were her exact words?”

Twinkleshine took a long moment to chew and swallow. “I asked her to help me with my project. I was trying to test out a way to engrave the crystals I’m going to have to use eventually. Since the engravings have to be very small, and very precise, I just needed somepony to hold the carving needle steady on one end while I actually moved the other end to carve.”

“Okay.”

“She kept moving it. She insisted she was holding it perfectly still, but I know she wasn’t.” Twinkleshine’s voice grew louder as she spoke. “I snapped at her that if she couldn’t hold it still, she could go and I’d get somepony else to help. And then she muttered, ‘waste somepony else’s time, you mean’.”

Twilight let out a breath. “She didn’t mean it like that.”

“Of course she did!” Twinkleshine snorted. “If she didn’t mean it, she wouldn’t have said it.”

“If you were getting angry with her, she was probably angry back,” Twilight said, putting more force into her voice. “Ponies say things they don’t mean when they’re upset.”

“I don’t buy that.” Twinkleshine shook her head. “In my experience, when somepony says something while they’re upset, they’re just telling you what they really think.”

“That’s not true. Maybe sometimes, but not always.” Twilight sat back and shuffled in her seat. “Have you spoken to her since?”

Twinkleshine’s brow lifted and she gave a small shrug. “We still have classes together, and we’re both there at lunches.”

“That didn’t answer my question.” Twilight took a spoon of cereal into her mouth.

This time Twinkleshine’s response was a roll of the eyes and a short huff. “No.”

“You should.”

“Why?”

Twilight sighed. “You’re as stubborn as a mule.”

“I know. It’s a gift.”

“Sometimes.” Twilight slowly shook her head. “You know Lemon Hearts likes to be helpful. If you’re upset because she said she was wasting her time helping you, imagine how she felt hearing that you didn’t want her help and she wasn’t doing a good enough job.”

Twinkleshine paused in her seat, staring back at Twilight. She raised her muffin to her mouth and mumbled “I hate when you’re right,” before taking a bite.

“It’s a gift.” Twilight let the remark sit a moment before continuing. “You’re both upset at each other, but I know neither of you would want a friendship to end over something like this. The best thing to do would be to swallow your pride, be the bigger mare, and apologize. You know she’ll do the same when you do.”

The two each took a few moments to tend to their breakfasts. Twinkleshine opened her mouth, paused, and then closed it. Nonetheless, Twilight noticed. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

Twinkleshine shook her head. “It was going to be a snarky comeback that would just annoy you. Nevermind.”

Twilight leaned forward. “Now that you’ve warned me I promise not to be annoyed. Come on.”

Twinkleshine looked back at her. “Was just gonna quip that that’s kind of hypocritical given what’s going on with you and Luster. No offense.”

Twilight frowned and sat back. She took a moment to think it over before nodding. “No, that’s fair. You’re right. I’ve actually been thinking about approaching her, but it’s not just the argument in class I’m worried about.”

“Yeah, the whole ‘hey, are you spying on my dreams’ thing is a bit above an apology either way.” Twinkleshine held up her hooves. “And on that, really, disregard my advice. That sort of thing, especially if it isn’t true, is a good way to end a friendship.”

“I know.” Twilight looked down at her cereal and poked her spoon at the flakes. “That’s why I’m still trying to figure out a way to approach her.”

“You could always hold out hope she’ll decide to be the bigger pony and approach you first,” Twinkleshine said, her voice lighter.

Twilight smiled. “Here’s hoping.”

“The north-east to south-east ley lines along the coastline have proven particularly susceptible to variances in power depending on the time of year.” At the front of the lecture hall, a pale green unicorn mare with white hair in a bun looked up at the class. “Can anypony guess why that is?”

Twilight raised her hoof and waited for Professor Glyph to look at her, when the bell rang to dismiss class.

Glyph turned her head to the clock and frowned. “My, time does fly.” The students began packing their bags and trotting up the stairs out of the hall. “Don’t forget, there is a reading to complete this weekend!” Glyph called after them. “Chapters 8 and 9 in Geoglyphs of Equestria. I’ll be expecting all of you to have read them for next week!”

Twilight slid into the mass of students leaving with Moondancer beside her. “It’s the tides, right?” She looked at her friend.

Moondancer nodded. “More or less. The tidal pull of the moon on the ocean changes the water level in subtle ways which has a minor effect on the leylines.”

“I’m good with that.” Twilight smiled. “I double-read the chapter and did the test quiz just in case. Magical Geography has never been one of my strong suits.”

“You got accepted into third-year classes, at least.”

The two exited the lecture hall. With second period classes over, the students of SGU gravitated towards the building exits and Twilight and Moondancer stayed with the herd.

As they entered the stairwell, Moondancer raised her voice to be heard above the bustle of the crowd. “I can come by after classes today to help prepare the thaumometer. I procured a sapphire of appropriate quality for a fairly low price yesterday.”

“Great.” Twilight nodded. “How much was it?’

“Ten bits.”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “Where did you find a sapphire of spellcharging quality at that price?”

“Crystal Memories. I go there from time to time, the owner is a friend of a relative.”

“Isn’t that a jewelry store?”

“It is, but they sell some of their gemstones to magic shops for various reasons. I dropped by and asked if they had any such product reserved for sales. I usually just have to offer to match what they charge their buyers and they accept. Since I’m essentially buying the same product one step back in the supply chain, it ends up being cheaper than going to magic shops.”

“Smart.” Twilight nodded in approval.

By the time they got outside and started down the path to the recreations commons, the crowd had dispersed from ponies going off elsewhere, but there was still a considerable crowd heading to the cafeteria.

Twilight shivered slightly at a chilly breeze. She looked over the grounds and noticed fewer ponies than usual sitting at the picnic tables and under the trees. “Feels like it may be time to start bringing autumn coats.” Moondancer nodded and murmured in agreement.

As they neared the doors, Twilight’s eyes shifted to the side and she stopped.

Next to the doors, pacing in a circle, eyes downcast, was Luster Dawn.

A stallion pushed past Twilight grumbling, but she didn’t pay any mind. Moondancer gently nudged her aside out of the way of the crowd, and Twilight saw Luster notice them and stop her pacing.

Twilight took a breath. “Um, I’ll be along shortly.”

“Yes, of course.” Moondancer patted her on the back. “Good luck.” She merged back with the ponies heading inside.

Twilight discretely swallowed a lump in her throat and trotted across the grass. The murmuring of the crowd suddenly seemed distant and low. I can’t just tell her I suspect her, no matter what I think. But what am I supposed to say? Just, sorry?

She only had a few seconds to ponder the question before she reached Luster and stopped a hoof away from her.

Luster had turned her eyes away and was standing still, one hoof brushing the other. Twilight inhaled to say something, but when she tried to, nothing came out of her mouth. She closed her mouth and tried to think.

Luster turned her head every way to look around, avoiding eye contact. She bit her lip and hung her head.

Twilight clenched her eyes. One way or the other, just end this.

“Luster…”

“No, let me, please.” Luster closed her eyes and licked her lips. “I’m not good at this, but, bear with me, please.” She opened her eyes to look at Twilight and lifted her head.

“I’m sorry for what happened.”

Twilight blinked. “Pardon?”

“I overreacted about my thesis, and I’ve spent an entire week avoiding you and most of the others until yesterday.” Luster shook her head. “It was silly and childish and I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling with me making it out like it was your fault. So, don’t. Feel bad, I mean. It wasn’t your fault, you were right; you girls are my friends and are just trying to help. I just like my privacy sometimes and I didn’t take it well.”

She finally looked up at Twilight and her lips curled into a small smile. “I know I’ve hurt our friendship. I can’t take back what I said or how I acted, but I want you to know I’m really sorry about it, and if you can forgive me, I’d like to go back to being friends, please.” She fell silent and turned her eyes down again.

I know Twinkleshine suggested she might, but wasn’t expecting it to that degree. Twilight shook to clear her head and extended a hoof to Luster’s shoulder, prompting her to raise her head again. “Luster, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry, I was prying and pushing you when you clearly didn’t want to talk about something. I should have known to back off and let it be.”

Luster sighed. “Maybe, but I shouldn’t have snapped like I did. Not to mention giving you the cold shoulder for practically the rest of the week.”

“Hey, don’t be like that.” Twilight frowned. “Friendship is a two-way street, right? That means we can both screw up and act like idiots and be wrong. And we did, at least you think you did. You didn’t, but… nevermind. Like you said, I’m sorry, too.”

“Okay.” Luster nodded. “Good... “ she shuffled her hooves again and rubbed the back of her neck. A breeze rustled her mane and she shivered slightly.

Twilight withdrew her hoof. “What is it?”

“Is it… really that easy? Making up?” Luster let out a small groan and looked back at Twilight. “I’m not used to arguing with friends, or making up with them. This is new to me. I just know we’re not talking to each other and I’d like to not not talk to you, if we can go back to that. You know, normal? At least what used to be normal before Monday.”

Twilight’s expression softened. “We had a little argument and didn’t talk for a couple of days, Luster. This isn’t something worth ending a friendship over. At least it isn’t to me, and obviously it isn’t to you. Right?”

“Right.” Luster nodded. She took a breath. “So, we agree we want to keep being friends. We’re fine, then?”

“Yes.” Twilight rocked her head. “Rather, we will be. ‘Normal’ comes around when things go back to actually being normal, not standing around apologizing to each other.”

Luster let out a short laugh. “That makes sense.” She smiled. “I suppose then to get back to ‘normal’, this would be the part where we go inside, eat with our friends, and spend lunch chatting?”

“Exactly.” Twilight swept a hoof towards the doors. “After you.”

Luster bowed her head and stepped up the small stairs to the cafeteria doors, and held one open for Twilight.

I can’t believe I was so suspicious of her. Twilight smiled as she passed and headed to the food lines, Luster beside her. She’s been spending all week self-conscious she made ME feel bad? There’s no way she’d be using Sunset to spy on me. Not to mention I can rule her out just by virtue of Sunset’s consistency in her stories.

Poisonous paranoia crept back into Twilight’s mind as she and Luster joined the crowded line to the food stalls. She glanced at Luster – she wasn’t even looking at Twilight, she was going through a small change purse of bits.

Although, Luster is the kind of detail-orientated pony who might put time into creating that kind of depth to a fake persona… she winced. This isn’t right. I can’t make up with her and then keep being suspicious. It’s not her, I know it isn’t…

No matter how hard the logical and emotional parts of her mind concurred on that point, a small part of her kept objecting. Had she gotten conclusive evidence to rule out Luster? Had she actually approached her about it?

Do it now. A little white lie and then forget the possibility even entered your mind. She licked her lips. Just ask and put it to rest.

“If we are going back to normal.” Twilight paused to let Luster turn her way. “I do want to ask one thing. If you can’t tell me what your thesis is about, can you tell me something it isn’t about?”

Luster gave her a quizzical look. “I suppose?”

“Is it something to do with dream magic?”

“What?” Luster shook her head. “No, nothing to do with dreams. Really.”

“Oh. Okay.” Twilight nodded. “Thanks.”

“Er, why do you ask?”

Twilight shrugged. “I think I’ve mentioned this mare I know a couple times, Sunset Shimmer?” Luster nodded. “I’ve never really met her, I just see her in my dreams. And they’re unusually vivid ones and they’re becoming more frequent. I’m trying to figure out what they mean, and since you were researching mental magic, I thought maybe you could have ideas as to why.”

“Oh.” Luster raised her eyebrows as she thought. “That does sound strange. But, no, I don’t know the first thing about dream magic. I don’t think I could be much help. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.” Twilight resumed facing forward, and she waited until she saw Luster turn her attention back to her money that she let out a breath and felt her last lingering suspicions and anxiety go with it.

She’s telling the truth, I’m sure of it. Good. I’d rather go back to being clueless than have to seriously wonder if Luster was doing something to me. Her brow creased. Although, on the other hoof, that still means I’m back to being clueless. Somepony, somehow, is using dream magic to communicate with me through Sunset. Who, how, and why? I don’t even know enough to begin speculating on possible answers to any of those questions.

Sunset… who are you?

Chapter 11

Twilight finished filling in the boxes of the chart in front of her and slid it across the table. “There. Week four’s data compiled.”

“Thank you.” Lemon Hearts picked up the chart and turned to the wall in her dorm room where three others were already hanging. Two small pieces of tape pressed the corners of the chart into place, and Lemon stepped back to look them over. She nodded and turned to the table. “Thank you again for helping me with this. I know this isn’t how you pictured spending your morning, but I wanted to get this done.” She lifted a water bottle from the table and took a drink.

“Of course.” Twilight smiled brightly. “You’re always there when we need the help, after all.”

“I know.” Lemon set her water down. “Math isn’t my strong suit, nevermind magical math. I would have asked Moondancer for help too, but she was busy. And Minuette isn’t much better at math than me.”

“Luster?”

“I wasn’t sure if she would be up to it with…um, you know.” Lemon winced. “Er, sorry.”

Twilight shook her head and held up her hoof. “No, it’s fine. And that’s fair. I know she’s still mostly my friend, even if she gets along with you girls.”

“I think Minuette and Moondancer have occasionally hung out with her. I don’t pry, though.”

Twilight nodded and looked back at the charts. “You said this is the first month of your thesis research done?”

“Yup.” Lemon nodded and walked up to the charts, sweeping her hoof over them. “Twenty-eight days, exactly the length of a standard Nasenuan lunar cycle. Kept track of time spent performing the spells, how long they lasted if applicable, and how much magic it took.” She looked sheepish. “And then you had to do the conversion formulas to give me more numbers to look at.”

“And is there anything useful?”

“No.” Lemon huffed, her head turning between different charts. “It’s well-known that the movements of the sun, the moons, and the planets can affect magic. But I’m not seeing any kind of correlation with these figures.”

“None at all?” Twilight climbed off her chair and stepped next to her, brow furrowed. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“I know.” Lemon picked up a textbook from her bed where several had been laid out and flipped to a dog-eared page. “Twenty-eight days is nothing for the outer planets in terms of their yearly cycle, but it’s still enough for them to make a significant movement. Every celestial body has some sort of major variance in its position compared to when I began, so there ought to be some sort of linear pattern. But there isn’t.”

Twilight glanced over at the textbook and saw a chart of the solar system with a table of numbers for the length of days and years. “Are you sure you took your original numbers right?”

“Absolutely.” Lemon pointed her hoof at the left side of one chart. “I did the experiments at the exact same time of evening every single day, eleven PM. Used an identical set of rocks bought from a gardening store for a basis. I mixed one with alchemy to make it glow, put the other in suspended telekinesis, transmuted another into lead, made another look like a salt shaker, and the last one I charged with magical energy. Every time I measured my magic before casting the spell and after, cast the spell for the exact same amount of time, and tracked how long it lasted. I was very precise.”

“Yup, sounds like it.” Twilight looked at the charts. “But you’re sure there’s no pattern?”

“Not one that’s immediately apparent, which there ought to be.” Lemon frowned. “I know twenty-eight days isn’t the longest control period I could do, but it should at least give me something!” She looked at the charts again and took a step back, her eyes scanning back and forth.

“Hey, you’ll figure it out.” Twilight patted her on the back. “There’s a lot of numbers to analyze here. Maybe it’ll take more time.”

“Maybe…” Lemon squinted and pursed her lips. “The closest thing to a correlation for the moment is an increase in the duration of the spells in the middle of week three. That was around the time the two moons were full, so that could be something.” She looked at the chart and sighed. “But there’s still too many spikes and dips the rest of the time to try and say that’s the direct cause.”

“It’s something at least. Give it more time, you’ll figure it out. Like Dr. Turner said, we do know for sure there’s a connection between the celestial bodies and pony magic. You just have to keep looking for how it works.”

“Right.” Lemon nodded and took a breath. “Also, good idea. Could show these to Dr. Turner, he may be able to see something I don’t.” Lemon’s horn lit and she began peeling the tape off the charts and taking them down.

“A second opinion never hurts.” Twilight stepped back and let Lemon finish her work.

“Always bugged me nopony ever figured this out,” Lemon said, more to herself than to Twilight. “We know the cosmos affects pony magic, but how can we not know precisely how? Hundreds of years of studying the planets and the moons, you’d think somepony would have cracked the code.”

“It might be you,” Twilight said.

“A mare can dream.” Lemon rocked her head as she rolled up the last chart. She bent the tape on the ends over to hold them together, and took a breath. “I spoke to Twinkleshine.”

Twilight’s ears perked. “Oh? And?”

“We talked. A bit. Don’t quite know what it means, but it happened.” Lemon looked at Twilight and smiled. “She told me you talked her into it. Thank you.”

“I didn’t talk her into anything, really. I just tried to make her see things your way and why you might be just as upset as her.”

“You mean her tendency to say whatever’s on her mind without filtering it?” Lemon said sharply. She frowned and shook her head. “Okay, still not entirely over it. But I will be, maybe.”

“Good.” Twilight patted her on the back. “We both know how she can be sometimes. She really didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just her way.”

“I know.” Lemon nodded. “Which is why it meant a lot to me that she was the one who approached me first. I think it means she recognizes she was in the wrong.” She sighed. “And, on further thought, I realize I was, too. I love helping other ponies, but when she snapped at me I just let her get to me. I didn’t really think she was wasting her time, but I said it because I wanted to be mean. Even when she’s being insufferable, she doesn’t do that, not on purpose.”

“Hey now.” Twilight turned Lemon’s head toward her. “No guilt like that, right? You two talked things over and they’re good now. If they aren’t good, don’t let it fester, talk some more.”

“No, we are good.” Lemon stepped away from Twilight and set her rolled-up charts on her bed. “I’m upset at myself for stooping to a personal insult like that. I should have held my tongue.”

“It happens, nopony is a saint.”

“Yeah…” Lemon inhaled and spun around, a wide smile on her face. “Well, it’s Sunday and it is a beautiful day out. I was going to head out a little after noon and meet with Minuette for lunch and shopping. Do you want to come?”

“I would, but I can’t.” Twilight looked at the clock over the door. “I have an appointment in twenty minutes.”

“Appointment?”

“Luster and I have chatted a bit since we made up, both that afternoon and yesterday when we went to the library with Moondancer. So I feel overall content in saying that we are on the road to a repaired friendship.” Twilight nodded to punctuate the statement.

On the other side of her desk, Celesita nodded back and smiled. “I’m very glad to hear you two were able to work things out. As you told Luster, a small disagreement like this isn’t something that you should let come between you two. That you both want to move past it is a sure sign that you’ve found true friendship with each other.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight bowed her head for a moment, and then gave a small shrug. “If I’m being fully honest, part of me wants to know what her thesis is about that she reacted so fiercely. But I’m sure if it concerned me or if she wanted me involved, she would tell me, and until then I will respect her privacy.”

“I think that is for the best. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Luster is not one to let a pony into her life easily.”

Telling me about her thesis is letting me into her life? Twilight wrinkled her nose. I wasn’t prying into something personal. Or was I? Celestia would know what Luster’s thesis is about, she had to approve it. Is she trying to tell me something without telling me? Or am I reading into things?

“Twilight.”

The gentle voice made Twilight jerk and she focused back on Celestia. “Yes?”

“You got lost in thought.” The princess gave her a bemused smile and a raise of her eyebrow.

“Oh, yes. Sorry. Just, thinking.” She waved a hoof. “In other developments, my thesis is going well.”

Celestia’s expression relaxed. “That is good to hear. The odd dreams, yes?”

“Yes. A friend of mine has prepared a thaumometer to measure any magical influence on my sleep cycle, so that will give me a lead. And another offered the more direct approach of simply asking Sunset to meet with me, if I think she’s a real pony.” Twilight pursed her lips. “That wouldn’t be a sort of cheating, would it? Meeting the pony causing them directly?”

“Not at all, it’s a perfectly logical and reasonable course of action.” Celestia held up a hoof. “However, if you can confirm somepony you know is causing these dreams, I’d like you to refrain from inquiring as to their methods. Discovering that is the root idea of your thesis, and it would be considered ‘cheating’ to have somepony tell you that.”

“Agreed.” Twilight sighed. “A direct meeting is the best lead I have for now. I tried to figure out who Sunset could be by looking over my journals of the dreams, but there’s no clues there. Her stories of her school life are extremely consistent, so I don’t think they’re just an elaborate lie. The last time I saw her, she mentioned a classmate named Blueblood. I thought perhaps I–”

“Blueblood?”

Twilight stopped. Celestia’s brow had furrowed and her eyes had narrowed. She leaned forward.

“Yes, he was a noble that attended school with her. I thought I could look him up as he seems the type to remember her.” Twilight examined Celestia’s expression. “If that is permitted? I don’t know what kind of noble he is. Should I not speak to him?”

“Oh, no. I mean, no, that won’t be necessary. I was simply surprised to hear such a name.” Celestia sat back and shook her head. “I will save you the trouble, Twilight. There is no noble named ‘Blueblood’ attending the SGU.”

“Are you certain?”

“Quite. I pay close attention to members of the nobility that enroll in SGU, to ensure they are not trying to use their money or social status to curry favoritism with the faculty.”

“I see. Thank you.” Twilight looked away, drifting off into thought. I could try and claim that the dream is distorting the name I heard, but that’s leaning far too heavily into the idea of it distorting everything Sunset says and does. If I can’t trust anything in them, why even bother looking for clues?

“Twilight?”

Twilight jerked and looked back at Celestia. She felt her face grow hot and she lightly coughed into her hoof. “Sorry, Princess. I’m just trying to figure out what that means, then.”

“Of course. You have quite a mystery on your hooves.” Celestia stood and slowly crossed her desk and draped a wing over Twilight. “But I am confident you can solve it. From what you’ve told me, you’re taking all the right steps to finding an answer.”

“I hope so.” Twilight let out a small sigh. “I just…” she clenched her eyes and inhaled. “There’s something important going on here that I’m not seeing. I can feel it, somehow. I can’t explain it, which makes no sense, but something about Sunset… she...she’s…” She opened her eyes and gave Celestia a sheepish look. “I’m not sure how to put it into words.”

Celestia’s response was a soft chuckle and a small smile. “That won’t be necessary, Twilight. I think I can grasp what you’re trying to convey. I agree, you should continue pursuing this. It’s proving to be quite interesting.” Her smile faded as she looked up at a clock on the wall. “My apologies, but if there is nothing else pressing, I have another appointment in ten minutes I would like to prepare for.”

“Oh, of course.” Twilight hopped off the chair and bowed. “Thank you for seeing me, Princess. I appreciate your help.”

“And I am grateful to be of help, Twilight.” Celesita nodded. “Take care, and feel free to schedule to see me again if you need to.”

Twilight nodded and turned to lightly trot towards the lift. As she pressed her hoof to the panel to open the doors, she found herself smiling.

Luster and I are talking, the Princess is encouraging my project, and my friends are getting along. Three for three, anxiety sources resolved.

The muffled shouting was loud enough to be heard halfway down the hall of the dorms, causing two students coming towards Twilight to turn their heads and frown when they passed the source. Twilight’s expression mirrored theirs as they passed her; now that she was getting closer, she recognized the source. She quickened her pace and stopped at the door to her dorm.

“I never said that!”

Twilight groaned and let her head rest against the door. I knew I jinxed it. I brought this on myself. She lifted her head, steeled her nerves, and pushed the door open.

On the far side of the room next to her bed, glaring angrily with her ears flat and her eyes wide, was Twinkleshine. And in front of the fridge, looking equally as enraged, was Lemon Hearts.

Twinkleshine beat a hoof on the carpet and snorted. “At least when I’m wrong, I’m honest enough to admit it!”

“And you feel like being an ungrateful jerk, you’re honest about that, too!” Lemon snapped back.

Twilight moved her eyes between them; neither seemed to have noticed she had even entered the room. She seized the handle of the door in her magic and slammed it shut, the bang echoing through the room. The other two mares jumped and turned their heads to face her.

Twilight eyed the two calmly. “I would ask what is going on, but I’d say it’s self explanatory.”

Twinkleshine scoffed. “She–”

“No!” Twilight cut in sharply. “You are not upset with me, you are upset with her, and you will not raise your voice either way! Explain calmly.”

Twinkleshine expression softened slightly. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then opened it and exhaled. “She came by looking for you, asked me to tell you to swing by her room when I saw you. I said I would, she said ‘thank you, I appreciate it’, in a very sarcastic tone, and–”

“I was not being sarcastic!” Lemon cried. Twilight stepped up next to her and gave her a firm look. Lemon glanced at her, saw her expression, and grit her teeth. When she resumed, her voice strained to remain calm. “I said ‘I appreciate it’ because I didn’t know you were still mad at me, so I took it as a good sign that you were willing to pass along a message.”

“Yeah, right.” Twinkleshine stepped around the bed, not turning away. “Then why did you mutter it under your breath?”

“I did not. I said it a bit lower, maybe, but I did not mutter it.”

“You said it ‘a bit lower’? Pretty sure that’s muttering.”

Lemon huffed and ignored the remark, instead turning her eyes to Twilight. “And then she snapped ‘what’s that supposed to mean’ at me, and before I could explain she starts going on how I’m trying to make a point that I appreciate help and she doesn’t.”

“Seriously?” Twilight slapped a hoof to her face. “This is ridiculous! You two are supposed to be friends. Talk things out!”

“I explained myself!” Lemon protested.

“Fair enough,” Twilight looked across the room. “Twinkleshine, why do you not believe her?”

“If she had just said ‘I appreciate it’ to my face, I wouldn’t have said anything.” She shook her head. “But she didn’t, she just walked away and muttered it. Being passive-aggressive like usual.”

Lemon’s jaw drop. “What ‘like usual’? I am never passive-aggressive!”

“Calm, we are keeping calm,” Twilight said loudly. She looked at Twinkleshine evenly. “I’d say it sounds like Twinkleshine has some things to say beyond just this incident.”

“Come on, Twilight!” Twinkleshine thrust a hoof at Lemon. “You know what she’s like! Always making her little comments and asides without just saying what she means.”

“You do the exact same thing!” Lemon said. “You’re always such a snarky little joke machine, having to make a crack at everything.”

“Yeah, I don’t hide my feelings or lie about my opinions. If I’ve got a problem with something, I say it openly.”

“Exactly.” Lemon put her hooves to her head and grunted, then threw them down and glared. “You have no sense of tact, you just say whatever’s on your mind and the rest of us just run with it because ‘that’s just how she is’! Well maybe, if that’s who you are, then who you are is a loudmouth with no respect for anypony’s feelings but your own!”

The room fell silent.

Twinkleshine’s muzzle shook as she stared misty eyed at Lemon. Lemon held her gaze for a moment for a moment, then blinked, registering what she had said. “Twinkleshine, I’m sorry, I didn’t–”

“You did.” Twinkleshine closed her eyes and nodded firmly. “See? It’s good to be open with how you feel.”

“That’s not how I feel!” Lemon rushed across the room and put a hoof to Twinklechest’s chest. “I was angry, I wanted to upset you, but that isn’t the truth at all!”

“Is that so?” Twinkleshine replied, not opening her eyes.

“Yes! Twinkleshine, you are a caring, reliable, smart pony, and a good friend! You just…” Lemon winced. “You need to…”

“Stop being a loudmouth.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

Twinkleshine opened her eyes and the two looked back at Twilight. She began walking towards them.

“I know what Lemon meant when she said she wasn’t telling the truth, but she was.” Twilight kept going before Lemon could interrupt. “You do have a big mouth. It’s part of who you are and we wouldn’t change that. If you did, you wouldn’t be the witty, fun pony we like being with. But being open with your opinions doesn’t excuse being rude or mean about them. And you need to realize that sometimes, you aren’t aware of how you come off to other ponies. Or that the things you say can hurt them, even if you didn’t mean to.”

Twinkleshine swallowed and bobbed her head. “...like what Lemon said.”

“Exactly.”

Twinkleshine opened her eyes and looked back at Lemon. “I…” she stopped and pursed her mouth.

Twilight stepped beside the two and put a hoof on each of their shoulders. “You both know the real reason you’re angry. It’s what started all of this. Address it.”

Twinkleshine nodded and took a breath. “I’m sorry I snapped at you when you were trying to help me. It was delicate work inscribing the crystal and it put me on edge and I let the stress get to me. That’s not an excuse, though.” She began to speak again, but stopped and bit her lip. “Yeah.”

Twilight frowned and leaned forward in front of her. “What? Say it. No better time.”

“Just… was gonna say that even if you weren’t holding it steady, I know you were doing your best and you weren’t being lazy or sloppy or anything. So, still not right.” She lifted her eyebrows and turned her eyes to Twilight. “Stopped myself because complaining about what started all this isn’t going to help.”

Lemon shook her head and Twinkleshine turned back to her as she spoke. “No, it’s fine, you’re right. I was doing my best to hold it steady. If it wasn’t good enough for you then I was just not the right pony to help. I’m sorry I snapped at you then and just now. And I don’t think you were wasting your time. You’re trying something that maybe nopony has tried before. Even if you can’t get your project to work, you’re going to learn a lot of things that could be used to help other ponies in this kind of research.”

“I hope so.” Twinkleshine smiled. “Thank you, too. But you shouldn’t be apologizing, I’m the one who started this, both times.”

“And I escalated it both times.” Lemon pushed past Twilight and came closer to Twinkleshine. “We should both know better.”

“Right.”

The two hugged, and Twilight grinned and clapped her hooves happily. “There! See? Isn’t it nice to just sit and talk things out and come to an understanding, rather than being bitter and angry?”

“Yeah, yeah.” As the two parted, Twinkleshine rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face.

“So, what have we learned?” Twilight looked at Twinkleshine expectantly.

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes again. “Watch my mouth and know when to shut up.”

“And?”

“Everypony says things they don’t mean when they’re angry, don’t take it personally.”

“And?”

Twinkleshine frowned. “And, what?”

“And, if you two are going to argue like children, I’m going to sit you down like children and make you talk it out.”

Lemon burst out laughing and was quickly joined by Twilight and Twinkleshine. After several moments the laughter died down and Lemon grinned. “I can’t say it didn’t help.”

“Yeah, thanks Mom.”

“Don’t you talk back to me, young lady!” Twilight quipped. The three giggled again.

Twinkleshine held her head and breathed deeply. “At least we can start the next school week off properly tomorrow, as friends again.”

“Right.” Lemon looked behind her at the clock over the door. “That reminds me. Not to be a downer, but I actually should be going. I was going to meet Minuette for lunch and was supposed to be there now, but I stopped by and then all this happened…”

“Actually,” Twilight began, “Twinkleshine, you said you have nothing to do today, right?”

“No.”

“Perfect.” Twilight smiled widely at Lemon. “If you don’t mind, can we join you? I think we could all use a little fresh air and time together.”

“Of course!” Lemon nodded eagerly. “You know Minuette won’t mind.”

Twinkleshine raised a hoof. “What about Luster and Moondancer?”

“I think they’re both studying today,” Twilight replied. “And I don’t think either would care for it if we showed up suddenly expecting them to come along.” She moved to the night stand on her side of the bed and levitated her change purse from the drawer, then moved to the dresser to retrieve her saddle bags.

“Good point.” Twinkleshine lifted a smaller saddle bag from next to her bed and slung it around her neck. “So, where exactly are we going?”

Lemon’s face brightened. “Minnie and I were going to try this wrap place we saw down on Shaffron Avenue, ‘The Oasis’.” She did a double take. “Um, it’s a pretty veggie heavy menu, if you don’t want to eat there we–”

Twinkleshine held up a hoof. “I like wraps fine. I’ll find something that works for me.”

Twilight gestured to the door. “After you two.”

She watched, trying to hide the big smile on her face as the two approached the door, idly chatting about potential lunch options.

Twilight opened her eyes and saw a sky full of stars twinkling overhead.

“‘Sup.”

She turned her head and saw Sunset Shimmer laying on the grass a few hooves away, her legs crossed and her hooves beneath her head. The two were on the grass of the SGU campus between the student housing and the Royal Archives.

“Hello.” Twilight stood up and moved closer to her. “How are things?”

Sunset rocked her head, red and yellow swirls shaking against amber fur. “Dull weekend. Friends all busy with their own stuff, spent my time hanging out in my dorm waiting for the day to end.” She looked over at Twilight and smiled. “Good to see you, though. End the weekend on a high note.”

“Thank you.” Twilight felt her face heat up and kept it out of sight by lying next to Sunset, careful to keep distance between them in case they accidentally brushed against each other. She scanned the stars and inhaled. “I had to sort out a couple friendship problems on my end. But, I did sort them out, so I feel good. Tomorrow is a brand new day and a brand new week.”

“Good to hear.” Sunset shuffled and crossed her legs the other way. “I’ll be making up for mine after class, my friends and I are meeting up to go to some community theater performance that’s being put on in the park.” She gave a small laugh. “One of them is excited that she got permission to do a warm-up act before the show. So of course she assumes we’ll all be there to support her and if we aren’t she’ll ask why.”

“Meeting up…” Twilight pushed her torso up. “I want to meet you.”

Sunset looked back at her. “Eh?”

“I want to meet you.”

“Uh, we’re right here.”

“No, I mean, really meet.” Twilight swept a hoof across the campus. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to find you myself, but there’s nothing. I want to figure this out, and the logical, simplest next step, is to arrange a meet-up in real life.”

“Real life…” Sunset furrowed her brow as she stared back at Twilight. “That’s a bit weird to hear coming from you…” She shrugged. ‘I guess. Okay, where?”

Twilight looked around the grass. “There, that tree.” She pointed to a tall, old oak tree near the side of the dorms. “Right under that tree. Tomorrow morning, before classes.”

“I’m a late riser, I don’t know if I have time before class.”

“That’s fine, we’ll just say hi and meet up later in the day. But we will know to be there tomorrow morning. And...” She may not recognize me or my name. “We’ll have a notebook floating in front of us, so we know it’s us.”

“Is there going to be a crowd of ponies to look for each other in?”

“Just in case. Trust me.”

“Okay.” Sunset leaned her head back. “I guess, I’ll be there. What time?”

“What time works for you?”

“With time left to get to class, I can be there around ten to nine or so.”

“How about a quarter to nine, just in case one of us is late and we need the time.”

“Sure.”

Twilight fell back. “Yes!” She took a breath.“To make sure we’ve both got it straight: tomorrow, eight forty-five, by the tree, we meet up.”

“Sounds like a date to me.”

“Good.” Twilight let out her breath. She paused as she realized what Sunset said. “And, no, not a date, just meeting.”

“I know. If you wanted to ask me out, it’d probably be sometime in the afternoon.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Twilight sputtered and jerked upright again to see Sunset grinning madly, which then turned to laughter at Twilight’s reaction.

“I’m kidding, settle down.”

“I’m not!” Twilight looked at her firmly. “I’m one hundred percent serious. You’ll be there tomorrow morning, right?”

Sunset’s laughter stopped. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Promise?”

Sunset seemed a bit annoyed but nodded. “I promise that, short of a fire or somepony breaking my leg, I will be under that tree tomorrow at eight-forty. Five minutes early, even. Okay?”

“Yes.” Twilight lay back down and let her tension uncoil. “Thank you.”

“I don’t get why this is important, but clearly it is, so I’ll be there.”

Twilight nodded, not sure if Sunset could see her.

The two fell into silence, staring up at the stars. Twilight heard none of the usual nighttime sounds of crickets and the wind. Just the low, steady breathing of the pony next to her, and her own.

Twilight looked up at the night sky and began mentally mapping out the familiar constellations. As she did so, she furrowed her brow.

Wait...

“Sunset?”

“Hm?”

“Does… something feel… ‘off’, to you?”

“Like how?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight sighed. “It… nevermind.”

Two friends laying on the grass beneath the stars, the light of the moon shining down on them, the night quiet and still. She looked at the moon and blinked.

Something isn’t right.

Twinkleshine finished rinsing her bowl in the sink. “You’re in a rush today.” She glanced over her shoulder.

By her bed, Twilight pulled her saddle bags on and flipped the coverings over the school supplies inside. “I have to check on something before class. I’ll be there on-time, promise. Just, heading out now, okay?”

“Sure. See ya.” Twinkleshine wiped out the bowl with a towel as Twilight pulled open the door of the dorm room and trotted down the hall.

Eight-forty. Ahead of time. Be there first, make sure she doesn’t get there, not see me and leave.

Several students grumbled as Twilight pushed through them to get down the stairs of the dorms quicker; she ignored them and kept moving. She has to be there. She has to be. She has to be.

When she made it out the front doors Twilight broke into a run down the steps and made a direct left to head onto the grass. With students focused on getting to classes, the grounds outside of the main concourse were almost entirely bare. A hooffull of students sat in pairs or alone, reading or chatting, but there was nopony by the tree against the side of the building.

Twilight looked around the students. None of them were very close to her as she approached the tree. We said by the tree, she confirmed it. She wouldn’t be all the way out there. She isn’t here yet. Satisfied, she nodded, turned to face the concourse, and sat down.

The mobs of students heading into the SGU main building were still thick, and Twilight scanned the nearest ponies for any that seemed like they might be turning off to come towards her. When one did her face brightened, but she waited – the pony looked in a different direction and called out and waved her hoof forward. Twilight turned her head and saw two stallions stand up and trot towards the mare, and the three returned to the mob.

Sunset.. come on… please, you promised…

She waited. And waited. Without a watch or a clock, she couldn’t be sure how long. But when the mob thinned, Twilight’s pulse quickened. Where is she?

She turned her head and saw a couple of the smaller groups of students leaving. She ran up to one of them. “Excuse me?”

The two stopped, and a mare with a pale blue coat and a curled pink and white mane looked at her. “Yes?”

“Do you have the time?”

The other pony, a stallion with a white mane and red coat, lifted a hoof and looked at his watch. “Ah, about eight fifty-one. No, fifty-two.”

“You’re sure?” Twilight strained.

The mare nodded. “He checks that thing every other morning. He’s paranoid he’ll be ten seconds late.”

“I am not!” The stallion glanced at Twilight. “Sorry, we have to be going.”

The two set off towards the SGU, leaving Twilight to look between the tree and the concourse.

She could just be late… really late… she ran to the concourse, now almost entirely empty, and looked around; looking for anypony that wasn’t gravitating towards the SGU. She looked at the street, at the chariot drop-off, and then at the door to the dorms. There were no ponies running in from the street, no one descending the stairs of the drop-off, and as a stallion emerged from the dorms and sprinted across the walkway, the door swung closed behind him and remained that way.

She was alone.

Chapter 12

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Twilight grunted and held the small white crystal in her grasp up to the ceiling lamp. “It must be a trick of the light.”

Moondancer shook her head. “Twilight, I assure you, the crystal is the exact same color it has always been.”

“Which is impossible!” Twilight floated the crystal down. “You’re sure you enchanted it properly?”

“Yes, Twilight. It’s a perfectly functional thaumometer. I’ve done this many times before.”

“Then how is it still white?”

Twilight sat on Moondancer’s bed in her small, solo dorm room. Despite being the exact same dimensions as the other single dorms, Moondancer had gotten the most out of the space. Flat, rolling drawers were under her bed, and a corner shelving unit wedged between the wall and window held an alarm clock, a hairbrush, and a glasses case. Hinged on the wall on the other side of the bed was a wooden table top. With its foldable legs, one could lower it down and work from their bed, granting them a larger workspace than the room-standard desk offered. It was currently folded up against the wall, revealing a whiteboard and a mirror that had been screwed into its underside.

Even at her best, Twilight couldn’t be so space-efficient in her organization.

Sitting at her desk, Moondancer gave a small shrug. “If its color has not changed, then you have not been exposed to any sources of outside magic. It’s insulated against your magic and mine since we were the ones handling it but no one else’s. If any sort of magic came into contact with it, it would change color.”

“I know.” Twilight rubbed her hooves into her face and fell back. The crystal zipped around Moondancer and hovered over Twilight. “I dreamed of Sunset. So why didn’t it detect the magic of the spell?”

“I don’t know.”

The aura around the crystal flickered and it fell onto the bed. Twilight frowned and nudged it with her hoof. “Obviously, there’s something I’m missing here.”

“May I?” The crystal lit up pale pink and floated towards Moondancer. She looked it over and adjusted her glasses. “The thaumometer spell is still functional. I could ask somepony else to examine it and prove it would react to their magic, but then it would be useless as a baseline and we’d need to make another.”

“It’s useless already,” Twilight muttered. “I kept it right next to my head. I would have taped it to my horn if I had to. Why didn’t it detect anything?”

“A fair question.” The crystal floated back to Twilight and set down in front of her. “I could wager two possibilities. One, the source of this magic is actually you, and the crystal did not react to it for that reason.”

Twilight sat up, a small frown on her face. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” Moondancer held up a hoof. “Can you be absolutely certain you haven’t done anything subconsciously or by accident?”

“No, but if I did it subconsciously or accidentally, how would I even know?” Twilight shook her head. “I can say with certainty that I have no idea how dream magic works. I’ve never looked up any books about it until all of this began in the first place. So if this is all my own doing, then I’m way smarter than I thought.”

Moondancer nodded. “With that possibility ruled out, then there is only one viable alternative – the dreams aren’t magic.”

“That…” Twilight looked up at the ceiling. “No.”

“Why ‘no’?”

“I can tell, this is something special.”

“Pardon my bluntness, Twilight, but that is hardly reliable evidence to base a conclusion on.”

“I know. But…” Twilight closed her eyes. “Moondancer, you haven’t had dreams like this. I can’t explain it, not in words.”

“I have had exceptionally vivid dreams before.”

“No, not the vividness. Everything about them feels… different.” She grunted. “I know, it sounds weak. But trust me, these aren’t normal dreams.”

“You’re not even going to entertain the possibility?”

“I have already and decided no.”

“I see.” She heard Moondancer take a breath and her chair squeak. “Alright, start over. What do you know within a reliable degree of certainty?”

Twilight lowered her head to look at Moondancer again. “Ever since the start of the school year, I’ve been having dreams about a mare named Sunset Shimmer. Her personality, personal history, and appearance are extremely consistent across multiple dreams.” She furrowed her brow. “I’ve done all I can to rule out the possibility of somepony else at the school being a stand-in for Sunset. Including asking them to meet with me directly. She seems too real a pony to be a figment of my imagination, but if she really exists, I’ve exhausted all possible means of investigating who she could be.”

Moondancer nodded. “That is indeed a conundrum…”

Twilight looked down at her hooves curled under herself. “I admit I can’t entirely dismiss the idea that this is all in my head. Even my feelings that this is something strange and distinct could be influenced by whatever neuroses are causing the dreams too. But I don’t think that’s the answer. I mean, even a crazy pony would recognize they’re going crazy, wouldn’t they?”

“You’re not going crazy, Twilight. You’ve been acting like your normal self living your normal life for months. If these dreams were some symptom of a deeper mental problem, I’d expect it to have an effect on your behavior other than unusual dreams.” Moondancer tilted her head. “Though I’m hardly a psychologist or social expert. Lemon Hearts may have more insight there.”

“I’ll ask her, maybe. What about you?” Twilight lifted her head. “Any ideas?”

Moondancer leaned back in her chair and let her eyes wander. Twilight waited patiently as her friend thought for several seconds.

“Well...if the cause is not magical, nor psychological...perhaps it is something scientific.”

Twilight’s ears perked. “Scientific?”

Moondancer turned her eyes her way. “You recall I told you that my thesis concerns Hoofenberg’s uncertainty principle?”

Twilight blinked. “...Yes. Those are words you have said before.”

“I know. It’s rather difficult to explain without going into detail.” Moondancer held up a hoof. “The point is, it’s part of quantum mechanics. You know what that is, right?”

“A very confusing and complex field of physics?”

“Yes, that is absolutely correct.” Moondancer’s eyes gleamed. “But it’s a fascinating field of study as well. It’s like trying to figure out the rules to a game as you play, but the game is existence itself. And–”

“Pardon me.” Twilight held up a hoof. “What does that have to do with Sunset Shimmer?”

Moondancer composed herself and lightly coughed. “Yes. I was getting to that. One of the cornerstone principles of quantum mechanics is the idea of entanglement: two objects being able to affect each other at great distances, or seeming to affect each other, without any form of apparent connection between them.”

Twilight’s mouth cracked open as she pondered the idea. “How?”

“We don’t know.” Moondancer held up her hooves. “We have ideas on how it is caused, and there’s some experiments on how to induce an entanglement effect that have not been verified or reproduced yet. But even though we don’t know how it happens, we’ve proven that it does happen.”

“Right.” Twilight slowly nodded. “You think maybe somehow, Sunset and I became entangled?”

“That’s impossible.”

Twilight’s ears flattened and she slumped to the bed. “What?”

“Entanglement is only possible on extremely small particles. It has never been observed on merely larger clusters of particles, nevermind a living creature. But even so, entanglement only accounts for correlation between the changes in states of the particles. It’s impossible for any form of information exchange to occur between them. If they were doing so, they would need to send information so fast that we couldn’t detect it, faster than the speed of light.”

“This is making my brain hurt…” Twilight reached a hoof up to rub her forehead. “If entanglement isn’t the explanation, why did you suggest it?”

Moondancer sighed softly. “I didn’t. I brought it up as a matter of discussion, in order to make a point. To that point, while we don’t know how quantum entanglement occurs, or why, we are certain it is real. On the one hoof, this means that one must understand that some things that are true may have an explanation that lies outside the current bounds of our knowledge. And on the other hoof, if one is presented with such a thing, they must not be dissuaded from seeking that explanation.”

Twilight took a breath and lowered her hoof. “So, you’re saying that whatever is happening with me and Sunset, it is real, and it does have an explanation. I just need to try harder to figure it out.”

“Precisely.” Moondancer gave a small smile and a sharp nod.

“That’s not as encouraging as I think you meant it to be.”

Moondancer’s smile faded. ‘Perhaps not. I meant it more in the way of ‘don’t give up’.”

“That’s hard when you’ve exhausted every possible explanation.”

“I find that unlikely.” Moondancer stood from her chair and approached Twilight. “No offense, but you can’t have explored every possible explanation. If you had, you would be closer to an answer by now. There must be some scrap of evidence you’ve overlooked that is the key to getting answers.”

“Maybe…” Twilight sighed and jumped down from the bed. “Thank you for your help. I suppose it can’t hurt to keep the thaumometer near the bed in case it decides to go off.”

“I see no harm in that.” Moondancer looked at the clock on her wall. “If you’re feeling better about things now, I have somewhere to be soon.”

“Oh!” Twilight looked at the clock and gasped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you from something!”

“You haven’t, yet. I intended to leave in three minutes.” Moondancer moved to her closet and swung the door open. She pulled out a wool red and violent scarf and a set of matching socks.

Twilight looked out the window to the trees. With autumn only a few weeks old, they still had most of their leaves and only a few had started to change color. “It’s not that chilly out.”

“It’s not for outside, it’s for the arena.” Moondancer lifted a saddle bag out of the closet and dropped her clothing into it. “I’m going ice skating with Luster Dawn.”

“Ice skating?” Twilight’s eyebrows lifted. “I didn’t know she skated. Or you.”

“We do. We head down to the rink now and then.” Moondancer looked back into the closet and a quartet of white ice skates with rubber guards on the blades floated out to her.

“Oh...good.” Twilight smiled. “Good. Sounds fun.”

Moondancer dropped the skates in her other saddle bag and looked up at Twilight. “Not to be rude, but if we’re done, I’d like to lock up and go.” She moved to her desk and opened a drawer to take out more belongings.

“Yes, of course. On my way out.” Twilight climbed off the bed, picked up the thaumometer in her magic, and walked to the door. Out in the hall she watched Moondancer step out and retrieve a key from her bags. Twilight bit her lip as the key turned and the latch clicked.

Luster and I haven’t really talked outside of class since we made up. At least now I know she has somepony to hang out with besides me. But we could do these sorts of things too. I think. She’s never asked me to go skating, or to do anything really. She furrowed her brow. Have I ever even asked her to do anything outside of school-related things? She thought back.

“Have a good afternoon.”

Moondancer’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and Twilight watched her walk down the hall.

“Could I come?”

“Hm?” Moondancer looked back at her. “I didn’t know you skated.”

Twilight trotted up to her. “I don’t, actually. But maybe they have spares I could use?” She rubbed her neck. “I’d kind of just like to see Luster. We’re still smoothing things over, I think.”

“I see.” Moondancer nodded. “I can’t speak for how she’ll react, but I have no objections.”

“Great! Um, just let me run up to my room and put this back and I’ll see you outside!” Twilight ran down the hall to the stairwells, the thaumometer crystal hovering beside her.

“Grab something warm to wear!” Moondancer called back at her. “And hurry, we have a long way to walk!”

Twilight frowned as she climbed the stairs.

‘A long way’? Where’s the rink?

“This is where you go ice skating?” Twilight tilted her head and stared.

The sign overhead read ‘Canterlot Winter Recreations Arena’. But the fact that it was in front of a large cave entrance into the mountains of Canterlot baffled her.

“Yes.” Moondancer kept walking as Twilight stopped to consider the sign. “The mountain is a naturally colder environment, so it’s easier to keep the ice rinks frozen. And they can tap into Canterlot’s water systems for the ice.”

