//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Between the Sun and the Moon // by Psychic Smith //------------------------------// CHAPTER VIII “Are you serious?” Nick finally asked, breaking the tension that was building over what seemed to be minutes of silence. “You are the reason we’re here?” Will was balling his fists, the hand holding onto his crutch had white knuckles. His hand was shaking. Whether or not it was anticipation or anger, no one could tell. Celestia stayed seated on her cushion, her face an impenetrable mask that hid all emotions. Clover nodded slightly, as the unicorn seemed to shrink into her seat slightly, temporarily forgetting her usual racial confidence. “Well that’s good news, right?” Will asked, trying to ease the tension in his body and think positive. “If you brought us here, you can send us back!” Clover couldn’t look Will in the eye. Seeing the shimmer of hope that was in those eyes had broken her heart. Nick, seeing Clover deflate further, got all the answers he needed from that small change in posture. “You can’t,” Nick said flatly, lacking emotion. Clover could only give another nod. “You can’t?” Will asked, not able to wrap his head around the fact. “Why not? You did it before!” His voice was getting louder. A trait he inherited from his mother, who would always raise her voice to a yell whenever a conversation got stressful. Clover straightened a bit, now on the defensive. “It was an accident!” Clover’s voice matched Will’s tone and was just slightly louder. “Oh really? And how exactly is magic just supposed to happen accidentally?” Will added air quotes at the end to emphasize his frustration. “Did you just go ‘Oh, oopsie! My silly horn tore a fucking hole in the space-time continuum’?” The volume of Will’s voice prompted the guards from the hall to enter, spears at the ready. Celestia stopped them with a raised hoof. Will, didn’t seem to notice, continuing his rant. “That’s fucking horse shit! I may not have any magic of my own, but I don’t think you can summon wormholes on accident!” “Well, it’s not like I wanted two hairless freaks to come to my home!” “Freaks!?” “That spell wasn’t meant for you! It was meant for-” Clover stopped herself like she was just about to give up a terrible secret. Celestia noticed, finally deciding to join the conversation. “That spell was meant for, who?” Straight and to the point. The question had backed Clover into a corner. She could try to lie, but why? This was the ruler of a kingdom she was addressing now, not two aliens that Clover had no measure of their capabilities. She wasn’t sure what she was afraid of more. Will, who looked ready to lash out at any moment, or Celestia, the princess that could see through any lie from a mile away. Honestly, Clover would rather take on the alien. She could magic her way out of that one. Clover sighed, voice softening. “I- I tried to bring him back.” The room went silent again. Celestia just nodded sadly. “Clover, I know it’s hard to take in right now, but Starswirl… he’s-” “My master is not dead!” Clover was nearly screaming at the princess, taking the wind right out of Nick and Will’s sails. “I read the spells, it should have been perfectly safe. I read master Starswirl’s notes, and everything looked flawless. I couldn’t pull it off because my magic isn’t strong enough. I have the technique, but I don’t have the power. Not yet. Master always had the strongest magic of any unicorn. Master Starswirl is alive!” Clover’s rant left her breathless, panting as the princess, humans, and the guards stared at her wide-eyed. She started weeping, looking down at the ground, not willing to meet the other’s faces. Forgetting his anger, Will hobbled around the table, plopping down next to Clover. A little unsure of himself and after a brief hesitation, Will wrapped an arm around the crying mare, pulling her into a hug. Clover tensed, not sure how to feel, but eventually leaned into the embrace. Nobody spoke while Clover sobbed into Will’s shirt. Nick was the first to speak up. “Will? What the hell?” Will smiled sadly. “You remember that time we were left in tears thinking about… well, you know… the time after we saw West Side Story?” Nick remembered. Will had just received news that an American ship was attacked by a middle easter torpedo. There were minimum deaths, but Will was terrified. If there was about to be another war he didn’t want to see his brother Jeremy be taken back into the service. Nick nodded. Giving Clover a gentle, reassuring squeeze, Will looked up to Nick. “You know I can’t stand to see someone crying. It’s like a yawn. Sadness is contagious. Nothing that a hug can’t fix though.” Clover gave a weak chuckle, tapping Will’s arm telling him to let go. He did. She used a foreleg to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Thanks. I needed that.” Clover shifted in her seat, straightening up to a more professional posture. “Now. Yes, the spell, if it did cause the rift that brought you to this world, should not have been capable of reaching through to other dimensions than the intended destination,” Clover explained. “To be honest, the original spell was created to create a small dimension, separate from ours. He was going to use it to trap... something. His notes didn’t go into details of that nature. The point is, my reference material was in how to create a small dimensional rift, and not how to re-open one.” Will’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit.” Nick eyed his friend, who was still sitting next to Clover with a bit of interest. That was the tone Will used when he finally figured out the answer to a problem, or just had a realization to some degree. “What is it?” Nick asked “This is really pony themed D&D,” Will said shaking his head. Nick snorted back a laugh. “Seriously!” Will turned his attention back to Clover. “So what you’re saying is… Unicorns are capable of magic so powerful, you can create pocket dimensions on a whim?” Clover nearly looked offended. Her eyes said ‘how dare this creature say such a thing.’ “Not all unicorns can cast spells that advanced. Most don’t go beyond basic levitation. Magic requires study, practice, patience, and luck.” “What does luck have to do with it?” Clover huffed indignantly. “Not all ponies are born with massive mana wells. And those who are sometimes can’t control it well enough to be effective. Have you never learned about any of this in your schooling? Does your world even have schools?” Will’s hands raised in surrender. Nick figured now would be a good time to step in. “Ms. Clover, we mean no disrespect. Magic is just a fairytale where we come from. Magic doesn’t exist.” Clover blinked owlishly at that. Celestia knew what was going through the unicorn’s mind. Clover lit her horn, but Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. “Clover, I have looked into the weave, and they speak the truth. They have no magic within them whatsoever.” Clover continued anyways, eyes glowing white like Celestia’s had when the princess looked into the weave. Clover tilted her head as she examined the two humans. “Well, I can certainly see that they cannot produce magic on their own, but they do have some magic in them.” Celestia nearly froze. Had she missed something? She cast the spell and saw what Clover was seeing. Even though the two humans were mostly invisible to the arcane eye, magics of various colors swirled within their torsos and down to their abdomens. Will also had a few areas of golden color that showed where his wounds were, and where Mending had helped treat. The humans had been completely invisible to the arcane eye before. Now, even though they looked like magic floating in the open air, Celestia knew the two humans now had some magic in their systems. “If I could hazard a guess,” Clover began, “I’d say that consuming our foods and receiving medical treatment from a unicorn has caused some of the world’s magic to seep into their bodies.” Will and Nick shrugged. “Sounds right to me,” They both said simultaneously. Will’s arm shot up as he pointed a finger at Nick. “You owe me a Coke!” Nick chuckled good-naturedly, maintaining some level of decorum in front of royalty. In any other circumstance, he would have chastized Will for his immature nature that he would let slip in front of a princess. Thankfully, Celestia seemed to somewhat enjoy that side of Will. Nick looked at his friend, who continued to inquire about the nature of magic. Will had always been emotionally volatile. Volatile, Nick realized, may have been the wrong word. Will didn’t just snap on a whim, and he wasn’t bipolar. He just tended to… overreact. Overreact was a better descriptor. If Will was angry, you would know immediately. If he was happy, he wouldn’t stop talking unless if it was interrupted with laughter. Sadness usually brought out the tears. Will wore his heart on his sleeve, and Nick admired Will for allowing such a vulnerable part of himself to show so easily. That was something Nick often had trouble with himself. “For the sake of keeping this meeting on-topic,” Celestia interrupted, turning to address Clover. “Is the solution to re-cast the spell, and send William and Nicholas back through?” Clover shook her head. “There are too many variables in the spell for the result to be 100% reliable or accurate. We don’t know where exactly the two of you came from.” Clover looked between the two humans, a shadow of a sad frown on her lips. “Well we came from a place called Earth,” Will said. “Earth of the Milkey Way Galaxy, specifically North America, the United States, and New England.” With a smirk, Will added, “go, Patriots,” in a hushed tone. Clover sighed. “If only it were that simple. There could be hundreds of thousands of universes out there. Finding yours would be like finding a stem of barley in a wheat field.” “So it’s hopeless?” Nick asked dejectedly. “I wouldn’t say that yet,” Clover said quickly. “I still need to do some research into Master Starswirl’s notes. Those could have an answer for you, but I don’t think I will be able to send you home for a while while I continue my study of said notes.” A brief moment passes, and Will turned his head away, hiding his face. He used his crutch to help himself stand. “I- I’m going to go take a walk,” Will said, making his way towards the door leading into the back corridor. He paused before turning away, out of sight. “Please excuse me, Princess,” Will bowed. “And thank you, Clover, for seeing us.” With that, Will left the room, the sound of a guard’s armor shifting as Will’s escort followed in step behind the human. Nick saw the guilt on Clover’s face out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t worry about him. He just needs a moment.” Celestia nodded sagely. “I had hoped that the solution would have been far simpler. I’m sorry Nicholas.” “You have nothing to apologize for, your highness. You’ve taken us into your home, you’ve fed us, and you’ve treated our wounds. We owe you a lot, Princess.” “Then please, enjoy the afternoon. My sister and I should probably begin making preparations to lower the sun.” Nick bowed and left the room, thinking about that last statement. Surely she meant some sort of religious ceremony or another piece of symbolism. Magic horses may be able to do all sorts of crazy shit, but he didn’t think one would be able to move a giant, burning ball of hydrogen that orbited millions of miles away. -~xXXXx~- Will was holding back a dam of tears. The guards had allowed him to find a seat on one of the balconies overlooking the gardens. Luckily this side of the castle was facing