Twilight felt like a new mare.
It wasn't just that the Radiant Hope, flagship of the Crystal Empire, had a full suite of sanitary facilities. Or that she'd got a full night's sleep. As she perched on the prow of the Radiant Hope, the chill air blasting her clear in the face, she felt as though their recent nightmare might finally be ending. According to the captain they would be landing in the next few minutes. Or... finding somewhere good to drop anchor while those with wings flew down to follow the tracking spell, as the case might be.
Of course I haven't told them yet that she's probably not down there. A Worldgate spell as powerful as the one she used could've taken her across realm boundaries as easily as it could move her through space. She should probably bridge that gap before they landed, and poor Princess Cadance exploded with despair.
But now that she wasn't wrung as dry as an old sponge, Twilight felt like she was up to the task. Ponies weren't meant to work without sleeping until they accomplished every task. Even four hours in bed had been enough to restore her sanity. It's a good thing I didn't fail that spell on the first cast. That would've been days wasted with Cadance slowly losing her mind.
"Twilight!" called a voice from the other side of the deck. Cadance herself, emerging from the enclosed helm cabin past a pair of crystal pony guards. "Twilight, we're here! I think you... probably want to come with us, right?"
Twilight crossed the deck in a single teleport, appearing beside Cadance in a flash. She got the sense that the other Alicorn still hadn’t slept yet. But at this point, it might actually be to her advantage. Cadance was probably so drained by now that any magical disasters that occurred as a result of her emotions would be minimal. "There are some things I should tell you before we get to the ground, Cadance," Twilight began.
But Cadance didn't seem to be listening. She grabbed her with a foreleg, tugging her towards the edge of the deck. A metal railing waited here, since the Radiant Hope was one of the newer Ironclad airships. Probably the only one in the Crystal Empire. It had lots of cannons and other military things that Twilight didn't really care about. But from the number of soldiers Twilight had seen since getting aboard, maybe Cadance thought her foal would be in the clutches of some dangerous enemy—instead of just wandering through the forest.
It was a different kind of forest than the one Twilight was used to. The mountains were covered with pines and other evergreens, their spiny leaves visible even from her great height.
"There's nothing down there," Cadance said, poking over the railing beside her and looking down. “No spells, no towns... nothing. Are we sure this is still working?" She held up the tracking spell in her magic, where Twilight could grip it easily. She made sure she was holding on securely before pulling it over—at this height, she could easily lose it to a gust and not get it back.
Twilight inspected the spell itself for a moment. The bear was pointing almost straight down now, still held in the spell's faintly luminous grip. Nothing had tampered with the runes—but she'd already known this would happen. "The chances Flurry Heart would end up somewhere populated were much smaller than the chances she'd end up out in the middle of nowhere. There's a lot more nowhere. Let's just... be glad you don't have more ocean paintings."
Cadance twitched once, possibly not even comprehending what she was suggesting. Maybe that was for the best. "I was planning on flying down with you, letting the guards catch up. Are you ready?"
Twilight nodded. "Sure Cadance, but you need to understand. We might only be halfway—"
The other Alicorn took off, spreading her wings wide and gusting air all around. She lifted up over the edge, then turned to face straight down. "I'm coming, sweetheart! Mommy's here!" She dove.
Twilight groaned, then followed. Her own flight wasn't half as graceful as Cadance, not even after all these years. Her babysitter had grown up as a pegasus after all, not a unicorn. Besides, Twilight had to keep the tracking spell close all the time. If she just let herself fall straight down, the toy inside would probably be torn right out, and lost to the sky. She held the tracker against her back with magic, gliding down in a gentle spiral with the Radiant Hope to orient herself. Cadance didn't seem to care to even do that, and her screams were lost on the wind as she dove. I hope my brother is doing okay. He must be just as hurt over this as Cadance.
