*** Mission Log: Sol 5209 ***
*** AOS – BSN ***
*** Message Received (Source: Twilight): Ah! Don’t you just love it? ***
Twilight took a deep breath. “There’s nothing like the crisp morning air on the day of the Running of the Leaves.”
Starlight grumbled angrily at the sun that was stinging her half-closed eyes after being dragged out of bed by her mentor at the crack of dawn. “There’s plenty of things I could think of that I love more. My warm and comfortable bed comes to mind.”
“Unfortunately, participants don’t get the luxury of sleeping in.”
“And whose idea was it to enter us into this race?” Starlight replied testily. Her disposition brightened somewhat when a steaming paper cup appeared in front of her face. “Thank you, Oppy.” She gratefully received the coffee from the robot and took a long drink.
“Come on, Starlight. It’s a Ponyville tradition, and you’ve never taken part.” The Princess of Friendship drew closer and placed a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “Besides, I think the exercise might do you some good. You’re not looking so well recently.”
Starlight brushed the hoof aside. “I’m just a little low on sleep. I make the most progress on determining Oppy’s origin at night. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the initial contact happened at night. The stars give me focus.”
Twilight frowned at that. “Even so, you should take better care of yourself. If nothing else, take the chance to get your mind off things for a while. Enjoy the scenery, go at a comfortable pace and have some fun.”
“Got your numbers,” Spike called as he joined the group on his return from the registration desk and helped the two equines and one rover to fasten their starting numbers. 42 for Twilight, 17 for Starlight, and Oppy had been given 01 as his starter number by the donkey at the registration desk who was currently waving in his direction.
Opportunity raised its arm and waved back in greeting. The rover watched an unenthused Starlight drain the rest of her coffee while Spike helped with her number and then turned its attention to Twilight. “Question. What purpose experiment Running of Leaves?”
“Oh,” Twilight began, “well, it’s rather simple. The racers follow the path through the White Tail Woods to help the trees shed their leaves for the coming winter.”
Opportunity stared at her.
“You know. We have to help the trees shed their leaves, so we can bring in the snow clouds from the weather factory soon.”
Opportunity turned, poked Starlight and pointed at the alicorn. “Twilight broken,” it said in a factual manner. “Is go crazy, Twilynanas.”
“Hey!”
While Twilight stomped her hooves and puffed up her cheeks, Starlight had the first genuine giggle since she’d been woken up. “Oppy, do you remember the talk we had about where weather comes from with Rainbow Dash?” she asked.
The rover considered that and slowly moved its camera eyes up and down in a nod. “Opportunity see. Twilight and Rainbow both crazy.”
Before Twilight could lodge another complaint in defense of her sanity, two more unicorns joined the group. “Hey, gang. Good morning!”
“Sunset,” Starlight called out in surprise, “what are you doing here?”
“Sunburst invited me,” she replied, pointing at her companion who had been given the starter number 501 while her own cutie mark was covered up with a 66.
Starlight raised an eyebrow and then settled into a knowing smile when she caught the nervous look on the face of her childhood friend. “Did he, now?”
“Yeah,” Sunburst confirmed with a forced laugh, “I mean, mirror dimension excursion aside, we had a lot of fun the other day. I thought, since we both know a lot of languages from our respective worlds, it would be interesting to continue discussing the topic in a broader spectrum.”
“And I’ve always wanted to see a real Earth Pony seasonal tradition,” Sunset added, turning slightly to look at the colorful trees which had the ‘unintended’ effect of showing off her flank to Sunburst who swallowed in response.
“It seems like a worthwhile field of study,” Starlight pointed out, turning to Twilight. “What do you say, Twi? Maybe you could enchant a new magic journal so the two of them can stay in touch when Sunburst returns to the Crystal Empire?”
