There was likely no place in the world that Twilight had more mixed feelings about than this one. A cave, echoing with the typical sound of dripping water from above. But this was no mere hole in the ground. This place was special. It was here, so very long ago, that the bespectacled girl and her closest friends all became what they are today. They might have known magic before arriving here, but it was within this dark place that they ultimately gained the tools for all their recent heroics. And to think, for so long it had been right here, sitting idly beside a fun, family, woodland park. It gave her a small moment of amusement to think about, but that smile vanished soon after as all the thoughts she'd been thinking before today returned to the forefront of her mind. Stepping forward, she placed her hand upon her gemstone, looking ahead to the plinth where it and the other six had once been embedded. This place had put her in danger, but it had also given her power, not to mention a pleasant memory of a dance and music-filled evening. But as much as she was expecting to be alone with her musings, fate, it seemed, had other plans. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Twilight smiled and turned, just in time to see Sunset approaching her. "Quite a bit's happened since we were last here, huh?"
Finally reaching her, Sunset too looked to the now-empty plinth. "No question here. Seems like yesterday we were fighting for our lives here. Now look at us."
Twilight frowned slightly as she looked up to the cave's ceiling. "I still remember how unhappy I was for a lot of our time here. All that fear of what I was or what I'd become...it weighed on me."
Sunset looked to her with sympathy, placing her hand upon her shoulder. "Whatever problems you had, you worked past them. All of them."
Twilight's smiled returned as she again regarded her friend. "Not without help. You and the other girls...I'll always be grateful to you for that." She saw Sunset nod in acceptance of that thanks, and the two shared a warm look, but when it ended Twilight looked to her Equestrian friend with curiosity. "Now, if I may ask, how did you know I was here?"
Sunset chuckled briefly. "Oh, you know..."
Twilight groaned. "Spike?" she asked.
"Spike," Sunset confirmed. She folded her arms afterwards. "Right after telling me that you'd been doing, what was it, some very intense scribbling?"
Though somewhat irritated at her canine companion's apparent blabbing, Twilight sighed, relenting in the knowledge that her friend would simply keep asking if she denied anything. So, reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out a small, black book, which she promptly held out for Sunset to take. Seeing the quizzical look she was getting, she spoke softly. "These are just a few summary notes."
Sunset, though somewhat nervously, accepted the book, opening up about halfway to see, as Spike had said, that there were indeed a bunch of random-looking points written in here. But they were pints Sunset recognised, as well as what looked like brief note forms of what could only have been Twilight's thoughts at the time she wrote them. Flipping through one or two more pages, Sunset eventually looked back up to her fellow heroine. "Keep track of all our magical dealings?"
Twilight nodded, taking a moment to slightly push up her glasses. "I figured it was worth making a record of it all. We've seen a lot, Sunset. And It's given me a lot to think about."
Giving the book one final glance, Sunset closed it and handed it back to Twilight, after which she gave her a look of concern. "Anything in particular on your mind?"
Taking back the book and putting it in her pocket once more, Twilight turned her attention back to the plinth. "Sunset...where did our gemstones come from?"
Sunset looked to her with a mix of surprise and confusion. "Well...Equestria. When I came into this cave for the first time, there was just no denying that feeling."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Granted. Having had more than my fair share of experience with it, I'm not going to argue that." A pause, and then Twilight looked Sunset right in the eye. "But how long was it here? Who brought it here? And why?"
Sunset thought about that, then gave a quick shrug of her shoulders. "I...really couldn't say."
Twilight nodded, accepting the answer while clearly being disappointed by it. "And that's only one question that bears thinking about. There's also cases like the memory stone."
Sunset arched an eyebrow. "What about it?"
Taking her book out again, Twilight flipped through it until she stopped at the page discussing that very artefact. "It was said by Princess Twilight that it came here when a historic Equestrian figure, Clover the Clever, tried to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, yes?"
"Well, wrong hooves technically," Sunset corrected, not without some small measure of amusement in her own comment. But, when she saw Twilight's irritated expression, she halted herself. "Right, sorry, carry on."
"Anyway...how long ago was Clover doing what she was doing?"
Placing her hands upon her hips, Sunset thought on that. "Oh, we're talking a long time on that, Twilight. Records of Clover go all the way back to the founding of Equestria. Centuries, even millennia ago."
Twilight nodded. "As I thought. It's a long time. We know she sent the memory stone here, but who knows what else? If even half of what you've told me about your world is true, there were a lot of other dangerous magics that were dealt with by sealing them away somewhere or just sending them off to far-away places."
