//------------------------------// // 34 - I'm With You // Story: Sunburst to the Rescue // by David Silver //------------------------------// With the panic tea available, all three drank and calmed down. Sunburst nodded towards Spike. "Huh, this is pretty good at getting the edge off." "Patent pending." He flashed a thumbs up as he lifted into the air. "Have fun, you three." He was gone in a flap. Starlight rolled a hoof lightly. "So, are we looking for ways to get it off Sunburst, or are we exploring this strange and new artifact for all its worth?" Twilight inclined her head at Sunburst. "I'll defer to you on that. If you want us to focus on getting that off your head, then it will be our priority. We talked you into putting it on! This is as much our fault." Platinum's spirit whispered gently, "She is full of concern for you. A mare full of love." There was a fond almost-jealousy there. "I felt that before..." Sunburst reached up and tapped the crown gently. "Well... it's not hurting me, but will take some getting used to. It would be nice if it didn't keep talking to me without having a body to go with it." "I could draw you in here, if you prefer. Then we could speak face to face." Sunburst frowned softly. "Alright, lesson time." The two other mares in the room looked at him with some confusion. Starlight glanced at Twilight, brows raising as she did so. He moved his hoof to gesture at the largest jewel. "Show me how to use this thing." "Ah, yes. How silly of me." Princes Platinum's echo gently laughed in Sunburst's head. "Let us begin with the basics. Simply perform magic. Go on. Surely you know at least one spell." "I have a particular one in mind." Sunburst hopped up to his hooves and walked right out of the room without a word to the others. They shared one more look before quietly moving after him, walking along behind him a small distance as he wandered the castle. He found what he was looking for in one of Twilight's many libraries. He willed the book off the shelf and set it on the table, flipping through it. "Here we are..." Twilight leaned in over his shoulder. "Why would you need to synthesize an arcane pony? That's a very advanced spell. Do you want my help?" Sunburst jumped in surprise, having forgotten he had company. "Oh! Hey, both of you. Um... Let me at least try this. Give me a hoof if it looks like it's going wrong." Starlight rolled a hoof. "Go on and wow us, Sunburst." He studied the spell back and forth, mumbling to himself as he did so. When he was sure he had it down enough to follow along without stumbling, he began the spell. His horn began to glow as he began the subtle muscle movements that directed the flow of magic. "Wait," came a soft echo. "What is this? What is this?" He felt a sudden stuffiness in his horn. "No no no no, what is this?" He tried to ignore it, to continue the spell. "Unacceptable! You are a princess' consort, and she demands a spellcasting peer." The crown glowed, a thin beam of silvery light reaching out in a flash, touching Twilight's horn. She yelped in surprise, but her horn didn't explode or even hurt. "What the..." "Yes yes yes, we'll fix this..." urgently whispered Platinum. "You'll have a horn to match hers, just a little shorter, a little. She is the princess. You understand. Your place is just under her, where she can hold you." He was still trying to cast the spell, almost halfway through it as his horn throbbed in a strange way. Itchy pain erupted through it and his scalp and he clenched his teeth, trying to work through it. In front of him, light began to gather as if somepony were pouring a big carafe of pure light into the shape of a pony, a unicorn. He imagined Princess Platinum, and that was the shape the light took as it slowly filled in from the bottom up. Starlight blinked slowly. "Uh... I heard some stallions like that kind of thing, but..." She reached out to gently touch at Sunburst's working horn. "Are you casting this, or that?" Her eyes darted to the forming structure of light. Sunburst narrowed his eyes, working so hard on finishing the spell. A few little drops of light coming down to finish the construct's ears. The spell should have been beyond him, but he was doing it. Excitement blended with other emotions in a heady mix that he tried to ignore. With a flash, the visage of pure light took a step, the light flaking away to reveal a pony of many colors, matching the image that Sunburst had witnessed. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, gasping for breath. "Alright... Okay... Now we... just need one more spell." The newly forged pony slumped over suddenly, casually flopping to the floor lifelessly. Twilight arced a brow. "It won't do much unless you make it do something." She reached past Sunburst to tap at the book. "It says so right here. But, uh, before we worry about that..." She floated a mirror in front of Sunburst. Sunburst gasped at what he saw. His horn had become slender and a little longer. It was a perfect match for Twilight's, though it remained the same brown/orange. More importantly... "She... cured me, I think?" He reached up a shaking hoof to tap at the horn on his head. His horn? Starlight shrugged. "Well, guess you can stop reading that book now." "No!" He hopped up to his hooves, shaking his head. "Even if I am cured, forever, we should keep going. Countless unicorn foals stand to benefit from our work. No other foal should have to go through what I did, and we can't very well put this crown on each of their heads." "What is it you speak of?" came the whisper. Magic drew the answers from his mind. "How sweet of you. You studied with selfish desperation, but you will