“Huh?” Twilight, who had been in the middle of giving Oppy a refresher course in pegasus weather mechanics, looked up. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Now see here, Opportunity, the weather factory takes the water collected during tornado duty and …”
“Really!?” Sunburst couldn’t help but break into a huge grin before coughing into his hoof. “I mean, sure. That sounds like a useful tool to exchange knowledge. Hey, how about I get us some refreshments? It’s important to stay hydrated for the race, after all.”
“Thanks, Sunburst.” Sunset waited for him to get out of earshot before she turned to Starlight. “Does he … actually think he’s being subtle?”
Starlight giggled in response. “Probably. Go easy on him. He’s not really good at playing it cool.”
“Oh, I think it’s cute,” Sunset admitted. “So, just checking, you and him aren’t …”
“Aren’t what? Oh! No, no, no, no,” Starlight waved the thought off. “We’re just friends. Good friends, but friends. No worries here. Go for it if you think this could turn into something. I actually thought you might make a cute couple when I decided to introduce you.” Jabbing Sunset in the side, she added: “I mean, I didn’t think you’d sweep him off his feet and declare your undying love in front of the whole school on your first date.”
Sunset blushed. “You know that’s not how it went down!”
“No,” Starlight admitted, “but you have to admit, it would make for a cute story to tell your foals someday.”
Before Sunset could get another word in, Miss Cheerilee’s voice could be heard over the speakers that had been set up on the festival grounds. “Calling all racers, please assemble at the starting line. All racers to the starting line!”
Twilight held her hoof up to her brow and surveyed the track as she stood at the mostly deserted finish line with the few others who had remained.
Spike had taken over record-keeping duties for the last few stragglers while the majority of racers and spectators had made their way home or to various watering holes around town to finish off the evening with a cider or two.
Sunset and Sunburst were still here, talking quietly with the occasional giggle, as Sunset wanted to give her farewells to Starlight and Oppy in person before returning home through the mirror.
Twilight, for her part, had stayed because of what she could only describe as an uneasy feeling. “Is it only Starlight and Oppy now?”
“Yep,” Spike confirmed, not even consulting his scroll as he’d answered Twilight’s question a couple of times now. “Everypony else has crossed the finish line and is accounted for.”
“Maybe we should go look for them.”
Sunset rolled her eyes at the fidgeting alicorn. “Relax, Twilight. You know Oppy can’t go that fast, even with his new wheels. And I’m sure Starlight just isn’t going to stray from his side.”
“It’s not Oppy I’m worried about,” Twilight replied, biting her lip. “I made Starlight participate because I thought it might do her some good.”
“Well, she hasn’t been looking that well lately,” Sunset said quietly, her lips drawing into a thin line as she thought back to the state her friend had been in when crossing the portal during Oppy’s excursion to CHS. “Still, I’m sure they’re fine.”
“Hey, there they are!” Spike shouted, pointing.
The two unicorns and the alicorn breathed a collective sigh of relief as they saw Oppy’s outline against the setting sun with its arm raised high as if waving at them.
Twilight was about to make a self-deprecating joke about her own paranoia when the knot in her stomach suddenly returned with a vengeance. “Something’s wrong. Do any of you see Starlight?”
Taking a second look, neither of the others could say they did, though they could tell that Opportunity was dragging something behind it.
“I don’t like this,” Twilight declared. Sunset could feel the alicorn’s magic gathering as she prepared to teleport to the rover’s side.
“I’m coming, too.” Sunset prepared her own teleport spell, and the two of them materialized in front of a momentarily startled Opportunity.
“Twilight! Help! Starlight broken! Fix!”
Sunset wasn’t sure if Twilight had taken any of those words in as she stared in open-mouthed horror at the unicorn laying still on the improvised sled of tree bark and vines the rover had dragged all the way here.
“Starlight!” Twilight threw herself onto the ground next to her friend, holding a hoof up to her forehead. “She’s still breathing, but she’s burning up!”
“Help! Fix Starlight!” Opportunity urged nervously.
Sunset drew in her breath to calm her nerves and looked behind her. Spike and Sunburst had already sprinted half the distance towards them, probably alarmed by Twilight’s initial outcry, and Sunset fired off another teleport to meet them halfway. “Where’s the closest hospital?” she asked the two startled guys.
“Uh, Ponyville General,” Spike replied, thinking fast. “No, wait. They set up a medical tent in the fair grounds for injuries during the race.”
“Go there,” she simply said, “get a doctor, NOW!”
She didn’t waste any time to wait for confirmation, hoping the urgency in her voice had made clear the seriousness of what she was asking, and teleported back to the others.
“Starlight, Starlight,” Twilight babbled between sobs she was trying to hold back. “Say something, what happened?”
“That’s a good question,” Sunset said, but she could tell that she wouldn’t get the answers from the unicorn whose eyes were closed and whose breathing was labored. So she turned to the one person who had been with her. “What happened, Oppy?”
The rover tore its cameras away and forced itself to look at her. “Help! Help Starlight! Not go! Not leave in the dark like Spirit! Fix Starlight! Please!”
Sunset took another calming breath, realizing that between the sobbing Princess and the panicking rover it once again fell to her to take charge. “Oppy,” she said slowly and deliberately, “I want to help Starlight. We will fix her. But I need to know what happened.”
The rover rocked back and forth nervously. “Starlight and Opportunity run leaves. Go slow. Starlight say tired. So Opportunity go slow. Stop now and then to look at rock. Let Starlight rest. Then Starlight say feel woozy. Look at Opportunity but not look. Look odd. Fall over.”
Opportunity looked over at the unicorn and began to drive circles around Twilight and Starlight, perhaps hoping to see any way to help. “Oppy, focus,” Sunset said. “What happened then?”
“Starlight no wake up. Opportunity no know what to do.” The rover held up its claw. “No get stuck like brother Spirit. Opportunity take bark from tree. Put Starlight on it. Bring Starlight here for help. Please help!”
“Alright,” Sunset said, putting a hoof on the rover’s front wheel to calm it down. “You’ve done well. Leave the rest to us. Now, how did that aura sight spell go.” Sunset knelt down next to Twilight to start working the problem. What she saw horrified her. “Twilight, look at her!”
“I am! This all my fault! I shouldn’t have pushed her to run. But I didn’t know how ill she was. Why didn’t she say anything?” A fresh round of sobs racked the alicorn.
“Twilight,” Sunset barked, forcibly grabbing her head to make eye contact and snap the alicorn out of her shock. “Stop freaking out and really LOOK at her!”
Twilight looked into Sunset’s glowing eyes and up to her glowing horn, somewhat calming down at recognizing the magic and casting her own aura sight spell. Then she gasped. “Her thaumic channels! They’re completely blocked up!”
“It’s worse. Look at her magic reservoir.”
Once again, the shock was evident in Twilight’s voice. “It’s almost empty! That shouldn’t even be possible. Not even a conscious spell should be able to draw that much magic. The body will always keep back some magic that’s necessary for vital functions.”
“Evidently not always. She’s in acute thaumic shock from the lack of magic. How much healing magic do you know?”
“Not a lot,” Twilight admitted. “How about you?”
“Enough, … I hope. We need to restore the mana flow around her body. Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re an alicorn, so you have a deeper reserve than me. You’ll infuse her reservoir with fresh magic. Meanwhile, I’m going to use concentrated bursts of localized magic to clear the blockages.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for the doctor to get here?” Twilight asked nervously. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Even if the doctor gets here, we’re gonna need you, Twilight,” Sunset explained. “For this to work, we’ll have to attune our magic to her aura. You’re the only one who knows her well enough to do this. Right now, we’re the only chance she’s got.”
Twilight gulped and looked over towards Opportunity. “Fix Starlight,” it pleaded again. “Please fix. Make healthy again.”
The Princess of Friendship suddenly felt a wave of resolve and nodded. “We’ll do our best,” she said, her voice steady for the first time since she’d laid eyes upon her friend in that state. She turned back to Sunset. “What do you need me to do?”
