//------------------------------// // A Whole New World // Story: Light and Magic // by Allenator05 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer awoke, not to the sound of her alarm clock, but to an impatient knocking on her door. She sighed and sat up, wincing as she did so. Her hand touched the bandage on her head and the previous day's events came back to her. The pounding on the door was only matched by the pounding in her head. Sunset Shimmer looked to her night stand and found the water and pills Hildr had left for her. She popped some pills, downed them with water and trudged down her stairs. "Okay! I'm coming already!" she called out and opened the door. Her fears were confirmed as six teenage girls crowded her door frame. When they saw her, all let out a collective gasp. "Darling! What happened to you?" Rarity asked. Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and sighed. Fortunately, she had thought up a somewhat convincing lie. "Well ever since we got back from camp, I've been experimenting with my powers." Applejack pushed her hat up on her head with one finger. "And what happened? You try to blow yourself to smithereens?" "Not on purpose," Sunset Shimmer said. "I lost my focus and accidently exploded a tree." "We should get you to the hospital right away! There's no telling how bad your injuries are if you don't get checked out," Twilight Sparkle spoke up. Sunset Shimmer cast a knowing look at the purple haired girl. Although she shared the same name, this was NOT the Twilight Sparkle that Sunset Shimmer wrote to in her journal. By some strange means, ponies in Equestria had human counterparts in this world. Sunset Shimmer's mind still boggled at the thought. Since she herself had originally come from pony Equestria, Sunset Shimmer had yet to encounter her human self. A small part of her wasn't sure she wanted to. The humans here shared many personality traits with their pony selves, and Sunset Shimmer could only imagine what the other 'her' would be like. "I'm fine, really," Sunset Shimmer tried to assure her friends. "I just bumped my head a little and none of my cuts and bruises are serious." "Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "I mean, you're not a doctor right? It wouldn't hurt just to have a checkup." She fidgeted nervously with her hands. Sunset Shimmer groaned. And to think that she had bullied and harassed these girls mercilessly when she first came here. Sometimes it astounded her how they could just forgive and accept her. Sunset Shimmer was truly grateful, but a small part of her wondered if she could ever be truly forgiven. Soon the girls were all talking over each other and Sunset Shimmer's dull headache had grown into a stabbing pain. "All right! All right!" she shouted over the din. "Let me get changed first. I doubt the doctor will want to see me in my pajamas." She went to shut the door, but Rainbow Dash pushed her way inside, followed by the others. "No, please come in. My house is only a mess," Sunset Shimmer deadpanned. "Wow! This is the first time I've ever been to your house," Rainbow Dash said. She and Pinkie Pie were exploring every nook and cranny. "Yeah! You can definitely tell you live here," Pinkie added, holding up Sunset Shimmer's leather jacket. Sunset Shimmer would have smacked herself on the forehead, but her headache was bad enough and she didn't feel like making it worse. As she was changing, a sudden thought made Sunset Shimmer start to panic: Where was Hildr? "Um, guys? Did you see anyone on your way here?" she asked cautiously. "I don't think so," Twilight Sparkle spoke up. "Why? Are shady folks giving you some trouble?" Rainbow Dash asked, making a fist. "Want me to take care of it for ya?" "No Dash, I don't want you to take care of my problems for me. But thanks for asking," Sunset Shimmer said. She finished changing and went back downstairs. Before she knew what was happening, her friends practically carried her out the door and down the street. "Wait! Stop! Put me down!" Sunset Shimmer insisted. "Uh-uh. You're not runnin' out on us like this," Applejack said. "Not until you get a clean bill of health from the doc." "I appreciate your concern, really I do. But I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about," Sunset Shimmer said. Pinkie Pie popped up right in her face. "But we're friends now SunShim! Friends look out for each other." Sunset Shimmer could only smile sheepishly. Unfortunately, there was no getting out of this one. While her friends took her to see the doctor, Sunset Shimmer's mind worked overtime trying to figure out what happened to Hildr. It is a bit late in the day. She probably just went back to the library or maybe out for sightseeing. "Oh by the way, I was at the library this morning and I encountered a strange woman," Twilight Sparkle spoke up. Sunset Shimmer broke out in a cold sweat. "Like normal strange, or weird magic strange?" Applejack asked. Twilight Sparkle frowned. "I'm not really sure. Her clothes were odd, like she's not from around here. But she had this aura around her that gave me the chills." "Really? What was