continue with altruism. A better motivation. I have done well this day." "Stop whispering like that," Sunburst shook his head a little as he put the first book back. "I need one more spell." Twilight moved her hoof to his shoulder. "Alright, enough questions, just one. What spell do you need?" He smiled at her gently. "Thank you. I need a psyche projection spell." "Oh! That one! Why didn't you ask?" Her horn glowed and a book popped into being. "I've used that one before." Starlight huffed softly. "I remember it... You were riding a pony figurine and driving me crazy with it." She stuck out her tongue as she flipped open to the proper page. "Here you are. Why are you projecting yourself?" He scanned over the writing as he spoke to no physical pony, "Can you cast this spell and hop into the body I made for you?" "I can cast whatever I want," claimed Platinum with a haughty confidence. "But I don't have a physical horn, so I will borrow yours. I trust you don't mind that, seeing as this is your idea." His horn tingled, then went numb. He could distantly feel magic happening up there, but he wasn't the one doing it. The crumpled form of Princess Platinum blinked open her eyes, revealing her dazzling blue eyes. She slowly sat up, making no noise as she looked around. She took a slow inhalation, filling her lungs before letting it out. "That is what that feels like... It's been so long..." She put a hoof to her throat. "Talking..." She felt the vibrations her talking caused, seemingly fascinated for a moment. "You..." She turned on Twilight. "You are a fortunate princess, and still alive, which is a thing I cannot claim." Twilight blinked dumbly at the walking historical figure before her. Sure, it wasn't the first one she had met, still... "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Platinum." Starlight was far more flippant, waving a hoof. "Heya." Platinum fixed her gaze on Starlight. "Who is this one, who has only spoken with an utter lack of decorum?" Sunburst waved at Starlight quickly. "This is Starlight, a good friend of both of us." "Nice to meetcha." Starlight tilted her head. "So this is the presence that controls the crown then?" "'This' is Princess Platinum." She set a white hoof on her chest. "Since the rest of me is gone, I have the truest claim to the name of all living ponies. I trust my original self will voice no complaints." Twilight tapped two hooves together nervously. "About that... There are lines of succession to consider. You stopped being a princess when you, the original you, perished." Platinum scowled at that. "You would take my royalty away from me? Royal blood and royal countenance does not fade with time." Sunburst raised both hooves. "No no no! I mean, of course you are a princess, but you can't take on the responsibilities of a... acting princess. You're a retired princess." Twilight tilted her head. "That... sounds about right." She smiled a little. "Sorry for the bad phrasing. Yes, a retired princess." Platinum's snout wrinkled in distaste before it eased. "I suppose it would be difficult... For all of my... bluster... I don't know the proper avenues of statecraft. My original self never saw the need to give that to me." Starlight approached the faux-pony with half-lidded eyes. "So, what did she give you? What do you know?" "Intrigue," she sang out. "Romance, skullduggery, and how ponies think." She tapped her head gently. "Of course magic." She leveled the same hoof at Sunburst's crown. "I was to control that, and with it, the magic of my husband, so knowledge of magic was of great importance." She leaned in a little towards Sunburst, peering at the crown. "An outside view... It's a little... No, it's lovely. I suppose it is, in many ways, the closest I can call to a 'body'." Starlight hiked a brow. "Well, you have one now." She gently poked the retired princess in the side. "How long does an arcane body last?" She looked to Twilight and Sunburst for answers. Twilight rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. "Not for too long, though there is nothing but fatigue that would stop you from making a new one. I admit, it's nice to speak to you, instead of only hearing about you through Sunburst." Her ears perked. "That reminds me! You had better not be forcing Sunburst to do anything. He is perfect just the way he is." "That is a bald lie." Platinum wore the smuggest grin. "His horn was clearly defective. You should be thanking me for altering it." Sunburst looked up at the altered horn in his field of view. "Oh, uh, I am thankful, really... I don't... I'll need some time to even wrap my head around that." "Your future-husband knows how to be thankful, a good trait." Platinum smiled with self-satisfaction even as Twilight began to darken dangerously. Starlight bumped into Platinum, almost knocking her over. "You be nice to Sunburst. If you aren't, I'm rude enough to do something horrible to you." Platinum scowled at Starlight and Sunburst's horn began to glow at once. "I have enough magic to defend myself, you ruffian!" Twilight threw herself between Platinum and Starlight. "Now now, let's not get carried away. We're all in a new situation, so let's take a step back, relax, and work things out." Sunburst glanced between his glowing horn and Platinum. "Hmm, I was curious if the arcane body could do magic itself, I suppose not." Twilight shook her head softly. "Could you imagine if it could? Besides, even if it could, it would be using itself up to do it, and that would be counter-productive." The two of them nodded in agreement. Platinum smiled at the exchange. "You two are possibly more adorable than I can handle, but I will do my best."