//------------------------------//
// Heavenly Bodies 
// Story: Irreversible 
// by Trick Question 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle breathed a tiny sigh of relief as Moondancer walked into the room. She'd been worried when her friend holed herself up in the bathroom, but the bespectacled mare seemed fine now.

Whatever the issue was, I guess it's over now. Still, I hope she opens up...

"Twi, before we start, I'm a little concerned about something," said Moondancer. She less-than-gracefully tiphoofed through the minefield of scattered notes and papers and books, currently strewn around the library floor like an pornographic orgy of data. Every so often Moondancer would slip, then catch herself with magic before tipping over completely.

"I assume you probably don't mean the stuff everywhere," said Twilight. "Sorry about that..."

"No, that's fine—I'm no stranger to work-mess," replied Moondancer. "I'm just concerned about you being here with me."

Twilight felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I... d-do you want me to leave so you can do the work by yourself?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

Moondancer looked confused. "What? No, of course not! That doesn't make any sense, you silly dork. This is your house, after all, and even if it weren't, I'm thrilled to work with you," she said. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm concerned for your safety. Shouldn't we be taking steps to keep anypony from knowing you're here? Now that Celestia's suspicious, if she finds out we're here together, and I don't inform her of your whereabouts..."

Twilight Sparkle shivered at the sensation of tension leaving her body. It felt like a cork firing out from a bottle of carbonated wine, and suddenly her spine was no longer aching with pressure. "Oh, right, of course. Gosh... Moondancer, I'm really sorry if I'm being scatterbrained. I think I'm a little emotionally fatigued at the moment from all this nonsense," she explained. "I agree I need to be careful, but you can see I screened up the windows while you were under the influence of the potion, so nopony can see in on the entry-facing side of the house. Even if somepony tried to break in, I know how to teleport to a low-traffic area where it's unlikely I'll be seen, then a second teleport will take me to my parents' place where I can hide out. I already have the route planned."

"Having the ground-side windows blocked is a good start, but I don't see what we can do to cover up this enormous three-storey picture window," said Moondancer, pointing up at the vaulted wall of glass through which a very large, adjustable telescope was positioned. The position of the Sun suggested it would be evening soon, but lots of sunlight from a cloudless sky currently flooded the room.

"There isn't anything practical we can do about it, but I think we're still safe. The window overlooks the cliff, and it reflects most of the light from the Sun during the day," said Twilight. "Even though a lot of light shines in, it's difficult to see inside. I doubt anypony would be able to see me in here unless a pegasus pony flew unusually close to the cliffside."

"In that case, blocking the shades might be a little suspicious by itself," said Moondancer. "Clearly, shading the windows isn't making things darker in the main living space."

"Suspicious is still better than obvious," said Twilight, with a shrug. "Neighbors will assume you just want privacy, and that's a normal thing to want. But yes, if somepony looks closely at the layout of the building, it's obvious you're not trying to shut out the light. That's practically impossible during the day."

"Tell me about it," said Moondancer, with a chuckle. "I usually use that sleeping blindfold you leave by your bedside. Er, I hope that's okay."

Twilight Sparkle smiled, feeling an odd warmth in her belly. "No, that's fine! If you're not worried about getting Twilight germs on you, I mean."

"Nonsense. I love Twilight germs," said Moondancer, and then she winked at her friend.

Twilight giggled. "Heh. Can't say as I get the joke, but it's nice being comfortable in close quarters."

Moondancer sighed and frowned, but then the look on her muzzle began to creep back into a smile. "So... does that mean you're not afraid of Moondancer germs?" she asked, raising one bushy red eyebrow to punctuate the query.

"It is perfectly safe to assume that I'm not afraid of your hygiene, Moonie," said Twilight, "even though I tend to be picky about that sort of thing. I was a little concerned when we reconnected, but you've improved greatly since you started socializing again."

"Yeah, I didn't used to bathe much when I rarely left my house, but I'm glad my habits are better now," said Moondancer. "And since you aren't afraid of my 'Moonie germs', well..."

Moondancer leaned awkwardly over to Twilight Sparkle, nearly teetering to avoid tripping on a scroll. Then she kissed Twilight right on the nose. "Boop," whispered Moondancer.