she wearing? And be specific darling," Rarity spoke up, her face suddenly shining brightly. Sunset Shimmer had to admire the girl's dedication to fashion. Twilight put her finger to her chin as she thought. "She was wearing a tan colored tunic I guess with black and white pants." Rarity's face fell a little. "Oh. Is that all? I was hoping for something with a little more flair. Coco Pommel has a new line coming out soon, but what can I hope for in a place such as this?" She sighed and gave a small shrug. Sunset Shimmer was now smiling nervously. That definitely sounds like Hildr. "Was there anything else about this person you noticed?" she asked. "Now that you mention it, she did have a stack of history books," Twilight Sparkle said. "And she kept talking to this little black box looking thing. Might have been some kind of voice recorder?" Among other things, Sunset Shimmer thought. "Was that all?" "Yep. I don't think she's a bad person, just someone we've never seen here before," Twilight Sparkle said. Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, Canterlot City's great, but I just don't see why anyone would want to come and visit this place." "I totally agree with you," Rarity said. "I suppose one's home town will hold a certain amount of charm, but in order to really see things, you have to go to the big city. Such as Manehattan!" Rarity held her hands and made smiled broadly. "I absolutely love it there! I mean, who wouldn't? Manehattan is the center of the fashion industry and all the leading brands have headquarters there." Applejack gave her a sideways glance. "Once or twice a year to visit family is good enough for me." Fluttershy was gently stroking a bird that had landed on her finger. "Oh I don't know. The city sure is a big and scary place." Rarity made a face and groaned. "You all have no ambition! One day, I'll open a boutique right off Bridleway. People will come from all over to shop at my store! It will be fantastic!" Sunset Shimmer tuned out the conversation. Rarity did have a point. There wasn't really anything special about Canterlot City, other than the fact that the statue in front of the high school contains a magic portal to another world. But after meeting Hildr and the Vex, maybe something has been hiding under their noses all along. Some kind of dark and terrible secret. The girls finally arrived at the clinic and went inside. Fortunately they weren't terribly busy and Sunset Shimmer didn't have to wait long. The nurse took her back to the examination room, checked her vitals and asked her a few basic questions. Moments later, the doctor walked in. "So. It says here you had a bit of an accident?" he asked. "Yeah that's right," Sunset Shimmer said. "I was out hiking in the woods when a tree fell over. I guess it was old and rotten enough it just collapsed." The doctor gave her a skeptical look, like he didn't quite believe her. "And when did this happen?" "Yesterday evening some time," Sunset Shimmer replied vaguely. "I see," the doctor replied. He pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in her eyes. "Any dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, things like that?" he asked. "A little bit, but some pills and sleep seemed to help," Sunset Shimmer said. The doctor nodded to himself and pulled the bandage off Sunset Shimmer's head. He moved behind her and felt her skull. "You've got a pretty big bump and a nice cut here, but I don't think it will require stitches." He then removed the bandages off Sunset Shimmer's arms and inspected the wounds. "Did you do this yourself?" he asked. "Uh, yes?" Sunset Shimmer replied and put on her best smile. Somehow, she didn't think the doctor would buy it. "Hmm," the doctor muttered to himself. "If that's the case, you did a pretty good job." He stood back and looked her over. "There's really not much more I can do for you," he said with a shrug. "I'll prescribe something slightly stronger than regular aspirin for your aches and pains. Remember to drink lots of fluids and plenty of rest. Come back if anything changes." "Thanks doc," Sunset Shimmer replied. "I really only came because my friends were worried about me." The doctor nodded. "Well count yourself lucky. Not everyone has people to look out for them." "Right," Sunset Shimmer replied and looked away. She went back out to the lobby to rejoin her friends. "Well? What did the doctor say?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "He said I'm a paragon of perfect health," Sunset Shimmer said. "Well that's good," Fluttershy said. "I'm glad you're okay. I'd hate to think that something terrible happened to you." If only you knew, Sunset Shimmer thought. "So girls! What are we going to do today?