//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: How to Friendship a Comet // by Fylifa //------------------------------// Twilight stepped beside Luna and followed the gaze over to the dresser. So caught up with her worries that she didn’t give much thought to what Luna was doing before she entered. On the dresser was one of Luna’s necklaces or rather what she thought was one of them. The tingle in Twilight’s horn had her squint and focus her attention on the item. Magic radiated off the dark metal even before Luna’s horn magic settled over it and lifted the collar from the dresser. The necklace floated on over and after a moment of hesitation Twilight leaned her head forward to allow the metal loop to open and close around her neck. Unlike a normal necklace the metal seemed to part seamlessly then mend itself once it fell into place on Twilight’s shoulders. Luna studied her. “I could only guess at your measurements. Is it comfortable?” Twilight gave a few turns of her head and bounced in place. Once the accessory was on her, she almost couldn’t feel it. Despite the trinket’s metal construction, it was light and nearly weightless. “It feels very nice. Comfy even.“ She looked at herself in the mirror. Twilight wasn’t any more for jewelry than having her mane being done, but she could appreciate the glittery nature of the midnight material on her purple coat. “Mmm, it does look good on you,” commented Luna while looking in the mirror. With Luna standing beside Twilight, it was hard not to notice how prominent the moon sigil was on both necklaces and just now well they matched. Twilight blushed at the implication. “Let us see if we cannot make it more appropriate,” mused Luna before touching the collar with her horn. The metal changed, lightening to a deep violet and the moon was replaced with a symbol of Twilight’s own starburst cutie. The transformation made Twilight’s ears and wings perk. “Oh!” she had read of materials that could be sensitive to spells, but never in a refined form like jewelry. She forgot her embarrassment as she began probing at the necklace with her magical senses. “Already ahead I see! But look inward near the symbol. There is a spell woven there that you should be able to trigger,” instructed Luna while taking a step back. Twilight found the magic bundled behind the gem-like starburst. With a nudge of her will, the jeweled center began to glow and glitter. Immediately, the air around Twilight warmed and freshened. The small hairs on her hooves and body tingled as she felt the ripple of an air current run over her. Experimentally, she took a step and felt the layer of air move with her like an invisible outline. “This is amaz—” Twilight began, but paused when she heard her own voice sound distorted and muffled. Luna lit her horn and dipped her head slightly. Twilight soon heard Luna’s voice resonate from the necklace. “You will have to turn off the spell to speak in atmosphere, or fixate your attention on the collar of others.” With a little practice Twilight learned how to change the shape of the air bubble and to communicate through the necklaces. While it did require proportional magic, she could already see the benefits of being able to communicate at a large distance. It operated on line of sight with the aid of magic, seemingly with little delay as long as she could see the other collar. Luna also had Twilight memorize the air spell inlaid in the metal. “ ‘Tis reliable and has lasted over a thousand years, but one cannot be too careful.” “Where are we going that we’ll need these?” asked Twilight, though she could already guess. “If we are going to fly high again, it took me half a day to get there and that was with Rainbow’s help.” This amused Luna and she smirked when replying, “Fly high? Yes I suppose that is one way of putting it.” She stepped towards the balcony then and looked upward with her horn lighting once more. The Moon began moving along the sky. After getting over her initial shock, Twilight hastily tried to read Luna’s magic. As far as her senses could tell her, the night alicorn was using ordinary telekinesis. Typical. Never an easy answer Twilight pouted internally. Switching to eyes instead, Twilight watched the moon move by degrees. A realization had her turn to Luna with some worry. “You’re moving the moon backwards?” Luna had her own eyes closed, but heard the concern in Twilight’s voice. “‘Tis not a rebellion. My sister is well aware of what I planned to do. I daresay she sounded thankful that she would have a few extra hours of rest tonight.” “It's so far away,” Twilight bit her lip before asking, “How will we get