But maybe they were about to be done. Twilight caught herself as she neared the trees, spreading her wings wide and breaking into a gentle hover. Finally she pulled out the tracker, holding it carefully in her magic. The toy pointed ahead and down, and from the sharpness of the angle it wasn't very far.
Cadance kept flying, zipping overhead and probably scanning the forest floor for any sign of little pink Alicorns. Twilight could see none yet, though that didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe she'd found a hollow to hide in, or an empty log. It had been long enough now that the baby must've found water and shelter, or else the tracker probably would've failed on its own. But maybe Alicorn foals could just make those when they needed them? The whole idea was still a struggle for Twilight to understand.
Eventually the toy started pointing straight down. Not into the thick forest, but a clearing on the edge of a mountain. There were a few scraggly cacti wedged between the rocks, but nothing even slightly more substantial. More importantly, there was nowhere a little Alicorn might be hiding.
Twilight landed anyway, wincing at what she knew would be coming. She held out the tracker, watching it carefully. She walked a few steps, until the doll stopped pointing forward. It lifted one little foreleg, then started to move the dials along the edge. It twisted wide of the single other set of symbols Twilight actually knew, until the dials might as well have been scrambled. "Well... great."
What was even worse, the spell's power couldn't follow beyond the exact position Flurry Heart had crossed. She could've flown miles, and they'd have to track her all over again on that side. Without an airship, unless she cut a hole quite a bit bigger than anything even Star Swirl had achieved. Which... probably wasn't going to happen.
"Twilight." Cadance landed behind her with a crash, scattering dirt and small stones in a circle around her hooves. "I notice you've stopped moving, and my daughter... doesn't seem to be here." Twilight couldn't tell if that tone was terrified or furious. Maybe both? "What's going on? Did your spell... did you not cast it correctly?"
"I've been trying to tell you." Twilight spun around slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves. She knew better than to do anything that might provoke an angry Alicorn mother. She might as well be facing off with a bear. "A Worldgate can do more than travel through space. That's why long-range teleports are so difficult. If something's off, you can end up in another world as well."
Apparently that wasn't the response Cadance was expecting, because she wilted a little. She slumped to the ground, ears flattening. "So we're... we haven't found her yet. My daughter isn't here. We have to..." She whimpered, then wiped her eyes with a wing. "Another world? What does that mean?"
Every time her babysitter said something like this, she had to remember that not every Alicorn was a student of the magical arts. She was a pegasus. And she's on the edge of hysteria right now. Still, at least her anger hadn't lasted too long. "There are... an infinite number," Twilight explained. "The closer ones are very much like our world, and the further out you go, the more unlike they become. My tracking spell is showing Flurry at the place she crossed... this one is pretty similar, but further from the only other world I've visited."
"So you have to cast another spell," Cadance said. "Like that mirror, right? Make a way for us to cross."
She said it like it was a household chore, something they could do in an afternoon. "Yes," Twilight agreed. "But... that mirror portal was one of Star Swirl’s greatest accomplishments, Princess. It took him... years to make."
She might as well have stabbed her. Cadance practically melted, her body shuddering and her eyes welling up with tears. "Y-you mean my daughter... is going to be living alone in these Celestia-forsaken mountains for... years?"
Twilight hurried over to her side, settling one hoof on her shoulder. "We do have most of Star Swirl's notes! So... we won't have to figure everything out all over again. If we don't remake the wheel, then we should be able to have something ready in... a few weeks." Even as she said it, it felt like she was signing her own execution. Oh sure, I'll accomplish one of the greatest magical feats ever achieved in a few weeks. No big deal. What could possibly go wrong? "But I can't do it here. I'm going to need my lab, this tracking spell, and... raw materials rare enough to empty a treasury."
"Whatever they are, you'll have them," Cadance said, rising again. She shook her head once, and stoic determination replaced her nervous fear. "And in the meantime... the Crystal Army will deploy on this mountain. I'm getting my daughter back, no matter what it costs."