“Makes sense.” Twilight pulled her deep purple scarf tighter around her neck and followed Moondancer inside.

The cave was distinctly artificial; it narrowed into a straight-angled hallway soon after the entrance, though still wide enough for crowds to move through easily. Shining crystals embedded in the ceiling lit the way as the path began to curve down and to the left, and then turned into a wide staircase. Twilight felt the air growing colder as she descended the steps. She let out a breath and watched the puff of vapor disperse.

The stairs emerged into a brightly lit cavern. Small streams of water ran down inlets in the walls and over growths of colored crystals, creating scenery from the cave’s natural features. A few vending machines and magazine racks lay against one wall, and rows of seats formed two aisles down the room’s length. The back wall had a counter with an attendant reading a newspaper. Passageways branched off with signs next to them; Twilight saw a locker room, a cafeteria, and signs indicating they led to an ice rink with a specific use.

“There she is.” Moondancer pointed a hoof across the room.

Luster sat in a cushioned red chair, peering at a magazine in her lap. A set of faded and worn red skates sat on the floor by her hooves, and she was wearing a thick yellow vest.

Twilight smiled and waved. “Luster!”

Luster raised her head and smiled; Twilight noticed her smile flicker for a moment, but it didn’t fade. “Twilight, Moondancer! Hey.” She set the magazine down on the table in front of her and hopped out of the chair.

“Hello.” Moondancer nodded as the two came closer. “I hope you don’t mind, Twilight wanted to come.”

Luster’s eyebrows raised but she shook her head. “I didn’t expect to see her calling to me, but no, this is fine.” She turned to Twilight. “I didn’t know you skated.”

“I don’t.” Twilight coughed. “I mean, I didn’t, before. But I am going to. Now. Soon. I’m going to try, anyway.” She grinned widely.

“Here”. Moondancer pulled her purse out of her saddle bags and looked through it. “The attendant will loan you a set of skates.” She held four bits out towards Twilight.

“Oh.” Twilight winced. “I didn’t realize the rentals would cost money. Of course they would. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Go, grab some skates. I have to lock up my bags.”

The magic aura shifted shades as Twilight took the offered bits and approached the counter. She heard Luster’s voice behind her.

“You wouldn’t need to rent a locker if you just brought what you needed with you.”

Twilight glanced to the side and watched Luster and Moondancer enter the locker room.

“I like to be prepared. Never know.”

Twilight turned back to the counter ahead of her and stepped closer. A mare with a curled brown mane and pale white coat sat reading a newspaper. Behind her were rows of shelves with skates, pads, helmets, and other equipment in them.

“Excuse me?”

The mare lifted her head, and then smiled and stood up straight. “Hello! What can I help you with?”

“I need a set of skates, please.” Twilight slid the bits Moondancer had given her on the counter.

“Certainly.” The attendant took the offered bits in an aura of light blue magic and stepped down from her chair. “What size shoe are you?”

“Four.”

The attendant gently hummed to herself as she walked to the shelves. She lifted a set of four skates from a shelf and then came back to the counter. She unclipped a small red token with a number on it from one of the skates and then held them out to Twilight. “Bring them back before you leave to receive a fifty percent refund.”

“Thank you.” Twilight gave a polite nod, took the skates in her magic, and turned to head to the locker room. She looked at the skates she had been given: they were dull yellow, one of them had a lace that didn’t match the others, and all four had clearly seen their share of use with cracks and tears in the material. But they were still in one piece, and the blades looked sharp at least. She passed the door to the lockers and followed the short hallway to the left.

“You could have asked me.”

She stopped in place at the sound of the voice. Luster?

“She sprang it on me at the last moment. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“I don’t. Just, could have asked. I thought it would just be the two of us like usual.”

Twilight slumped. Of course. What was I thinking? I pretty much invited myself to something they had planned together. Way to go, Twilight. She slapped a hoof to her face and grunted. I should just go home… no, then they’ll wonder where I went and I’d have to explain it if they asked tomorrow. She took a breath. Make the best of this for them, then.

She put on a small smile and walked around the wall. “Hey, got my skates.”

Rows of lockers and benches stretched before her. A few hooves down, Moondancer put her bags into a locker, removed a key from a hook on the inside of the door, and then shut the door.

Sitting on the bench, Luster looked at Twilight and waved. “We’re just about done here.”

“Good.” Twilight waited as the two picked up their skates and joined her at the door, and then swept a hoof back the way she had come. “Lead on.”

She let herself drift behind the two as they returned to the lobby and moved towards the passageway with a sign marking it for skating. The passage quickly gave way to a set of stairs down. As they descended, Twilight felt the air grow even colder and she re-wrapped her scarf to cover herself better.

The short path at the end of the stairs opened onto a large ice rink. A few dozen ponies, many of them with foals, were already on the ice. The circumference of the rink was surrounded by a barrier with chairs and benches behind them. The walls of the cavern curved overhead, more crystals embedded in it to emit light, as well as non-luminous colored crystals to provide decoration.

Moondancer and Luster stopped by the entrance to the rink and sat down to pull on their skates. Luster lifted her head to look out. “More ponies here than last time.”

“Colder weather is coming closer, time to brush up,” Moondancer replied.

Twilight glanced to the side where there was an opening to the seating area around the rink. “I’m gonna have a seat and work up my courage to give it a try. You two have fun.” She put a hoof on the short step to pull herself up.

“You sure?” Luster asked. “We could help you learn.”

“I’m sure.” Twilight looked back at her and nodded. “Just, having second thoughts, maybe. I’ll come out when I’m ready.”

“Alright.” Moondancer stood up and finished lacing up her skates. “See you out there.” She stepped onto the ice and with a few movements of her hooves had slid away.

Luster moved into the rink as well and turned to Twilight. She smiled and nodded before skating off.

Alone, Twilight set her skates on the floor and sat on the bench, her ears flat and her eyes staring at the floor. “Why did I have to do this?” she groaned and rubbed her face. “I pride myself on being such a good friend to Luster, and then we have one argument and I’m totally fumbling about how to get on her good side again.”

She lifted her head and propped her chin on a hoof. She saw Moondancer and Luster circling the far side of the rink, side by side. Moondancer was saying something, and after a moment Luster smiled and laughed.

I had no business butting in. Twilight turned away from them to watch some mare who was showing her foal how to stay balanced on their skates. I’ve no idea how to skate, I’ve never had any sense of balance. And this is their time together. She looked at her skates in front of the bench. I should at least pretend I’m trying to learn. But they’d see me and try to help. She leaned back and raised her eyes to the rink.

“Maybe I’m just overthinking this… I mean, if Moondancer didn’t want me to come, she’d just say so, right? But then Luster…” Twilight glanced at the hallway and thought back to when she had entered the locker room. “Luster would be too nice to say otherwise. Especially with us just having made up. But I can’t just ask her if I should go now.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m never going to get the hang of this.”

She heard a small thump in front of her.

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes and saw Luster looking at her from the other side of the barricade. A moment later Moondancer slid up next to her.

Twilight smiled. “Hey. What’s up?”

Luster and Moondancer shared a look before Moondancer spoke. “We wanted to know what you’re moping about.”

“What?” Twilight forced a laugh and waved a hoof. “I’m not moping about anything.”

“You’re staring at the ground and into space talking to yourself.” Luster shrugged. “That’s usually how it looks.”

She slumped. “You saw that, huh?”

“And I also heard you grunt when you came into the lockers, so I figured that meant you heard me.”

She slumped further. “I’m not good at hiding this stuff, I guess.”

“You’re not, no.” Moondancer said calmly. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight sat up again. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding on you two. I just thought, Luster and I don’t do much together outside of school, and with us over the argument, maybe we should. But I didn’t realize when I asked to come that this was something you two do, and I was stepping over it.”

Luster gently scoffed. “Do you know why I was confused over you being here? Because Moondancer had mentioned that none of you girls skate. That’s why she always came here alone.”

Moondancer nodded. “Luster is the better skater between us, so I asked if she could help you learn. She’s never tried to teach another pony how to skate, before.”

“So… you two thought I was expecting lessons or something,” Twilight said. “That’s all.”

The two mares on the ice nodded. Twilight breathed deeply. “Well, that confirms it. I was overthinking.”

“If you want to go, that’s fine,” Moondancer said.

“Or,” Luster quickly added, “if you want to stay and have me show you some stuff, that’s fine, too. I don’t mind. Really.”

Twilight looked at her skates again. “...Alright. But don’t be surprised when I blow it.” The laces knotting the set together glowed pink and untied, and she began pulling one on.

“I won’t be. Took me a long time to get good at it, too,” Luster said gently.

Twilight laced up her first skate and wiggled her hoof to make sure it was secure. “Sorry I made our first outing together a downer.”

“Don’t be, that makes it even more of a downer.”

Twilight caught a bit of humor in Luster’s voice and smiled.

Luster continued, “you told me that we’ll be back to normal as friends when we start acting normal around each other again and don’t apologize to each other constantly. How about we expand that definition to include not sitting alone and angsting over how we treat each other?”

“Good idea.” Twilight chuckled. “And we are back to normal. This is nothing, it’s just me.”

“I hope so.” Moondancer said firmly. “I’m not going to mediate you two or try to get between you if you argue again. Please don’t put me in that position.”

Twilight stilled in the process of tying the laces of her next skate. “What?” She looked up.

“She’s exaggerating.” Luster rolled her eyes and gave a small glare at her other friend. “We came here during that time we weren’t talking and I may have vented about it. Nothing bad, honest.” She looked back at Twilight and shook her head as she spoke. “Just, you know, I needed to get stuff off my chest.”

“I believe you. I understand, I’ve been there.” Twilight went back to her skates.

Moondancer nodded. “I just meant that I’d prefer not to have to pick and choose sides if my friends aren’t getting along. I’m here to listen and help if you want it, but I’m not going to be torn between loyalties.”

“And we’ll never make you feel that way,” Luster vowed. “I appreciate that you were willing to listen.”

“She never said a word to me.” Twilight pulled on her last skate as she spoke and got to her hooves, wobbling a bit as she tied the laces. “I didn’t know you two were still talking, or that you two did this together. But I’m glad you had somepony else if you weren’t talking to me.”

“She did. I’m always there for friends.” Moondancer adjusted her glasses. “Now, step onto the ice. Carefully.”

Twilight turned and carefully stepped towards the entrance to the rink. She moved one hoof at a time, slowly at first and then a little faster as she got more confident in her balance. When she reached the edge where the ice began she stopped and looked out.

“Don’t laugh if I fall on my flank.”

“Oh, we will. Hard.” Luster smirked. As she spoke, though, she moved closer to Twilight and held up a hoof. “Come on, once you've got a comfortable balance, it’s easy to get moving.”

Twilight took her offered hoof and stepped onto the ice. “By the way, what she said goes for me too, you know.”

“Hm?”

Twilight looked Luster in the eye. “If you need to talk to me about anything – even about something I did – you can. I’d like to be the kind of friend you can be open about things with. And if you want somepony to hang out with and talk to and get help, you can ask me about that any time, too.”

Luster slowly smiled. “Thank you, Twilight. I knew all of that already. But I still appreciate you saying it.” She slid back and let Twilight’s hoof drop to the ice. “Okay, once you’re steady, say so and we’ll start moving. We’ll aim for one lap around the rink without you falling, okay?”

Twilight yawned and lifted her head, and saw a blank white void outside the windows of the Royal Archives. She blinked and stood up straight at the table.

Again, so soon? “Sunset!”

“Twilight?”

She turned her head and looked up at the balcony overlooking the study area. She heard Sunset’s hooves running before the familiar orange unicorn poked her head over the side.

“Where were you?” Twilight asked, running towards the stairs.

“What?” Sunset turned when Twilight reached the top of the stairs and faced her.

“Why didn’t you meet me?” Twilight stamped a hoof and glared. “I felt like an idiot!”

Sunset gaped. “I was there! I waited until the first bell rang!”

“The tree by the dorms?”

“Yes!”

“No!” Twilight furiously shook her head. “I was waiting there too, and you didn’t show up! Don’t lie to me!”

“Why would I lie?” Sunset stepped closer to her and glared. “Don’t pin this on me!”

“I will, because you weren’t there!” Twilight snapped. She stared at Sunset and felt her expression soften. “I thought we could finally meet for real. I want to meet you, talk to you, find out more about you! But not in dreams anymore!” Twilight swallowed. “Don’t you want to meet me, too?”

Sunset looked confused. “Sure, I guess.”

“What do you mean ‘sure’?” Twilight gaped. “I think of you as a friend, and right now a friend is avoiding me! Don’t you care about that? About finding out what’s happening with us?”

“Of course I care! How can I not?” Sunset took a few steps away, looking around the shelves. “You think I like having dreams about some crazy mare who thinks I don’t exist or something? I don’t, but it’s gonna keep happening and now she’s asking me questions about my ‘real life’ or something, and that kind of freaks me out. So yeah, let’s figure this out and stop it, hm?”

“....What? None of that makes any sense!” Twilight stomped away towards the shelves, then turned back and thrust a hoof towards Sunset. “All I know is that one of us knows what’s going on here, and it isn’t me, so that leaves one option!”

“Good luck with that, because I don’t know either!” Sunset threw her hooves up and sat on the floor. “I’ve told my friends about this and they have no idea what I’m talking about. Heck, after you asked me to meet, I even talked to the Princess about this. Spoiler alert – she doesn’t have any ideas, either.”

Twilight jerked. “You talked to the Princess?”

“That’s what I said,” Sunset held up her hooves. “What else was I supposed to do?”

“That…” Twilight looked around the shelves, her eyes darting around. “She has to know...unless she knows it’s about me and was trying to...but then she would have said so, wouldn’t she?” She groaned and began pacing. “I’m confused.”

“Yeah, you and me both.” She heard Sunset huff. “Clearly something strange is going on and neither of us understands it, so what do you want from me? I’ve asked my friends, I’ve looked at books on the subject, and then I asked the Princess. So what do we do now? There’s nopony in Equestria who knows more about dream magic than Princess Luna, so if she doesn’t know, who would?”

“I don’t know! I’m missing something, but I can’t figure–” Twilight stopped in place. She snapped her head to the side and stared at Sunset. “What did you say?”

Sunset glanced at her. “What?”

Twilight rushed towards her. “Repeat what you just said!”

Sunset backed up, looking at her cautiously. “I said nopony in Equestria knows more about dream magic than the Princess, so if she–”

“No!” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Word for word, repeat what–”

As she spoke, she instinctively reached out to shake Sunset by the shoulders. As her hooves touched Sunset’s fur, a jolt of energy pulsed through them and the two screamed.

Twilight thrashed, felt herself fall, and hit the floor with a hard thud. She writhed under her sheet until she was freed, laying on her back on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. Her chest heaved and she felt her fur sticking to her body with sweat.

“Twilight?” She heard Twinkleshine’s voice come from the darkness, sleepy and confused. “You okay?”

Twilight nodded, then registered Twinkleshine may not be able to see her. “I’m fine.” She tried to stand but her body refused to move; she felt exhausted. “Just…Sunset…”

“Sunset? What’d she do?”

“She said she asked... Princess Luna for advice.”

She heard Twinkleshine murmur and scratch herself. “Who the hay is that?”

“...I don’t know…”

Chapter 13

Twilight scanned the index of the book in front of her and saw what she was looking for. “Princess, page 212…” She began flipping to the page.

“Uh, Twilight?

She paused and raised her head at Minuette’s voice. Her friend gestured to the table in front of her. “You wanna eat before it gets cold?”

Twilight looked down; Minuette had brought lunch for everypony today, a mash-up of various kinds of pasta noodles and cheeses with sauce, portioned out from a large plastic container in the center of the room. “Right. Sorry.” Twilight lifted the fork she had left stuck in the noodles and popped it in her mouth.

A bit heavy on the cheese, but well-seasoned. She chewed and resumed reading.

“What are you looking for, anyway?” Lemon asked. She peered at the cover of the book. “I haven’t looked at a copy of Tales of Olde since I was in elementary school.”

“I know.” Twilight absent-mindedly nodded. “I wanted something more simple and basic that I could look at over lunch. I’ve looked at books that go in-depth on the Tribal Era and they didn’t have anything. I thought something more general might have a lead.”

“The Tribal Era?” Moondancer leaned closer. “What would you be researching in regards to that?”

“Princess Luna.”

“Luna?” Lemon asked. “Who’s that?”

“Twilight’s dream girl mentioned her.”

“Yes, she said–” Twilight paused to register Twinkleshine’s remark and then gave her a small pout.

Twinkleshine smirked in response before continuing. “Sunset mentioned the name ‘Luna’. She thinks it could be a lead.”

“Not just Luna, Princess Luna,” Twilight said. “You don’t casually mistake the name of a Princess, and Sunset…the way she said it…” she shook her head. “She wasn’t making the name up.”

“So?” Twinkleshine shrugged. “If there was another princess out there, I’m pretty sure we would have heard about it by now.”

“Exactly.” Twilight speared a cluster of pasta noodles on her fork. “I don’t think she exists anymore. But I’ve heard of her before. Not by name, maybe. But I know I’ve heard somewhere that there were two princesses in ancient times. I just can’t remember where.”

Moondancer murmured. “There are a few accounts of two princesses in ancient legends and myths. But they’re exactly that – legends and myths. Historical records from the Tribal Era are extremely scarce to begin. And when you take into account translation errors from Old Ponish, authorial liberties with the material, how much of it was second-hoof recordings of events that happened years if not decades earlier…”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I know. But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

“Honestly, I would say no.” Moondancer gave a small huff. “Some of those old stories talk about four princesses, or five, or even six. Not to mention it’s vague when they’re conflating accounts of alicorns with princesses, even though there are numerous princesses from those times that weren’t alicorns. History like that is too unreliable. Legend, speculation, and fact are all rolled together until you can’t tell them apart.” She gave a deeper huff and a groan. “It’s why I’ve said that having an Ancient History class at this school is misleading. A more apt name would be ‘Ancient Theorycrafting’.”

Minuette waved a hoof. “We know, Moony; if you can’t easily index it, you don’t like it.”

Moondancer adjusted her glasses and sniffed. “I’m hardly so pedantic.”

Minuette looked at the large plastic container of pasta in the center of the table. “There’s extra if anypony wants some. I guess Luster isn’t coming today.”

Twinkleshine shook her head. “She has some studying to do, so she went to the library.”

“Okay, good.” Minuette gave a short nod and a small smile. “I like having her back at these lunches. Things feel back to normal again.”

Twilight paused in her reading and raised her head. “That’s because they are back to normal. It’s settled, we told you girls that.”

“I know.” Minuette gave a small shrug and smiled again. “I just mean it’s nice. I tried to talk her into coming here, or to visit her between classes. I don’t like when my friends aren’t getting along.”

She spoke to Luster on her own? She never mentioned that. Luster didn’t either. Twilight stored the thought in the back of her mind for later. “Well, we are getting along. She’s just not here.” She closed the book and sighed. “And the answers I’m looking for aren’t here either.” She lifted the book and put it away in her bag on the floor, the magic aura around it flickering and fading to drop it in.

“You take Ancient History, right?” Lemon asked. “Maybe you can ask Professor Byblos after lunch?”

“I spoke to him already, he just said what I have: there’s a few scarce accounts of two princesses, but nothing concrete.” Twilight looked at her pasta and lifted her fork. “I thought a less professional-level book might be more open to including less substantiated claims, but it seems not.”

“Well, there is another option,” Twinkleshine began. “You could ask Princess Celestia directly. She’s immortal...ish. Isn’t she?”

“Yes, ‘ish’.” Twilight smiled softly. “I planned exactly that, actually. I’d have gone to ask her now, if I could. I made an appointment to see her after classes.”

“Why couldn’t you see her now?” Lemon asked. “Busy?”

“No. She’s not here.”

When Twilight was a filly, her mother had entered some sort of writing contest. The prize was to have her work showcased in the magazine she had written for, and four tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Between her young age and her general distaste for luxury and pomp, Twilight hadn’t had much interest in attending. But her brother was going, so if she stayed home she would have been left with a babysitter who insisted on treating her like she was a mere infant. She had opted to spend the evening with her family.

Had she been a bit older and able to understand that it was a rare opportunity for non-members of the nobility to attend an event held at Canterlot Castle, she may have appreciated the occasion more.

“Wait here, please.” The unicorn guard nodded at her, and then turned and marched down the corridor and around a corner. Twilight looked from side to side and saw a bench she presumed was for visitors, walked over, and sat down. She took a moment to breathe and calm herself. As she lifted her head to look around, her efforts failed.

Canterlot Castle was a marvel to behold, Equestria’s oldest and most impressive feat of architecture. Even though she was a young adult now, the walls still towered over Twilight as they had more than a decade ago. Everywhere she looked there was gleaming pristine white and gold; the walls, the ceilings, support columns, windows, picture frames, wall sconces. The only decoration not in those colors was the carpet, a rich crimson that ran most of the width of the hall. She wasn’t sure which fixtures were actually gold or some other metal, or what kind of stone the structure was made from, but it was an impressive sight regardless.

The castle wasn’t loud, but there was a gentle bustle about things. Ponies that were clearly of noble families walked past, noses pointed in the air and family crests embroidered on cloaks and scarves and other articles of clothing. A few pegasi in guard armor flew overhead and down the corridor to the exit. She also caught sight of a cart further down the hall and a unicorn wiping down a picture frame.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight yelped. In her examination of the castle, Celestia had practically snuck up on her and was a few hooves away from the bench and coming closer. Twilight stood up and bowed her head. “Princess. Sorry, I didn’t see you coming.”

“There’s no need for apologies, Twilight.” Celestia stopped in front of her, chuckling and gently shaking her head. “How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you.” Twilight lifted her head. “I’m sorry to bother you on your day off. Or, not. I mean, I’m sure you’re still very busy here.” She forced a smile.

“Yes, I devote as much time as I can to the school, but Equestria cannot run itself.” Celestia leaned closer. “And if you knew the nobility like I do, you’d be grateful for that.” She winked and gave a small smirk. Twilight felt her tension loosen and her smile turned genuine.

A small grunt made the two turn their heads to a noble couple, a white stallion and a pink unicorn mare. The stallion sputtered and avoided eye contact. “Apologies, Princess, I did not want to interrupt, but I was just wondering if, perhaps we could…” he gestured a hoof forward. “Go around you?”

“Oh, certainly.” Celestia stepped aside and politely nodded as the two passed by her, mumbling apologies and gratitude. While they continued on, Celestia looked down at Twilight. “Perhaps we should walk and talk, rather than stand in the hall?”

“Of course. Lead...on.” Twilight nodded. Celestia turned and began moving, and Twilight trotted next to her, falling into step. Celestia turned a corner and Twilight followed her. She glanced up at the Princess for a moment, long enough to tell she was looking ahead, and then turned her eyes the same way. The passages in the castle all looked the same to Twilight, but she could tell that Celestia knew where they were going.

Already a stroll in the castle felt different than a meeting with her at her office in the SGU. Paradoxically, it felt less formal. At the SGU the Princess was the absolute authority that Twilight reported to about her friends and her classes. Here, she was walking and talking to Celestia like she would her friends. Without a desk to separate them, it felt more personal. She felt the tension on her body loosen and her steps became less stiff.

“What did you need to speak to me about?” Celestia asked softly.

“Um...yes.” Twilight coughed into a hoof and frowned. “I wanted to ask something. And this may be very strange, perhaps even personal or private, but I’m just taking a shot in the dark.”

“I’m listening.”

“Okay…” Twilight took a breath. “Do you know somepony named ‘Princess Luna’?”

Celestia froze in mid-step, her hoof still in the air.

Twilight stopped and turned to her. She felt a chill run down her spine and pushed past it. “You do.”

“Yes.” Celestia closed her eyes and quickly shook her head. “Forgive me, Twilight. That is a name I’ve not heard in a very long time, especially from other ponies.”

Twilight nodded. “May I ask who she was?”

Celestia looked at her evenly, then lifted her head and stared off into space. Twilight waited patiently, trying to decipher what she was thinking, but had no success. After several seconds, Celestia turned around and began walking back the way they had come.

“Come with me.”

Twilight waited a moment to see if Celestia would say anything more, then trotted after her.

The double doors at the end of the hall pulled open and the guards bowed their heads as Celestia and Twilight passed them. Celestia paused and looked back at one of them. “Please close the doors. Inform anypony looking for me that I am currently occupied and will be with them shortly.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Celestia stepped forward and the doors creaked shut, a thud echoing when they had fully closed.

Twilight slowly turned her head, her eyes taking in the room before them.

At a glance, it was not entirely dissimilar from the other areas in the castle they had seen coming here. It was a large assembly hall with pillars lining a wide carpeted walkway toward a raised platform at the other end. Natural sunlight lit the room, streaming in from massive stained glass windows on the sides. What caught one’s attention was not the layout or the architecture, but the decoration.

Instead of the white and gold of the rest of the castle, contrasting swirls of soft pink and pale blue wove around the pillars. Similar stripes interlaced on the edge of the carpet underhoof, running over tiles of repeating black and white. Starbursts of dark blue and purple and deep yellow and pink blanketed the ceiling and reminded Twilight of the onset of dusk or dawn.

“What is this place?”

“The Hall of the Two Sisters.” Celestia walked past her and to the side of the room.

Twilight quickly moved to keep pace and looked up at her. “Hall of the Two Sisters?”

“Luna is – was – my little sister.”

Celestia stopped and lifted her head. Twilight looked up with her and gasped.

Before them was one of the numerous stained glass windows in the hall. The pieces of colored glass created a scene of a grassy hill with numerous ponies running in a circle. Above them, rays of light streamed down from an emblem that was half shining sun, half radiant moon. Two stylized alicorns circled it on either side, one pink with a pale pink mane, the other blue with a deep blue mane.

“In the earliest years of Equestrian history, Luna and I ruled the land together. In those times, when our kingdom was smaller and Canterlot had not yet grown into a town, this hall was where we sat our thrones and saw ponies who visited us.”

Twilight looked back and forth over the image of the blue alicorn represented in the window. “...So...all of those old stories about two alicorns…”

“Are truthful.” Celestia let out a long breath and stepped closer to the window, her eyes trained on it. “I regret that they are merely stories. My memory of those times has begun to fade, it was so long ago. I could not fill in all the gaps in history even if I wanted to.”

“Long ago?” Twilight turned her attention to the princess. “How long?”

Celestia gave a wistful smile up at the window. “Almost a thousand years, now.”

“Whoa.”

Celestia’s smile faded and she looked down at Twilight. Twilight looked back with wide eyes. “I mean! Just, you hear about Cele–er, you, being immortal, and you think ‘wow, that’s a really long time’, but how long exactly. And everyone asks ‘is she actually immortal or just really old?’ Not that you’re old, I meant...”

Celestia raised a hoof and Twilight stopped. She took a breath and swallowed. “I’m sorry. It’s a lot to take in.”

“I know.” Celestia looked back at the window. “I wish we had kept better records of those days, rather than my half-forgotten anecdotes. There is much wonderful history that has been lost to time.” She swept her hoof to the side and began walking along the windows.

Twilight followed her. Each alcove had a different window in it, and she took in each one with renewed awe. A blue alicorn – Luna – gliding through the night sky, streams of magic flowing from her horn onto sleeping ponies below; Celestia wreathed in flame and rising over a great red dragon; the sisters standing before a trio of ponies, one of each race, with their heads bowed.

“Each window here commemorates an event in Equestria’s founding. Luna and I brought the three quarreling leaders of the tribes together and convinced them to set aside their differences for peace. They had more in common to cherish together than differences that were deserving of hate. But, when the time came to draft the formal treaty that declared them one kingdom, the question was asked who would lead that kingdom. And – quite to our shock, considering their history of strife – they unanimously agreed that it should be the two ponies who belonged to neither tribe, yet embodied the goodness and magic within them all.”

“Alicorns.” Twilight stepped up to the window with the three ponies kneeling before the sisters. “They named you and Luna their rulers.”

“Yes. When our castle was completed, we held our coronation ceremony in this room. I was crowned Princess of the Sun, and Luna was the Princess of the Moon.”

Celestia smiled softly. “Luna’s cutie mark symbolized her connection to the moon. As alicorns, our powers already surpassed normal ponies, but when the moon rose, her magical prowess was enhanced to outstrip even mine. We shared duties between day and night. I attended to the affairs of the kingdom in the day, while Luna spent her nights cleansing nightmares from sleeping foals and hunting monsters on the outskirts of Equestria. She was as brash as she was fearless.”

Twilight lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

She turned her head and saw Celestia giving her a quizzical look.

“When I asked about Luna, I didn’t think that maybe…” Twilight stepped towards Celestia as she spoke and paused when she was in front of her. “You keep talking about her in the past tense. So...”

Celestia’s face darkened. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight repeated.

“Do not be, Twilight. You could not have known.” Celestia put a hoof on her neck and guided her to walk alongside her again. The two stepped back onto the carpet running down the middle of the room. “As I said, it has been a long time since anypony has spoken Luna’s name. I regret that so many records of her have been lost to time, but my limited knowledge cannot fill in the holes in history. And the things I could share are things I would rather not. She was a Princess to all, but she was a sister to me. I keep my memories of her where they belong and are most needed – my heart.”

“And then I came prying…”

“No.” Celestia shook her head. “You asked an innocent question. And I have not minded giving you an answer. I think sometimes that I’ve made a mistake, shutting this room from the public. I always enjoy showing it to others, on the rare occasion there is cause for it. I loved Luna as dearly as anypony has ever loved their sister. It is one thing to write of her for a textbook, but to speak of her in conversation, that is a rare opportunity. One that I cherish.”

Celestia lifted a hoof to the dias at the end of the room. Twilight stepped towards it and looked up.

A small flight of stairs ascended to the dias. On one side was a pedestal holding a life-sized statue of an alicorn, carved from a dark stone. Deep green eyes seemed to be looking down at Twilight. Her mane and tail were nebulas of stars swirling in the air behind her, made of fine glass that gave off a gentle glow in the light.

“What happened to her?” Twilight asked softly.

“...She died.” Twilight heard Celestia breathe deeply. “There was an…attack. Luna and I had no choice but to fight the creature ourselves, to defend our ponies. I did not see what happened. I only know that when the beast was felled and I looked for my sister...I found her, but it was too late to save her.”

Twilight approached the dias and carefully put a hoof on the edge. “You’ve lived alone for a thousand years?”

“Yes.” Hoofsteps let her know Celestia had stepped closer to her. “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. Each one is a day apart that we could have been together, and I regret each one more than the last. But...”

Twilight noticed Celestia’s voice grow quiet and turned her head. The alicorn stared up at the statue of Luna, her eyes clouded. Twilight turned fully around and waited a moment, but Celestia remained silent.

It’s like she forgot I’m even here. “Princess?”

Celestia blinked and when she opened them again she was looking at Twilight. “Forgive me, Twilight. I was merely thinking.”

“Why did you bring me here? Why tell me all this?”

Celestia raised her head again and inhaled deeply. “I admit, I am not entirely sure…” She looked back at Twilight. A new expression came over her, one that Twilight couldn’t decipher. “I...I wanted you to know.” Celestia gave a short nod. “Your dreams have given you so many riddles and mysteries to untangle. I am grateful that I could be of help with at least one.”

Twilight recalled her manners and bowed her head. “Thank you. I know it goes without saying this is something personal and important to you. I appreciate you sharing it.”

“Of course, Twilight.” Her expression hardened only slightly. “Although, if you don’t mind, I would ask you not to tell others about this. As you said, this is personal to me, and I don’t think the history scholars out there would appreciate me upending their research.”

“Certainly. My muzzle is sealed.” Twilight nodded and pantomimed pulling a zipper across her mouth.

Celestia turned around and gently gestured her head forward. “I still have some spare time before my next meeting. Would you care for something to eat? I could at least see you to a waiting area.” The two began walking back towards the doors of the room.

“I’d like to, but I actually have some studying to do tonight.” Twilight looked sheepish as she rubbed her neck. “I’ve been spacing out during some of my classes and a friend is letting me copy her notes.’

“Not paying attention in classes?” Celestia hummed. “I do hope that doesn’t affect your grades. I would deeply hate to have to give you a B.”

“No!” Twilight shrieked, her eyes bulging. “No, no, I’m catching up!” She stopped when she heard Celestia’s laughter. “Oh. You were joking.”

“Twilight Sparkle, your passion for knowledge has amazed me more and more with each passing year, and that holds true now as before.” Celestia smiled wide at her. “I daresay you could skip classes entirely save to complete tests and turn in assignments, and still likely graduate at the top of your year...though, do not take that as permission to try.” She punctuated the comment with a chuckle.

Twilight blushed under the praise. “I won’t. Thank you, Princess.”

The two reached the doors and Celestia rapped lightly. When they swung open, she looked at one of the guards, an orange pegasus. “Would you please show Twilight to the front doors?”

“Of course, Princess.” The guard bowed his head and then turned his attention to Twilight. “This way.”

“Have a good evening, Twilight.” Celestia gestured a hoof towards her in a small wave.

“You too, Princess. I will. ” Twilight waved back and then looked ahead to follow her guide.

With her guide calmly leading her forward at a steady pace, Twilight was left with her thoughts. Princess Luna. Amazing. An old pony’s tale about two alicorns is really true. I wish I could learn more about her. But, no. Celestia said those memories are personal. I can’t pry in the Princess’ affairs. Nevermind the fact it’s the Princess, it would be rude for anypony.

She absent-mindedly pulled to the side to allow a servant with a cart of cleaning supplies to pass her. I’m certain I had never heard the name ‘Luna’ before. As if I needed further proof Sunset really exists. But where did she hear the name? That could be a clue. If I could find out where Sunset heard about Luna from, maybe if she read it in a textbook, I could see who borrowed it last.

As she descended a curving set of stairs, Twilight frowned. Sunset said she had asked Princess Luna for help. She’s spoken to her. But that’s impossible if Princess Luna died a thousand years ago. What could she have meant? She took a breath. Okay. Examine this calmly and logically. Sunset claims to be in contact with Luna. If I presume this is true, how could this be possible? Time travel? That far back, unlikely. Spiritualism? Not implausible but also unlikely. And neither of these explains how Sunset knew about Luna in the first place.

I’m missing something. There was the way she said it too, ‘the Princess’. As though I would refer to Celestia. It was so casual. Why? Twilight grunted. “This is too confusing.”

“Something wrong, miss?” The guard in front of her slowed his pace and turned his head.

“Erm, no, it’s nothing.” She waved him off without glancing at him. Perhaps there really is some sort of distortion of perception in the dream after all?

“Whoa!”

Twilight jerked and stopped as the guard descended in front of her and stumbled forward. He looked himself over and reached up to adjust his helmet. When he noticed her watching him he awkwardly coughed and faced forward. “Apologies, miss. Let’s continue.” He folded his wings and walked forward.

Twilight walked a bit faster until she was beside him. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, thank you.” the guard frowned and she saw his wings flex. “I became momentarily disoriented while in flight. I’ll keep my hooves on the ground for the time being.”

She nodded and murmured. After a moment or two she turned back to him. “While we’re walking together – er, what’s your name?”

“Flash Sentry, miss.” The guard turned his eyes her way and gave a polite smile and nod.

“Okay, Flash, hello. Since we’re walking together for now, a hypothetical scenario.” Twilight took a breath. “Say that you were having very odd, very unusual dreams, but for some reason you were convinced they had a deeper meaning behind them. Except that the things happening in the dreams make no sense. What would you do?”

Flash’s eyebrows lifted. “That’s a very specific and yet very general ‘hypothetical scenario’.” He rocked his head and thought. “For help on something with your dreams, I can’t say. Sorry, but I don’t know you well enough at all to offer any thoughts.”

“...That’s fair.” The two rounded another corner. Twilight recognized the main entrance hall before them, a grand staircase stretching up the wall and splitting in either direction. Flash led her down the steps, past some nobles coming up the other side, and across the floor to the doors. “Here you are.”

“Thank you.” Twilight stopped at the doors and glanced at him. “And, sorry for my weird question. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” She gave a forced chuckle.

“I figured.” Flash gave a more genuine smile this time. “And, if you’re still thinking about that ‘hypothetical scenario’ with your dreams? Try asking a friend for help.”

“That’s what I was here for, actually.” Twilight waved at Flash and then trotted out the doors.

Her hoof touched the second step from the bottom when she stopped, and her eyes went wide.

Ponies coming and going from the castle continued on their business around her. A few muttered under their breath as they were forced to go around her. Twilight didn’t notice any of them. Her body was still, but her mind was racing a mile a second.

She mentally replayed her actions since seeing Celestia, trying to recall every word they had exchanged. She had nowhere near that level of recollection, but she remembered enough to be coldly certain of something.

Her hooves shook under her and her breath caught in her throat.

“Your dreams have given you so many riddles and mysteries to untangle. I am grateful that I could be of help with at least one.”

Twilight slowly turned her head to look back at the castle, the sun gleaming behind its spires and making them cast shadows over her.

I never told her where I heard Luna’s name.

Chapter 14

Lemon Hearts chewed, swallowed, and lifted her eyebrows. “...It tastes like chocolate ice cream.”

At the counter in their dorm room, Minuette grinned and clapped her hooves eagerly. “Perfect! Like, exactly like chocolate ice cream, or a bit off?”

Lemon looked at the fork floating in front of her, flecks of deep brown icing and cake still stuck to the tongs, and ran her tongue over it. She smacked her lips and shrugged. “It’s a little too sweet. And it doesn’t taste cold, but it isn’t warm. If that makes sense.” She looked at the slice of cake on the table in front of her. “It isn’t bad, though.” She cut another bit off with her fork and popped it in her mouth.

“Twilight?” Minuette swiveled her head to the other side of the table.

Sitting hunched over, her hooves together under her chin and eyes staring intently at the slice of cake she had been served, Twilight didn’t respond.

Lemon frowned and set her fork down. “Either she’s trying to make her cake explode with her mind, or something is bothering her.”

“I’m guessing the latter.” Minuette stepped up to the table and gently tapped on Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight jerked and looked at her. “What?”

“What’s up?” Minuette tilted her head. “You’ve been acting weird through classes all day and now you’re sitting in silence staring at cake.”

Twilight opened her mouth, paused, and then closed it. She glanced around the room and spoke in a whisper. “Maybe I shouldn’t say anything here…”

Lemon and Minuette shared a confused look. “Our dorm?” Lemon asked.

Twilight shuffled in her seat. “It’s…here.” She pushed her chair back and crawled under the table. “Down here.”

Lemon and Minuette hunched down and poked their heads through the table legs. “This would be funny if it wasn’t concerning,” Lemon said, her eyes narrow. “What’s going on?”

“I think Celestia is spying on me,” Twilight whispered.

Minuette turned her eyes side to side. “Aaand why is that?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight groaned. “I told her about Luna, and she knew I had heard about her from my dreams. But I never told her where I heard the name from! She just knew. I went over the conversation again and again, but…” Twilight took a breath and exhaled, her chin quivering. “She knew.”

“That’s silly! You’re being silly! Stop being silly, Twi!” Minuette stood up and out of her view. “Get out from under there, you’ve got cake waiting.”

Lemon turned her head. “Minuette, not being helpful.”

“Cake helps everything!”

Twilight saw Lemon give a small frown and pull her head back so she could stand up. She heard hushed whispers and tilted an ear up to listen.

“This is not the same thing!”

“It’s pretty close. Come on, you’re better than this.”

“Girls?” Twilight spoke loudly and heard Minuette’s voice cut as she began to say something. “I’m still here.”

Lemon crouched down and her face came back into view. “We know. Now, what is this about Celestia spying? It can’t just be something with Luna.”

“No, it isn’t. Remember my library books? She was keeping track of what I read and shut down my thesis project before I’d even really begun it. She assigned me to get to know Luster, and we talk all the time about her and my schoolwork and my dreams. And now, she knew I heard about Luna from Sunset without me telling her.”

Twilight shook her head and closed her eyes. “This doesn’t make sense. What did I do? I must have done something. The most powerful pony in Equestria doesn’t just arbitrarily decide to put observation on one of her students. So why?”

“I don’t know. You’re right, that’s not nothing. But...” Lemon rocked her head. “Maybe huddling under a table, afraid she’s listening to us, isn’t helping. How about you come out, hm?”

Twilight felt her cheeks heat and nodded, and stepped back so she could stand up. She looked around the room and sucked in a breath. “It’s still…”

Lemon walked around the table as she spoke. “If Celestia wanted to spy on you, I’m sure she has such ways that hiding won’t do much good anyway.” She stopped in front of Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Besides, this is our dorm room. I doubt that she’d want to put observation on all of your friends just to spy on you.”

“..Point taken. You’re right.” Twilight gave a short nod. “But, it’s still unnerving. Why would Celestia spy on any of us at all?”

Minuette leaned against the counter and let her eyes drift to the ceiling. “Hmm...I’ve never wanted to spy on anypony before, so I don’t have much to think about there.”

Lemon shook her head and lowered her hoof. “There could be a number of reasons, plenty of which aren’t anything sinister. She could be worried about you over something, or looking out for you.”

“But then why wouldn’t she tell me?”

“Again, there’s many plausible reasons. It could be over something you don’t know about, or shouldn’t know about. Maybe she doesn’t want to worry you.”

Minuette shrugged. “Why not just ask her?”

Twilight turned her head. “I should just walk up to the princess and tell her I think she’s spying on me and I want to know why?”

“Well when you put it like that…

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t,” Lemon said. She circled back around the table and sat down. “You can’t confront Celestia about this. Aside from potential consequences if you’re right, imagine what could happen if you’re wrong.” She quickly held up a hoof as Twilight opened her mouth. “Not that I think you’re wrong – I don’t – but consider the possibility, at least.”

Twilight closed her mouth and nodded.

Lemon continued. “So, let’s focus on what you can do. You can stew in paranoia and suspicion without solid proof. Or you can calmly and rationally try to figure out what she may be observing you for, because that’s the best means to find out why she’s doing it.”

Twilight mulled over the words, pursed her lip, and nodded. “Yes, that sounds reasonable. But how do I do that?”

“The same way you do everything – research. You said Celestia has been observing you for other things, see if there’s a connection between them.”

“And possibly Luster. She did ask me to become friends with her.” Twilight murmured under her breath. “But I don’t think that’s it. I trust Luster fully. I already looked into her being connected and she isn’t.”

“Good.” Minuette feigned wiping her brow. “I’m not gonna go through that again. Last time she–”

“Minnie,” Lemon said sternly. Minuette looked her way; Lemon raised her eyebrows and set her mouth in a firm line. Minuette rolled her eyes and turned to examine her cake.

Twilight watched them, trying to decipher the silent conversation the two had just exchanged. When Lemon turned her head back her way, Twilight lightly coughed into her hoof. “The point is, maybe Luster is involved, but probably not.”

Lemon nodded. “That leaves trans-dimensional research, and dreams about Sunset. What’s the connection?”

Twilight held up her hooves. “I have no idea.”

Twilight gently pulled the door to Minuette and Lemon’s door room shut and inhaled. Darn, but that mare can bake a cake like nopony’s business. She smiled at the plastic container floating next to her that had three slices in it – one for her, two for Twinkleshine – and started down the hall. A friendly ear and a good snack. A perfect prelude to an evening of study.

As she crossed the walkway running across the main entrance hall to connect the two wings of the third floor, Twilight paused and stared ahead.

Down the hall, sitting in front of her door looking intently at a notebook floating in front of her, was Luster.

I wasn’t expecting her. Twilight hummed and picked up the pace. Luster either saw or heard her as she approached and turned towards her. Twilight lifted a hoof. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Luster waved back and stood up, closing her notebook. “Uh, are you busy right now?”

“Nothing that can’t wait if a friend needs help. Just need to toss this inside.” Twilight gestured her head towards the container of cake beside her.

“Good.” Luster frowned and looked away. “I’m sorry to impose. I had been going to Moondancer for help, but she’s busy somewhere and not in her dorm, and no one else in the group has the magical expertise that she does except maybe you – no offense. I just mean…”

Twilight cut in. “Yes, I’ll help, whatever it is.” She smiled widely. “What do you need?”

Luster glanced at her notebook and then at Twilight.

“I need somepony else to help me test a spell.”

“For?”

“My thesis.”

Luster mumbled under her breath as her pencil scratched over the pages of her notebook. Sitting patiently on the bed, Twilight tried to avoid staring at her friend working at the desk and instead focused on other parts of Luster’s dorm room, but there wasn’t much to draw her attention. Her eyes ended up falling back on Luster and her desk, and then darted to a piece of black plastic on the corner with several stacks of paper resting on it, turned enough that Twilight could read the date on the top one. She smiled happily.

She’s using my day calendar.

“Okay.” Luster took a breath and let it out, and her pencil dropped onto the desk. “I’ve triple-checked my calculations, should all be in order.” She opened a drawer and lifted out a small, ovular emerald. “Hold this.”

Twilight took the emerald in her magic and brought it up to her eye. A few small runes had been carved into the facets. I don’t recognize these. And this looks like a quality gem one would use for magic, but there’s no magic in the crystal. She glanced at Luster’s notebook, but upside down she couldn’t read much before Luster flipped the page to a blank one.

Luster looked up at Twilight. “So, this will seem a little odd to phrase – what’s a memory you can’t remember? I mean, fully. You can’t recall it as clearly as you know you should.”

“Um…” Twilight furrowed her brow and thought. “Plenty, I suppose. Any particular kind?”

“Something important. A strong emotional connection will make this easier. At least, it should, if I did this right.”

“Hm…” Twilight gave a small giggle. “My sixth birthday. It was the first time I got to go to an amusement park. I know I went, but not much in the way of specifics.”

“That’s good, that’ll work.” Luster glanced at her notebook and flipped to another page with calculations and diagrams. “Yes, that’ll do.”

Twilight eyed her as she read over the page. “Can I ask exactly what type of experiment this is?”

Luster either didn’t hear her or ignored her, her eyes locked on the page. She took another deep breath. “Okay, ready?”

“No.” Twilight said calmly. Luster jerked at the response but Twilight kept speaking. “What is this for, Luster? We’re clearly testing some sort of spell.”

“It’s for my thesis.” Luster’s body tensed and she glanced away. “I’m…it’s safe. I promise.”

Still closed up. Twilight nodded. “I believe you. What do you need me to do?”

“Just relax, hold the emerald in your magic, and focus on the memory of the birthday. I’ll do the rest. I hope.” Luster rubbed her head and groaned. “Not that this is dangerous for you, just...I’m kinda hoping this works.”

“I understand.” Twilight’s brain poked and prodded her, telling her to press further and demand an explanation as to what was about to happen to her. She ignored it. “Good luck.” She closed her eyes, leaned back on the bed, and cupped the emerald to her chest between her hooves, her magic still cushioning it. Birthday… I was so happy when Dad told me where they were taking me. I remember the gates...the line...there was a rollercoaster in the back.

A blur of dark green against bright blue filled her mind, and flickered and sharpened until she could make out the bars of the coaster track. Was it really that tall? Wow, no wonder I remember it… The image faded to the front of the line queue, with a wooden cut-out of the park’s mascot warning riders of the height requirement. I was actually relieved I wasn’t tall enough to go on it. Even if I hadn’t wanted to, if I had been able to, I might have tried to work up my courage to…

A flash across the vision in her mind, and the wooden mascot turned into a pony and smiled at her.

What?

Another flash, and another. Twilight clenched her eyes and pushed her hooves together against the emerald. What is this? The flashes came too quickly to distinguish clearly now. The sky, trees, a hill, houses. Other ponies of different types and genders and colors. Snippets of conversation and words and sensations and feelings.

She inhaled sharply as the flashes grew faster, brighter, the sounds grew louder, the sensations intensified. She grit her teeth and gasped.

“Twilight?”

Above the cacophony, Sunset’s voice sounded as clear as day.

The rush ceased and Twilight opened her eyes. She was back in Luster’s room, laying on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

“No!” She felt something brush her hoof and be taken away. “No, no, no!” An angry grunt and then the sound of something pinging against the wall and clattering on the floor. A scrape of a chair and a heavy thud.

Twilight swallowed heavily and lifted off the bed. Luster sat at her desk, head pressed against the edge of the wood.

“Luster...what was that?”

“An utter failure,” Luster mumbled. “That’s the fourth time it hasn’t worked, and it’s even less successful than before! At least my other tests didn’t damage the gem!”

Gem? Twilight looked over the floor and caught sight of the emerald, lying on the floor at the bottom of the wall where Luster must have thrown it. She climbed off the bed and picked the stone up – several deep cracks ran through it now, as though it could fall into pieces at any moment. She set the emerald on the bed and approached Luster.

“Luster…”

“I give up.” Luster shook her head without lifting it from her desk. “That should have worked, I was sure of it. Told myself I just had to refine the spell a bit more...nope. A waste of time.”

Twilight looked over Luster’s head at the notebook in front of her, and used her magic to carefully pull it out, knowing Luster would feel the motion. “May I?”