there?” Luna finished her adjustments and faced Twilight. “I will show you. Put your horn close to mine.” With their horntips touching, Twilight felt the slight reverberation of magic thrum down that conductive bone and her perception widened like when she used the spectrum spell. Her senses were drawn to the moon itself and along its surface. There was a kind of uniform pebbly texture and in it a tiny bump of irregularity. It was like finding a cavity on a hard to reach molar. She caught it once, then twice. Luna moved her head even closer, nudging with her horn to align Twilight’s. “Do you feel it? Take care not to miss it. We will be traveling there.” Twilight furrowed her brow as she juggled talking with concentration. “I think I have it. Though I haven’t ever teleported from this distance…” Luna smiled and locked gazes with Twilight. “Everything we do has an element of danger. But I swear to you, Twilight, that I would give my own life before seeing any harm come to you.” Twilight flustered both from the sentiment and the awareness of how close Luna was to her. “T-Thank you,” she replied distractedly, eyes fixated on Luna’s lips. Is she going to try to kiss me again? Should I— Luna’s eyes didn’t waver and she leaned in suddenly. Twilight raised her muzzle in reflex only to have her nose scrunchy up when Luna stopped just short with a knowing grin. The perfect moment of distraction for the spell to fire and send them to the stars. Teleportation in Equestria always brought a certain kind of discontinuity, though even the long stretch between Ponyville and Canterlot the feeling was still momentary. With this distance, Twilight was aware of of muffled senses and a vague sensation of being whisked away on an immaterial path. When reality appeared again, Twilight stumbled in place, bruising herself against stone foundation. After rubbing her knocked head with a hoof she looked up to see the visage of Nightmare Moon, tall and imposing. It gave Twilight a startle, until she realized it was just a statue. A look around showed her to be standing in the hall of a palace. The architecture was familiar enough to send a minor chill down Twilight’s spine; it wasn’t too far off from the vision of Nightmare Moon’s castle when she traveled through alternate timelines. “I trust you are well? My apologies if there were any roughness.” Luna spoke up as she approached from one of the side passages. Evidently, they had gotten split in the teleport. “I'm fine, I was just surprised. Are we on the moon?” Luna gestured towards one of the archways that led towards a balcony. “Have a look for yourself.” Twilight stepped cautiously towards the exit, feeling the necklace’s spell switch on when she approached the boundary between inside and outside. Unlike the castle’s look-a-like in Equestria, there wasn’t any Everfree forest beyond the balcony. Instead there was an expanse of what looked like snow until Twilight made out the irregularities of rock and powder. They were in the center of a open field, decorated only by the occasional outcropping and crater with an extremely clear black sky showing stars. The awe of being where she was sunk in and Twilight backpedaled a few steps from that sense of sheer openness. The palace suddenly felt like a lifeboat in the middle of a vast ocean and Twilight couldn’t help her shiver. After a moment to shake the feeling Twilight looked over to Luna. “Was this... did you make this palace?” she asked. Luna nodded once to Twilight with a wane smile. “I spent a great deal of time here. I come here yet on occasion. I find it helps me reflect and gain perspective.” Twilight mulled that over. Even without magic, a thousand years with bare hooves could have a pony hammer out a castle for themselves. A thousand years. Twilight could barely imagine the gulf of time to be trapped. “You still visit, even if you are free now?” Luna was quiet for a time before murmuring, “ ‘Twas my prison, yes, but by necessity I grew to see it as an extension of myself. I could tell you a tale in any herd of rocks or interesting landmark out there. Though wild stone does make for a terrible dance partner,” explained Luna, matter-of-fact. Twilight blinked at that last part, unsure if Luna was teasing her again. The statue of Nightmare Moon drew Twilight’s eye and she hesitated but was unable to quiet her curiosity. “What did Celestia do to make you be so... drastic? To want to bring night forever?” Twilight asked before wincing at herself. She was still being driven by her own doubts of Celestia and now she was digging up old painful feuds with Luna. When did she lose her sense of tact? Luna