Twilight Sparkle blushed and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. The warmth was now a fire, and Twilight was... confused.

"Er. I'm sorry if that—" started Moondancer.

Twilight coughed. "N-no, it's fine. I'm just, well... not used to being kissed, much less twice in the space of a half-hour. I admire your work ethic, Moonie, so I usually think of you as all business, but I guess you can be silly, too! You remind me of Pinkie Pie that way."

Moondancer narrowed her eyes. "I'm more serious than you think," she said. Twilight gave her friend a curious look, then Moondancer added, "Wait, did Pinkie ever kiss you?"

"She used to do that all the time, actually," said Twilight. "I kept telling her she was silly, and eventually she just rolled her eyes and told me I was silly, which of course isn't true because I'm generally serious, but I suppose that's something a silly pony would say so it still makes logical sense. She didn't do it again after that."

"Oh. Were you put off by her advances, or...?"

"Advances?" Twilight momentarily wondered if she owed Pinkie Pie money and somehow forgot about it.

"Her romantic advances, Twi. You know, why Pinkie was kissing you."

Twilight laughed. "That's..." she said, then her voice trailed off as her face paled.

No way... that isn't possible. What? It can't be. What? What?

"Wow. This explains so much," said Moondancer, using one hoof under her chin to prop it up in a way Twilight found oddly endearing. "Er, no offense."

"Oh my Stars," Twilight murmured to herself, unable to avoid reaching the logically obvious conclusion. "But, why...?"

"Why what...?"

"Why would she flirt with me, of all ponies?" asked Twilight.

"What? Why wouldn't she? Heavenly Moon, Twilight! You're brilliant, and fun, and pretty... not to mention adorkable," said Moondancer. "I'll leave off the 'princess' thing, since that's obvious, but not really important."

Twilight stared at her friend, while still stunned from the realization.

Wait. If Pinkie was flirting with me, does that mean Moondancer...?

Before Twilight had a chance to respond, Moondancer continued, "Let's get back to work, shall we? We were about to discuss astronomy." The tiniest hint of a smug, satisfied smile crossed her lips, but Twilight barely noticed.

"W-work, yes," said Twilight, refocusing. She looked at the floor, then the window, then the walls—basically, anything that wasn't Moondancer. "So, um, okay. Censorship in astronomy."

"Right, your vision. Do you have any theories?" asked Moondancer. "How could study of astronomy be censored when anypony and their sister can look up to the sky with a telescope whenever they darn well please?"

"I have a few ideas," said Twilight. Her nerves seemed to settle as she reached out with her magic and levitated up a notepad from the organized chaos of the floor. "There are two basic categories. First off, things that we think are unknown, but could secretly have been scientifically determined. What we would call 'known unknowns', except that what we think are known unknowns are actually unknown knowns."

Moondancer appeared to suppress a giggle. "Cute, though logically accurate. You're saying Princess Celestia might know answers to some of the big unanswered scientific questions," said Moondancer. "That's a tempting idea, Twi."

"I'm not pleased with the idea of her hiding scientific information, but the idea excites me too," replied Twilight, failing to hide the silly smile on her face. "But there's a second potential category of censorship: unknown unknowns, by which I mean things that we think we know, but we actually don't. In other words, there could be avenues of research in astronomy that have been covered up with false data and inaccurate theories that look bulletproof, either to hide a truth, or to steer scientists away from a valid avenue of research. The most likely cases would be simple ideas we take for granted as true, because the experiments aren't done frequently. We should look into classic experiments and theories that are difficult to test and examine, especially those that form a cohesive theoretical foundation."

Moondancer nodded. "Hmm. Fake data could hide in a lot of places. I'll need to start poring over basic astronomy texts to come up with a list of potential experiments for us to retry," she said. "I think the biggest unknowns would be easier to list. I'll bet I can guess some of the ones you're thinking of, if you don't mind?"

"By all means," said Twilight, her eyes now fixed back on Moondancer's face.

"First of all, planetary epicycles are kind of weird. We have formulae that describe why the planets make these little backwards loops in their paths through the sky, and the formulae predict the motions perfectly," she said. "But they're kind of complicated equations without an underlying theory about where that unusual motion comes from. Science prefers the simple explanation, and epicycles aren't simple."

