Starlight Glimmer listened to her former mentor's story, staring in wide-eyed wonder the entire time.
"...and then I came straight here," concluded Twilight Sparkle, slumping forward in her chair. She nervously triple-checked that she was levitating the water glass before taking a drink, even though it in no way resembled the large ornate flask of white goo currently sitting several meters away on her castle library's bookshelf.
"Wow. Just... wow. Okay, I'm still digesting this," said Starlight. "I think you glossed over something important, though. Why exactly are we not going directly to Princess Celestia about this?"
Twilight sighed. "I know that would probably be the wisest choice, but what if she refuses to answer any of our questions? We might never learn what this Quifons thing is! I can't live with that kind of anxiety," she said. "Until I run out of reasonable options, I don't want to go to her unless I can be certain she won't flip out. There's a lot of research we can do here that isn't going to destroy Equestria, or Quifons, or or anywhere else for that matter."
"She wouldn't keep it a secret forever, Twilight. I mean, you already know about it, so what else can she do but let you in on the truth? Besides, you're a princess yourself," said Starlight. "It's not like she outranks you anymore, even if she's dozens of times older."
Twilight shook her head. "I don't think you understand. The fact that Princess Celestia is so old affects her outlook on things. She operates on a different timescale than you or I do, Starlight. Waiting a hundred years is nothing for her," she said. "Denying us the right to learn what Quifons is, or finding a way to stop our research altogether... those options are definitely on her table."
Starlight pulled her lips inward for a moment. "I still don't like this. If the foal is right, this has all the hallmarks of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe we should at least ask Princess Luna, then? She seemed opposed to keeping this a secret in that drug-induced flashback of yours, and whenever it happened, it wasn't nearly as long ago for her."
"Every prophecy has the hallmarks of a self-fulfilling prophecy, Star! If the prophecy is true, then I can't do anything to prevent it. Sitting around twiddling my hooves could just as easily end up being the thing that harms this Quifons place," argued Twilight. "You and I both have experience with the vagaries of spacetime. I've been in a closed timelike curve before where my attempt to not do anything was exactly the thing perpetuating the loop! I drove myself crazy with anxiety and sleep deprivation for several days, then in that altered state of consciousness I made the inevitable mistake that closed the loop."
"Right, your first invocation of the original time-travel spell. We've dissected that scenario multiple times before," said Starlight. "Okay, so, it might be unavoidable, in which case it doesn't matter what we do. And if the prophecy is false, it's no more likely to come true at all, so it still doesn't matter. But there's a third possibility, which is substantial: the prediction could be conditional in some way. If it can be avoided, sitting around and twiddling your hooves is still the best instinct to trot with."
"Ugh. I'm not going looking to cross dimensions or cast wild magic spells I've never seen before. I just want to do a little basic scientific research to figure this out. Eventually we'll go to Celestia, obviously," said Twilight. "Besides, based on Amethyst Eclipse's sullen mood and his lack of attempt at an intervention, if his prediction is correct then there's probably nothing anypony can do to prevent it."
"As much as I think keeping this to ourselves is a bad idea, I'm dying to know what all of it means, too. I guess I'm in. For the record, I've never heard of this Quifons place either, but in Lopin 'fons' means 'source', so it probably means 'the source' or 'priceless source' or something along those lines."
"I was about to look it up. Your translation makes some sense given that Quifons seems to be a place foals know about, but 'source' is still awfully vague," said Twilight. "Maybe Quifons has something to do with the source of magic?"
Starlight smiled, but her voice fell to a whisper. "I was thinking the same thing! Do you realize what this might mean?" She stared off into space as she spoke, licking her lips. "There's something more to magic! I always suspected there might be logical reasons that explain what magic truly is and precisely where it comes from. We don't even have a field theory to explain it like we do with light."
"I feel the same way, Starlight, but you and I have both studied magic to pieces already. Every textbook on the subject says the same thing: magic is scientific, but its true source is unknown and widely believed to be mathematically incomprehensible," said Twilight.
"The textbooks you've read."
"Yes."
"And Celestia said she was blocking research on magic."
"Yes..."
"Twilight, we can't trust textbooks anymore."
Twilight Sparkle froze in place. Her face made it look like her brain had snapped while staring at a cockatrice.
"It's okay, Twilight," said Starlight Glimmer, standing to give her friend a quick hug.
"I... I can't trust books?" said Twilight, her lower lip quivering as she leaned backwards in her chair, limply accepting the contact.
"Well, you can't fully trust anything, to be fair. Not even your own senses. I learned that a long time ago," said Starlight, before returning to her seat. "Although, I suppose you've taught me that you can trust a true friend. Recursive thanks for that, by the way."
"But, but... How do you even read, Starlight?"
"Uh, well, I assume sometimes data contain mistakes?" She shrugged. "I mean, come on, Twi, you've read books with errors in them before, right?"