Luster swung a hoof up and let it fall back down. “Go ahead. There’s nothing useful in there, trust me.”

Twilight set the book on the bed and opened it. As expected, page after page of notes, equations, runes, and diagrams. She studied them in detail and slowed her search. I think I recognize these… She turned to another page and found a series of equations almost exactly like she suspected. Yes, she did know these spells; though she had never used them, she knew of some classmates who had over the years.

“Luster, are these memorization spells?” Twilight looked at her.

“Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Twilight repeated. She turned back to the book and flipped a few more pages. “Wait...no. This is wrong, and that’s...not wrong, but not right…That seems more like a telepathy spell, but it isn't right, either.” She tilted her head and kept looking through the book. “I don’t understand. There’s tons of basic spells to help you remember things in different ways. But these equations are almost scrambled for all the sense they make.”

“I know. I was...trying to rearrange them.” Luster lifted her head, looking exhausted. “Memorization spells only help you to remember things that happen to you if they’re cast beforehand. Those...I was…” She shook her head. “I was trying to figure out a memory recall spell. Instead of new things being easier to remember, help somepony remember things they’d already forgotten.”

“Oh.” Twilight looked at the notebook with new understanding. “I see, yes, you’re on to something with these…a telepathy spell mixed with a memory spell to draw out buried memories and temporarily store them on the emerald. Information that complex would normally degrade almost instantly, but the runes you used could preserve it for a little longer, long enough for somepony else to read them with a telepathy spell.” She nodded. “That’s rather brilliant, actually. Instead of giving someone better recall, you’re drawing the memory from their subconscious that they can read to form a new memory.”

“It’s a workaround—a proof of concept.” Luster gave a small shrug. “I started out looking for ways to actually refresh forgotten memories, but it was all dead ends. A lot of stuff about psychology and biology and neurology...not my strong suits.” She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not working anyway. Another dud.”

Twilight folded the notebook shut and set it on Luster’s desk in front of her. She stepped closer and sat down beside the desk. “Luster…” Luster turned her eyes towards her. “Why keep this secret?” Twilight reached out to stroke her hoof. “You know any of us would have tried to help if we could, and there’s no shame in needing help. We’ve all helped each other on our projects.”

“It’s not pride…” Luster sucked in a breath. “I wanted to figure it out on my own. This isn’t just a school project, this is something important.”

“I know. You’ve avoided talking about it as long as we’ve known each other. But, seeing it now, I don’t know why.”

Luster gave a heavy sigh. “Because sooner or later, one of you would have asked why it’s so important to me. And I didn’t want to answer.”

Twilight slowly nodded and bit her lip. “Well...if you still don’t want to, you don’t need to answer now. But...why?”

Luster went silent, her eyes falling on her desk. After several moments she turned her head slightly, looking at the drawers of the desk. Pale amber magic pulled the top one open, and a rectangular scrap of what looked like paper slid out.

“This is why.” Luster gently set the item on the edge of the desk near Twilight. She leaned over and looked down at it.

A much younger Luster Dawn sat on the knee of an old mare with a pale purple coat and a blue mane that had turned almost entirely grey. Luster was floating a pair of bright blue ice skates next to her, and the two were smiling widely at whomever was taking the picture.

“Who’s this?”

“Morning Dew. My grandmother.”

Twilight looked up as Luster turned the picture around and picked it up, smiling. “My mom’s parents passed away before I was born, my dad’s father when I was a filly. So, she was all I had for a grandparent. But she made up for it, big time. She had a gift for every occasion, always something perfect. Any time we visited, she had something for me; a book, a piece of clothing, some little toy. And when she came to visit us, she always brought cookies. Always. I couldn’t have asked for a better grandparent than Nanny Dew, because they don’t exist.”

Luster’s brow furrowed and she stared harder at the picture. “I don’t remember exactly what happened. We were at home when there was a knock at the door, and Dad said she had fallen, or something, and she was in the hospital. She spent a fair bit of time there. When she got out, they told me she couldn’t live in her house anymore. They moved her to a care center. I barely remember any of it, I was just a filly. A lot of crying, talking about medications, physical therapy. I don’t know. In the end, I just knew that Nanny Dew couldn’t visit us anymore, so we’d visit her more often, and it was in a different place. Whatever, I still got to see her. That’s all I could understand and that was all that mattered anyway.”

She took a deep breath, her chin quivering. “A few years later, we went to visit on my birthday. I remember it perfectly. Mom went in carrying a cake, dad brought some balloons and gifts in a bag. I wasn’t allowed to carry anything, I was the birthday girl. Nanny Dew was sitting in a chair reading by the window when Mom knocked and went in, and she looked up and smiled and said hello to them. Then…”

Luster’s eyes watered. “She looked right at me, and said ‘Hello there. Who’s this ray of morning sunshine?’”

Twilight gasped softly, her mouth falling open. No...

“I had no idea what she meant.” Luster sniffed and snorted. “Was it some sort of joke? Mom though, she just said my name and that she had told her about me. And then Nanny Dew’s face changed and she came over to hug me and wished me a happy birthday. She had knitted a scarf for me as a gift. Dad had to help her find it; it was in her nightstand drawer. Everything after that is a blur. I opened gifts, they sang happy birthday, and then we had cake. I don’t even remember what kind it was. I just remember watching Nanny Dew eat, wondering what happened.”

Luster set the picture on her desk. A tear rolled down her cheek to her chin. “When we left, I asked Dad about it. He looked at me and said that Nanny Dew was sick, she has trouble remembering things these days. I asked if she was going to get better. After a long pause, he just...shook his head.” She breathed heavily and clenched her eyes shut, another pair of tears dripping down. “He was right.” Her voice cracked. “She didn’t get better. She got worse. Every time we visited, they had to remind her who I was. And eventually, that didn’t work anymore.”

She lowered her head. Her body shook, her hooves clasped tight in front of her. When she spoke again, it was a whisper.

“I stopped going on visits with them after that.”

Luster fell silent and stared at the photograph on her desk. She curled her hooves on the desk and lowered her head on top of them.

So...that’s it…

Next to the desk, Twilight closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t want to pry.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Luster let out a small sigh. “I didn’t say anything I wasn’t ready to tell you. Just...that sort of thing…”

“It’s not easy to talk about, even with ponies you trust.” Twilight nodded. “I know.” She reached out and stroked Luster’s hoof. “So for your thesis, you’re trying to find a way to help your grandmother?”

“No.” Luster carefully slid the picture back into the drawer of her desk. “It’s too late for that. Two years too late.”

“Oh…” Twilight’s hoof became still and pulled back. “Sorry.”

“You didn’t know. But, you’re right. That’s how it started. I thought that even if it was too late for Nanny Dew, there were a lot of ponies like her that could use the same sort of spell. That’s what I wrote in my thesis submission paper, anyway. This kind of memory magic could be so beneficial to so many ponies. But…”

Luster swallowed heavily and sat up. She rolled her tongue in her mouth, her eyes unfocused. “It doesn’t matter what I wrote on the paper. The truth is, I wanted to do this for myself. I want to remember all the good times we had together. And somewhere along the way, I realized I can barely remember anything about her.” She let out a bitter chuckle. “I remember how she dressed, how she smelled, how warm her hugs were. But I can’t remember what music she liked, or what hobbies she had, or what she liked to eat. I have no idea. I used to know, I think. But not anymore.”

She looked at Twilight and gave her a sad smile. “Not just her, either. I have old friends I can’t put names to, important dates where I have no idea what I did. Those memories aren’t even fuzzy, it’s like they barely happened.” Her face hardened. “It doesn’t wait until I’m old, it’s happening now and it’ll keep happening. The things I cherish, the things that are important to me, I’ll forget them all one by one. It may take a couple of years, but it’ll happen. My memories will fade.”

Luster leaned back in her chair and fiercely shook her head, her mane whipping about. “It’s stupid. It’s stupid and it’s unfair. But it doesn't have to be. If I can find a better way, for everypony, I could do some real good in the world. That’s what I claimed before, and it’s still true, but that’s not why I do it now. I’m doing it for a selfish reason and I don’t care if it’s selfish. I don’t want to forget anymore.” She paused and took a few short breaths, and swallowed.

“I won’t let anypony else slip from me like Nanny Dew did. Like I did from her. I don’t want to end up that way. And nopony else should, either.”

She went silent again, looking at the floor.

Twilight felt something warm and wet roll down her muzzle and raised a hoof to wipe it away. She stepped closer and put a hoof on Luster’s knee.

“You’re not selfish at all.” Luster turned to her as Twilight spoke. “What I just heard was a kind pony telling me that she doesn’t want to lose the things she cares about. A pony that wants to find a way to use her magic to help others, so no one else will know the pain and loss she had to endure. A way to use her magic to help others that need it.” She smiled softly. “That’s the most unselfish thing I can think of.”

A fresh pair of tears rolled down Luster’s face. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“But…” Twilight paused. “I do disagree with one thing. A memory spell may have helped her, but if you feel you need one for yourself, you’re wrong.”

“Hm?” Luster tilted her head.

“You’ve forgotten details, yes. But the things that are truly precious to you? They’re never really gone. They can be hard to recall sometimes, yes. But they don’t go away entirely. You may not remember what she liked for music or food. But you remember her hugging you, smiling at you, being with you. Those are the kinds of things you’d want to remember most, aren’t they?”

When Luster slowly nodded, Twilight continued. “I think – I’ve always thought – the things that we love, that we need to remember, we can’t ever forget them. They remain in our hearts forever. Even if we let go of them, we can still take hold of them again. As long as you love something, you can’t ever fully forget it. The memory may be buried, but it’ll be there when we need it. And it’ll surprise us when we least expect it.”

Twilight licked her lips. “That’s just what I believe, but I mean it. And...if I’m right, then even when she couldn’t remember your name...I think Nanny Dew still remembered she loved you.”

Luster turned her head to the side and stared into space. As Twilight watched, emotions flitted across her eyes. Eventually her lips curled into a small smile.

“...Yeah. I think she did.” Luster sniffed and laughed. “She always told me I was pretty...like a ray of morning sunshine...she still knew, didn’t she? Deep…”

She climbed off her chair and embraced Twilight, squeezing tight. Twilight smiled over her shoulder and squeezed back.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

“What are friends for?”

Twilight groaned and stumbled on the grass. “This is...the steepest hill...in the world…”

She heard a laugh above her. “Don’t be so dramatic, we’re almost there! It evens out a bit up here.”

Sunset?

Twilight pushed herself to keep climbing, one hoof at a time up the hill. As promised the terrain began to even out and the going became easier. Still, she had fallen behind and wasn’t going to catch up. By the time she reached the tree, the picnic blanket had already been spread out and a few stray rocks put in place to hold it down.

“What’s all this?” She paused and examined the blanket.

“It’s dinner. Get over here and sit down.”

Twilight walked closer until she was on the blanket, and obediently laid down.

“There, wasn’t that worth the effort?”

Twilight turned her head and looked behind her.

The sky was a shimmering mass of yellow and red and purple and blue. The sun had dipped behind the distant mountains but still cast rays of light out, the clouds sparkling where they were struck.

“Okay, yeah, it was worth it.” Twilight rolled onto her back and let her hooves spread out. “Gimme an hour to catch my breath, and we can go back down.”

“Oh, going back down is easy, just start rolling.”

Who?

Twilight turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious?”

“Well, maybe wear a helmet.”

Twilight joined in the giggling, then rolled onto her stomach and turned around to properly sit on her flank. The even breeze rustled her mane and she breathed deep.

Where am I?

“You know why I asked you up here, right?”

Twilight pointedly didn’t turn her head, instead opting to tilt her eyes up and hum, as though she had to think about it. “Um...it’s not somepony’s birthday...it isn’t a holiday…”

“It’s our anniversary, you dolt.”

Twilight lifted her eyebrows. “Oh! How long now? A week, a month?”

“A year.”

A year since what?

“Really?” Twilight gave a low whistle.

“I know, I’ve put up with you that long. I’m amazed, too.”

“I’m still not entirely sure you’re fully sane,” Twilight teased.

“I sure hope not, sanity sounds boring anyway.”

Twilight’s demeanor became more serious. “Thank you. I’d honestly forgotten the exact day, I knew it was around this time at least. But I couldn’t have planned anything.”

“It’s fine. You never were good with dates, and you’ve been busy lately.”

“Not an excuse for forgetting. But, thank you.” Twilight gently walked over and lay down, and leaned in for a nuzzle. “It means a lot to me you’d go through this.”

“Of course I would. I lo…”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she pulled back.

“Oh, no. I let it slip, now I ruined it. Way to go, Co–”

“No, you didn’t ruin anything!” Twilight put a hoof out. “I heard you. It’s okay.”

“...really?”

“Say it.”

“...if I say it…you’ll...will you...”

Twilight leaned forward and pressed her lips to the base of her horn.

“Does that answer your question?”

A smile full of relief and warmth answered her before the words came.

“I...I love you.”

Without hesitation, Twilight smiled back. “I love you, too.”

Chapter 15

“Note the relative positions of Negalu and Eniku to Equus.”

Dr. Turner gestured a hoof to the glowing blue magical hologram of the solar system. He pressed a button on the projector box and three of the planets lit up red. “Due to their size, one would expect Negalu to eclipse Eniku, and we should see a ring of light around it where the edges are not entirely covered. But…” he looked around the room expectantly. “What does happen? Anypony?”

The room murmured as students looked over their notes or each other. Moondancer tilted her head, thought, and gasped. “Oh!” She raised her hoof high into the air.

“Yes, Moondancer?”

Moondancer lowered her hoof and smiled. “Because Eniku’s magical field is stronger than Negalu’s, it can’t be entirely eclipsed by Negalu. So, either Negalu’s orbit would subtly shift, or Eniku’s would.”

“Very good!” Dr. Turner nodded excitedly. “And which do you think it is? And would it be faster, or slower?”

“Hmm…” Moondancer put a hoof to her mouth. “I should say slowing down a planet’s orbit would be easier than speeding it up. Relatively speaking.”

“You’re correct, but.” Dr. Turner pressed two more buttons on his projector and turned back to the class. “An outside variable is the magical field of Ninurtu, beyond Eniku. You see–”

“Dr. Turner!” A stallion shouted over him and pointed down.

Dr. Turner turned and cried out.

Thick pale blue smoke was pouring from the projector and onto the floor.

“Goodness!” He pressed a hoof to his mouth and rushed around the desk. He retrieved a padded blanket and threw it over the box. “Don’t worry, it’s non-toxic!” he called. “It will subside in a moment. Just, try not to inhale. It would make your horns glow for an hour or so.” At his words the first row of students began to file out and climb up the stairs.

“I wonder what happened.” Lemon Hearts thought aloud.

Moondancer squinted to where Dr. Turner was inspecting the box within the blanket. “Seemingly just a containment leak. I’d have thought he would insulate it against such things.”

Dr. Turner put the box on his desk. “I am afraid this has been render quite inoperate for now…” he hummed in his throat and sighed. “I’ll need to have a stern talking to somepony about rune spells…”

He shook his head and turned back to the class. “Well, erm, this concept is a bit difficult to understand without a holographic aid, but I shall try.” He walked over to a large whiteboard sitting off to the side and wheeled it to the center of the room. Taking hold of a marker, he began writing equations. “The magical aura of Ninurtu is even stronger than Eniku. Thus…”

Lemon looked at the seat next to her and frowned. “She’s still snoring away.”

Moondancer leaned forward to see what she meant. “Very odd.”

On the other side of Lemon, Twilight was slumped in her seat with her head low and her eyes closed. Her mouth hung open and her chest rose and fell in steady breathing.

“Hey, Twi.” Lemon reached out a hoof and gently shook her.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open and her head jerked. “Pancakes, please!” she exclaimed. A couple chuckles came from around them. Twilight blinked and looked around. “Wha…” She looked down at the front of the class as Dr. Turner finished his diagram.

“And so, even with Ninurtu nowhere nearby, the latent magic in its wake is enough to slow down Eniku’s orbit, causing Negalu to speed up in response, so an eclipse never even properly occurs!” He smiled proudly as he finished his explanation, then deflated a bit and looked back at the board; rough drawings in black marker mapped out three planets in orbit with strings of equations next to them. He coughed into his hoof. “It’s more impressive than it sounds...if I could show you properly...”

He looked up at the clock on the wall. “We’ve just over fifteen minutes until the end of class. It’s rather difficult to explain the next exercise without proper three-dimensional visual aid, so we’ll call it a day.” Dr. Turner continued with homework instructions as several students ignored him and began packing their books.

Twilight stared at the board and blinked again. “When did we stop talking about Inashu?”

“Ten minutes ago,” Moondancer said. “Are you alright?”

“Clearly not, if she’s sleeping through half the class.” Lemon leaned closer and peered at her face. “Rough night?”

Twilight shook her head again. “No, I slept fine.” She lifted her bag off the ground and looked at her notebook – a half-empty page with random notes from when she was awake – and closed it.

The three gathered their things and began to file out of the room with the rest of the students. Lemon stopped a few steps outside the door and turned to the others. “So, where to now?”

Moondancer looked at a clock hanging from the ceiling. “It’s too early for lunch, unless we wish to find seats in the cafeteria and chat among ourselves for fifteen minutes.”

Lemon nodded. “That’s for the best. Minuette is bringing pizza for everypony. She wanted to try homemade; said she was tired of baking cookies and cake and wanted something different.” She turned to Twilight, mouth open to speak, but she paused when she saw Twilight’s eyes were closed. She gently reached out and nudged her.

“I’m awake!” Twilight’s eyes opened wide and she stared at Lemon. “Pizza, yup, I heard you.”

Lemon stepped closer and tilted her head from side to side, examining her friend. “Are you sure you got enough sleep?”

“Yes. I slept in, actually. Twinkleshine had to wake me up for breakfast.” Twilight blinked and gazed into space. “I’ll be fine. I can catch a quick nap over lunch, if I have to. But I think I’m fine.”

“Good.” Lemon rolled her eyes but smiled. “So, with everypony awake, that’s a soft ‘no’ for the cafeteria. I have textbooks to borrow from the library. I was going to do it at the end of lunch, but I may as well do it now.”

“I’ll come with you. I need to confirm arrangements myself,” Moondancer said.

“Then, library?” Twilight finished.

The three nodded together and headed down the hall towards the stairwell. With classes still in session the halls were quiet and empty, only a few students coming and going.

I should check out something at the library while I’m there. Twilight yawned and murmured. I had a book I wanted to look at. I’ll have to check my notes.

“Wow, you are tired,” Lemon said. “Did you dream about Sunset last night?”

“No...I don’t think so.” Twilight let out a low groan and rubbed her head. “Don’t really remember it that well...”

Moondancer slowed her steps and fell into pace beside her. “Perhaps you didn’t dream at all. Or you had a normal dream.”

“Maybe…” Twilight yawned again, shorter this time, and blinked. “Could be an effect of Luster’s spell, I guess. That’ll do things to a pony’s head.”

“Luster?” Lemon’s brow lifted. “She did a mind spell on you?”

Twilight’s breath caught and she stopped in the middle of the hall. “Um, no. I mean yes.” She winced. “I didn’t mean to say that.” She walked faster to catch up to the two. “I don’t think I should say anything.”

“Luster’s thesis?” Moondancer asked.

Twilight turned to her. “You know about it?”

“Not so much. But I am aware she’s conducting some sort of experiment involving mental magic.”

Lemon nodded. “Yup, that’ll do something to you. Give it the day to sleep it off and you’ll be fine tonight.”

They reached the doors to the stairwell and pushed them open, Moondancer reaching the steps first. “I’m glad you’ve been permitted to be let in on her secret. I admit, I’ve been rather curious myself about what she’s up to.”

“I’ll keep her secret, if you don’t mind,” Twilight replied. She thought back to the previous afternoon and Luster struggling to hold back tears. “Putting aside that she’s been so secretive about it, it’s not the sort of thing I should share in her place.”

“I see.” Moondancer shrugged. “I’ll not pry.”

The two reached the second floor landing and rounded to the next flight of stairs.

Lemon smiled. “But, it’s good she’s opened up to you about it, Twilight. It definitely means you have nothing to worry about with regards to repairing that friendship.”

“Indeed.” Moondancer chimed in. “I’m glad she has someone she feels comfortable confiding in.”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “What do you mean? She talks to you, too. I mean, she talked to you about me, right?”

“Not in the same manner as this. She spoke about you, and when she did I merely listened.”

“Hang on.” Twilight stopped on the midpoint of the stairs, a short flight of steps to the first floor below them. “What’s that mean?”

Moondancer paused in climbing the stairs and looked over her shoulder. “She expressed concerns and frustrations and indecision. I lended my ear to allow her to vent about these things. But I respected her privacy.” Moondancer frowned. “You seem upset.”

“I think I know why,” Lemon cut in. She looked at Moondancer out of the corner of her eye. “Did you offer advice, or support?”

“When she asked.”

“That’s not good enough.” Twilight grunted and huffed. “Moondancer, you knew we were both feeling guilty about what happened, that we wanted to make up. You could have said something to either of us.”

Moondancer held up a hoof. “I don’t get involved in personal disputes between friends. I don’t take sides.”

“This wasn’t about taking sides, it was about helping resolve a misunderstanding.” Lemon shook her head. “But you stayed out of it. What if Twilight and Luster hadn’t made up and their friendship was lost?”

The trio reached the bottom of the stairwell and Moondancer stopped and looked between the two from the last step. “You two are upset I didn’t meddle between friends? That I didn’t allow myself to be torn between loyalties?”

“This has nothing to do with loyalty.” Twilight sighed. “You said it yourself, Luster doesn’t confide in you like she did me. Maybe that’s because you haven’t made it clear to her that she could trust you to that degree.”

Moondancer sighed. “I’ve promised her that if she needs to speak to me about personal matters, anything she tells me won’t be repeated.”

“And that’s nice, but....’ Twilight hummed and looked at the ceiling. “Just, you know...there’s a difference between lending an ear to listen to a friend, and actually hearing what they’re saying.”

“Twilight’s right,” Lemon said with a nod. “I can see staying out of it to respect their privacy, but if you could have helped the two of them, you could have spoken up or nudged them together without directly getting involved.” She smiled. “Being a good friend isn’t just ‘being there for them’ in the literal sense. It’s being aware of when they need you without having to be told they do.”

“I...see.” Moondancer looked away. “I had not thought of it that way.”

“I’m sorry if we’re coming off as mean.” Twilight rushed to her side and put a hoof over her neck. “But you can come off as a bit detached sometimes. Until somepony really gets to know you, it can be hard to tell how you feel about them.”

Moondancer paused, thought, and gave a shake of her head. “I can see your point. Gestures of friendship without spirit behind them are hollow, after all.” She looked at Twilight and gently coughed. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”

“It’s fine. Really.” Twilight gave her a loose hug. “We all have our own ways to express friendship, after all.”

“Well said.” Lemon nodded and smiled wide. She looked towards the doors outside and swung a hoof towards them. “So, to the library?”

“Yes, please.” Moondancer pushed her glasses up her nose. “I have books I need to examine in the restricted section.”

Twilight perked. “Oh? Which ones?”

“A bunch of old calculus books. There’s nothing dangerous about them, but they’re restricted for some reason anyway.” Moondancer wrinkled her nose. “Some of their selections seem arbitrary.”

“I thought so too, until I found out the princess was spying on me.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Who knows what she’s keeping down there, and why?”

Lemon pushed the door open outside and held it open for Twilight and Moondancer. A breeze ruffled Twilight’s mane; autumn was making its arrival known as the air had a chill in it today.

“You were looking into books related to trans-dimensional teleportation, I believe?” Moondancer asked.

Twilight nodded. “And I was denied.” She stopped on the path and lifted her head to look at the Royal Archives. The exterior was a mundane brick-and-mortar building like any other, but it seemed to be more imposing and foreboding somehow. Or perhaps that was just her imagination playing with her.

She knows something she doesn’t want me to know. Something that’s in those books.

Moondancer’s voice stirred her from her thoughts. “A pity you can’t access them. I’d wager they’d be helpful.”

“I know.” Twilight sighed. “There must be some way to get in…”

“Ask permission.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Wait, what? You can’t be serious!” Lemon kept her voice low and herded the two into the grass, off the path and away from students coming and going. “Breaking into the restricted section? Twilight, that could get you expelled!”

“And it’s foolish to even try,” Moondancer said. “The entrance is watched by cameras, there’s an anti-magic field to block teleportation, and there’s only one set of keys. The only things that come out of the restricted section are what they allow, which is authorized ponies and books.”

Twilight’s head snapped around to stare. She slowly smiled.

“That’s it…”

Moondancer took a step back, eyes wide and apprehensive. “What’s it?”

“Here we are.” Raven removed a keyring from the pocket of her vest as she walked down the hallways beneath the Royal Archives. “You’re authorized for one hour. I’ll come and fetch you at that time.” She glanced behind her and nodded.

“I understand.” Moondancer nodded back. When Raven looked forward, Moondancer breathed deep and gulped.

The walls here were darker than the warm red and brown upstairs, or perhaps the overhead lights were darker. Their hooves echoed with each step. The hallway’s doors were locked and marked for various mundane staff usages – cleaning supplies, a bathroom, an office.

At the end of the hall loomed a door unlike the others, double doors carved from oak and inscribed with circles of runes that gave off a dull blue glow. Raven approached them and slid one of the keys on her keyring into the hole. With a twist and a click, the bolt slid back and the runes on the doors faded. Raven removed her key and grunted as she pushed the doors open.

Moondancer stepped through and looked around, taking a deep breath.

Raven looked at her curiously. “Are you alright? You seem nervous.”

Moondancer jumped. “Oh, no. Yes. But not about this. I’ve just got...things on my mind.” She held up a hoof. “I’ll be fine.”

“Glad to hear it.” Raven turned to a runestone set into the wall of the room. She pressed a hoof against it and her horn glowed. “There you are, area one has been unlocked. And this is a listing of where you can find the specific materials you requested.” She held a small note of paper out that Moondancer took in her magic.

“Thank you.”

Raven smiled and bowed her head. “Let me know if you need anything, there’s an intercom on the wall behind the door. You can also call me if you want to leave earlier.”

“I will, thank you.” Moondancer watched Raven close the doors behind her and heard them lock.

Alone, she quickly stepped up to a simple work table in the center of the room; a reading lamp, some paper, and writing instruments sat on top. Setting her saddle bags on the table, she removed one of her notebooks and flipped to a marked page. “Here we are.”

On the paper, a sketch drawing of a unicorn blinked and turned its head. “We’re safe?”

“As safe as we can be doing this.” Moondancer closed her eyes and lit her horn.

The drawing of Twilight in the book erased line by line, and as they did, outlines of her form traced out in the air next to the table. When they completed there was a brief flash as she materialized fully. She looked around and grinned. “Perfect!”

“Hush!” Moondancer lifted a hoof to her mouth. “If we’re caught, we’re both expelled.”

“I know.” Twilight gave her a stern look. “Thank you.”

“I really do have studying to do down here, but, go ahead, I suppose.” Moondancer removed her notebooks and other study materials from her bag and carefully laid them out on the table. Twilight watched her for a moment before turning and walking deeper into the room.

For most intents and purposes, the ‘restricted section’ of the Royal Canterlot Archives was not all that different from the main library above. The major difference was that it was not as big, perhaps the size of a small gymnasium. In that space were two dozen bookshelves arranged in two rows of twelve, the same kinds as on the main floor.

Yet, the restricted section always felt foreboding to Twilight. The lights seemed less bright, the air thicker and colder. Considering what was being kept here, it may not entirely have been the work of her imagination. The materials that filled the shelves were here for a reason, after all.

The shelves held not just books, but also scrolls, folders, pamphlets, and even the occasional magic talisman or small mechanical device. Some of them were here simply because they were old—too old to permit the public to handle them freely. Here, they could be stored in a place where a magic field kept them from decaying further. Others held knowledge that could be misused in amoral hooves, but was too valuable to be destroyed. And the majority, insofar as Twilight knew from word-of-mouth and her own experiences, were things that were permissible for public consumption on a conditional basis.

The room was sectioned off by magic shields tied to the runestone at the doors, and the materials sorted by some unknown classification system that seemed to be based on how dangerous they were. Moondancer’s books were comparatively simple, covering ancient mathematics relating to science and magic. They were here because they fell into the ‘too old to put in the public space’ category.

I only have access to area one, but there may still be something here. The books I had wanted to check before would be a good lead.

Twilight looked down one of the two shelves that had no magical barrier surrounding it, and gently walked down the aisle. She raised her eyes to the books and scrolls and thought. Where to even start… a lot of these don’t have titles or any other means of identification on them. It was typically expected that a student requesting access would specify which books they wanted, and they would be pointed out to them. But they denied my request before. I don’t know where they’d be kept. They may not even be in this area.

She picked a random book from a shelf and pulled it down. She paused to take it in – a faded green cover with a faint indentation from where there had once been letters for a title, and discolored pages with rough edges. Twilight cracked it open and looked up and down the pages. The book talked about various kinds of runes a pony could draw on someone’s door to induce effects upon them. Neat, but not what I need. She gently closed the book and slid it back.

Time ticked away as Twilight made her way up and down the two shelves, picking random books or scrolls to examine and finding no leads. Moondancer had been busy with her studies while she looked. Twilight had asked her for suggestions and Moondancer pointed out a couple of potentially promising leads. But when Twilight had found them, she only spent a minute or two on them before determining there was little of interest.

She closed a book on ancient alchemical reagents and sighed. “Maybe this was a waste of time.” She put the book back on the shelf and turned behind her. There must be something here. Celestia wouldn’t have denied me access if there was nothing important. There’s something here. There has to be. Something she didn’t want me to know about.

She grunted and pounded a hoof on her head. “But I have no idea what!” She fell back against the shelf and slumped to the floor. A scroll fell on her head from above and she flinched and glared at it.

I don’t suppose… Twilight undid the ribbon holding the scroll bound and unrolled it – a diagram of meditation poses for unicorns. Yeah, I didn't think I’d be that lucky. She rolled the scroll back up and tied it again. She stood up and craned her head up to see where on the shelf it had fallen from; the second shelf from the top, where several other scrolls had been placed in a sloppy pile. It looked like more of them were about to fall on her at any moment.

Twilight rolled a ladder over from further down the shelf and climbed up. She floated the fallen scroll beside her and then pulled the others out. “You’d think they’d sort these things more carefully,” she mused aloud. She rotated and positioned the scrolls to form a more neat stack, and floated the group of them back to the shelf. As they slid onto the polished wood, a glint of light caught her eye.

The book that had been next to the scrolls was glowing faintly.

Twilight let the scrolls down and withdrew the book from the shelf. As she got a better look at it her curiosity deepened.

The book was paradoxical. It somehow felt centuries old, but it was in considerably better shape than other books in the library that Twilight would guess were just as ancient. It looked rather mundane, but she felt a sense of magic coming from it that she hadn’t from the other books. The bindings were dark blue with a pale blue swirl on the cover. Five silver stars were placed along the swirl, and gleamed with light as Twilight turned the book in the air.

Was the glow a trick of the light, a reflection? She tilted her head and brought the book closer to her, staring at the emblem on the cover.

“Twilight?”

Twilight turned her head and looked down at the floor. Moondancer looked back at her. “Sorry, I need the ladder.”

“Right, sure.” Twilight nodded and began to climb down, the mysterious book floating beside her.

The purple aura around Twilight’s horn flickered and sparked. The magic around the book faded and it dropped. She gasped and reached out a hoof to no avail. Moondancer’s horn briefly lit pink but then ceased, and the book hit the ground in front of her.

Its pages fell open and rays of pale blue light shone up.

“Whoa!” Twilight gaped and quickly clambered down the ladder.

“What did you do?” Moondancer whispered harshly.

“I don’t know! It was an accident!” Twilight knelt and examined the book. “It’s still in one piece…”

“Twilight?”

Twilight felt Moondancer gently shake her by the shoulder, and she lifted her head.

The rays of light coming from the book receded and projected an image. Several spherical shapes appeared and began to slowly rotate around each other. The image sparked and flickered repeatedly, glowing dimmer and brighter at seemingly random intervals.

“Is this the solar system?” Twilight whispered.

Before Moondancer could answer, another voice spoke. It seemed to be a male voice, but it was so severely degraded that it was hard to be sure.

“The c-c-cosmology...contains a deeper harmony. Magic, the universe, ponykind, all… interconnected. By st-st-studying...c-connection, we may be able to achieve a deeper-deeper-deeper understanding of magic b-beyond anything seen before.”

“It’s coming from the book.” Moondancer nodded down. Twilight followed her gaze. The book had a diagram of the solar system on one page, and the other page had lines of text that were lighting up one word at a time as the voice spoke,

“How has a spell like this held up after so long?”

“From the sounds of it – not well.”

“Bunabu, Inashu, Negalu, Eniku, a-and Ninurtu. Five...and our home Equus, or-orbiting the sun. What are...science and-and magic that b-b-bind them...configuration?”

“I’ve never seen magic on this scale before.” Twilight stepped around the book, staring in awe at the projection of the solar system that rotated in the air above it. “I mean, holograms are hard enough, but to be able to bind that kind of spell into a book? And with voice recording?” She slowly shook her head. “Imagine the kind of power they had…”

The voice continued speaking, heedless of the unicorns observing it. “There is also...the m-moon. No other...have moons that...ob-observed. There is only Equus and its partner Nasenu. What...it have in this model?”

Moondancer frowned. “Powerful, but apparently not all that bright. They’re pontificating over the significance of the moons when they think there’s only one.”

“Maybe they hadn’t discovered Elinu yet?” Twilight suggested.

“I question how anypony could not notice a second moon in the sky.”

Twilight absent-mindedly nodded.

“If all-all...interconnected, it f-f-follows...ponykind...mirror our solar system...some m-manner. Thus–”

Twilight flipped the page and the hologram vanished, dispersing into faint whispers of blue light. The next two pages were more text, but they didn’t begin reading themselves. “Strange…” She looked closer. “It’s written in Old Ponish, too.”

“Indeed.” Moondancer adjusted her glasses and hummed. “That would date it to almost a thousand years old, perhaps older.”

There was a click and a creak, and the two froze.

“Moondancer?” Raven’s voice called. “It’s been an hour.”

Twilight and Moondancer stared at each other in horror as they heard Raven’s hoofsteps. Twilight hurriedly shook her head and thrust her hoof towards the aisle; Moondancer nodded and ran out into view.

“Raven! Yes, one hour, thank you!” she said loudly.

“Are you alright?” Raven replied. “I had hoped studying would calm you, it usually does.”

“Yes! I’m excited, actually.” Moondancer forced a smile. She turned down the aisle and gestured a hoof. “I was just about to ask you for help with something here, on this shelf! Down here!”

“Oh?”

Twilight caught Moondancer’s eye as her friend jerked her head to the side. Twilight grabbed the book – her magic seemed to be working again, thankfully – and slipped out the other end of the aisle and around to the other side of the shelf. She held still for a moment and heard Raven follow Moondancer.

“What is it?”

“Here, on the far end,” Moondancer replied.

Twilight waited until she heard Raven walking down the aisle before she was confident to make her move. As quietly and swiftly as she could move, she returned to the central aisle and approached Moondancer’s workstation. She looked at the notebook and prepared to recast the spell to enter it.

Wait.

She looked at the book floating next to her. The stars on its cover seemed to glow again, and this time she wasn’t sure if it was the light or a real glow.

I’m not coming back here anytime soon. Celestia won’t let me, I’m sure of it.

But taking books out of the restricted section is forbidden. That would be expulsion for sure.

The book’s stars gleamed at her. Twilight glanced back at the aisle and bit her lip.

I don’t even know if this has anything relevant in it…

“Are we all done, then?”

No time to argue it now.

Twilight slid the book into the bottom of Moondancer’s saddle bag and carefully placed a spare notebook over top of it. She then lit her horn and focused. A wave of purple magic consumed her and floated onto the page of Moondancer’s notebook on the table, creating a sketch of a unicorn on the paper.

Moondancer emerged from the aisle, looked at her workstation, and let out a breath.

“Yes. I’m finished. Thank you.”

Twilight groaned and lifted her head, and sat up straight in her chair when she saw her surroundings.

A classroom with rows of desks. Hazy fog outside, nopony else present.

“A dream…” She slowly blinked. I must have fallen asleep reading that book. After making her escape from the library and managing to get the book to herself without Moondancer noticing, she had hidden it in her room and taken it out after Twinkleshine had settled in her bed for the night – Twilight didn’t need to deal with the inevitable questions she would have asked about the book.
If I’m dreaming, then… Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. “Sunset?”

She turned her head side to side and saw the familiar amber unicorn rise from behind another desk. Sunset looked at her and huffed.

“Are we gonna have another incident like last time?”

Twilight hurriedly crossed the room to stand in front of her and thrust her hoof out. “Luna!”

“Whoa!” Sunset backed up, bumping into a desk behind her. “I was kidding! Hooves down, remember?”

“Who is Luna?” Twilight demanded.

“Huh?”

“Just answer me,” Twilight said. Her expression softened. “Please.”

Sunset wrinkled her nose. “Princess Luna, ruler of Equestria. Ring a bell?”

“No.” Twilight lowered her hoof and slowly shook her head. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“Yeah, right. How could–”

“Princess Celestia.”

Sunset stopped. “Who?”

“Exactly.” Twilight took a breath. “As far as I know, Equestria is ruled by Celestia, Princess of the Sun. Luna died a thousand years ago.”

“What?” Sunset looked confused. “No way, I’ve seen her, she’s alive. Celestia...” Sunset shrugged. “Never heard of her. But, Luna says she’s the Princess of the Moon. So that tracks, I guess.”

“Princesses of the Sun and Moon…” Twilight began to pace, a hoof held to her mouth. “That must mean something…” She looked back at Sunset. “Maybe...”

Sunset gave her a suspicious look and leaned back. “No touchy-feely experiments tonight, ‘kay?”

Princess of the Moon. The moons. Twilight’s mind that had been racing came to a peaceful calm as her confusion cleared. She knows Luna, not Celestia. The moons are backwards. She knows things that are the opposite of what I know. Two things could be coincidence. But not three.

“Sunset, who are your instructors at SGU?”

Sunset shrugged. “Well, Professor Pestle teaches Basic Alchemy, Mr. Damascus teaches Magical Geology, Doctor Whooves teaches Astronomy…”

With each name Sunset continued to list, Twilight slowly began to smile wider and wider. Sunset took notice and paused. “What?”

“I have no idea who any of those ponies are.” Twilight let out a short laugh.

“And that’s funny?” Sunset asked.

“I get it...I think.” Twilight laughed again and resumed pacing with a new vigor. “I mean, this would be a big leap beyond theoretical and into pure speculation. But, it all fits…”

“What fits?” Sunset threw up her hooves. “We just started this night and you’re already rambling!”

“Because I understand now!” Twilight came up to her. “Don’t you see? E-everything is backwards in your world, and to you everything is backwards in mine. I-I think I get it, but it, it, it’s...wow.” She stepped back and looked Sunset over. “Wow. You are...wow.”

“Yeah, I’m hot, thanks.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “You wanna ogle some more or explain to me what you’re talking about?”

“Celestia was spying on me about you.”

Sunset did a double take. “What?”

Twilight nodded. “She knew you told me about Luna, but I never told her you did. And there was one other thing she was spying on with regards to me, and that was when I began studying alternate dimension theory.” She slowly shook her head. “I couldn’t figure out why, what did it mean, why is she doing this? But I think I know now.”

“Twilight, you’re not making sense.”

“Wrong, I’m making things make sense.” Twilight looked Sunset in the eye and spoke slowly and clearly. “My dreams about you, and other dimensions? I couldn’t figure out the connection between those two subjects. But I was looking at it wrong. I thought it was a question, but it was the answer…right in front of me for weeks. They don’t have a connection, they are the connection.”

“A connection? You mean, these weird dreams, and you researching alternate dimensions...”

Twilight waited as Sunset faded into mumbles and looked away. When her eyes widened and her head lifted, Twilight gave a confident, triumphant smile.

Sunset turned back to her. “No…”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded firmly.

Sunset’s flank thumped as she sat down on the floor, staring at Twilight. “How? On, like, so many levels, how?”

“No idea to all of them.”

“This...it’s impossible.”

“I know. And it’s the answer that makes the most sense.”

Twilight stared at her friend in a new light of awe, her eyes gleaming.

“We’re from different worlds.”

Chapter 16

Minuette lifted a small bundle of hayfries with a pale blue powder on them up to her face and gave them an intense, accusatory stare. “Why did I try to make you taste like icing?” she whispered.

“Because you wanted to see if your flavor powder worked,” Moondancer said from across the lunch table, her nose buried in a notebook.

“Yeah, I know. But I didn’t consider the downside.” Minuette popped them in her mouth and chewed.

“Which is?” Twinkleshine asked.

She swallowed before answering. “I ruined a perfectly good side of fries.”

“Hey, if you don’t want them.” Twinkleshine smirked and rocked her head. The box of fries lit up pale blue and slowly began to move to the edge of Minuette’s tray.

Minuette put her hoof on top of the box and Twinkleshine let go. “You ordered a large, isn’t that enough?”

Twinkleshine looked at her tray with a large box of fries and a double-burger with extra toppings. “Nope.” She lifted some fries from her own box and tossed them in her mouth.

Lemon shook her head and grimaced as she scanned Twinkleshine’s tray. “I can feel myself gaining weight just watching you eat that.”

“Nopony said you had to watch,” Twinkleshine mumbled through the fries. Lemon wrinkled her nose and lifted a spoon of fruit salad from a plastic container.

“Twinkles, manners,” Minuette said gently. Twinkleshine rolled her eyes but nodded.

Moondancer lifted her head from her notebook and smiled. “I’ve reached a satisfactory stopping point. That’ll do for today.” She flipped the book closed and lowered it into her bag on the ground beside her, and then turned her attention to a cafeteria tray with a bowl of pasta and pulled it closer.

“Early homework?” Lemon asked.

“No, my thesis. I’ve–” Moondancer stopped, considered herself, and shook her head. “Nevermind. I’m aware you may not understand or care. Suffice to say, I’ve made progress.”

“Great to hear!” Minuette grinned and clapped her hooves. “That’s two for us making progress on our theses!”

“Three.” Twinkleshine smiled brightly. “I was able to successfully encode and play back a brief audio-visual record of myself last night.”

“Eeee!” Minuette shook in her seat. “That’s amazing!”

Moondancer’s brow lifted and she nodded and smiled. “Yes, impressive indeed.”

Twinkleshine’s grin widened. “Thanks.” She tilted her head and shrugged. “Granted, it was really bad quality, but it worked. I think the problem is the playback. Trying to use the same rune reading to analyze both the audio and visual information probably caused some degradation. If I use a separate reader for both, it should be much clearer.”

Lemon nodded. “That sounds solid. Is that the plan for tonight?”

“Well, the weekend, but yes. And it’s also the reason I’m treating myself to an extra big pile of junk food.” Twinkleshine lifted her hayburger and paused. “I’m actually trying to cut down, but I’m in a good mood.” She bit in with a satisfying crunch.

“Hey, girls.”

The group turned as Luster slid into an empty chair and set down a tray with a bowl of soup and veggie sticks.

“Hi, Luster.” Lemon nodded at her. “How’re things?”

“Chilly.” Luster rolled her shoulders. “I spent my spare period in the library working, and came outside to find it’s still nippy like early morning. I need to warm up.” She lifted a package of crackers and tore them open.

“So, Dawny, any updates on your thesis?” Minuette asked.

Luster paused and turned her eyes towards her. “Pardon?”

“We were just chatting about what progress we’ve made,” Lemon explained. “I know you’re keeping it private, but I hope yours is going well, too.”

“Oh, I see.” Luster frowned. “Not really. Well, sort of.” She crumbled the crackers into her soup. “I need feedback on it. I was hoping Twilight would be here, maybe get together after school.”

Lemon frowned. “You haven’t seen her, either?” Luster shook her head.

Twinkleshine scrunched her face. “She wasn’t in our dorm room when I woke up. Her bags were gone so I figured she would have been in the library studying.”

“Not that I saw,” Luster said. “I checked just in case. She wasn’t in Advanced Spellcasting, either.”

“She and I have Magical Geography second period, and she was absent there, too,” Moondancer added.

“Wait.” Minuette looked around the table. “You mean nopony has seen Twilight all day?”

The other four all shook their heads.

“Weird.” Minuette looked at the sixth, empty chair at their table. “Where would she be?”

“Some sort of emergency?” Moondancer suggested. “It would have to be, if it’s something worth skipping classes for.”

Lemon thought for a moment. “If she was, she would have notified somepony, right? Ms. Octarine had no idea where she was in Advanced Casting, and if something happened, wouldn’t the teachers know?”

“True enough…”

Twinkleshine shrugged. “There’s no use worrying about it. We don’t know what it is so there’s nothing we can do either way. She’ll pop up somewhere sooner or later.”

Next to the table there was a bright flash of magenta light, and Twilight appeared in a shimmer of magic.

The five jumped in surprise, as did several other ponies in nearby tables.

“Twilight!” Moondancer gaped, her eyes wide. “You know there’s no teleporting on school grounds! You could–”

“Girls.” Twilight stepped up to the table and put her hooves on her. Her eyes were wide and her mane slightly disheveled, but her voice was calm and even. “Meet me in my dorm room as soon as you can, all of you. We need to talk. Sooner rather than later, preferably now.”

“Twilight?” Minuette cocked her head. “Is something wrong?”

“Come to the room, I’ll explain everything there. There’s a lot to explain.”

Twilight lit her horn and she vanished in another burst of magic.

The five mares exchanged glances with various degrees of confusion and nervousness.

Luster looked at the spot where Twilight had been. “Is this good or bad?”

“I’m not sure,” Twinkleshine replied. “But I think we need to go find out, and quickly.”

Twinkleshine knocked twice and pushed open the door to her room. “Twilight?” She took a step inside and the rest of the group crowded in around her.

Twilight sat at the table, whispering something under her breath as she moved a pencil across a notebook. Open textbooks were spread out over her bed alongside notebooks with more hastily scratched writing on them. On Twinkleshine’s bed was a large chart with various numbers and the days of the week at the top.

Lemon stretched her head up. “Is that my magic observation chart?” she asked.

Twilight looked up. “Yes, I borrowed it. Sorry for not asking first.” She lowered her head and kept writing.

Moondancer looked at the textbooks on the bed. She glanced at the pages they were open to, and lifted the cover of one to see the title. “Books on alternate dimensions, celestial mechanics, advanced magic…” she tilted her head and frowned. “I don’t see a correlation between these subjects.”

“Neither did I.” Twilight shook her head but didn’t pause in her writing. “That’s just it, though. We’re asking the wrong questions.”

Minuette stepped up to the table. “Twi, are you okay? You seem...anxious.”

Twinkleshine nodded. “I haven’t seen her this frantic since that time in second year when we got a pop quiz in alchemy.”

Twilight paused again and lifted her head. “I am anxious, but not like that. Not in a bad way.” She looked at the door. “Come in. Close the door, please.” Lemon and Luster walked into the room and Luster pushed the door shut with a hind hoof.

“Alright.” She stood from her chair and faced the five mares in front of her. “I dreamed about Sunset last night. And woke up this morning with an epiphany. More importantly, I had a hypothesis. I’ve been trying to confirm it, and while I can’t definitively say I have done so, everything I’ve gathered is leaning in that direction.”

“What hypothesis?” Moondancer asked.

“Sunset Shimmer exists in another dimension.”

Twilight immediately held up a hoof. “I know, that sounds mad. That’s why I went looking for proof. No other explanation fits, but this one does. We shared more information about our worlds last night. Sunset lives in a world where ‘Princess Luna’ rules Equestria, and has no idea who Princess Celestia is. She attends SGU, but she has a different set of teachers than we do. The businesses in Canterlot are different, pop culture is different, but each is also similar to ours. And – perhaps most importantly – while our solar systems are otherwise identical, in Sunset’s world the primary moon is Elinu and the secondary moon is Nasenu, but we know it as the other way around.”

She paused in her explanation and took a breath. “There’s nothing to suggest that communication between Sunset and I is somehow distorted, so I must assume that what she is telling me is what she is actually saying. And if it is truthful, these facts must have a rational explanation. And there’s only one I can think of that fits everything else I’ve observed about these dreams.”

“Parallel dimensions,” Moondancer said. Twilight turned to her and nodded.

Minuette blinked and let out a breath. “That’s… a lot to take in.”

Twinkleshine frowned. “Not that I necessarily think you’re wrong, but I thought you said you couldn’t prove it?”

“Not yet. That’s why I’m following the scientific method – I have a hypothesis, and I have a test I can perform to verify it.” Twilight lifted her notes from the table and held it up. Equations sprawled across the page, lines and text connecting them in different ways.

Minuette squinted at it. “This is…um...”

“I think it’s a telepathy spell,” Luster murmured, “but it’s heavily altered.”