shook her head while replying, “I am thankful that you should know Celestia as she is today. For my sister's charity, her warmth and her love. Although ‘twas not always so... or perhaps I was not as aware of her hardships then.” “I do say this: time has changed both of us for the better even if the path has not been an easy one,” finished Luna with a genuine smile. “Knowing friendship in this era has made those past conflicts small and bygone.” Twilight’s exacting sensibilities wished for a more direct answer and she sighed, “I guess.” She blinked before hurriedly adding, “I mean, I’m happy to be your friend.” Luna studied Twilight’s expression and after some consideration said, “Twilight, do you know why I made this statue?” “Oh!... um... was it for practice on how to shape rock with magic?” answered Twilight pragmatically. Luna laughed. “Well...yes. I am proud of the craftponyship even if ‘tis from a darker time. But I made this because after I was struck with the elements… well you have seen first hoof on what happens. They stripped me from mane to tail and left me powerless.” In Twilight's imagination and in the written story of Nightmare Moon it had always been framed as a ‘Celestia-slaying-a-monster’ story. The idea of sending a threat to another world or back down to Tartarus was common in hero fiction. The reality of Nightmare Moon being turned into a battered filly version of Luna in the middle of a desolate moonscape made it sound much less heroic and all the more sad. “How could you survive?” whispered Twilight as she remembered how small looking out the balcony made her feel. Luna’s expression was calm, but Twilight thought she could spot a tremble in the princess’ body. “I thought I would perish. Harmony severed my magic and my bond to the moon. Celestia had taken control of it from me almost immediately after my banishment. In my irrational rage I thought ‘twas proof that she had planned to rid herself of me.” Luna raised a hoof when Twilight opened her mouth. “And I am well aware of the irony, yes. This is what a younger, foolish version of me thought. This statue embodies that, a vanity, as well as a reminder of my supposed 'greatness' that I was to reclaim.” After a moment to clear her throat from the interjection, Luna went on, “However, I could still dreamwalk. The following night of my exile I planned to make Celestia feel no comfort that this banishment was anything other than a delayed execution by starvation.” Twilight reached with a hoof to place it on Luna’s shoulder, but she shifted away to sit on her flanks, determined to continue. “She was there to meet me in the dream ready for my arrival. ‘Twas not much a contest... then again neither was our first clash.” Luna’s voice started to break and for once Twilight was not startled by the sight of tears. “In my futility, I threatened to break the mind of anypony I could reach in the dream as my final act instead.” Twilight own eyes widened, suddenly that vision of a lost and broken filly was not so innocent. Twilight had only seen Luna as actual Nightmare Moon for barely an hour before meeting the socially awkward princess. Screams of delight your princess desires, not screams of terror! Twilight thought on how easy that sentence could be reversed. “Luna...” “In the end, my sister bargained. She would send me supplies, foodstuffs and the like if I vowed to keep myself away from the dream realm.” Luna gave a humorless laugh then as she murmured, “Without my soothing, ponies would have nightmares once again. Something I found they blamed me for giving anyway. ‘Tis a judgement I deserve, however if inaccurate. I tremble to think the ruin I would have caused.” “Luna, I don’t think you could have done it,” said Twilight . Luna’s expression turned wane. “Perhaps so. Perhaps my sister had some contingency there as well—” Twilight stomped her hoof. “No! I mean... even at your worst. I don’t think you would have destroyed Equestria, even if you took over as Nightmare Moon. In fact, I know so. You’re not a bad pony. Not at heart.” Luna started to smile. “Oh dear. Is this an impending lecture?” Twilight mirrored her smile. “We could skip to the comforting hug of friendship part if you prefer.” After a short rest in Luna’s castle outpost they set out to the Lunar surface itself. Twilight marveled at how light she felt. Each trotting step leading to a gallop’s worth of distance. Experimentally, Twilight tried leaping straight up and soon felt herself zooming. She tried to break with her wings but they flapped uselessly. Suddenly finding herself out of control Twilight went down her roster of spells including