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly. "I dunno about you, but I think takin' it easy for a while sounds pretty good," Applejack said. "We've had enough excitement for a while, between camp, the Friendship Games, and all that other stuff." "Pshh, that was nothing," Rainbow Dash said. Sunset Shimmer thought for a moment. "That reminds me. Why did you all show up at my house this morning?" "I sent out a text wanting to know if anyone wanted to hang out and when no one heard from you, we figured you were still sleeping or busy," Rainbow Dash said. "Usually you reply right away, but when you didn't I thought something might have happened to you," Fluttershy said timidly. "Nah, you're just over reacting," Rainbow Dash said. "What could possibly happen to us? We're awesome! More like I'm awesome and you guys are pretty cool." "Rainbow Dash does have a point," Rarity spoke up. "We've certainly managed to handle everything we've encountered thanks to our magic." Sunset Shimmer's face fell and she rubbed her arms. "But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have magic in the first place," she mumbled. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts aside. "In any case, I agree with Applejack. Summer vacation is almost over and we should relax while we can. I think I'm going to head home for a while. Call me if anything comes up." She waved goodbye and left. Sunset Shimmer walked in her house and found Hildr sitting on the couch, reading a book. The white haired woman looked up and saw Sunset Shimmer taking off her boots and jacket. "Your friends seem nice," she said. "Where were you?" Sunset Shimmer asked. She pulled out her chair and sat facing Hildr. "I went back to the library this morning while you were sleeping. On my way back, I saw you and your friends walking off somewhere," Hildr said. "Yeah. They insisted I go see the doctor for my injuries," Sunset Shimmer replied. "And what did the doctor say?" Hilder asked. "He said he couldn't have done a better job himself," Sunset Shimmer admitted. Hildr shrugged. "I told you. I know what I'm doing." Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes. "Just where did you learn how to do that?" she asked. "Do what?" Hildr asked. She put her book aside and focused her attention on Sunset Shimmer. "How to be a medic," Sunset Shimmer asked. "And how you use your magic to defeat those robots?" Hildr held up a hand. "One thing at a time, but there is no easy answer to either of those questions. Which would you like to hear about first?" "Your magic," Sunset Shimmer quickly replied. "What is it? How does it work? How did you discover it? Is your world so terrible that you have to use such destructive power?" HIldr's eyes narrowed. "Stop. One thing at a time." Sunset Shimmer let out a frustrated breath. "Okay. Fine. Where are you from?" "Earth," HIldr replied. "Earth? Where's that?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "From here? I couldn't tell you," Hildr said. "I would need access to star charts." She frowned and thought for a minute. "Actually, that is a very good question." She held out her hand and Raven appeared. "Do I have a ship in my inventory?" she asked. "Actually yes, now that you mention it," Raven said. "So what's preventing me from using my ship and leaving this planet?" Hildr asked. "Um, nothing really," Raven said. "We could leave, but like you say, I have no idea when or where in the galaxy we are." "Do you think a quick space flight would provide some answers to those questions?" Hildr asked. Raven bobbed up and down. "It certainly wouldn't hurt." Hildr rose to her feet and made for the door. "Wait! Where are you going?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "You heard him. I'm going to space," Hildr said. "But how? What about us here?" Sunset Shimmer asked. Hildr turned to face Sunset Shimmer. "Why are you even asking those questions? I thought it would be obvious. I'm not from here and I have no idea where I am. My coming here was a simple accident, and it would be best for everyone if I left." "But what about those Vex monsters? What if there are more of them?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "She does have a point," Raven said. "We found one portal. Who's to say there aren't more?" "And how many others have we found just though reading history books?" Hildr countered. "There is nothing to suggest that the Vex ever had a presence here." "Then where did that portal come from?" Raven countered. "If there is a portal here, the Vex had some kind of plan for this place. I'm okay with taking a quick jaunt to space to get our bearings and figure out the astronavigation aspect, but we should really come back." He floated closer to Hildr's face. "Besides, have you forgotten why you were using the Vex portal network in the first place?" Hildr glared at Raven. "I haven't forgotten. But it would be better to continue our search elsewhere, on a different planet." She looked at Sunset Shimmer and added, "One without so many distractions." "I'm a distraction?" Sunset Shimmer asked incredulously. "You're the one who dropped in unannounced and brought your enemies here! If anything this is all your fault!" Hildr turned on Sunset Shimmer. "Yes. It is my fault. It's my fault the Vex followed me here. It's my fault you got hurt. It's my fault you're still alive. And it's my fault for interrupting your idyllic life here." Her eyes narrowed. "What more would you have me do?" Sunset Shimmer refused to be intimidated. "What would I