“It’s a work in progress. But I think I can modify a telepathy spell to utilize the preliminary research I had done on alternate dimensions for my old thesis on teleportation.” Twilight smiled. “If I’m correct, and if I can figure out this spell – which, admittedly, is very complex – I could use it to telepathically communicate with Sunset. I could see her at will and while we’re both awake. It’ll confirm for sure that she and I exist in different dimensions and are communicating mentally.”

Lemon nodded. “That makes sense. But why is it happening in dreams?”

“That is why I wanted this.” Twilight put the notebook down on the table and picked up Lemon’s chart from the bed. She held it up and kept speaking. “You said it yourself, there seems to be a correlation between the position of the moons and magic, right?”

“Yes, but not enough to be certain,” Lemon replied.

“I cross-referenced your chart with my journal. And with this.” She turned her head and looked at the table.

A book with a swirl of stars on the front cover lit up pink and floated in front of her.

Moondancer gaped. “How did you get that?”

Twilight shuffled her hooves. “I...may have hidden it in your bag, yesterday.”

“What?” Moondancer stumbled and sputtered. “Twilight! I-I could get expelled if they find out I stole a book!”

“You didn’t, I did. If I’m caught, I’ll tell them everything. But right now what I found in it is more important,” Twilight said firmly. “This book was way ahead of its time. Some of its theories on magic and ponies have been disproven, but others are right on the mark and some are still being investigated. But what was most interesting was this.”

She set the book on the table and opened it to a specific page. It lit up blue and a holographic image of a solar system projected above it in blue light.

“This book describes a celestial model with only one moon orbiting Equus. Lemon, I looked at your chart closer. There is a direct connection between each of the moons and the potency of magic, no doubt. It’s when the two sets of data for each moon are compared to each other that the system falls apart. But if we had only one moon, all the statistics and equations line up perfectly.”

Twilight flipped the book closed and the hologram vanished.

“With that in mind, I looked at my journals again. My dreams about Sunset occur every time there’s a spike in magical potency. Not every night there’s a spike, but never on a night there isn’t one. And the dreams and the spikes have gotten more common since the year began. Why might that be? What could be happening soon that involves the moons?”

Luster gasped. “The dual eclipse!”

“Exactly. Whatever magic is connecting me and Sunset, it’s strongest when the moons are out, and particularly when the moons align just right. And with the eclipse approaching, they’ve become more frequent.” Twilight rolled the chart up and set it on the bed.

Lemon stepped up to the table and lifted the journal Twilight had shown them. “That’s definitely interesting. But what does it mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I still have no idea how Sunset and I are communicating. But I know it’s tied to the moons. And going from your chart, the next spike in magic will be tonight. I might dream about Sunset, I might not, I don’t know. But I do know I already dreamed about her last night, which means this is the perfect time to attempt to contact her again. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But if I’m right…if Sunset is speaking to me across dimensions...”

“It would be one of the most revolutionary discoveries in history,” Moondancer finished.

“Exactly. But I can’t make it alone.” Twilight looked at them evenly. “I can’t do this on my own safely, and not in time to be ready for tonight. You five are the most responsible, helpful, intelligent ponies I know. I need your help to do this, and I know that together we can make it happen.”

“Now?” Minuette asked.

“Yes. There’s no telling how long it may take to iron out the equations for this spell, and we’re also going to need to prepare a spell crystal to help focus and stabilize the spell for safety.”

Twinkleshine looked at the clock above the door. “Classes resume in fifteen minutes.”

“I know.” Twilight rocked her head and bit her lip. “If you girls don’t want to skip classes, I understand, we can get started after. But I think this is worth the time now, to make sure we can do it. It’s up to you.”

Minuette shook her head. “If you need me, I’m here. Classes can wait, friends shouldn’t.”

“Same here,” Lemon added.

Luster lifted her head. “Count me in, too.” Twinkleshine nodded next to her.

Moondancer sighed. “I haven’t skipped class since I was a filly, and that was for a very good reason…”

“We’ll be fine on our own, if you–”

“I wasn’t done,” Moondancer said calmly. “I was going to say, if a friend needs my help and support...that’s probably one of the best reasons I could give. Isn’t it?” She gave Twilight a small smile.

Twilight smiled widely and nodded. “Right. Okay, I already had a work plan for us. Here’s what we need…”

“Hold it steady,” Twinkleshine whispered. The end of the needle moved against the sapphire on the bed and continued carving runes.

“I am,” Luster said, the other end of the needle held in her magic. “I’ve been doing a lot of this myself lately, I’ve developed a very steady grip.”

“I can tell. Thank you.” Twinkleshine lifted the needle and blew away some of the gem dust, then lowered it and continued.

As the two worked at the table, Twilight had laid out a large piece of paper on a tabletop retrieved from Lemon and Minuette’s dorm. On the other side of the bed were Lemon and Moondancer, watching and listening as Twilight scrawled on the paper.

“And account for the psilomb barrier...there.” Twilight double checked the equation she was writing and set her pencil down. “That should work, right?”

Moondancer examined the equation and rubbed her chin. “Hmm...theoretically, yes.”

“Theoretically?”

“Twilight, this is trans-dimensional telepathy. Nopony has ever tried it before.”

“I know, but the fundamentals are the same as teleportation, right?” Twilight gestured to other equations. “It’s the same basic principle, sending a magic wave from a source to a destination. It’s just that instead of being a magic wave from a teleportation spell, it’s a thought wave. So it should be much easier to transmit and require a lot less power.”

“That’s entirely true,” Lemon said, “but we’re still talking about something no one has ever attempted – doing this across dimensions. We could be sending your thoughts to some random point in Equestria, into some abyssal oblivion, a completely different dimension than Sunset’s, or even–”

“I know, I know.” Twilight held up her hoof to stop her. “I’ve had this talk before and done my anxiety attacks over it already. But this isn’t that drastic. Even if the equation is wrong, it’ll be safe to try. It’s not like we’re sending my entire consciousness into the middle of nowhere. A single thought wave, a connection of minds, nothing more.”

“Which is still dangerous, just less than teleportation.” Lemon frowned. “I don’t know…”

“Yes, there is some slight risk. But that’s why we’ll be ready.” Twilight pointed her hoof at Twinkleshine and Luster. “The spell crystal will act as protection to prevent any outside force from connecting with my mind, and you five will act as an emotional and mental anchor. The way this spell is designed, I direct my thoughts where I want them to go, and if something goes wrong, you can cancel the spell and snap me back to my body.”

Moondancer nodded. “The plan is sound. It’s the methodology that we’re still uncertain of. Given what we know of trans-dimensional mechanics, all of this should work. But we’re basing it all on theory and conjecture and unproven science.”

“You’re worried about me.”

“No.” Moondancer winced. “I mean, yes, I am worried about you, of course. I mean that my hesitation on this is more about your hopes. I don’t think you should be expecting much from this attempt. I can’t say if success or failure is more likely, but if we fail, I don’t want you to be too disappointed.”

“Fair enough.” Twilight looked at the equations and took a deep breath. “But...I can’t explain it, but I know it’ll work. Sunset is out there waiting for me. I have to get to her.”

Lemon opened her mouth to ask a question, but paused when the door to the dorm opened.

Minuette stepped into the room with a cardboard box floating next to her. “Alright, I visited our instructors for afternoon classes and explained there was an emergency with Twilight and we went to support her when we found out.” She looked at Twilight. “If anypony asks, it’s a personal thing and you’d prefer not to talk about it. I figured that was the easiest lie to get away with. Sorry if it puts you on the spot.”

Twinkleshine and Luster looked up from their work on the crystal as Minuette set the box on the table. “Also, there’s pizza now. We need to eat sooner or later tonight and this is easy to warm up.”

Luster looked at her. “You lied to the instructors?”

“I didn’t like it either, but we can’t say we just skipped.” Minuette shook her head. “It’ll be fine, Dawny. And, it’s not really a lie, Twilight is dealing with a personal matter and we’re helping her.”

Twinkleshine shrugged. “We’ll just leave out the part where the personal matter is figuring out how to talk to her interdimensional marefriend.”

Twilight’s face turned as red as a tomato. “She is not my marefriend! She is a mare that happens to be a friend, but she oh for the love of Celestia, that doesn’t help, does it?” She slapped a hoof to her forehead.

“Nope.” Twinkleshine grinned.

“Twinkles, don’t tease,” Minuette scolded gently.

“Sunset isn’t…” Twilight stopped and groaned. “Nevermind.”

Luster lifted the crystal the two of them had been carving and peered closely at it. “The spell crystal is ready to go.”

“Good timing, I’m hungry.” Twinkleshine adjusted her chair and flipped open the pizza box.

Twilight blinked and looked up at the clock. Her jaw dropped. “When did it get to seven!?”

“About ten minutes ago,” Lemon said. “I think a dinner break sounds like a great idea. We've been working on these equations all afternoon and my eyes are kinda starting to gloss over.”

“I think allowing our minds a bit of rest would be good, too,” Moondancer chimed in.

As the group clustered around the table, Luster looked at Twilight. “What time should we do the spell?”

“Hm…” Twilight tilted her eyes up. “Midnight. I don’t know when Sunset goes to bed, so there’s no telling if she’ll be awake or not, but that seems a logical time to pick.” She looked back at the sheet of equations. “And it’ll give us time to double-check and triple-check our work.”

She joined the others around the table and lifted a slice of pizza.

“Twilight?”

She looked at Luster.

“Yes?”

“Do you really think this will work?”

Twilight hesitated before giving a short nod. “It will. I know it will.”

Minuette glanced at the clock. “We’re on.”

Twilight looked up from the notebook she was looking over; the clock read eleven fifty-five.

Twinkleshine yawned and sat up in her bed. “Okay.”

At the table doing some homework, Moondancer, Luster and Lemon lifted their heads. “We’re ready,” Lemon said.

The five approached Twilight on her bed. “How does this work, exactly?” Luster asked.

“I’m going to do the hard part of projecting my thoughts to Sunset. Luster, Lemon, and Moondancer, you’re going to be my anchors. Maintain contact with my mind, and if you think I’m in trouble, cut the spell and pull me back. Minuette, you’re going to be using the protection crystal and monitoring it.” Twilight floated it into her hooves and gripped it tightly. “It’ll detect if some sort of foreign magic is reaching out to me. If you read that, tell them and they’ll cut the spell. Twinkleshine, you’re overseeing all of it, make sure nothing else goes wrong.”

The group all nodded. Various glances passed between them; concern, nervousness, excitement.

Twilight took a breath. “Thank you. It means a lot to me to have you with me on this. There’s no other mares I’d trust to help me.”

“And we’re happy to do it,” Minuette said firmly. “Let’s get started.”

“Yes.” Twilight laid back on the bed and set her head on the pillow. She passed the spell crystal to Minuette and watched its magic aura change color and it moved out of her field of view.

“Be careful, Twilight.”

Twilight turned her eyes to the side to see Luster standing over her.

“I will. And I know you girls will be there for me if I need you.”

“Eleven fifty-eight. We should begin,” Moondancer said.

Twilight nodded. “Right. Moondancer, Lemon, Luster. Do it.” She closed her eyes and waited.

Above her the three mares lit their horns. Swirls of magic trailed through the air from their heads and encircled Twilight’s head. On the other side of the bed, Minuette laid the spell crystal on Twilight’s stomach and focused her magic on it.

Twinkleshine looked around the group. “We’re ready. It’s on you now, Twilight.”

Twilight took a deep breath, called on her magic, and mentally recited the absurdly complex equations she had memorized for the past several hours. Her horn lit up magenta, and then the aura expanded over her head, undulating under the bands of magic from her friends.

She steeled herself and cast the spell.

A telepathy spell was one of the most basic spells a unicorn could attempt, only slightly more complex than telekinesis. And while Twilight’s variant of the spell had been heavily modified to cross dimensions, at its core was the same fundamental idea – focus on a mare and a thought, and they would hear you. Once the connection was established, it was like holding a conversation.

But first, that initial connection had to be made.

Sunset Shimmer...where are you?

Bursts of color went off behind Twilight’s eyes and she inhaled sharply. Her body suddenly felt lighter, almost weightless. The fabric of the bed under her faded, the feeling of her friends beside her was lost. She saw an endless expance of colors all around her, felt her hooves moving with no impact or sound. Her ears head silence, but within her head it was another matter.

“What’s happening? I almost lost contact.”

Luster’s voice.

“Be calm, this was expected.”

Moondancer.

“Nothing from the crystal, she’s fine.”

Minuette.

The voices were close in Twilight’s mind. She ignored them. She had to move beyond her friends’ presence, go beyond the bounds of space and time. Push past the horizon at the edge of her dreams and find the mare she knew would be waiting on the other side. The mare she was focusing all her thoughts on.

Amber coat, red and yellow mane with a curl, teal eyes, a warm smile, a cutie mark like the sun. By now she knew what Sunset Shimmer looked like as well as she did her own reflection. She focused harder and the bursts of color around her shifted and swirled again as her mind kept stretching out into the cosmos.

Sunset. Sunset!

Twilight poured all the energy she could muster into her spell, projecting her thoughts into the vastness. If she had done her equations properly, they would find their way to the pony they were meant for. But even assuming her work was correct, trying to actually cast and maintain the spell was a trying effort. She was already beginning to tire, but she knew she couldn’t stop.

Sunset Shimmer!

She kept pushing on, putting more and more magic into the spell. She was vaguely aware it was starting to tax her body, but she ignored it. She felt herself shake and couldn’t tell if it was in her mind or her body. She ignored that, too. She kept picturing the face she was looking for and calling out the name.

Sunset! Please!

The swirls of color began to shift. They became more distinct, blurred but possessing somewhat recognizable shapes. Ponies.

Then…

“Twilight?”

Twilight gasped at the familiar voice. Sunset!

“What is this? I’m not asleep.”

Twilight almost laughed, but as she did the colors began to blur again, and whatever Sunset said next was distorted. No! She concentrated on maintaining the connection and the colors halted.

I did it! I found you. She felt a tear roll down her cheek. It’s true…you’re here, I’m here...

“I passed that test and I don’t care what the instructor says, that theory of magic is wrong!”

“I know, I know, you’ve told us before…”

New voices. Voices Twilight had never heard before. Yet they seemed to be coming from specific directions around her. She turned her mind’s eyes about. There were other blurs of color around her that seemed to be shaped like ponies, but she couldn’t make out details beyond the broad shape of an equine.

Who was that?

“You can hear them?” Sunset asked.

Them?

“My friends. We were hanging out, then you...did this…”

“They expect mindless drones that just do as they’re told. Don’t take it personally.”

“I got that one wrong, too, several students did. It’s not worth arguing over, though.”

“And hey, at least we all passed, right? So there’s that.”

More new voices. Twilight saw a cluster of red and yellow lights ahead of her begin to come into focus. Sunset… She could almost see the familiar teal eyes looking back at her. She focused harder, trying to get a better view.

“I’m here, Twilight.”

Those are your friends?

“Yeah. I guess you’re hearing what I am.”

That shouldn’t be possible, this is just a telepathy spell!

“What?”

“Sunset? You okay? You’re kinda spacing out over there.”

“Twilight?”

The first voice, one of Sunset’s friends. The second, Lemon, or Luster? It was faint, Twilight had trouble recognizing it.

“She’s at the limits of her magic, we need to cut it.”

No! Twilight screamed back as best she could without breaking the connection. I’m fine!

“Twilight, what’s happening?” Sunset asked.

We’re speaking through a telepathy spell I crafted. We’re not in a dream, we’re awake, and we’re speaking. It’s true, all true. We’re in different dimensions! I knew it! Twilight cheered in the confines of her head. Sunset, do you realize what this means?

“You’re serious? You did this, on purpose?”

Yes!

“Whoa...okay…” Sunset sounded nervous. “We’re really in different dimensions...that is...a thing…”

“She looks a little queasy. Sunset, did you eat that week-old bagel I left on the counter?”

“No, that was me.”

“Ew, seriously? That thing had mold on it!”

“Oh, it did not!”

The flurry of voices of Sunset’s friends filled Twilight’s head and she did her best to ignore them. Focus, concentrate. Maintain the connection.

“Twilight, what do we do now?”

I don’t know. But this worked once, it can work again. I’ll find a way. I promise. If we dream about each other tonight, or some other night, we can talk in-depth then. I can even show you how I did it, you could probably manage it yourself.

Twilight grunted. The strain of maintaining the spell was taking its toll, and Sunset’s image began to dissipate. I have to go, I can’t keep this up. But I’ll do it again. I promise.

“Right. I’ll see you, sometime,” Sunset replied. “I have to tell them this. They won’t believe it.”

Your friends...I’d like to meet them.

“I’d like that, too. I have a lot to tell them about you.”

Who are they?

With Twilight’s strength waning, she barely heard Sunset’s reply, but she heard it well enough. She didn’t have the energy to respond and let the spell slip away.

Around her the colors receded and the blur that was the closest she had come to seeing Sunset Shimmer outside of her dreams faded into nothingness. With the color drained, she saw only a black void.

Okay, girls… Twilight thought back to her friends. I’m too weak to keep it up. Bring me back.

After a moment, there was no response.

Moondancer? Luster? Lemon?

Again no answer.

Twilight groaned and reached her thoughts out. She turned her eyes through the mindscape and saw only blackness.

Can anypony hear me?

“What is this?”

A chill ran through Twilight’s body.

“A unicorn?”

A new voice, deep and booming from all around her. Twilight tried to pull back within the mindscape but the voice did not fade.

“Are you lost, little pony? You must be. Nopony would willingly be trapped between dimensions.”

What? She began to panic. No, nonono…

“Yes, yes.” The voice laughed. “I must admit, I am pleased. I have been here so long with nopony else to speak to.”

This is impossible.

“If you believe so, you have a narrow grasp of what is possible. Have the old ways faded from your world? How did you come here?”

I...I wanted to look across dimensions.

“Oh?” The voice sounded amused. “Well, you have succeeded. But it is not quite what you expected, is it?”

I don’t understand...I could see her, but this place...where am I?

“Where are you?” The voice laughed again. “Where do you think you are? If you reached out to another dimension, but are now between them, what possibility does that leave?”

Twilight felt numb. A void... an abyss between dimensions…

“Yes...and you do know what they say about the abyss, don’t you?”

A low chuckle made Twilight’s blood run cold.

“When you gaze into the abyss, sometimes the abyss gazes back!”

A pair of giant, glowing white eyes opened in the middle of nothing, rising high above Twilight and looking directly at her. The laughter deepened, shaking the mindscape around her.

Twilight screamed and frantically reached her thoughts out.

Sunset! Moondancer, Luster, Lemon, Minuette, Twinkleshine, anypony!

“Twilight!”

She couldn’t make out the owner of the voice, but she became aware of her mind being pulled through spacetime. In a rush of color and sensation, the eyes and the laughter faded.

A flash. Twilight gasped and saw Sunset standing right in front of her.

Sunset?

Five swirling orbs of energy circled around Sunset before streaming away to loop around Twilight. She began to back away, but the lights were soothing, warm. They encircled both her and Sunset and moved faster. A rainbow formed in their wake, creating a ring of light around the two of them.

“Twilight Sparkle…”

It was not Sunset who spoke, nor the dark voice from before. She couldn’t even place it as one of Sunset’s friends, or her own. She had never heard it before, but somehow she recognized it.

“The spark has been struck. The link has been forged. Find them. Find us.”

Sunset lit up in orange light and moved towards Twilight, glowing brighter.

“Find them. Find us. It is the key to all. Find us. Find us.”

The words kept repeating louder and louder as Sunset’s light reached Twilight and the lights circling them tightened.

“Twilight!”

With a sudden pop and an inhale of air, Twilight opened her eyes and snapped upright in bed. Sweat rolled down her coat, her eyes were wide, and she was gasping for breath.

“Twilight!”

She couldn’t tell which of her friends had spoken. Her mind still felt detached from her body, everything was being experienced through a muffled filter.

Moondancer came into focus in front of her. “Are you alright?”

Find them...find us…

The words continued repeating in Twilight’s head. She struggled to remember more and thought back to Sunset.

“...paper,” she croaked. Her mouth was dry.

“What?”

“Paper!” she said louder. She heard movement and a piece of paper and a pen were pushed in front of her.

With her magic drained beyond anything she could remember, Twilight propped the paper on one hoof and grasped the pen in the other. She quickly wrote down what she could remember, her hooves shaking and the letters uneven. When she was done she let the pen drop and the paper drop to the bed, unable to even hold them. Her eyes were downcast, unable to focus.

Somepony removed the paper from in front of her.

“Names.” Minuette’s voice. Twilight didn’t raise her head as Minuette read.

“Sunset. Starlight. Trixie. Lyra. Amethyst. Sunburst.”

Twilight gave a weak nod.

“What does this mean, Twilight?”

“They’re...her friends…” Twilight whispered. “We...have to...find them…find...”

She tried to say more, but her voice was too low to hear and she felt herself falling back.

“Twilight!”

The last thing she was aware of was her head hitting the pillow and the ceiling of the room blurring into darkness.

END OF PART TWO

Author's Note

Author's notes

Chapter 17

Twilight’s eyelids fluttered and she let out a low groan. She cracked an eye and saw the ceiling of her dorm room, blurry but coming into focus.

…Sunset?

She slowly blinked open both eyes and laid still. She felt lightheaded and lethargic, and even the idea of trying to move was unappealing. Still, she pushed through it and put a hoof on the bed to push herself up.

The only light in the room came from her bedside lamp, which had been moved to the kitchen table where Moondancer was reading a textbook. Across the table from her, Minuette was asleep with her head in her hooves. Twinkleshine was in her bed; Luster Dawn had managed to squeeze in with her, and Lemon Hearts lay on her back on the floor.

“Girls?” Twilight asked softly.

Moondancer quickly turned her head and gasped. “You’re awake!” She reached across the table and vigorously shook Minuette’s hoof. “Twilight’s awake!” She climbed down from her chair and shook Luster and Lemon next.

The room roused as Twilight’s friends one by one lifted their heads and looked around. Lemon stood up to let Luster out of bed and the group crowded around Twilight.

“You’re still here?” Twilight asked.

“Of course!” Minuette replied. “We were worried about you. We weren’t going anywhere.”

“How do you feel?” Luster asked.

Twilight put her head back down. “Still a bit out of it. Tired.” She wrinkled her brow. “What time is it?”

Twinkleshine looked up at the clock. “About three-thirty.”

“In the morning?” Twinkleshine nodded and Twilight groaned again. “Sorry I woke everypony up.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Lemon scoffed. “We’re glad you’re okay.”

“So am I.” Twilight pushed herself back on the bed so she could sit up and braced against her pillow and headboard.

“Do you remember what happened with Sunset?” Moondancer asked.

The name jolted Twilight’s mind back to what had caused her to pass out in the first place. She inhaled sharply and thought. “I do…everything…”

The five mares listened intently as she continued. “There was a lot of color, and emptiness. But eventually I heard her, and I almost saw her.” Twilight smiled and looked around the group. “I did it. We did it. I was able to make contact with Sunset. We actually spoke.”

“That’s fantastic!” Twinkleshine grinned and clapped her hooves eagerly. “And?”

“It was hard to maintain the connection, and I was more excited over making it in the first place than actually talking…but…” Twilight frowned. “I could hear other voices. She said they were her friends. They were faint, but I heard them.”

Luster turned away and went to the table while Moondancer shook her head. “Twilight, that can’t be possible. A telepathy spell like the one we came up with – especially pushing it to the extreme we did crossing dimensions – can’t connect multiple minds.”

“I know. But I heard them. Sunset even heard me hear them.”

Luster came back and held out a piece of paper. “Here. You wrote this down and said these were their names.”

“I remember.” Twilight took the paper and read it again. “There’s Sunset, of course. Then Starlight, Trixie, Lyra, Amethyst, and Sunburst.”

Minuette hummed thoughtfully. “Names don’t ring a bell at all. I supposed that’s to be expected, alternate dimension, but I mean, they’re just names, right? Nothing special or significant about them?”

“Not that Sunset told me.” Twilight carefully folded up the paper and set it on her nightstand. “That was the last thing I heard before I lost the strength to keep the connection…then…”

The abyss…

Moondancer tapped her hoof to her chin, gaining a thoughtful look.. “We were having trouble holding onto you here, your mind was stretched so thin. Mental magics always have at least a little inherent risk, but with this, it was…”

“It was like trying to stretch a rubber band to its limit and holding it there without it snapping,” Minuette said softly.

Luster nodded. “We were afraid we’d lose you.”

“I think I was,” Twilight said. “Lost, I mean.” She swallowed. “I let the connection go and called back for you, but I couldn’t hear you. And I heard something. A voice.” She shuddered. “I…it was…”

“What?” Lemon asked.

“A shadow.” Twilight grunted and put a hoof to her head. “I know that doesn’t make sense, but it’s the best way I can think to describe it. I could feel it, a shadow over me, deep and looming and frightening and engulfing me…it was just…” She shuddered, wrapping her hooves around her waist.

“A shadow,” Luster repeated. Twilight lowered her hooves and nodded.

“Now I am worried,” Moondancer said sternly. She leaned over and looked Twilight in the eye. “You’re sure you feel alright now? If your mind was disconnected even temporarily, there’s no telling what kind of psychological or biological damage it could do to you.”

“I’m fine, really.” Twilight held up a hoof. “Twilight Sparkle, student at the School for Gifted Unicorns, attending on a scholarship. You five are my best friends, I’m an honor student, and I’m mildly neurotic about my grades. I like reading, cosplay, and board games. Dislikes include pseudoscience, ladybugs, and quesadillas. Memories and personality are all intact.”

Minnuette’s eyes gleamed. “I’m gonna have to update my notes on you,” she whispered to herself. Lemon shushed her.

“At least we saved you from whatever it was,” Luster said.

Twilight tilted her head, staring at nothing in particular. “Actually…I don’t think it was you.” She looked around the group. “I heard a new voice. I recognized it. I don’t know how, I’ve never heard it before, but I recognized it.” She rubbed her head as she struggled to voice the strange experience. “I saw Sunset again, but it wasn’t Sunset. And there was this light, shining brighter and brighter…I heard the voice say, ‘find them. Find us’.”

It was Minuette’s turn to tilt her head. “Them? Us?”

“That’s what it said.”

Moondancer once again tapped her chin. “Very curious. And also very vague. It isn’t much to go on. ‘Them’ and ‘us’ could mean almost anypony. Or not ponies at all.”

Twilight nodded. “I know. I don’t think it means Sunset’s friends, because we just found them, right? Or, maybe it doesn’t count because I didn’t see them…” She held her head and grunted. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, take it easy.” Twinkleshine put a hoof on her shoulder and gently pushed her to lean back into the pillow. “Even if your mind is safe, you’re still exhausted in more ways than one. Don’t push yourself to remember if it’s difficult.”

Twilight yielded and let head head sink into the pillow. “Yeah. Thank you.” She stared at the ceiling and frowned. “I finally got an answer to my question, but now I have half a dozen more.”

The group fell silent, letting the information they had been given sink in.

Luster broke the quiet first, clearing her throat. “Sooo, maybe a blunt question, but…what now?” She looked between the other ponies. “I mean, okay. We’ve confirmed Sunset is in another dimension, we’ve got a vague lead on some group of ponies – maybe – to find. And maybe find out what that dark shadow-thing was. But even if we have these leads, what do we do with them?”

“A fair question,” Moondancer replied. “The clues don’t give us a lot to go on. Was there anything else, Twilight?”

She bowed her head and let out a long sigh. She closed her eyes and replayed the vision.

It was Sunset, but not…I knew the voice, but I didn’t…it was something deeper…

“Twilight?”

“There were lights,” she said softly. She slowly opened her eyes. “Five gleaming lights circling Sunset.”

“...Lights.” Moondancer took a deep breath. “Still not much.”

“Sorry.” Twilight sighed. “I wish I had more to say, but…”

“But nothing,” Twinkleshine said firmly. “If you think of anything else, you can let us know when you do.” She shook her head. “I want answers too, but not if it means putting you at risk. Especially if we don’t know the dangers involved in this spell you created.”

“I agree,” Luster chimed in. “For now we should look into what happened to you and make sure it’s safe to try again, and if it is then we can talk about trying again.”

“May I raise a suggestion?” Moondancer asked. Twilight lifted her head and the others turned to her. “Perhaps it would be time to consult with Princess Celestia about this.”

“Celestia…” Twilight murmured. “She lied to me, Moondancer. Whatever is going on with Sunset and this other dimension, she’s keeping it from me. She’s been watching over my shoulder for who-knows how long. Remember when she denied me access to the restricted section when I wanted to research trans-dimensional teleportation?”

“Yes, and why did she do that?” Moondancer replied. “She warned you that poking into other dimensions was dangerous and there’s no telling what could happen. Clearly she was correct. We can’t rule out a more nefarious motive, but it’s just as plausible she was trying to protect you.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “I admit you have a good point. But even if that were the case, it still means she’s not likely to tell us anything to help us. She knows about Sunset, so one way or the other she’s keeping things from me. If I tell her we tried this spell – nevermind taking a book from the restricted section to help me – she’ll probably be furious, and almost certainly will try to stop us from investigating further.”

Sighing, Twinkleshine gave a deep frown. “Twilight’s right, we have to do this on our own. I don’t like to say it out loud, but the harsh truth is that until we know more about what she’s up to, we can’t trust Celestia.”

We can’t trust Celestia… Twilight had felt that way for a while now, but to actually hear it vocalized made her shudder. Whatever forces they were playing with, she had caught the Princess’ attention. The gravity of the situation seemed more dire as the realization set in. But I have to know. Whatever is happening between me and Sunset, we’re part of this now. This isn’t chance or coincidence, this is destiny.

“Well,” Luster began, “seeing as we have very little to go on and can’t begin researching right away anyway, perhaps we should call it a night? Its almost four in the morning now and I’m sure we’re all still tired.”

“Indeed,” Moondancer said.

Minuette nodded. “Thank goodness it’s a weekend.”

Lemon looked Twilight over. “You’re absolutely sure you’re okay?”

“I am.” Twilight smiled and looked over the group. “Thank you. Without you girls I wouldn’t have been able to take these next steps towards unraveling this mystery. Whatever comes next, knowing we’ll face it together, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Twilight?”

Twilight paused mid-paragraph and turned her head, illuminated by the glow of a small jewel set on the table.

Twinkleshine sat up in bed and yawned. “You’re still awake?”

Twilight looked up at the clock. “It’s almost nine?” She blinked and looked back at the journal in front of her. “I didn’t realize it was morning.” She lit her horn and deactivated the light-emitting jewel.

Twinkleshine threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. She scratched her calf and approached the table. “What have you been doing?”

“I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I thought I’d do something productive and quiet.” Twilight gestured a hoof over her journal. “I’d been re-reading my reports on my dreams about Sunset. I thought maybe I’d find a clue to that shadowy thing or the mysterious lights, or anything.”

“And?”

“Not a thing.” Twilight shook her head and scanned the page again. It was an earlier entry, shortly after she had begun grilling Sunset about her life over suspicions of her being Luster Dawn. “I admit, looking back at them over time and with a more analytical eye, they’re not as helpful as I could have made them.”

Twinkleshine walked behind her to the kitchen counter. “How so?”

“Listen to this.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Sunset does well in most of the same subjects I’m studying, but it sounds like she doesn’t really care for book work, she prefers to learn hooves-on. I’ve always envied ponies that can absorb information from practical experience like that. I told her I’m more of a book learner, it’s easier to take things in when I have a simple list or chart in front of me. She replied that staring at lists makes her eyes glaze over.

She finished and lifted her head. “See what I mean?”

“Uh, no?” Twinkleshine had gotten down a box of cereal and was getting milk out of the fridge.

“Even at the time, I was suspicious she may have been Luster Dawn. I should have been taking notes on her physicality, her vocal inflections, subtle cues that might have helped me figure it out either way. But no, I focused just on the conversation.” Twilight glared at the page and flipped through the journal. “Most of the entries are like that, increasingly so as time went on. I made observations of facts where I remembered, but not as many as I could have – or should have.”

“That entry sounds to me like you were just remembering a chat with a friend.” Twinkleshine set a bowl of cereal on the other side of the table, and one in front of Twilight above her journal. “Here, if you’re not sleepy yet you may as well have breakfast.”

“Oh, thank you.” Twilight watched as her roommate sat across from her and dug into her cereal. She glanced back at the journal. “You’re right, it’s anecdotes of conversations with a friend. The problem is I lost sight of what I should have been doing all along – getting answers. I always went to bed intending to ask questions, but even when I asked them, I barely wrote down the answers. I just remembered getting them.”

“Hey, time flies when you’re on a date.”

Twilight felt her face heat. “Will you stop that?” she hissed.

Twinkleshine smirked and rolled her eyes. “Stop what?”

“Sunset and I are…not…that.”

“Twilight, she is literally the mare of your dreams.”

“Oh, come on!” Twilight shook her head. “That is totally twisting the situation! I don’t know what caused this, it could be anything.”

“Yeah, sure. But look at you now, you’re obsessed with her. You have been since the start. You’re doing your darn thesis on these dreams!”

“Because they’re a fascinating and engaging mystery to unravel!” Twilight insisted.

“Maybe.” Twinkleshine popped a spoon of cereal in her mouth, chewed, and held up a hoof to make Twilight pause until she was done. “But look at your own journal notes. You said it yourself – it’s more like anecdotes of a friend than studying a subject.”

“Because Sunset is a friend.”

“Duh.” Twinkleshine propped her head on her hoof. “I’m being real here, Twilight. I ain’t gonna say the L-word, but I’ll use a L-word – you like Sunset. Like like her.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Twilight hid her burning face in her bowl and quickly slurped up a few spoons.

“You think so?” Twinkleshine let her spoon clatter in the bowl to make Twilight raise her head. “Let’s try an experiment.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes and gave her a dubious look. “Okay…”

“Lean back, close your eyes, and relax.”

“Why?”

“Trust me.”

Twilight thought for a moment, then settled back in her chair and closed her eyes.

“Now, think about Sunset Shimmer and a specific moment with her. Nothing specific, just whatever comes to mind.”

Sunset…

Twilight pictured the mare and let her mind wander.

We had the best conversations in the library. It always felt like we were most comfortable there. We met for the first time there, we talked about friends and studying there. There were nights we just sat at the center tables and talked until I woke up. I don’t even remember what about every time, but looking at her and listening to her and trying to help her with her problems, and knowing she’d be willing to do the same if I needed it…

“You’re smiling.”

Twilight’s eyes popped open. “What?”

“You have a happy little smile on your face.”

Twilight sputtered, “I-I do not!”

“You totally do.” Twinkleshine smiled wide. “All ribbing aside, Twilight, you don’t need to be embarrassed or anything. She sounds like a great girl. Plus, consider this: if you’re planning on trying that mental telepathy spell again, you’re going to need to concentrate on making that contact and maintaining it. Everypony knows that a calm, clear emotional state is key to focusing unicorn magic properly.” She lifted a spoon of cereal and gestured it towards Twilight. “Just think about it, hm? Being honest with yourself can only help.”

Twilight didn’t reply and Twinkleshine went back to eating. She leaned forward to go back to her own cereal, and her eyes shifted over to the journal, still open to a past entry – the night she had suggested meeting up outside the dreams.

Sunset, I hope we can finally meet up tomorrow. I want to be able to see you in person and introduce you to all my friends. We could even have lunch with them. We have so much to talk about.

She lit her horn to gently close the journal and continued eating breakfast.

Author's Note

I'm aware this chapter is short, but I felt there wasn't much more to depict than getting into deeper content that would make it extra long, and a warm-up chapter to set up the final part of the story seems appropriate as well.

Chapter 18

On the one hoof, Twilight now had her muzzle buried in dangerous and conspiratorial mysteries that transcended the boundaries of dimensions and could influence a pony’s thoughts and dreams.

On the other hoof, she was still enrolled in SGU and her dignity demanded she keep her grades above a respectable standard, no matter how pressing the issue of Sunset Shimmer may be.

“Can anypony read this?” Twinkleshine held a notebook out across the table. Twilight lifted her head but Minuette was already examining the text.

“Fifteen millilitres.”

“Thanks.” Twinkleshine pulled her book back and sniffed. “I hate when I can’t read my own writing.”

“Mood,” Minuette agreed, and the three mares went back to their studying.

It was Sunday just after lunch when the group had gotten together at Minuette and Lemon’s dorm for a study session. Twilight, Twinkleshine, and Minuette had staked out the table while Luster and Moondancer had each chosen one of the beds. Lemon Hearts had left on a personal errand and hadn’t returned yet. The collective plan was to get as much studying done as possible before going to a party for Twinkleshine's little sister.

Twilight chewed the end of her pencil as she stared at her notes from her Advanced Spellcasting class. As much as Twilight prided herself on being a dedicated student, and particularly enjoyed Professor Cross’ lectures, the simple fact that it was the first class of Friday morning meant it tended to be a blur sometimes, even on good days.

Is this formula correct? She checked the equation that ran the width of the page, and smiled. Good. She looked further down the page – a series of calculations for channelling magic in different ways from a charged object a distance away. One by one she checked them off and smiled.

“When was the first weather factory built?” Luster mumbled.

Moondancer didn’t raise her head from her textbook as she responded, “731.”

“Thank you.”

Twilight stuck her pencil in her ear and sat back. “Spellcharging practice quiz number four done. I am ready for the text on Friday!” She beamed proudly.

“Nice.” Minuette nodded. “I need to get to those after prepping for alchemy. Should have done it this morning, but I had the choice to either study or bake and only had enough time to do one.”

Twilight turned to the kitchen counter and levitated a cupcake with blue icing over to her. “Normally I would disapprove of your decision, but under the circumstances, I’ll abstain.” She peeled the wrapper off the treat and bit in.

“It still counts,” Minuette said defensively. “I used the opportunity to try a new flavour formula for my thesis.”

Twilight paused mid-chew to register the taste in her mouth. “Fay wha?” she mumbled.

Minuette noticed and waved a hoof. “Nothing gross or experimental. Best case scenario, it’ll taste like strawberries. Worst case, it’s inert and tastes like a cupcake.”

Twilight slowly resumed chewing. Her eyes widened and she chewed with new enthusiasm. “Bes cay fenario!” she said happily.

“Toss one over here, please!” Luster called. Twinkleshine had already floated one in front of her, and levitated it across the room to Luster while taking a second for herself.

The door of the room rapped three times and Minuette turned her head. “Hm, Lemon’s back early.” She hopped down from her chair, trotted to the door, and pulled it open.

“I’m looking for Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight paused at the gruff, unfamiliar voice. She got off her chair and walked to see who was at the door.

A member of the royal guard.

Twilight had been given detention once in her life. She had let a friend copy her answers on a quiz, which had included a short answer question at the end. The next day the teacher had her remain behind when the rest of the class left for lunch, and then took her to the principal’s office to have a talk about plagiarism. As she followed behind her teacher, everypony they passed looked at the two, the sight itself being enough to inform them she was in trouble.

She felt the same way now as the royal guard escorted her to the castle. Off the SGU grounds, through Canterlot, and up the promenade that wound up to the castle gates. Twilight kept her head down, but she could feel ponies looking at her and could swear she heard them whispering.

Once within the castle grounds the stares stopped, but Twilight didn’t feel any better. She cleared her throat as the guard led her through the castle doors.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where we’re going, and why?”

“That is not my concern, ma’am,” he replied stiffly. “I was ordered to bring you to see the Princess.”

Twilight nodded, though he couldn’t see it, and took a deep breath. It’s fine. Maybe she wants to talk to me about school, or my dreams…it doesn’t have to be something bad…so why do I feel it is?

The guard led Twilight down the eastern wing of the castle and up several flights of stairs. The castle all blurred together into an endless hallway of gleaming marble walls and red and gold tapestries and carpets. Finally, at a pair of doors marked with a sun emblem, the guard came to a halt. Two other guards stood at either side and nodded towards him, then looked at Twilight. The guard that had escorted her turned around.

“The Princess is waiting for you.” He stepped aside and gestured a hoof.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped forward. The guards pulled open the doors and she ascended a flight of stairs. These stairs were wider and at a smaller angle, which made the ascent seem longer.

When Twilight reached the top, she paused to take in her new surroundings. A large circular chamber spread around her, decorated with statues and paintings and tapestries. But they were different from the ones in the castle; they were more unique and looked like a collection of baubles and objects. A personal collection outside of the castle’s usual decorations. The doorways were open and wide, and the walls were a gentle, pastel purple. Sunlight streamed down from a large domed ceiling, and a chandelier with crystals in many colours cast rainbow rays on the upper walls.

This place felt very different from the rest of the castle, and as Twilight’s awe wore off, she realised why.

These are Celestia’s chambers.

“Twilight.”

She turned and lifted her head. She hadn’t noticed which room Celestia had come from or heard her approach.

The Princess did not look happy. Twilight couldn’t recall if she had ever seen Celestia angry, and even so the expression on her face wasn’t how she would have pictured it. But it still didn’t set her at ease. Celestia inclined her head towards another room and turned to walk toward it, and Twilight was left to follow. They passed one of the doorways to a room that reminded her very much of Celestia’s office at SGU, down to the desk’s position relative to the window and other pieces in the room. Her castle office, I suppose.

“Sit down, Twilight.” Celestia moved behind the desk. Twilight took one of the chairs in front of it and sat as ordered.

“Is something wrong, Princess?” she asked, trying not to sound nervous.

In response, Celestia’s horn lit in pale yellow, and an old book with a silver swirl on the cover floated up beside her.

Twilight felt her heart skip a beat.

Celestia spoke with a calm tone as she looked the journal over. “The restricted section is home not only to books not authorised for mass reading, but also texts that are too damaged and weathered to withstand frequent use and exposure to the elements. Some are even both. Like this one, for instance. That is why we enchant them to allow us to locate them easily should they be removed from the room and misplaced.” She carefully set the book down on her desk and looked at Twilight.

Twilight stared at the book and took a deep breath. She should be angry. She’s right to be angry. Does she know I know? Does she think I just stole a book, or that it was an accident? If she was actually angry, she’d be acting angry, wouldn’t she?

“Twilight.”

The Princess’ voice cut through her panicked thoughts, and she slowly raised her eyes from the book to the Princess. Now she wore a look that Twilight certainly recognized, from her own mother: disappointment.

“Why? I know from the logs you haven’t been to the restricted section since our prior check, which means you somehow snuck in and stole this book without us realising. And I cannot fathom what would drive such a responsible and diligent student to do such a thing.”

“I…” Twilight licked her lips. “I needed it for research.”

“You could have simply requested access. I wouldn’t have denied you.”

In that moment, Twilight saw the obvious path of where the conversation was headed. Yet instead of worrying her, it brought her a sense of clarity to know. She steeled herself and replied, “I wanted to access the restricted section without you knowing.”

“Why?”

“I would have gone looking for specific things. Things I didn’t trust you to let me find.”

Celestia recoiled and her eyes widened. That was another look Twilight was not used to seeing on her: genuine surprise and a tinge of hurt. She shook her head and leaned over the desk. “Twilight, what are you saying? What have I ever done to make you suspicious of me?”

Twilight looked into her eyes and spoke her next words firmly.

“I know about the other dimension.”

Celestia drew her head back and paused, watching her closely.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Twilight found herself unable to keep from continuing. “The other dimension ruled by your sister, Princess Luna. The dimension where Sunset Shimmer lives, the dimension I think I’m seeing in my dreams. And I know you know about it and lied to me about it. I have no idea how long you’ve been lying to me, or what about, or if you’ve been manipulating things without me knowing.” Twilight stood up and put her hooves on the desk. “I needed answers, answers I know you have and are keeping from me. So I went behind your back.”

As she kept speaking, she saw Celestia’s expression slowly fade to one of neutrality. When she finished, she took a breath from her outburst but stayed where she was. There was no backing down now.

Celestia turned away and looked out the window. Twilight watched as she ruffled her wings, beat a hoof on the ground, and shifted her eyes back and forth. It was a long time before she spoke again, and when she did her voice was soft.

“If we’re going to have this conversation, you need to promise me that nothing we say will leave this room. For the sake of Equestria.” She turned around. “Promise me, Twilight.”

“For the sake of Equestria?” Twilight asked. Celestia nodded deeply. Twilight lowered herself from the desk. “Alright. I promise. But promise me you won’t lie to me about what I want to know.”

“I can promise that if I don’t need to lie, I won’t.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“It will have to be.” Celestia shook her head. “Twilight, there are things at play you don’t understand—that you can’t understand. Not just you, all of Equestria. Some secrets are not meant to be known, and some things are better left in the dark than brought to the light.”

The glowing eyes in the void crept into Twilight’s mind. She shuddered a little but pushed the memory aside.

“Fair enough.” She sat on the chair again. “Okay, I accept those terms. First things first then – everything I said is true? Luna, Sunset, they live in an alternate dimension?”

“Yes.”

A rush flooded Twilight’s senses and she almost fell out of the chair. She had learned the truth herself, but to actually hear it from Celestia’s lips, for her to admit it, it suddenly seemed even more tangible and real. She put a hoof on her chest and breathed.

Celestia continued. “Luna rules a world parallel to our own, her own Equestria. But we collaborated on our efforts to build a school in our respective versions of Canterlot. That is how the School for Gifted Unicorns, including the layout of its grounds, is identical between worlds. That world is where Sunset Shimmer lives and attends Luna’s SGU.”

Twilight nodded. “And the dreams?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia held up a hoof as if to stop her. “And that is the truth, I promise you. My sister is the foremost expert on dream magics in either world, and neither of us has any idea what is causing your dreams. I don’t know how extensively she has studied them through Sunset, but neither she or I has had any involvement otherwise.”

“But…” Twilight frowned. “Then what could be causing them? Dreams that transcend dimensions?”

“I honestly have no idea.” Celestia’s face mirrored Twilight’s. “It is something neither of us have ever encountered across centuries of separation. Communicating using dreams is not unheard of, but there’s limits to what can be done the same as any other form of telepathy. And we’re not even sure if your dreams are telepathy, or something else.”

“But if you don’t know what’s causing the dreams, how did you realise what they meant in regards to the other world?” Twilight asked.

“You mentioned Sunset’s conflict with a fellow student. I recognised the name as a member of the nobility in Luna’s world; she’s mentioned him on occasion as a trouble student. I asked her and she confirmed her SGU has a student named Sunset Shimmer. A few other cursory details confirmed my suspicions.” Celestia eyed Twilight. “I must ask you the same thing – how did you realise I knew?”

“When I came to you about Luna, you mentioned my dreams. I’d never told you where I heard the name.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed and she looked a bit sheepish. “I am not surprised I slipped. I am not used to discussing my sister this openly.”

Twilight considered herself for a moment, then slowly stepped around the desk. “It was when I realised you knew without being told that you were lying to me about the dreams. I got paranoid, anxious. I thought you may have known longer, lied to me about other things…” She stopped when she was in front of Celestia. “That was why I wanted to get into the restricted section without you knowing. I wasn’t sure what you might be hiding from me.”

“I can understand that rationale, even if I cannot condone it. You’re right, Twilight, I was not telling you the full truth and you had fair reason to be concerned about why that may be.” Celestia gestured to the journal on her desk. “However, that doesn’t explain why you removed this book from the restricted section.”

“I thought it could help me.” Twilight looked at the book and tilted her head. “Something about it seemed to catch my eye, and when I accidentally knocked it off the shelf, it began talking about the solar system. I wanted to study it closer to see if I could learn anything.”

“And did you?”

“Yes.” Twilight smiled, proud in spite of her misdemeanour. “I figured out that the book’s studies on the correlation to pony magic and celestial bodies suggest that magic would be at its strongest when the moon is full. Whatever sort of spell is connecting me and Sunset, it’s at its most powerful at night, and that’s how we’re able to communicate in the dreams.”

“I see.” Celestia slowly nodded and looked the journal over. “That is a sound theory…though still missing some details.”

“Yes, I know. I’m sure that the dreams have become more common over the school year because of the dual eclipse approaching. But how and why, I’m not sure. I’m also not sure what to make of this book detailing a celestial model with only one moon.” Twilight put her hooves on Celestia’s desk and leaned in to look at the journal. “There’s two, we see them in the sky every night. But the book suggests a model with one, and all the magical equations I’ve looked up only make sense if there is only one. How is that possible?”

She scratched her head and lifted the journal over to her in an aura of magic. “There’s something here I’m missing, and I know I’m not seeing it, but I can’t figure it out…”

“That’s enough for now, Twilight.” The magic aura over the book shifted and Celestia took it from her and set it back down.

Twilight watched the Princess’ face and gave a small frown. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Celestia hesitated a moment before answering. “Yes. But that is another question I can’t answer.” She gave Twilight a stern look and knelt to be at eye level with her. “Twilight, whatever you may think of me and my secrecy, what I am about to say is the absolute truth. You are asking dangerous questions with very dangerous answers. I sincerely wish I could say more, but for your own safety, it is best that I say nothing. Do you understand?”

The look in Celestia’s eyes made Twilight’s heart pound. She indeed recognized this expression – concern, caution. Maybe even fear.

