Moondancer hummed, lightly picking up a wrench and using it to unscrew and pluck out a half-melted fire ruby from the waterlogged device they’d managed to fish out of the lake. She hated to admit it, but the device WAS genius.
Through a mixture of gemstones, magical runes, some standard metals and a lot of magic, this ‘artificial sun’ had enough power in it to dwarf any standard heat lamp, by a wide margin. Of course, there were at least a dozen different safety violations that she could see within it.
Had it been refined a bit more, it would have been a true masterpiece. She then glanced to Twilight, who was writing down notes of her own while she took apart the power array. She couldn’t help but feel admiration for the earth pony. That and grateful. It had been obvious Moondancer wasn’t wanted here, that none of the ponies wanted them around. She’d seen the dirty looks.
Even worse, the mayor had kept talking over her, as if she wasn’t here at all. As if she hadn’t mattered. A small part of her wondered if that was true. Maybe she didn’t.
But Twilight hadn’t. Twilight had come up with a solution that needed both of them, a solution that not only satisfied the ponies of the town, but also involved the unicorns, in a roundabout way. While there had been some resistance, nopony could deny that the sun WAS the result of magic. They had so many tales of unicorn magic being used to raise it before Celestia that it could be nothing less. So having unicorn magic to ‘cheat’ sunlight out when there was none was an acceptable solution.
In the few days they’d been here, the reaction she got from the villagers had shifted from glares to joy and acceptance. She felt welcomed here, now. Truly wanted. It felt nice.
“Cocoa?” Spike asked when he walked over, holding up one of the two mugs he held.
She nodded, taking it in her magic before he walked off to give a mug to Twilight. Having Canterlot’s number one assistant to help them was nice as well. He wasn’t nearly as smart as the two of them, but his assistance had been irreplaceable. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit a small part of her was sad to see him go back to serving Twilight. She’d loved having his assistance while the earth pony was laid up. Still, she’d happily give up having an assistant any day, if it meant Twilight could keep helping her cope with Nightmare Moon.
She glanced back to the earth pony and gave a soft sigh. Twilight just didn’t know how to take it easy no matter what she did, did she? Within a few hours of arriving she’d already managed to come up with the perfect solution to this issue, without causing a riot. On top of that, she was able to find a position for all of them, that helped them be utilized to their full potential.
She lightly chuckled when she remembered Twilight going over the organization charts for the teams. They’d been a disaster. Well, most of them had been a disaster. Two teams, in particular, had stood out.
Trixie’s and Cheerilee’s. Apparently the magician mare had quite a strange knack for organizing ponies (that or something she’d learned from organizing books and the ponies who came for her new magic trick lessons). Cheerilee had spent years organizing the foals, so managing grown ponies was only slightly harder for her. Apparently the two had created a small bit of a bond, as well, due to the latter helping the former setup her magic trick classes. Now the two were the key ponies organizing everypony to ensure that they were all keeping to a timely schedule. It was a thing of beauty. Without Trixie and Mayor Mare fighting, the latter mare was more than happy to focus on other duties of her office.
Moondancer was certain that Twilight would have done it all herself, if Trixie’s team hadn’t finally fished the fake sun out of the lake. Still, she suspected it was better this way. Trixie and Cheerilee knew this town and the ponies who lived in it, they’d know best how to organize it. Trixie had even managed to convince Zecora to come out of the woods to aid them, where she was serving alongside the other ponies in the first aid group. Her potions were just the kind of relief they needed for ponies who overworked themselves or froze.
The unicorn gave another soft sigh before slowly sipping her cocoa. Twilight was the kind of pony who would burn herself to ash before she’d let anything else come to harm. Ponies rallied around her, focused on her. Saw her for how amazing she really was. She just wished Twilight could see how valuable she was and how much they all needed her. She wasn’t ‘just a writer’ to any of them.
“Moondancer, do you think if we splice a fire ruby with a moon sapphire it would help deal with the overload issue?” Twilight asked, holding up a partially melted red gemstone. “Because I think that’s where the fault was. If we can better reinforce the fire rubies, we can prevent the whole system from erupting like into… well, a fire.”
The unicorn shook her head. “No. Moon sapphire’s are normally good for cooling them down, but I think it may dampen them too much. We’d need nearly twice as much as the prototype had, but it’d likely draw too much attention from Nightmare Moon. At that point half the ponies in Canterlot would be able to see it.”
