Equestria Girls: Love Is Magic

by onekface

Dangerous Games

The metallic bell chimed as Flash opened the door. An aroma of freshly baked goods and assortment of drinks flew into his nostrils reminding him of the good times. He was quite a regular here even before he started in CHS. Naturally, the place looked partially deserted with enough empty tables to put a sad face on anyone.

It was strange to be called out here so late, even stranger still when he realized who the caller was. Flash never really had much of an interaction with Timber before. Other than him being Twilight’s boyfriend, he didn’t really knew much about the guy. Even during the trip to Camp Everfree, the most they had was nothing more than a passing greeting or the casual hi and hellos. Now all of a sudden he comes up and asks for a private meeting. It sounded rather important and said that he needed to discuss something face to face.

Looking around the store, Flash realized that his appointment still wasn’t around. He looked at the clock realizing that he came somewhat early. Having a decked out car can really save time.

Not wanting to waste a trip, he decided that it would be best to grab something to eat. This place did always have the best pastries.

He expected to see either Mr. or Mrs. Cake back there, but it would seem like they’ve got themselves another part-timer to help out. Last time, Pinkie worked here. Now it’s…

“Welcome to the Sweet Shoppe. What can I get…… you?” The girl’s lazy attitude suddenly lit up when she saw her next customer. The last word she said there seemed separate from the other question.

“Aria?” Flash remembered the name quickly enough. It was the middle sister of the Siren sisters. The supposedly somewhat-always-angry looking lady. “Are you… working here?”

Her brow rose while her frown deepened. “What gave it away? Was it the uniform or the fact that I’m standing on this side of the cash register trying to look interested? Or maybe it’s the fact that I just asked you what you want?”

“Uh…… the first one.” He blabbered, playing it safe. “I actually meant why are you working here?”

“We need the money. And this is one of the few places around that has a shift open at night.” She shrugged. “And it’s just three blocks away from our apartment so… it was a no brainer.”

“I didn’t think any of you would be out this late at night.”

“Why?” She challenged, arms folding. “It’s been over a week since we had to deal with any of those shadowy monsters. And last I heard, that was the Rainboom’s problem, not ours.” That was… kind of true. But they did take part in taking down Hoity. “Besides, if anyone here has to be afraid of the shadow monsters, it’d be you.”

“Oh… right.” The boy replied rather awkwardly. “So uh… how are you doing?”

“Not bad.” She shrugged. “Adagio’s still being a pain in the neck and Sonata is…… Sonata.”

“That’s… good?” He nodded, trying to play it safe. He didn’t know why, but he got a feeling that this girl had an aura of stabbing you in the back when you turn away. “So… I guess everything’s going well?”

“Are you genuinely asking that or are just trying to strike up a conversation to fill in the silence?”

…

Uh…

“Figures.” Her eyes furrowed afterward. “So are you gonna order something or are you just gonna stand there and waste my time?”

Thankfully he didn’t have to answer when Mrs. Cake came to the rescue. “Now now Aria. That’s no way to talk to a customer. Remember: A bright smile always brings joy to others.”

Aria rolled her eyes in annoyance but complied either way. After a deep breath, her frown turned upside down flashing the most plastic smile she could conjure, showing her teeth and gum like it was trying to stretch even further. It was the kind of smile Pinkie would make in one of her euphoric moments… just… creepier. Way WAY creepier.

“I’m sorry dear customer. Can I interest you in our special offer today~~? We have a big sale on bear claw. Two for the price of one~~~.” Every word that came out of her mouth felt like she was dragging a rusty knife down his chest, just waiting for the right moment to thrust it in and watch him writhe in agony. “And with every purchase, you will receive one sticker which can be redeemed for a prize at this very store~~.”

Mrs. Cake shook her head sighing, and turn to the boy. “I’m sorry about her dearie. She’s new. I’m just showing her the ropes right now. Will you be getting your usual?” Flash nodded, not really trusting to open his mouth less the girl was gonna spit poison at him. “One moment. I’ll get one fresh from the oven. Be right back.”

It was a short moment, but when Mrs. Cake was gone, Aria slumped down in annoyance. That smile she held earlier, switching back into a frown. “Ugh. I don’t understand how you humans can stand smiling all the time. My cheeks are killing me.” Flash wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. “You just gonna stand there all night?”

Yeah… he was gonna take two… dozen steps back just in case.

Thankfully there were plenty of seats around. Barely one or two customers to go along for tonight.