"Yes! That's definitely one of them. I'm curious how many we have in overlap: do you mind continuing?" asked Twilight.

Moondancer grinned. "Not at all. It's rare I get to spend time with a pony smart enough to understand my interests, let alone show off to them. You can actually appreciate what I have to offer."

"Well, it's rare I get to spend time with a pony who can show me new things about science," said Twilight, with a smile and a slight blush. "Except Starlight Glimmer, but she's older than I am and just as much of a nerd as the two of us."

"You mean just as much of a geek," corrected Moondancer. "From what I hear, she's socially graceful. I usually don't think of that as 'nerdy'. But it might just be my definition."

"Good point, but yeah, I don't think those terms are well-defined," said Twilight. "I admire how well Starlight works with others. She's a natural leader. Granted, she's much better at convincing others to do her bidding than at friendship... but she's a work in progress."

"Heh. If anypony can help her, Twilight Sparkle can," said Moondancer. "Anyway, let's see. Oh, here's another one: the Moon's craters."

"How is that an unknown? The Moon has always had craters on it."

"Yes, and it made sense during Nightmare Moon's imprisonment. But since her imprisonment, the Moon is a normal Celestial body again..." said Moondancer, waiting for Twilight to pick up the proverbial torch.

"...and as a Heavenly body, we should expect it to be perfectly smooth! Wow, I didn't even think about that one," said Twilight. "I'm surprised that never occurred to me. You know, I wonder if it gets hit by falling stars like the surface of Equus does?"

"That's an interesting idea, but we should list all the potential issues before we start brainstorming solutions."

"Right, right," said Twilight, quickly jotting down the idea on a spare scroll. "Keep it going, this is good stuff!"

"Let's see. Where comets come from, and why they have such an unusual orbital period, but that's an obvious unknown. Why Stars fall to the earth, and details about how they glow and twinkle when they're stuck to the Outer Celestial Sphere," said Moondancer. "Oh, and why do nebulae clouds never move or change? I'd expect the Deep Sky to behave like the Wild, because there almost surely aren't ponies up there."

"Check, check, and check. Those were all on my list. That's about all the big ones, I think," said Twilight. "Anything else?"

Moondancer paused in thought, then smiled. "One more. There's something I've been wondering about for a while. It's clear the Sun and Moon appear in front of the Planetary Spheres, and the Planets appear in front of the Stars on the Outer Sphere," she said. "We have little basis for estimating how far away the Spheres are from us, apart from the limiting factor of motion, and they move very slowly so they could be far away—possibly even more than a gigameter. However, the Sun and Moon have an interesting peculiarity due to the fact the distance to them is large, but still measurable."

"You've got me curious," said Twilight. "Let me check my knowledge of the facts. As the closest Heavenly objects, the projected centers of the Sun and Moon are each almost precisely ten megameters distant from the center of Equus at all times, which is, naturally, the Tree of Harmony. That distance is what the meter was based on, but the calculation wasn't perfect, so we have a second, more suitable definition we can measure in the lab which is defined by a particular wavelength of light."

"Correct. We also know they each have a diameter of one megameter, because each one subtends almost exactly 0.1 radians in the sky," added Moondancer. "However, the arctangent of 0.1 being very close to 0.1 radians is just a random mathematical coincidence."

"Exactly! You certainly know your Celestial bodies, Moonie," said Twilight, eyes bright.

Moondancer chuckled. "Well, of course I know you, silly. But I'd still like to know you even better, if you know what I mean..."

Twilight Sparkle's face scrunched up in confusion, then she laughed. "Oh, right, because my name is Twilight."

"Well, that's one of the reasons," she replied. Before Twilight had time to process the comment, Moondancer continued, "The perfect math—by which I mean the radius of each body being precisely one tenth the distance from their centers to the Tree—is what we would expect of the Heavens, so that's no surprise. However, consider the path by which the Sun and Moon move from horizon to horizon."

Twilight pursed her lips in thought. "I'm still not sure where you're headed with this," she said. "Princess Celestia or Princess Luna raises one of them up from below the horizon, maybe ten degrees or so into the air. Then they drift across the Heavens on their own over the next twelve hours, at which time they come to rest ten degrees or so above the opposite side of the horizon and hover there, waiting to be lowered."