"Well, obviously. But not intentional falsehoods in textbooks! Textbooks are special, Starlight. They're supposed to be authoritative sources," said Twilight Sparkle, and a small whimpering sound escaped her throat. "This, this... it's making me question everything I know, and I have no way to safely and selectively decorporate information I've learned through book study! Even if the misinformation is limited to astronomy and magic theory, I'm bound to be making assumptions I shouldn't..."
"That's unavoidable, yeah. So, maybe you're right. It's the potion we shouldn't trust."
Twilight winced. "No, I trust the potion. The experience was too weird for even my imagination to fabricate," she said, shaking her head. "Alright, let's focus. Do you have any ideas on how to study magic in greater depth?"
"Only an inkling. Like you, I assume, I thought I already knew everything there was to know about manaphysics," said Starlight. "I do have an idea, however. You're probably familiar with that large history museum in Manehattan, I forget the name—the one with a large History of Magic section."
"Yes, I know the one. Why would we... the device!" said Twilight, slapping a hoof soundly against the table as she briefly grinned. "I know exactly where you're going with this."
Starlight nodded and smiled back. "Mana detection instruments fell out of vogue more than a millennium ago, once ponies 'realized' that mana examination was inherently inaccurate. Like quantum physics, but worse," she said. "It supposedly ruins the mana flow of the area if you even attempt to gauge it, which is a convenient way to keep experiments out of graduate education."
"This is so interesting. I actually approached Celestia about that exact issue, shortly prior to graduation. I thought young entrants to the School should at least see what the effect of measuring mana is firsthoof, because that's kind of an essential piece of magic theory. Like, we could go on a camping trip and do it somewhere where the mana could repair itself without consequence. But she said it was too dangerous, and warned me never to try it on my own," said Twilight. Then she broke into another grin. "Obviously, your idea is that we could study the old manamomonometer device from the museum's display on ancient technology and replicate it, then test to see if it actually works!" She paused for a moment. "I still can't believe 'manamomonometer' is an actual word. Anyway, it's a brilliant idea, Starlight."
Starlight smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. Although, I was actually thinking 'borrow' rather than 'build', since I don't know if merely seeing the device will give us sufficient data to construct one," she said. "Borrow for a short time, I mean, that's all. We can replace it with a replica so nopony will know. It's not like it sees use. Rarity and Applejack should be able to make a flawless model in no time if they work together."
Twilight Sparkle stared at her former protege while wearing a frown. "Wait, nopony will know? That implies the curators won't know, either..." she said, and her voice faded out.
"Yes, that's the idea. I'm pretty sure we don't want anypony to know we're engaged in forbidden research, Twilight," said Starlight, reaching out to her friend's shoulder with a hoof. "We can't afford to take unnecessary chances. The device isn't going to be well-guarded, and with our abilities, 'borrowing' it will be foalproof. My plan is much less of a risk."
Twilight turned her head to the side and stared out of the castle window. "Forbidden. That word feels so... wrong. We know the device has been used many times before, so a single test couldn't hurt anything—but should we really be engaging in forbidden research, even if it's clearly harmless?" she said softly, more to herself than her friend.
Starlight Glimmer patiently waited for the wheels to turn.
"...right, I can't help it either. I have to know," admitted Twilight, wearing a grimace on her muzzle as she looked back to her friend. "On the bright side, if I bring the topic up with Princess Celestia later I'll probably need a hole card. Knowing anything I'm not supposed to know would be one buck of a card. Er, pardon my Prench."
Starlight blushed, then coughed. "Um, yes. I agree. The leverage we gain from learning about Quifons would enable us to extract more of the missing information from Celestia. We might not even need that much data if we can bluff well enough, but every little bit will help," she said. "Anyway, I'll tell the other five Bearers and we'll get started."
"No, wait. Only tell Rarity. Describe the device, and see if she thinks she can make a facsimile by herself once she sees it in pony," said Twilight. "The rest of our friends should probably know we're looking into a mystery, but tell them the details need to be kept need-to-know because somepony could end up in trouble. You and Rarity can go to Manehattan without raising suspicion, and then she can make the replica in the backroom of her shop there. Since it's for show, she doesn't need to understand what she's making a copy of."
"What? Why not tell the others, Twilight?" asked Starlight, raising a brow.
"Look, I don't want anypony tainted with this knowledge unless they need to be. I didn't even tell Zecora all the details. If they don't know, they can't share in the blame if we get in trouble or something else goes South," said Twilight. "Even Rarity doesn't need to know why we need the device, she just has to keep it quiet," said Twilight. "That would limit awareness of the limits of this madness to the two of us, and to a lesser extent, Zecora."
"Don't forget Amethyst Eclipse," said Starlight.
"Ouch—I did, but I doubt he'll inform Celestia that he told me, since he knows he isn't supposed to. Do you think I could coax the secret out of him? I doubt Sparkler would be much help, because he probably hasn't shared this with an adult, even if she is his mom. Oh, Sparkler is his mom's nickname, her actual name is Amethyst Star. I don't know if you two have met," said Twilight. "She's actually pretty bright."
