//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Textbook Soldier // by Backslasherton //------------------------------// The wind felt cold, even through Sunset’s leather jacket. She glanced over at James, who was leaning against the statue, dressed in the new clothes she'd had bought him. He had on his boots--minus the leggings--a pair of blue jeans, his belt, and a red flannel shirt. There had been a small cold front overnight, so he had thrown his field jacket on as well. She admired the jacket now that it had been clean. It was a light colored khaki material that was more than a little worn in a few places. The elbows and stomach had dark stains and the material had been worn down, presumably from crawling in the dirt and mud. Sunset had insisted that Twilight borrow some of her winter clothes. After checking the temperature outside, the princess didn’t argue with her, which Sunset was grateful for. Twilight’s own clothes wouldn’t have provided near enough warmth, the portal having created them during a far warmer season. As a breeze blew past, she shivered slightly, drawing James’s attention. He stood up properly and looked over at the two young women huddled around a notepad as he walked up to them. “Any updates?” James asked. Twilight shook her head. “Nothing. We can’t see anything that would’ve made the portal change connections. Well, at least not from down here.” “I thought the book was on top of the portal?” “It was,” Sunset nodded. “But we can’t really get up there easily right now.” “We’ll probably have to come back with a ladder,” Twilight said, “Although something like that, we may need to talk to Principal Celestia first. I wouldn’t want somepony thinking we’re vandalizing the school.” “Why can’t you just climb up?” James looked over at the pedestal, sizing it up. “Neither of us can reach,” Twilight admitted.. “I still don’t know how Pinkie got up there after the Friendship Games,” Sunset shook her head, remembering her eccentric friend’s antics. James walked up to the side of the pedestal and looked up. “What do you think that is? Six? Seven feet?” Sunset nodded. “It’s taller than you, so yeah, at least six feet..” James nodded and stared at the marble some more. “Is he going to try and climb up there?” Twilight asked Sunset. “I think he is,” Sunset nodded. With a sudden burst of activity, the man jumped up the side of the portal, his boots barely finding traction. With a grunt, he hiked himself up over the edge and lay on his stomach on top of the portal before he pushed himself up onto his feet. He looked around the top of the pedestal and then back down at the girls. “What are we looking for?” “How did you do that?” Twilight asked, wide-eyed. He shrugged lightly and grinned. “We had to scale walls a lot in training.” He peered around the pedestal, his grin fading as he furrowed his brow, “What am I looking for?” Sunset shook her head, setting aside her confusion, and walked up to the base of the statue. “Just anything that looks out of the ordinary.” James looked around. “I see two little stubby things.” “What do they look like?” James kneeled down, squinting. He frowned and dropped lower onto his stomach as he looked at them. “...Hooves.” “There used to be a horse statue there, so that’s fine. Do you see anything else?” The man stood back up. He sighed and looked around, kicking away the occasional bit of debris. “Uh… nothing really. There’s some rocks, chewing gum, which is pretty gross, so thanks for that, random kid.” He shook his head but paused. “Hold on, there’s something here. It’s just some cracks, I think.” He kneeled, peering down at the top of the statue. “Yep, definitely cracks. Wow,” he whistled, “I thought it was just the light making it look that way, but these are kind of deep.” “What do they look like?” James frowned. “What do you mean what do they look like? They’re cracks.” Sunset sighed. “Just describe them. Do they have any sort of pattern to them?” “I don’t…” He shook his head, peering closer. “They’re… cracks. There’s a place where they start, I think, but they all branch out from that central point,” he shrugged, “They sort of look like cracks in a block of marble.” Twilight facepalmed, sighing. Sunset shook her head, feeling the princess’s sentiment. James’s frown grew annoyed. “Look, I’m not a scientist, alright? I’m just the guy who kills the bad guys. Do one of you want to just come up here and look?” “We can’t get up there like you did,” Sunset deadpanned. The soldier walked over to the edge and