have you do? Take me with you." Hildr immediately shook her head. "Out of the question. You know nothing and would only get in my way." "Knowing nothing is a two way street," Sunset Shimmer shot back. "You know nothing about this world and I know nothing about your enemies or how to fight them. Like I said before, we're stuck together now." The corner of Hildr's lip twisted in a sneer. "Fine. Do as you wish. Don't say I didn't warn you." With that, she turned and walked out the door. Sunset Shimmer was taken aback and after a moment of hesitation, she quickly slipped into her boots and followed Hildr. They went a short ways out of town so they wouldn't be bothered and bystanders wouldn't ask questions. "Okay Raven, give it a shot," Hildr said. "Stand back and hope this works," Raven said and his points started to spin around his eye. There was a flash of light and Sunset Shimmer stood back in amazement as a space ship materialized above their heads. "This was the best I could do," Raven said, panting with effort. "It's good enough," Hildr said. The ship gently floated down until it was resting on the ground. Sunset Shimmer walked around the ship. She didn't know what to think and hesitantly reached out. The metal was cool to the touch and quite smooth. "What is this?" she asked. "This is my jump ship I use to get around," Hildr said. "Get around where?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Mostly the Earth, but it's capable of reaching anywhere in the Solar System," Hildr said. Sunset Shimmer looked at Hildr in wonder. "You have all this amazing technology and you chose to leave? Why?" Hildr shook her head. "It's not as great as you might think. All that we have has been scavenged from the dust heap of the past." Sunset Shimmer looked down at her feet. "What happened?" Hildr stared up at her ship. "Everything fell apart." Hildr blew out a breath and climbed on top of her ship. "It's going to be a bit cramped if you insist on coming along." Sunset Shimmer needed no other invitation and quickly scrambled up. "Don't have to tell me twice." She settled in behind Hildr in the cockpit and squeezed her way in. "You weren't kidding." "This ship isn't really meant for more than one person, so I modified it a little," Hildr said, moving her seat up. She closed the canopy and took control. "Buckle up and hang on." "Hang on to what?" Sunset Shimmer asked as she frantically strapped herself in. Hildr tilted the nose of the ship up to the sky and punched the throttle. Sunset Shimmer's head slammed into the head rest. "You did that on purpose!" she winced. "I did no such thing," Hildr replied. Raven appeared next to Sunset Shimmer and whispered, "She totally did." Sunset Shimmer didn't know what was worse, the new headache she had or being pressed into the back of her seat. She felt like an elephant was stepping on her. "How much longer?" she grunted. "Oh. I forgot to adjust the inertial dampeners. I'm not used to having a copilot," Hildr said. She made a few adjustments and Sunset Shimmer felt the pressure ease in her chest. "Okay, that one was not on purpose," Raven said. Before long, they were out of the atmosphere and in space. "Would you like to see?" Hildr asked. She hit a few buttons and the entire cockpit canopy turned transparent, giving a full view of the stars. Sunset Shimmer's breath was taken away. Never in her wildest dreams has she imagined she would see the planet from space. The stars were brighter and she could see countless more than on the clearest night below. The sun was shining overhead, giving Sunset Shimmer a full view of the world below. Some of the land forms were hidden behind clouds, and she thought she could make out the general location of Canterlot City. The moon was off to the side, partially hidden behind the world. "This…this is amazing," Sunset Shimmer whispered. Hildr grunted in reply. "Any idea where we are Raven?" she asked. "One second please," Raven asked politely. After a very long second, Raven replied, "I have good news and bad news." "Bad news first," Hildr said. "Okay. I have no idea where we are," Raven said. "And the good news?" Hildr asked. "Um, I hadn't gotten that far," Raven admitted. "So you were just going to lie? What if I asked for good news first?" Hildr asked. "Well, you never ask for good news first, so I thought I would have some time to think up some good news," Raven replied sheepishly. His eye blinked once and he sighed. "None of the stars match any known constellations." "Known where you're from maybe," Sunset Shimmer finally spoke up. "Since I used to live in the pony Equestira, I've noticed many similarities between that world and this one." "Such as?" HIldr asked. "For starters, the worlds have roughly the same size and landmass locations. The stars that appear in the night sky also match," Sunset Shimmer said. She frowned as she thought. "It's almost like both worlds exist in the same time and space, but in different dimensions. The biggest difference is that one world has talking ponies." Hildr and Raven shared a look. "I suppose such a thing is possible. Do you think this further proof of the Multiverse Theory?" Raven asked. "Perhaps," Hildr said. "In any case, let's head to the moon and start marking star charts." "Sounds like a plan," Raven said. "Wait. Are we really going to the moon?