//------------------------------//
// Scene 2: Griffstone University 
// Story: Beyond the Bounds of Universes 
// by CTVulpin 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer frowned in concentration as she scrolled through a list of dates on her computer, pausing occasionally to jot one down on a sheet of note paper and do some quick arithmetic.  The gentle, persistent sound water flowing swiftly through the dorm’s plumbing indicated that Sunset’s roommate, Twilight Sparkle, had just started her morning shower, and the white noise lent a little more focus to Sunset’s thoughts.  She moved the list to one side of the screen and opened her word processor program.  After a second of thought, she typed Magic in History paper. brainstorming.
Granting that aside from my own experiences since I tried stealing the Element of Magic, it is almost impossible to confirm the validity and timing of events where Equestrian magic leaked into this world, nevertheless there’s an inexplicable lack of continuity between events here and the likely causes in Equestria’s history.  Particularly, the problems in Equestria (at least that I’m aware of) most likely to have been solved using the portal mirror occurred within the last thousand years, yet several of the correlated events in this world seem to either date back several thousand years or happened far closer to the present day than they did in Equestria.  (See: unusually short time span of Siren activity compared to when Princess Celestia banished them.)
Consider asking Prof. Gretchen if Equestria history books are reputable sources?
Sunset paused, considered the last sentence she’d typed for a long moment, and then deleted it.  “Right,” she drawled, “just give her more reasons to think you’re crazy.”
“Who thinks you’re crazy?” asked Spike.
Sunset looked at the purple dog – no longer a puppy but still technically lap-dog sized – who was sitting on Twilight’s bed and giving Sunset a curious look.
“Professor Gretchen,” Sunset said.  “This paper would be a lot easier to write if I could reference Equestria’s side of the stories, but there’s no way the Professor would take me seriously.”
“Hmph,” Spike said.  “Sounds like she’s the crazy one.  Two of the seven most magical girls in the world taking her class on myths and legends, and she doesn’t believe that you know the magic comes from a world full of magical ponies and stuff?”  
Sunset looked askance at Spike for a moment, but shook it off quickly.  Spike was very intelligent for a dog, but at the end of the day he was still just a dog – loyal, friendly, and straightforward.  Sarcasm was still a bit beyond him, so he meant every word he said.
Spike suddenly sat up and started biting at his shoulder.  “Fleas again?” Sunset asked, a little worried.
“Nah,” Spike mumbled between bites, “this spot’s just bugging me all of a sudden.”
Sunset got up from her desk and went to sit down next to Spike.  “Here,” she said, starting to scratch the dog’s shoulder, “let me lend you a hand.”  Spike sighed and closed his eyes in contentment.
They stayed like that for a while, Spike simply enjoying the attention while Sunset’s thoughts returned to her research paper, until the quiet roar of the running shower cut off.  A couple of seconds later, a sharp cry of fright came from the bathroom, bringing Sunset and Spike to their feet.  “Twilight?” Spike shouted, hopping off the bed.  He ran toward the bathroom, reaching the door just as it opened and Twilight staggered out, staring at the back of one hand while holding her bath towel around herself with the other.  Spike narrowly dodged out of the girl’s way and watched her pass by with clear concern on his face.
“What’s wrong Twilight?” Sunset asked, running over to her friend.
“I… I’m not sure,” Twilight said, struggling to calm herself.  “I mean, it might be nothing but… look.”  She turned her outstretched hand so Sunset could see.  A pink, six-pointed starburst image marked the back of Twilight’s hand, and it was glowing with a faint, pulsating light.  “It appeared when I was stepping out of the shower,” Twilight explained.
“Strange,” Sunset said.  “Uh, why don’t you get dressed?  Then we can try and figure out what’s going on.”
“Yeah,” Twilight said, blushing slightly, and went into the bedroom.  Sunset went to the front room and sat down on a couch to think.  A few minutes later, Twilight joined her, wearing one of her more science-y outfits as well as her glasses and her purple Harmony geode necklace.  “Ok,” Twilight said, sitting down next to Sunset, “this weird mark is the same shape as the symbol on my necklace, so it probably has something to do with my magic.” 
“I agree,” Sunset said.  “Maybe it just means our magic is evolving again, like at Camp Everfree?  You were the first one of us to start displaying your powers there.”
Twilight frowned and fingered her necklace. “That only happened to us because we were close to the magic shards,” she said, “so unless someone’s suddenly brought more bits of Equestrian magic here to Griffstone…”
Sunset stood up, striking a determined pose.  “If that’s the case,” she said, “then we should start investigating!”
“I really don’t think that’s it though,” Twilight said.
“Huh?  Why?” Sunset asked.  In answer, Twilight reached into her pocket and pulled out a purple pendant about the size of a small makeup compact with a segmented ring-shaped screen on its front.  Sunset’s eyes widened.  “Hold on,” she said. “Is that the device you used during the Friendship Games where we first met?”
“Ee-yes,” Twilight said, simply.
“I’m pretty sure I broke it though,” Sunset said.
“Well, I… Kinda made a new one,” Twilight said.  “Just recently.”  Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Twilight hastened to explain, “I figured out why it sucks Equestrian magic out of things and how to control that, so it will only detect magic unless I decide otherwise.  I thought it might be a good idea to have something that could help us track down stray magic, and possibly neutralize it if it’s something that’s causing problems that aren’t big enough to require the, uh, big guns.”  She fingered her necklace again.
Sunset regarded Twilight in stony silence for a moment, and then sighed and sat down.  “Ok, if you say you can control it, I’ll believe you,” she said.  “And that’s why you’re so certain your… hand mark isn’t from something external?”
“I’m fairly certain, yes,” Twilight said, holding out her marked hand and pointing the device at it.  “I had to tweak it to filter out the magic you, me, and the other girls have.  Otherwise, it would be going off all the time.  Right now, it’s not reading anything, so whatever caused this mark to appear, it’s all me.”
Sunset sighed and leaned back in her seat, arms folded.  “I don’t like this,” she said at length.  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that when magic starts doing weird things, then trouble can’t be far behind.  That’s true even in Equestria, with all its abundance of weird magic, but it goes double for this world.”  She up straight again.  “In fact,” she said, “this is a long shot, but maybe Princess Twilight can help us.  She’s the expert in Friendship magic, after all, and that’s exactly what we’re dealing with.  Excuse me.”  She got up and ran to the bedroom, leaping over Spike on the way.
“Geez,” the little dog groused, “we oughta post a speed limit sign in here or something.”
Twilight went over and picked Spike up in her arms, and then went into the bedroom to see Sunset digging furiously through her closet.  “What are you looking for?” Twilight asked.
“This!” Sunset proclaimed, emerging from the depths of a box that had been tucked into a corner of the closet, holding out a brown book emblazoned with a red-and-yellow sun emblem.  “This journal’s linked to another one like it in Equestria,” Sunset explained.  “Whatever I write in this one will appear in the other, which is in Princess Twilight’s possession.”  She procured a pen and opened the book to the first blank page.  “I just hope it doesn’t take her a week to get back to us this time,” she mumbled before starting to write.