dropped to his knee. He shuffled into position and reached his hand out to her. “Give me your hand.” “What?” “Give me your hand,” he repeated. “Why? “What do you mean ‘why’? I’m gonna lift you up here.” Sunset glanced at Twilight and shook her head, grabbing the man’s hand. “You holding on tight?” He asked, and she nodded. With a sudden jerk of motion, James pulled her up. Sunset let out a cry of alarm and stuck her feet out. Her boot soles barely managed to find a grip on the polished marble’s smooth surface. When she neared the top, James wrapped his arms around her waist and used his legs to push himself into a standing position and pulled her up alongside him. She steadied herself and stepped back. “I could’ve pulled myself up, you know,” she scolded him. The man shrugged. “You said you couldn’t get up here.” He ignored the girl’s glare and peered down at Twilight. “Your majesty, would you like to join us?” The Equestrian frowned at his choice of words, but she approached him anyway. After passing the notebook up to Sunset, she grabbed his outstretched hand and repeated the same motions as Sunset did. Once James set her down, she turned and slugged him lightly on the shoulder. “Please don’t call me, ‘your majesty.’” “My apologies, your highness.” James ducked to avoid another hit, his laughter echoing off the school’s walls. Twilight looked at Sunset, and the redhead waved him off. The two Equestrians ignored him and crawled over to the cracks, inspecting them. Sunset frowned. James’s lackluster explanation may have been more accurate than they’d initially thought. It wasn’t much to look at, really. There was a small divot in the center, with various cracks splitting off from it. Sunset didn’t really see anything special. “Are you getting anything from this, Twilight?” “It looks like this was caused by an explosion or blast of some kind, rather than impact,” Twilight said, furiously jotting down notes. Sunset blinked. “How can you tell?” Twilight pointed at the divot. “There’s a distinct lack of pattern to it. Normally in an impact-based crater, you’d have conal streaks radiating from the center, indicating impact-ejection of matter, and there’d be a deeper point in the center for the projectile. However, this looks closer to an impact-detonation site. The impact point, here, has a random pattern to it with cracks radiating from the center. What this means is most likely that the explosion worked through the weakest points in the marble. When enough of these fissures joined together, the blast was able to remove bits and pieces of the stone. The rest of the force, I’d imagine, just dispersed itself through the rest of the stone, forming the cracks around the center point.” Sunset stared blankly. “Where do you have time to learn all this?” The princess ignored her, tracing the fissures in the stone with a finger, and frowned. “Sunset, is there anything actually inside the pedestal?” “I don’t think so. I was under the impression it was solid stone.” “That’s odd…” Twilight inspected the cracks some more. “What is it?” “Put your hand near the cracks.” Sunset did so and frowned. She could almost feel a slight breeze, but also a tingling sensation. “What is that?” “I don’t know.” Twilight shook her head. “If only I had my magic, we’d be able to get some clear answers here.” “What if that is magic?” Sunset looked over at Twilight. “When Twilight- uh, our Twilight, was transformed by the magic, she blew up the Wondercolts statue that was here before.” “She could’ve caused the cracks, which would then damage the portal.” “So, what if that’s magic leaking out?” “Then there’d be Equestrian magic just floating around this world…” “Some of which may have gone into James’s book.” “And your journal.” “Which could have sparked a connection between the two of them.” “Bridging the connection between the two worlds.” “And bringing James here,” they said in unison. “If we connect the portal with the books, we might be able to get James home,” Twilight said. “But the portal is still connected to Equestria,” Sunset added. Twilight sighed. “There’s that. We can’t test anything unless the portal is shut down.” The former unicorn frowned, an uneasy feeling forming in her gut. She did not like this idea. “Twilight, I don’t want to test anything unless you’re back in Equestria first.” “What? Why?” Twilight frowned. “Why can’t I be here?” “Because what if something goes wrong? Then you’d be stuck here forever. I can live here, but you can’t just disappear and leave Equestria