The moment Tigerbright woke up, shi noticed with disappointment the absence of the mare who had been nestled up to hir all night. However, shi quickly realized that that had not been what had woken hir. Shi breathed in deeply the delicious scent drifting into the tent and started drooling. The chakat got up onto hir paws and stretched luxuriously before stepping out into the bright morning sun.

“I was beginning to think you were going to sleep until midday,” Violet said with a mock glare. She emphasized the point by levitating a spatula at her companion and waggling it back and forth. Returning to her cooking, she used the utensil to stir the contents of a pan her magic held over the campfire.

“We’re cats – we sleep hard,” Tigerbright explained. “I normally have an alarm set to ensure I get up for work in time, but I get to sleep in when I go camping. What smells so good?”

“Scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon. Also, I’ve toasted the remains of the damper and I have some raspberry jam that will go nicely with it. I’ll let you make the tea – the billy is close to boiling.”

“How did you know I’d wake in time for all of this?” the chakat asked as shi fetched their mugs.

“If the scent didn’t wake you, I figured I’d eat it all myself,” the mare replied with a giggle.

“Oh, no! You do not steal a chakat’s breakfast! Besides, you’ll get fat eating that much. Good thing I’m here to save you from that fate. And you’re eating bacon now?”

“Any meat in modest amounts, actually. To be honest, I wasn’t on board until I smelled the greasy deliciousness for the first time. Besides, who doesn’t like bacon?”

“Good point.” Tigerbright had placed teabags into each mug and poured the now boiling water into them. Shi then fished out plates and utensils for the eggs while the tea brewed which shi placed on the folding table next to the toasted damper. The butter and jam containers were there too, accumulating condensation from being taken from the cooler. “The butter is a bit hard to spread yet,” shi commented.

“I have a solution for that,” Violet said as she carried the pan over. She used a spatula to scrape the contents onto the two plates before setting the cooking implement aside.

The chakat removed the teabags and added some milk to each. “Got a magic trick for that too?”

“Yeah. It’s basically a heating spell. The real trick is to add just enough thermal energy to soften the butter without melting it. It’s actually a two-parter cantrip, the first of which measures the butter’s mass to ensure that the heat is exactly meted out.”

“That’s a weirdly specific spell,” Tigerbright said before tucking into hir scrambled eggs.

“At Celestia’s school, you don’t just learn high-level enchantments. The class called ‘Clover and Trixie’s Great and Powerful Alternatives’ encourages innovative ways of utilizing common and simple magic to achieve more sophisticated results. As I told you, I’ve always loved camping, but if I wanted to bring butter, I needed to not only keep in cool most of the time but also have it useable when I needed it. I threw together the butter-softening spell for a class exercise. It’s been handy ever since.” Violet demonstrated its use before taking a careful sip of her hot tea. “Ah! I needed that.”

The chakat put down hir plate and grabbed a piece of toast. Shi used a clean knife to scrape some butter off the block and found it to be at the perfect consistency. “Score another for magic,” shi conceded as shi spread the butter and then added jam. “Great job on the eggs, by the way.”

“Thang yoob,” the mare replied with her mouth half full.

“So – what’s the plan for this morning? Call back to town?”

Violet shook her head. After swallowing the mouthful, she replied, “Too early yet. I doubt many are up so soon and don’t think anything too drastic will have happened. We’ll find out soon enough if there has. I want to gather the sensors that I laid out yesterday. Hopefully I’ll get some useful data from them. By the time that’s done, we can call the governor with what we’ve learned, if she doesn’t call us first.”

“And after that?”

“That depends on what we find out. However, I think we’ll be moving to another site.”

Tigerbright tilted hir head and raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you intending to be here for a couple more days?”

“That was before I knew we were going to get a repeat of the surge. Yes, I was originally supposed to be doing a geological survey, but that has become secondary to the governor’s task.”

“I see.” Shi finished the remainder of hir food before lifting hir mug and sipping the contents. “What do you want me to do?”

Violet chewed thoughtfully on some toast for a short while before answering. “Better pack up everything. I’ll go fetch the sensors. It shouldn’t take long as I won’t be pausing for anything else.” She levitated her datapad over and tapped at the surface with a stylus. Then she frowned. “I’m getting signals from only two of the sensors.”

“But we set out a couple of dozen and they were all working when you checked the signals after we returned to the camp!” Tigerbright protested.