Starlight’s self-levitation. The lack of practice only made her out-of-control spin all the more wild and tumbling. Blue radiance saved her from losing her lunch as a bubble of magic stopped her and slowly reeled her down. The necklaces were adaptable and Twilight felt the envelope of air merge with the one surrounding Luna who spoke. “Careful Twilight! We have no air here but what we bring with us. Our wings will not work as they do in Equestria.” “Will teleportation still work?” asked Twilight, shaking her head to get her bearings. She had not wanted to risk it in an unknown area. “Aye. As will reaching the ground with telekinetics should you need to tether yourself. Without atmosphere, spells have much longer ranges,” Luna advised. They spent some time around the rim of a crater and soon, with practice, Twilight became comfortable with the movement. Even finding it a little fun, though she regretted that she wouldn’t be able to show off to Rainbow who always accused her of being a slowpoke. Then again everypony was a slowpoke compared to Rainbow. Luna landed at a distance from Twilight in the crater. Twilight saw her lips move and Luna’s voice emanated from the necklace around Twilight’s neck, “This seems to be a well enough place to practice magic. Mmm, my sister told me you are a quick study.” “But I have yet to take your measure,” said Luna before a grin spread her muzzle then, enough to show teeth. “Would you object to friendly sparring?” Twilight’s wings flared at that suggestion. “Sparring? Oh! Um… are you sure? I mean, if you think it would be the best way I won’t say no.” Luna bobbed her head sagely. “Magic is a product of invention and ability. Combat, while not often desired, often pushes us to the limit. Are you ready?” Twilight tensed and lit her horn. “I am.” Luna did likewise, squaring shoulders and lighting her own horn. In the setting of the pale moonscape the shadows stood out in contrast as they began stretching along the ground darkening the crater-arena. Luna vanished. Twilight relaxed and used a nearby rock for reference. Counting ten hoof paces to the right before firing a purple bolt. The shadows veiling Luna disappiated and she stumbled mid-leap in her shock. With a twist to land on her hooves, she recovered and this time disappeared with a blue flash. Twilight was already holding back her own teleport and triggered the spell once Luna did. She appeared several dozen paces up over the crater behind the princess. Luna was searching below with her horn lit and eyes hunting for a target. Twilight opted to lean in and to nip her on the ear instead of blasting her in the back. Luna’s eyes went wide and she bicycled with her forehooves as she flipped over. The blue bolt of magic shot wide. A moment later she teleported again and Twilight followed her back to the crater. On the ground, Luna was quickly building a spell instead of a bolt. Twilight waited a half-second longer to confirm the magic forms were what she expected and struck the spell with a precise counter. Colorful sparks of the unravelled spell burst from Luna’s horn and she staggered. Immediately, she fell into a very un-princess like sprawl on her belly. She shook her head and looked to Twilight with her mouth agape. “Twilight! Y-You couldn’t possibly,” she sputtered. Twilight tried not to giggle. It was the first time she’d ever heard Luna use a contraction. “How?!” Luna demanded, shattering a nearby moon rock with a hoofstrike that left behind cracks. “Did my sister train you on how to fight me?” Luna’s blue muzzle looked nearly purple with her wounded pride. For a few brief moments Twilight thought she could get used to the feeling of being the mysterious one. Karma payback after a life of enigmatic replies from those over her. “I umm… I card count,” answered Twilight sheepishly. Luna’s glare softened as her anger defused with her confusion. “I do not understand.” Twilight gestured with a forehoof. “You have somewhere between thirty-eight to forty spells you like to use in combat. Though you really only use one of five to start with. After that you follow a set pattern and I can force which spell you’ll likely use if I do something to surprise you.” “You really get spooked by rear attacks. That’s why if I tried shooting you in the back with magic your spell trigger shield would have gone off, right?” Twilight added. Luna mouth worked. “Y-Yes. But how could you know of all that? Are you a mind reader?” The idea turned Luna’s blush from anger to one of sudden embarrassment. “No,” Twilight said before sighing. “When I said I knew you. I meant it. When I was trapped in Starlight’s time loop