without one of their princesses.” The former Alicorn opened her mouth to argue but stopped. Sunset was right, she couldn’t afford to take the risk. Especially with all of the other things she risked leaving behind. With that, she nodded soberly. “You’re right,” she sighed, adjusting her legs so she sat properly on the portal. “So, what do we do now? Do we test our theory?” “There’s not a lot we can test.” Sunset flipped through the notes in front of them. “All we know is that either my journal or James’s book had some kind of reaction to these cracks on the portal, which may be leaking magic.” The princess sighed, blowing the bangs out of her eyes. “This would be way easier if we just had my magic equipment. We might be able to use it to find where the book’s magic is coming from or what this is.” “Actually…” Sunset looked up apprehensively, “I may know someone who can get us magic-tracking equipment.” “What? Who?” “Well, you’ve met her…” “I have? In this world?” Twilight furrowed her brow. “I didn’t think there were that many people here who even knew about magic, let alone have the equipment to test for it.” “I promise you, you’ve met her. Just think about it.” “...Trixie?” “What?” Sunset shook her head. “No! Come on, Twilight. You’ve got this.” The princess threw her arms up in defeat. “Sunset, will you just tell me who it is?” “It’s Twilight.” “Me? How could I… Oh.” Realization hit the Equestrian. “You mean her, right?” Sunset nodded. “She successfully managed to track down magical signatures from your first visit and the Battle of the Bands back to this place. If anyone can do it, she can.” “Oh, well… um… I guess so, yeah.” Twilight gave her best smile, but it wasn’t very convincing. “If she can help us, t-then I’d love to have her!” Sunset sighed. “You’re uncomfortable with this idea.” “N-No! It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight was at a loss for words and knew she wasn’t going to convince Sunset that it didn’t bother her. “Well, come on, Sunset. It’s not like you just see an alternate version of yourself walking around every other day! This is a little weird for me!” “I know it is, and I’m sorry. But we need her help to get James home. Otherwise, we’re flying blind with nearly nothing to go on but theories and lucky guesses.” Twilight looked like she wanted to argue more, but couldn’t. She sighed in defeat. “Alright. I’ll admit that it would be nice to have her equipment.” The redhead nodded. “Let’s get down and I’ll call her.” Sunset turned to her side, “Hey Ja- Where did he go?” “What?” The two girls looked where they heard his voice. He was sitting on the steps up to the school. “When did you… what?” Sunset shouted. “I didn’t understand anything you two were saying, so I left.” “How did you get down?” “I jumped.” James shrugged casually. “What’s up? Do you need me?” “Can you help us get down?” Twilight asked. James grinned and stood, bowing theatrically. “Of course, your majesty.” Twilight pouted as James walked over. “Seriously, stop that. I hate being called ‘your majesty.’” James laughed as he stopped at the bottom of the pedestal. “Sit down and let your legs hang off the edge,” He instructed, still grinning at her expense. With her in position, he reached up and placed his hands around her waist. She leaned forward slowly before slipped off the edge completely. She cried out as she fell, but James caught her and lowered her safely to the ground. “Hey, I got you,” he said to her, smiling reassuringly. Twilight laughed in relief as James set her down. Sunset watched the spectacle, frowning. She watched James set Twilight down and smile as he talked to her. A pang of jealousy stabbed her heart for a brief moment. Realization struck her and she pushed the thoughts away and cleared her throat. “James?” She called down. The man looked up. “You too?” She nodded. He sighed theatrically. “Oh alright, fine.” “Oh, stop being so dramatic.” Sunset grinned. “How many chances to do you get to feel up a girl like this, anyway?” The man’s face immediately lit up red, and he stumbled over a response. Sunset laughed at his expense before the man managed to compose himself. “Alright, I guess I deserved that,” he said meekly. Sunset leaned off the edge, repeating much of the same actions as Twilight did. “It’s a good thing you two are so light,” James said as he put Sunset down, “Otherwise I’d have to tell you two to just jump and hope for the best.” “Sure you would,” Sunset teased. James shrugged. “I can put you back up there and we can