“Horsefeathers! They must have been screwed up by the surge too. I think I can remember where most of them are. I’ll check those after fetching the two remaining actives ones.”

“Okay. Finish your tea and go. I’ll clean this up. Give me a call if you need my help.”

“I’ll do that.” She gulped the rest of her beverage and grabbed her saddlebags. She fixed them into place and headed out at a fast trot.

Violet went to the site of the nearest unresponsive sensor on the way to a still-active one. When she found it, there was no doubt about why it didn’t show on her datapad anymore. The casing was scorched and distorted exactly where the enchanted sapphire was located inside. The active spell had suddenly been boosted far beyond the sapphire’s rated capacity and the device was utterly ruined. The mare packed it anyway in case there was anything to be learned from it. There was another sensor nearby whose location she recalled but it was equally destroyed. The still-working unit was next. She noted a slight heat warping of the casing, but it seemed to be in full working order. She used her datapad to interrogate its systems to confirm that impression and downloaded its data before stowing the sensor in her saddlebag.

The unicorn continued to work her way towards the sole remaining active sensor, stopping only at the occasional remembered site to retrieve those non-functional units. Without exception, they were in the same condition as the first. After finding six like that, she gave up on them and made a beeline for the final working sensor. Like the other, it showed signs of thermal stress but was still operating as intended. After storing its data, she turned back and headed directly to the campsite.

The chakat was stowing their tent in the shuttle as Violet arrived. “How’d it go?” shi asked.

In answer, the unicorn fished out one of the dead units.

Tigerbright whistled in surprise. “That’s really cooked, isn’t it?”

“Yep. These are the two survivors. Note that they’ve been affected too.”

“Why did they survive when the others didn’t?”

“As best as I can figure, it’s because they weren’t located near a strong ley line. The others were and they got fried by the surge. Because those two sensors were intended to map geological strata, I had no choice but to place them at promising sites that did not have a good ley line from which to draw power. That saved them. They are rugged field equipment and can take some abuse.”

Tigerbright smiled grimly. “At least we’ve learned something from this mess. Have you discovered anything from the data yet?”

“Yes, although not much. They weren’t designed exactly for that purpose. Nevertheless, I already have some useful readings. Specifically, I have a broad vector for the direction of flow of the surge.”

“Outstanding! If we can get a couple more from other sites, we can triangulate the cause.”

Violet snorted disparagingly. “The vectors are far too broad to learn that easily. The surge follows the ley lines and, akin to an electric circuit, the mana flows in the direction of least resistance. You’ve seen the mana web and the seemingly random meshing. Theoretically, that could mean an arc of about 180°.”

The chakat grimaced. “That’s not a huge help.”

The mare gave Tigerbright a brief nuzzle. “Cheer up – it’s not all bad news. Just like with an induced current, the alignment of the ley line affects the intensity of the surge. I can get an estimate of the strength from the two surviving units by interpolating the data at the time of the event. I reckon I can narrow down the vector by about half. If the surge repeats for a few nights, I can have lots of sensors placed in appropriate spots to record more vectors. The more data I get, the faster I can narrow down the location of the cause of the problem.”

“What if the surge doesn’t repeat?”

Violet shrugged. “We’ll probably never know why it happened. There’s just too little data yet.”

“Speaking of data,” Tigerbright segued, “we still need to check in with the governor. Marble will definitely be in the office now.”

“We can call her on the way there.”

“You don’t want to go to another site first?”

The mare shook her head. “Now that I have some idea of what’s happening, I want to grab a couple of other instruments that I don’t normally need from my office. While I’m there, I’ll construct new sensors that are both more robust and use a smaller mana crystal. Also, I left sensors at Tower Peak and at your house. The one at the peak will be toast for sure, but the other should be okay because there isn’t a ley line going through your place.”

Tigerbright’s eyebrows rose considerably. “Why did you place a sensor in the house?”

“Professional curiosity only. I wasn’t expecting to find anything significant, but I should be able to get another vector from it.”

“Good. How long do you think we’ll need to place sensors all around the island and getting readings?”

Violet hummed thoughtfully. “Still too little data to give a firm answer, but at least a week or two.”

“If we don’t learn anything from Marble Slate to change our plans, I think we had better stock up on extra supplies so we don’t have to return too often.”