I fought you as Nightmare Moon countless times.” “I had heard of your adventure, but now I see I overlooked some important details. Was I truly so predictable? Not a ounce of difference?” Twilight raised a hoof to her chin and considered. “Well...” she dawdled, “I did have to adjust my shot just now since you take shorter hoofsteps than Moon.” Luna stared and Twilight couldn’t help the giggle from escaping her now. Though she stopped when she saw some hurt in Luna’s eyes. “Listen, Luna. The timelines where there were still ponies around and that wasn’t embroiled in conflict with Sombra or changelings were the ones with you in charge. You’re nowhere near the monster you think you are,” Twilight implored. Luna slowly got back on her hooves from her sprawl. “‘Tis a strange thing to be relieved by. To know my apocalypse was the lesser of evils.” She noted with some humor returning. “Were the ponies... happy?” Twilight smiled. “Rarity seemed to enjoy being a Major Domo and Rainbow was a Shadowbolt captain.” She tempered her smile with a shift in tone. “But the one pony in that alternate timeline who I was sure wasn’t happy was you. I know that you wanted ponies to look up to you, not fear you. I tried convincing your alternate self, but by then she was too hardened to see it any other way or be anything other than a terror.” “Immunity to even a Twilight lecture?” asked Luna with a wondering tone, picking out the most shocking detail. “It’s not as fun as you might think! You told me before how Celestia was just as lonely as you were here on the moon. In that timeline you both just switched places. Besides, Luna... I like talking with you. I'm only sorry I couldn't convince her.” “I enjoy my time with you too, Twilight,” said Luna after shaking the lunar dust out of her wings. With a mind to add some humor she added, “How many times did you try my stubborn shade?” Twilight shook her head and made a tired smile at the memory of her temporal marathon. “Every time. I never knew if a trip through the map was going to be the last, but you were always worth it." Luna stopped in middle of a wing shake and looked to Twilight, startled though her expression soon softened. “You have a good heart, Twilight. Know that you are a wonderful mare, sweet and kind.” Luna stepped close then and drew Twilight to her with a wing and a hoof. Twilight nosed at Luna’s chest, struck by the sincerity as well as the specter in her memory. How lucky she was to have Luna as she was now. Twilight buried her face in Luna’s shoulder to rub some sting out of her eyes. “I hope you don’t mind if it... rains here on the moon, too.” After a brief rest for composure they returned to the arena of the crater. “I think it is apparent now that your skill and experiences have made you my equal. My fault for underestimating you.” Luna conceded. Twilight winced while rubbing the back of her own neck. “I hope I didn’t seem like I was out to embarrass you.” Luna shook her head. “Oh Twilight! Do not mistake me. I may have a competitive spirit but ultimately ‘tis pleasing to know that little separates us.” It was meant as a compliment, but it also prompted Twilight to look upward. Without air there was nothing but clear blackness and the starry night field. Finding the comet was no trouble, it hung prominently beside the cloudy blue orb of Equestria. “Still don’t know everything,” admitted Twilight. Luna followed her gaze and chuckled. “The only question left is how to teach you. Perhaps we should simply count the forms.” Looking towards one of the moonrocks she lifted the stone and gave it a toss over. “Telekinesis.” Twilight caught the stone in her magic and infused it until it began glowing, returning it to Luna like a glittery ball. “Light.” This was an old exercise amongst magic students. The idea was to chain all seven forms together. Twilight was interested in the one beyond the seven, but she would be patient for Luna’s sake. Luna took the stone and had it orbit her head in a loop. The size of the stone changing as it expanded to the size of a hoofball. “Density.” Twilight was gentle with catching the return toss of the now large, glowing stone. Density was tricky. It was intricately worked in spellwork for something like Starlight’s self levitation or more often used as a baseline in heavier telekinetic lifts by unicorns. If one was not careful, they were likely to shatter an object, like Twilight and Starlight found at the rock quarry. With a few moments of adjustment, Twilight turned the rock hollow for the sake of a stronger shell. She then placed it on the ground and set it rolling towards Luna. “Motivation.” A