find out.” “Try it.” “Um, Sunset?” Twilight interjected, confused at the girl’s sudden attitude shift. The redhead looked back at her and seemed to remember what they were trying to do in the first place. “Oh, right. James,” Sunset turned to the man. “So, James. Do you remember how I said everyone in this world has a counterpart in Equestria that’s a pony?” James thought for a moment and nodded, prompting Sunset to continue. “Well, Twilight’s counterpart is a friend of mine in this world, and she’s gonna help us get you back.” The private looked at Twilight. “There’s gonna be two of her?” “Hey!” Sunset shook her head as James laughed, but still managed a grin, much to Twilight’s disdain. The princess shook her head and walked off towards the portal side of the pedestal, leaving the two. “They’re similar, but not the same person,” Sunset responded. “Alright.” James nodded. “Is there anything I need to say or do to not… I don’t know. Is there some kind of thing I need to do to not make things hard between anyone, or what?” “I think that would be up to Twilight. Well, this Twilight, at least. I can’t speak for either of them, but they’ve been together before without any issues.” “Alright. Hey, Twilight?” The soldier called over his shoulder. “Yes?” “Is there anything you don’t want me to do in front of the other Twilight?” The princess walked over and shook her head. “Not really, no. She’s… well, me. I guess just don’t anything to her that you wouldn’t to me.” “Right, but is there anything that’ll make you uncomfortable?” Twilight shook her head again. “Just don’t treat me like royalty and we’ll be fine.” “As you wish, your highness.” “You’re already off to a bad start,” Sunset stated. “Alright, let me call her real quick.” The redhead stepped away, scrolling through her contact list. Tapping a few buttons, the phone dialed Twilight’s number. “Hey Sunset,” The girl answered. “What’s up?” “Hey Twilight, this is gonna be a weird question, but,” Sunset hesitated, “Do you still have your old magic tracking equipment?” “My old magic tracking equipment?” “Yeah, that stuff you had during the Friendship Games and stuff.” “Oh, that. No, I don’t have any of that. I already pulled them apart to use their parts for various other projects of mine.” Sunset’s heart fell. “But I’ve got some new equipment. Ever since the mirror incident, I thought it would be a good idea to try and monitor things more, so I remade my old sensors to be more accurate.” She perked up immediately. “Would you be able to meet me at school with them?” “I guess so. What do you need them for?” “It’s… kind of hard to explain. Have you read the book for English?” “Their Darkest Hour?” “Yeah, that one.” “I finished it the week Mr. Synopsis gave it out, Sunset, but what does that have to do with my magic equipment?” “Well… James is here.” Sunset cringed immediately at what she’d said. It explained nothing and would only bring more questions. She was sure of it. “...What?” Was all the studious girl said back. Sunset sighed. “I said it was hard to explain.” The normally highly articulate girl’s silence from the other end of the line was deafening in the redhead’s ear. “...I’ll be there soon. Just… be ready to explain this a little more in-depth, please?” Sunset smiled. “I promise you, I will.” There was a sigh from the other end of the line. “Alright. I’ll hold you to that. Bye, Sunset. I’ll be there soon.” “See you then.” Sunset hung up, and let out a breath. With Twilight’s help, they’d be able to get more answers. Then James would be able to finally get home. He’d be with his family and where he belongs. The thought brought a not-insignificant chunk of sadness to her. He’d be gone forever. And she’d never get to see him again. She frowned. What’s wrong with you, Sunset? This is great for him! She thought to herself. But part of her knew it was because she didn’t want him to leave just yet. A particular memory arose with that thought. “I suppose that’s why it’s called the ‘man of your dreams’. He can only exist in your dreams.” Rarity’s voice echoed to her. Sunset lowered her eyes to the ground. She knew that was the reason she was upset. She mentally kicked herself for being so selfish, but even she had to laugh. Her heart-to-heart conversation with Rarity had only been two days ago, but it felt like months to her. “Hey, you alright?” Sunset jumped at the voice and turned around to face a worried-looking James. She did her best to grin casually. “I’m fine.