“Sorry about that.” Mr. Cake apologized quietly as he offered the boy a complimentary juice. “She just started. I’m sure she’ll be able to work off the edges in no time.”

Flash waved it off. It’s not like he was gonna come here on a nightly basis. If he wanted nice pastries, he could just ask for his butler, or one of the many chefs in his mansion.

With a sigh, the boy leaned into his seat and got comfortable. And not a moment too soon either as his appointment arrived through the door.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” Pinkie Pie’s wail can be heard throughout the neighborhood. Normally such a thing would alarm neighbors for some kind of plight but seeing as this was Pinkie, the folks there just brushed it off like it was a regular occurrence. The pinkette’s behavior has always been known throughout all of Canterlot. The poor little girl was dragged through the floor like a ball and chain, her arms gripping onto the leg of her eldest sister.

“Pinkie. We’ve been through this.” Limestone whined lowly, looking bored like this whole scenario was overplayed. The taxi she ordered for was waiting by the sidewalk, no doubt already having pressed the meter for good measure. “I can’t get to the airport if you keep holding me down like this.”

“But but… you can’t leave! There are like… a hundred things we haven’t done together yet! I had everything planned out!” She pulled out a scroll from her hair which rolled down in length. “We were supposed to go sleighing in the hills, have an all you can eat cupcake buffet at the Sweet Shoppe, and not to mention telling ghost stories before bed like before!”

“Well you should’ve thought of that when you decided to hang out with your friends than here.”

“But you’ve only been around for a few days.”

“I’ve been staying here for 3 weeks now.” Has she? She can’t quite remember. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I got a flight to ca-”

“No!” Pinkie demanded chaining herself to her big sis with a literal chain. Where she got that, no one will ever know.

“Pinkie. My flight is in 4 hours.”

“Exactly! That means we still have time to do one last activity! I have the perfect one.”

“No Pinkie. I need to check-in. And you know how busy the New Year is.”

“But… but…! Can I at least see you to the gate?”

Limestone sighed. “Pinkie, it’ll take forever for you to get back. And you got an early morning tomorrow. So… no.”

“How about we do one last prank on Maud? You like that, right?”

Limestone paused on the thought looking rather tempted. But thankfully calmer heads prevailed. With a low groan, she picked her sister up and dust the snow off her.

“Look. I came here to spend time with you and the family and I did just that. Besides, I got a life of my own back in Oxhoof. You can’t expect me to just show up at random.”

“Why not? I do it all the time.”

“Well not everyone in the family has your superpower.” Pinkie teared up which only seemed to make the elder Pie feel slightly guilty. “Haa… but I got time around Spring Break. If I’m not too busy, I’ll drop by for the week.”

“Really?”

“I’ll Pinkie promise you on it.” She held one hand over her eye and gave a cool smirk in return which prompted her little sis to stand. “And just so you don’t miss me too much. Here – we can have this at least.” She quickly brought Pinkie up close cheek-to-cheek before snapping a photo on her phone. “There. Now you got something to remember me by.”

Pinkie paused, looking at the photo before tearing up again, this time in joy. “This is probably the best give you’ve ever given.”

“Eh… I can put a little effort every once in a while.”

“And speaking of gifts~~.” Pinkie added before suddenly jumping and giving Limestone the biggest hug she could offer. “I still have 1 minute and 10 seconds of huggie time.”

The eldest Pie smiled. “Fine.”

Ah… now this was the life. Twilight let out a pleasing sigh as she sank in her reading chair, a warm mug of hot coco by her side, sweet calming music playing from her phone, and a good book to read on. Some would say that she was burning the midnight oil and they’d be right. It’s been a while since she had been able to relax so peacefully and engrossed in her research. With everything that’s been happening around them you could hardly find time to do anything at all. So you could say that this little respite was exactly what she needed before school started again.

If only the book she had was bit easier to read. The journal of Captain Hoofbeard was like reading an ancient text.

Honestly, the old colonials back in the day were way too old school in their language. And the buccaneer’s flowery pirate-ish slurs and slangs made it rather difficult to discern what he actually meant. Not to mention the penmanship alone was sloppy. It got so bad that she even had to look up some of them from the net.

“Are you still reading that thing?” It didn’t come as a surprise that her inner evil voice decided to pay a visit. Twilight has pretty much gotten used to the dark angel appearing when no one was around. “Honestly Twilight. For a girl your age to be reading a thousand year old book in the middle of the night and in this study room? That’s just sad.”