What would the Princess be afraid of?

“Yes, Princess.” Twilight bowed her head. “I believe you. And I’m sorry I’ve been suspicious of you and broke rules. I just…” she sighed and glanced at the journal again. “I want answers.”

“I know, Twilight.” Celestia smiled and put a hoof on her chin to tilt her head up. “If I’ve learned anything about you over these last three years, it’s that your curiosity and thirst for knowledge are your best, most defining traits. Whatever is happening to you, it’s mysterious and fascinating indeed. Somehow you and Sunset have forged a bond beyond what even an alicorn’s understanding of magic can explain.”

Twilight blushed. “I don’t know if I would go that far. Like you said, this is mysterious, there’s no telling what caused it. It could have happened by chance or coincidence.”

“I am not one to believe in coincidences of such magnitude…but yes, you may be right. All the same, it is something to be explored. You’re doing your thesis on these dreams, yes?” Twilight nodded. “Then I encourage you to use all resources you can to research them further.”

“I will.” Twilight slowly smiled and tilted her head, trying to look innocent. “I don’t suppose I could use the journal for my research?” She lifted her head up.

“I will consider it.”

Twilight did a double take and slumped back. “Wait, really?”

Celestia gave her a knowing look. “I’ll have to look at it more closely to make sure there is nothing in it that should be kept away from overly-curious unicorns. But, if it contains nothing of the sort, and if it can be of help to you, I may be willing to authorise you to examine it more in the future.”

Twilight smiled more sincerely. “Thank you, Princess.”

“I’ll also have a talk with Luna about your theories on the moons and their correlation with your dreams of Sunset. She may be able to offer some insights.”

Wait. “You keep saying that you’ve spoken to Luna, or that you can. How?”

Celestia held up a hoof and shook her head. “That is another question I’m not willing to answer. Not for safety, but for privacy. But yes, we have a way to speak. Though it is quite different from how you and Sunset do it.”

“Do you mean like a telepathy spell or something?” Twilight hoped she had phrased the question to sound innocuous.

“No, nothing like that. Interdimensional telepathy is something I’m quite sure would be near-impossible.”

“Oh, okay.” She did her best to sound disappointed. Yet Sunset and I were able to do it. How, why? Did we pull off a spell even Celestia thinks can’t be done? What kind of power is this?

“If there is nothing else…” Celestia’s voice made Twilight focus on her again. “I will overlook this transgression, for now. I’ll tell Raven it was a mistake on your part, that you removed the book by accident.”

“Ah, actually she may wonder how that’s possible when I haven’t been in the restricted section for a while,” Twilight replied.

“True…” Celestia’s eyes lifted slightly. “How did you manage to sneak in, by the way?”

“A spell I learned last year to enter a book. More a novelty than anything practical, but I used it to slip in through a friend’s notebook.”

“Clever.” Celestia smiled, then quickly frowned. “And concerning. Your stunt aside, we’ll have to look into stronger security measures. I’m sure you understand that you are to never try such a trick again and not tell anypony else about it.”

“Absolutely not.” Twilight mimed a zipper pulling over her muzzle.

“Good. Then I’ll allow you to be on your way.” Celestia bowed her head. “Assuming you have nothing else to bring to my attention, that is.”

Do I? Twilight had kept quiet about her telepathy experiment. Celestia was still keeping some secrets, so it seemed only fair Twilight kept her own, too. Besides, she wasn’t going to be trying it again anytime soon, and if she did she’d take extra precautions against…whatever it was she had seen. Should I tell her about the shadow? No, definitely not… she gasped suddenly. Is that what she meant by the dangers of this knowledge? Would she know what it was?

“Twilight?”

“Er…” she shook her head. “I was just thinking things over…there is one last thing.” She thought back beyond the shadow to the vision of the not-Sunset pony that had spoken to her. How to phrase this without being suspicious? “I’ve had…um…glimpses of things, sometimes. More vague impressions…” she rocked her head. “Does the number five have any significance to anything we’ve talked about?”

“Five? Five what?”

“Anything.” Twilight pictured the five stars circling her, glowing with light. “Five objects, five ponies…five days, maybe? I’ve just gotten the idea that the number five is important, somehow.”

“I see.” Celestia looked off and fell into thought. Twilight waited patiently for several seconds until she looked back. “Nothing comes to mind, but I’ll look into that as well.”

“Alright.” Twilight smiled. “Thank you again, Princess Celestia.”

“You’re very welcome.” Celestia put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Whatever is happening to you, Twilight, I promise you, we’ll figure it out. And hopefully someday soon, circumstances allow, I’ll be able to share the full truth with you as well.”

“I hope so, too. Thank you.”

Somehow, she had the nagging thought that she had already gotten closer to the truth than Celestia had.

Lemon Hearts groaned and put her hooves over her ears. “Somepony please make that music stop.”

Moondancer looked across the large, dimly-lit room, decorated in bright pastel colours on the walls and floors that were further punctuated by rainbow strobe lights spinning overhead. Several game machines filled one corner of the room, and a group of foals were crowded around one particular machine. “It’s a dancing game. With a line-up.”

Lemon groaned louder in response.

Luster rubbed her forehead. “Why are we here again?”

“Because I asked you to come so I didn’t have to be the only pony here who isn’t a foal or my parents,” Twinkleshine spoke as she brought over a tray with drink cups and a large plate of nachos and set it on the table. “And because as a family member I am obligated to attend my little sister’s birthday party–” A loud, high-pitched cheer came from the crowd and she winced and flattened her ears. “Regardless of if Stardust chose the most obnoxious, noisy, blindingly colourful entertainment venue in all of Equestria.”

Lemon looked at her as she passed out the drinks. “I would have thought Princess Playtime’s Party Palacewould be right up your alley. Games, music, junk food…”

“It was, when I was five.” Twinkleshine pulled her chair out to sit down. “Arcade? Kiddie stuff with dollar-store prizes. Music? Saccharine. Food is good but way overpriced. And everything else here is for foals.”

“Fair points.” Minuette nodded. “Even when I was young, I always preferred Recreation Station.”

“Yes!” Twinkleshine pumped her hoof. “Now that’s a venue! Laser tag, rock climbing, an arcade with prizes actually worth winning? Sign me up!” She reached across the table and hoofbumped Minuette.

“I’m here!” The group turned their heads to see Twilight walk across the floor, stopping briefly when a trio of colts ran in front of her without pause. She waved at her friends as she got to the table. “I saw the note on the door when I came back. I forgot the party was today.”

“Surprised you made it,” Twinkleshine replied. “We were placing bets if Princess Celestia was going to lock you up or let you graduate early..”

“Har har.” Twilight sat down and rolled her eyes. Then her expression turned serious. “Actually, um…maybe let’s lean in a bit.” She gestured her hoof towards her and the five mares stretched across the table. “Celestia found out about the book I took from the restricted section.”

“WHAT!?” Moondancer screeched, jumping out of her seat.

“I didn’t tell her it was because of you!” Twilight said hurriedly. “Sit down.” Moondancer eyed her but lowered herself back into her chair. Twilight continued. “I called her out on lying to me, and to my surprise, she fessed up. A long talk, bottom line is that I was right. Sunset lives in another dimension ruled by Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna.”

“Whoa,” Lemon whispered.

“I know. But, she’s just as in the dark as I am about the dreams. She said she’s gonna check some stuff and get back to me, but Celestia really has no idea what’s causing them.”

Luster pursed her lip. “That’s…something. Not sure if it’s good or bad.”

“Me neither. For now though, it at least means the Princess and I are being more open with each other. Not entirely, but more.”

“Good.” Twinkleshine nodded. “I really don’t want to have to be suspicious of Celestia, of all ponies.”

“Agreed.” Twilight slouched slightly and smiled. “So, now that we don’t have to, we can have a fun night out partying.”

Another burst of music reached the table amid more cheers.

Lemon rolled her eyes. “You’d think they’d get tired of the same song over and over and over…”

Minuette shook her head. “They’re foals, they’ll listen to the same song non-stop for days.”

Twinkleshine looked at Moondancer, who was watching the foals and slightly bobbing her head. “I’m surprised you’re not as annoyed as the rest of us,” she said. “I thought you hated loud music?”

Moondancer gave a small shrug and smile. “Actually, this specifically is a little nostalgic for me. My parents brought me here all the time as a foal to try and get me to socialise more. It never worked, but I didn’t dislike it. In hindsight they were rather fun.”

Lemon smiled. “My best birthday was when my parents took me to see a play and surprised me by revealing they had invited my entire class to come see it too. We had the theatre to ourselves for the day, and they even let us go on-stage to check out the sets and talk to the actors.”

“I remember that. Play wasn’t that good, but your mom makes the best cake.” Twinkleshine licked her lips. “Again, Recreation Station for me. I loved the moonwalk simulator until they took it out. You haven’t had a birthday until you’ve had it upside down on the ceiling.”

Minuette giggled. “I preferred the laser tag myself. Mom always sprang for it every year. Perk of being an only foal. Plus, I made sure there were lots of goodies. Classmates asked to come to my parties.”

“Guilty as charged,” Twilight said sheepishly. “My parents liked to keep things small, just me and my brother at home with a handful of friends. But we definitely had fun thanks to Dad’s tabletop gaming collection. He still knows the third edition of Ogres & Oubliettes like the back of his hoof.”

“Family of nerds,” Twinkleshine whispered loudly. Twilight nodded proudly and held up her nose.

Minuette looked across the table. “What about you, Luster? Where was your favourite place to party?”

“Me?” Luster shook her head. “I didn’t really.”

Minuette did a double take. “Huh?”

Luster shrugged. “I just had some cake and gifts with my parents and maybe some extended family that were free. Occasionally we’d go out to a nice restaurant or a park or something earlier in the afternoon. But we kept things low-key and quiet.”

“That’s nice too, I’m sure.” Moondancer nodded. “As long as you enjoyed yourself, that’s what’s most important.”

“Exactly, and I did.” Luster lifted her head and looked around. “Erm, where’s the restrooms?”

Twinkleshine pointed. “Past the food counters, on the left.”

“Thanks.”

Luster stepped back from the table and the group watched to make sure she went the right direction.

“So,” Twinkleshine began, “if we’re here, we may as well have what fun six adults can. Who wants to hit the arcade when they finally lose interest.”

Lemon nodded. “That sounds…er, Minuette?”

The girls looked at their friend.

Minuette sat hunched over the table, hooves squarely on top of it. She was staring in the direction Luster had walked, eyes narrow and almost glowing in the low lighting of the venue.

“What’s wrong?” Moondancer asked.

“I remember my notes on her,” Minuette whispered. She grinned widely, teeth gleaming. “I have her likes, her dislikes…and her birthday is next month.”

Twilight paled. “Anypony else suddenly getting scared?”

“That mare…”

“Oh dear,” Moondancer groaned.

“Is gonna get…”

Lemon covered her eyes. “Somepony get the net.”

“The biggest, bestest…”

Twinkleshine shrank back in her seat. “Too late for nets…”

“Birthday bash I have ever given ANYPONY!” Minuette jumped on the table and thrust her hooves into the air.

The other four all let their heads hit the table.

“This will end in either celebration, or catastrophe,” Twilight mumbled.

“You speak as though those are mutually exclusive options for her,” Moondancer replied.

Chapter 19

Across nearly two dozen classes this semester at SGU, there was only one where Twilight sat alone without any of her friends to join her. On the one hoof, she fully understood why none of them took the class with her; they had their own viewpoints and opinions and she respected them. On the other hoof, sometimes she wished she had agreed with them and dropped it for Artistic Studies so she could be with her friends, painting and sculpting clay instead of listening to the dull drone of the campus’ most boring instructor.

“The ancient earth ponies believed that the position of the moon affected their crop production, and they tried to plant on the day of a full moon to maximise the yield.” Professor Byblo paused to adjust his square-frame glasses, and then continued to speak in a slow, plodding monotone to the half-empty lecture hall. “Some stories claim that in the far north, ponies slept in the day and awoke at dusk, so they could work their fields by the moonlight. Although there’s no concrete historical evidence of this, folk tales of the yaks talk about a night goddess who lived in the forest tending seedlings…”

Twilight sighed and scratched her head. She distantly remembered Luster’s quip about students bringing pillows to Ancient History, so long ago when they had first met. At the time she had been indignant, but today especially she found herself concurring. The problem with the course was its time frame – Ancient History explored the time before Equestria was founded, and by the nature of the period, most records were apocryphal, word-of-mouth stories passed down the generations and translated between ancient languages before a unified alphabet existed. The result was that nothing one learned about the time could be taken at face-value, it was almost certainly distorted over retellings, if it was true at all.

“Many races had stories of deities or spirits that served similar roles. Night gods associated with agriculture exist in the zebra tribes, where they brought rain, and in the griffon lands they believed spirits visited their homes in the night to bless their eggs. It can’t be ruled out that some of these stories may have a common basis, but nothing has been proven.”

That could be a marketing slogan for this class. ‘It can’t be ruled out, but nothing has been proven’. Twilight sighed softly. When this class was engaging, it was very engaging, but when it was dull, it was unbearable. She could tell that Byblos was genuinely knowledgeable about the topics he covered, but he had the charisma of a wet sponge.

“However, the ancient dragons placed no particular importance on the night. They valued fire, naturally, and so worshipped a trio of sun spirits embodying light, heat, and stone. Legends say the spirits wove their powers together to create the first dragon eggs…”

Twilight tuned out the lesson – much as it shamed her to behave so, it wasn’t her first time, and she suspected Byblos knew that several of his students did it. Fortunately note-sharing and homework would cover anything she missed. And at least she wasn’t so audacious as to skip class outright. Instead she pulled a different notebook out of her bag and cracked it open. Can brush up on today’s astronomy lesson.

With the dual eclipse closer than ever, Doctor Turner was focusing his classes more and more on the upcoming phenomena. He even said he was looking into authorization for a field trip to the Canterlot observatory, and give students the chance to look at the moons up close as they began to overlap. Apparently, though, there was some high-level confusion over when that would actually happen, so a date hadn’t been chosen yet.

What will happen to my dreams when the dual eclipse comes? Her research had pointed to the moons coming into alignment as one of the most important factors in allowing her dreams to occur, or at the very least were causing them to become more frequent. What might happen to her and Sunset when the eclipse actually happened? Would they fall into a deeper dream they couldn’t wake from or would they be able to speak in the waking world?

And then…the eclipse ends, and… Twilight frowned as she looked at the diagram she had copied that morning, showing the two moons and their orbital paths around Equestria. I hadn’t thought of that before. Will Sunset and I lose contact when the eclipse passes? That seemed a logical assumption. If the moons coming into closer proximity made the dreams more frequent, the inverse ought to also be true. And there’s no telling when they’d cease entirely.

Twilight felt a little colder and swallowed a lump in her throat. The dreams could fade before we ever figure out what’s really causing them. I’d never see Sunset again. Any dream we connected in might be the last one. She sat back as the reality of that possibility hit her. Her chest felt tight. I’d possibly never see one of my best friends ever again…

No. I don’t want to lose her, not like that.

She shook her head and flipped to last week’s notes to get rid of the image of the moons, instead looking over a chart of the planets and various listings concerning their orbital paths. I won’t let it. I’ll figure this out, somehow. We connected in telepathy while awake once, we could… the eyes in the void gleamed in her mind’s eye, and Twilight suppressed a shudder. Somehow. There must be a way, we just have to keep looking.

“Professor?” Twilight turned her head to look a few seats over, where a pale blue mare with a purple mane was raising her hoof. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what do the zebra and griffon myths have to do with today’s lesson?”

Professor Byblos adjusted his glasses. “A fair question, which I was just about to get to.” He gestured to the whiteboard and lifted a marker in his hoof to write. “As the cultures of different races met and exchanged stories and legends, they shaped the stories and legends of future generations. This gave rise to what could be considered the first religion of Equestria’s ponies.”

Twilight sighed and settled back in her chair. If this class was more engaging, I could just lose myself in it and not think about the moons and Sunset.

“The pony tribes correlated the geographic locations of the five major races they met with the five planets and virtues they believed embodied the spirit.” Byblos drew a five-pointed star on the board with five large circles at each point. “The zebras were tied with Ninurtu for their healing alchemies, the griffons were associated with Eniku for optimism, the dragons were associated with Negalu and bravery, the seaponies were associated with Inashu for their grace and beauty, and finally the yaks were connected to Bunabu and embodied strength and vitality.”

Twilight glanced down at her notes. Yeah, that tracks, more or less. Bunabu is the densest planet…

“Even if these connections were solely a construct of pony belief, they were important to the ancient tribes, and helped them give the world a sense of structure and purpose. These five races were reflections of the cosmos, and the ponies themselves were the sixth race, with the potential for all five of their virtues.” Byblos ended his statement by drawing a sixth circle in the centre of the star.

Something in Twilight’s mind clicked.

“Six!” She thrust her hooves on her desk and stood up, her eyes wide. Byblos jumped and actually dropped his marker, and turned to look at her, as did most of the other students. Twilight gaped and stared at the diagram.

Byblos regained his composure and cleared his throat. “Ms. Sparkle? Do you have a question?”

Twilight blinked and realised what she had done. She felt her face grow hot and shook her head. “No. Sorry for the interruption, Professor. I’m just…really engrossed in the lesson.” She heard a couple of snorts and chuckles around her.

Whether Byblos took her seriously or not, he didn’t show it. “Apology accepted. Please sit down.” Twilight did as she was told, and the professor picked up his marker. “Having this cosmology to explain the world around them helped to ground the ponies and gave a broader sense of direction to their growing civilization…”

Still in her seat, Twilight tried to pay attention to the lesson, she really did, but her mind was racing out of control.

Six.

“That’s been my mistake.” Twilight drew lines across the paper to connect the five stars. “I thought we were looking for something associated with the number five, because I saw five stars circling my vision of Sunset – or whatever it was that looked like her. But I didn’t think to include her with them. We’re not looking for something associated with five, we’re looking for six.”

Sitting across the table in their dorm room, Twinkleshine nodded as she took in her words. “Makes sense. But that still isn’t much more to go on than a number.”

“Yes, but it’s a much more important number. Especially in regards to the cosmos.” Twilight opened her astronomy notebook. “There’s a lot of belief systems relating to the planets of ancient Equestria. Some of them more verifiable than others, but they all keep coming back to a core concept – the five planets plus the moon.”

She turned to an empty page and drew out a diagram of the solar system. “Ninurtu, furthest planet from the sun, known for its rings. Then next closest is Eniku, the largest planet. Then comes Negalu, the planet next-furthest from the sun after Equus.” She paused. “In the proper planetary system, Equus would be next. But in ancient times they didn’t believe in a heliocentric model yet, they followed a geocentric model that placed Equus at the centre of the solar system. The sun and moons revolved around us with the sun farthest away and the moons closest, then the planets in-between. So by that model, next comes Inashu, second-closest to the sun, and then Bunabu, closest to the sun.

“Five planets, plus Equus itself at the centre of it all. Just like the ancient pony tribes thought they lived in the centre of Equestria with the other races living around them on its outskirts. And just like Sunset was at the centre of those five stars I saw. See? It all fits.”

Twinkleshine lifted her brow and pursed her lips. “Yeah, that’s a pretty strong set of parallels…but, are you sure this is actually anything meaningful? I just mean, my hometown had a set of six trees in its central park, and there’s six combos on the menu at a burger joint in town…”

“You’re right, it’s largely speculation.” Twilight frowned and stuck her pencil over her ear. “But still, it lines up perfectly. If the moon can influence my dreams, why not the planets? And what if there’s something here, in Equestria, connected to them? I’m not clear on the details, I admit. But it’s a clue, and I think I know just where to look to find more.”

“Where?”

Twilight smiled and walked to her nightstand. “That magical journal I smuggled out of the restricted section?” She pulled open a drawer and held up a small notebook. “I may not have access to it anymore, but I took notes. Lots of notes.”

“Of course you did,” Twinkleshine said dryly.

“There may be something of importance here. I remember there was a hologram of the solar system on one of the pages. At the time I only looked over the cosmology parts for information on the moon, but I’m betting that if I’m right, it’ll have more to say about the planets as a whole. Plus, while the five planets plus Equus equals six, there’s also the potential for the five planets to be grouped with the moon, and we know that has some connection to the dreams. This can’t be just a coincidence.”

“Planets equals races equals dreams equals alternate dimensions equal something-else-we-don’t-know.” Twinkleshine rubbed the side of her head. “This is giving me a headache.”

“I know, and some of it may not be apt. That’s why I need to see that journal again. Celestia said she’s going to consider letting me study it more. I bet I can start piecing more of this mystery together if I can take a second look at the journal with a better idea of what to look for.”

“Assuming she lets you look at it,” Twinkleshine pointed out. “You said she’s still keeping secrets.”

Twilight sighed. “Yes, but if she says no the first time, I think I could convince her otherwise. She seems sincerely interested in finding out more about my dreams, and if I tell her the journal could help me, that might sway her.”

There was a gentle knock on the door and the two turned. “Come in,” Twinkleshine called softly.

The door squeaked open and Minuette peaked her head in. “Hey. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nothing that can’t wait a moment. What’s up?”

Minuette held up a large plastic container, the sides fogged with heat. “I made a bit too much for our dinner and thought you girls might like some. If you haven’t eaten already.”

“We haven’t, bring it here.” Twinkleshine licked her lips. “What’s on the menu?”

“Just pasta with veggies.” Minuette set the container on the counter as Twinkleshine grabbed a plate and fork. Minuette saw the books on the table. “I did interrupt something, didn’t I?”

“No, just dream stuff,” Twilight said. “I’m done for now anyway.” She gathered the books in her magic and moved them onto her bed to put away later.

“Oh, new leads?” Minuette asked. As they spoke, Twinkleshine had filled her plate and sat back at the table.

“Sort of. Ancient history gave me some ideas today. We may not be dealing with a group of five, but six, and particularly the planets plus Equus. And they may have some connection to the non-pony races of Equestria, or maybe not.” Twilight sighed. “I know, it’s vague.” She moved to get her own food.

“It sounds a bit like astrology.”

Twilight paused. “Pardon?” She turned her head.

Minuette gave a small shrug. “Astrology. You know, horoscopes, destiny? Your life being influenced by the positions of the stars and planets when you’re born?”

“I never paid much attention to the subject. Even knowing what we do about the cosmos, it always seemed like pseudoscience.” Twilight took a plate from the cabinet and began getting her share of the food.

“Oh yeah, I never took it seriously either, but it made a neat thing to read in the mornings. Basic idea was that depending on the planet that was most predominant in the sky when you were born, a few particular traits would dominate your personality.” Minuette tapped her hoof to her chin. “Let’s see…if I remember correctly, Ninurtu meant you were skilled with medicine and alchemy and had a kind spirit; Eniku meant you were idealistic and cheerful with a good sense of humour; Negalu meant you were responsible and bold and strayed true to others; Inashu meant you were elegant and charismatic but also selfless and helpful; and Bunabu meant you were stubborn and tough and open with others.”

Twilight sat down. “That’s only five, though.”

“Well, the sixth sign was special. It wasn’t one of the planets, or Equus, it was the moons. That meant you weren’t particularly associated with any of the races, you were just a pony. But it meant you were spiritual and loving and had a high aptitude with magic.”

“Aren’t the moons always the most predominant thing in the sky?” Twinkleshine asked.

“Yeah, they had some weird explanation about how seeing them isn’t the same as sensing their influence, or something.” Minuette held up her hooves. “It always just sounded like they were trying to explain away why the moon doesn’t influence everypony, like you said.”

“Hmm…” Twilight lifted a forkful of pasta to her mouth and chewed. Sounds a little similar to what Professor Byblos was talking about. May be worth looking into…

“Anyway, I need to get back to my room, I’m hungry too.” Minuette waved and approached the door. “See you in class in the morning!” The two ponies waved back as she closed the door behind her.

And the moon was special among the five…even that fits. Twilight glanced at the wall where she had a copy of Lemon’s planetary chart and equations taped up to examine when she needed it. Okay, maybe it isn’t pseudoscience after all. If anything, it’s one of the most potentially promising leads I’ve gotten today.

Twinkleshine smirked at Twilight’s furrowed brow. “She’s got your gears turning, eh?”

Twilight nodded. “A lot to think about.” She chewed another fork of food.

“Make sure you mention this stuff to Sunset. She could research it on her end, too. Or you could each research different stuff, see who comes up with something.”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly. She then paused, swallowed, and tilted her head. “Now that you mention it…I haven’t dreamed about Sunset since we did that experiment…”

“Oh? That’s strange.” Twinkleshine gestured her fork her way. “I thought they’re becoming more frequent now with the eclipse occurring and everything?”

“They are. They were.” Twilight began to worry. “You don’t think we could have disrupted the connection or something when we did the experiment, do you?”

“I dunno. It’s your spell, and you know way more about all this stuff than we do.” She held up a hoof. “But, hey, don’t panic yet. Yeah, maybe it affected things, but maybe just temporarily, you know? Or maybe it’s just chance and luck. Give it a few more days and see what happens.”

“Right. Makes sense.” Twilight nodded firmly and returned to eating.

It’s fine. I’ll see her again. I know I will. I have to.

“I’ll have the Saddle Arabian salad, please.”

“An excellent choice.” The waiter nodded and jotted it down on his notepad. “And for you, madam” He looked at Twilight expectantly.

She scrunched her face as she scanned the menu. “I’m still thinking…everything looks so expensive…”

“I told you not to worry about it. I’m buying tonight.”

Who’s buying?

Twilight folded up her menu and held it up to the waiter in an aura of navy blue magic. “I’ll try the seaweed soup, please.”

“As you wish.” The waiter took the menu, wrote down the order, and bowed his head before leaving through the rows of tables.

Now that it was just the two of them again, Twilight turned her head to look out over the valley stretching beyond the patio balcony. Night had fallen early and bathed the area in pale moonlight, and she could see small outgrowths of crystal on the rock, gleaming pale blue.

I’ve never seen this place before. Where am I?

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you ordered the cheapest thing on the menu.”

Twilight looked back across the table and the pair of rich orange eyes looking back at her. She shrugged and shook her head.

“Not intentionally. I felt like soup.”

“Mhm.”

“It wasn’t!” Twilight brought her drink over to her. “I ordered the pricey drink, didn’t I?” She took a long sip from her straw to emphasise her point.

“Actually I ordered the drink, and you said ‘I’ll have the same’ when you thought the waiter was getting impatient.”

“I still wanted this.” Twilight fidgeted in her seat and looked back over the valley again.

“Nova.”

Twilight turned back to her companion again.

Who?

“I wanted to come here, alright? And I wouldn’t want to come here if I wasn’t comfortable with the prices.”

“I know, but…” Twilight sighed. “You know I’m not one for high-end dining anyway. Most of the stuff on that menu I didn’t even know what they were!”

“Me neither, but so what?” The other mare at the table gestured her hoof to the valley. “I wanted to come here because they said the patio view of the valley was breathtaking, and seeing it myself, that alone is worth the price to me.”

Twilight smiled and glanced at the valley of gleaming crystals again. “It is very nice..”

“See? Enjoy yourself. Relax. I told you, this is my treat.”

Twilight cast her eyes down and fell silent, hoping her mane hid her face from view for a moment while she pondered things. She tapped her hooves together for a moment and then lifted her head to peer out from behind waves of violet hair.

“Corona…”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

Her companion frowned. “For what?”

“Clearly this meant a lot to you and I’m sitting here mumbling about prices. I didn’t mean to ruin the evening.”

“Oh, please!” she waved her hoof. “If you weren’t being so fussy and frugal, that would worry me. You didn’t ruin anything, we haven’t even received the breadsticks yet. I told you, relax. Okay? Can we try that?”

Twilight chuckled softly. “Yeah, I’ll try.”

“Good.” Her companion smirked. “Because if this night ends with my marefriend getting taken out on a stretcher from an anxiety attack, that will ruin the evening.”

Twilight’s face got hot and she hid it behind her glass as she took a long sip.

She called me her marefriend…

Chapter 20

“Orichalcum and mythril are both particularly adept at storing magic for sustaining conjuration spells. Some magical smiths have tried to alloy them to see how it augmented their properties, and found the result…would anypony like to guess?” Professor Chrome Gleam pushed her glasses up her nose and looked around the lecture hall.

Minuette and Lemon Hearts shared a glance with each other, then respectively turned to Twinkleshine and Luster; all four shrugged. Moondancer looked towards Twilight, her head propped up on her hoof with her eyes fluttering.

“Twilight?” she reached out a hoof and gently shook her.

Twilight’s head slipped off her hoof and hit her notebook, and she jolted upright, her eyes wide. “I’m not sleeping!” she yelped.

The hall broke into giggles and laughter. Gleam frowned and lowered her pointer from the whiteboard.

“Are we quite alright, Miss Sparkle?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh, yes.” Twilight coughed and ignored the burning in her cheeks. “I was just declaring how I am awake because your class is very engaging and riveting.”

“You think so? Then I assume you can answer my question. It ought to be comparatively simple for someone of your academic reputation.” Gleam swung her pointer over her shoulder and waited.

“Yes, of course!” Twilight saw Moondancer move a hoof to gently tap the page of her notebook, and she turned her eyes down to read the line indicated. “You wanted to know what happens if you alloy orichalcum and mythril.” Gleam nodded and gestured for her to continue. Twilight thought quickly. “They…the result would be…weaker at storing magic.” She felt more confident and kept going, “The heat of the forging process disrupts their aetherial conductivity without an additive.” She smiled.

Chrome’s expression soured. “Correct.” She turned back to the whiteboard, and Twilight thought she heard her mutter ‘lucky guess’ under her breath before she continued the lecture.

“Nice one,” Luster whispered.

“I heard her, really,” Twilight replied. “Just had to think for a sec. Thanks, Moondancer.” Moondancer just nodded in response, having returned to taking notes.

Twilight rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on Chrome’s lecture, but found little success; she had to physically keep her head from drooping. And this was in spite of the nap she had taken over lunch.

I can’t remember the last time my mind felt so scattered. The tiredness was entirely mental. Her body felt perfectly fine and she had pulled herself through classes without trouble. But her mind kept getting away from her. At the least, she was doing better than in her morning classes, where she barely remembered a word that was said, but at least her hooves had scribbled down notes to review. It wouldn’t be entirely apt to say she was sleepy, perhaps dazed.

At some point she assumed she had zoned out again, because she didn’t remember the rest of Chrome’s lecture or taking notes. Yet the next thing she knew was one of her friends shaking her and telling her it was time to go. Twilight obediently gathered her things and followed them out of the lecture hall.

“Are you okay?” Lemon asked. “You are really out of it today.”

“Yeah…and yes. Sorry. I mean, thank you.” Twilight blinked twice and smiled at her. “I’m just…like you said.”

“I told you, she slept in again,” Twinkleshine chimed in from the other side of them.

The friends huddled together as they moved through the SGU hallways, and Luster looked behind her at Twilight. “Something weird with the dreams, you said?”

“Yeah.” Twilight frowned as she thought back. She had told the group what she could remember over lunch, which was more than before but less than she would have liked; two mysterious mares, Nova and Corona. The names didn’t ring a bell to any of them, and while a few of them knew ponies with those words in their names, Twilight immediately dismissed them. She had learned from her investigation into Luster and Sunset that it was almost definitely a coincidence. Maybe Sunset knows the names.

“Hey, look.”

Twilight lifted her head and saw Minuette pointing at a small side passage where the facilities for non-unicorn centric magical classes were held. The passage had been roped off and a sign hung on it. Several students came, read it, and went on their way, and the group followed suit.

Moondancer read out loud, “Notice: Weather Studies, Earthen Studies, and Magical Zoology are cancelled for the rest of the week.” She wrinkled her nose. “I wonder why.”

“I heard there was a containment leak on one of the cloud generator units,” Lemon said. “They came in Wednesday morning and there was an electrified mist throughout the rooms. It’s quite the clean-up job, but at least nopony was hurt.”

“Well, that’s good,” Luster added. “I think that means we all have the rest of the day off, right?”

“Yup.” Minuette smiled. “Who’s up for a study afternoon in town? Donut Joe is having a special on eclairs today.”

“And you only mention it now?” Twinkleshine glared. “I thought we were friends.”

The six giggled and headed towards an exit outside. Twilight shook her head. “I’d love to come, but I’ll have to meet you girls there. Princess Celestia asked me to pay her a visit when my classes are done today.”

“Is she gonna arrest you this time?” Twinkleshine asked. Lemon gave a light glare and jabbed her in the side.

“Har, har. I assume it’s about the journal, or some other news. Even if it’s not, I’m going to bring it up to her. And maybe if she has a way to talk to Sunset like she does Luna.” She sighed. “There’s a lot more we could be talking about, but she won’t or can’t get into it.”

“Well—” Moondancer hesitated a moment before continuing “—in fairness, you haven’t been fully truthful with her, either. The telepathy spell?”

Twilight frowned. “Oh, right.”

“Moonie is right.” Minuette gave a sage nod. “Like the saying goes, trust is a two-way street—either both ponies go the right way or they end up butting heads and walking away from each other.”

“You made that up.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

Twilight stepped into the now-familiar interior of the magical lift to Celestia’s office, stomped her hoof twice, and the Old Ponish runes on the floor lit up with golden magic and lifted her into the air on a shimmering rune. She waited until it stopped at the top and turned into a solid floor again, and rapped her hoof on the door.

“Come in, Twilight.”

She turned the knob and swung the door open to enter Celestia’s office. The day had gotten a bit overcast, so the furnishings were less bright than she was used to, an unfortunate drawback of using natural lighting. Yet as she saw Celestia sitting in a chair against the window sipping a cup of tea from a plate with a half-eaten croissant on it, things seemed to get brighter.

I wonder if she can actually do that with the sun, or if it’s just her presence.

“Would you like to join me?” Celestia gestured a hoof to the opposite chair. “I could ask a staffer to bring you something.”

“No, thank you.” Twilight slowly approached a chair across the table from her. “I hope I’m not interrupting. I know I’m a bit early for our appointment but a class was cancelled.”

“Ah, from the mishap in the east wing, I presume?” Celestia nodded. “Quite unfortunate. The equipment in that area is so delicate to handle pegasi and earth pony magics. As to the first, no, just enjoying a light snack.”

Twilight shrugged her bags to the ground and then sat down. “So, what did you want to see me about?”

Celestia dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and looked at her desk. A cloth bag levitated from it and over to them in an aura of gleaming golden magic. “I have given fair consideration to your request regarding this book.” She drew a familiar journal with a swirl and a trio of stars on the cover from the bag. “I have warded a few passages of concern to be unreadable, but on the whole, there is nothing particularly troublesome in these pages.”

She gave Twilight a stern look. “Can I assume that, if I officially release it into your ownership for a while, you will take care of it?”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she nodded hurriedly. “Of course, Princess, of course! Nopony will touch it but me. I mean, I won’t touch it, I’ll use magic, but—you know what I meant.”

“Yes.” Celestia’s expression softened and she put the journal back in the bag and floated it next to Twilight’s bags. “The bag has been warded against the environment. The journal should remain safe from outside damage if you keep it stored there.”

“Understood.” Twilight glanced down at the journal. “On that topic, I also wanted to ask something. I’ve started having, um, ‘different’ dreams.”

“Different?” Celestia tilted her head and gave her a quizzical look. “Different in what manner?”

“They aren’t like my dreams of Sunset, or like any usual dreams. They’re like…” Twilight bit her lip and took a moment to think. How best to describe it. “It’s like a book written from another pony’s perspective. You’re going places and doing things and saying things, but it’s not actually you doing them, it’s just how the narrative is framing things happening for you as the reader. Does that make sense?”

“Of a sort.” Celestia gave a small nod and lifted her teacup to take a sip. “Why do these dreams strike you as so odd?”

“They’re unusually vivid, like my dreams about Sunset. But the dreams aren’t about her, they’re about two ponies named Corona and Nova. Do those words mean anything?”

Celestia shook her head and set her cup down. “I’m afraid not.”

“Darn.” Twilight slouched forward and propped her head on her hoof. “Let’s add another mystery to the pile we need to figure out.”

“Indeed.” Celestia reached out and brushed a comforting hoof against hers. “But you will, Twilight. I’m certain of it.”

“Thank you…” Another thought crossed her mind. “And speaking of my dreams, have you heard from Princess Luna about them? You said you would ask her, if I recall?”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry, but no. She tells me she has spoken to Sunset, but discovered nothing.”

“Oh.” Twilight slumped back in her chair.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I wish I had more to tell you. This is not me being secretive, I truly don’t understand it.” Celestia took a sip of her tea and hummed in her throat. “Even for pure curiosity’s sake, I would like an answer myself. The idea of the two of you being able to talk to each other in this manner is fascinating.”

Twilight gave her an odd look. “But, you and Luna can talk.”

Celestia hesitated a moment. “...Yes. But it is not the same as what you and Sunset do. It’s a very old spell, very powerful and usable only in a very specific circumstance. To forge a link with a pony through dreams, seemingly at random, ought to be impossible.”

“I see.”

“I’ve been pondering that perhaps Luna and I should personally tend to the two of you as you dream, observing for ourselves what kind of magic this is.” Celestia waved a hoof. “If we learn more about it, we could attempt to replicate it, or at least understand how theoretically it could be done.”

“Replicate?” Twilight took a breath. “You mean, create a connection to talk to Sunset outside the dream?”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia looked confused for a moment. “Why?”

“I just mean, like we talked about before, it’s possible to talk to another pony through telepathy.”

“Yes, but as I pointed out at the time, there’s limits to such spells.” Celestia held up a hoof. “Like any other spell, it weakens across great distances. And communicating with another pony across dimensions is as great a distance as I could imagine. It’s impossible.”

Twilight fidgeted in her seat. Here goes. “Well…hypothetically speaking…” she closed her eyes. “What if it was possible?” She cracked an eye open to see a rare, confused look on Celestia’s face.

“Pardon?”

“I did it,” she blurted. “I talked to Sunset with telepathy.”

Celestia sat up. “What? When? How?”

To Twilight’s surprise—and amusement—the princess suddenly had the demeanour of a curious schoolfilly. It almost reminded her of herself. “It was last week, actually. Before we talked, but with everything else we said then, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”

Celestia regained her composure. “Well, I’m rather disappointed you said nothing at the time. But now that you have, please, tell me more.”

Twilight took a breath and smiled. “I was researching my trans-dimensional teleportation spell at the start of the year, right? I modified my equations to utilise them with a telepathy spell instead. Given that I was trying to transport thoughts instead of a physical, living being, it was much easier. Relatively speaking, anyway.”

“Hmm…” Celestia leaned forward and put a hoof to her chin. “A clever idea, and I’m quite impressed it worked. You’re even smarter than I thought, Twilight, and that is not to be taken as an insult.”

Twilight beamed. “Thank you. I’m surprised it worked myself. I needed help, though. My friends helped provide the mental anchor to do it safely and bolster my own magic.”

“Yes, I would imagine so.” Celestia smiled back at her. “Even with that limitation, it’s wonderful to hear you succeeded. And you were able to exchange thoughts with Sunset?”

“Briefly, it was difficult to maintain the connection, but she heard me and I heard her.”

“That also makes sense.” Celestia nodded again. “And there were no complications or problems?”

The eyes of the void bored into Twilight’s mind and she shuddered. Celestia must have noticed her change, because her face became concerned. “Twilight?”

“Actually…” she swallowed a lump in her throat. “Like I said, my friends helped anchor me, right? When I couldn’t maintain the connection anymore, I let Sunset go and asked my friends to pull me back. But they didn’t. And then…” She paused to suppress another shudder and take a breath. “I…heard…something.”

“Something?”

“A voice.” Twilight heard her own voice shake as she tried to articulate the awful memory. “Something…dark…and powerful. It—”

She was cut off by Celestia rushing around the table to look at her closely, her eyes wide. She put a hoof on Twilight’s chin. “Why did you not tell me this sooner?!”

“I—I don’t know!” Twilight blurted. “I wanted to, I should have, but… I was worried, and didn’t know if I could…”

“That is no excuse,” Celestia said firmly. “You are to never attempt this spell again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, of course.” Twilight nodded as best she could with the Princess’ hoof in place. “I haven’t, I know whatever that was, it was bad, really bad.”

“You have no idea.” Celestia dropped her hoof and walked away, her eyes downcast.

Before she lost herself in the Princess’ sudden shift in mood, Twilight continued with what came next. “But, then there was another voice!”

Celestia lifted her head and looked back at her. “Another?”

“Yes. It wasn’t bad at all, it was warm… it was familiar.” She smiled softly as she remembered and looked off into the distance. “I don’t know why it was familiar. I’d never heard it before. I saw Sunset, but it wasn’t her voice, either. It said ‘the spark has been struck, the link has been forged. Find them. Find us. It is the key to all’.” She paused after reciting the cryptic message. “And then I was back in my dorm.”

There was no response for several seconds, and Twilight turned her eyes towards Celestia. The Princess had abruptly sat on the ground and her eyes were darting about, her lips slightly moving but not saying anything Twilight could hear.

Rather than speak up and interrupt her, Twilight just watched. She knows what the dark voice is. She has no idea what this one is. She wasn’t sure what to make of that either way. She at least knew better than to ask what the dark voice was. She won’t tell me, it’s definitely one of those things she’d wanted kept secret. She briefly grew annoyed at the thought. I know more than she thought and she’s still not going to let me learn more.

The silence began to get to her, so she broke it. “Do you have any idea what it means?”

Celestia slowly shook her head. “None whatsoever.”

“Hm…” Twilight perked up. “Oh! When Sunset—or whatever it was I saw—said it, there were five orbs of light around her. Remember I said I was looking for a group of five? It was because of this vision. But I think I misunderstood it, because I didn’t think to include Sunset too. So I think it’s a group of six I should be looking for, not five.”

“Six…” Celestia looked up at the sky through the glass panels of her office. “Six…that makes sense, yes…”

Another twinge of irritation. Twilight climbed down from her seat and carefully approached her.

“Princess Celestia?” She waited until she looked down at her. “To be perfectly frank, and not meaning any disrespect… you can’t keep these secrets from me forever. Like it or not, however it’s happened, I’m a part of them now. Sunset, too.”

Celestia’s face was passive as she spoke, and when Twilight fell silent she gave a slow nod. “You’re not wrong, Twilight. But… there is a lot to tell, some of which is still not yours to know, or anypony’s… and yet…” She lifted her head and trailed off into thought again.

“Do you know what ‘six’ I’m supposed to find?”

“Yes. No. Maybe…” Celestia shook her head. “Six, yes, find, no. I’ll have to look into it.”

“And if you find an answer, would you tell me?”

“I suspect I may not have a choice. As you said, you are a part of these secrets, now.” Celestia took a deep breath. “I have much to think about, Twilight. However, for now…” She walked back to her desk and took a pencil and a notepad. “I want you to make me a very serious promise: mix up a batch of potions from the recipe I’m going to give you, and begin taking it tonight. A tablespoon every night before you go to sleep should be enough.” She tore the paper off the notepad and held it out.

Twilight took it and looked the recipe over. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary as far as household alchemy reagents went, but she didn’t recognize the result. “What kind of potion?”

“A dream-suppressant.”

Twilight snapped her head up. “What?”

“For your own safety,” Celestia said sternly. “Until I know more about how to ensure your protection otherwise, any potential dreams you may have could be dangerous in ways neither of us could anticipate. So, you will take the suppressant for now. Every night before you go to go sleep. Understand?”

“Yes, Princess.” Twilight carefully folded the list of reagents and put it in her bag. “But what about Sunset?”

“I’ll advise Luna to give Sunset the same.”

“No, I mean, how will I talk to her? Even putting aside this mystery, I don’t want to lose contact with her.”

“Ah.” Celestia thought. “I said before I may look into another means of allowing the two of you to speak. I’ll do so now, it should not take very long before I have a response for you.”

“Okay…” Twilight let out a long breath. “I’m sorry.”

Celestia shook her head. “Don’t be. As much as I would like to tell you what you did was wrong, you didn’t know any better. But you should have told me this much sooner.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“I believe you. But it does not seem to be a problem, so there is no harm done.” Celestia leaned over her desk and tapped her hooves together. “Now, if you do not mind, please leave. I’m going to need time to think over what we’ve discussed.”

“Alright.” Twilight nodded. “If there’s anything more I could tell you, or do for you, or anything, I want to. If I can help with whatever this is, I will.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Twinkleshine flipped the page in her book and shuffled to get more comfortable on her bed. “It’s a good thing you and Celestia trust each other now, so you don’t need to be worried about drinking the glowing green mystery potion.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose and looked down at the flask on the table, which did indeed contain a viscous green liquid that was slightly luminescent. “I assume you’re not serious.”

“No more than usual.”

“Right.” Twilight gave the flask another series of swirls to make sure it was properly mixed. Though if she was being honest with herself, it was more to put off having to actually drink it. She did trust Celestia not to try anything duplicitous, but knowing what the potion would do was enough.

I haven’t seen Sunset since I did my telepathy spell. What if I’ve somehow cut her off forever? This could make it worse. She stopped shaking the flask and took a deep breath. “Well, I did promise her. And if it could protect me from that… whatever it was, better safe than sorry.”

She held a spoon up and lifted the flask to pour it out. The potion came out like syrup and she waited patiently until it began to drip down the edge. When the spoon was full she set the flask down and popped in a stopper.

“Bottoms up.” Twilight thrust the spoon into her mouth and gulped it down. She immediately gagged and lost her grip on the spoon, leaving it to clatter to the ground.

“Bad taste?” Twinkleshine asked.

Twilight nodded and stuck her tongue out. “I figured it’d be a little sour from the ingredients, so I borrowed some blueberry flavouring from Minuette. I don’t think I used enough.”

“Gross.”

She smacked her lips and grimaced. “At least the taste goes away quickly.” She went to the sink and grabbed a spare glass to fill with water.

“Feel anything from it?”

Twilight took a long drink of water as she considered the question. “Not yet. But I guess it’ll only take effect when I sleep.”

“True. Speaking of.” Twinkleshine folded over the corner of her book and set it on the table next to the beds. “I’m ready for shuteye myself. Good night.” She turned over and pulled the sheets up to her neck.

“I won’t be up too late.” Twilight looked at the flask again, and then lifted it over to her to slip it into the fridge. She stared at it as she closed the door, as though it were some ill omen.

I’m sorry, Sunset. See you soon. Somehow. I hope.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for the long wait, I did have to push through writer's block a couple times and other things kept coming up.

Things will be speeding up in terms of explanations very soon; as I said to my pre-readers, "things have gotten to a point where the plot can't really progress unless Celestia starts spilling at least some of the beans." So prepare for bean spillage imminently.

Chapter 21

“Okay, here we are.” Twilight raised an eye at the sound of the voice and then turned it back down.

Sitting at the table in her dorm room, Minuette set a file folder down and flipped it open to reveal several stacks of paper. “I took the liberty of photocopying them so you can have your own to look over.” She lifted up a bundle of papers and floated it across the table to Moondancer.

Moondancer took the offering and arched her brow. “Paperclipped, efficient. I approve.”

“Thank you.” Minuette beamed. “And for Twily.” She floated the second paperclipped bundle across the room to where Twilight laid belly-down on her bed.

Twilight glanced up and the magic aura around the papers shifted. “Thanks,” she mumbled, setting them beside her.

Minuette settled herself firmly in her chair, unclipped her own notes, and took a breath. “Now, you two know Luster best of the group, so you of anypony should be able to fill in the critical details I’m missing to throw her the best birthday party ever.”

“Wait a moment.” Moondancer flipped through her papers. “Favourite activities and foods is one thing. But, estimating her ‘fatigue levels’ after physical activities?” She looked up at Minuette. “What does that even mean?”

“Planning the event!” Minuette tapped a hoof to the side of her head. “Think about it. If Luster wants to dance, I have to schedule a venue with a dance floor, obviously. But then, I also have to think about when she’s likely to dance and how long she’s likely to dance. If she’s exhausted early in the afternoon, then we ought to have other activities ready, ones that are relaxing and not physically intensive. But if she dances the afternoon away until it’s dark out, I need to make sure I schedule the venue long enough and have a long playlist for the DJ.”

“...I hate that you managed to explain that in a reasonable fashion.” Moondancer gave a small huff. “I didn’t think party planning was such a meticulous science.”

“Usually, no. But it is when you want to make sure the pony it’s for is having the time of her life.” Minuette put a hoof to her chest and tilted her head up. “It is my solemn duty, to give this lonely pony who has so rarely experienced true friendship, the greatest gesture of friendship I could imagine. It isn’t enough to just throw some candles on a cake and get a few thoughtful gifts. As the saying goes – if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly! Right, Twilight?”

She looked over at her friend for her answer.

“Uh-huh.” Twilight didn’t look up, just nodded.

Minuette peered closer; Twilight’s notes were still clipped together and her eyes were fixed at the pillow at the foot of the bed. Minuette narrowed her eyes and her horn lit up in magic. The pillow was yanked up into the air, revealing the ancient journal propped up behind it, which fell over onto the bed.

