Equestria Girls: Bonds Forged of Friendship I (Love)

The grand unveiling of Twilight's invention to her friends on Monday largely mirrored the sneak-peak that Sunset got earlier. It featured a collection of puzzled onlookers, a quick demonstration, and a wave of epiphanies that ultimately led up to commendations all around. But gratifying as it was when her friends finally comprehended its potential, she wondered why her Telemeter for Magic Appraisal and Positioning required so much explanation just to elicit any kind of response.

Maybe it was the name?
It was obviously quite apposite and to the point, as it should've been; however, nobody but her seemed to be able to pronounce it fluidly. Instead, they relied on varying monikers like “Tele-Something,” or “The Microwave Thingy” to identify it. Perhaps a change was in order. She might need to set up a focus group and test out alternative titles for the Telemeter for Magic and—well, for that.

Regardless of the handle, Monday proved to be yet another productive leap forward for Twilight's work.

By the end of the morning, everyone but Rarity had their Geodes analyzed by the machine, and their unique magical signatures were recognized and recorded promptly thereafter. At this point, the display screen almost had a full rainbow of lines running across it, save for the light-blue one representing their diamond-conjuring friend. Thankfully, that was an absence that would soon be accounted for, and development could continue unabated without it for the time being.

As the day continued, she put the Telemeter through its paces to see just how well the current build was performing. And the results were extremely encouraging.
With every hour that passed, it managed to pick up on the magical exertions of its many contributors, noting the relative time, nature, and location of each instance. Granted, Twilight had to repeatedly tweak its sensors and streamline its readouts with every chance that she could; however, by late afternoon, she was being greeted by compact printouts that yielded much more user-friendly data:

Magic Anomalies (3) Detected
(1) Estimated Time: 1:00 PM – Nature: Combustion (PP) – Location: Canterlot High-School
(2) Estimated Time: 1:00 PM – Nature: Acceleration (RD) – Location: Canterlot High-School
(3) Estimated Time: 1:00 PM – Nature: Communication (FS) – Location: Canterlot High-School

Three simple readouts, but they revealed so much.
Alongside being reliably reactive to magic usage, the Telemeter also seemed to be rather accurate in its interpretation of each event's nature. After all, Twilight could at least corroborate the circumstances that resulted in two of those afternoon readings, seeing as how she witnessed them firsthand. The second one was Rainbow yet again breaking her high-speed track record during P.E. class, while the third was Fluttershy conversing with the class hamsters during an afternoon constitutional around the field. Meanwhile, the first one was apparently triggered by Pinkie Pie, and... Well, causing an accidental explosion somewhere didn't seem too far removed from the realms of possibility.

By the end of the day, it was obvious that there was still so much work yet to be done. While the machine could detect larger-scale anomalies from all across campus, it still struggled to pick up mid-level ones from a distance, let alone smaller displays like Sunset's telepathy. On top of that, it would certainly be beneficial for the time and location estimates to be as specific as possible. A whole hour's span across an entire school did make the prospect of tracking down an unknown magical presence far more difficult than it should be, after all.

Still, things were progressing at a remarkably productive rate, and Twilight concluded her work on Monday with just as much excitement for what could be achieved tomorrow. This was all such a wonderful sensation, taking steps toward answering a question that she once again started to feel so passionate about.

What is magic?
The answer itself was relatively obvious, but like so much in life, it only served to unearth more questions than anything else.

Was it an energy? Was it tangible? Was it conscious?
In every instance, the response to these questions was always the same: sometimes. For a scientist, that was frustratingly vague, and these weren't even the loaded queries that required more specific clarifications.

What made magic act one way versus another? What told it where to go? What commanded when and how it should act? What dictated its purpose? What made it begin, and what made it end?

These were all conundrums that Twilight had long considered, but could never quite answer to a satisfying degree. To her, Equestrian magic should've been the equivalent of a computer program—an aethereal algorithm of sorts. It was given form, outfitted with certain functions, inhibited by specific parameters, and tasked to execute something until either a limit was satisfied or an endpoint was reached. In a perfect world, everything could be explained this way, and glitches could be tracked down, understood, and corrected as a result. But this wasn't a perfect world, and it was apparently connected to an even stranger one still.

Sunset's many tales from Equestria could attest to that, featuring creatures and scenarios that seemed determined not to be categorized in any straightforward manner. A walking, talking embodiment of chaos and entropy; organisms that could shape-shift with little mind paid to the conservation of mass; a forest that was completely immune to the rest of that world's rules. As obvious as this sounded, magic simply defied so much of common logic and reasoning, and that was extremely aggravating to Twilight.

But it also enticed her, especially with regards to her own world.
When it came to magic, no mystery was without answers, and every answer paved the way forward to more mysteries. It was science and discovery at their finest; moreover, it was an exciting new field of study ripe with possibilities that could redefine so much of mankind's understanding of the universe!