"Do you know the spells?" asked Moondancer. "I thought you cast them once?"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know them. I did cast them once, but that was after I absorbed Celestia and Luna's powers. I'm not sure how I did it exactly," she explained. "I've asked Celestia to see details about the spells several times. Her response has been that it takes a long time to teach the magic, and it would require months of one-on-one training that neither she nor Luna has time for. I think they need to make the time, though. Three out of the last four times Celestia and Luna were both captured, we didn't have a way to exchange the Sun and Moon."

"Four times, in less than three years? Seriously? Is getting captured a Princess's job, or something? How does this even happen?" said Moondancer, raising a hoof above her head in frustration.

Moondancer looked genuinely confused, so Twilight paused for a moment to ponder why.

"Huh. I guess that is kind of strange, now that you mention it," said Twilight. "It's fortunate I've been around to help over the past three years, but I presume the Tree plans these things. No, it isn't typical for them to get captured all the time. The recent events have been notable outliers."

"Maybe. It's suspicious to me that you've never seen the spells before, though," said Moondancer, scrunching her muzzle up in thought. "But let's return to the previous topic. How long does it take a princess to raise or lower the Sun or Moon?" asked Moondancer.

"I participated in the ceremony last year, so I'd better know the answer to that one! It's almost exactly twenty seconds," said Twilight. "The movement is highly regular. I hear Princess Luna sometimes has difficulty raising the Sun if she's subbing for her sister, in which case it takes a little longer to get it moving initially, but it still rises at the same pace," said Twilight.

Moondancer nodded. "Right again. Now do the math, Twi. How fast is the Sun or Moon moving?"

"I don't know, let me think..." Twilight closed her eyes while she performed the calculations. "Around five hundred kilometers per second, I think? Give or take a factor of two."

"Excellent, that's very close to the answer. Now, doesn't that seem a little fast to you?"

Twilight opened her eyes wide. "You're right. That's faster than the speed of sound in air!"

"And the Sun and Moon are not what you would call aerodynamic objects."

"There should be a tremendous sonic boom..." said Twilight, and she paused for a moment. "Although, at roughly nine point five megameters from the source, we're much too far away to hear it. It's probably audible on the other side of the Griffinstone Mountains, but I've never read anything about it in textbooks."

"I calculated once, and it would take about eight hours for the boom to reach us here in Canterlot. The air between here and there is more than enough to dissipate the sound along its journey," said Moondancer. "I think you'd have to be much closer to the edge of Equus than anything you can find on a map if you wanted to hear it. But think about the amount of energy required to move the Sun and Moon, Twilight! Even for an alicorn, it's an insane amount."

"I agree that's it's an almost unfathomable amount of energy, but even lifting the Sun or Moon by telekinesis is impossible. The magic comes from within the Sun and Moon themselves, obviously. The spells just activate the magic," said Twilight. "The Journal of the Two Sisters claims that before the princesses learned to do it, there was a chorus of ten unicorns who performed the task."

"I know. I've read a copy of your friends' Journal, and you included the original notes from the Sisters. Pretty much everypony in Equestria has read it by now."

"Oh my gosh," said Twilight, planting a hoof over her forehead. "That stupid thing has caused so much of a headache for my friends."

"Yeah, fame can do that. Don't worry, Twi, I know you don't let it go to your head," said Moondancer, placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

Twilight briefly wondered what the expression on Moondancer's face meant, but the touch felt welcome. Being close to Moondancer is nice. It took her a moment to realize she'd unconsciously placed her own hoof on her friend's.

Moondancer cleared her throat loudly, then removed her hoof. "Back to Equestria, Twilight. I have an important question, so think carefully. Do you believe that story from Princess Celestia's diary, the one about the unicorn chorus?"

For a moment, Twilight's brow furrowed in thought, then she gasped. "My Stars... Moonie, it can't be true! A unicorn chorus could supply more energy, but that can't be the limiting factor, since it doesn't rely on the energy of the casters. The spell must be an alicorn-level evocation. No chorus of unicorns could cast it. But that means..."

"It's fiction, embedded in a diary meant for others to read," said Moondancer.