favorite for lazy wizards to enchant self sweeping brooms with. At finer control, it was the same magical form used to heat an object or freeze it by tweaking with molecular motion. Luna stopped the stone-turned-glowball with her hoof before lifting it up. With a brightening of her horn magic it vanished. “Time.” Now they were getting into the good stuff. Twilight was a little disappointed that she couldn’t show off her expertise. Time was one of those skill heavy forms with a huge range. Teleportation and Time Travel both used it heavily as well as any timing component in spellcraft. She settled for predicting where the stone would appear to catch it with her magic. Twilight considered which to use next, only two of the seven remained. The power scale tended to break down at the higher end with plenty of wizards arguing over which were the stronger forms. In truth, all of the forms had both simple and complicated use in intricate spells. After a few moments she focused her thoughts onto the ball. It was still white all over which made it hard to look at. So she decided on changing the composition slightly, morphing the rock into a marble-type with veins of an alternating color running through it. “Transmogrification,” Twilight announced before swinging the ball back to Luna. Luna caught the sparkling marble and laughed as she admired it. “Quite a pleasant choice is it not? I especially like how the blue and purple are mingled together.” She looked to Twilight expectantly. Twilight found herself doing a familiar eyeroll at that. “You’re sounding just like Rarity now.” Luna gave a dignified snort before looking towards the ball again. “You skipped over a form.” Twilight eyes darted. “I umm... I really try not to dabble with it too much. I only really know ‘Need it, Want it’ and you can blame Cadance for that one.” “Ah! You must be out of practice. Nopony now needs a charm to adore you,” remarked Luna, still smiling. Twilight blushed for a reply. Luna’s horn lit and she added magic to the sphere. “Nothing too drastic. Just for the example.” She tossed it over to Twilight. “Mind.” Twilight caught the orb and as she held it felt her heart slow and her muscles relax. The ball exuded a feeling of calmness from it. As mental magic went it was a pleasant feeling. It made her think on the serenity felt in her study or looking out a window after winter’s first nighttime snow. Though the dreamy feeling was shaken off when she realized they were on number seven and she had nothing else to add. “So, here we are.” Twilight shook her head and sighed, “This is where you tell me about the most powerful magic ever that I have stupidly ignored for my entire life.” She meant it as a joke but even to her own ears she sounded bitter. Luna shook her head and said softly, “Twilight, you are neither stupid nor ignorant. I will ask you, however: What is the most powerful force in Equestria?” “Magic,” said Twilight automatically before immediately scrunching her nose. She fell for that rhetorical trap again, she should know by now that type of question never had the obvious answer. “It does enable many great things, but I would not call it the most powerful. There is a reason this exercise has always been done with two ponies. That ball already has the eight form in it.” Twilight’s ears perked and her mind started to race, though even before getting her facts sorted, Luna was stepping up and lighting her horn. “I will depart for now. If you can solve this you will be able to follow me. We have a couple of hours left and if you still have trouble then I will return. Though I do not think you will fail,” Luna’s expression turned gamely, “and if you can track this without the eighth then I will hoof you my crown now and resign as princess.” Twilight was already trying to read Luna’s magic on reflex, but encountered a dizzying weave of chaotic energy obscuring the spell. She hardly had time to formulate how that was done before Luna vanished in a prismatic flash. Left suddenly to herself Twilight first impulse was to say, “Well... Sh—” She paused and gave a pointed look around to be very certain that Luna was away, “—oot.” She finished to nopony in particular. Twilight paced a small trench in the soft moondust around the glowing blue and purple ball. She was somewhat thankful for the calming spell. Though while it suppressed the physical jitters she still had a clear headed worry that she felt all too acutely. Without Spike, quill, or anything to make notation on, she had to be her own recorder. “You can do this. You're the element of magic. Go over what she said. It’s a puzzle. You love puzzles. Especially