It was all so wonderful...and so utterly terrifying.
This pursuit of knowledge, this insatiable curiosity. It always came from good intentions, but it could be incredibly dangerous if left unchecked. There was a time, after all, when Twilight's quest for understanding magic nearly destroyed the world. That was a traumatizing ordeal, and she couldn't allow it to happen ever again. Thankfully, she had done a marvelous job keeping her passions under control since then, with no small amount of thanks owed to her friends. However, there was always the possibility—that little niggling presence in the back of her head that sought to understand everything, no matter the cost. Sunset banished it away once before, and Twilight suppressed it herself again afterward, with everyone's support.
She just wished that her friends could always be around...to keep her safe from Midni—from herself.

But it was pointless to worry about all of that for the time being. Instead, maybe if she just focused on making this thing work right here and now, it might convince the others to...

Well, in any event, her Telemeter would be the first step in this novel pursuit of knowledge, and the coming days would mark even greater strides in its development. At least she could be certain of that!

Sadly, Tuesday was nowhere near as productive.
In fact, by the end of that day, it would prove to be a massive holdup. All because Twilight left her machine on to test if it could run for an extended period of time. She couldn't have known what it would detect that night, or how overwhelmed its sensors would become before it completely shorted out.

****

How long had it drifted there, in this realm between realms? How much time had passed since it was banished from where it was originally summoned. Where was it now? Where was it going? How much longer could it last?

Honestly, these questions mattered little. For many forms of magic, the concepts of time, location, and even existence itself held only small amounts of meaning. They were all mostly just hard limitations meant to keep incredible powers in check.

Certain kinds of magic, however, weren't restrained by such trivial things. These were the kinds often decried as dangerous, dark, or forbidden. They were the kinds that drifted throughout this void now, mindlessly awaiting either oblivion or inevitable decay.

This one entity of magic, however, refused either fate. Not that it had any real choice in the matter, but something kept it from completely dissipating into the void. Something pushed it forward. A collection of...not memories...not feelings... Something in between.

Instances of its past.
Fragments of what it once was.
What was it?

Sought after...by a young dragon.
Sealed deep...within a forbidden tome.
Summoned forth...by a unicorn of pure alabaster, whose aching heart yearned for affirmation of her talents.

And with a simple incantation, that's exactly what it helped her to achieve:

From in the head to out in the world, every thought to action. Hold close this book and through its spell, you'll start a chain reaction. Projecting forth whatever beauty you see. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free.

And like that, this magic was unleashed unto the unicorn. Together, they were an unstoppable pair. With its immense power coursing through her, she made manifest her every beautiful whim in an instant. A lavish theater, a cavalcade of gorgeous dresses, a jewel encrusted cart; all trifles.

But that was only a taste of its power.
As their bond grew, it scoured the depths of her subconscious, of her very soul, to make possible even the most impossible of her wishes. Golden roads and chariots, miniature mansions, reality itself altered to give it a touch of class. It was perfect, it was easy, and it was all just the beginning—the opening act to a worldwide stage just begging to be molded by her visions and talent.

It gave her everything she wanted...
So, why was it abandoned?

Its manifestations...belittled by that dragon!
Its powers...forsaken by that unicorn!
Its existence...stripped from everything by those alicorns, and banished to a realm between realms, where it would eventually just fade away!

True enough, in this endless void where indeterminate amounts of time had passed, parts of it had faded away... Certain abilities were reduced... Certain conditions became irrelevant... Certain limitations ceased to be...

But a sizable amount of its essence still remained.
And its purpose still remained.

To fill the emptiness within one's heart. To bestow upon others the power to foster their own sense of completion. To bring about all-encompassing fulfillment.
That was its purpose. That was what kept it together. And that was exactly what it would achieve.

And when it finally stumbled upon an opening, a tear into another world, it seized upon the opportunity...

****

It began in the dead of night on Tuesday, at a time when almost everyone was asleep and blissfully unaware of what was stirring.
It began over at Canterlot High-School, atop the broken pedestal that continued to serve as a link to both Equestria and its many inhabitants.
It began...and it was the beginning of so much to come.

From within the cracks of the pedestal, little wraith-like tendrils of magic slowly seeped out and rose into the air, waving to and fro like seaweed amongst a gentle current. As more started to spill out and wash over the stone base, it steadily tested the surroundings, sensing and feeling out for whatever it could. There were no living beings nearby for it to inhabit, but there was something recognizable in this environment...

There were traces...of other magic. Other beings with magic. Their auras—their essences—practically lingered around this landmark. One, in particular...it belonged to an entity so different, and yet...so strangely familiar.

This creature... Its essence... So similar... To that... THAT UNICORN!

And like that, it no longer hesitated.
Instead, it spewed forth from the pedestal—a copious billow of magic that propelled itself high into the air, and dispersed throughout the looming clouds within moments of its arrival. In the presence of this eruption, the entire city was briefly blanketed in a hauntingly viridescent glow that persisted for seconds on end. Afterward, everything seemed to return to normal. No person was cursed, no object was enchanted, and no living being was any the wiser.

But throughout all of Canterlot,

Flashes of emerald began to light up the clouds.
A silent storm was beginning to brew.
And Equestrian magic was about to reign.

End of Act I