"But why? We're taught that Harmony raised and lowered the Sun and Moon until the first unicorns evolved," said Twilight. "Why make something up about the unicorns when we could just say Harmony did it before turning the power over to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? In an important historical journal, no less?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because Celestia and Luna would have some explaining to do, otherwise. As in, where did those spells come from in the first place? How do they relate to the Tree of Harmony?" asked Moondancer. "If Harmony abandoned Sunrise and Moonrise before the Sisters were born, we wouldn't expect them to remember those details; details which have never been provided to students of astronomy. Now that we know that might not be the case, it seems like a glaring omission."

"Well... maybe. I don't know how much good speculation will do, but we'll need to think more on this," said Twilight. She followed up with a deep sigh. "All these lies. I just can't believe it. I know she's protecting us, but from what? And what does this have to do with Quifons?"

"We're not going to destroy some magical 'Quifons' place just by theorizing and looking through telescopes, Twilight," said Moondancer. "We should try to find out more."

"I agree, and I'm not about to give up yet. It's just unsettling. I want some answers, and I'd prefer Princess Celestia to be the one to reveal them," said Twilight. "But, realistically speaking, we need to write all of this down. Like, even our conversations. I'd suggest you keep a journal hourly, and make copies of it, and hide the copies. If she blanks our memories I want to be able to recover the work we've done. I'm not going back into ignorance." Twilight was trying her best to hold back tears, and barely succeeding.

Moondancer reached out and gave Twilight a hug. "It's okay. It bothers me too, and I don't even know the Princess that well, so I know this probably hurts you a lot," she said softly, then pushed back from the hug to look her friend in the eyes. "I'm sure there's a reason, and it isn't that Celestia has anything against you. The two of us are strong enough to get through this together, Twi. Right?"

Twilight smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Moonie."

For a short time, neither mare spoke. They just regarded one another from opposite sides of Moondancer's thick lenses.

It's hard to see through those panes of glass, but I just noticed we have the same color eyes! Moonie and I have so much in common, it's eerie. You know, her eyes are really pretty... Does that mean my eyes are pretty too? Wait, why am I even paying attention to—

A scroll poofed into being just above Twilight's head, and bounced off of her horn on the way down. The little princess was so distracted she wasn't able to grab it with her magic until it had plopped onto the floor and rolled about a meter.

"I'm going to assume this is something important," said Moondancer, frowning slightly.

"I guess we'll see..." said Twilight. Then she opened the scroll and read it aloud:



Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle (Roaming),

Twilight, it's me, Spike. We have a little situation.

Somepony broke into the library in the middle of the night, when the main entrance to the castle was locked. I'm pretty sure it wasn't me sleepwalking, because I don't have magical sparkly horseshoe-shaped footprints. Starlight Glimmer left for Manehattan with Rarity before nightfall, so it wasn't her either.

I brought Zecora over in the morning, but the footprints had vanished while I was fetching her! Based on how I described them, Zecora thinks they were some kind of a magical residue that just faded away naturally, but she isn't 100% sure about that. She went back to her place to work on something she thinks will help (I don't know what that is yet).

Whoever it was, they made a huge mess in the library. There are more books on the floor than the shelves now, but fortunately there doesn't seem to be any significant damage to the books or the shelves. I thought maybe the intruder was searching for something, but it honestly looks more like a windstorm blew everything onto the floor. Oh, I hid the memory potion in your room before I went to bed, so it's safe! I figured you wouldn't want that to end up in the wrong hooves, heh. You can thank me later. Er, I guess you'll have to, because you're not here right now. You know what, never mind—I think I'm rambling again.

Pinkie and Maud are helping me put the library back together. I went to Pinkie first because I correctly suspected she'd have a great intuition for where certain books are on the floor. She helped me locate all the volumes I was looking for. That's why I didn't mail you about the library this morning—I wanted to check to see if anything important was missing first. Except for books currently being checked out, all of your favorite books are accounted for, plus all the books on magic theory and astronomy. (You know, because of the "thing" you're involved in? That "thing".) I was kind of surprised the books were still here. Maybe this is just a random coincidence?

...nah, I don't believe that either.

It'll be a while before we finish the inventory. The moment we're done, I'll send a follow-up letter with a list of missing volumes. You might want to come back before then and take a look at this yourself, though. Starlight isn't here, so the only magic specialist right now is Zecora—and her alchemy's different from the stuff you can do. But you know that already.