“Well it might be sad for you. But for me, it’s relaxing. We all have our own hobbies.” She brought the cup to her lips and sipped. “Yours is total domination of this world, mine just happens to be researching.”

“If this is what you call hobby, then we need to find you a new one.” The floating apparition groaned. “What do you even expect to find in there? You’ve been looking into that book for over a week now.”

“It’s… difficult to translate pirate language to our everyday common. You have to be very careful. One single word here can change a whole sentence. Besides, this is the only lead we have on the secret Order.”

“Uh… there’s a bigger lead we can follow: The creepy dude who just tried to enlist us?”

Ugh… she didn’t want to be reminded of that. The encounter was still fresh on her mind, which is partly why she wanted to have this peaceful moment to herself.

“I highly doubt Professor Neighsay will tell us anything. Besides, he could be lying.”

“He wasn’t.” Midnight corrected. “What’s the point of trying to recruit us?”

“In either case. We need to know this Order by doing our own research. The information in this journal will be far more reliable than what Neighsay gives us.”

Midnight sagged in defeat. “Ugh… fine. What did you find out anyway?”

“Eh… not very much.” Twilight half-heartedly admitted, frowning lowly. “From what I can tell, Hoofbeard was a real piece of work. He raided towns and villages all along the coast when people first started settling here. He robbed from everyone and didn’t care who he came across.”

“Oooh. Sounds like my kind of person.”

“But he suddenly had a change of character when he met a member of Order of the Black Stone. This… Jewel.” She pointed to the rough drawing of the person. “He was totally in love with her. He brought gifts, flowers and even wrote poems for her.”

“Anything good?”

Twilight shrugged. “Eh… if you consider piracy context a form of flattery. Then no. Let’s just say that he was head over heels for her.”

“So what? Did those two get their happily-ever-after or something?”

“I… don’t think so.” The bespectacled girl sighed. “If what we saw in the temple in Saddle Arabia was any indication. I think something must’ve happened between them. Something bad. And his journal entries become stranger the further I go in.”

“Stranger than a pirate’s rambling?”

“Well… for one thing… he talks about Jewel and the Order obsessively. And he can’t imagine a world without her. And that he’s willing to do anything to be with her.”

“Sounds more like a love-struck idiot.” Midnight shrugged. “He does know that there are plenty of fishes in the sea, right?”

“And there’s this one.” She quickly flip the pages to the latter entries where the handwriting becomes strangely aggressive. “He talks about a dark presence lingering at the back of his mind. That he… struck a deal with a monster. A bargain of sorts with some entity. Something he calls… The Pony of Shadows…”

“Pony of Shadows?” The evil angel stifled a laugh. “Sounds rather generic.”

“It could just be another shadow monster like Kaaz, the snake, and Uta, the wolf. There’s so much we don’t know about the Order. But I do know that they definitely got their powers from the Yaztec people. Ugh… if only I had someone who can actually help me with research.” But alas, none of her friends had any interest with the study of magic and Sunset was far too busy to offer her a helping hand. She was striking out on her own with the limited resources she could find. “If I just some of my old equipment, I could further my studies into the Order’s magical gemstone – or maybe even improve our own magic.”

“But that would mean opening your lab. And incurring more electric bill than you can possibly afford with your salary.”

Ugh… money. It all comes down to money.

“You can always…”

“No.” She already knew what she was gonna say and she wasn’t having any of it.

Sunset watched as Starlight inspected the Memory Stone, clasped in her horn magic. The little gizmo floated just inches above the table like a precious gem. She spun it around, analyzing every crisp and crack like a pawn shop proprietor trying to find its true worth.

“Wow…” The purple pony let out an exasperated gasp. “I can scarcely believe it. But this thing really is the Memory Stone.”

“So it’s genuine?” Starlight nodded black, placing the dangerous object within a glass container just to be safe. They definitely don’t want something as powerful as that roaming around here.

“The magic and spell recipe is all there. But this is old magic. Like… really ancient magic. I’d say it certainly predates the founding of Equestria.” She shuddered at the thought. “It’s badly damaged. But whoever put it back together sure knew what they were dealing with. Every piece is being held together with some kind of enchantment. Very complex even for me.”

So it wasn’t a fake but the real deal.

Sunset was glad about that. She certainly didn’t want to deal with it after it robbed all of her friends of their memories together. One misadventure about brainwashing was enough for her, thank you very much.