“Okay, first you’re going to have to replicate her aura exactly. Then I’m going to copy it off you. We need this to be as close to Starlight’s natural magic as possible, or her body will reject the foreign magic.”
Twilight nodded and closed her eyes, trying to recall every magic training session she’d ever had with her student at once, even the time Starlight had used her magic to rip off Twilight’s own cutie mark. While an unpleasant memory, it had perhaps left the greatest imprint of Starlight’s raw magic in her mind. And if it meant saving her pupil, Twilight would force herself to relive every horrible moment of that pain over and over again.
“Alright, that’s good,” Sunset said, watching the glow around Twilight’s horn slowly change from its usual lavender to a light turquoise. Drawing on her own magic, she began to adjust it to the same spectrum.
“You got it?” Twilight asked, sweat standing atop her brow as she forced herself to channel her magic in a way that felt completely unnatural to her.
“Yeah,” Sunset confirmed, clenching her teeth and fighting equally hard to keep hold of the aura in her mind’s eye. “Alright, I’m going to count to three. On three, you flood her whole body with as much magic as you can, and I’ll fire a directed bolt at the blockage in her thaumic channel. The new magic should be drawn from her reservoir, clear the pathways and restore magic flow around her body.”
Not trusting herself to speak without breaking her concentration, Twilight nodded.
“Okay,” Sunset said and picked her first target, a large blockage of magic in Starlight’s left shoulder, “one, two, … THREE!”
There was no visible sign that anything had changed. Starlight was still laying unconscious, her breathing labored and shallow.
“Starlight,” Oppy whimpered quietly.
“Again,” Sunset said resolutely, picking a new target in Starlight’s right hind leg. “One, two, THREE!”
Once again, nothing changed on the surface, even though Sunset could tell that Starlight’s reservoir was beginning to hold some of the new magic and the pathways were beginning to clear. She glanced over at Twilight. The alicorn’s jaw was set and tears were freely flowing from the corners of her eyes, but she held her concentration and was already building up another charge. Any normal unicorn would have already been out for the count herself after giving up that much of their own magic.
“Again,” Sunset repeated, surprising herself with how calm her own voice sounded in her ears. “One, two, THREE!”
This time Starlight did react. Her body jumped ever so slightly, and her eyelashes fluttered briefly, even though they remained closed.
“Again! One, two, THREE! And again! One, two, THREE! One more time, one, two, THREE! Come on, Twilight, we can do this! One, two, THREE! Stay with us, Starlight! ONE, TWO, THREE!!!”
Over and over, they gave it everything they had, until finally Starlight could be heard coughing weakly and her eyes fluttered open. “What … what happened?” she asked in a raspy voice.
“Starlight!” Opportunity exclaimed
Meanwhile Sunset and Twilight, having given everything they had to give, collapsed onto the ground, congratulating each other wordlessly with tired smiles as their chests heaved to catch their breaths.
“Over here! Quickly,” Sunset could hear Spike’s voice call out as she spotted him, Sunburst and what looked to be a doctor and nurse pony galloping towards them with a stretcher.
High in orbit over the giant gas planet of Jupiter, a triangular probe named after the wife of the planet’s namesake soared in a highly eccentric orbit. Diving in and out of the gargantuan magnetic field at mind-boggling speeds to take readings of and better understand the planet’s atmosphere, magnetosphere and gravitational field.
It was the ultimate rollercoaster ride, lazily drifting along the apoapsis of its orbit before hurtling itself at the periapsis in an effort to hit that small window necessary to keep itself from getting fried by the magnet field of the solar system’s biggest planet.
It was during one of the more sedate moments that Juno received the signal, fired its thrusters to reorient and began to send.
*** AOS – DSN (relayed via MSL-Direct) ***
*** Message Received (Source: JPL): EXEC SP UPDATE ***
*** Serendipity Protocol Activated: Downloading Software Updates ***
*** Relaying Message ***