The earth pony hummed, before giving a nod and continuing her dismantling of the device. Moondancer couldn’t help but smile, watching the other mare. She understood why Nightmare Moon was so infatuated by the earth pony. She truly was unique.
“What in Equestria?” Twilight asked. “Moondancer, do you know what this is?”
“Hmmm?” the unicorn asked before getting to her hooves and trotting over. She looked over the pieces her friend had opened, revealing the core and power source of the device.
A large golden ring, nearly a foot in diameter. There didn’t seem to be any markings on it, however. No runes or gemstones. “That’s… weird. One second.” Her horn glowed and she quickly performed a quick magical scan. She let out a light gasp, stepping back quickly. “O-oh.”
“What is it?” Twilight asked. “I… thought it was the primary power director, but--”
“Nope, that’s definitely it,” Moondancer said before lifting the ring up and looking at it closely. “There’s a lot of magic in this. Old magic. Possibly even sun magic. Where in the world did Flim and Flam get this from?” she asked. “There’s no way those two made this. It’s way too old for that.=”
Twilight nodded, eyeing it as well. “Do you think we could use it, then?”
“Yes...” Moondancer said, staring at the ring. Whatever it was, it felt like Celestia’s magic was all over it. She then picked up one of the melted fire rubies. “So that means they were sending their magic into this and were just using the rubies as the focus, if we could create a better connection system...”
“Quartz?”
“Possibly, but that’s not very stable. Wait, what about topaz?”
“No, too delicate. What about green emeralds?”
“That might work. With obsidian coating?”
“YES! That’s perfect, and if we set them up in a four point binding?”
Moondancer’s eyes widened. “A-a four point? But what about the feedback issue?”
“If we use a diamond connector, it should be enough to stabilize the connection. Then if we--”
“Used a golden wavey setting!” the two ponies said in unison, their eyes glimmering with delight.
Moondancer nodded. “That’s perfect! That should work!”
Twilight frowned. “Though, there’s still one problem. Even if it won’t be as bright as the sun, the magic that it unleashes might… well.”
“It’ll be more concentrated,” the unicorn said. “It’ll let Trixie and her team get the job done safer and faster. But require more power, too. It’ll draw Nightmare Moon like a moth to the flame, as well. There’s no way she wouldn’t notice something like this if she’s keeping an eye out for anything resembling Celestia’s magic. This will be the closest thing to the real sun we have. But fortunately, I have a plan.”
Twilight stared, her eyes lighting up. “You do? What?”
“It’ll be dangerous for both of us. But… if we can disrupt Nightmare Moon’s magic, we can do this. I know just the place, too. We’ll need to lure her out, though.”
“Lure her out? Where? Disrupting her magic seems...”
“Well, not quite disrupt her magic. More… stop her from noticing things that are too far away. Somewhere the magic is… weird. But...” Dread flowed slowly into the unicorn’s heart. “… We’d have to go into the Everfree Forest. Magic doesn’t work quite right there. If she’s in there, she might not notice at all. Especially if we’re distracting her. It… would be our best bet.”
Twilight frowned, tapping a hoof on her chin. “We’d need to keep her in there for hours, though. Practically a whole day. That wouldn’t be easy.”
Moondancer nodded. As much as she hated to think it, there was only one place, one way she could see them dragging the mare there and keeping her there all day. “We’d… need to go to the Castle of the Two Sisters.” Just saying it sent chills down her spine.
“Moondancer? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, moving in a little closer.
“Nothing.”
“I can tell something is,” the earth pony said before reaching out and putting a hoof on the other mare’s withers. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Moondancer stared Twilight before sighing. If there was anypony who’d understand, it was her. “That’s where I… where I confronted Nightmare Moon. It’s where she destroyed the Elements of Harmony. It’s… where I failed.”
The earth pony stared at her for a few moments before stepping in once more, hugging her tightly. “It’s okay. I can go alone with her, I--”
“Not a chance. It’s fine. Really. We’ll… we’ll do this together. We can draw her there, say it’s for research. Say it’s to get information about how the castle once was. Or something. For us? It’ll be easy to spend an entire day there. And with her to explain things to us, well… having an escort FROM that time period is the perfect excuse. Right?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes! You’re brilliant, Moondancer. I always knew Celestia made the right choice with you as her student.”
The unicorn blinked a few times when her friend pulled back from the hug and she stared at the earth pony dismantling the few remaining pieces of the device.
What if Moondancer had been the wrong choice all along? She’d failed to stop any of this. The idea of going to the location of her ultimate defeat made her feel sick to her stomach. Going with Nightmare Moon as well only made it worse.