“It can’t hurt,” the mare conceded. “Anyway, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.”

“Did you get all of the sensors?”

“Most of them. I couldn’t remember where a few are located.”

The chakat turned to face Violet. “You have yesterday’s data on your datapad, right? Better to get them now than have to come back later.”

“Actually, I’d rather—”

Tigerbright cut her off. “Ecological regulations are very strict across all of Chakona. Scientific monitoring stations are to be removed as soon as possible when they are no longer in use. That also applies to ones that stop working.”

Violet pulled her head back and blinked a couple of times. “Of course. You’re right.” The mare pulled out her datapad and tapped at it for a few seconds before leaving at a brisk trot.

After Violet passed out of sight, Tigerbright let out a breath. Hir empathic senses revealed how chastened Violet had felt. Shi grumbled, “Some parts of the job I don’t particularly like, but I had to say it.”

The chakat felt relief when her friend returned ten minutes later in better spirits. “Your carriage awaits, milady,” Tigerbright said with an exaggerated bow and a wave at the shuttle.

Violet grinned. “Cheeky driver! I’d better grab my ward device first.”

“Oops. Yeah. I didn’t want to mess with it.”

The unicorn deactivated the protective spell, pocketed the enchanted diamond, and collapsed the pole. “Okay, let’s go.”

The duo was soon retracing their route back to town. While the chakat concentrated on piloting, Violet took out her comm and dialed the office of the governor. She was quickly put through to Marble Slate who had apparently been expecting the call.

“Did you experience a second mana surge at your survey site?” the governor asked without preamble.

“Yes, ma’am,” Violet replied. “I nearly blinded Tigerbright with a simple illumination spell.”

“I trust that shi has recovered?”

“Yes, shi’s fine now.”

“Good. Did you learn anything?”

“A little, but we’re returning to town to resupply in light of this second event. If it keeps repeating at the same time each night, I will be able to get a lot more valuable data.”

“That sounds good, but you should be aware that the second mana surge did not occur at exactly the same time as the first.”

“Oh? You were able to determine their exact timing?”

“Yes, we did. We also have some more news that is likely to be of significance. The Equus Portal monitoring station reported some unusual activity but no one put two and two together until now. The portal moons powered up and shifted without a ship transitioning it. While that is unprecedented since the Chakona World Government established the station, the significant factor is that these incidents occurred at the same time as the surges.”

Violet’s eyes widened and she gasped. “That could tie in with the mystery that I was going to investigate originally.”

“Oh, that’s not the only news from out that way. Mr. Iotor reported that there’s a starship from Equus that is overdue. While that was not supposed to be arriving at the portal until a few hours later, nevertheless I believe this is of significance.”

“If the surges and the portal behavior are indeed related, I would agree. Then there’s the unusual solar activity of Celestia’s sun which is itself a gigantic mana source.”

“I suspect that it’s too much of a coincidence,” Slate said. “That’s why I requested the Chakona World Government to send a ship through the portal to check the other side and monitor any further events. They agreed but it has taken some time to organize it and we won’t get a report for a few hours at best.”

“As long as it’s in place before a third surge happens, hopefully at the same time this evening. Actually, while we may be at the epicenter of this phenomenon, have any significant problems occurred elsewhere on Chakona?”

“Not as such. There’s not a great deal of magitek on Chakona other than Emu Island, but there have been reports of a large number of glitches. Silver Lake City on Didwana is the settlement nearest to us and reported the most problems, while Amistad on Flinders Continent a third of the world away had only a few. Being the seat of government, they also have primary and backup mana beacons. Or should I say ‘had’. They went offline during the second surge. That suggests that while proximity is a large factor, mana-draw is significant too.”

Violet nodded in thought. “From what I know about beacon magitek, they can be very susceptible to irregular mana flux, so it may be a case of being too sensitive. The Cosmic Lotus lost its beacons the first time it passed through the portal. I’d have to check that with a magitek specialist though. My training only marginally covered that area of arcane knowledge.”

The governor replied, “I want you to add that to your investigations. I’ll have a copy of the full report ready for you when you arrive. I’m instructing all services to give you their full cooperation. This is turning into a bigger event than anyone anticipated and, if the surges persist, it could become a major problem for our colony. We are still very dependent on Equian resources and growing our population. These surges are a threat to every Equestrian.”