“Hey!” Twilight snapped her head up and grabbed the pillow back.

“I knew it!” Minuette thrust an accusing hoof at her. “You’re been studying while I’ve been trying to plan fun!”

Moondancer tilted her head. “But, studying is fun?”

Minuette rolled her eyes and huffed. “Real fun, Moonie. Like a normal pony has.” Moondancer gave a small glare in response but said nothing.

Twilight shook her head. “I haven’t been ‘studying’, exactly. I pulled it out planning to, I admit, but honestly the journal’s contents are fascinating on their own. I figured I’d start reading and take notes on anything of importance I’d come across, but I just kept reading.”

“Really?” Minuette tilted her head. “A Celestia-knows-how-old journal about outdated and incorrect magical theories is interesting?”

“It’s not just magical theories. Listen to this.” Twilight cleared her throat and projected to the room as she read from the journal. “I had the fortune to meet a certain pegasus today, who travelled quite a distance from the southern deserts at my request. I’m glad she did. The tales she told of her homeland were quite fascinating, and we agreed I must patron her hometown someday soon. It is my hope that our friendship could lead to an enduring alliance with the southerners and strengthen the trade and travel routes through the badlands and deserts in the region.”

“Not boring, I guess,” Minuette admitted. “Depending on how old the journal is, that could be a personal account of Equestria’s expansion into the south.”

“I think that’s exactly what it is, actually.” Twilight smiled. “I have taken some notes from past readings. And there’s a pattern that emerged. There’s stories about the journal’s author describing famous warriors and mages from across Equestria. Not in any official political capacity, but just as a matter of meeting them or knowing about them. This story in particular clicked in my head, and it wasn’t the first.”

Moondancer hummed. “Now that you mention it, that tale does sound vaguely familiar...but I can’t recall where I’d have heard something like it.”

“Me neither, but I do recall the specifics.” Twilight smiled widely. “This journal hasn’t given a name to its writer yet, but I think I can take a pretty good guess who it was. Match the stories in it to the legends we know from elsewhere, and there’s only one candidate.” She lifted the journal into the air and closed it, the swirl on the cover gleaming silver-blue.

“Star Swirl the Bearded.”

Moondancer’s jaw dropped. “What? Wait…what?” She shook her head quickly. “That can’t be. The personal journal of the single most powerful pony in the history of Equestria aside from Princess Celestia? An archmage of such obscurity and age that we’re not even sure he really existed? That Star Swirl?”

“No doubt.” Twilight nodded firmly. “There’s an apocryphal story about a great mage from Equestria and a pegasus from a desert village in the south teaming up to fight a sphinx terrorising her village. In some retellings, they call those ponies Star Swirl and Somnambula. And that’s not the only old legend that lines up with the stories of this book. But the writing style and language are consistent, so it couldn’t be multiple ponies writing in it over years, it had to be one.”

She pressed a hoof to the book’s spine. “There can be no doubt about it. Star Swirl was real, and this is his journal.”

Minuette gave a slow nod. “I mean, looking at it again, and seeing the swirl emblem with stars on the cover…in retrospect, maybe this isn’t so surprising.”

“It’s surprising to me!” Moondancer sputtered. “We assumed Star Swirl was a myth, precisely because so many stories about him exist! It’s highly implausible, near impossible, that a single mage could be that powerful, that well-travelled, and that skilled in so many fields of magic!”

Grinning, Twilight pressed on. “I know. But he had to have been, to some degree. And it would explain this book’s contents even more. Star Swirl’s legends would mean he lived over a thousand years ago, and the journal’s description of magic, the cosmos, Equestria, and so much else, lines up with what we knew or thought we knew in that time frame.”

“This could rewrite everything we know about the history of magic.” Moondancer stared off into space, not paying attention. “So many breakthroughs misattributed, innovations forgotten and rediscovered.” She slowly gazed down at the journal with a new sense of awe.

“I know.” Twilight flipped through the pages, the smile on her face growing wider with each turn. “And I’ve barely even read half the pages. There’s a font of knowledge in here on so many levels.”

“Um, not to put a damper on the excitement…” The two looked up to see Minuette holding a hoof into the air. “But I’m fairly sure Celestia won’t appreciate it if we go around upending everything ponies know and accept about history. I mean, did you ever think that maybe that book is in the restricted section for a reason?”

Twilight paused. “...Actually, I hadn’t.” She looked over the side of the bed where the enchanted bag that Celestia had given her to protect the aged text lay. “I assumed it was because the book was old.”

“For sure, but if the knowledge in it is so valuable, why not copy or transfer it over to a fresh journal?”

She pondered Minuette’s words. Did Celestia not want this book’s contents to be public knowledge? She said there was nothing in it that I shouldn’t see, but then she admitted that I know more than she would like. Dangerous magics, unknown histories, secrets of Equestria’s founding. All things she’d want to keep quiet. Maybe she’s okay with me knowing because she wants my help?

“Uh, Twily?” A blue hoof waved in front of her face and she jerked and looked up at Minuette.

“I was just thinking about what you said.” Twilight bit her lip, and after a moment lifted up the enchanted book bag. “Maybe that is enough for today.” She slipped the journal inside and folded the flap cover over. A brief gleam of golden yellow magic lit up as the protection spell took effect.

“Okay, switching to social mode.” She climbed off of the bed and approached the table.

“Glad to have you on-board!” Minuette smiled widely and sat back at the table. “So, as I was saying, we are going to give Luster the best party we can.” She lifted up her small stack of papers and fanned them out. “I think it fair to assume that Luster is not one for overly strenuous physical activities, so I’ve ruled out the likes of rock climbing, paintball, and most kinds of sports. Any objections?”

Twilight shook her head. “Sounds right to me.” Moondancer nodded in agreement.

“Good. I’m not so certain about competitive activities. Go-karts, sports, board games…”

“She’s played board games with us before,” Moondancer said.

Minuette lifted her eyes. “Yes, but did she actively enjoy them?”

Moondancer quirked a brow and thought. “...She didn’t not enjoy them.”

“Not good enough.” Minuette shook her head. “That means she doesn’t mind them, or she tolerates them. I want activities she’ll like to do that get her enthused.”

“Well…” Twilight rocked her head a little. Should we tell Minuette this? I don’t think Luster cares if it’s a secret or not. She’s never said so. She noticed Minuette looking at her expectantly and gave a slight cough. “She likes ice skating.”

“Ooooo, I can work with that.” Minuette nodded eagerly. She took hold of a notepad off to the side and brought it in front of her, and a pencil quickly scrawled across the paper. “Just casual, you mean? Or is she a fan of the professionals?”

Twilight and Moondancer looked at each other.

“I’m not sure.”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Hmm…” Minuette scribbled something else in her notes. “Okay, that’s one solid lead at least, good. What else would she want to do?”

Moondancer’s eyes lit up and she gave a small gasp. “Oh, I recall something she mentioned. Remember that night we played Caper? She told me later she thinks she had played it with her parents; they played board games regularly.”

“Excellent!” Minuette grinned and began writing. “Any specific ones?”

While Moondancer thought over her answer, Twilight looked down at the papers in front of her that Minuette had prepared – lists of activities, venues, food and drink, decorations, and more.

I was worried she would overdo this a bit much for Luster. But maybe she’s going about this the right way…and it might not be a bad idea to nudge Luster out of her comfort zone a little if it's something we all think she’ll enjoy. Right? I mean, that’s how we met. She pursed her lip. Maybe I could ask Celestia’s help the next time I see her…and hopefully, she’ll have news for me, too.

Twilight had hoped she’d be able to speak to Celestia on Friday or Saturday, but the Princess was busy throughout the weekend and was not receiving any visitors. Though she knew Celestia was the ruler of Equestria and not her personal mentor that she could call on whenever she needed her, Twilight still couldn’t help but wonder if whatever she was doing was related to her, Sunset, and the other world.

Friday’s classes had gone without incident, and now she found herself alone in her dorm room catching up on the week’s schoolwork. Twinkleshine was doing something in town, Lemon Hearts was helping a friend with something, Minuette was shopping, and Moondancer was visiting her family. Luster was likely downstairs in her own room, but Twilight had no reason to bother her and confirm.

All things considered, it was a perfectly quiet day to end her week on.

So why do I feel so anxious? Twilight squinted at her schoolwork and murmured. Perfect score on the practice test. Yet I don’t remember a single question. Is that good, though? I know these alchemy formulae so well, it’s second-hoof knowledge. She closed the textbook and wrote ‘20/20’ in the upper-left corner of her paper. That’s alchemy done. Next… she glanced at the tabs in her binder and tapped a pencil on the table. What would be the biggest workload?

A knock on the door to the room made her jump. She turned and stared. Who? Virtually nopony ever came to see Twinkleshine, her friends would just come in, and she wasn’t expecting anyone. She hopped off her chair and quickly crossed the room to the door.

The door swung open to the sight of an orange pegasus guard pony. He snapped to attention and saluted with a wing. “Twilight Sparkle?”

“Erm, yes?” Twilight tilted her head.

“I was tasked by Princess Celestia to deliver this to you personally.” The guard lifted the strap of a satchel over his neck and held it out. “She instructed me to inform you to read the enclosed letter at precisely five o’clock.”

Twilight glanced up at the clock over the door. “Well, you’re here with two minutes to spare.” She took the satchel and looked at it curiously. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, Miss Sparkle. The Princess simply said to give it directly to you.” He saluted again. “If you’ll excuse me, I must be off.”

“Sure. Thank you.” Twilight smiled and nodded, and went back inside. She raised a hind hoof to kick the door shut behind her and bounded over to her bed. The satchel was perfectly ordinary, and she unlatched the flap and reached a hoof in to physically feel what was inside.

Her hoof came out holding a small book with dark blue binding. She flipped it open and saw nothing but blank pages. When she got to the other cover she found an envelope taped to the inside. She lifted it and closed the book, and noticed an emblem on the cover; a stylized yin and yang symbol with the yin resembling the moon and the yang having the fiery arms of a sun. She shrugged, opened the envelope, and withdrew the letter inside.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am sorry I am unavailable to present this to you myself. The duties of a ruler never cease. However, I won’t let my busy schedule deny you this gift. If my orders were followed, you should be receiving this journal at exactly five. Assuming the spell has worked properly, anything you write in it–

Twilight’s reading stopped when the journal suddenly lit up in silver-blue magic and hummed. She looked at it with new curiosity and put the letter aside. She lifted the journal and opened to the first, blank page.

There, surrounded by small glitters of light and pulsing gently with unfamiliar magic, light blue ink appeared on the page, written by an unseen hoof.

“Twilight?”

She scrunched her face. Huh? She looked up at the table and lifted her pen over to her. When she touched the tip to the page underneath her own name, she hesitated a moment. Well, the Princess said to write in it. She gently scrawled her name. When she finished and lifted the pen, the letters glowed blue for a moment. She waited as told.

The journal glowed again and new letters wrote themselves in a third line.

“Twilight? Did you write that? It’s Sunset.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly wrote back.

“Sunset? I’m in my dorm room. You saw what I wrote?”

Seconds ticked by at a snail’s pace as she anticipated a response. Then…

“I did! It’s like the Princess said, we can talk to each other now!”

“Princess said? Oh, right.” Twilight looked at the forgotten letter from Celestia. I guess Luna was able to give this to Sunset herself. She lifted the letter and resumed reading.

Assuming the spell has worked properly, anything you write in it will appear in an identical journal that Sunset Shimmer has. Luna and I have worked together to weave this enchantment binding them together, and we're sure it will be entirely safe for you both. Though please do not go meddling with its intricacies, this is very ancient magic and best not tampered with.

Fair enough. Twilight smiled happily. She quickly wrote Sunset back again and then read it aloud.

“This is amazing. I mean, we’ve talked in the dreams, but this is real. Well, awake, that’s probably a better term for it.”

Twilight giggled as she mentally heard Sunset’s voice reciting her message.

“I know what you mean. I don’t know how the Princesses pulled it off, but I’m glad they did.”

“Here, here!” Twilight paused as she wrote the response as easily as having actual conversation, and didn’t lift her pen. The ink didn’t glow yet and she assumed the message hadn’t yet been sent. “I guess it can detect when I’m done writing?” She tilted her head and removed the pen. Sure enough, the ink glowed soon after.

Sunset’s response made her smile all over again.

“I’m glad we can finally talk again.”

“Me too.”

Twilight’s homework sat forgotten on the kitchen table as she and Sunset wrote to each other. It had scarcely been more than a week since they had last spoken, but that last time had been when she had done her telepathy spell. The thought had crossed her mind more than once in the time since that she may have irreparably damaged whatever mental link they had forged between dimensions. Now, even if she had, a new link had been created. Tension she didn’t know she had been holding in left her.

For an hour the two chatted about what had been happening in their respective worlds. Twilight told her about her tense conversations with Celestia and the admission about the other dimension. Sunset hadn’t been quite on the same step as Twilight in the deduction, but evidently Princess Luna had filled her in to the point she seemed to know just as much as Twilight. The two confirmed they didn’t understand how the two dimensions existed, or how their connection between them worked, and neither did the Princesses. Beyond that, they had little to go on.

After the initial flurry of writing about what they had learned – coordinating responses and replies without talking over each other, so to speak, took some patience on both their parts – they settled into more casual conversation. Sunset talked about her friends, Twilight talked about hers. The two fully shared the names of their groups this time – Sunset’s friends were Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, Lyra Heartstrings, Amethyst Star, and Sunburst Ray. The fact that Sunset had five close friends at her CHS struck a chord as Twilight read off their names.

I remembered their names when I ended my telepathy spell. Did the vision I saw do that, or just me? Either way, I doubt it’s a coincidence that she has a group of six in her dimension the same as I do. But what could it mean? Celestia said she had an idea what it may refer to, but Twilight hadn’t hit on the idea yet that the ‘six’ she was supposed to find could be in either dimension. Could Sunset and her friends be those six I’m supposed to find? Do I need to find a way to get in touch with all of them?

She lifted her head as the thought came to her. I could. I could talk to any of them. They could talk to me. I could ask Sunset to let me speak to any of them. The idea lost its appeal the moment she ran it through her head. No. This journal is ours. We don’t need to keep it secret, but we’ll keep it for our use. It’s private. Just us.

A blue glow caught her eye and she looked down at the journal.

“You okay there?”

Twilight did a double take and looked over the page again; she hadn’t responded to Sunset’s last two messages. She shook her head and picked up her pen.

“Yeah. Just thinking about things. There’s so much to try and figure out, and so few clues to go on.”

“I know. I wish I could help you, but I think you know more than me. I’ve only just found out about all this over the last few days.”

Twilight tried to picture what Sunset looked like in her dorm, writing about the mystery of the two dimensions when she had only begun to grasp the concept.

“If you need to know anything, just ask. We’re in this together, after all. And maybe you know things I don’t, but you don’t think they’re relevant.”

“I doubt it, but I’ll have to get back to you on that. There’s nothing pressing on my mind now, though.”

As soon as Sunset’s response finished writing itself out, another line wrote under it.

“Actually, there is one thing I wanna ask.”

“Yes?” Twilight tapped her pen, wondering what had popped into her head.

“Did the princess ask you to take a potion for the dreams?”

Twilight twisted her muzzle. “Yes. You too?”

“Uh-huh. Princess Luna says it’s for our protection, to suppress the dreams until they or we know more about them. Dunno why they’re dangerous all of a sudden.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Of course,” she whispered. The eyes in the void. The dark voice. She doesn’t know about it. The idea that Sunset may have perceived them somehow, or not, had never crossed her mind until now. Do I tell her? I know there is a danger, of some kind, but I don’t even know what that darkness was, or what it meant. Do I worry her over nothing?

Before she had a chance to consider letting Sunset know, the page lit up in a new message.

“Hey, gotta go, my friends came by to grab me for dinner. But we can talk more tonight, right?”

Twilight hurriedly wrote out a response.

“Of course. We can talk any time. Even if I don’t respond right away, I’ll check the journal regularly to see if I missed a message.”

“Sounds good. Talk to you later. Miss ya!”

Twilight read the farewell and heard it in her head. For a brief moment, it was almost as if she was back in her dream and could actually hear Sunset’s voice talking to her.

“Miss you, too.”

There was no response after that. As she read over her own words, Twilight found herself wishing she could cross them out. Did Sunset not read them because she left? Or did she read them and not reply? She put a hoof to her head. I’m being silly, of course she missed me. That’s obvious.

The more concerning thought was the calm realisation and acceptance that she had missed Sunset more than she had thought. And as reassuring as the journal was, to make sure their connection wouldn’t be lost without the dreams now, it still wasn’t enough. It was the difference between actual conversation and passing notes in class.

“I hope I can see you again someday soon.”

She debated if she should write that in the journal or not.

Author's Note

I am so terribly sorry, I did not mean for this chapter to come out so late into the year! I've just been busy with other things left and right and haven't been in the mood to write as much. As I have said in a blog, though, the outline of the story up to the finale is done, it's a matter of actually writing it. So hopefully with the course charted, the journey there will speed up more in the future.

Chapter 22

On most occasions for schoolponies, unexpectedly getting the day off from school would be cause for celebration, especially if it was a Monday.

However, instead of celebrating the rare fortune of learning that all classes had been cancelled at the SGU, there was a feeling of ominous dread floating in the air.

“Did anypony hear why?” Twilight looked between her friends as the six sat in the cafeteria. The main campus building had been closed shortly before the announcement, but the other buildings remained open, so a few groups of students had chosen to mill about there.

Twinkleshine shook her head. “I figure it must be pretty major, though. They don’t cancel classes for just anything.”

“It could be a problem with some of the equipment in the classrooms, like the weather machine last time,” Luster suggested.

“Unlikely.” Moondancer pushed her glasses up her muzzle. “If it was something small, it could be contained and confined. And they’d be upfront with the problem since it wasn’t a big concern. Being vague means something is wrong.”

“Yeah.” Minuette leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice. “There’s rumors that it was because too many of the teachers were sick or something.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Sick?”

“Apparently, there’s a lot of ponies around the school who have been having problems with their magic. And it doesn’t sound like it’s just an outbreak of horn flu.”

“Yeah, that tracks.” Twinkleshine frowned and reached up to tenderly rub the tip of her horn. “I had trouble eating breakfast this morning and almost dropped a glass of juice. Luckily, Twilight has quick reflexes.” She looked at her roommate, and Twilight nodded back.

Lemon murmured in her throat. “I think it’s more than just that. Apparently, some of the transit students have been arriving late or had to wait longer hours for the chariot home. I have another friend who uses the chariot and she said the pegasi have been having trouble flying it on some days.”

“Okay, that’s extra-weird,” Twinkleshine agreed. “Magic failure happens now and then, but pegasi falling out of the sky? That ain’t right.”

“Definitely not.” Moondancer nodded. “I wonder if the earth ponies have been suffering similarly. Their magical aptitude usually manifests in agricultural skill and cultivation, so it may be less apparent with them.”

“But if it has been, we likely wouldn’t find out yet,” Luster said. “This is the first I’m hearing about the pegasi having any problems. If the earth ponies are having trouble with their magic, it would be even more subtle. No one may have taken notice at all, maybe not even them.”

“Very strange…” Twilight looked down at her bag on the ground next to her chair. Have these magical failures been occurring in Sunset’s world? No way to tell yet if this is related to the dimensions, but if it is… Her horn lit and a flap on the side clipped open. She took out the magical journal and set it on the table, and opened it to write.

The void…the eyes…

She stopped as her pencil touched the paper.

If she says yes, do I tell her? I think I have to. Whatever I saw, even if it isn’t related, it can’t be something good, and magical failures make it even worse.

“Twilight?”

She looked up and saw Luster giving her a concerned look. Luster pointedly turned her eyes at the table and gave a small tilt of her head. “Writing to Sunset?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I want to ask if magical failures are happening in her world too.”

“I’d never thought of that.” Lemon frowned. “But if it’s true, what could it mean?”

Moondancer held up a hoof and shook her head. “Let us not jump to conclusions. Without concrete evidence of some ominous, hitherto unknown cause behind these problems, we shouldn’t start worrying as though there were.”

Twilight tapped her pencil and glanced off into space as she pondered how to phrase her inquiry to Sunset. She did a double take when she noticed a pony crossing the cafeteria, looking right back at her.

A unicorn of the royal guard was approaching the table, and the other girls clammed up when they took notice. He gave a curt nod and looked around at the six.

“Princess Celestia has requested your presence, immediately.”

The halls of Canterlot castle echoed with the hoofsteps of seven ponies, idle chatter from two or three of them, and the panicking rambling of one.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” Moondancer pressed a hoof to her forehead. “I think I may be feverish. Someone catch me if I faint.”

“Calm down.” Twilight glanced back at her. “Celestia isn’t nearly as intimidating once you get used to being in her presence.”

“Says the mare who’s become used to being in her presence already,” Moondancer replied.

Twilight didn’t have a response to that and clammed up. Despite her reassurances, she was uneasy herself, she just hid it better. Celestia summoning all of us? This has to be about the other dimension, maybe my telepathy experiment. But if it's good or bad, I’m not sure. Maybe both, all things considered.

The guard escorting them approached a set of doors with a large golden sun on them, flanked by two more guards. The two saluted him, he returned it, and they then grasped the handles to pull them open.

The guard stepped inside and saluted again. “As commanded, princess. Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“Very good, Lieutenant Plasma. Thank you.”

Within the doors was a small sitting room with much of the pure white furniture with gold trim that Twilight recognized from Celestia’s office. Two sofas and four chairs surrounded a large circular table with a chandelier of crystal hanging from above, golden light radiating from enchanted stones on its branches.

Celestia turned her attention to Twilight. “Twilight, everypony, thank you for coming. Come in and have a seat. You may go, Lieutenant Plasma. Please inform the guards at the door that they are to take their breaks now. I do not wish to be disturbed until further notice.”

The guard bowed his head and turned to walk down the hall, while Twilight led her friends into the room and the doors closed behind them. She looked behind her and smiled at their reactions. She had gotten used to meeting with Celestia the last few months, but before that, all their interactions were in public, at school events and ceremonies. She remembered how nervous she felt the first time she had been summoned to the castle, and she saw the same nerves reflected in her friends. Some of them hid it better than others, or it was less severe, but there was no mistaking it.

I should break the ice. Twilight cleared her throat and stepped aside to allow the princess a full view of the six. “Princess Celestia, allow me to formally introduce you to Minuette Chassé, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine Glint, Moondancer Crescent, and of course you already know Luster Dawn.” She gestured her hoof to each of them as she said their name, and they paused and stared at the princess when they realised they were being put on the spot.

“Indeed.” Celestia smiled at them and briefly bowed her head. “It is a pleasure to meet you, girls. Twilight has told me a lot about you all.”

“Good things, I hope,” Minuette said with a wide smile.

“Of course. From the stories she’s told and the comments I’ve heard from teachers, I daresay nopony could hope for a more supportive group of friends.”

“Darn straight!” Twinkleshine said proudly. She realised what she had said and flinched and shrank back, her ears flattening. “Er, pardon the expression, princess.”

Celestia chuckled slightly and put a hoof to her mouth. “Certainly.” When she lowered her hoof, her face was more serious. She gestured around the table. “Everypony, please have a seat. There is much to discuss.”

The other five did as told; Minuette sat next to Twilight with Lemon beside her, and the others all took an individual seat.

No sooner had Lemon Hearts settled in, she blurted, “Is something wrong, Princess?” She clamped her mouth shut, cleared her throat, and tried again. “I just mean, it’s unusual for you to call a group of students to the castle for a personal meeting. At least, I haven’t heard of it happening very often.”

“You’re not in trouble, if that’s what you mean,” Celestia replied. “But, ‘wrong’...that is a more complex question than I think you intended. But, let us start at the beginning. I’m sure Twilight has told you about her experiences with a pony named ‘Sunset Shimmer’, and where she believes this mare is located?” She looked each of them in the face, but none voiced a response until she got to Luster.

Luster fidgeted but didn’t look away. “She’s mentioned some stuff about…dimensions…”

“I thought so.” Celestia nodded and gave Twilight a knowing look out of the corner of her eye. “I did ask her to keep such things to herself, but I recall being told that you girls helped her with that telepathy spell. In hindsight my request of her was redundant. All the same, let’s be clear that we all understand what I mean.”

She stood and began walking around the table, eyes to the ground, deep in thought, not speaking to any of them directly. It was almost as if she was talking to herself out loud.

“Somehow – through means I have not been able to deduce as of yet – Twilight Sparkle made contact with a mare in another dimension by the name of Sunset Shimmer. The two have communicated through dreams, save for that one instance of a trans-dimensional telepathy spell, and now through an enchanted journal I have gifted her.”

She stopped and lifted her head and stared directly at Twilight. “However, although you had made these discoveries on your own and confronted me about my own efforts to keep them secret from you…I still did not tell you the whole truth.”

“What?” Twilight couldn’t help herself from putting her hooves on the table and pushing herself forward. “What do you mean?”

“As I once said, Twilight, you have many important questions with dangerous answers. Answers I have kept from you for your own safety. But now, I believe fate has led us to this moment, where I must reveal them to you for the safety of both our worlds.”

Celestia looked Twilight in the eye. “Twilight, you did not make contact with another dimension. You made contact with an alternate aspect of this one.”

Twilight blinked and gave a quizzical look. “What do you mean ‘an alternate aspect’?”

“I mean that you made contact with this dimension’s other half.”

Celestia tilted her head forward and fired a bolt of golden magic into the air. It formed into the image of a planet, hovering above the table with a single moon orbiting it.

“One thousand years ago, Equus as I knew it then was in peril. A force we could not hope to stop threatened to rip the world apart, and even the greatest mages of the era could not prevent it. Instead, they pooled their knowledge and found a way to save our world. They crafted a most powerful spell, the likes of which has never been seen before or since. Using the moon as an anchor point, they could rip the fabric of reality itself, and split our dimension into two.”

Above the table, the magical image of the globe flickered and duplicated, and the two slowly slid apart and continued to rotate.

Celestia sighed deeply and lowered her head. “They explained to my sister Luna and I that this was the only way to save our world from disaster. After much deliberation, we agreed. Luna would remain in one half, I in the other, to watch over the two for the rest of time. They cast the spell, and it was done. Two worlds came into existence, alike in geography at the time, but the original world’s populace and creatures were divided in two. And we have lived this way ever since.”

Twilight gasped. “Now it all makes sense! The single moon, the ancient stories! I knew there had to be something to fill in the gaps between it all!”

“Gaps created with purpose, to conceal this truth.” Celestia looked up and nodded firmly. “Those who lived through the division were told that there had been a great disaster, and they accepted that explanation easily enough. Though it was distasteful to lie to them, it was necessary. Especially in the early days, none of us were sure if this spell would last. It was agreed that ponies could not know the truth, and could not be permitted to tamper with the magics keeping the dimensions separated and the void sealed.”

“Erm, a moment.” Moondancer raised a hoof as if in class. Celestia gestured for her to continue. “If I heard you two correctly, you said ‘moon’, singular. And there’s only one per planet there.” She pointed at the magical hologram over the table. “So why are there two now?”

“There is still only one moon, and only ever has been. What we perceive as the secondary moon of Equus is merely a shadow, in a metaphysical sense.” Celestia’s horn glowed again, and the planets slid back together, but this time moved at different speeds. “As I said, the moon was the focal point of this spell that split the world. All other aspects of Equus’ cosmology would be distinct between its two halves, either through being outside the division’s power or being unaffected by it. But the moon is the exception, and the single constant. To ensure the two worlds remained apart and the void continued to exist, they were ever so slightly out of sync in time. At first it was subtle, but over the centuries the moon and its shade came further apart, and were perceived as two objects.

“Apart?” Lemon Hearts spoke up. “Then what about the eclipse?”

Celestia’s face darkened. “The idea of such an occurrence was mere speculation when the division occurred, but a century ago, I realised it was an inevitability. The moon still orbits our planet, so as a natural course they drifted so far apart that they began to circle back and come together again. It has taken a thousand years, but it is upon us. The two worlds are going to come into a trans-dimensional alignment, a synchronisation, on the day of the dual eclipse. The moon and its shadow will be as one again. And then…”

She inhaled deeply and didn’t finish. Twilight didn’t need her to. The terrifying wrenching in her gut knew what it meant.

“Then, what?” Twinkleshine asked.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. “The portal to the void will open again.”

Celestia nodded. “I believe this is why so many ponies have been experiencing disruptions with their magic. The void is a place of non-existence where magic does not and should not exist. But now and then a crack between realms will open ever so briefly, and a bit of the magic is siphoned away. With the dual eclipse approaching, the disruptions have become more and more frequent, and are beginning to affect more than just unicorns. I have to accept the very real risk that when the eclipse occurs, all magic may fail, including the spell connecting our worlds.”

“So where do we come in?” Minuette asked. Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve known this is coming, you must have a plan. That’s why you want us, right?”

“I have a plan, yes. But that plan is not why you are here.” Celestia frowned, looking away. “I have spent the last several centuries discretely arranging for mages of considerable power and skill to investigate these disruptions and find ways to counteract them and protect us from them. If their efforts will be enough, we won’t know until that fateful day comes. But you six, I have another task for you.”

She circled back to her chair and looked across the table. “Twilight, your bond with Sunset Shimmer may be the key to saving our worlds, and our magic.”

“Huh?” All present looked at Twilight. She sputtered as her eyes flitted between them. “Why? How?”

“Luna and I have the means to sever the connection between our worlds entirely. We would be permanently, irrevocably, split, and the two halves of our dimension would truly become separate dimensions. If they were split, they would be disconnected from each other, but also from the void, and these magic disruptions would likely cease. Given this is such a drastic action, we had been considering using it as a last resort. But your connection to Sunset may give us an alternative.

“We still don’t know exactly how the two of you formed this bond, but if we can learn more about it, we may be able to use that knowledge to bridge the dimensions in another way. A loophole of sorts. Sever one connection but create another.”

Moondancer put a hoof to her chin and hummed for a moment. “That is a valid theory, on paper. But none of us understand how Twilight and Sunset have their connection.” She lifted her head and pushed her glasses up. “Or, do you?”

“I’m afraid not.” Celestia shook her head. “But, that is why I called all of you here. Twilight, you said your vision had Sunset surrounded by five stars, and that this may refer to a ‘group of six’ you need to find?”

“Yes.” Twilight’s ear flicked. “You said you had an idea on what those six are?”

“Indeed. They’re right here.” Celestia swept her hoof across the table. “In Sunset’s world, she also has a group of five friends. Six of you here, six of them there. Perhaps this is not a coincidence.”

Minuette tilted her head. “Uh, okay, I think I’m following, here. But none of us have had dreams like Twilight and Sunset have. At least, if the others have, nopony has said anything.” The others all shook their heads and voiced denial.

Celestia let out a small sigh. “I am afraid that was my next question. A mild disappointment, I admit. I was sure I had thought of something…”

Twilight snorted out a giggle and did her best to muffle it. Still, the sudden sound got six pairs of eyes looking at her. “Sorry!” She smiled sheepishly. “I just…you look so let down that your theory was wrong, and…you kinda reminded me of me.”

Celestia chuckled softly. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Hang on a sec.” Twinkleshine pointed a hoof towards Twilight. “You gave Twilight that special journal that can talk to Sunset, right? Why not use some of that magic to create a new connection or whatever?”

“I’m afraid that the spell behind the journal is based on the same spell that connects us now. The only reason I was able to gift such a journal to Twilight is because I have a similar method to talk to Luna in the other world.”

Twilight looked down at the floor where her bag sat, the journal in its front pocket. “So this is what you meant about how you can communicate with her? You have your own journal?”

“Yes, connected to an identical one in Luna’s world. Though your journal connects only to Sunset’s, I merely duplicated the spell.”

“I see.” Twilight nudged her rear hoof on the bag and eyed the edge of the journal. This journal is so limiting compared to the dreams. But it’s the only way Celestia has been able to speak to Luna for a thousand years. How did they deal with that? I wouldn’t have become so close to Sunset so quickly if I could only talk to her like this.

Luster cleared her throat before speaking, getting Twilight’s attention. “So, um, sorry to have let you down, but is there anything else maybe we could do to help you?” She gave a short, nervous laugh. “I know that trans-dimensional magics are a bit beyond what you expect of six schoolponies, but…”

“Normally, yes. But you six specifically?” Celestia gave her a knowing look. “For all the well-educated scholars and researchers I know, I daresay you six are the only ones with any practical experience with trans-dimensional magic. Unauthorised and experimental as it may have been.”

Moondancer’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”

“As I said, Twilight has told me a lot about you.”

Twilight winced and shrank back in her chair. “Thank you for not expelling us.”

Lemon Hearts gasped sharply. “Well there’s an idea! If you know about that telepathy spell, why not try it again?”

“NO!”

The other mares in the room reared back in surprise as a pair of hooves slammed the table.

Twilight blinked, gave a nervous laugh, and sat back down. “I mean, not without the princess’ permission, anyway. It was a dangerous spell to attempt.”

“Agreed.” Celestia nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about arranging a controlled environment where, with proper support, you may try again. But for now, none of you are to think about that spell any further. As Twilight said, it’s dangerous.” She looked at her with a small frown. “Sending your mind across dimensions is something never tried before. There are…unknown risks involved.”

I bet I could tell you. Twilight swallowed heavily. “Assuming we’re thinking of the same thing, princess, I already told them about that.”

“Er, ‘that’, what?” Twinkleshine asked.

Celestia murmured and pressed a hoof to her forehead beneath her horn. “Twilight, do you recall all the times we spoke privately about these subjects, and I stressed the importance of keeping those discussions private?”

Twilight laughed awkwardly. “In my defense, most of the stuff I’ve told them, I told them before you asked me not to tell anypony else. But I haven’t told anypony else since then. So technically I’ve kept my word.” She held up her hooves, giving what she hoped came off as a bright smile.

Celestia groaned again.

“What are we talking about?” Minuette asked.

“Remember, the night of the telepathy spell? I mentioned I saw something creepy?”

“Oh, right.” Luster nodded. “You were pretty freaked out by it. Something about a voice and eyes?”

Twilight’s jovial mood vanished in an instant. She shuddered as she remembered again. “Yes, but more than that. I was in a dark void. I heard something call out to me, and it laughed. Then there were these eyes…just, giant, white, staring.” She took a shaky breath. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“Most ponies never will,” Celestia whispered. The six turned back to her. Her face was dark as she spoke. “I did say that Equus was nearly destroyed, necessitating its split. I had hoped to spare you the burden of knowing how it was nearly destroyed, by what and why. Or, to be more precise, by whom.”

“That thing?” Minuette asked.

Moondancer leaned forward. “What is it?”

Celestia sat in silence, her eyes closed. Enough time passed that the students thought she wasn’t going to answer until she stood up, towering over them. “They were once an ordinary pony, who sought knowledge and power they were not prepared to wield, and they were consumed. Now, they are nothing recognizable as a pony. They are a force of purest evil, not merely in the moral sense. Their very existence is antithetical to the concept of life and magic, which is why they have become a terminus for the latter. As the portal to the void cracks open, more magic is siphoned to them and erased from existence. And when it opens fully, all magic would be drawn in and destroyed, and our world cast into lifeless darkness.”

“Who are they?” Twilight breathed out.

Celestia looked her in the eye. Twilight flinched back.

“I couldn’t tell you their original name, even if I wanted to. It has been lost to history. But the creature that dwells in the void now is known to Luna and I as the Pony of Shadows.”

Chapter 23

“So, it’s up to the six of us to figure out how to save the multiverse from an ancient evil of incomprehensible power, by somehow figuring out how to harness the potential practical applications of Twilight’s inexplicable mental bond with a unicorn in a parallel dimension.” Twinkleshine held up her hooves. “I got all that straight?”

Sitting around Twilight’s dorm room, with Twilight on one bed, Lemon and Minuette on the other, and the other half of the group at the table, the six looked at each other as they took in the words.

“More or less.” Moondancer adjusted her glasses. “Although I think using the term ‘multiverse’ to describe the circumstances of our planet is a bit of a stretch.”

Luster cleared her throat. “And, strictly speaking, Celestia didn’t say she was expecting us to figure out how to do all of that, either. Just that she had suspicions about us being bonded to others like Twilight. But since that’s not the case, we don’t have a role to play in this, right?” She looked at Twilight and gave a small rock of her head. “I just mean, she isn’t expecting us, or you, to have the answers. At least that’s the impression I got when we left the castle.”

Lemon Hearts let out a long breath. “Although, if she isn’t asking us to save the world, I have what may seem like a silly question: what do we do now? Carry on with our normal lives, pretending that a week from now, we may be facing an apocalypse?”

Twilight’s face darkened. Six days. Six days until the dual eclipse. The irony of the significance of the number was not lost on Twilight, even if it was almost certainly coincidence. The Pony of Shadows. A force more ancient and evil than we could understand, much less defeat. But somehow, the six of us may be the key to doing just that. How? And why?

Minuette raised a hoof. “Counterpoint – what can we do now? Celestia said she’s having mages prepared to combat this ‘Pony of Shadows’, and none of us are going to bring much to any sort of magic duel that they couldn’t. And yeah, we could investigate Twilight’s dreams and connection to Sunset more, but she’s been working at doing that for months. No offence.”

Twilight waved off the remark, and Minuette continued. “So, we can either sit around and stew in the thought of our impending doom until it actually occurs, or we can try and maintain a semblance of normalcy and hope for the best.”

Twinkleshine gave a slight shrug and a light nod. “When you put it that way, you’re not wrong.” She looked over at Twilight. “Unless your dream girl comes up with any ideas.”

“Unlikely.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m still taking that dream-suppressing potion. I haven’t seen Sunset in more than a week.” She scrunched her nose. “Though I’m still having dreams about those other two ponies, Corona and Nova.”

Moondancer put a hoof to her lip and hummed gently. “Dream-suppression potions are not terribly difficult to brew, and natural resistance to their effects is very rare. But I’ve not heard of only certain dreams being blocked but not others.”

Twilight spread her hooves. “Don’t ask me to explain it, I just know I’m having them. They’re weird and unique in their own way, and I have even less idea what’s causing them than I did Sunset’s when they began. Unless Celestia is hiding the existence of a third fragment of our world that’s ruled over by another sister of hers.” Her ear flicked and she felt her cheeks grow warm. “To be clear, I was being sarcastic.” I hope.

“All things considered, I’d say that is highly improbable,” Moondancer said. “Besides, you said you’ve asked Celestia about them before and she had no idea what they meant. Given that she’s seemingly put all her cards on the table now, I doubt she would withhold that one.”

Minuette nodded. “And she said she was going to ask Luna about them, right? Maybe the answer lies in the other dimension.”

“Maybe.” Twilight glanced over at her journal on her nightstand. “I could also ask Sunset Shimmer myself if the names mean anything to her. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“Is there anything you could tell us about them?” Lemon asked. “We might be able to try to figure something out.”

Twilight rubbed her head. “I wish I could, but it’s all a blur. The dreams always fade so fast when I wake up, I can barely remember details. And…it’s like…” she struggled to think of the words. “It’s almost like I’m not really ‘in’ those dreams. I can perceive things, I know things, but it’s all distant somehow. It’s almost like I’m viewing a degraded recording and having to fill in the blanks.”

“Recording…”

The group turned their heads. Twinkleshine was staring off into space. Suddenly she snapped her eyes up to Twilight and gave a wide smile.

“What if you could view a recording of it?”

“Huh?”

Twinkleshine moved to the cabinets under the sink, opened the doors, and began to rummage around. “I had finished a workable prototype a few days ago, but with everything happening I forgot to show you girls…” she stood up and turned, her horn glowing with magic, as she lifted up an unusual magic device and set it down on the table.

A large wooden panel lay on the bed with a large pink crystal held in place in the centre with metal supports. Wiring ran down the supports to two blocks of dark stone that had runes carved into them, glowing silver. The crystal itself had several runes on its surface, but they weren’t glowing. Between the two blocks of stone and to the side of the crystal was a series of lenses that grew larger as they pointed away from the crystal. On the other side of the crystal was a panel with a few large switches and a small speaker.

“What is it?” Luster asked.

“My crystal projector. For my thesis.” Twinkleshine beamed proudly. “Here, it’s not the best, but it’s functional; watch.” She flipped two of the switches and the silver runes on the dark stones glowed brighter.

“I had to make a compromise and use obsidian to store the recording data instead of a gemstone. It isn’t as good at holding a magic charge as a gem, but it’s easier to carve the runes on and is still light enough to move easily.”

“Clever,” Moondancer said.

“Thank you.” Twinkleshine smiled as she flipped a third switch, then adjusted the positioning of the lenses. She turned the entire device to aim the lenses at the wall. “And now, a little direct magic to make it project.” She lowered her head and fired a beam of magic at the crystal.

The crystal lit up in vibrant pink light, and the runes covering its surface pulsed. Currents of energy ran up the wires from the blocks of obsidian to the crystal, and with a flash, a beam of light shot forward to the array of lenses. Each one magnified the light larger and larger, and the final one shone onto the wall.

A blurry image of Twinkleshine’s head appeared on the wall, her mane and coat colour recognizable but both were tinted pink. A scratchy voice came from the speaker on the projector.

“T-Twi-Twinkleshine-ine, test seven, pro-prototype three-three. Test-testing one, t-two-o, three, f-f-four…” the audio became choppy and the image began to flicker. Twinkleshine flipped the switches off and the projector shut down.

“Like I said – here and there – it’s just a prototype. Still lots of refinement to do, but it’s functional.” She smiled again.

Minuette lowered her head and looked the projector over. “Pretty cool, Twinkles. But uh, how is a movie projector going to help us see Twilight’s memories?”

“Easy.” Twinkleshine tapped the crystal with her hoof. “The reason that recording was so bad and short is because transcribing audio-visual data using the crystal is difficult. Only so much surface area for runes, limits of data transference from the obsidian, etcetera. But, thought patterns should be relatively simpler to encode.” She looked at Twilight. “I’m pretty sure that with a few slight modifications, instead of audio-visual data, the crystal should be able to encode Twilight’s thoughts – or rather, her dream. And then we could try playing it back as a recording.”

Twilight scratched her head. “Is that even possible?” She looked at Moondancer and the rest of the group followed suit.

Moondancer gave a small huff and rolled her eyes. “You always act as though I know everything.”

“More like you have the best chance of knowing anything,” Minuette teased.

Moondancer looked at the projector and thought. “It’s hard to say. We could record Twilight’s thoughts, that isn’t out of the question. But if and how it could be converted into a recording we could view and play back, that’s trickier. We’d need some fairly complex and advanced spellcrafting and runes concerning mental magic, and that is just to encode it. Remember that instead of storing audio-visual data, this device would be storing, in essence, Twilight’s memories. And being able to preserve memories on an external artefact like this is quite beyond my own knowledge of that field.”

Twinkleshine slumped slightly. “I don’t know that much about memory spells either.”

“I do.” Luster stepped up to the bed. “Let me have a look at the spells you used for your projector, and I’ll figure it out.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. She leaned forward. “You don’t have to. I mean, if you’d rather you not do this, for…whatever reason…”

Luster gave her a pointed look. “I’ve studied memory and telepathy magic a lot this year. A lot. I can do it.” Her expression softened. “Trust me, Twilight. I can make it work.”

Twilight caught her double-meaning and responded with a firm nod. “Alright.”

Minuette raised a hoof. “Um, not to doubt you, Dawny, but should we be trying at all? Like, it does sound really complex, and after what happened with Twilight the last time we did something like this…”

“This isn’t the same, not by a long shot. Monitoring dreams is very different from broadcasting telepathy.” Twilight smiled softly. “Besides, Luster probably knows more about memory spells than the rest of us combined. If she says she can figure it out, then I say we let her work.”

Luster’s face turned red and she shrank back slightly. Twinkleshine reached over and patted her on the back. “No pressure, right?”

“Is there anything we could do to help?” Moondancer asked.

“I’ll need a good gemstone for magic infusing,” Twinkleshine replied.

Luster piped up, “Emeralds would be preferable, they’re the safest material for using runes that involve mental magic. Well, safest for the subject, anyway.”

Twinkleshine nodded and trotted to her nightstand, pulling open a drawer and withdrawing a notebook. “Speaking of, we’re gonna need enchanted ink, the best quality any of us can spare.”

“Citizens of Equestria, please!” Celestia raised a hoof and spread her wings wide.

The crowd of ponies gathered in front of the stairs to the castle fell silent at the princess’ command.

The mare next to Twilight shuffled her hooves. “Here we go.”

Again…

Celestia swept her eyes back and forth across the crowd. “I know you are all deeply concerned about the unusual magical phenomena that have been occurring across Equestria. I assure you all that my sister and I share this with you, and your calls for explanation and protection have not fallen on deaf ears.”

A pony stepped up next to Celestia, another alicorn, but this one had a dark blue coat, starry mane, black regalia, and was slightly shorter.

Luna?

“Indeed, we are already discussing this matter with our closest and most trusted advisors.” The other alicorn swept a hoof back to point up the steps. “Star Swirl himself has been investigating the cause of these disruptions, and has returned less than an hour ago claiming he has important information for us. Though it would be premature at this time to make promises before hearing him out, I feel confident in saying that we will soon be on our way to devising a solution.”

Celestia nodded. “For now, please return to your homes and remain calm, and avoid using your magic if possible. We will issue a royal decree with more information for you as we are able to provide it. Thank you.”

The crowd began talking among themselves again, but several ponies had been satisfied and turned to walk away.

Twilight’s companion took a deep breath. “Well, that’s that. If Star Swirl is on this, we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Star Swirl…

“Are you sure?” Twilight frowned. “I mean, no offence to Star Swirl, but we’ve never heard of anything like this before. How could he already have a solution?”

“Because he’s Star Swirl. He can solve any problem if you give him time. And if you don’t, he’ll use one of his time travel spells or whatever and make time.”

Time travel. Is that what this is?

“Maybe…I don’t know…” Twilight sighed.

A hoof put itself on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a light nuzzle against the forehead.

“Come on, stop being a downer. Let’s go home and relax a little, okay?”

“Yeah…okay.” Twilight pulled back and smiled. “Thanks.”

Her companion walked down the street from the shrinking crowd. Twilight turned to follow her, but paused and glanced back at the castle. Celestia and Luna had ascended the stairs to the entranceway and were speaking to a unicorn with a long beard and a blue cloak and hat.

That’s him…but…

Behind Star Swirl, barely visible past the columns, were more ponies. Twilight twisted her head and squinted. Star Swirl had stopped talking and had turned his head to one of the ponies she couldn’t see.

“Who are they?”

“Hm?” She heard her companion’s hoofsteps stop. “Oh, probably some other advisors, like they said.”

“Yeah.” Twilight took a step to the side, intrigued, and brought a hoof over her eyes. She gasped and inhaled sharply.

The unicorn she was looking at turned back to Celestia, still clad in a cloak and hat with bells, but it was no longer Star Swirl.

Sunset? How?

A pony stepped up beside Star Swirl – now Sunset – and began to talk to the princesses. A muscular earth pony with a teal coat and orange mane. But when Twilight blinked, he too was gone, replaced by a unicorn with a light pink coat and a teal and purple mane.

“Twilight!”

She cried and fell to her knees. Around her the world began to flicker and flash, the ground under her feet spun.

“Nova?”

She felt a hoof catch her before she hit the ground.

Impossible. Sunset…what? What’s going on?

As before, Twilight had felt like a prisoner in her own body, forced into a stage play where her lines were pre-written for her and all she could do was recite them. Until now. The facade had cracked and the show had grinded to a halt.

An actress had broken character.

“Are you okay?”

Twilight weakly shook her head. Her heart pounded in her ears, her eyes were burning, and her body felt light.

I don’t understand. How, why…what…

“Help me…Sunset…”

An orange hoof reached past her field of vision and around her chest.

“I’m here, Twilight.”

You can’t be…

I am…

Twilight quickly galloped down the street up the steps to the royal castle, causing two nobleponies to scoff at her as she brushed past them. She ignored them.

I have to show her. I know she’ll see me if I tell her guards why.

She looked at the saddle bag hanging on her side, the crystal projector peeking out from under the flap.

Inside the castle she took the path she had taken several times by now, to where the areas open to the public ended and guard posts sectioned off the rest of the castle. There was a check-in desk for visitors with an appointment deeper in, and that was where she headed now. She rounded a corner and skidded to a halt.

“Whoa!” A pegasus guard walking by the intersection in front of her jumped back to avoid a collision.

“Sorry, I–”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight paused in her apology. The guard looked at her curiously and she gave him a better look. Blue mane. Wasn’t he the one that escorted me before?

“Er, yes?”

The guard twitched his mouth up into a slight smile. “Well, that’s a coincidence. The princess had just dispatched me to summon you.”

She did a double take.

“What?”

The pegasus turned and pointed. “Follow me, hurry along then.” He began galloping away and Twilight pursued, easily keeping pace. In fact, she noted that she was having to slow down slightly to stop from getting ahead of him.

