Spell 63: The Stallion in the Sun

Twilight woke up slowly, barely able to see or feel anything for a while. She sat up slowly and tried to look around, her vision slowly coming back. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was collapsed on the floor of the library. Her old library. She was back home! She got up as fast as she could and called for Spike. “Spike! Spike, where are you?”

Spike walked out of the shower room, dripping wet. “What is it, Twilight,” he asked, seeming kind of annoyed. “I was in the middle of a bath. How could you possibly-?” He was cut short by Twilight rushing up and hugging him.

“Oh! It’s so good to see my normal baby dragon assistant and best friend again!”

“Um, Twilight... I take these baths all the time. It’s only been 20 minutes.”

Twilight let Spike go, dropping him to the hard floor below. “Oh, right... it’s a long story.” Twilight then trotted up the stairs to bed. “I’ll tell you in the morning along with the others. I’ve had a pretty rough day. Good night.” Twilight stopped and sighed with relief when she said the word ‘night’ and continued trotting up the stairs, leaving the confused Spike in the middle of the library, scratching his head, but eventually shrugging and following Twilight to bed. (Shut up. I know what you’re thinking about.)

The next day, Twilight was woken up fairly early by Pinkie Pie, who fired her party cannon into Twilight’s window, nearly hitting her in the face. Twilight instantly flew into the air, wide awake, fairly angry, but happy to have her wings. She returned to the ground and looked out the window, where Pinkie and the other ponies (Spike included) were waiting for her. “Hi, Twilight,” Pinkie called. “Are you awake?”

Twilight just sighed, happy to be with her old friends again. “Yeah,” she called back, “I’m coming down.” She then headed downstairs and outside to meet the other ponies.

“Spike here told us you had a little story to tell, Twi,” Applejack said after Twilight came up to the ponies. “Were you gonna share it?”

“I suppose I could,” Twilight replied. “It all started just last night, when I got a package from Princess Celestia...”

Twilight then went on to tell her friends about her adventure. About Starswirl the Bearded’s ultimate spell. About the new world she appeared in, Equestrion. About how she somehow entered the body of the stallion named Dusk Shine, who was actually her from this new world. She told Spike about Barbara, who seemed to have the exact same personality as he did. She told of Prince Artemis and The Stallion in the Sun, Solar Flare. About the five new friends she made in Equestrion’s Ponyville. Caramel Apple, the honest, hard working stallion who resembled Applejack so well. Rainbow Blitz, the athletic and speedy pegasus stallion who appeared so similar to Rainbow Dash. Elusive, the stallion who paid heavy attention to detail and fashion just like Rarity did. Butterscotch, the shy little pegasus stallion who cared so much for his animals as much as Fluttershy cared for her’s. And Bubble Berry, the rambunctious and, well, just plain random party animal who’s personallity mirrored that of Pinkie Pie.

She told of when Solar Flare appeared in Ponyville and revealed her as not of that world. How Solar Flare threatened to burn the world of Equestrion by bringing eternal day. How Twilight had to entrust these new friends with her secret and bring them with her on her quest for the Elements of Harmony.

She told of Violent Volcano Fields, a deadly land of lava and fire-based monsters. She told of how Solar Flare flipped the game around and forced Twilight to save her new friends where they were supposed to save her. Of how Twilight had to save Caramel Apple when he hung precariously from a cliff over a lake of lava. How Twilight had to defeat the deadly Pyrosaur when Butterscotch was hurt. How Twilight had to do Bubble Berry’s job and help her new friends laugh in the face of fear. How she had to offer something of her own when her friend Elusive couldn’t. How she refused the word of even Celestia in order to save this world, even though it wasn’t Celestia after all.

She told of how she remained calm against Solar Flare’s wrath and kept her confidence even when faced with certain doom. How she waited and kept her trust in her friends, knowing they’d know where to find her. How she realized that the power of harmony doesn’t just exist between several ponies, but can even exist within one pony. How she showed Solar Flare the incredible power that can exist in one single pony, even when two are combined as one. How, with the help of Dusk Shine, she defeated Solar Flare in a blinding flash of magic. How Lord Solaris, Celestia’s counterpart in Equestrion, and Prince Artemis, as well as all of Equestrion, was saved.