But still… why would Professor Neighsay hand over something so precious so willingly? Was it really just to curry favor with them?

“I’ll have this bagged and ship to Canterlot Castle tomorrow.” Starlight continued, locking the container tightly. “This is far too dangerous to keep around Ponyvile. I’m glad you brought this here. Who knows what kind of untold damage this thing can do.”

“Believe me. I know.” She let out a soft chuckle. “At least that’s one headache I don’t have to worry about. The problem now is what to do. I got a member of the Black Stone Order taking up residence in my school. He’s definitely up to something. But I just can’t see what it is.”

“Sounds like you got yourself a little friendship problem there.”

Sunset shrugged. “I don’t think that’s right. It’s more like an invasion problem.”

“Ok so maybe not a friendship problem. But it’s definitely close.” Starlight added. “Now, I’m not exactly a professional when it comes to dealing with secret orders and such. But if you want my advice, I’d say you hear him out.”

“Hear him out?”

“He could’ve done things far worse to you and your friends. But instead he decided to talk it over instead of fighting. That kind of action takes a lot of courage. So instead of handling it like you did with the others, why don’t you try giving him the benefit of the doubt?”

“It’s kind of hard to do after we had to deal with two of their members. And not in a very friendly kind of way either.”

“Ok so their first impression wasn’t perfect. That doesn’t mean you can’t work things out for the better.” She had a somewhat good point there. “Trust me. We’ve seen our share of bad guys. In fact, I used to be one of them. But if you take the time to learn about them, they might not be as bad as you might think.”

“I don’t think that applies here.”

“I know it’s hard to trust people who tried to hurt you. But remember you used to be on the same boat.” Ouch. Hitting a sore spot there. “I find that talking things over is the first step towards trust. Besides… what do you have to lose?”

Huh… that’s true. While it was a hard pill to swallow, there were benefits to this. There was also a good chance that the attacks on them were separate instances. Cinch was motivated by her personal hatred to the girls for humiliating her during the Friendship Games and Hoity Toity was inspired by his own personal greed.

If this Order wasn’t really as bad as Neighsay claims, they might just have a chance to cooperate – or at the very least they’ll leave each other alone.

If they can at least negotiate a truce, they won’t have to worry about another attack. The girls can go about their daily lives without magic and maybe even leave the sanctity of the house by the hill. No more looking over your shoulder every ten minutes or fearing another retaliation.

Sunset wasn’t about to trust these guys just yet. But perhaps some talk will be good in the long run.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“That’s the spirit!”

They were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Or perhaps it was more of a bang. It sounded more like somepony just whacked his/her whole body onto the door hoping it would just open.

Starlight answered it, eyes widening to see a familiar cross-eyed delivery Pegasus on the other side, head plastered on the floor.

“A mail delivery? At this hour?” The deliverer didn’t reply, instead shook off the dirt and handed a scroll over with triple ribbons. She gave a playful salute before flying off, hitting a few pillars on the way out.

Sunset raised a curious look. She heard of the Triple Ribbon Express delivery before. Princess Celestia used it once or twice when she was still a student in her school. It’s the kind of service provided by Flying Pony Express for the really SUPER-FAST delivery. Kind of like the overnight shipping back in the human world. The company would call upon anyone who was available and pay them double overtime for the workload.

“What is it?”

“It’s from Sunburst.” Starlight gasped, opening the scroll, scanning its contents hastily. “It says that something happened in Canterlot Castle… and wants me there immediately.”

An emergency summon? At this time? That didn’t sound good. “Did something happen?”

“He didn’t say. Just that it’s an emergency. And that I need to go there right away.”

“But how? I don’t think there are any trains leaving at this time.”

“Then we’ll just have to go there the quick way.” Starlight then reached for Sunset, lighting up her horn to cast a spell.

And with a flash, they were gone.

“Whoa…” Sunset blinked and immediately found her surroundings changed in an instant. The next thing she knew she was standing in the front lawn of the Castle of Canterlot. It was incredible. She knew of powerful teleportation magic. As a matter of fact, she used to do it too, but only going from street to street, or even a few kilometers, but never cross country before. “You can teleport all the way from Ponyville?”

Starlight raised her head proudly on that fact, waving her hoof. “It’s easy once you get the hang of it. The trick is to always keep your focus. Otherwise you might end up stuck between a wall, or somewhere underwater. It happens more time than you think. If you want I can teach it to you.”