He’s not used to moving so fast on-hoof…

The pegasus led her down a series of passages that seemed familiar, until they were going down a hallway that Twilight definitely recognized. At the end, by a pair of double doors, Celestia stood, staring intently at a small book floating in front of her. She glanced up and raised her head. “Twilight? That was much faster than I expected.”

The pegasus guard stopped and knelt his head. “She was already on her way to see you, Princess. I bumped into her in the castle.”

Twilight stepped up behind him. “Princess, I know this is abrupt, but I have something very important to show you.”

“A fine coincidence, Twilight. I was about to say the same thing to you.” Celestia nodded at the guard. “Please inform my aides that I will be indisposed until further notice.”

“Right away.” The guard saluted and trotted down the hall.

Celestia watched him go and gave a small hum in her throat. “I normally employ pegasi guards as messengers for their speed, but lately some of the guard have had problems maintaining flight.” She turned an eye to Twilight. “You could guess why, I presume.”

“Yes. Has it been happening to earth ponies as well?”

“It is difficult to say. Earth pony magic has always been the most subtle of the three races, as it manifests in their physical prowess and natural affinity for agriculture and mining. It may be that they are having their magic syphoned, but are writing it off as illness or the like.” Celestia shook her head. “But in the end, when the eclipse begins, their magic will be absorbed the same as anypony else’s.”

“Maybe not.” Twilight set her face in a determined expression and gave a firm nod. “I think I have something that may give us a new lead on stopping this crisis.”

“That is good to hear.” Celestia looked around. “But, we should discuss these matters in private. And as I said, I have something to show you, as well. Come.” She turned and pushed the doors open. Twilight followed her, and once they had both crossed the threshold, the princess lit her horn and closed the doors.

The Hall of the Two Sisters sprawled before them again. Twilight looked around in new understanding at all the works of art and artefacts from ancient history around her. This is Equestria’s true history. The two sisters that brought unity and peace to a chaotic world. And she had to bury it to preserve that peace. She followed Celestia as she walked down the carpet towards the dias at the rear of the room. Twilight squinted and walked fast to get ahead of the princess.

Before, the dias had held a beautiful statue of Princess Luna. But it had been moved and set aside to the left on the floor, a tall mirror, deep lavender with pink gemstones, and shaped like a horseshoe replacing it. Swirling stylistic trim wove up the sides and met at the top. There rested a small disc shaped like a flaming sun in gold, with a silver crescent moon curving around the left half of it.

“What is this?” Twilight asked. She looked back at Celestia and waited. The princess wrote something down in the journal with her – Twilight noticed it had the same emblem as the mirror did – and then closed it and floated the journal to rest on the dias.

“Watch.” Celestia gestured a wing to the mirror and climbed up the steps to the dais. Twilight followed her, eyes not leaving the mirror.

After a few moments, the moon on the disk emblem glowed bright blue. Celestia’s horn lit and she fired a continuous beam of magic at the emblem. As Twilight watched, the gold sun lit up in the same light as Celestia’s magic, and the sun and moon began to rotate around a shared axis. The rotation sped up until it was a blur, blue and yellow magic swirling around each other.

Twilight’s eyes fell from the emblem to the surface of the mirror. It was now rippleding and shimmereding, her reflection in it distorting. She took a cautious step forward and reached a hoof out. A wave of light washed over the mirror’s surface and she paused. The light receded, revealing the mirror had returned to its previous state. But instead of her reflection, Twilight found herself staring into the eyes of a very familiar unicorn mare with an orange coat and red and yellow mane.

“S-Sunset?” she whispered.

To her escalating surprise, Sunset recoiled and her eyes widened. “Twilight?”

The voice was distorted and muffled, but there was no mistaking it.

“Sunset!” Twilight pressed a hoof onto the mirror and felt cold glass. Sunset pressed her own hoof against it on her side.

“You must be Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight raised her head. Another alicorn stood beside Sunset, looking down at her with a soft smile. She had a dark blue mane and black regalia with a crescent moon over her neck, and a flowing nebula of a mane, shimmering blue with spots of light twinkling along its length like stars in the sky.

“Princess Luna?”

“Hail filly, well met.” The other princess smiled wider and bowed her head.

Celestia stepped up beside Twilight. “While Luna and I have our own journal that works much like yours, this mirror allows us to speak to each other directly, provided we both channel our magic into it at once.”

Through the mirror, Luna rocked her head and gave a small hum. “I would not say we use it according to ‘necessity’. I prefer we use it as frequently as possible regardless of circumstance. It is simply easier and more personal this way.”

“Yes, though our schedules do not always allow it.”

“Quite so. But, we digress.” Luna turned her attention back to Twilight. “It was I who requested this meeting. I was quite surprised to find a guard knocking at my door this morning, claiming that a particular young mare we both know was insisting she had to speak to me urgently.”

Twilight saw Sunset’s face tint a deeper shade of orange. “Well, it was important…”

“Indeed.” Luna ruffled her wings and shifted her eyes back and forth between Celestia and Twilight. “Sister, shall we have Sunset tell us her tale first, or Twilight?”

“I will.” Twilight spoke up before Celestia could answer. She felt sheepish when the other three ponies looked at her, but she brushed it aside. The adrenaline of what had brought her here to begin with surged anew. “I can take a guess what Sunset wanted to see you about, because it’s the same thing I wanted to see Celestia about. But I brought a visual aid.” Twilight looked at her side. Her bags flipped open in an aura of magic and Twinkleshine’s crystal projector floated up and gently came down on the floor.

Celestia knelt down and peered at the device closely. “What is this contraption?”

“A friend’s thesis project. They wanted to experiment with encoding audio-video information on crystals and magic-infused items instead of reels or cassettes.”

“Intriguing, and clever.” Celestia gave an approving nod.

“I’ll be sure to tell her you said that. But, there’s more.” Twilight lit her horn and flipped the proper switches to prepare the projector. “We modified the runes and spells it used with Luster Dawn’s understanding of telepathy and memory spells. This recording was made mentally. From my dream last night.”

She heard a sputter and a snort, and Sunset spoke. “Wow. The most advanced thing me and my friends ever built was when Trixie wanted an auto-teleportation box. We ended up losing Sunburst and found him an hour later locked in a broom closet in the library.”

“Is that what you lot were doing that night?” Luna gave her a disapproving frown. “You told Inkwell you were doing late-night studying.”

“We were! ...Technically, before that happened.”

Twilight and Celestia both laughed, breaking up the argument occurring through the mirror.

Luna raised a hoof to her mouth and gently coughed. “My apologies. Please continue, Twilight.”

“Right. So, yes, we recorded my dream.” Twilight looked around, and after a moment she levitated a small bronze platter over to her from a pedestal. She set it in front of her propped up against her hooves, and turned the projector to angle it the proper way. “We weren’t entirely sure it would work, but it did, we watched it this morning to make sure. That’s why I was so excited to come see you, so you could see for yourself.” She fired a bolt of magic at the crystal projector.

The crystal glowed and the runes carved into it began to hum with magic. Sparks of magic flew along the wires on the device, and the crystal glowed brighter and then projected a beam of light at the platter. The beam flickered, shifted colors from pink to red to violet to blue, and then grew wider.

Slowly, an image came into focus on the platter’s surface.

“That’s them…” Twilight saw Sunset out of the corner of her eye; her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.

“Yes, it is.” Twilight looked down at the platter and the projected image.

Two unicorn mares stood there, one of them moving their lips but with no sound. The one who was speaking had a pale blue coat and a short, purple mane streaked with shades of blue. Her cutie mark was barely visible, a swirling nexus of magic with five arms spreading through the air. The other mare had a dark red coat and a long, wavy mane in multiple hues of orange. Her cutie mark was more visible, a golden circle that looked like a ring of fire with gouts of red shooting from it.

“This is who you’ve been dreaming about?” Celestia asked.

Twilight nodded. “The blue one is named Nova Radiance. The red one is named Corona Flare. I have no idea how I know their names, but I do.”

“Me too…” Sunset shook her head. “How is this possible?”

“It isn’t.” Luna said firmly. “The dream potion I gave to my sister is the most potent of its kind known to either world. It should repress dreams entirely. I have never known it to fail.” She took a deep breath. “But, the evidence to the contrary is plain to see. What do you make of it, sister?”

“I’m not sure, Luna.” Celestia walked closer to the projection and studied it from a new angle. “I have never heard of these ponies before.”

“Nor have I.”

“Well, we’ve dreamed about them multiple times now.” Sunset gently tapped on the mirror to get Twilight’s attention. “I’m assuming that we’ve been sharing them right along, we just haven’t noticed it.”

“Most likely. The picnic, and then the dinner?”

“Picnic, no, dinner, yes.”

“A picnic and a dinner?” Celestia thought for a moment. “But Sunset did not dream of the former. Curious…”

“A moment.” Luna looked at Sunset. “Would the two of you say that these dreams you have had of these two ponies have a decidedly affectionate undertone to them?”

Sunset coughed and looked away, but Twilight saw her cheeks darken again. “Well, I dunno about that…okay, maybe, yes…”

“Definitely yes.” Twilight set the platter down and turned her full attention to Celestia. “I remember in the dreams they were often close to each other physically. And the first one especially, they were celebrating some sort of anniversary.”

Celestia nodded. “I see…but I’m not sure how that–”

“Of course!”

Celestia stopped, and she and Twilight both looked through the mirror.

Luna had taken a step back and was pressing a hoof to her head. Sunset watched her in the same mix of confusion and interest that Twilight felt.

“How could we have missed it? How could I have missed it? The moment Sunset told me my dream potion wasn’t working, I should have suspected.” The princess let out an annoyed huff. “Sister, it all makes sense.”

“What does?” Celestia pressed.

Luna regained her composure, now with a bemused smile on her face. “My dream potion worked exactly as it was meant to. These mares, Nova and Corona, Sunset and Twilight have not been experiencing them through dreams at all. They’re memories. But not memories of this lifetime.”

Celestia’s face brightened. “Reincarnation!”

“Precisely!” Luna’s smile widened, now filled with pride. “This explains so much!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Sunset held up both hooves. “Those ponies are, were, us?”

“It’s the only explanation that fits with everything that has happened to you two.” Celestia looked between them. “If Nova and Corona were your past lives, then no dream magic would affect these dreams. Because they are not truly dreams, they are visions of the past experienced like dreams.”

“But that doesn’t fit.” Twilight scratched her head. “I began dreaming about Sunset at the start of the school year, and only dreamed about Nova and Corona for the first time no more than a month ago.”

“And Twilight has had more dreams than me. I never dreamt of any picnic,” Sunset added.

Luna let out a small sigh. “Recalling one’s experiences from a past life is not an exact science. It is one of the few areas of magic that we have yet to understand. But it is fairly consistent that the recollections often begin with a single burst of insight. I would presume that something happened to you, Twilight, that caused you to have your first memory of Nova and Corona. It could be an experience that resonated deeply with your past self, or perhaps a result of being exposed to hypnosis or mental magics meant to dredge up buried memories.”

“Magic for…buried memories…” Twilight took a step back and tried to stay steady as she slowly lowered to her knees.

Luster’s spell…

Celestia continued. “Once the door was opened for you, so to speak, it stands to reason that you may have triggered Sunset’s own awakening through your bond. And thus you began sharing these past life visions together as you did the dreams.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why we have this connection!” Sunset protested.

“Doesn’t it? If these visions have had a shared theme of affection, I’d say that explanation is clear.”

Twilight’s ear flicked and she glanced up. Celestia was stifling a giggle, but she could still see the smile.

“Princess?”

“Luna, shall you tell them, or shall I?”

“Oh, don’t tease them, sister.” Luna scolded her but she also looked like she was struggling not to grin.

“Tease us about what?” Twilight asked, her voice rising.

Celestia slowly shook her head. “Twilight, you and Sunset – or rather, Nova and Corona – are soul mates.”

She blinked several times. “Wha?”

Sunset echoed her own thoughts in slightly more words. “That’s a thing?”

“It is rare, but it is not unheard of.” Luna spread her wings and gestured between the two with a hoof. “When two ponies share a deep, powerful bond, their souls harmonise with each other and intertwine. Though it is not a guarantee, it is likely that upon being reborn, they will be drawn to each other again. Not necessarily in a romantic context, but their souls will call out to each other to be reunited.”

“The soul mate bond is one of the most powerful forces of magic known,” Celestia said softly. “It is something so primaeval and elemental that I would say it is not even right to call it ‘magic’ as we use the term today. It’s something that binds soul, heart, and memory, connecting ponies across time in defiance of all that would seek to keep them apart. And, it seems, across dimensions as well.”

“In order for this bond to have been forged, it must have been in the original world, before Star Swirl and his comrades split it.”

“That’s the only way we could arrive at this state. Two ponies, linked by their souls, in different halves of the world. This may have happened to you both in other past lives, but perhaps not so intently as today. Likely the approaching eclipse and alignment of our dimensions is the cause. Even before your past memories were awakened, your souls reached beyond the dreams’ horizon to speak to each other.”

Twilight took in everything the two princesses said, but her mind struggled to actually process it. Instead of the minutiae of the how, it had become a cascade of deduction. Pieces fell into place in her mind and neatly snapped together to fill out a picture of the truth.

The first dream. The parallel dimensions. Luster’s spell. Our past lives. Soul mates…me and Sunset. Sunset and me…

“Twilight?”

She slowly raised her head. Sunset was against her side of the mirror now, looking down at her in concern. She raised a hoof to the mirror’s surface and seemed to try and press closer.

“Are you okay?”

“I…” Twilight slowly pushed herself up. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“You’re telling me. I just mean, um…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.” Twilight smiled and pressed a hoof to the mirror where Sunset’s was, but she still only felt cold glass.

How can I expect her to say anything when even I don’t know what to say? What can be said?

“We have given them a lot to think about, sister. Perhaps we should allow them privacy for a few minutes?”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia draped a wing over Twilight, but she didn’t look away from Sunset. She heard the princess’ voice come softly in her ear. “I will be in the hall if you need anything from me.”

“As will I, Sunset.”

Twilight gave a distant nod, and the princess’ wing withdrew. Luna stepped away from Sunset and Twilight heard hoofsteps from both sides of the mirror. Eventually there came the sound of the doors opening and closing.

Alone in the hall save for her soul mate from a parallel world, Twilight slowly leaned her head forward to rest against the mirror. She closed her eyes, not caring about the tears that began to slide down her cheeks. Happiness, fear, sorrow? She wasn’t sure. Maybe all three.

“What happens now?” she whispered.

Though she had meant the question rhetorically, she still got an answer.

“The end of the world, if what’s happening on your side is anything like what’s on mine. And now we both know it is.”

Twilight lifted her head and locked eyes with Sunset.

“The princesses wanted us to help stop the Pony of Shadows.”

“I got that impression, too.”

“But I have no idea how.”

“Me neither.” Sunset gave a forced laugh. “Unless they really expect us to figure out how to weaponize the power of love somehow.”

Twilight didn’t respond. Sunset’s suggestion was both absurd and plausible. And…

That word…

“We have to find a way. Somehow. Even if all we can do is fight with the princesses to the bitter end, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Yeah.” Sunset smiled. “And when it’s over, we’ll go to sleep and find each other again. Right?”

…I don’t want to be asleep to find you anymore…

Chapter 24

Luster Dawn’s birthday was the day before the end of the world.

At this point given everything else, Twilight wasn’t sure if it was a cosmic coincidence, or a very cruel practical joke by fate. Perhaps both.

“Twilight, you’ll be in charge of bringing Luster to the venue at precisely four o’clock. Okay?” Minuette looked at her expectantly.

Twilight didn’t look up from the journal but nodded anyway.

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes. “If I had a bit for every conversation we have when she has her muzzle buried in a book not listening…”

This time, Twilight raised her head. “I’m listening, bring Luster over at four. I can multitask.”

Lemon frowned. “You’re in a sour mood. Though I can’t say I blame you. It’s hard to feel like partying, knowing what we do.”

As far as the rest of Equestria was concerned, tomorrow was the dual eclipse, nothing more. Scientists and mages of all types had flocked toCanterlot, setting up research stations and observation equipment. Three days prior, Celestia had issued a decree about the usage of magic and what kind of instruments were permitted to use to monitor the eclipse. Unicorns were to restrict their magic to telekinesis unless absolutely necessary, pegasi were advised to avoid flying for long distances and try to stay below the cloud barrier, and earth ponies had been told to be mindful they may not be as strong as they were used to.

Alarm and concern had steadily risen across Canterlot. The growing failures of magic had been noticed and discussed, and SGU classes had been cancelled the past two days. For all it mattered, today was Saturday. The world would have a collective day off to fret about the cosmic significance of what was about to occur, unaware of the Shadow waiting to be set free.

Unless we can stop him…somehow. Twilight wrinkled her nose and turned her attention back to the journal. This was not the journal that let her communicate with Sunset, though. This was the one that conveyed a much older, deeper wisdom. The journal of Star Swirl the Bearded.

Yet not even he could find a way to defeat the Pony of Shadows, he just had to seal it. What could I hope to do? There must be something in here to give me an idea…

She heard Twinkleshine murmur in her throat. “Maybe this is a bad idea. I mean, I don’t wanna sit around fearing tomorrow, but going out to party and have fun…I dunno.”

“I disagree.” The speaker surprised Twilight enough to make her look up again. Moondancer shook her head. “It’s important to keep spirits up in times like this, when we have a foreboding tomorrow ahead of us. As Twinkleshine said, the alternative is to sit here paralyzed by fear, but that achieves nothing. If this is our last day together, we should spend it like such, yes?”

“Exactly!” Minuette gave a firm nod.

Moondancer raised a hoof before Minuette could continue. “However, I will also stress there is an important caveat to that sentiment.” She lowered her hoof. “If there is something we could do to help forestall this apocalypse, that is certainly more important than anything else.”

All eyes in the room turned to Twilight. Lemon slowly walked up to her and put a hoof on the edge of the bed. “Twilight, you’d know best of anypony, and I include Princess Celestia under that umbrella. Is there anything we can do?”

She swallowed heavily. “I…I don’t know…” she looked down at the journal and the ancient words written there. “I’ve been reading this journal all week, hoping there might be some secret I’m missing. I don’t want to believe that a pony as powerful and wise as Star Swirl would banish the Pony of Shadows to the limbo between dimensions, splitting our world in two, and not leave behind a plan if he ever broke free. It doesn’t make sense.”

“And what have you found?” Moondancer prompted.

“Admittedly, not nothing, but I don’t know if it’s something…” Twilight grunted and put a hoof to her face. “It’s hard to explain. There’s no single page in this journal that gives a clear answer; it’s a mix of personal anecdotes, magic theory, and history. But at times, that line becomes blurred. As best I can tell, Star Swirl believed in a…I guess you could call it a ‘unified theory of magic’, maybe. Parallels and patterns across different systems. Ponies, Equus, the stars, magic itself. He especially keeps talking about the planets and their influences on our world.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Twinkleshine mused. “I mean, Celestia said that the moon and Equus are split, but the planets were unaffected. Maybe that’s part of it?”

“Maybe. But I’m not sure how.” She looked over at Lemon. “You’ve been researching the planets, have you found anything?”

“No.” Lemon withdrew her hoof. “I collected a lot of data about the relationship between magic and the planets, but nothing about dimensions or pony species. All I could say is that my findings indicate that the closer a planet is to Equus, the greater its influence on magic – Inashu and Negalu are closest, then Bunabu, then Eniku and Ninurtu. I don’t know if that means anything.”

“It’s hard to say. Star Swirl understood the planets had an influence on Equus and magic, but he didn’t go much into detail on how, he was more focused on exploring why. And he was interested in how the five planets interacted with each other beyond Equus, but nothing there indicates…that…”

Her magic still holding the journal for the others, Twilight’s eyes strayed to the cover. She trailed off, her eyes going wide.

“Twi?” Minuette cocked her head.

“Five…five planets…” Twilight whispered. “But no, not five, six…it’s literally staring me in the face!” She closed the journal and turned it around. “Look!” She tapped the cover and the emblem on it, a swirl of blue magic with five stars along its length. “The same old mistake, again. Not five, six. Five stars here, but also the swirl emblem. There aren’t five planets, there’s six, Equus counts too, of course! And…”

The dream…Star Swirl, and five other ponies…

“Anyone who has ideas, spit them out now – were there other legendary, mythical ancient heroes comparable to Star Swirl?”

Twilight watched and waited as her friends pondered the open question, a subtle excitement settling over the room.

Moondancer spoke first. “Well, comparable to Star Swirl is a high metric, given how many discoveries and feats are attributed to him…but there was another unicorn, apparently from the far east, that was reputed to have unusually high aptitude with magic.”

“I’d heard of that one!” Lemon said loudly, her eyes going wide. “I remember it was a foal’s tale my mother read to me when I was little. She was said to be the most beautiful mare in the world, with a knack for rejuvenation and healing spells.” Her enthusiasm dampened. “But such magics were taxing to use repeatedly, and began to wear on her. Her beauty faded and she looked far older than her true age, yet she kept healing. Eventually they had to forbid her from using her magic this way out of concern for her.”

She gave a sage nod. “My mother told me that the moral of the story is ‘always help others if you can, but remember to consider your own well-being, too’.”

“Wise advice,” Moondancer agreed. “Back to the topic of Star Swirl, Twilight, I recall you said there were stories about him adventuring with a pony named Somnambula?”

“Yes, the most famous tells of them traveling to a southern village to fight a sphinx that was prowling the region.” Twilight flipped through the journal. “Strictly speaking, the stories only ever talk about a great unicorn mage that aided Somnambula, but there’s a few entries from Star Swirl that match the stories as he would write them from his own perspective.”

Twinkleshine hummed. “That’s three. Do we have any other leads?”

“Actually…” Twilight looked at the ceiling. “My last dream of my past life, there was a pony with Star Swirl. An earth pony, bigger than usual, way bigger. Looked really strong…”

“That might be Rockhoof,” Moondancer suggested. “He’s a popular folk hero in the north-western regions of Equestria. Even some of the yaks and minotaurs tell legends of him. They say he was a farmer who rapidly dug trenches to protect his home from invaders, and grew so strong he could dig a moat overnight.”

“Um, I have a question.” Minuette raised her hoof and waited until the others were looking at her. “Not to be a downer, but what does this have to do with stopping the Pony of Shadows?”

“My vision of Sunset said to ‘find us’ while she was surrounded by five lights. I’m thinking perhaps this refers to Star Swirl and five heroes who fought alongside him, the same way Equus is orbited by five planets.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Though, that still begs the question of what the vision meant by ‘find us’. If it’s referring to historical figures of antiquity that are assuredly long dead…” She glared down at the journal.

There’s something key I’m missing. The vision said ‘find them, find us, it is the key to all’. She scrunched her face. Though, that wording could be taken to mean there’s two separate groups, ‘them’ and ‘us’. Sunset’s friends and my friends, maybe?

“Twi?”

She blinked and lifted her head to find her staring into the deep blue eyes of Minuette. Her friend smiled softly and patted the top of her head.

“This is obviously important to you, but the answers aren’t going to come by just sitting here and thinking in circles.” She stepped back and looked around the group. “If there’s nothing we can do to help Celestia, then at least we can help Luster. That filly will have a birthday party at last if I have anything to say about it. Anypony who wants to sit it out to study, that’s your call, I’ll make up an excuse for you. But I think it’s important we do this together.”

The others took a moment to let her words sink in.

Twilight took a deep breath. “If there’s some hand of fate at work with all this, I’m sure it can figure out a way to work in a birthday party.” She stood up from the bed and gave Minuette a firm nod. “Four o’clock, right?”

Minuette returned the nod. “On the nose.”

Lemon held up her hooves, but gave a small smile. “Well, I guess it’s time to party like there’s no tomorrow.”

It was only much later in the day, when she went downstairs to knock on Luster’s door, that Twilight realized she hadn’t gotten a gift for her. Balancing school life, her studies on the dreams, and everything surrounding the two, had distracted her while Minuette planned everything in the background. But it was now three-thirty, there was no time left to go get a gift without being late for the party, and Twilight knew better than to make her and Luster late to an event Minuette was overseeing.

The SGU dorms were far quieter than Twilight was used to. The gossip around campus was that many students had chosen to return home for the weekend in the wake of the uncertainty about what was to come. Anypony else treating this Saturday like any other were likely out in town or visiting friends. The result was that the building almost felt abandoned as she went down the stairs, encountering only two other ponies, neither of which she knew.

When she reached the first floor and approached Luster’s door, she stopped and composed herself.

Okay, thoughts of doom and gloom have to go. If we’re actually going to have a party for Luster, it’s going to be fun. And she’s not going to have fun if any one of us aren’t putting our hearts into it. She gathered up all her misgivings about tomorrow and gently tucked them into the back corners of her mind. That done, she lifted a hoof and knocked thrice.

“Just a moment!” came the muffled reply. Twilight heard the shuffling of papers and squeaks of furniture moving. A few moments later the door swung open and Luster smiled at her. “Oh! Hi, Twilight.”

“Hi, Luster.” Twilight eyed the tiny dorm room behind her; papers and textbooks were piled on her desk. “I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?”

Luster followed her eyes, then waved a hoof and sputtered. “Reviewing all my old quizzes and notes. I had nothing to do today so it was either stew in the uncertain anxiety of tomorrow, or try to study.”

Twilight forced a laugh, but it caught in her throat and came out garbled and she coughed. Luster recoiled and looked at her curiously. Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, just, I get that. Why I came here, actually. I’m in the same boat. Wanna go for a walk and keep each other busy?”

“Sure. Just a sec.” Luster went back inside and swung the door closed, then came back shortly with a one-sided saddle bag around her neck and a key floating in yellow magic. She shut the door, locked it, and turned to face Twilight. “Where to?”

“The mountain tunnels.”

“Oh, ice skating?”

“Not exactly.” Twilight turned and began walking, and both heard and saw Luster fall into step beside her. She glanced at the pink mare, who had a slight smile and was humming a little tune.

I still remember the first time I invited her to one of Minuette’s parties. I was so nervous about her coming, and she seemed so nervous about attending. Twilight smiled. We’ve both come a long way. I’ve never actively tried to make a friend before, but it worked out. And she’s really come out of her shell and become part of the group.

As the two emerged onto the SGU campus and walked the path into town, Twilight’s thoughts turned to the current state of Canterlot. While far from a ghost town, the metropolitan hustle and bustle was greatly subdued from the norm. Crowds of ponies still went both ways down the streets, shops remained open, eateries still sat customers. But if one looked closer, they’d see self-conscious pegasi walking in the thin crowds instead of flying. Apprehensive unicorns levitating objects in short spurts and looking sheepish afterwards. Earth ponies that occasionally grimaced as they strained to carry their goods.

Everypony is tense, even if they aren’t sure why. That’s the worst kind of fear, to know something is wrong but to lack an explanation for it. Yet as much as it may have bothered them, it was far preferable to the truth. Twilight herself could testify to that. The existence of the Pony of Shadows was kept secret for a very good reason. Even putting aside the split dimensions, knowing about it would terrify everypony even more.

Luster must have noticed all the same things Twilight did, because she spoke and roused her from her thoughts. “I’m not used to Canterlot being so quiet. Relatively speaking.”

“Neither am I. And I grew up here.” Twilight glanced at her. “Nervous about tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Luster looked back. “I don’t know if I’d say afraid, necessarily. Well, afraid, yes…maybe that’s not what I mean.” She tilted her head up and murmured. “It’s like, I know that the Princess has rallied all these archmages and guards and other forces to fight, and she’s had a thousand years to prepare for this so she’s gotta have some sort of battle plan. And there’s nothing I could possibly do to help her. So, while I’m afraid, there’s also a sort of acceptance. No point fretting over what I can’t control, right?”

Twilight’s brow lifted. “That’s actually a fairly reasonable way to think about it.”

Luster gave a small chuckle. “Thanks. I’ve been wondering why I’m not more anxious about it, so I’ve sat down and tried to parse through all my emotions.”

“Sometimes, that’s the best thing we can do for ourselves.”

The two reached the edges of the mountain Canterlot was built into. A tunnel on the lower part of the city was where the skating rinks could be accessed, but on this level the tunnel instead slowly angled up. It was brightly lit by enchanted gemstones in the walls, and the cavern floor had been smoothed out and even polished. When Twilight’s hooves stepped from the city street to the mountain interior, it was barely noticeable. Several side caverns spiralled off to various airship docks, scenic overlooks, or mountain residences.

It would be easy to get lost here. Twilight took a discrete glance at a directory on a wall ahead and made sure she took the correct fork. The crowds of ponies grew even thinner now as they came and went from specific places off the main walk.

“Sooo, why exactly did you want to come here?” Luster asked.

Twilight didn’t have a clever cover ready, so she simply responded, “You’ll see,” and kept walking. Luster, for her part, didn’t press it and stayed in step with her. Twilight took another forking path that continued to curve up the mountain. At this point Luster would surely realise they were going: only one split remained, one that went to the very top of the mountain where the Royal Observatory was, as well as some maintenance and infrastructure areas for the city, but that was restricted. The other fork, however…

Twilight reached the diverging paths and took the one that led left. Luster eyed the sign on the wall as they passed it. “‘Recreation Station’? What’s that?”

Twilight felt a Minuette-like flutter of anticipation in her chest. She’s never heard of it. She’s never been here. She’s definitely in for a treat. “Let’s go and find out,” she said aloud. Fortunately the walk was short, with a strategically placed right angle to obscure what lay ahead to ensure maximum visual impact. They rounded the corner and Twilight paused for a moment when she heard Luster audibly gasp.

Recreation Station was built into a cavern on Canterlot’s mountain like the rest of the areas, but in a unique twist of architecture it also extended outside the mountain. The cavern ceiling and walls ended by merging into a web of hexagonal glass panels that formed a dome around the open areas, creating a sphere-shaped arena. Within lay a large complex of buildings intended to look like a space station. Structures were built out of large panels in various shades of grey with blue lines painted along them, and connected to each other via tubes. The largest, central building, included an elevator shaft up to a spherical structure with windows around the circumference. Outside the complex was artificial turf meant to evoke the image of an ‘alien’ biosphere, with dull blue grass and bright orange and yellow bushes. Several large gazebos and canopies lay among it all, with pathways connecting them back to the main complex.

“W-whoa…”

She looked at Luster; she was staring in awe, her mouth slack and eyes wide. Twilight let out a giggle and nudged her. “Come on. We’re not here just for the view.”

Luster gave an absent-minded nod, and when Twilight resumed walking she had to give Luster’s saddle bag a quick telekinetic tug to make sure the other pony came too. The path from the cavern to the entrance of the venue was made of smooth, white, hexagonal tiles, and lined with small lights. They reached a shallow ramp up to the door and it slid apart with a gentle ‘whoosh’. The inside was brightly lit with white walls and several overhead monitors, which displayed faux-news style coverage of supposed events going on in space, actually just promotional footage of the various facilities.

Inside, a mare with a light grey coat and curled blue mane stood at the front desk, clad in a silver space suit with a blue badge on the front. She looked up from a clipboard and smiled. “Welcome to Recreation Station! I’m Blast Off, how can I help you?”

Twilight briefly wondered if that was actually the pony’s name or an alias used for immersion. Regardless, she would have been informed by Minuette that Twilight would be coming with the birthday girl. “Hello. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Luster Dawn.”

Blast Off’s face brightened in recognition. “Ah, your comrades are waiting in Launch Pad C. Please follow Helio Scope.” She pointed a hoof to another pony in a space suit standing by a doorway, a stallion with a dark green coat and short yellow mane. He nodded firmly and waved them forward.

As the two followed the stallion down one of the tube-shaped hallways, Luster eyed Twilight. “‘Our comrades’? What did she mean by that?”

Twilight smiled back. “Haven’t you figured it out by now?”

If she hadn’t, the jig was up once they reached the next room. The doors slid open and Helio Scope took a step to the side and gestured for them to go through. Luster stepped forward, and as she did her jaw dropped again and her eyes widened bigger than ever.

A chorus of five voices – one slightly behind the others – called out loudly.

“Happy birthday, Luster Dawn!”

A banner exclaiming just that hung from the ceiling in letters that shone and shifted colors along the rainbow spectrum. The party room had a large, circular table in the center with five chairs surrounding it, and at the far side was a worn wooden throne with red cushions and a crown of gold plastic on the seat. The table was laid out with snacks, including chips, veggie sticks, cookies, cold pizza, and a small pile of paper plates and utensils. The ceiling was a sea of colored streamers, with several emblems of Luster’s cutie mark among them.

Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer, stood on one side of the table in party hats, smiling widely at the birthday mare. Twilight trotted in line with them and accepted a party hat that Twinkleshine held out for her.

“Wha…what?” Luster asked weakly.

“Welcome to your first birthday party!” Minuette cheered. She swooped up beside Luster, put a hoof over her neck, and slowly coaxed her deeper into the room. “Now, I know it’s just the six of us, but I didn’t want to overdo it with guests. Plus I asked around and it was pretty unanimous that we were the five ponies you were closest to, and I didn’t want to invite somepony you might not want here.”

“Also, we don’t have individual gifts,” Lemon added, “but you can consider today to be a collective gift from all of us. We all chipped in for the venue.”

Twilight leaned towards Moondancer to whisper. “We did?”

“Minuette brought it up earlier, it’s not as much as you think,” Moondancer replied. “She’ll tell you how much you owe later.”

Luster slowly approached the table. “So, all of this is your doing?”

“Not just this!” Minuette lit her horn, and the crown lifted off the throne in an aura of gold magic, along with a small plastic card that Twilight hadn’t noticed before. Minuette placed the crown on Luster’s head and floated the card in front of her. “Special birthday princess pass, good for five free uses of any special attraction at the station today, as well as fifty credits towards the arcade games. The rest of us will pay our own way, but you aren’t shilling out a bit!”

Luster reached a hoof up to the crown on her head but kept staring at the card. “I…I don’t know what to say…” she lifted her head to look at the other four ponies. “You girls did this for me?”

Twinkleshine held up her hooves. “Technically, Minuette planned it out, but that’s kinda her thing.”

“But, yes.” Moondancer smiled. “You’re our friend, and while her initial enthusiasm was concerning, we eventually agreed that you should celebrate your birthday with friends this year, and that this was the right way to do it.”

The birthday pass card fell to the ground and Luster ran forward to wrap her hooves around the pony closest to her, which happened to be Lemon. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” After a moment of excited spinning with Lemon in her hooves, Luster repeated the act with Twinkleshine and then Moondancer. By the time she came for Twilight, Minuette came over to aid her, and the three awkwardly hugged together.

Twilight laughed. “So, who’s up for some partying?”

Twilight bit her lip, closed one eye to sight her shot, and stepped forward. Beside her, glowing in an aura of magenta magic, the bowling ball swung onto the ground and rolled down the lane. She watched, a smile growing wide on her face, as the ball curved to the side and then back in, and struck the front two rows of pins hard, sending the rest toppling.

“Nice one, Twilight!” Luster held out a hoof as she walked back from the lane.

“It’s all about the spin.” Twilight bumped her hoof happily.

Sitting at a table between the two benches where the other sat, Minuette moved a pencil across the score sheet. “That puts the score at 214 for Team Nightlight, 196 for Team Heartstopper.”

Moondancer, Twilight, and Luster paused on their bench and looked at Minuette. Moondancer tilted her head. “Nightlight and Heartstopper?”

Minuette shrugged. “I had to call our teams something on the score sheet. They fit, mostly. You girls have the moon-twilight-dawn thing going on, we have the time and heart thing going on.”

Twinkleshine came closer and peered over her shoulder at the sheet. “I feel like I should switch teams. My name is closer to theirs than yours”

Lemon rolled her eyes. “We have one more frame to bowl, it’s me and Luster next. We could make new teams then.”

Twinkleshine nodded. “Me, Moondancer, and Twilight, are the new Team Midnight. You two can have Luster and be…um…crud, I’m blanking on a pun.”

Luster looked around the group and thought. “Me, you, and Twilight, we could be Team Radiance, for shiny names. The other three could be Team Lemon Twist, for dancing, maybe?”

Minuette clapped her hooves. “Ooooo, I like that! Nice one, Dawny!”

“Don’t thank me, yet.” Luster lifted a bowling ball in her magic. “You’re down eighteen points and I’m keen to beat you.”

Lemon smirked and lifted her own ball. “And if I make up the difference, I pick the next teams. I’m gonna call it Team Cubic – you can figure that out for yourselves as I win.”

Twinkleshine dove and Moondancer’s magic bolt narrowly missed her and dispersed against a dark blue barricade. As she fell, Twinkleshine fired her own shot and it hit Moondancer square in the chest, striking a padded vest. The vest briefly shimmered in a wash of light blue, lighting up the darkened indoor arena around them, and there was a digital beep as it registered the hit.

“Gotcha!” Twinkleshine cheered. A second later, she saw her own vest gleam and heard it beep. She looked down to see golden light fading from it.

“No time to celebrate!” Minuette warned. Twinkleshine turned but the other mare had vanished into the fog. Twinkleshine chased after her while Moondancer turned and dropped to the ground. A magic shot from Luster went over her back and she heard a sharp cry from the other side of her. She turned and saw Lemon staring at her own vest as it glowed a soft amber.

“Friendly fire!” she protested.

“Sorry!” Luster replied. “She du–”

The two were cut off as Moondancer fired a bolt at Luster, then quickly turned her head and shot another on Lemon. Both their vests lit up in pink magic.

“You heard her, no celebrating!” Moondancer stood and gave a cheeky smile, which quickly faded and she squeaked as she dove for cover to avoid criss-crossing magic bolts.

“Get back here!” Luster cried. She ran forward to look behind the barricade, but Moondancer had escaped into the darkness.

Lemon came up beside her, eyes scanning the arena. “We should have warned you, Moondancer plays dirty when it comes to magic tag. Never let down your guard with her.”

An indignant huff came from somewhere to Luster’s left. “I resent that remark!”

“Three hundred and ten for Moondancer.” Twilight wrote down the number and piled the loop of red paper tickets on the table. “That brings the entire group’s total up to…nineteen hundred and thirty.”

“Darn.” Minuette slumped forward. “I had my eye on something for two thousand tickets.”

“Which was?” Moondancer asked.

Minuette pointed to the counter for the arcade section of the venue. “Two thousand tickets gets you a Tier 5 prize. They have a set of Ogres & Oubliettes miniatures from the ‘Hordes of Tartarus’ expansion. Must have just put it on the shelf earlier this week, because you know it’s not gonna be there a month from now.”

“Ooooo…” Twinkleshine looked up at the display with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind going for that myself…”

“How many tickets short are we?” Luster asked.

Twilight swept her hoof over the table and the many piles and coils of tickets. “We’d need seventy more.”

“So close and yet so far.” Minuette pouted and pursed her lip. “But, five hundred and twenty-two of these tickets are mine. I can get a few decent one-off prizes.”

“That’s right.” Twilight set her notepad down. “I kept track of all our individual winnings. Nothing says that we have to pool our tickets for one prize. Lemon just suggested it to get something you might want, Luster.”

“Hmm…” Luster took a bite of pizza from her plate and scanned the prize shelves. “Nothing really that interesting to me, to be honest. The only thing I’d really consider taking is one of the mini model kits for Equestrian landmarks, and those are only a thousand…although…”

“There’s still plenty we could buy with the rest.” Lemon put a hoof to her chin. “Five hundred gets a tiny plushie or a bandana, or…” she trailed off when she noticed Luster heading to the arcade.

Luster glanced back. “Girls, on me.” She waved them forward and waited until they crowded around. “Moondancer, analysis – excluding those that are primarily luck-based, which game gives the best payout rate per credits per game?”

Moondancer tilted her eyes back and hummed. “That would be skee ball. Two tickets for every ten points and five balls a game, and a game costs three credits. If you could land every ball in the 100 point goal, that’s a hundred tickets.”

”But, we only need seventy. So a score of 350 or better would be enough.” Luster smiled and held up her arcade card. “Three credits a game. Three credits left on the card. And I like skee ball. Sounds like destiny to me.” She walked over the skee ball machine and swiped the card. Five balls rolled down the slot on the side of the machine.

“I got those credits for you!” Minuette protested. “You can’t spend them trying to get something for me.”

“And it’s a long shot,” Twilight added. “The second-highest scoring goal is only 50 points. You need at least two 100 shots to break 350 overall.”

“At least two, I have five.” Luster nodded. “Difficult, but the odds are not low.” She picked up her first ball, held it up to her muzzle, and eyed the goal rings. “First one up.” She swung her hoof forward and let the ball loose. It rolled down the lane, hit the ramp at the end, and sailed up. It hit the upper rim of the 50-point slot and bounced in.

“Preferable to a miss,” Twinkleshine muttered.

Lemon jerked and bumped her flank. “Don’t jinx it!”

“Number two.” Luster held up the second ball. “The first one was a little low, I’ll give this one a bit more force.” She swung her hoof forward. The ball rolled, jumped, and hit the bottom rim of the 100 point goal. It fell down the others below it and went into the 10 point slot.

The group collectively groaned. “I told you!” Lemon hissed. Twinkleshine bumped her back and glared.

Moondancer shook her head. “The only way now is three 100 shots. That is a very long shot.”

“Still not impossible.” Luster picked up her third ball. “I can do this.” She took a deep breath, squared her eyes, and brought her hoof back. It came down and sent the ball rolling forward. It arced up off the ramp and sailed cleanly into the 100 point ring.

The five cheered and clustered closer to her. “One down, two to go!” Twinkleshine said.

Twilight smiled at her. “No pressure, just take it easy.”

“I know.” Luster smiled back at her and glanced her way. “It’s just a game. All the same, I’m getting those tickets.”

“I’m going to feel bad if you waste your final credits on me,” Minuette said. “You’re the birthday girl, you should spend your gift earnings on things you want.”

“I agree. But you’re ignoring one detail.” Tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, eyes narrow, body tense, Luster rolled her next ball forward. It rumbled, jumped, and hit loudly on the inner rim of the 100 point goal. The display over the game flipped from 160 to 260.

“No way!” Lemon’s jaw dropped.

Luster looked back at Minuette. “That detail is that the thing I want is to get a prize for you. So that’s what I’m doing.”

Minuette frowned. “I feel like that goes against the principle of the thing.”

“Not to me, it doesn’t.” Luster picked up the last ball from the tray. “Fifth ball.” She held it out to the ground. “Hooves out. This is for all of us.”

“Asking us to discreetly enchant it to make sure it goes in?” Twinkleshine asked. As she spoke, the five mares each extended a hoof to the side of the ball. Twilight felt her hoof pressing against Minuette and Moondancer’s for room.

“No, the game’s anti-cheating censors would detect that,” Luster scolded gently. She turned her head and looked between them. Twilight gasped sharply at the glistening in her eyes.

“Luster?”

“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. The best I could ever ask for.” Luster blinked, two tears falling from either eye. “And it’s been eating at me all afternoon that it might be my last birthday…”

“We don’t know that,” Minuette replied.

“Yeah,” Lemon agreed. “We should trust Celestia, right?”

“I do. But if the worst should happen…if this is…it…” Luster smiled widely. “Thank you. All of you. Not just for today, for this entire school year. For being…you.”

Moondancer shook her head. “We didn’t do anything special for you, Luster. We just let you in.”

Twilight fidgeted. “And we may never have even known you existed, if the princess hadn’t told me to make friends with you.”

Shrugging, Luster said, “Probably not. But you did. And you all made the effort to make me feel like a friend, no different from the rest of you.” Luster sniffed. “I never thought I’d experience friendship like this, until you showed it to me. If we’re facing the end tomorrow, it makes me feel a little better to know I’ll be facing it with the five best friends a mare could ask for.”

“I could say the same thing,” Twinkleshine whispered. “This final year, it’s been an adventure. Didn’t think it would actually be the final final year, but…”

“Definitely had a lot of fun.” Minuette grinned. “No matter what happens tomorrow, I’m happy knowing that.”

“Me too.” Luster lifted her hoof higher, pushing the skee ball up above the others’ hooves. “So I say, this is it. We may as well seize the last hope we have, even if it’s a slim one, because we have no more time to dally anymore and no other options left. Whatever happens, we can say that we didn’t let anything hold us back. If we win, we win. If we lose, we’ll know we did our best.”

Lemon nodded, blinking away her own tears. “Hear, hear.”

“You’ll do it,” Moondancer said. “Forget the statistics, I know it.”

“No. We’ll do it. Together.” Luster turned and faced the machine, and brought her hoof back.

Together…

Twilight breathed deeply and held it as Luster swung her hoof forward and sent the ball rolling down the lane.

Author's Note

There is one major chapter and an Epilogue to go, and they will be posted together.

Thank you all for coming on this journey with me. It's almost over.

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and lifted her head. She was sitting at one of several long tables in the central hall of Canterlot’s Royal Archives. She looked up at the night sky through the skylights above, the frames of the windows bathed in moonlight. Twilight rubbed her muzzle and climbed off her chair. She swiveled her head around the circular central hall of the library full of tables and chairs, and then at the balconies overlooking the chamber from the second floor, the bookshelves beyond them stretching into the rest of the building.

She was alone.

“Hello?” Twilight waited a moment before calling out louder, “Hellooooo!” Her voice echoed off the shelves and walls, but again there was no answer.

Twilight turned back to the table she had been sitting at. An open book had been her pillow before she woke up. She approached it and lifted the cover to see the title. “A Treatise on Cosmic Causality.” She frowned. “What in Equestria was I thinking?” She had read this book once before and once had been enough. The work was speculative fiction masquerading as scientific theorem and nowhere near as well-researched as what she usually read in either genre. “No wonder I fell asleep. Or maybe I passed out from lack of blood flow to my head.” She looked out at the library again.

Is this real? She lowered her eyes to her hooves and shifted her weight between them, raising one to inspect it. She felt different, somehow. Lighter. If this isn’t real… maybe it’s a dream? But if it is a dream, it’s the most boring dream I’ve ever had. Don’t things usually happen in dreams? She raised her head. “But, if nothing is happening, then why aren’t I waking up?”

There was nopony around to answer her questions, and the books were mum on the issue, even the offending one on the table beside her. Twilight began walking around the large circular chamber, searching for… something. “Who dreams about nothing?” she grumbled under her breath. “I mean, if I was actually reading a book or looking around the library, that would be something.”

She tilted her head as she considered that train of thought. “I am doing something. Right now, I’m doing something.” She blinked. “Am I in control of my dream? Is that possible?” She put a hoof to her chin. “If it is possible, and that is what is happening, then shouldn’t I be able to force the dream to end?” She closed her eyes and concentrated. Several seconds later she opened them – everything was exactly as it was before. “Well that’s just great, I’m stuck dreaming about an empty library.” Twilight snorted and turned around.

She paused.

At the table behind her, sitting where Twilight herself had been sitting a minute ago, was a pony.

“Hello?” Twilight squinted. That was certainly a pony sitting at the table. A unicorn, judging from what Twilight thought was a horn, but she couldn’t be sure – the image was blurred and transparent. But there was no dismissing it as a trick of the eye when the pony had a clearly defined profile that was distinct from the rest of the room. Twilight thought she saw the unicorn’s horn glow, and the book on the table – which was still fully visible – lit up in pale teal magic and flipped the page.

“What are you?” Twilight moved around the table and stood beside the pony. The pony ignored her and kept their eyes pointed at the book. Twilight frowned and waved a hoof in front of their face; the pony stopped their reading and raised their head. “Can you hear me?” Twilight asked. The pony scanned the room, eyes passing over Twilight, then they shuffled in their seat and lowered their head back to the book.

“You can see me, or at least you did briefly.” Twilight watched the book light up teal and turn its page again. “And you can move the book.” She thought for a moment, then cautiously reached out a hoof and poked at what she thought was the other pony’s side.

There was no sound or physical response, yet in an instant the visage of the other pony solidified, as though an obscuring barrier had been concealing Twilight’s view and was suddenly dispelled. Twilight snapped her hoof back and sharply gasped.

The other pony turned their head her way, screamed, and fell backwards off the chair.

Twilight looked at her hoof and reached to her mouth. “You heard me.”

“Yeah…” The other pony groaned and sat up, rubbing their head. “Way to scare me like that.”

Twilight stepped behind the chair to see the other pony better.

The other pony was a unicorn mare, around Twilight’s age, if she were to guess. She had a pale amber coat and a wavy red and yellow mane parted to the side of her head. She climbed onto her hooves and stood up, regarding Twilight with bright teal eyes. She huffed and scrunched her face. “Why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“I didn’t.” Questions raced through Twilight’s mind, as obvious as they were persistent – ‘who are you’, ‘why am I dreaming about you’, ‘why couldn’t you hear me’. Instead of asking them, she asked, “Were you reading that book?”

The unicorn looked at the text. Her face brightened with a smile. “Yeah. It’s a heck of a read.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. It’s inane drivel.”

The unicorn glared and turned her head Twilight’s way. “You probably just don’t understand it.”

“I understand it’s inane drivel.”