“...and then I saw Dusk Shine before me, and realized that I was freed from him now that Solar Flare was defeated. It was pretty interesting being a regular unicorn again for a day, but I kind of missed my old self the whole time. So I cast Spell 63 again and reappeared in the library, not a second seeming to pass.”

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said. “That sounds like you had one heck of a day. What I wouldn’t give to meet this Rainbow Blitz.”

“And that Elusive character,” Rarity added. “He sure sounds like a charm.”

“Hold up, Rarity,” Twilight said. “I can’t just bring anypony back and forth between our worlds just yet. But don’t worry, I’ll work on it and you should all be able to meet your counterparts by the end of the month. I promise.”

“Wow, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “Sounds like you had quite the adventure.”

“Hey,” Spike said after a while. “You should write a letter to Princess Celestia about this. I’m sure you learned something from it all.”

“You know what, Spike? You’re right. Take this down now.” Spike instantly got out a quill and scroll and got ready to write as Twilight began speaking. “‘Dear Princess Celestia. I am writing to you after a fairly eventful day, but I’ll get back to that later. For now, I’m happy to report that I’ve figured out what Spell 63 does. The spell acts as an interdimentional portal, teleporting whoever casts the spell, and hopefully in the near future whoever is with the pony who casts the spell, to a land called Equestrion, a world similar to Equestria, only with one small change. Anypony who is supposed a mare in this world appears as a stallion in their world and vice-versa. When you cast the spell, your own gender should be unaffected and you’ll be able to interact with other ponies who have similar personalities to those you know here, as well as your own stallion counterpart.’

“‘Which brings me to an important lesson this world has taught me on friendship. (Two, actually.) First, I’ve learned that it’s important to have friends to back you up when you’re in danger, but you need to make sure you’re there for your friends when they need your help. By using the lessons you’ve learned from your friends, you can be blessed with a new kind of power. A power that may not be quite equivalent to that of all of you combined, but it’s easily enough to help your friends when they need you most.’

“‘Second, I’ve learned that you aren’t bound to the friendships you make or the adventures you’ve experienced if you’re willing to explore well beyond the boundaries you see around you. If you’re willing to look well past the horizon, you can find new friends for you to make, new lands to explore, new adventures to take, and new secrets to uncover about those you know, those you’ve just met, and even about yourself.’

“‘I will be reporting back with regular updates on the status on Spell 63 and how I’m fine-tuning it so that it works like we need it to. There are several kinks to work out, but I’ve fixed Starswirl’s magic before, so I feel confident. Your student, Twilight Sparkle.’ Okay, Spike, send the letter.”

Spike took a second to look over the letter. It was a couple of page-lengths long, but he used a long roll of parchment so it would all fit. “Okay,” he finally replied. He then rolled up the paper and used his fire breath to send the letter to Princess Celestia. Twilight then trotted back towards the library.

“Twilight,” Rarity called, “where are you going?”

“Inside,” Twilight replied. “The sooner I fix Spell 63, the sooner you can all meet your counterparts in Equestrion. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” the ponies replied.

“Come on, Spike. I’m gonna need you to help me with this, too.”

“Coming,” Spike said, running to join Twilight. When Spike was inside, Twilight closed the door and went straight to work. She wasn’t working long before she found herself staring out the window, thinking about Dusk Shine and the other stallions. Thinking about what they were doing right now. Dusk Shine probably got his two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and was getting pummeled by favors from his friends for the second ticket. Or maybe, just maybe, they were doing the exact same thing she was doing. Maybe they were thinking about her and the unfamiliar world she lived in.

“This is just the beginning,” she said to herself, realizing the same thing. “The beginning... of something amazing.” She suddenly realized that night had fallen and Spike already went to bed. She figured it had been a tiring past few days, so she decided to turn in, herself. She clicked off the light in her library, trotted up the stairs, slowly climbed into bed, and fell into a decent and restful sleep. The best one she’d had in weeks.