“Hmm… that might actually come in handy.” She agreed on it so readily. It’d be great to be able to transfer that kind of spell to her human form. It’ll definitely save her time and gas money. “That must’ve taken a lot of studying to achieve.”

“Well I did have a great teacher.” They were again interrupted when the doors to the castle burst open startling them.

“Starlight!” Sunburst said in panic as he approached them flanked by two royal guard unicorns. “Thank goodness you got my letter.”

The two of them immediately went into business mode, putting on their serious face. “Your letter didn’t mention what was going on. What happened? You said to come over as soon as possible. What’s the emergency?”

“It’s Starswirl.” He answered nervously. “He’s back. And… not in a good way.”

Dread filled their faces when they heard this.

“What happened to him?”

“We’re not sure. But you better come quickly!”

Taking his word for it, the two unicorns followed him into the castle. They blazed through the empty halls, where the night shift guards hastily moved aside and granted them passage. It’s been a while since Sunset walked through these halls. Not since the day she first traversed to another world many moons ago.

After a few minutes they would arrive at what looked like the guest wing of the castle. Dignitaries, ambassadors, and important visitors from all over Equestria would have been checked in this place. It was kind of like a hotel for VIPs.

They came towards one particular room however which was surrounded by a whole platoon of royal guard ponies. Not surprising when they know who was on the other side. The unicorns by the door noted Sunburst and immediately opened the door with their badges.

Inside they found the old wizard lying on a bed, stripped of his hat and cape, attended by nurses and doctors all around. Sunset expected to see Starswirl in there, and maybe a few other ponies. But never did she expect to see her former master.

“Princess Celestia? And… Princess Luna?” The two alicorns, hearing their names called, whipped their heads towards the newcomer and sighed in relief.

“Starlight! And Sunset Shimmer?” The Princess of the Sun greeted. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“We came as soon as we could, your majesties.” Starlight gave a short bow along with her friend. “Can you please tell us what happened?”

“Well we were planning to retire to the Silver Shoals.” Luna scoffed. “But just before we could get pass the gates, we were informed that former mentor had collapsed after returning from a grand quest in another world. We’ve been here all day. And now thanks to him, we’re missing all the great plans I arranged for today!”

Celestia waved her sister off and shook her head. “I’m sorry about her. Luna has been looking forward to our retirement. So this was rather unexpected.”

Sunset stepped in. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“Not much I’m afraid.” She admitted. “One of the guards that I sent to protect Starswirl’s vault found him unconscious in the hall of mirrors just the other night. He brought him over, completely haggard. We didn’t even know he was here until this morning.”

“Is he alright?”

“He’s in no immediate danger.” The unicorn doctor answered in their stead, slowly approaching them with an attentive poise. “I’ve completed my diagnosis and have concluded that: Master Starswirl is simply suffering from a severe case of magical energy exhaustion. It’s something we unicorns get after strenuous use of our magic. It can very taxing to one’s mind and body when used continuously. Other than a few scratches and bruises, he should recover after a few days of rest. My nurse can attend to his basic needs until he wakes up.”

“Thank you Dr. Flatline. We’ll take it from here.” Celestia gave a sigh of relief dismissing the good doctor away.

They later approached the old wizard on his bed, wheezing heavily. You could tell he was exhausted from the wrinkles on his cheeks and his beard – or… maybe those were already there.

“Starswirl is one of the most powerful wizards of his time.” Sunset mentioned. “What could’ve done this to him?”

Luna groaned. “We were hoping you could tell us. I know that this old man has a habit of exploring the known universe, but he’s way past his prime to simply go on adventuring. And Sunburst here refuses to say anything until you Starlight arrived.”

“What ever could you all be doing that is so dangerous?” The sun sister asked to which the three stared at each other in question. How were they to explain the complicated situation they were in?

“It’s… a long story.” Starlight admitted.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Seeing as all of our retirement plans for today just went out the window, I think we have time.”

“Well…”

“Stop stop!” Luna interjected rather abruptly. “If this is going to be long, then we may as well get some refreshments.”

“Luna, this is hardly the time.”

“I already had to cancel my afternoon lunch at the Huffs and Hooves. The least I could get is some tea. Guards!” The said royal guards hastily went away bringing over a tray of confection and a pot of tea. “Right. Now where were we?”