"And even people, if our dealings with the Sirens is anything to go by," Sunset considered. "I get where you're coming from here, Twilight. We've got a long span of history to work with, and it's entirely possible that a good deal more has made it into this world than we first thought. Doubly so when you think there's more than just one portal between the worlds."
A silence fell, with Twilight looking deep in thought, ending when she finally spoke, albeit with a voice tinted with fear. "And the Sirens...Sunset, what are the chances other beings, not just artefacts and vague magics, could have been brought here?"
"It's possible," Sunset answered. "Either through exile or through choice. The portals, or at least the one outside Canterlot High, have a log history. There's no telling just how many have passed through it." She looked to her friend carefully. "Why?"
Getting her thoughts together, Twilight again pulled out her book, looking through a few of its pages before settling on one in particular. "You've told me before about some of the creatures that can be found in Equestria. Dragons, manticores, hydras, things like that." Seeing Sunset nod to her, she continued. "Our world has stories of beasts like that going as far back as, well, the very start of our history. What if..." She gulped. "What if they were more than just stories?"
To begin with, Sunset appeared sceptical. "So you're thinking those creatures came here, spooked ancient humans and then got all those stories made about them?"
"If it happened with Sirens, it can happened with the rest. We have legends and myths about them too, remember?" Twilight countered. "Who's to say what happened with them couldn't have happened with some big dragon or the like? You said yourself how dangerous they used to be to ponies way back when. Maybe one caused trouble, and then Starswirl or Clover or some other magical pony banished them to this world?"
Sunset, in spite of the seriousness of the conversation, actually managed a small laugh. "Twilight, I promise you. If a dragon, and I mean a full-grown, hot-blooded dragon's dragon made it here, it wouldn't be relegated to just stories and folklore. It would have made its presence known..." She looked away, seeming rather uncomfortable with her own words. "And in the worst possible way too."
Twilight dwelt on that point for a moment, closing her book and giving a slow nod. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Putting said book back into her pocket, she continued. "Besides, every creature that's come through those portals has become something else. Ponies become human, and even dragons like Spike apparently become dogs as a result."
Sunset afforded herself a quick chuckle. "You know, I'm actually liking the idea of some massive dragon-turned-dog out there, confused as all heck as to what just happened to him." The two laughed together, and when it ended Sunset looked again to Twilight, her expression one of calm. "In all seriousness though I don't think we need to worry about it. All those stories and legends you talked about? I think we can say they really were just that. Just...coincidences, nothing more."
Twilight knew Sunset was trying to cheer her up, and she was not ungrateful for it. So, after a moment, she held herself, nodding back. "You're right. I guess I kinda get worked up about magic and monsters sometimes." She winced slightly. "Tends to happen when you've known both like I have."
Sunset too took on a look of discomfort. "Hey, preaching to the choir on that one, Twilight. And you're not wrong to think about it. We've pretty much accepted that it's our job to look out for all these Equestrian dangers ever since we got these powers. You taking all those things into consideration is pretty admirable."
For the first time since this conversation began, Twilight actually started to look a little prideful. "Well, let it never be said that I don't consider all the variables." She glanced back towards the plinth. "In all seriousness though, I think it's important that we remember just how far-reaching this magic has become. We thought at first it was just localised around our school and town. But after the yacht incident we can't believe that anymore. There are other portals, other ways between the two worlds. And there's no telling just where those powers have seeped in, or for how long."
Sunset nodded firmly. "Wherever those problems are, or however long they've been here, if they stir things up we'll do what we can to face it. And who knows..." In a quiet moment, she placed her hand upon her gemstone, looking thoughtful. "Along the way we may get some of our questions answered. Not the least of which is where these stones came from."
Twilight stepped forward, placing her hand upon the empty plinth, just in time for a single drop of cold water from above to fall upon said hand, causing a slight shiver on her part. "Some answers would definitely be appreciated." After wiping the stray water from her hand, she regained her smile as she pointed away to the cave's entrance. "Come on. I've been in here enough for one day. Besides, Gloriosa said she'd have some tea ready for when I was done here."
Her friend breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for telling me. I could really go for one right now."
The two girls made their way towards the exit, but after only a few steps, Twilight slowed, gaining Sunset's attention. After thinking about this new, stray thought that had come to her, the former Crystal Prep student put her finger to her chin. "...Do you ever think about the other way around?" Seeing Sunset's understandable uncertainty about that question, she elaborated. "We've spent this whole time thinking about stuff from Equestria coming here...but could stuff from this world have gone there?"
Sunset's eyes widened, realising that she'd never even considered that point. But, after looking as concerned about the prospect as Twilight had been, she softened, looking back to her friend with the same relaxed face as before. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Putting on a small smile, Twilight locked her arm into Sunset's as the two continued on their walk out of this place. "I can live with that."