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Unless you'd rather hop out and go home," Hildr replied. Sunset Shimmer glared at the back of Hildr's head. "How long will it take to get there?" she asked. "Only a few minutes once the NLS drive is powered up," Hildr said. "We shouldn't make a full powered jump just yet," Raven said. "I don't have the coordinates mapped yet and we could overshoot and end up who knows where." "So we'll make a bunch of mini jumps," Hildr exasperated. Her patience was beginning to grow thin. She didn't expect everything to work out perfectly, but it seemed like everything she did only resulted in more problems and no solutions. She was still no closer to finding an access point to the Vex gate system, if such a thing existed after all. Her knuckles started to turn white as she gripped the controls. "Hey. Calm down please," Raven said softly. "One step at a time, remember?" "I haven't forgotten," Hildr hissed. "I feel like nothing has gone right during this whole adventure." Raven sighed. "What else did you expect?" "Honestly? About something like this," Hildr admitted. She pressed a few buttons on the control console and the stars started to lengthen into streaks of light. Before that could happen, the ship slowed back down. Sunset Shimmer noticed the world was considerably smaller. "How much further?" she asked. "Two more jumps maybe," Hildr said. She made slight adjustments to the ship's course and engaged the drive again. Before it could activate fully, Hildr throttled back. They were now closer to the moon than the world. "Just what do you all call your world anyway?" Hildr asked. "Well, Equestria is the main continent where Canterlot City is located," Sunset Shimmer said. "As far as the world itself, I'm not really sure. Some people refer to the whole planet as Equestria, but that isn't correct." Hildr thought for a moment. "For simplicity, I shall refer to the planet as Terra." "Terra? Isn't that the Latin word for 'earth'?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "So you know Latin then?" Hildr asked. Sunset Shimmer nodded, although Hildr couldn't see. "Back in pony Equestira, some of the oldest spells and books are written in Latin." "How is that possible?" HIldr asked. "Latin is native to my Earth and hasn't been spoken as a common language in hundreds of years." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "Who knows? How are we able to speak the same language and understand each other?" "More Multiverse Theory?" Raven offered, but Hidr ignored him. Moments later, the ship was in orbit around the moon. "It looks so different from here," Sunset Shimmer remarked. "That's because we're orbiting right above it," Hildr replied. Sunset Shimmer let that remark slide. "Back in pony Equestira, there is a legend about the Mare in the Moon." "Is that a reference to how the light and shadows on the moon resemble a horse?" Hildr asked. "In this case, a unicorn," Sunset Shimmer said. "The story goes that long ago, there were two sisters that ruled over all of Equestria, one to govern the day and one to govern the night. Their primary jobs were to raise the sun and moon respectively." "Really," Hilder said, not believing a word of it. "Yes really. Magic remember?" Sunset Shimmer said. "Anyway, the younger sister that ruled over the night became disheartened with her role since ponies would sleep during the night and no one appreciated her work. She soon became angry and bitter, refusing to lower the moon. She became known as Nightmare Moon and her desire was to cover the land in permanent darkness so she would finally be appreciated. It is said that the princess of the sun used the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon itself and seal her away for one thousand years. And to this day, when you look up at the night sky, Nightmare Moon looks down and waits for the day in which she will be free to have her revenge." "Wow. That's quite the tale," Raven said. "Sounds about as realistic as the Man in the Moon," Hildr replied. Sunset Shimmer grinned. "It's totally real. As it turns out, she was freed after one thousand years and came back to take her revenge." "Let me guess. The power of friendship saved the day?" Hidr asked. Sunset Shimmer sat back and pouted. "That's the story I heard anyway. I was already here on the human side when it happened. I heard it from a friend of mine who was there." Hildr said nothing as the ship made several orbits. Raven gathered as much data as he could and stored the star charts in the ship's memory banks. "I don't know how much good this will do, but it's better than nothing," he said. "We should probably head back," Hildr said. "How long will that take?