“Okay. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you issue an edict requiring all active magic to be stopped when the next surge is due. If it doesn’t happen, our only problem will be looking a little foolish, but if it does as I believe it will, we can save ourselves from something possibly more serious than flying at high speed into a tray rack.”

“Already done,” Slate informed her. “Last night, a unicorn dock worker was unloading cargo from a ship in the harbor when the surge happened. They found the load this morning on the other side of the bay. We don’t want a repeat of something like that.”

“Was the unicorn okay?” Violet asked with concern. “Their horn wasn’t burnt out, was it?”

“He’s okay aside from a massive horn ache. The surge was short enough that there was no permanent damage. On the other hoof, his ego has been massively inflated. He’s boasting to his colleagues about how far he can fling a load with his telekinesis. Port Security shut down a betting pool he started on exactly how far he could toss the entire ship.”

“I guess longshore-ponies are the same everywhere. They’ll bet on anything.” Violet chuckled then grew serious. “In all honesty, he needs to let his horn heal properly or it can be permanently damaged. I hope he won’t be trying that again in a hurry.”

“He’d better not,” the governor agreed. “Anyway, unless there’s anything else you need to know right now, I’ll talk to you later when you come by my office.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then, ma’am.”

Tigerbright had remained silent during the entire conversation but, after the mare had turned off the comm, shi said, “You seem a lot more certain about the recurrence of the surge now.”

Violet understood the unasked question. “Those sunspots not only occur at regular intervals, they tend to last for weeks. If the phenomenon is connected to the surges, then those could be happening for just as long.”

“And the portal?”

“More data needed. We’re still researching how that works.”

“If they are having activity on the Equian side, how come they haven’t reported big problems like ours? I was told only ‘magical interference’. Doesn’t sound anything near as drastic as what’s happening here.”

That made the unicorn pause for a moment. “Y’know, that’s a really good question. From what I recall from History of Magic, sunspot activity causes spell-casting to sometimes fail and glitches in various enchantments. Nothing too major though – it’s mostly nuisance stuff. Another piece of the puzzle to look into.”

Violet was delighted to find that the sensor that she had left at Tigerbright’s house had survived and she was able to get another vector to add to her data. She and the chakat split up to gather supplies – Tigerbright stocking up on more food for an extended stay in the field, and the mare requisitioning every piece of equipment that she thought might come in handy with the authority of the colony’s governor. After stowing everything in the shuttle, they headed back into town to visit Marble Slate. Her assistant told them that they could go right in. What neither expected was finding an alicorn inside with the governor.

The blue stallion with fiery red mane smiled in amusement at their surprise. “Hello. You must be Violet Woods and Chakat Tigerbright. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Tigerbright nodded respectfully but Violet bowed. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Your Highness. May I ask how you got here? We haven’t gotten the replacement mana beacon yet.”

Prince Destined Path chuckled. “I am the master of time and space. I haven’t needed a beacon to get to Chakona since my initial visit, and I have been to this colony on several occasions since.”

“Of course, that’s your special talent. I should have realized. Have you come in regards to the mana surges?”

“Yes. Mom is investigating on the Equus side. I heard that you have been put in charge on this side because you’re a former graduate from Princess Celestia’s school.”

“That’s right, although I haven’t learned much yet.”

The alicorn waved a dismissive hoof. “No worries. I know it’s a bit soon. You probably know more than we do despite that. I’m only here to help out if needed, and provide a link back to Equus until the new mana beacons are installed. By the way, the starship that is overdue is carrying them.” When Violet started to say something, Destined Path interrupted her. “No, don’t worry – we’re back in contact with it. They were caught in a huge mana surge which damaged their equipment including their comms. Also, they overshot the portal by many lightdays in the seconds before the circuit breakers kicked out. Fortunately, both the structural integrity enchantment and shielding also increased in strength. They ended up deep in the nebula and it will take them a couple of days to backtrack to the portal. They’ve had to patch up their magitek warp drive too.”

“That’s reassuring, sir. It also reinforces my belief that these incidents are linked.”

“I agree. Anyway, you’re here to make a report and Governor Slate and I are eager to see what data you have discovered.”

After showing what she had learned so far, the four discussed Violet’s further plans. They ended up agreeing with her course of action and that was the end of the meeting. However, before Tigerbright and Violet left, Destined Path seemed to pull a device out of thin air and tossed it to the mare.

“Use that to contact me to keep me abreast of what you find. It will also let me locate you if you get into any kind of trouble.”

“Thank you, sire,” Violet said. She turned to her companion. “Let’s go, Tiger – we’ve got lots to do today.”

The alicorn said, “I need to leave as well. Thank you for your hospitality, Governor Slate.” He followed the unicorn and the mare out of the office. Just as they were about to exit the foyer, Destined said, “Could I have a private word with you, Tigerbright?”

The chakat was a bit surprised and looked over to Violet.

“I’ll meet you back at the house,” the mare said.

“Alright. Seeya.” After the unicorn had left, the chakat turned back to the alicorn. “What is it you wanted to tell me, sir?”

“I see some of my mother in Violet. She’s likely to obsess over this problem if you let her. Please make sure she doesn’t overdo things. This situation doesn’t call for desperate measures.”

“Don’t worry – I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“I’m sure you will. Look after her well, Tigerbright. She’ll be counting on you.”

The chakat blinked in confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

Destined grinned. “I think you do. Farewell for now.”

The alicorn disappeared in a flash of teleportation, leaving a surprised chakat pondering his words.

Violet needed two hours at her office to construct a new batch of sensors designed to be much sturdier than the regular model. After a short flight, the pair set up camp at the far north-western point of Emu Island for the purpose of maximizing the difference in vector readings. As they had the previous day, they travelled around the area setting up sensors. This time, though, while Violet took the opportunity to check out some interesting geological sites, her placements were chiefly aimed at measuring mana flow at a safe distance from the ley lines. While the office had an abundance of sapphires to enchant, there were only a dozen of the magitek electronics modules left after losing so many to yesterday’s surge. Violet had used up every spare and put in an Alpha Priority order for more.

This time, the land was heavily forested and they’d had to land on the dunes close to the sea. It was a pleasant camping spot and the salt-laden air was refreshing after a hard day of trudging through thick undergrowth. Tigerbright prepared dinner while Violet finished up her notes. The chakat managed to drag her away by enlisting her help in making damper again.

“We’re going to do something different this time,” Tigerbright said. “Here’s a challenge for you. Core and peel two apples then pulp them.”

Violet’s horn glow pulsed as all three operations took a total of five seconds to complete. She looked up sweetly. “Did I do that right?”

The chakat rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Show off. I don’t know whether to be impressed or scared for my life.”

The mare giggled and leaned into her friend for a couple of seconds.

“Now, we mix in the pulp and I’ll knead the dough for a minute or two until it’s smooth.”

The rest of the procedure was the same except that Tigerbright dusted the dough with cinnamon before it was put in the camp oven. The warm apple-bread was a tasty treat to finish the day.

They were sitting by the campfire sipping hot chocolate when a tiny device on the folding table started chirping loudly. It had been humming almost inaudibly ever since it had been activated about half an hour ago. The sudden surge of mana boosted the volume considerably without going to extremes, just as it had been designed to do.

Violet checked the time. “Just over five minutes later than last night. That’s the same difference as between the first and second surges. If a surge comes tomorrow night another five minutes later, I think we can reasonably fix its interval.”

“But why not exactly one day apart?” Tigerbright wondered.

“Hopefully we’ll find out the answer to that when we discover the cause of the surges.” She finished the remainder of her drink and then got up. “But right now, I’m tired and I’m in need of snuggling and sleep.” She projected a dome of magic over the fire, depriving it of air.

Tigerbright let out a whine. “But I was soooo looking forward to you going crazy downloading and analyzing the data all night long.”

Violet laughed. “You’re thinking about Prince Destined Path’s mom. If Princess Twilight Sparkle was here, none of us would get any sleep over her excited chattering. Her endurance in the throes of scientific discovery is legendary.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Are you complaining?”

The chakat stuck out hir tongue. “Oh, absolutely.”

The mare laughed again then turned her attention to the fire. It quickly died out, but the chakat had turned on a lantern before the light was lost.

Tigerbright hung the lantern in the tent and said, “Your boudoir awaits, madam.”

Violet giggled and joined her companion. “Thanks, but I’m no madam.” She snuggled up beside the chakat and nuzzled hir. “Good night, Tiger.”

“Sleep well, hon.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

More clues to this mystery but progress is being made. What did Prince Destined comments to Tigerbright mean though?

Art by Foxenawolf.