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Good news, though. Twilight’s on her way.” The soldier didn’t immediately respond, watching her face for any sort of crack. Sunset for once felt grateful that she had gotten so good at lying. Otherwise, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to keep up her act in front of him. He seemed to be satisfied, as the soldier nodded and grinned back apprehensively. “I can only imagine this’ll be interesting.” “Oh, I assure you, it will.” The two walked back over to where the princess was standing. The redhead joined her while the private elected instead to retake his spot on the school steps. With nothing else to do, for the time being, the trio elected to wait. The girls went over their current theories again, and the soldier just sat and waited. As time crawled by, Sunset found the man had resorted to his usual pastime of watching people. Not that there was a whole lot of them, admittedly, but there were still enough cars and pedestrians to keep him entertained, apparently. Sunset followed his eyes to the road. A grey four-door car, a white two-door car, a large, boxy-looking truck of some kind, and several dozen other cars drove by, no two quite the same. She understood the sentiment, of course. She’d done the same herself quite a few times while acquainting herself with the world.. Same with the pedestrians. A green-skinned man with yellow hair, a blue-skinned girl with a matching ponytail, a pink girl with green hair. Sunset did notice a few more familiar-looking skin colors. The occasional beige and tan colored person walking by made James grin slightly to himself. But only for a moment. There were even a few times where he frowned to himself like he’d seen a familiar face in the crowd, but it never lasted very long. Eventually, one of the faces split off from the sidewalk and started walking towards them. Well, “face” was generous, given the large scarf wrapped around their head. Sunset could just barely make out the purple skin and hair that she’d grown used to the past couple of weeks. “Hey, Twilight!” Sunset called to them. The person pulled down their scarf, revealing herself as this world’s Twilight Sparkle. “Jesus Christ,” James muttered to himself as he walked up to the trio, “They really weren’t kidding.” “Hey, Sunset,” The human world’s Twilight greeted with a smile. Said smile immediately grew much more strained when she noticed the princess. “H-Hey Twilight.” “Hey… um, Twilight.” The princess returned the nervous gesture. Sunset could see the discomfort and tried to distract the two with the matter at hand. “Twilight,” she said to her human friend, “This is, well, James Garrett.” The studious human turned to the soldier and hesitated. “Are you really from the books?” She asked. James nodded. The girl grinned nervously. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, um… sir. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She glanced at her counterpart, “T-The human one.” The soldier grinned back and extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you too, Miss Sparkle. You’re not royalty too, are you?” The girl’s eyes widened, exaggerated more so by her glasses. “Oh no, definitely not. I’m just a high school student.” He looked between her and the other Twilight. “Well, Miss Sparkle, it definitely seems like you got the raw deal here, I gotta say.” “Oh, trust me, being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” The Equestrian sighed. Her counterpart nodded. “And I definitely don’t want to be a princess. I’d much rather just be a student.” Twilight shook her head, “Um, if you all don’t mind, would someone be able to explain what’s going on?” Sunset perked up. “Right, that.” The redhead showed her notes to Twilight, “We’re trying to track a magical signature around here, tying it to the portal and this book to get James home…” And that was when James checked out. Twilight watched over Sunset’s shoulder as he walked off. He stared at the school building as he walked towards the steps. His eyes seemed glazed over, never quite focusing on any one thing for too long. He seemed to mutter to himself a few times, but Twilight certainly couldn’t tell what it was. She barely knew how to read a pony’s lips. Humans? They may as well be speaking ancient Saddle Arabian. He paused, staring up at the building, his back to Twilight. She glanced at Sunset and human Twilight. They were still going strong and hadn’t noticed her distracted just yet. Twilight stepped away from them and walked towards