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Not long. The coordinates are already saved in the navigation system. All we have to do is dial it up and off we go," Raven said. Hildr did just that and fully engaged the NLS drive. The stars elongated into streaks of light and the entire trip took less than a minute. Hildr followed the marker on the HUD back to the outskirts of Canterlot. After they jumped out, Raven scanned the ship and it disappeared in a flash of glowing white lines. "What happened?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "The ship went back into the inventory. Can't leave it laying around to be discovered," Raven said. Sunset Shimmer decided this was a good point. It was now much later in the day as they walked back to Sunset Shimmer's house. As they drew close, Raven perked up. "Hold on. I'm detecting the signatures of several people inside." Sunset Shimmer groaned and massaged her temples. "It's probably my friends throwing a surprise party of some kind." Hildr and Raven shared a look. "We should probably be somewhere else then. Wouldn't want to raise too many questions," Raven said. "Do you have a phone or some other communications device?" "Yeah. Why?" Sunset Shimmer asked as she pulled out her phone. Raven flew over and scanned her phone. "There. I have your number now. We'll contact you later. Let us know it it's safe to return or if we'll have to find somewhere to spend the night." Sunset Shimmer stared at her phone. "Uh, okay. Sounds good." Hildr nodded and walked off. Sunset Shimmer watched her leave. Today had been an interesting day. She looked up at the sky and saw the sun was starting to set. The thrill of traveling in space and seeing the moon made her giddy and she smiled. She had to admit that there were one or two good things that had come from meeting Hildr. Sunset Shimmer still had many questions, but they could wait. For now, she decided she shouldn't keep her friends waiting. Sunset Shimmer opened the door, expecting a loud "SURPRISE!" and cake and confetti. To her confusion, three men wearing dark sunglasses and suits were standing in her living room. "Are you Sunset Shimmer?" one of the men asked. "Um, yes?" Sunset Shimmer replied. Her good mood was quickly ruined and replaced with a bit of fear. Who were these men and what did they want? The man who spoke to her whispered into his lapel. "Good. Please come with us. We have some questions for you." Sunset Shimmer frowned. "No way. Who are you and what do you want?" The three men shared a look. "It really is in your best interest if you cooperate," the man said. "And if I don't?" Sunset Shimmer asked, raising her hands and taking a step back in a defensive posture. The man sighed. "We know all about you and your friend's abilities. We have countermeasures if you try to resist. Please don't make this harder than it has to be." Sunset Shimmer's face twisted in anger. "Who are you to threaten me or my friends? What's this all about? Who are you?" The man whispered in his lapel again. "You can either come with us now, or we round up all your friends and bring you all in together. Chances are, they don't know what you've been up too these last few days. They can either find out now, or you can tell them later. Your choice." Sunset Shimmer clenched her fists tightly and they started to glow. "You leave my friends alone. They have nothing to do with this," she hissed. There was a tinkling sound of breaking glass and Sunset Shimmer felt a sharp pain in her neck. She reached up and pulled out a dart. Must be some kind of tranquilizer, she thought as her whole body started to feel numb. She tried to focus her anger and magic, but a fog was settling over her mind and soon, everything went black. Dear Twilight, I had an amazing day that you wouldn't believe. It turns out Hidr has a ship that can go into space! And guess what we did? Totally went to space. Hildr said it was for astronavigation purposes, but I didn't care about any of that. I mean sure, the science behind space travel is rather fascinating, but I was more than happy to just experience space flight. I know you've read a lot of books, but nothing compares to actually seeing it for yourself. The stars are so much brighter and everything is so much clearer than just looking with a telescope. This is most likely due to the way light refracts through the atmosphere. And that's not even the best part! We even went to the MOON! I can't even begin to describe what it was like. Knowing you, you are probably doing everything you can to hold yourself back from coming here, but Hildr and I aren't exactly on good terms. Having you show up suddenly demanding to go to space probably wouldn't go over very well. Something to look forward to I guess. Hildr continues to baffle me. I don't know what her true motives are and I doubt I'll ever find out. She mentioned before that she would be willing to leave this place behind. How can she do that? She brought her enemies here and we have no way to fight them. At the very least, she should stay and help clean up her mess. It's just so frustrating dealing with her. Other than that, everything is fine. I hope you are doing well. I know I have no right to ask this, but give everyone there my greetings and regards. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer