After quickly realizing that I was in Israel, I felt a sense of relief. At least I was in a country where my people can govern themselves without persecution! It only took around 2,000 years to get self-determination back. Well worth it!

“Noah...please respond if this telepathy spell is working.” a voice says in my head. It sounds a lot like Nightmare Moon.

“Luna, is that you?” I reply in thought.

“Yes, Noah. It’s me. Just wanted to make sure you got back to Earth in one piece. I don’t know this pupil’s exact location, but I do know she is in the city of Jerusalem. I would begin looking for her immediately. You don’t have that much time, dear. Shabbos starts in 6 hours, and I know that day is important to you. Good luck!” Luna says, severing the connection.

I quickly checked my magical watch that Luna gave me, and saw that it automatically adjusted to UTC+2, Israel standard time. I try to figure out where exactly in Jerusalem I am, and I notice that the Old City gates are close by. I must be near the Mamilla Mall and Plaza! I remember coming there a few summers ago with my family, and there was really good ice cream there. I decided that there is a good place to start looking for this pupil of Celestia.
It takes me a few minutes to climb up the dozens of stairs separating the busy Jerusalem street from the shopping plaza. By the time I got to the plaza itself, I was surrounded by hundreds of people, buying all sorts of goods, ranging from Judaica to cinema tickets. I tried sensing life energy among these scores of people, and everything seemed to read normally. All human beings of all sorts of cultures coexisting and shopping together.

And then I sense it. Something that is alien to Earth, with a supernatural level of energy.
I was half expecting a pony of some sort, but the being emitting this energy was a human, roughly my age. To make things even more interesting, she looked somewhat familiar. She must be a bit clumsy, as well, as she bumped into me.

“Excuse me! Umm, do you know where the Western Wall is?” This young woman asks me. I mean, it had been a while since I had been to the Western Wall, but I remembered how to get there.

“Yeah, go to the other end of Mamilla, and you will be at the Jaffa gate. Walk for a kilometer or so and you will end up in the old Jewish quarter, where it is a short staircase away from the Kotel plaza. I hope that helps!” I say kindly, trying to keep my communication to a minimum.

“Thank you, uh. What’s your name?” The teenager asked me.

“Noah.” I replied.
The teenager smiled, “My name is Twilight Sparkle. The pleasure is mine!”

Hold on, this is probably Celestia’s pupil! I gotta play it cool right now, especially if we are on opposing sides of this conflict.

“Uhh, do you have the directions down pat, or do you need me to walk you to the Western Wall?” I ask the young woman, who waits for a minute.

“Uhh, I guess you can walk me there? I am really bad at directions.” Twilight said, moving over so I can walk towards the historic landmark.

“So, Twilight? What brings you to Israel?” I ask the young woman, who is probably my age, maybe a bit older. If she wasn’t an Equestrian spy, she could have been on a summer program, or even her freshman year of college.”

“Think, Twilight, what was your cover story if a human asked you why you are here?” She thought to herself.

“Uhh, I got a scholarship to Hebrew University, studying Middle Eastern archaeology!” Twilight says. “I started in the fall, but I didn’t get a chance to go sightseeing until this weekend.”

I knew this was a lie, but I played along. Maybe she will accidentally reveal key information that I could use to assist Luna in our mission.

“Well, we made it to the Old City. We are another 5 or so minutes away from the Western Wall. A word of advice, Twilight. As a religious Jew myself, I thought it would be proper to inform you that some of my coreligionists won’t take too kindly to your hair being uncovered at the Western Wall plaza. I highly recommend putting on a hat, a wig, or something. They don’t even care if you aren’t Jewish, they see it as offensive. Tznius is important in Israel.”

Twilight didn’t know that, and she used a bit of magic to cover her hair, but did it in such a way that it seems natural. I obviously noticed, but I did not comment on the matter.

“Okay. Thank you, Noah!” Twilight says, running off towards the Western Wall plaza.

“So, Twilight, it seems you might have bumped into our candidate!” Celestia said with her own telepathic connection to her pupil.

“What do you mean, Celestia? That guy was just some Hebrew kid, no older than 17. Wait! I have to go find him again. He probably is the guy. I am so stupid!” Twilight said, criticizing herself for not noticing it sooner. Twilight ran all the way back towards me and tapped me on the shoulder.

“Uh, Noah, right?” Twilight said, quickly glowing a fluorescent purple.

Oh, shit. Not now, not in public. I have to contain this, here and now. I recite a Kabbalistic formula quietly, which allows me to teleport the both of us to a quiet location away from anyone else.

“Okay, Noah. I know you are working with Nightmare Moon! Not cool, man! Why would you want there to be eternal night?” Twilight asked, confused as to why I would be working with someone like Princess Luna.

“You don’t get it, Twilight. Yeah, she kidnapped me, but she has been with my people for 3,500 years, or 1,000 years for you. It would be treason for me to say no to her. Besides, Celestia worked with HITLER of all people. Don’t you know what that bastard did to my ancestors?” I cried, trying to hold back tears.

“No, what did Mr. Hitler do?” Twilight asked, unaware of the atrocities that occurred only 75 years ago.

“He slaughtered 6 million of my people in cold blood, just because they were different. Celestia helped him because Luna was allied with my people. How you could possibly be working with a monster like her, G-d himself only knows.” I say, trying my best not to scold her too much. She is my age and probably doesn’t know any better.

“I find your accusations to be preposterous. Princess Celestia would never do something like that! She literally teaches ponies about the Magic of Friendship! Why would she aid and abet genocide?”

I touch Twilight’s shoulder and activate a portal back to Luna’s citadel. We both begin to turn into unicorns again, and I become the “Jewnicorn”... “Jewnicorn”, huh. That fits.

“Ah, Noah, you are back, and you brought company!” Nightmare Moon said, summoning a table, three chairs, and an assortment of baked goods.

“I truly mean you no harm, Ms. Sparkle. You are here on diplomatic immunity. I have standards. I want to talk.”

“Umm, okay?” Twilight said.

This is going to get really interesting.

Author's Note

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

GLOSSARY

WESTERN WALL: The only remaining remnant of both Jewish temples. The holiest site in Judaism due to its historical significance.

TZNIUS: Hebrew for modesty. There are countless laws in Judaism relating to how women (and men), should dress, act, and behave.