away from the setting sun, giving him plenty of light to see the parchment on the small table in front of him, but not enough to blind him. Will held a stick of writing charcoal that his guard had asked a maid to procure for him. Roughly, Will sketched little pieces of the landscape he found interesting or a particular building beyond the walls of the garden. Being above the walls allowed the wind to easily reach Will, chilling the human slightly, and made the paper frustrating to hold down. From his seat, he occasionally saw the silhouette of a pegasus flying above the rooftops, appearing black in the orange sky. He sketched the silhouettes once in a while, but that was difficult because they wouldn’t stop moving. ‘What was I expecting,’ Will thought to himself, leaning back in his chair. Putting the charcoal down, he stroked his beard. It must have looked horrendous. When Will didn’t shave, the full beard looked patchy and gross. He could usually get away with a thin goatee. ‘Mom, Dad, I hope you aren’t worrying too much.’ But of course, they probably were. He had been gone for so long. When neither Will or Nick made it back home, there were probably missing person reports filed. They were probably looking for the two of them all night and day. ‘I can’t imagine Ma has been getting any sleep.’ “What art thou doing out here?” a voice broke Will out of his stupor. “Princess Luna!” Will struggled to stand so he could address the princess properly. When he managed to prop himself up on his crutch and give the best bow he could. “I’m sorry, the guard outside said I could sit out here. If you would like me to leave, I will.” Will tried to sound cheery, but he could force the frown from his lips. “No need,” Luna waved a hoof. She let out a brief yawn as if she had just woken up. “We are just curious is all.” Her horn lit up a soft blue as the paper Will had been drawing on floated to her. “Thou hast made this?” “Yes, your highness.” Luna looked at the sketches with a critical eye. Seeming to remain unimpressed and stoic, She placed the parchment back onto the table and stepped past the human to the railing of the balcony. “Thou has quite the talented eyes for one who needs spectacles.” She didn’t look back to Will as she spoke. “We consider ourselves somewhat of an artist as well. Although, our medium for our work is quite different from coal and parchment.” Curiosity killed the cat. Luckily Will was not a cat. “I’d love to see some of your artwork. Seeing other’s art is one of my favorite things.” “Is that so?” Luna quirked an eyebrow. That was something new. Horses here have eyebrows. Luna paused for a moment, turning a thought around in her head. “Alright then. One moment, We have something We must attend to.” “Fantastic, I-” Will stopped as Luna’s horn lit up again, her eyes closed. As Will opened his mouth to question, he was interrupted by a second layer of light joined the first, lighting the balcony like a bright blue lantern. Luna flinched slightly as the third layer of light emanated from her horn. The light had an almost tangible feeling against Will’s skin. Said human was forced to close his eyes, as the light became almost blinding. Through squinted eyes, Will couldn’t believe what he was seeing. From the horizon, the moon was rising, outlining the blue alicorn in the silver glow of the astral body. That in and of itself wouldn’t be particularly unbelievable, but even he could tell that the moon wasn’t rising slow enough to move on its own. This pony… this princess was raising the moon itself. At this moment, Will felt something cold enter his body, but that chill warmed up immediately. It pulsed like a living heart, and Will instinctually knew it came directly from the lunar princess herself. Magic poured off of the alicorn in waves that slammed into Will’s soul. And like a sponge, Will’s body absorbed all of it, sucking it up like air filling a true vacuum. Will’s heart raced along with the pulsing of the magic. He had never felt like anything in his life. His whole body felt hot, and it seemed to coalesce in the pit of his stomach. He was too distracted by the feeling in his own body to notice the concerned princess in front of him. “William? Art thou feeling alright?” Will barely registered her words. “That was… incredible. I feel funny.” As the last word left Will’s mouth, he collapsed onto the floor of the balcony, seizure-like spasms wreaking havoc through his body. “William!” Luna bellowed. He couldn’t hear her past the ringing in his ears. His eyes were wide, staring into the stary sky above. He couldn’t control his limbs. They twitched as if they were hit by electricity. Luna stood over him, but he couldn’t force any sound from his tight lips. She was panicking, which was not doing Will any favors. He was scared enough as is. Will’s world shifted as he was lifted by something. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he was moving now. The magical energy in his own body went from warm to hot, then to burning hot. Everything hurt. His heart felt like it was skipping beats like no tomorrow, and his stomach was on fire. As the world passed by him, his body slowly went numb, and images became a blur. He thought for a brief moment he saw Nick’s face, then Mending’s, then Celestia’s. Celestia looked like she was yelling at someone, but Will couldn’t tell who. Next thing he knew, the ceiling went from the vaulted ceiling of the castle to the cut stonework of the basement, then to the roof of a cave. Finally, the world stopped moving for Will as he looked up and saw crystals reaching like tree branches above him. In the back of Will’s mind, he felt the gentle caress of something. Some presence that was comforting him in this moment of great pain. Only then did Will finally pass out from pain and exhaustion.