Spike cleared his throat noisily, and both mares looked toward the door. "Ah, nuts. I guess I should pretend I didn't hear any of the conversation you two have been carrying on over the past hour...?" he asked, tapping the tips of his index claws together. The little dragon cowered in place as though he'd done something wrong.
Twilight froze, but quickly recovered. "No, it's okay, Spike. As my personal assistant, you should be in the loop. Just keep it on the down-low, as Rainbow Dash would say. Okay?"
"I'm a vault," said Spike, making lip-zipping motions with his claws. "You ladies should close the door, though. Even though the library isn't open at the moment, your friends could pop by unexpectedly, not to mention Princess Celestia." He shut the door behind him and walked up to sit next to Twilight, who petted his head.
"He's right, we do need to be more careful than this," said Starlight. "Anyway, back to the discussion: I've only met Sparkler briefly at formal events, but she seems very nice. I doubt her son will be much help to us, though. The way you told your story it kind of sounded like he hates you for his prediction that you'll doom a place whose tiny holographic image entranced you beyond anything you can remember."
"I'll never forget it," whispered Twilight, staring straight through Starlight for a moment. "I... I don't know. Maybe Celestia is right and we shouldn't remember anything about it, lest it drive us mad with longing, or have some other negative psychological effect. It isn't normal for a tiny, blurry image of something to have this kind of effect on a pony's mind. But you're right, Sparkler's colt is seriously unhappy with me. I assume it's because of the prediction, but he's kind of weird, so who knows. A better plan might be to talk to some fillies and colts here, locally, and see if we can get one of them to squeal."
"I was thinking the same thing, but I'd rather do that in Manehattan while Rarity works," said Starlight. "I have some great compulsion spells that should spill the beans quickly, but in case an angry parent sees me casting them, I need to do it somewhere I can blend in and not be remembered."
Twilight Sparkle gasped. "Starlight!"
Again, Starlight Glimmer patiently waited for the wheels to turn.
"...okay. But only for this. Are we clear?" said Twilight.
"Translucent. No, wait, I mean transparent. I know you understand the difference," she said, with a wink.
Twilight couldn't stifle a giggle from emerging. It was rare for her to be able to dork out this much, and although Starlight carefully hid her eggheadedness, beneath the veneer the two friends weren't all that different. It was nice, and it reminded her of another pony she knew.
"Actually, I just had an idea. We should throw Moondancer in the loop. She'd love working on this, and she's the only unicorn I know on par with the two of us in terms of raw brainpower and scientific rigor. I can go see her while you and Rarity are in Manehattan, and come back to Ponyville when the 'heist' is complete," said Twilight, following up with a giggle. "Sorry—I rarely get to use the word 'heist' in a legitimate sentence."
Spike chuckled, but said nothing.
"I remember when you introduced me to her. Plus, I was carefully stalking you when you went to visit her the first time," said Starlight.
Twilight Sparkle seemed taken aback, then both ponies burst out laughing, followed moments later by Spike.
"Seriously, though, I was, and I could tell even then," Starlight continued. "Moondancer would be a perfect addition to the team. Why not bring her to Ponyville instead? That would make more sense, and for a bit of selfish motive, I'd like to get to know her better."
"We should definitely have a sit-down, but I'll need to meet her in Canterlot first. She's almost as much of an astronomy buff as I am, and I have an enormous telescope in my old house there that will come in handy," said Twilight. "I enjoy astronomy because—like magic theory—there's so much we don't understand. Nopony really knows why the sky looks and acts the way it does outside of pegasi areas. Moondancer is the only pony I can think of who might know more about the subject than I do. Not counting Princess Luna of course, but we can't ask her yet."
Starlight Glimmer nodded. "Right, that makes sense. You can go see her while I'm working the magic theory angle," she said. "Now, wasn't there something Celestia said about name magic?" asked Starlight.
"I think so, yes. That's undoubtedly what 'nomenmancy' means, but I don't have a clue to what it actually is. Proper names come up all the time in magic, because they can be used to bind targets... but you don't typically do magic with the names themselves. Maybe it's some kind of long distance synecdoche magic, or something like that," said Twilight. "It's useless to theorize at this point, and I don't even want to form firm conjectures when we haven't had time to brainstorm the possibilities. Let's both think on it for a while."
"Already on it. And, Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"Try not to destroy any amazing alternate dimensions of friendship and harmony, okay?" said Starlight Glimmer, with a wry grin.
Twilight rolled her eyes overdramatically.
"Seriously, though," added Starlight, "be careful, okay? This thing we're doing... it might be dangerous somehow." Her eyes held a soft shimmer.
"Yeah, Twilight—please don't do anything dangerous," said Spike. "Should I come with you?"
Twilight stood up and shook her head. "I think you'd be able to help Starlight out more, so work with her here," she said, and they all shared a warm embrace. "Don't worry, I'll be safe. I know the two of you will be, too."
Twilight Sparkle waved goodbye, grabbed her saddlebags by the door, and headed directly to the train station.