really important world changing ones.” The laugh she made then sounded a little frayed and it prompted Twilight to swat herself with a hoof. Quietly, she went through the task of counting through the forms, touching each of their metamagic shapes. Twilight did this several times, trying to see if Luna had slipped in the extra form somewhere, but couldn’t find any. Part of the exercise was to build a basic spellform and all the pieces held together like a jigsaw. There didn’t seem to be any gaps or obvious places for a eighth form to even go, much less hide. That made her sigh and sprawl out on her back, looking space-ward towards the brilliant blue of Equestria. For awhile she let the calm spell settle her down. Without Luna’s talking there was a pristine silence with only the occasional ripple of the air spell from her necklace to break it. Had Luna really endured a thousand years like this? Twilight tried to imagine what it would be like for herself to be so severed. Even before she met the girls in Ponyville she still had Shiny, Cadance, Spike, her parents and her Canterlot friends. She had to blink away a tear before giving a soft laugh. “Look at you. Crying at hypotheticals and thought experiments of being alone.” She rubbed the tear off and looked at the damp spot on her hoof. Twilight’s ears perked. What did Luna say? That there was a reason this exercise needed two ponies? Whenever she had done this game with her teachers or classmates she had always thought of it like doing multiplication tables. You needed two ponies... because... why? Mingling the forms like this didn’t make it easier to teach. Building a spell solo is how you studied them and their interactions. Sharing the back in form just made it— “—easier to build with two ponies,” Twilight said outloud before her wings spread on their own. She scrambled back to the ball and lifted it again. The calmness spell inside struggled to push down her budding excitement. This time she didn’t look to the forms or what they represented, but instead to how they fit together. With some concentration she adjusted her senses to try and pick out which magic was hers and which was Luna’s. The magic had started to run together and almost became impossible to separate without way more effort in chipping through it than creating it. If she tried to build this object herself, the spellforms would have been distinct and stitched together with leftover magical willpower. Doing a ball together had made them mold and hug each other. Twilight focused then on this metamagic ‘glue’ and she started to feel her horn ache from the concentration. She winced and after a moment changed her approach. Instead of straining her magical eyes she’ll try her physical ones instead! Her spectrum synesthesia spell should do the trick! The world went white and Twilight gasped, hugging the stone harder than ever to rid herself of that panic. Too bright! She tried dimming the intensity of the spell in stages and eventually the moonscape returned, crisscrossed with arcs of sparkling color. She had to turn the spell down to its bare minimum and still she could barely see anything. She waved a hoof through the visual ribbons and they followed her body’s movements. The effect threw off her balance and she was thankful for the low gravity to cushion her fall. Twilight snorted, “If Luna is still watching she’d probably say go home, Twilight. You're drunk.” Home. Twilight looked up. While they radiated from her in erratic spirals, there was the undeniable path of those colored lights heading up towards Equestria. She couldn’t touch them physically, but now knowing what to look for she felt them as ironclad magically as the melded spell forms. Twilight groaned as it dawned on her. The revelation was enough to have her smack her own forehead with a hoof. Of course! Luna hadn’t really taken much effort to hide herself. She was back at the moon castle on the roof looking out towards the crater she and Twilight sparred in. When Twilight appeared, she popped into place several paces behind her, though she hit the ground running, tossing the blue and purple marble over her shoulder and having it follow behind her with her magic. She galloped the remaining distance. “Luna!” Luna was beaming. “Twilight! You have don—hmmpnhf!” Her eyes went wide as Twilight gave in to her inner Pinkie and forcefully pulled Luna towards her. This time she wasn’t shy about it, their mouths met for a full on untempered kiss. Twilight broke into muffled giggles as she watched the colored band between them surge with brightness. She broke the kiss enough to gasp. “It’s friendship!”