//------------------------------//
// Scene 10 - Library Workroom 
// Story: Beyond the Bounds of Universes 
// by CTVulpin 
//------------------------------//

The magic flowed out of the magic detector as two streams of light that dropped to Sci-Twi’s feet and then began coiling up around her in parallel.  The light caught the attention of Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer, and their discussion came to an abrupt halt as they turned to watch.  “What’s happening?” Starlight asked as the coiling lights surrounded Sci-Twi completely and converged at the tip of her horn.  Sci-Twi winced as the magic flowed into her through her horn, and then gasped and fell to her knees.
Princess Twilight moved to try and help, but Sunset held her back.  “We have to let it play out,” Sunset said, trying to sound confident despite the clear worry in her eyes.
The magic finished flowing into Sci-Twi and she began levitating slightly off the ground, eyes screwed shut and back arched in apparent pain.  For a moment, a sickly light appeared around her eyes and nebulous blobs of light appeared on her sides.  “No,” she muttered, “no… I… I’m the one in control!”  Her purple geode pendant began to glow and the light around her eyes and on her sides vanished.  She settled to the floor and opened her eyes, which appeared normal aside from a faint lavender tint to the whites.  “I did it,” she said, amazed.  “I’m full of magic, and I’m not crazy.”
Sunset heaved a big, relieved sigh and went over to give Sci-Twi and shoulder bump.  “I knew you could handle it,” she said.
“Did you just take all the magic you pulled out of the mirror into yourself?” Princess Twilight asked.  Sci-Twi just nodded, and the princess’s eyebrows rose.  “I never imagined anypony other than an alicorn could handle absorbing so much foreign magic.”
“I don’t think there was quite as much there as you’re thinking, Princess,” Sci-Twi said with a sardonic look.  “Now, let me see…”  She walked up to the mirror, scrutinized it from several angles, and then sat down and closed her eyes.  “Yes, I can tell the different magics in me apart and how they want to interact,” she said after a moment.  “I think I know where we went wrong, Princess Twilight.  The gem array.  It has far too few gems in it to control the magic coming from the wood.  I think we’ll have to double up the array pattern, no, triple it just to be safe.”
“Are you sure?” Princess Twilight asked.  “I’ve seen Ash channel an incredible amount of magic through this array as a necklace.”
Sci-Twi gave her counterpart a sideways look.  “He used it as a conduit, right?” she asked.  “It would have been Ash himself shaping and directing the magic.”
“Right,” Princess Twilight said.
“Well,” Sci-Twi said, “you just stretched out that conduit and expected to act as both a conduit and processor.  It’s like expecting a computer’s power supply to do the CPU’s job as well.”
“Say what,” Spike and Starlight said in unison.
Princess Twilight blinked slowly.  “I… think I see what you’re saying,” she said, “and you’re right.  Anything else you can tell me?  An idea for a spell that’ll get us outside the universe, perhaps?”
Sci-Twi thought for a minute, and then shook her head.  “I don’t even feel like any random portals are threatening to open up around me,” she said.
“Maybe you need the original mirror’s magic,” Spike suggested.
Sci-Twi’s mouth twisted into a complex sort of half-frown as her eyes drifted toward the general direction of the Canterlot High mirror’s room.  “Yeah, you’re probably right, Spike,” she said apprehensively.  “I’m putting this magic back first, though, so I don’t risk an… overload.”  She lifted her magic detector up to eye level, made an adjustment to the dial, and then started gathering magic into her horn.  The detector popped open and light flowed out of Sci-Twi’s horn, bounced off the device, and flowed into the mirror, except for one mote that flew toward Princess Twilight instead and vanished into her horn.  Princess Twilight reflexively lifted a hoof to her horn, but felt nothing amiss, so she just looked at Sci-Twi with an unspoken question in her eyes until the unicorn stopped shedding magic closed the magic detector.  “Oh,” Sci-Twi said, seeing the princess’s look, “I gave the magic from your teleport spell back to you, so the mirror doesn’t destabilize again.”
“Ah, good idea,” Princess Twilight said, smiling.  “Now, should we fix the array first, or have you… check the CHS mirror?”
“We’re going to need a lot more gems if we’re expanding the array,” Spike pointed out.  “I’ll go get some more while you girls do the other thing.”
“I’ll lend you a hoof, Spike,” Starlight said.  “And I’ll take care of building the new array, so you Twilights can take your time with experimenting.”
“Sounds good,” Princess Twilight said.