James. “Hey, James,” Twilight greeted as James sat down. He looked up and put on an easy grin. “Hello, Twilight. Aren’t you guys catching the other Twilight up on things?” “Sunset can handle that,” Twilight waved, “I just… wanted to check up on you, is all.” James shrugged. “Doing fine, all things considered.” Twilight frowned. “James, you don’t need to put up a face around me. No one is going to think any different of you if you’re not a textbook soldier every second of the day.” James’s grin fell and he grew much more uneasy. “O-Of course. I know that, Twilight,” he forced the grin back on his face. “Trust me, I’ll let you all know when I need help.” Twilight nodded. She didn’t believe him, but she knew it wouldn’t help to push him. He’ll talk when he wants to. “Alright.” She smiled back. James relaxed and chuckled. “Well, let me ask you something,” he gestured to Sunset and human Twilight. “You seemed pretty uncomfortable when she showed up. Are you really alright with her being here?” “Well, yes and no, really,” Twilight shrugged, “It’s not like we don’t get along. I mean she’s, well… me. But she’s also different enough that she doesn’t feel like just a clone of me. She grew up in completely different circumstances. She’s had a whole life completely different from mine,” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s more that I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Magic is everywhere in Equestria. And while I do find it weird to see an alternate version of myself, I think I might be able to handle that better than she could. After all, it’s possible to make clones of yourself with magic. I don’t know of any technology they have that could do that, though.” “I see what you mean,” James nodded. “Well, have you tried talking to her about it? Maybe she feels the same way about you. Or maybe that’s not what’s bothering her.” Twilight grinned. “You know, you seem to know a lot about friendship.” “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he laughed. “I think I’ve just got a good head on my shoulders, is all.” “I guess you do,” Twilight giggled. She turned back to Sunset and the other Twilight. It seems they’d wrapped up the recap and they were now examing the face of the portal. “Come on,” James said, standing. “Let’s head back over. I’m sure they’re gonna need your help.” Twilight smiled and joined him as they walked over. “...we’re hoping that we can find what caused the book to react like it did.” Sunset finished as they approached. Human Twilight nodded. She swung the backpack off her shoulders and set it on the ground in front of her before she unzipped the back and pulled out a strange-looking device. “This one will probably be the best for what we need.” The girl flipped the switches and pressed several buttons that were scattered all over the device. “It measures the exact wavelength given off by the magical field I scan, which we can record and use to track it. If we find similar wavelengths somewhere else, we can track it and possibly find the source.” The scanner whirred as the fans kicked on and the screen lit up with various readouts and charts. “Alright, I’m just going to run a benchmark test on the portal. If this is calibrated properly, the portal should be reading at precisely 1000.” “1000 what?” Sunset asked. “Just 1000. The wavelengths that magic produces isn’t on the electromagnetic spectrum or soundwaves. It’s sort of its own thing.” Human Twilight shook her head. “It’s annoying, but I just don’t have any units to assign to it right now.” She fiddled with the controls before she was satisfied. “Alright, I’m scanning the portal now.” The device hummed and emitted a small light, like a laser pointer. The small red dot it was producing landed on the face of the portal. After a few moments, there were a few staccato beeps as it came back with results. She made a few tweaks on the device and scanned it again. Satisfied, the girl nodded to herself. “Good. We’re all set,” She stated proudly. “Okay.” Sunset nodded. “Do you want to start with the hard to reach place first? To get it over with?” Human Twilight shrugged. “Sure, why not.” Satisfied, Sunset nodded and turned to James. “Can you help Twilight get on top of the portal?” “Sure.” James walked over to the side of the building. “I get what my part is now. I’m just here to look good and do the lifting. And it’s about time you called on me to do something. I can only look good for so long.” Human Twilight frowned. “It’s on top of the portal?” “Yes,” Princess Twilight nodded, “There’s what appears to be several cracks in the top of the marble, but it might be leaking magic, which we think would be where the book got its magic from.” James stood next to the portal as Human Twilight walked up. She was about to ask him how they were going to get up when he jumped and climbed on top of the portal. Once on solid footing, he turned to Twilight. “Okay. This is gonna be nice and simple. I’m just gonna pull you up, you just need to hold on tight, alright?” The girl nodded and handed her sensor to Sunset before taking James’s hand with both of her own. “Hold on tight, alright?” Twilight nodded and with that, he pulled her up. Twilight had never been good at physical things, and was glad that his strength made up for that. He carried her weight like it was nothing, and she soon found herself on top of the marble pedestal with him. “T-Thanks.” She nodded, grabbing her sensor from Sunset. “You’re very welcome.” James pointed out the cracks to Twilight, and she kneeled down and started scanning them. The device in her hands hummed again. Before too long, there was a reading on her screen. It detected two different waves, signaling two different magical signatures. She recognized one immediately as the portal’s baseline signature, but there was a different one with a much shorter wavelength. The readings were extremely weak, telling her that it was probably only residual energy from something else, which made the scanner unable to get a clear answer. “There’s another source here, but it’s too faint to measure. I’m getting a strong reading from the portal, however, which makes sense.” “Any ideas what the other reading could be?” Sunset asked. Twilight shook her head. “It could be any number of things, really. These sensors aren’t perfect, so it very well could be electromagnetic interference from lights or even someone’s phone.” Sunset jotted down a few more notes, and nodded, satisfied. “Well, there’s something, at least. We know the portal’s magic probably had something to do with it.” She looked up. “Anything else?” “No, not that I can see.” Twilight stood, dusting herself off and turned to the man next to her. “Did you guys find anything else up here you want me to check out?” “No,” Sunset shook her head, “Like I said, it’s the hardest place to reach, so it was best to get it out of the way.” “I understand,” Twilight nodded and turned to the man on the pedestal with her, “Um, James? I think I’m gonna need your help to get down.” The soldier threw a relaxed salute and walked over to the edge. With all the casualness of a man going downstairs, he jumped off the edge, bending his knees to absorb the shock. “James!” The three cried. “What?!” “Is that seriously how you got down the first time?” Sunset yelled. “Yeah?” “You could’ve hurt yourself!” “But I didn’t.” James pointed out. “James!” Sunset glared at him. James just grinned and looked up where Twilight peered over in fear. “I don’t think I can do that,” the girl said meekly. James chuckled. “I’m not gonna make you do that. Just sit down and swing your legs over.” Twilight apprehensively did as he instructed. Same as with the princess and Sunset, James picked her up and swung her down onto the ground. She steadied herself when she back on her own feet. His sudden movement had taken her by surprise. “T-Thank you,” she said and the man nodded in return. The girl looked over her scanner and cleared her throat. “Okay. Do you have the book with you?” Sunset nodded and dug through her bag, producing the novel. She held it out for Twilight, who adjusted her glasses before holding the scanner up. The same whir and hum from before sounded and the results were up right after. “1000. There’s definitely magic from the portal there.” “Makes sense.” Sunset nodded. “Wait, there’s another one here.” Twilight frowned. “It’s got a strong signal at 367.55.” The princess frowned. “So there’s another source of magic involved?” The student nodded. “I can’t tell you where it’s coming from, but it’s definitely there. In fact, I think it’s reading stronger than the portal’s own magic.” “So now we just need to find out what this other wavelength is.” “Whatever that is, I think it’s the key here.” Sunset shook her head. “Just one more mystery to add to the pile, I guess.” She sighed. There had been a fair share of magical incidents around the portal, so there were plenty of potential patches of magic left around. And now that they knew the portal was leaking magic, there was a possibility that a new kind