…

…

…

“… and that’s about all of it.” Starlight finished, sighing lowly to the two princesses.

Celestia nodded back, having been silent for a long while, listening intently to the journey the ponies had in their ignorance. To think that such a threat was happening without their knowledge. Granted that this danger was literally in another world. Yet that didn’t much give them reason to let down their guard.

“That is indeed quite a tale.” Celestia sighed, rubbing her hoof on her chin. “It’s hard to imagine that you were all going through such a journey without us knowing.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” Luna added chewing through several biscuits at once. “I thought magic didn’t even exist in that world.”

“Neither did I.” Sunset admitted.

“This is troubling.” Celestia paced to the window, deep in thought. “Normally I would ask Twilight to personally accompany you as this falls in her expertise.”

“But she’s on a goodwill visit to the other lands along with her friends. She won’t be back for months.” Starlight remembered too going into her brain storming mode. “Maybe we could ask her to change her schedule.”

Sunburst shook his head frantically in refusal. “On her first term as the new ruler of Equestria? That’ll be a political nightmare. This goodwill visit to all the lands is to ensure the smooth transition of power and authority. The whole thing was carefully calculated and organized by the other delegates of every creature in every corner of the realm. Representatives are making time out of their busy schedule to meet with Princess Twilight. One mishap and it’ll ruin everything!”

“How bad can it be after her coronation?” Luna chewed only to earn a glare from her sister. “What? You have to admit that it was a complete disaster.”

“As much as I would hate to admit it. Sunburst it right. Twilight and her friends are on a very delicate situation and bringing her here could jeopardize her reign in the long run.” Celestia stated, joining the other ponies around the bed. “Which means we have to do this on our own. I don’t suppose any of you know what Starswirl was doing in the other world.”

“We were hoping you did.” Sunset answered.

“I’m afraid Starswirl was pretty delirious when we arrived. He was mumbling something incoherently earlier but I couldn’t quite make it out.”

“It could just be his old habits of sleep talking.” Luna reminded taking a sip off her tea. “He did that a lot back in our time.”

“There was one thing.” Celestia remembered. “The guard who found him said that he needed to speak with the princess.”

Speak with the princess? Was he talking about Princess Twilight or…

“That doesn’t give us a lot of information.” Sunburst grunted. “Maybe we can retrace Starswirl’s hoof-steps. I’ll go through the portal to Ezaquatel and see what I can dig up.”

But Starlight stopped him. “You can’t! Starswirl was strongly against sending anypony else going through these portals.”

“But this could be a threat itself. We won’t know anything unless we find out more.”

“But it could be dangerous. Starswirl was one of the greatest wizards of his time, and look what happened to him.”

“All the more reason to go there.” The orange pony insisted. “If the magic from this world is threatening another, there’s a good chance it might also threaten Equestria itself. We can’t take the chance even if it is small. We should thoroughly investigate this before it escalate even further.”

Celestia stepped in. “Normally I would agree with you Sunburst. But I have side with Starlight on this one. There’s a very good reason why Starswirl forbade others from using the portals. It’s the reason why I sent Twilight alone to the human world. They were never meant to be used in the first place.”

“What?” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Wait a second. What do you mean they weren’t supposed to be used?”

There was a dead silence in the air, followed by a cold wind blowing through the window. All the ponies cast their eyes over to Celestia who apparently seemed to know more than she was letting on. The two princesses traded knowing looks breathing a sigh of regret. The mentioning of the portal seemed to have triggered some lingering memory that they would very much like to leave buried.

Luna waved her hoof dismissing the guards leaving the rest alone in silence. She even used her magic to enclose the area trapping all sounds so that no one would be able to listen in on them.

Once Celestia was sure that there were no eavesdroppers, she began.

“When Starswirl first created these magical portals, he did so in hope furthering his studies into other fields of magic. I’ve accompanied him through many of his adventures through each and every mirror. And thanks to that, we were able to learn much from other worlds.” Her tone darkened at the end. “But after years of traveling, we discovered that using these portals had a very dangerous side-effect prior to their use.”

That… did not sound good.

Starlight gulped. “What… kind of side-effect?”

“A very dangerous one.” She replied ominously. “These portals connect two separate worlds together using very ancient magic. They pierce through the barriers that divide our worlds apart. Think of the mirrors as a dam connecting two great oceans. The more you use it, the more water leaks into one another. But if used too often, then the barriers that keep the two worlds apart break downs and it goes out of control. And when that happens…”

“Then the two worlds merges together.” Sunset’s eyes widened as if struck by realization. “It happened before. When a whole lot of Equestrian Magic came into the school… it tried to pull Equestria to the human world. But if that’s true, then… every time I use the portal. I’ve been putting two worlds at risk at the same time.”