“Well, all ponies are entitled to their opinion, even if they’re wrong.” The unicorn sniffed. “Genius is often overlooked in its own time.”

“Genius? If you think this schlock is genius, I have some fillies’ science books at home that will blow your mind.” Twilight snorted and beat a hoof on the ground.

The unicorn returned the gesture. “Clearly you don’t understand it.”

“Don’t get me started!” Twilight thrust a hoof at the book. “Sure, the principle of quantum mechanics is well-studied and has been verified by multiple independent researchers in the last several decades. But we still don’t understand how it works or why. To even try to tie it into trans-spacial mechanics like this is like learning a gossamer-wing spell and thinking you’ll get recruited by the Wonderbolts.”

“You said it yourself, we don’t know how quantum mechanics works,” the other unicorn replied. “But the author quite clearly lays out a system in which the observer effect would make it impossible to verify if string theory can be reconciled with trans-spacial mechanics.”

Twilight slapped her hoof to her forehead. “Exactly! Just because we can’t prove he’s wrong doesn’t automatically make him right, and his explanation precludes the idea that it can be proven positive. You can’t disprove a negative, that’s a logical fallacy, it’s impossible! That’s like saying that you can’t disprove that if you think about it long and hard enough, you can make heads explode with your mind!”

The other unicorn closed her eyes and raised her head, but said nothing. After several seconds Twilight grunted. “What are you doing?”

“Testing your theory.” The unicorn cracked an eye open. “Well, your head is still intact, so I guess you’re right on that one. Or was it only exploded until I opened my eyes again?”

Twilight simply stared at the unicorn. The unicorn stared back at her. Neither said anything or moved a muscle. After staying that way for a few moments, Twilight cracked first – she snorted, her lips curling into a smile. The unicorn responded with a grin and a giggle. The two quickly fell into full laughter after that, the two voices filling the library.

“Oh…” Twilight shook her head and inhaled. “That was unfairly clever and I hate it.” She gave the book on the table a sideways look. “That’s the most joy that book has ever brought me.”

“I’ll admit it’s pretty blatant pseudo-science,” the other unicorn said, reaching out to close the book. “But if we didn’t let ourselves explore ideas on the grounds they seem impossible, where would we be?”

“With exploded heads.”

The unicorn giggled again. “I have to admit, you’re one of the few ponies I know who could actually hold a conversation with me on that book. And the other two I know that do, one isn’t interested anyway and the other is just as bad as you, except he doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Thank you. I think.” Twilight scrunched her nose. “I’m not used to discussions on that level either, except maybe with Moondancer. Mostly I just talk and ponies’ eyes glaze over.”

“And there’s a lot of nodding and ‘uh-huh’-ing?”

“Sounds right.” Twilight gave a small smile. “I finally meet a pony who can actually give me a challenging conversation, and she only exists in a dream.”

“Tell me about it,” the other unicorn rolled her eyes. “But, who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky and when I wake up you’ll turn out to be real after all.”

“Maybe…” Twilight turned away, her eyes darting around.

The unicorn frowned and leaned her head to the side to look at her face. “Uh, I say something wrong?”

“No…” Twilight tilted her head back, blinking twice as she tried to clear her head. She glanced up at the sky as though it could explain her sudden apprehension, but it had no explanations to give, only a view of an endless field of stars and the moon sending streams of silver light down over her.

Something about the scene overhead was wrong, but Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on what.

“Who are you?”

Twilight lowered her head and saw the other unicorn watching her. She shook off her inexplicable tension and forced a polite smile.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

The other unicorn returned the smile and extended her hoof. “Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight’s smile grew into a more genuine one as she reached out to shake Sunset’s hoof.

Twilight blinked her eyes open to a dull, pale blue ceiling. She inhaled and groaned, shuffling in her bed.

“About time you’re up. I was starting to wonder if I’d have to get a wet cloth to wring over you.”

Twilight sat up and turned her head. Seated at the small breakfast table with a bowl of cereal and a glass of apple juice, a pale cream unicorn mare with a bright pink mane lowered her spoon and waved a hoof. “Good morning.”

Twinkleshine? “Hey.” Twilight scanned the room, eyes tracking between the cabinets, the door, and then the dresser against the wall.

“I finished putting the kitchen stuff away, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Twinkleshine said. She looked sheepish and tilted her head. “I didn’t plan on it, but somewhere between pouring the cereal and pouring the milk, it just sort of happened. I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

“No…” Twilight murmured. “Where are we?”

Twinkleshine paused in lifting her spoon. “Um, our dorm room?”

“…Right.” Twilight closed her eyes and lay her head back on the pillow.

“Are you okay?” She heard the squeak of a chair and the patter of hooves growing closer. “You aren’t coming down with something, are you?”

Twilight opened her eyes to her friend standing by her bed. “No.”

“Did you not sleep well?”

“Actually, I feel very rested.” Twilight smiled to reassure her. “I’m fine. Just had a weird dream.”

Twinkleshine snorted and waved her hoof. “Was it the one where you’re called up to the front of the auditorium by the Princess to recite your thesis before the entire school? I had that one the other day.”

Twilight giggled. “Me too.” She threw the covers off and climbed out of bed, Twinkleshine stepping back to make room for her. Twilight glanced at the wall clock over their door and gasped. “It’s eight twenty-five!?”

“Yeah.” Twinkleshine shrugged. “I was actually gonna wake you up once I finished—” She stopped when she realized Twilight wasn’t listening to her.

Twilight pulled open the dresser drawers and grabbed a pair of saddle bags, slipped them on, then opened another drawer and began floating her books and pencils into the bags. “I can’t believe I overslept almost an hour! We’re gonna be late for the orientation!”

“Twilight, we could walk to the auditorium in about five minutes. And, it’s just a little speech; it’s optional.”

“But we won’t get good seats if we show up later, and I am not gonna be stuck in the back rows listening to all the jokers and lay-abouts talking over the Princess! As for optional – have you met me?” Twilight clipped the flaps of her bags closed and turned, only to be met with Twinkleshine standing behind her.

“I told Minuette to get us all seats in at least the fifth row,” she said softly. “And she said she was going to head over there with Lemon Hearts at eight-thirty to make sure the refreshment table didn’t need any help, so she’ll beat the crowds that only exist in your head anyway. For now, you are going to sit down and eat something before you get out that door and go until lunch time on an empty stomach.” She pointed a hoof to the table as she finished.

Twilight was silent as Twinkleshine finished her denouement, and then nodded. “Okay.” Twinkleshine nodded back and moved Twilight’s saddle bags to the bed. She then returned to the table, pulling out the other chair while she sat back in hers. Twilight watched her and followed. “Thank you.” She pulled open one of the kitchen cupboards and took down a cardboard box and a glass, setting them on the counter.

“You’d better not make a habit of this,” Twinkleshine warned, though Twilight caught the humor in her tone. “I’m not gonna make a full-time job out of being your mother.”

“And I won’t make you.” Twilight pulled the fridge open and floated a carton of milk over her glass, then popped the top open and tilting it forward. “Like I said, just had a weird dream.” When her glass was full she set the milk on the shelf, shut the fridge, and sat down at the table. Magenta magic flipped open the box on the counter and brought a carrot muffin out and over to her.

Twinkleshine swallowed her mouthful of cereal. “What kind of dream?”

Twilight rolled her tongue in her mouth and thought. “Does the name ‘Sunset Shimmer’ mean anything to you?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Who is she?”

“A unicorn. From my dream.” Twilight thought back, absent-mindedly peeling the liner off her muffin. “We were alone in the Royal Archives together.”

“Ooooo, alone in the library with a mysterious mare?” Twinkleshine grinned and propped her muzzle on her hooves. “Is this the kind of dream you should be sharing?”

“Yes! I mean, no!” Twilight’s face was bright red as she furiously shook her head. “It wasn’t like that! We just talked.”

“Aaaaaw.”

“Stop it!” Twilight balled up her muffin liner and tossed it at Twinkleshine, who batted it aside with a hoof. “I’m serious.” Twilight looked at her muffin and sighed. “It was so vivid. I remember her voice, her eyes, what she said. But I have no idea who she is.”

“Maybe you’re lonely.” When Twilight glared at her, Twinkleshine shrugged. “Not joking this time.”

“I don’t think that’s it. I certainly didn’t think up the name ‘Sunset Shimmer’ from nowhere.”

“You might have. Or, you said she was a unicorn. Maybe it’s just a name you’ve heard around here in passing and it popped into your dream.”

“That makes sense…”

Twilight bit into her muffin and Twinkleshine went back to her cereal. As she chewed, Twilight glanced down at her milk.

It was just a weird dream, no big deal. If there was a time for stress and distractions to try and get you, it’s today. But don’t let that happen. Today is an important day, and everything is going to be fine.

It was ten minutes before nine when Twilight – hopping in place and grunting angrily – got Twinkleshine out of their dorm room. The hallway was full of unicorns coming and going, some still moving in with boxes and suitcases by their doors. Even though the hall had room for four unicorns to walk side-by-side without trouble, it still wasn’t wide enough for the crowds moving through it now.

Having been through this several times before over the past three years, Twilight had no trouble ducking and weaving around distracted unicorns who were standing in place or moving large objects about without paying attention to passers-by. It was a skill one had to develop at SGU, if they wished to avoid being hit in the face or pushed into a wall on a regular basis. Twilight knew that from personal experience.

In the main hall, Twilight took the stairs two at a time and approached the doors to the entrance. She glanced back to make sure Twinkleshine wasn’t too far behind her, just coming down the stairs herself, and then turned forward and stepped outside.

The concourse was thankfully far easier to move through. While there were still dozens upon dozens of unicorns moving between the different buildings of the SGU campus, the crowd had at least sorted itself into two rings of movement depending on which direction one was going around the central fountain. Twilight entered the outer ring going counter-clockwise and stepped around several slower ponies, excusing herself as she bumped a few. Next stop, the food court and gymnasium, no thanks. She kept going around and emerged from the crowd at the largest, oldest building on the grounds – the actual School for Gifted Unicorns.

“Come on!” Twilight turned her head and tracked the cream coat and pink mane of her friend bobbing through the crowds. She looked up at the clock over the doors – five minutes. When Twinkleshine set a hoof on the steps up into the school, Twilight headed inside. Thankfully, the auditorium entrance was almost immediately inside the front doors, just up a few small flights of stairs. Twilight jumped up them rather than take the steps – she ignored the gasp and complaint of a stallion she was nowhere near when she leapt – and joined the mob of students filtering through one of the two sets of double doors into the auditorium.

“Told you we’d make it.” Twinkleshine stepped up beside her, smiling. “Five minutes from our room to the doors.”

“And if we had left five minutes ago like I wanted to, we wouldn’t have had to rush.”

“We didn’t anyway.”

Twilight let the matter drop. The two passed through the doors and down the aisle. Most of the seats were already filled, the stragglers coming in now searching for empty single seats between rows of friends they could squeeze past. Twilight scanned the crowd and saw a blue mare waving to her from the fifth row. She nudged Twinkleshine to get her attention and then pushed her way through the crowd to the row, more excuses and apologies automatically being voiced.

To her gratitude, there were indeed two empty seats left, and Minuette had had the sense to pick seats on the outside of the row, though she had sat by the aisle other than the one Twilight had come down. Twilight kept going down to the front of the room, and quickly rushed to the other aisle and headed back up.

“Just in time!” Minuette said, grinning from the outside seat. “Somepony offered me ten bits for one of these seats and I was considering taking the deal.”

“Is that how much our friendship is worth to you?” Twilight replied. She crossed in front of Minuette and Lemon Hearts to sit in the empty seat next to Moondancer. Twinkleshine followed her and sat between Twilight and Lemon Hearts.

“No, I’d say you’re worth at least twelve.” Minuette’s grin grew wider in defiance of Twilight’s knowledge of equine physiology.

“At least you made it,” Moondancer said. “Though it is highly unusual for you to cut it this close.”

Twilight waved a hoof at Twinkleshine. “Blame her, I couldn’t drag her out of the room.”

Twinkleshine rolled her eyes. “I took my time because I knew how long it would take to get here and there would be seats waiting. Are we gonna be on this all day?”

“No. Sorry.” Twilight clapped her hooves eagerly. “I just didn’t want to miss this!” She turned her attention to the front of the auditorium. Most of the stage was behind the large red curtains, but what was visible held a podium with a small table and a pitcher of water with a glass. Twilight leaned forward to see if she could catch sight of anypony in the wings of the stage.

Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. A side door near the stairs leading to the stage opened, and a unicorn mare slipped out and sat down in the front row. Twilight tried to get a view of her, but the students around the mare blocked her sight.

Lemon Hearts surveyed the auditorium. “We’re full up. Just in time.” Twilight looked behind them and saw a pair of instructors ushering a few final students in before closing the doors.

“You guys wanna grab a study table and swap schedules after this?” Minuette asked.

Lemon Hearts shook her head. “I still have to pick mine up at registration.”

“Ouch.” Twinkleshine winced. “That’s gonna be a bit of a wait, the line yesterday was down the hall.”

“I know.” Lemon Hearts shrugged. “I was busy helping a couple other students move in. Somepony on the third floor brought a whole couch from home. A whole couch! There was barely enough space in the room for it.”

Moondancer leaned forward to see Minuette better. “I have to opt out as well. I still need to unpack.”

“How many books did you bring this year?” Lemon Hearts asked.

“Why do you assume that my unpacking is primarily concerned with books?” Moondancer gave an annoyed sniff. The other four looked at her evenly. She reddened and mumbled into her hoof. “Fifty-four.”

“And how many of them are textbooks?”

“Only thirty-nine!”

“Only thirty-nine?” Twilight echoed. “Is that enough for third year?”

The other three giggled. Twinkleshine smirked and said, “You two do know the largest library in Equestria is just outside the dorms, right?”

“If they didn’t know, I’d be worried!” Minuette quipped.

Before the conversation could continue, the auditorium lights dimmed and the lights for the stage came on. At once, the students fell silent. Twilight waited, a hoof raised to begin her applause.

After a moment, Princess Celestia walked out from the wings of the stage.

The unicorns began pounding their seats in applause, polite but still enthusiastic. Twilight grinned as her hooves beat. Celestia approached the podium and waited with a small smile until the clapping died down.

“Thank you for that warm welcome, my students.” She bowed her head. “And allow me to welcome you all to your third and final year here at the School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Applause – a bit more rambunctious than before, with a few cheers mixed in – once again filled the auditorium. Celestia let it go for a few seconds and then lifted her hoof for silence.

“I’m know you’re all eager to begin your classes tomorrow.”

Someone in the back of the room yelled out, ‘Wrong!’ and was quickly shushed. Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw an instructor scanning a spot in the crowd with a frown.

“As this is your final year here, of course the subject matter you study and learn about will be considerably more advanced than in previous years. However, if you have made it this far and not yet dropped out or given up, then I have no doubt that you will continue to succeed and earn your diplomas. And as always, my faculty and I will be here every step to help you make that journey.

“This is also a very exciting time for those of you interested in astronomy. Some of you may have noticed the Advanced Astronomical Studies courses filled up very quickly this year.”

“No kidding,” Moondancer muttered.

“You got in, right?” Twilight whispered to her. Moondancer winked in response.

“The reason, of course, is that it has been forecast that this year will witness a very special event in our stellar cycle – a dual eclipse.”

Celestia’s horn glowed and fired a beam of yellow magic into the air. The glowing image of a planet with two moons appeared, and a flaming sun some distance away from it. “I know that all in Equestria are eager to know exactly when the two moons will begin to come into alignment, and for how long. I’m afraid there is not yet an answer I can give. But what I can answer is the question of how the dual eclipse will impact your astronomy courses.”

Her horn ceased its glow and the imagery in the air faded away. “In the interests of fairness to past and future students, formal instruction will remain unchanged. However, any of you wishing to do your thesis on the subject will be free to do so. Keep in mind, though, that if I find too many students asking to cover the same aspect of the eclipse, I will have to put my hoof down and demand some of you think of something else. On that matter, it will be a first come, first serve basis.

“Regardless, I advise all of you have at least two ideas in mind for your thesis, anyway, in case it is rejected. For the same reason, you should submit your proposals as soon as possible for them to be accepted. A reminder, your proposal is to be a page long and at least two full paragraphs, outlining your subject, your hypothesis regarding it, and how you plan to go about investigating it. If you need more detailed information on what is expected, you can find it in your student’s guidebook you received with your class schedule.”

Celestia swept her eyes across the auditorium and smiled proudly. “I know you’re all very nervous and excited about your final year here. But I have faith in all of you. There is not a student in this room right now that does not have what it takes to succeed and excel, and my faculty and I are committed to giving you the opportunities you need to do so.

“For the rest of the day, all lecture halls and classrooms will be open to students. Those of you who have not picked up your schedules yet, or wish to make changes to their schedule, the administration offices can help you. They are located just to the left down the hall outside the auditorium doors. Beyond that, the facility is wide open to you all. Look around, familiarize yourself with your rooms, meet your professors, if you’ve not had them in a previous year. The library will also be open to any students needing to procure textbooks for the year. There is also a trading post where you can drop off gently used textbooks for students in lower years, or purchase third-year books donated by last year’s graduates.”

She paused and looked at the small table next to the podium. “A final matter before we adjourn. I have a question for you all.”

Celestia’s horn glowed yellow. The prepared pitcher of water lifted and tipped to pour into the glass. When the glass was partway full, Celestia set the pitcher down and lifted the glass into the air.

“Is this glass half-empty, or half-full?”

Twilight saw several students around her lean to whisper to each other. She tilted her head and frowned. What?

“Is this a trick question?” Moondancer whispered.

Twilight began to nod, but stopped herself. Celestia wouldn’t trick us. Would she? The murmurs of the auditorium grew louder as more and more students tried to muddle out the meaning behind the question. That’s one of the most basic philosophical questions there is. Why would Celestia ask us something like that on our third year?

“Does anypony have an idea?” Celestia asked, looking back and forth.

It’s too easy, there has to be some sort of catch. She doesn’t want a traditional answer. Slowly, cautiously, Twilight raised her hoof into the air.

Celestia caught sight of it and nodded towards her. “Yes?”

As Twilight stood from her seat, the students around her turned their heads to watch her, like a wave in the crowd. She ignored them and cleared her throat. “The glass is half-full.”

“Why?”

Twilight looked at the pitcher on the table. “You began to fill the glass from the pitcher, then stopped. Because you were in the process of filling it, it is most accurate to say it is half-full.”

“Not bad.” Twilight smiled at Moondancer’s compliment behind her.

“I see.” Celestia turned her head and her horn lit. Twilight paled as a second glass, with the same amount of water as the first, floated from behind the podium. “And this one?”

“It… it would depend on if you had previously been emptying it or filling it.”

“Does it?” Celestia raised the two glasses together before her face and turned between them. “It seems to me that they both contain an identical amount.”

“Yes, but the context for how they became that way is relevant.”

“Why?”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “Well, you wanted me to define its state. I need enough information to do that. If I don’t have all the facts, I can’t answer correctly.”

“So, you are arguing that even if the water is a certain level, the means by which it got that way is just as important as the water level itself.”

A bead of sweat rolled down Twilight’s face. She was aware of hundreds of pairs of eyes watching her as she struggled to answer, but she kept her focus on the pair on the stage. She swallowed heavily and nodded. “Yes. That is what I am saying.”

Celestia set the glasses down. “What is your name?”

“Twilight Sparkle, Princess.”

Celestia’s face lit up. “I had thought I recognized that voice. Welcome to third year, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight awkwardly waved. “If you don’t mind, Twilight, I’d like you to remain behind, please.” Celestia raised her head to the rest of the crowd and smiled. “The rest of you, I thank you for coming this morning. We are adjourned.”

While the rest of the auditorium began to stand and move into the aisles, Twilight stayed in place, standing in front of her seat, staring at the stage in shock. What just happened? Did I answer right? Or wrong? What did I do?

“Maybe she wants to compliment you on figuring it out!” Minuette said cheerily.

“Or she wants to expel you for fumbling an easy question,” Twinkleshine added. Twilight’s eyes bulged.

“Twinkles!” Minuette scolded.

“What? It was a joke!”

“We should get going,” Moondancer said. “The Princess obviously wants to talk to Twilight alone, and we’re holding up other ponies trying to leave.”

“I’ll grab us a table in the food court around noon, meet up there if you’re free, everypony!” Minuette said.

Twilight heard hoofbeats from beside her, and then a bump from the other side. She turned and saw the other ponies in the row looking at her, lined up to leave. She mumbled an apology and sat down to make way. A few of them glanced at her as they passed but said nothing. Twilight lowered her head and gulped as she waited for the auditorium to empty.

When the voices and hooves of the students had ceased, Twilight looked up at the stage. There was nopony there, but she soon found the Princess on the ground below, speaking to another unicorn in the front row. After a moment, Celestia raised her head to her.

“Twilight Sparkle, would you come here, please?”

Twilight slowly stood up and stiffly walked into the aisle. As she descended, she kept her eyes straight, until she was on the ground. She took a deep breath and turned and stepped toward the Princess. “Yes, Princess Celestia?” She raised her eyes.

Celestia had a look on her face that Twilight might have identified as ‘sheepish’, if she had ever thought the Princess could look that way. “I do apologize for singling you out. I had meant to reach out to you later today, but when you happened to answer me, I thought it would be best to handle things now.”

Twilight blinked. “You mean, this isn’t about the water? I’m not in trouble?”

“What?” Celestia burst out laughing. “No, of course not.” She shook her head and smiled. “I confess, that’s just a tradition of mine during third-year orientation. I like to see what kinds of answers students can come up with, to make you think outside the box. Most assume it’s a trick question and try to figure out the game.” She raised a hoof to her mouth and chuckled. “I once had a student who tried to argue I was using an illusion spell and there was no water at all.”

“…How did they come up with that?”

“To be honest, I don’t recall, but I remember it was interesting hearing them defend such a claim.” Celestia shook her head. “But, to the matter at hoof. There’s somepony I’d like you to meet.” Celestia stepped back and gestured a wing to the occupied seat nearby.

Twilight looked at the unicorn sitting down. It was a mare with a pale orange mane with yellow streaks, a pink coat, and a rising sun as her cutie mark. The mare awkwardly waved a hoof. “Hi.”

“Hello.” Twilight waved back.

“Twilight Sparkle, I would like you to meet Luster Dawn. She’s a third-year student as well.”

“Nice to meet you.” Twilight stepped closer and held out a hoof.

Luster extended her own hoof and shook it. “You, too. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Really?” Twilight looked at Celestia, but Luster answered instead.

“You won the Clover Award for Achievement twice, for Spellcasting both times.” Luster gave a small shrug. “Kinda hard to forget the unicorn who mastered teleportation during her first year.”

Twilight gave an awkward laugh. “It’s not as big a deal as it sounds, I just read the books and followed the steps.”

“Nonetheless, you have proven repeatedly that you are one of the most capable students in your year,” Celestia interjected softly. “And that is why I wanted to introduce you to Luster.” Celestia gave Luster a small smile before turning back to Twilight. “You see, Twilight, Luster has been having some… difficulties at SGU. I was hoping you could help her.”

Twilight smiled. “No problem, I’d be happy to help, Princess!” She looked at Luster. “What are you struggling with? Alchemy, astronomy, spellcharging, spellcasting?”

“She needs a friend.”

Twilight paused at Celestia’s interjection. “Pardon?”

Luster gave a small huff and looked away. “I don’t need a friend, Princess…”

Celestia ignored her and continued talking to Twilight. “Luster’s teachers have informed me she prefers to do class projects alone and does not socialize. While her grades thus far have been exemplary despite this difficulty, I am concerned that if she continues to take such burdens on herself now, her performance may falter.” She nodded at Twilight. “You’re one of the standout students in the school, Twilight, and it happens that your schedule and Luster’s are nearly identical. I had hoped you would be willing to lend her a hoof when she needs it – no matter what she might claim otherwise.” As Celestia said the final words with a bit more emphasis, Luster had begun to say something, but ceased and closed her mouth.

Twilight opened her mouth, but before she could answer either, Celestia raised a hoof. “But, please, do not think I am forcing this upon you, nor will I hold it against you if you refuse. Expecting somepony to make an effort to become friends with somepony they have never met before is a lot to ask, and if you are not ready or able to handle it, I understand completely.”

Twilight looked at Luster evenly. She stepped closer to her. “What’s your favorite subject?”

Luster’s eyes turned to her direction. “Weather studies. But I also like alchemy.” She perked up. “Spellcasting, too. And I wouldn’t say I like it, but I’m good at astronomy. And I’m not good at it, but the art classes—” She stopped when she noticed Twilight’s grin. “What?”

“I’m sure we’ll get along just fine, Princess.”

“Wonderful.” Celestia bowed her head. “Thank you very much, Twilight. If either of you ever needs anything, my door is always open.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Luster mumbled.

“I’ll leave the two of you to get better acquainted and look about the school.” Celestia turned and ascended the stairs to the stage. “And, if you like later, Twilight, you can drop by my office and we can discuss your incorrect answer to the water glass problem.”

Twilight did a double take. “Wait, what? Wrong? What!?” Celestia didn’t respond as she walked backstage. Twilight swiveled her head to Luster. “She was joking, right?”

Luster’s laugh didn’t make her feel better.

Chapter 8

Twilight tapped her pencil against the edge of her textbook and frowned. “Wormholes are only a theoretical concept. It is plausible they exist, lots of studies support the idea, but no one has ever seen one or been able to create one. So that’s probably a dead end. I mean, if the greatest researchers in Equestria can’t create a wormhole, then saying we could utilize wormhole mechanics in a long-range teleportation spell is pure conjecture.”

“Uh-huh.”

She pushed Through The Wormhole aside and levitated Here And There from a small stack of textbooks on the other side of the table. “This book looks into quantum mechanics and how objects can bypass atomic barriers under yet-unknown circumstances. Hypothetically, that could be used to find ways around the usual restrictions of your standard teleportation spell. But quantum mechanics is such a deep field that it could take years of study to figure out how to do that. Not to mention the personal dangers that methodology raises.”

“Uh-huh.”

Twilight looked across the doom room where Twinkleshine was laying on her stomach and reading a book on her pillow with a bag of pretzels beside her. “I was also thinking I could just hire a dragon to fly an orb of magic containing my essence to my destination and then I could turn back into a pony once we get there. But I don’t think that counts as teleportation.”

“Uh-huh.”

Twilight glared and stood up. “Thanks for listening!”

“Wormholes don’t exist, quantum mechanics is complicated, and dragons are strong fliers.”

“...Oh.”

Twinkleshine levitated a pretzel to her mouth, then turned her head to look at it. “Do you think all the junk food is making me fat? My hind hooves feel really pudgy lately.”

“Seriously? You’re asking if I think you’re getting fat?”

“I could probably use more exercise.”

Twilight grunted. “I am trying to troubleshoot being stumped on my thesis, and you’re worried you need to jog more?”

Twinkleshine huffed and pulled herself up and turned around on the bed. “Twilight, you’ve been on this all week! Every night you have another batch of textbooks to speedread, you complain none of them are helpful, and then you return them the next day and get another batch.” She climbed off the bed and walked up to Twilight. “Listen to me.”

She put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and stared at her. “Get. A. Grip.”

Twilight began to reply but Twinkleshine kept talking before she could finish a word. “You are overthinking things and you’re on the verge of panicking if you don’t find an answer. Don’t try to tell me you aren’t, you know you are. Just because you’re not breathing into a paper bag doesn’t mean you aren’t super-anxious about this. So chill, put the books away, take a breath, and have a pretzel.” Twinkleshine punctuated the command by shoving a pretzel into Twilight’s mouth. “Now, you are having a drink. Do you want tea, coffee, or hot chocolate?”

Twilight’s ears flattened and she shrank back in her seat. She chewed and swallowed the pretzel. “Tea, please.”

“Earl grey?”

“Yes.”

Twinkleshine walked to the counter. She plugged a hotplate into the wall socket on the counter and put a kettle under the sink and turned the water on. “It’s barely our first month, it is way, way too early for you to be in this kind of state.” She put the kettle on the hotplate and turned it on. “It’s like Lemon Hearts said, the thesis just has to demonstrate you’re smart. You don’t have to actually create a long-range teleportation spell.”

“But I want to!”

“I know, but this is not the way to crack the code. You’ve read more textbooks this week than in all of second year. You know you can’t process that much information. Take the weekend off and give yourself time. Somethingin that big brain of yours will tumble into place and click.”

“I know…” Twilight looked at the textbooks. “I think I’ve borrowed at least one of these books once already this week.”

“See?” Twinkleshine shook her head. “Relax. You have time. Now put those away.”

Twilight nodded and stood. She lifted the books next to her and walked to her bed, and set them in her saddle bag. As she began to turn to return to the table, her eye caught the journal on her bed.

“Maybe Sunset would have some ideas.”

Twinkleshine gave her a confused look. “Isn’t she a figment of your imagination?” She looked up at the cupboards and pulled one open, and brought down a mug and a box of teabags.

“More or less, but sometimes she has insights I’d never thought of.” Twilight gave a small smile. “And even if they sometimes stray into the realm of pseudo-science, she is interested in cutting-edge theoretical magic.”

“I always said that if you ask a hallucination a question and get an answer, it’s time to check into a hospital. But I’ve never had that happen, so who am I to judge?”

“I know it’s strange.” Twilight sat down at the table and stared off into space. “She doesn’t exist, I know that for sure. She says she goes to SGU, but nopony at the school has ever heard of her and I’ve never seen her around. But she feels so real sometimes.” She shook her head and let out a snort. “It’s ridiculous. I know her dreams, her hobbies, her favorite classes, her favorite foods. I know her so well, but it’s all just in my head…”

“I think it’s cute you’ve found your dream girl.”

Twilight jerked and noticed Twinkleshine giving her a sly smile. She sputtered “It isn’t that sort of thing! She’s a friend!”

“A friend that you dream about, write in your diary about, and always talk about how friendly and understanding she is.”

Twilight felt her cheeks growing hot. “You’re taking that stuff out of context and you know it.”

The kettle on the hotplate whistled and Twinkleshine turned it off and picked the kettle up. She talked as she poured it into the mug with the teabag. “Honestly, if it’s helping you, why worry about it? I haven’t had an imaginary friend since I was eight, but if you’re sane otherwise then hey, enjoy it.”

“Yeah.” Twilight nodded. “I do enjoy spending time with her.”

Twinkleshine set the tea in front of Twilight. “Now let it cool, take a big sip, and relax. Chill and think about Sunset. And don’t think about your project one more time this weekend.”

Twilight looked at the tea and inhaled the aroma.

She’s right. Take the weekend off. Things will be better on Monday.

This is the worst Monday ever.

“Be sure you measure the silver powder very carefully.” Copper Crucible lectured as he moved about the room, watching students work at their alchemy sets. “Within point-two grams of three grams is acceptable, plus or minus, but if you have anything more than that, dump it back in the vial.”

“How much are we at?” Luster asked.

Twilight jerked and turned her head. Wearing a pair of goggles and holding a vial over a small dish on a scale, Luster turned her eyes her way. Twilight peered at the scale. “Just under three grams. Like, point-nine. We’re good.”

Luster set the vial down and capped it, then looked at her textbook. “Next step, pour it into the flask and mix. The liquid should turn a pale blue.” She levitated the dish of powder and dumped it into a large cylindrical flask with a small amount of dark yellow liquid in the bottom. As she gently shook the fask, the liquid lightened to blue.

“Um… wait, shouldn’t it turn green?” Twilight looked at the textbook. “Yellow would indicate the presence of mercury, but we didn’t mix any.”

“Yes, we did. It was the step right before.”

Twilight raised her eyes to the preceding line in the steps outlining the experiment. She murmured and blinked. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

“Are you okay?” Luster set the flask on the table. “If whatever is bothering you is distracting you from class work, I know it must be bad.”

“She’s worried about her thesis,” Twinkleshine said. Twilight glared across the table where her roommate looked bored as Moondancer carefully held a bottle of deep violet liquid above their empty flask. Twinkleshine looked their way and shrugged. “Moony is insistent we follow the directions exactly. We’ve measured and re-measured the iodine four times.”

“I am being careful,” Moondancer said evenly as the liquid poured.

As Minuette weighed her own dish of silver powder, Lemon looked over at Twilight. “So, what’s wrong?”

Twilight inhaled. “When I was looking up Moondancer’s recommended readings, I noticed some books in the restricted section of the archives that could be helpful. So, I submitted a request for access. That was Wednesday. I checked in this morning and they haven’t approved me yet.”

“That is unusual.” Moondancer held her flask up to eye level and squinted at the measurement markings on the side. “It usually only takes a day or two.”

“I know!” Twilight groaned and slumped. “So what’s the hold-up?”

“Hey, chin up,” Minuette said. “Squirming about it here won’t do anything. Did you ask why they haven’t approved you yet?”

“I did. They said the request was still under review.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’ve been down to the restricted section plenty of times before and I’ve never left even a pencil out of place. Why would they deny me this time?”

“They haven’t denied you,” Lemon said, “they just don’t have an answer yet. There could be any number of reasons. Maybe there’s a lot of students going down there and they need time to schedule you. Or the place is being cleaned and they’re not allowing anyone access.”

“But if that was the case they would just say so,” Twilight replied. “And I need to get a look at some of the books down there for my thesis.”

“Is that all?” Luster used a small ladle to school flakes of pink powder into a dish. “Then relax, you have time.”

“That’s what I told her,” Twinkleshine grumbled. “She doesn’t listen. She has fun stressesing. It’s like a hobby.”

“I do not…” Twilight looked away and watched Luster measure the pink powder out. That reminds me… “Luster, you found the books you needed okay?”

“Hm?” Luster paused her measuring. She was still as she processed the question and then nodded. “Oh, yes. No problem.”

“Good, good.” Twilight smiled and nodded back. “I’m glad it’s going well.” She waited to see if Luster would respond, but her partner went back to measuring. Twilight took a breath. “You never did tell me what it is you’re studying.”

“Like I said, you wouldn’t be interested.”

Twilight waved a hoof. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m always interested in what my friends are doing.”

Minuette smiled. “Yeah, Luster. Trust me, whatever kind of nerdy and weird topic it is, it can’t be any worse than some of the stuff Twilight and Moondancer have looked at.”

Luster frowned and dumped the ladle of pink powder she was holding onto the disk. “It’s fine, we’re busy in class; we can talk about it later.” She glanced at Twilight. “What’s next?”

Twilight looked at the textbook. “Pour the rhodonite into the flask and wait – over the next minute it will begin to expand and become viscous. So, we have time now.”

“Really?” Luster lifted the dish and poured the powder into the flask.

“I’m just curious.”

“And I’m busy.” Luster said curtly.

“We have to wait for the reaction before we can continue the experiment.”

“I have notes to review.” Luster pulled her notebook over to her and flipped it open, eyes squared on the page.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. That confirms it – she’s avoiding the subject.

“Why do you not want to talk about this?”

“Why do you want to talk about it?” Luster hissed, not looking away from her notes.

Lemon raised a hoof. “Uh, girls?”

“I like to talk to my friends.”

“And I like friends who aren’t pushy.”

Moondancer lowered her glasses and looked their way. “Oh dear.”

“If I’m being pushy it’s only because you’re making me push!” Twilight snapped.

“That doesn’t make sense!” Luster raised her head and glared at her.

“Girls?” Twinkleshine said loudly.

“What?” The two turned their heads to look across the table.

Twinkleshine pointed a hoof between them.

Twilight and Luster lowered their eyes and gasped.

The liquid in the flask had turned deep purple. It was bubbling and rapidly growing to fill the container, almost to the top already. Thick fumes roiled off it.

“What is going on over there?” Copper Crucible called from elsewhere in the room.

Moondancer looked at the shelves of ingredients on the wall. “Here!” She seized a jar of green powder and quickly brought it down on the table. In a flurry of pink magic the lid popped off, a large spoon dug inside, and a clump of the powder was dumped into the flask.

The liquid shimmered and turned blue, and the bubbling stopped.

“Is it safe?” Twilight asked.

“Wait for it,” Moondancer warned, eyes locked on the flask.

The flask shook a few times before the chemicals rocketed up into the air, smacking into the ceiling. Twilight and Luster looked up and saw the mixture, still holding the shape of the flask, stuck to the tile, quivering.

“That will do it,” Moondancer continued, putting the cap back on the jar. “Though I suggest you don’t breathe through your nose too deep.”

Twilight’s nose twitched and she recoiled at the horrid stench coming from the flask. “No kidding.”

Copper approached the table and stared at the ceiling. “What is the meaning of this?” He swept an accusing gaze over the table.

“An alchemical mishap, professor,” Moondancer said. “It seems their experiment became contaminated somehow. I stabilized it as best I could using orichalcum. It seemed the safest course to prevent a more volatile reaction from occuring.”

Copper lifted the flask to eye level in an aura of orange magic and peered at it. He left out a breath and closed his eyes. “Good job, Moondancer, very quick and clever of you.” He lowered the flask and frowned at Twilight and Luster. “This is why it is very important to insulate one’s equipment from magical interference, to avoid this sort of contamination! If Moondancer hadn’t been here, you two could have been seriously injured!”

“We did insulate our equipment!” Luster protested. “I cast the protective spells myself!”

“Evidently you did not cast them properly.” Copper looked at the ceiling. “The two of you will have to start the experiment over now. Any work you cannot finish before class ends will be completed on your own time. And the two of you will return at lunch to scrape that mess off the ceiling.” He looked around the room. “Alright, all students back to work.”

The class turned their attention back to their own tables, and Copper walked away with the flask hovering beside him.

“Excuse me.” Luster stood and followed after Copper as he went to the sinks at the back of the room and turned on the water. Twilight watched Luster approach him and he turned to her as he set the flask in the sink.

Twilight cast her eyes to the floor. “Part of me thinks I should go over there, but I have a feeling that would just make it worse.”

“Yes,” Lemon said evenly.

“What did I say that got her so upset?” Twilight whispered.

Minuette shook her head. “I dunno, but I’d say leave her alone. Give you both time to cool down.”

Twilight watched Copper nod at Luster and turn his attention to his cleaning. Luster picked up another flask from a shelf, then walked back to the table.

Twilight didn’t look at her as she sat down, keeping her eyes on the experiment instructions. “I think we should just try to finish as much as we can before class ends.”

“I agree,” Luster said stiffly. She slid the flask and rack of vials and jars with ingredients closer to Twilight. “I did most of the work the first time, you can do it this time. Start with the insulation spells.”

Twilight nodded. I don’t even remember us doing it the first time. She inhaled and picked up the flask and focused her magic on it to cast the safety spells. She was tempted to look over at Luster and see what she was doing, but kept her mind on her work.

I’m not sure what I’m disappointed in myself more for.

“She really offered to do the entire clean-up herself?” Lemon asked.

Twilight nodded as the two descended the stairwell. “I stopped by at the start of lunch, but Professor Crucible told me Luster had volunteered to clean it up herself. Said she had been the one mixing it when it went haywire, and she had been the one to insulate the equipment beforehand, so it wasn’t fair that I be punished for something she did on her own.”

The two opened the doors into the main hall of the SGU and descended the wide stairs to the front doors. Twilight frowned. “I don’t understand why Luster would do something like that. I was the one who pushed her and made her screw up, and she was pretty mad at me.”

“That second one, I’d wager,” Lemon replied. “Given how she avoided us the rest of the day, she was probably not looking forward to spending any amount of time alone with you at the scene of the incident.”

Twilight winced. “Yeah, that sounds right.”

For the rest of their classes after alchemy, Luster had sat apart from the group. Pointedly so, given the brief eye contact she made with Minuette when she called her as the students sat down for math. She had also sat somewhere else for lunch, assuming she had gone to the cafeteria; Twilight had watched for her to come in but never saw her.

I can’t blame her. I mean, big argument, embarrassment in front of the class. Probably doesn’t want to deal with me. She’ll come around tomorrow. Hopefully.

Outside, Twilight took a breath. “I need to go to the library to check on my request. That should give Luster enough time to make it back to her dorm room and I can check in on her then.”

“Ah, maybe not.” Lemon shook her head. “She may still not be up to talking. Why don’t you let me swing by and see how she is, and we can go from there?”

“That sounds good. And, if my request is approved, I may not be back to my room for a few hours.” Twilight started down the branch in the path that led to the Royal Archives and waved. “Thanks, Lemon!”

“Anytime!” her friend called after her.

Twilight entered the library and made a right to where the help desk was. A unicorn with a white coat and dark brown mane was looking over a clipboard of notes as she neared.

Twilight gently cleared her throat. “Pardon me, Raven?”

Raven raised her head. “Ah, hello, Twilight. What can I do for you?”

“I’m hoping you have news for me on my request to access certain books in the restricted section?” Twilight put on a wide grin, hoping it could somehow sway her answer.

Raven looked around her desk and reached out to an open notepad. “Actually I do.”

“Great!” Twilight reared and clapped her hooves eagerly.

Raven tore the top sheet of paper off the pad and placed it on the counter. “Princess Celestia would like to speak with you.”

Twilight dropped back to her hooves and stared at the note.

“What?”

The glowing magic crest that levitated Twilight up the shaft spread out to the walls and vanished. She didn’t open the door in front of her, instead staring at it in confusion.

Why would Celestia ask to see me? How does she even know I asked permission? I thought requests for access to the archives just went to the teacher’s council… of which she’s probably a member, duh. If they approved me, why wouldn’t they just say so? But then, they’d also just say so if the answer was no.

Taking a breath, Twilight knocked gently.

“Yes?”

Twilight pushed the door open. “Hello, Princess.”

Celestia looked up from some paperwork. “Twilight. Please, come in.”

“Thank you.” Twilight shut the door behind her and stepped towards Celestia’s desk. She stopped in front of it and did her best not to look nervous. “You wanted to see me?”

“I did. Have a seat.” Celestia gestured a hoof to one of the chairs in front of her.

Sit down. Long talk. Not good. Or maybe it is? Twilight hesitated before nodding and lowering herself back into one of the chairs. She sat upright with her hooves in her lap.

Celestia pulled a piece of paper over to her from elsewhere on her desk and began to read. “A Treatise on the 5th Dimension. Dark Side of the Planet. Vibrational Frequencies. The World Next Door. Through The Wormhole.”

As Celestia rattled off a lengthy list of books, Twilight’s blood turned colder and her eyes grew wider with every word.

She knows every book I’ve checked out.

Celestia finished, calmly folded the paper in two, and set it down. She looked at Twilight evenly. “That’s quite a reading list, Twilight.”

Twilight couldn’t stop her ears from flattening or her body shrinking back in the chair. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Celestia frowned and sat forward. “Twilight, you do not need to be afraid. I am not upset and you are not in trouble. I merely wanted to talk.”

“Okay.” Twilight did her best to slow her pounding heart. “About what?”

“You seem to have taken an awful big interest in the idea of other dimensions lately.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. It’s for my thesis project.”

“Ah. Long-range teleportation, correct?” Celestia waited for Twilight to nod before continuing. “I would imagine you’re looking for a way to circumvent the limit on how far a unicorn’s magic can send her before she materializes.”

“Exactly. And a friend suggested that inter-dimensional mechanics could help me with some leads.”

To Twilight’s horror, Celestia’s face grew concerned. “Twilight, surely you’re aware that you are not the first magical researcher to try and tackle this problem. There are many other avenues of possibility you could explore.”

“I know, and I’ve looked at some. But I thought this was most promising.” Twilight tamped down the urge for her hoof to twitch. She’s definitely not happy. What did I do?

“I see.” Celestia inhaled for a moment. “Then it is my unfortunate decision, Twilight, to deny you access to the restricted section. And to strongly advise you that you cease this line of research insomuch as inter-dimensional mechanics relate to your thesis.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “W-what? Princess, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–.”

Celestia held up a hoof and Twilight fell silent. “Twilight, please. As I said, I am not upset and you do not need to apologize. Allow me to explain.” She lowered her hoof and held Twilight’s gaze. “With all due respect for your considerable genius and talent, this is not a subject I am prepared to let a student study. I am prohibiting you from this for your own safety.”

“I…” Twilight paused for a moment. “My own safety?”

“Equestria’s history of researching the theory of alternate dimensions is one fraught with danger, on both large and small scales. The calculations needed for even the barest of probing into the theory are prohibitively complex, so much so even your professors would struggle to make heads or tails of them. And the magic needed to try and put the spells into action is beyond what any unicorn could ever muster, and would be tasking even for large groups of studied mages.”

Celestia hesitated. “...What I am trying to say, Twilight, and I say this not to frighten you, but as a statement of fact – there is no room for error in this field, and a mistake could be disastrous.”

“Disastrous?” Twilight gulped. “How?”

“Have you considered what might happen if you tried to somehow teleport your essence through a tear in the dimensional fabric? You would need to first open such a tear, and what then? Can you even fathom what that means, what would happen, to rip a hole in the fabric of existence? Imagine if you succeeded and tried to teleport yourself through some portal you had made, can you ensure you would emerge safely? And if you did not, what would happen to you? How could anypony know what would be on the other side of that tear?”

Twilight’s mind raced with Celestia’s questions. “I… don’t know. I could teleport myself to some horrible torture dimension, or a dimension where they don’t have oxygen, or magic. Or, or…” Twilight’s breath began to quicken. “I could create a black hole that sucks in everything around me into nothingness!”

“Twilight.”

She felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned her head up. She hadn’t even seen Celestia come from behind her desk, but the Princess was now looking at her with an expression of deep concern.

“You see? These are complicated, difficult questions, and even trying to answer them puts you at risk.” Celestia withdrew her hoof and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it is far too dangerous to let a student investigate such things. Dimensional theory is only permitted with royal supervision and under extremely controlled and careful circumstances.”

“Yes. I understand. I…” Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat and lowered her head. “I guess I didn’t realize I was looking at something so dangerous.”

“Well, you will calm down now that you have.” Celestia brushed a wing over her. “You were reading basic entry-level books that could not possibly have resulted in any serious harm. Such materials encourage students to think outside the box and spark interest in the subject, but any serious research is either not published publicly at all or locked up in the restricted section. That is how I came to be aware of your study habits.”

She put a hoof under Twilight’s chin and gently turned her head to look at her again. “I again insist that you not feel any shame or guilt, Twilight. You have not upset me in the slightest. I just want to be sure one of my favorite students is not putting herself in danger for the sake of her schoolwork.”

“I know.” Twilight nodded, slowly at first and then more confidently. “Thank you, Princess. I’ll drop it immediately.”

“Thank you.” Celestia wrapped her wing tighter in a light hug. “Do you need a moment to collect yourself? Perhaps a drink?”

“No, I’m fine. Just… scary stuff.” Twilight laughed nervously.

“Very.” Celestia smiled. “I prefer schoolwork to only be mildly stressing, not potentially life-threatening.”

“Yes.” Twilight stood up, prompting Celestia to pull back from her. “I’ll be going then, I’m sor–.” She stopped herself and Celestia gave her a knowing look. “I mean, I hope it wasn’t any trouble to have to see me.”

“Actually, my schedule today has been open to catch up on a little light paperwork. But thank you for your consideration.” Celestia bowed her head. “And thank you for understanding.”

Twilight started toward the door to leave. Okay, frightening dimensional magic aside, back to square one on my thesis. Like she said, there’s other ways to look at circumventing the barrier, but they’ve all been explored to dead ends. So what do I do? She scrunched her nose. I’ll ask Sunset, she always has good ideas. Assuming I even dream about her tonight. I still can’t explain what’s causing it.

As she put her hoof to the door knob, Twilight paused. Sunset…

She whirled around. “Princess Celestia?”

Celestia had just pulled her chair back in to sit down when Twilight called. She looked over at her. “Yes?”

Twilight ran up to her desk. “Can I submit a proposal for a new thesis?”

“There’s no need, Twilight, your original was broad enough, and you can continue to pursue it as long as–.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I don’t mean that.” Twilight smiled. “I just had an idea for a different topic to study.”

Celestia’s brow lifted. “Oh?”

“My dreams. I told you about Sunset Shimmer? Could I research them?”

“Hm…” Celestia looked away as she thought it over. “What exactly would you be trying to prove?”

“What causes them,” Twilight said firmly. “It’s been happening for a month. I’ve been documenting it for several weeks now. And we talked about it before, so you know I’m not making it up and it’s actually something happening to me. So, I’d like to figure out what’s causing them and document the problem-solving process.”

Celestia inclined her head. “I would need to see a more formal explanation of your intent in writing. And you should be aware that if they are not somehow magical in nature, these dreams would not qualify as a suitable topic. You’d have spent time pursuing this to no avail.”

“I know, but I’m sure it is some sort of magic. I just can’t figure out in what way. Yet.”

“Very well, then.” Celestia nodded. “Draw up your new proposal when you can and leave it with one of the clerks downstairs, I’ll personally have a look and get back to you as soon as possible. But, presuming your proposal is satisfactory as I would expect it to be, there shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

Twilight grinned. “Thank you, Princess!” She turned and trotted to the door.

Now this, Sunset can definitely help me with.