of magic was coming through. “Can I see the notes?” Human Twilight asked. Sunset nodded and handed the notebook over. “Sorry in advance if it’s unreadable,” The princess apologized, frowning at the notebook in Sunset’s hands. “I’m not quite used to writing with hands yet.” “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” The student reassured. Taking the notes from Sunset, she glanced over them and cringed. “Oh.” “Yeah…” The student tried to flip the pages of the journal but struggled with the scanner in her other hand. “Here, let me take that.” Sunset grabbed the scanner from the lavender girl. “Thanks, Sunset,” The young woman looked over at the princess, “Um, could you help me read this?” “Yeah, sorry.” While the lavender skinned girls poured over the notes, James walked over to Sunset. “Well, that’s not something you see every day, is it?” He commented, gesturing to the two. Sunset grinned. “They look more like twins than counterparts.” James nodded. “I think it’s the glasses and the hair.” He glanced down at the scanner. “So, that little thing does what now?” “It scans magic to get a reading of the wavelength it’s emitting, which identifies it as a unique number we can compare to other readings to identify it later on.” “...I see.” Sunset grinned. “You have no idea what I said, do you?” “I knew most of the words you said individually, but together they meant nothing to me.” “Okay, let me try to say this in a different way,” She proposed, and the man nodded. “So you know your unit has a certain designation?” “Yeah?” “What is it?” “Well, uh, how specific do you want me to get?” “What would it say on your paperwork?” “Uh, probably… ‘G Company, third battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division.’” “Right. So it’s like that,” Sunset explained, “Except that it’s a number instead. The wavelength is like your unit. There are different ones, and each is unique. So the portal’s wavelength is 1000, meaning anything that matches that, has to have been from the portal. Just like any soldier who has the exact same unit as you on their paperwork has to be from your company.” “So the number is a unit designation,” James nodded. “See, why don’t you guys just start with that?” He chuckled, “So whatever it scans, it’ll give out a magical number thingy?” “If it has magic, yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Aren’t you a magical talking unicorn normally?” James asked, “Wouldn’t you have a number?” Sunset thought for a moment and shrugged. “I might. We could try.” Sunset handed James the scanner, “Just point and pull the trigger.” “I think I can manage that,” James grinned, “I might’ve done it a few times.” Sunset laughed and stepped back. The soldier lifted the scanner and aimed it at her torso, and pulled the trigger, causing the scanner to hum once again before beeping. “Well Miss Magic, you’ve got yourself a number thing.” James turned the scanner around for Sunset. “405.31.” “Really?” She grinned. “I honestly didn’t think that would work.” “Well, I never had any doubts,” James grinned smugly, “Mainly because I have no idea what any of this means.” He looked over at the two Twilights. “Do you wanna try them?” “Sure,” Sunset laughed. “But I don’t think Twilight from this world is going to have a number.” She paused, “Actually, she might. She’s been in contact with Equestrian magic before. And with how randomly Equestrian magic acts in this world, I’m not so sure anymore.” James shrugged and pointed the scanner at her. “Well, I guess we’re fixin’ to find out.” Another hum, whir, and a beep later, and the results were on the screen. “...What?” Sunset stared at the screen. She glanced up at James who shrugged, “Hey Twilight?” She called. “Yeah?” Two voices responded. “Oh, um… Sorry.” The teen muttered to the princess. “Oh no, I mean… well…” The princess turned back to Sunset, “Which one?” “Um, it doesn’t matter.” Sunset shook her head, “What was that unidentified wavelength we found?” Human Twilight frowned and flipped through the pages. “367.55.” She looked up, “Why?” James slowly turned the screen around, showing her. Reading clearly on the screen was the number “367.55.” Confusion and shock mounted in her. “Did you find something else with it?” She asked, “Whatever you found might be the source.” James cleared his throat. “Uh, Twilight?” The lavender girl looked up. The other three were staring at her. The teenager was suddenly very uncomfortable with the situation. “What?” She muttered meekly. “...It’s your wavelength.”