Your faithful number-one assistant,

Spike the Brave and Glorious (the dragon)

P.S. Pinkie is pretty worried (maybe Maud too, but I can't really tell), and I think it may be hard to keep this stuff a secret for much longer. I know you didn't want to involve your friends, but I'm pretty sure they're gonna have questions for you when you get back. So, you should probably plan for that.

P.P.S. Good luck guys, and please come back soon. I've been avoiding Applejack because she'll know if I'm hiding something, and I can't get away with it forever.



"Horse apples," mumbled Twilight. "Oh, um... I mean 'darn'. Heh."

Moondancer mock-gasped. "Twilight Sparkle! Mind your applebucking muzzle," joked Moondancer. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle, but it didn't help her mood much.

"Moonie, I practically just got here! I don't want to go back," she said. "I... I like being here with you." The Sun began to set, sending shadows dancing around Twilight and her friend.

"I don't want you to leave either," said Moondancer, with a frown. "But we both know you should. I can start my research here without you," she said. "You'll be safer in Ponyville, and you can coordinate the rest of the effort with your other friends. This research has several prongs, and no offense to Starlight Glimmer, but I'll bet I'm a little more trustworthy at this sort of thing than she is. I work well on my own, even if I'd rather have you by my side. You should probably go supervise the rest of your friends."

Twilight nodded her head gently. "Starlight's a good student, but yes, you are more trustworthy with research. Ugh, I just hate leaving now! I'd ask you to come along, but I know it makes more sense for you to do the work here," she said. As Twilight spoke, the sky finally went completely dark, along with the house. Moondancer's eyes quickly became invisible, except for the specular shine of her glasses. It comforted Twilight to see shimmering reflections of the rising Moon where she knew Moondancer's face must be. She waited a moment in the darkness before turning her horn on.

"Shh. No light," said Moondancer, tapping Twilight's horn with a hoof, and so she turned off the aura. "I want you to remember something important when you're away in Ponyville, and I think visual cues might be a distraction. I guess I don't need this at the moment, either." Moondancer grabbed her glasses with a hoof and tossed them aside.

"Oh? Sure, just tell—" said Twilight, then she gasped as she felt herself gripped on the shoulders and pulled upwards into a hug, with a firm but soft kiss on the lips. Twilight's lips parted slightly, and Moondancer cocked her head sideways. Then she felt her friend's tongue gently stroke the opening of her mouth. It wasn't intrusive; just a gentle lick against her parted lips, but...

What? Oh. Oh. Oh! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh— 

Moondancer pulled her lips together, squishing Twilight's lips sideways into a pucker in the process. Then she gently smacked her lips against them with a wet-sounding kiss. All the while, one forehoof held Twilight upright by her back, and the other gently stroked her belly. Twilight struggled with her wings, but couldn't prevent them from snapping open all the way. Her wingtips did tiny, jerking flaps and flutters, the motions entirely beyond her conscious control.

Twilight had never felt anything quite like this set of queer sensations. Bellies feel highly unusual when a friend touches them gently. More investigation is warranted. Sooner, preferably.

She nearly collapsed as Moondancer slowly lowered her back to all fours. Several gentle kisses and pecks against her lips, cheek, and neck followed. Aside from the wings, all Twilight could do was gasp and—once or twice—kiss gently back against those wandering lips.

Then Moondancer's horn turned on. Her friend was smiling and blushing, and her eyes shimmered in the light of her soft, pale aura. "Stars, I hope that was okay for you. I just, um... I wanted to give you something to come back to," she whispered.

"Guh," said Twilight, her wings still twitching and flapping. "Oog. Guh, omm, um. Y-yo, okay. It's, um. Yeah, it is. Yes."

"Does that mean you want to try again sometime?" asked Moondancer. "I'm still pretty new to this friendship thing, so... I'm kind of flying blind when it comes to 'advanced friendship'." She smiled and winked.

"Y-yeah, advanced! Friendship. We should, um, study that s-sometime. More," said Twilight. She struggled to fold her wings in, finally getting them under control with great effort. "I... I'm not sure what just happened, but, it's fine, I think." Twilight smiled and placed a hoof on Moondancer's cheek. "I have n-no idea what any of this means. I know I like y-you a lot, but, yeah. That."