“She got it on the first try. Well done.” Luna gave a slow and sarcastic applaud.

Celestia sighed. “That is the sad truth, I’m afraid.”

Sunset doubled back for a moment there. Pacing on the floor while she had one hoof over her mane. It was a lot of information to take all at once and it came so suddenly out of nowhere. She always took for granted that the portal were just a convenient way of traveling between worlds. A way for her to simply go back and forth between her old home and her home-away-from-home. Never in her wildest dream would she ever think that simply setting foot through that mirror would bring about the destruction/unification of two worlds.

“Wh… why didn’t you tell me?” She croaked loudly, on the verge of yelling.

“In all truth, I did not think you would stay in that world.” The sun princess shook her head before answering. “I thought that… with all that well and done, you would come back here to Equestria. But I’m afraid I made an error in judgment.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Luna muttered softly behind the scene.

“You didn’t think it was important to tell me that I could be endangering two worlds just by setting foot inside a mirror!?” Her tone took a sharp turn which frankly made Starlight recoil. “That every time I go from Eqeustria to the human world and back, could mean total destruction of EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE!? Where’s the logic in that!?”

“Would you have obeyed if I told you?” Sunset’s words froze in her chest. “It might not be the news you wanted to hear but it is the truth nonetheless. And I’m afraid what you witnessed back in the human world was only the tip of the disaster.”

“Wait.” Sunburst gawked. “Are you saying that this has happened before?”

“It has. A long time ago.” Celestia’s words were filled with sorrow as she looked out the window, gazing at the familiar moon while her mind wandered to an age long passed. “It was during my early days as a princess that I… nearly destroyed the world. It was only thanks to Twilight and her friends that the whole disaster was narrowly avoided.” She paused, her face twisting in pain. “Sometimes there are just sacrifices that need to be made.”

“Is there really no way of fixing that side-effect?” Starlight asked.

“If there is one, then I’m afraid neither Starswirl nor we, know of it.” Luna answered, finally joining in on the conversation. “Which is why you must come to terms, Sunset Shimmer.” She walked towards the red maned pony with the same stern expression she held. “Should this threat creep its way to Equestria, it is our solemn duty to defend it.” Her face hardened. “Even if it means we have to destroy the mirror itself.”

…!

Flash wasn’t really much of an analyst. But he could tell something was up with Timber’s bodily expression. He recognized anxiety when he sees it and the boy sitting opposite of him was showing it in spades. The guy was looking around like he wanted to make sure that no one was around to hear them. His thumb twiddled over his cup squeaking over the handle like a toy, and his lips quivered as if he was trying to say something but he just can’t seem to find the right words.

Whatever he was here for, it was definitely serious.

“Thanks for coming down to meet me.” Timber began finally after taking a quick sip off his coffee to relax his nerves. “I know we don’t exactly talk. Actually I think this is the first time we ever had a face to face moment. I honestly didn’t think you’d take my call.”

Flash shrugged. “Not a problem. I don’t exactly have a lot to do tonight. And you sounded pretty urgent so I thought I’d hear you out.” He took a bite off his cookie before continuing. “So what’d you call me for?”

The green haired boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, again trying to find the right words. But thankfully he calmed himself and decided to bite the bullet and get it over with. “It’s kind of awkward meeting up like this. But… I actually came here to talk about…… well… it’s Twilight.”

Flash’s eyes drew up in attention. “Twilight? Why? Did something happen?”

“No. Nothing big. At least… not as big as before. It’s just that. Things are a little bit… somewhat… not-exactly… right. Ugh… this made a lot more sense in my head.” I certainly hope so because you aren’t making any sense to me.

“O…kay? So this is about Twilight.”

“Yes!” He exclaimed a little too loudly which he quietly corrected. “Sorry. Uh… so… you know that Twilight and I have been dating for over a year now, right?” The blue boy nodded. “And just recently I kinda asked her to move in with me.”

“Oh yeah. She told me about that.” And she also told me that she was having panic attacks thinking about it too. “Congratulations? I guess.”

