Sci-Twi stared at her reflection in the Portal Mirror. “This is all your fault, you know,” she said. “Your magic is ancient – older than anypony that has ever used you, and so strong. By all rights, it should have been impossible to contain all that magic in this,” she held out and looked down at her magic detector, “let alone add another five samples of magic on top of it all. But, it happened, and I almost went mad trying to channel it all. Almost shattered the barrier between home and Equestria, or worse!” She let the detector drop from her hoof, letting it swing gently from its necklace, and looked back up at the mirror with a sigh. “And now I have to help Princess Twilight harness that very kind of magic?” she said, her voice starting to strain. “Is it possible? Can we find the magic to cross into a new universe? Will we even be able to handle that kind of power?”
Sci-Twi’s reflection did something very odd then: it moved on its own, smiling in a reassuring way and winking at her. “Uh…” Sci-Twi said, stepping back involuntarily – an action that her mirror image didn’t take. Sci-Twi cautiously approached the mirror and lifted a hoof toward the glass. Just before she touched it, though, the mirror rippled and the image of a lavender unicorn in black-rimmed glasses was replaced by a glimpse of Sci-Twi as a human. The image shifted again, becoming a dark silhouette with widespread wings and a long horn of glowing light, and just as Sci-Twi recognized the features of Midnight Sparkle the reflection changed again, taking on the appearance of Sci-Twi in her full ponied-up, Harmony Guardian outfit with the addition of a horn of light, shorter than Midnight Sparkle’s and not jagged. Finally, with one last ripple, the Mirror returned to normal and Sci-Twi’s reflection was her own again.
“What in the world?” Sci-Twi whispered to herself. She looked the Mirror up and down with deep confusion. “Were you trying to-” she started to ask
“Twilight!” Sunset Shimmer called from the door, startling Sci-Twi into a two-foot-high jump. “Sorry,” Sunset said, “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I just came to tell you that everyone’s finally back, so we’re ready to go.” She started to walk toward Sci-Twi, but the lavender unicorn turned away from the Mirror and came over to Sunset first. “What had you so focused?” Sunset asked.
“I have no idea,” Sci-Twi said, casting a wary glance at the Portal Mirror as she left the room. “Just another bunch of questions to add to the pile, really.”