//------------------------------// // Magic Mirrors and Mystifying Memories // Story: Barcelona, Anypony? // by A Wise Pony //------------------------------// “Why aren't they looking at us?” Spike asked quietly. Sure enough, the Angels were all focused on the library. “It looks like they're trying to get in,” Twilight whispered back. “But the Somepony Else's Problem spell means they can't see the ARCHIVE.” “Then why are they trying to get inside?” Applejack asked. “The chronodynamo.” “The what?” “The hourglass, that's what they're after. It emits time energy, and it must be seeping out through the walls.” “Well, at least they haven't found their way inside,” Rarity said. “Now we just have to walk past them and-” “It's not that easy,” Twilight interrupted. “The moment we touch the outside of the ARCHIVE, it won't be Somepony Else's Problem anymore, it'll be our problem, and the spell will be broken. Then there's nothing to stop them from breaking through the windows and door to get at the Chronodynamo.” “So just teleport us inside the library!” Rainbow said. “Then we won't interrupt the spell.” “I'm not sure I can,” Twilight admitted. “Normally when I teleport, both end and start are temporally and spatially fixed. Right now, the ARCHIVE is neither. If I tried to teleport inside it now, I'd be trying to teleport to where I'm used to it being, and I know I don't have the energy to teleport any of us all the way back to Equestria.” “What again?” “It's too wibbly-wobbly to teleport to right now.” Twilight realized something else. “Also, the time to dematerialize at the end of a time spell is a lot longer than the time it lasts in the user's original time. Once we're back, we'll only have been gone for a second, but when we're leaving, it takes 8 seconds for the ARCHIVE to vanish, during which time it can still be affected what's outside it. So when we leave, they have 8 seconds to smash in.” “So even if we get inside, we can't just leave,” Applejack summed up. Twilight nodded. “And I can't just cast a force field; the bubble would surround the angels too...” She hit the top of her head. “There's got to be something...think!” “I must admit, it seems dreadful that they can't look at themselves,” Rarity said. “I mean, not being able to look at anypony else is terrible, yes, but not even being able to use a mirror yourself?” “Mirror...That's it!” Twilight exclaimed. “Rarity, you're a genius!” “Why, thank you, Twilight. But how does a mirror help us?” “I can use a transformation spell to make the outside of the ARCHIVE mirrored! Then any of the Angels that try to get in will wind up looking at themselves!” “Well, go on then,” Rarity urged. “There's just one problem...” Twilight admitted. “What?” everyone else asked. The purple unicorn gulped nervously. “I have to drop the force field before I cast the spell.” “Whatever for, dear?” Rarity asked. “Yeah Twilight,” Spike added. “The one you cast around the library a few weeks ago only needed recharging every hour, and Shining Armor's shield only needed to be refreshed once a day!” “The smaller the shield, the quicker it dissipates without energy,” Twilight explained. “And I can't make it bigger, because...” She nodded towards an Angel that had somehow gotten close enough to be right next to the protective barrier. “As long as the field is down, you need to keep looking at the Angels.” She waited as the others took up positions around her. “Ready?” Everyone nodded. “Okay, here goes...” Twilight closed her eyes and dispelled the force field. The protective bubble burst, and she turned her attention to the library. Her horn glowed as she concentrated on the thought of mirrors. She cast the spell, and the entire exterior of the oak tree became reflective. Satisfied, she turned around. “Okay, let's-Gah!” The stony visage of a snarling Angel was right in front of her, frozen just as it was about to attack. Quickly, Twilight conjured a full length mirror in front of the creature, trapping it. A glance over her shoulder showed that while some of the Angels were already trapped by the mirrored ARCHIVE, the rest had turned their attention towards the group. “Who's looking at the Angels by the ARCHIVE?” “Me!” Pinkie sang out. “So am I,” Applejack said. “But there's too many of them for us to risk walking through.” “I've got another idea...but we need to stop looking at the Angels near the library for it to work.” Twilight did some rapid mental calculations. Average equine eyelid speed, distance a Weeping Angel could move in that time...it'd be close, but it should be fine... “Applejack, Pinkie, when I tell you to, blink once.” “That's suicide, Twi!” Applejack protested. “No, it's not! Trust me, I'm...” Twilight paused. It felt like she was supposed to say something different. “I'm sure it'll work,” she finished. “Ready?” “Okie dokie!” “If you say so...” “Alright...blink!” Twilight closed her own eyes for a split second, then opened them. All the Angels that she'd been looking at that had moved forward almost ten feet...leaving a clearing on the other side of them large enough for six ponies and one dragon. “Everypony, keep your eyes open!” She concentrated again, the magic surging and surrounding all of them. A moment later, they were on the other side of the Angel horde; the teleport had put them right at the door of the library. “Get inside!” She unlocked the door with a burst of magic and flung it open. One by one, her friends backed into the library. Twilight was last in. She slammed the door closed again and sighed in relief, then trotted over to the console. “Well...where to next?” *** “Where to next?” Applejack repeated in disbelief. “Are you outta your mind?!” “Yeah, Twilight!” Rainbow agreed. “We almost got killed on this trip, and you want to go on another one?” “Ooh! Can we go to the moon next?” Pinkie asked. “Or space! I've always wanted to go to space, well, not always, but it just sounds so spacey and big and amazing and-” “Twilight, We appreciate that you thought we'd enjoy Barcelona,” Rarity said diplomatically, ignoring Pinkie's continuing yammering. “But we hardly expected it to be so...” “Scary?” Fluttershy suggested. “Yes, quite. So, if you'd be so kind as to just take us home?” “Alright then,” Twilight said. She flipped a few switches and gave the hourglass a spin. The glow intensified for a few seconds before dimming to normal. “Here we are, home.” Applejack trotted over to the door and opened it. Sure enough, Ponyville stood outside. “Alright, Twilight,” she said, closing the door again. “Thank you kindly. Now, do you mind explainin' how exactly you knew about Barcelona and those statues?” “Well...” Twilight stopped, thinking. “I don't know...maybe it was some book I read?” “A book about other planets?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “And about statues that move when you're not looking? Sheesh, Twilight, that's like something out of a Daring Do novel, but you acted like you knew they were real!” “I did!” Twilight insisted. “Just like I know that the inhabitants of Raxacoricofallapatorius are calcium based, and-” She stopped talking, shocked at what she'd just said. “How in the hoof did I know that?” “How can you not know how you know something?” Rainbow questioned. “I don't know!” Twilight began frantically pulling books off the shelves. “It must be somewhere, it has to be- Ah ha!” She triumphantly clapped her hooves. “I've got it! I only realized I knew these things today, so I just have to check the books I've read today! Spike, what books have I read today?” “Um...Twilight, you haven't read any books today.” “Then how...why...what...” The unicorn was rapidly approaching a mental break down. She fell back on her rump, still muttering. “It doesn't make sense! I can't know these things, but I do, but I don't know how I do, it isn't possible, I'm not possible, but I can't be impossible-” “Maybe we should get help?” Fluttershy suggested as she hovered over to give the still-ranting Twilight a reassuring hug. “Somepony should go and find a-” A knock on the door interrupted the pegasus' suggestion. Applejack opened the door again, revealing a brown earth pony wearing a tie and followed by a familiar grey pegasus. The earth pony had a device hanging on a strap around his neck that beeped and gave off an occasional 'ding'. “Hello, I'm the Doctor. Anyone seen anything timey wimey?” ***