Moondancer breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, good. Now maybe you have the motivation to visit me more frequently," she said, playfully jabbing Twilight in the ribs.

"All, always the time, visit. Yes," said Twilight. "What... what even was that? I, wow. I can't believe I have to leave now. I need to come back and figure out what just happened. Seriously. I can't believe I'm saying this, but, this, whatever this weird thing, is... it might even be more interesting than astronomy!"

Moondancer giggled. "Well, we should have all the time in the world for that once the present crisis is over. As soon as we're past this, what's it called, um..." Moondancer paused, and the look on her face slowly drifted from bliss to confusion.

"Moonie? What is it?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"It must have slipped my mind, I guess because the name was weird. Twi, I can't remember the name of that place. The one we were talking about just a minute ago? I can't even remember what it starts with," she said, and her facial features continued to drift, this time toward fear.

"You mean, um... Wait, it's on the tip of my tongue. No, scratch that, that's false; it isn't there at all! I can't remember it either," she whispered. "Oh no. Are we forgetting? Are we losing our memories?" Twilight had to focus to keep herself from hyperventilating.

Moondancer shook her head. "I don't think so, I can remember everything else about it! All the details of our conversation are still fresh in my mind, and I don't feel any gaps, except the name... I remember watching myself talk to you, and the description you gave of it being colorful and sparkly and impossibly beautiful, all the astronomy banter, even the details of Amethyst Eclipse's prediction," she said. "I'd chalk it up to nerves or something, but I can't even remember—"

"—the number of syllables in the word," murmured Twilight, finishing the thought. "Oh my Stars, Moondancer! It could be two letters long, or ten syllables—I literally have no idea what the word is like. I remember it was Lopin, and it sounds like a sneeze, but that's all that's left in my long-term memory. It's like, an empty space where Eclipse was saying the word. His mouth is blurry, and there's no sound, and I feel dizzy thinking about the moment. It's like, conceptual emptiness, or something..."

"I know, it's even like that when you and I were saying it in this conversation! That should still be in our short-term memories, Twilight. Dear Moon above," whispered Moondancer. "It's so weird remembering... a blur like that."

"How in all of Equus could we forget it? Oh... Oh no. Could Princess Celestia be erasing our memories remotely?" After asking the question, Twilight visibly shuddered.

"That's too horrifying for me to want to consider, but no. It must be something about the name itself," said Moondancer. "I think it's doing the thing to us that it does to foals, Twilight."

"Well, this is awfully creepy, but fascinating nonetheless. I wonder why it's only the name we can't remember? Unless..." Twilight galloped over to turn on a light so Moondancer could relax her magic, then grabbed a notebook from the coffee table. "I really hope my intuition is wrong on this."

"You think we're missing more than just the name, don't you?" said Moondancer. There was a pregnant pause while Twilight quickly scanned the pages of the notebook.

Finally, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. We're not. There's nothing in our notes about the place apart from what you just described," she said. "And it's... 'Quifons', apparently?"

"Filly of a bitch. Twilight, I swear I've never heard that word before," said Moondancer.

"We've never heard it before," said Twilight, "again."

"I can't even remember what came out of my mouth when I said it," said Moondancer, and then she laughed a crazy-sounding chuckle and sat down on top of some of the papers on the floor. "This is totally nuts. So, something magic stops adults from remembering Quifons; I get that. But why would we both forget the name of the place, and only the name, at the same time? What made that happen?"

"I have no idea," said Twilight. "Moondancer, I think it's time we took a break to write everything down."

"Right," said Moondancer, fumbling around on the floor until she found her glasses again. "Um, just to be forward about this, I'm including the kissing parts in my summary, Twi. In as much detail as possible."

"Oh, me too," said Twilight Sparkle. Her cheeks burned a moment later, and she added, "I m-mean, for scientific accuracy, of course."

"Of course," said Moondancer, with a wry grin.

Both mares spent the next two hours writing down notes from their experiences. In the process, Twilight's wings exploded open a total of four times. Twilight wasn't paying recursive attention to her own behaviors, but she took a quick peek at Moondancer's notes after they'd finished, and saw that her friend had taken a careful count of each wing-related event.

She's certainly thorough, thought Twilight.

And that brought the count to five.