But if Twilight was there, if they did this together? She didn’t doubt they could do this. Just like they could create this false sun. As a team.
Maybe if Twilight had been there from the beginning, she never would have failed at all.
------
“That’s it?” Trixie asked, eyeing the small, black device. “It looks like a big stage light,” she said before picking it up in her magic. The device itself was round and black, not much bigger than a picnic basket. A golden rod pointed out from the back, though the front had a clear, diamond lens with four red gems inside. The internal network of gems seemed to be connected with smaller green gems, obsidian and a gold setting. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what any of it meant.
“It IS a stage light,” Twilight said firmly. “A very, very, very powerful one. Effectively.”
“In order to power it, you’ll need to direct the unicorn’s to focus their power into the golden rod and DON’T!” Moondancer shrieked, her own horn glowing before she yanked the device out of Trixie’s magic. “Careful with this! Do NOT use it inside!”
The performer rolled her eyes. “I was just going to test it. The Great and Powerful Trixie KNOWS what she’s doing. It’s so… small, though. Are you certain this will work? Flim and Flam’s device was at least four times the size of this tiny thing.”
“It won’t be as bright,” Moondancer said, slowly lowering the device back down. “But it WILL cover a much wider area. Do NOT operate it with less than five unicorns.”
“Hmph! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie could do it on her own if need be, I--”
“Won’t need to,” Mayor Mare said with a shake of her head. “You have a full team for a reason, Trixie. It’d hardly be fair if you were doing all of that on your own, now would it?” she asked. “Besides, we need you for supervising still. If you’re focusing on this, who will be watching over all your teams?”
The unicorn paused before giving a soft sigh. “You’re right, I suppose. The Brilliant and Well Organized Trixie must ensure all goes as planned. Now gimme,” Trixie muttered, taking the device back from Moondancer. “Are you sure this will work?”
“Yes. The drain on it is incredible, however. I’ve already tested it myself and… well, while it does work...” Moondancer trailed off, her cheeks red.
“It knocked her on her flank in about a second,” Spike said with a shrug.
“Spike!” Twilight said, glancing over to the dragon.
“What? You ponies always beat around the bush. I’m just telling it like it is.”
“He is right, though,” Moondancer said quickly. “It has a lot of kick. I wouldn’t have less than five ponies power it at once. It could hurt their horns if there are less. So you’ll need to make sure that you keep them working in shifts, okay? Spike will be staying behind to help you, as well. Don’t use it until we say, either. If you do, there’s a good chance Nightmare Moon will sense it. Wait until we have gone into the forest for about thirty minutes before turning it on.”
“I think I can handle that,” Trixie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Is there anything else? Perhaps a safety manual? Want me to wear a helmet? Safety goggles? No? Then trust me, the Great and Powerful Trixie, to know how to handle a light.” She turned around and stuck up her nose, trotting out the door. “The nerve of some ponies. As if I don’t know how to organize my team or handle some overgrown flashlight.”
The three remaining ponies and dragon shared a look before rolling their eyes. “As much as I hate to say it, she IS really good at her job,” Mayor Mare said with a sigh. “Even if she is a pain in the flank some days...”
“I heard that!” Trixie yelled back at them.
------
Nightmare Moon cocked an eye, reading through the letter. She didn’t have time for such silliness. She was ruling an entire kingdom. Her kingdom.
But Twilight was specifically requesting HER to show them. To explain things to them. Even if Moondancer was there. However, she was beginning to dislike the notion of being around the two at the same time. If ever there were a pair of ponies who could drive her to the brink of brain melting with their lectures, it was those two. How could ANYPONY perform a magic point presentation as a means to get information from their captives? Even she would never be so cruel.
Besides, she’d barely made it through the first page of their prior report on slugs. She’d finally given up on reading it and turned it over to one of the librarians. Once she’d said who it was made by, she would have sworn she heard the pony mumble something about ‘adding it to the shrine’. But she was certain she misheard. Why would anypony care about a report on slugs that much?
On the other hoof, as Twilight said, she was the only living witness of such an old place. Her old home. There were things about it only she knew. Discussing her past with the mare would be far more interesting than any slugs. It might even help the earth pony to better understand her. To see who she was. To reconsider her earlier denial of an eternity besides her.
Maybe.
Her horn glowed and she began to write a letter back to her bard. She would be at her side tomorrow. Taking one day off couldn’t cause any problems, she was sure.