“Yeah well. Things didn’t exactly pan out the way it should’ve.” Timber let out a long winded sigh. “And ever since this whole magic fiasco started, I’ve been feeling kind of… out of touch with her. It’s like she’s living in another world entirely.”

Yeah… he could totally relate. When Sunset rediscovered her magical connection with Equestria, she was totally absorbed with it that their relationship practically drifted apart. It’s one of the reasons why they broke up.

“Well you can’t exactly blame her.” Flash shrugged back. “I mean… studying has been her passion. And magic just happens to be her interest.”

“But it’s also been interfering with our lives.” Timber reasoned. “If it wasn’t for this magic, she would’ve been with me. But now she has to hide away in someone else’s house to keep herself from being attacked.” Technically it was his house, but he didn’t need to say that.

“This isn’t the first time Twilight and her friends had a magical incident. They’ve handled these kind of situations before.”

“Yeah… I know.” The green haired boy sighed. “It’s just… I want to be a part of it. Just a tiny bit.”

“Heh… I know how you feel.” He chuckled. “Sometimes you can barely keep up with whatever they’re talking about. It gets… confusing at times.” They shared a short laugh.

“That’s what makes this whole relationship so… troublesome.” Timber added with another sigh that went even deeper. “How am I supposed to be a part of what she’s going through if I can’t even get close? She won’t even tell me of her adventures anymore. And when she does, I can’t even relate. And now she’s…… she’s…”

Flash caught the boy’s wandering tone, and shifting gaze. There was something there. Something in his voice that made him believe that there was something more to this whole meeting. He didn’t come all the way her just to rant on his girlfriend. If it was just that, he could’ve done it with a closer friend or even family. With the way he was playing with the stirrer on his coffee and the way his eyes kept going from side to side – it was plain to see that he was just playing for time.

“You didn’t call me all the way here in the middle of the night just to talk about magic, did you?”

…

His silence alone confirmed it.

“No.” Timber’s tone turned deathly cold that even Flash could feel crawling over his skin. His eyes suddenly went from soft, to stern, like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. “I’m here because of you.”

“Me?” Flash blinked. “What about me?”

“There’s no easy way of saying this but… I want you to keep away from Twilight.” That was rather straight forward compared to the skirting-around he was doing just then.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I know this is going to sound a little crazy but… every time you’re around, Twilight tends to act a little… off beat. Like she’s… not herself.”

“I… don’t understand.”

“She’s infatuated with you.” He added, which only seemed to confuse him. “Like… interested… or… something.”

The wheels slowly began to turn in his head. “Wait a second. Are you saying that Twilight is…”

“She’s got a crush on you, alright!?” Timber’s hand slammed on the table startling some of the few patrons in the store. Even the cashier seemed to have been taken aback by the sudden outburst. But Flash in particular was shocked. His whole body felt like it just got electrocuted.

“Wh… what?” He stammered. “Twilight? As in your Twilight? She’s…”

“Yeah.”

“No.” He tried to laugh it off but failed. THE Twilight? Strangely enough that made him feel somewhat giddy inside. “That… that can’t be right. I mean… she doesn’t see me that way.”

“I don’t think she even notices it. But it’s true.” Timber painfully admitted. “I don’t know how or even why, but that’s how it looks to me. Every time you’re around, every time she talks about you, she’s always so… chippy. And that makes me… I dunno… a little down in the dumps.”

Flash couldn’t really respond to that accusation. Actually his brain was still sorting through all that info and the little people inside his head were going mad. Twilight Sparkle. THE Twilight Sparkle of this world, had a crush on him?

That couldn’t possibly be true, could it? I mean the first time they met, he mistook her as his Twilight from Equestria and even after then they hardly had much interaction. It was only when this whole deal with shadow monsters that they actually had a chance to bond.

And then there was that unexpected trip to that desert town in Saddle Arabia. That didn’t go so well.

And then there was that outing they had in that one restaurant…

… then the fireworks…

Ok… yeah. Now that he thought about it, they have been acting like a couple in a way.

Still…

With a sigh, Flash spoke. “Ok. If what you’re saying is true – then what do you propose? I can’t exactly stay away from her.” She’s technically staying at his place with all of her friends.

“Just keep your distance.” Timber pleaded, which didn’t seem to be logical. “I know it’s a lot to ask for, but it’s for the best. At least for a while. Please?” He begged. “I love Twilight. I really do. And I don’t want to mess this up. So… just hang back or something.”

Was this guy seriously asking him to ghost one of his friends?