//------------------------------//
// It starts with a casual chat... 
// Story: Blue Sunny Days and Pink Lemonade 
// by Masterweaver 
//------------------------------//

	"Hey there, Flare Bear!"

Sunny Flare did not sigh. The breath that escaped her was not audible, ergo it wasn't a sigh. "Lemon Zest. What bout of insanity are you going to subject me to this time?"

"I figured we'd chit the chat about space travel in the modern era." The green-haired pinkskin plopped herself down next to the blue girl with violet locks. "I mean, you are interested in THE FINAL FRONTIEEEEEEER, right?"

"...Lemon, in the past few months I have grown pointed ears and a gem in my forehead, discovered a student of CHS has become a god, learned that a nation-state of colorful talking ponies live on the other side of a statue, been part of what can only be described as a sorceress's army of evil, watched the news as a mystical tyrant came to power, and read a thousand plus articles on how to handle nonhuman sophant rights."

"Yep, our world's been irrevocably changed, all thanks to blatant misuse of magic." Lemon Zest clicked her thick fingernails together. "Thanks for the expo-dump, I'd totally forgotten about all of that!"

"My point," Sunny continued dryly, "is that talking about space travel seems rather... blase at the moment."

"Ah, you're suffering from wonder-drain."

"Wonder-drain."

"Also goes by the names 'cynicism', 'disillusionment', 'seen-it-all syndrome', 'the doldrums'..." Lemon shrugged. "Basically it's the thing where there are so many amazing things going on that you can't get amazed because you've been too amazed before and now you're too tired to be amazed at anything amazing."

"...information overload, then." Sunny Flare poked at her sandwich. "I suppose I can see how that might be a problem."

"Hence why I'm here, to help you get that sense of wonder back. I mean, you are in the drama club, right?" Lemon grinned. "You need to have some fascination, otherwise how can you fascinate?"

"That argument is circular and nonsensical."

"Like a ferris wheel!"

Sunny tried, and failed, to hide her smirk at that. "Alright, I recognize the importance in having a sense of wonder about the world around us. Why space travel, though? It seems kind of distant."

"Except that magical teleportation is a thing."

The blue-skinned girl froze mid-sandwich-bite.

"Uh-huh, thought that would get your attention." Lemon Zest pulled out her phone, swiping through various articles. "See, some of the big-name scientists are trying to research magical teleportation--it's still not quite understood, but it seems to work on an artificial wormhole principle. In theory, you scale up the power enough and you can hit the moon, Ares, the next star system over."

"Mrm--hm mmnt." Sunny swallowed, clearing her throat. "Really now?"

"Yep! Of course, the math kinda precludes that." She flicked to a wall of text and numbers. "See, what we've got here suggests that the max energy a human can generate isn't enough to pull that off."

"What about what happened with... er... at the friendship games?"

"Auntie Abby's little hissy fit?" Lemon shrugged. "Yeah, I should really look into that, talk to godhorse about it, but it's kinda... personal, you know? Like... have you seen how she acts these days?"

"That she's packing and getting ready to go?" Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "Forgive my rudeness, but after the Friendship Games that's hardly surprising."

"That's... not it." Lemon sighed. "Maybe I just notice more, since she's been coming and going my whole life, but she's... second-guessing herself. She doesn't act immediately. It's like, I was helping her clear out her office, and she pulled out a file and was about to put it back but... she stopped, and she started reading it instead."

"...Now that you mention it, she... hesitates before greeting me." Sunny glanced around. "I'm not sure it's every student, but those of us with top ten GPA... It used to be 'Hello miss Flare' and now it's 'Hello, half second pause, miss Flare.'"

"Really? For me it's Hello half second pause Lemon."

Sunny's stomach coiled, but she forced herself to calm down. "I think it might be because you're family. You get the first name basis. The rest of us, she's... debating how close she should get. She used to ask me about my studies, and now..."

There was a moment of silence.

"...and now?" Lemon prompted.

"It's... nothing. Really. So, space teleportation."

"Question: is your blatant deflection a result of issues that are seriously affecting you or just something you're embarrassed about? Cause I do want to make sure you're not going to jump off the roof or cut yourself or anything."

"They are called personal issues for a reason, I am seeking therapy, and if you ask your aunt about it I will punch you so hard you'll think your period came early."

Lemon grinned. "Ooooo, I like that threat! Creative, impressive, and tailored to the individual. Alright, I'll drop it for now. Let's get back to the magical space teleportation."

"I'm just thinking, if it's a matter of power, maybe they could build an artificial power source to fuel the spell."

"Yeah, that's been brought up, but you have to remember that everyone's still figuring out what magic actually is. Doesn't help that we have two basic forms of magic."

Sunny blinked. "Two? I would have thought, with the various aspects--"

"No no no. Those are aspects that let us use Equestrian magic, the magic that was leaking in from the other universe." Lemon clicked her fingers together again. "It runs on principles of harmony-based resonance, and it's been studied by our godhorse's civilization since long before they had a recorded civilization. But there's also the magic that, uh, already existed in our universe."

"Already existed?"

"Yeah, uh..." Lemon Zest blushed. "Apparently it's how we figured out icons."

"Oh--Ooooooh." Sunny Flare coughed. "Yeah, I can see how a religious taboo would make research a touch... difficult."

"It's not just that. Thing is, since Equestrian magic is harmony-based it's easy to access. But with Earth magic... it's not nearly so easy." Lemon tapped her phone. "From what I understand, Earth magic is more flexible and powerful then Equestrian magic, but it also pushes back. It's like Equestrian magic asks both caster and spell what they want and makes a decent compromise, while Earth magic is stubborn and won't act without a good enough bribe, and when it does it doesn't give a shit whose feelings are trampled."

"You're acting like magic's alive."

Lemon gave her a look. "Even if you don't worship her, I'd have thought you would follow Sunset's magical safety vlog."

"...Never really found the time."

"Oh. Long story short, yes, magic is alive."

"Huh. Like the Force from Star Wars?"

"You know, funny you should mention that, the first vlog Sunset did had her pull out a laser sword...."