//------------------------------//
// 3: Music in the Backpack Caverns 
// Story: Fairies and Firelight 
// by MLfan 
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Twilight held Sunset close as she could, as long as she could. Sunset was bawling tears into her burned and blackened arms, completely scream-crying. And she didn't ever want to let go. Twilight had just seen any hope of help slip away from her, she couldn't lose Sunset, too. No, she couldn't afford to lose Sunset, period. After she'd watched her be attacked by a fly, she promised herself she would keep her friend safe. And before that, even, when she saved her at the friendship games, she promised herself she would make it up to Sunset every way she could. She was too important to go of again. Once was one too many.

Sunset, though... she just seemed to snap. She was fine, if shaken. Understandable, after burning alive for the second time in a day. And then, like a switch was flipped, she was rushing towards the entrance to the backpack! Back to the place she'd almost died! So Twilight held her tight, to make sure she didn't leave her again.

If there was a silver lining to all of this, it seemed Rainbow hadn't seen Sunset. After calling out for a final time, she left the room. The moment the door closed behind her, just like that, the tingling on her skin disappeared. They were alone once more. 

Well, she couldn't hold her friend forever, much as she might wish she could. After another minute of relaxing into Twilight's arms, Sunset's tears faded to a light sniffling. Reluctantly, Twilight pulled back. Sunset wiped her face with a blister-covered arm to brush away a few of her tears. She didn't run, but she didn't say anything. She just curled up against the side of a textbook, crying lightly.

Twilight was crushed. Her mood had been improving, she'd been learning to have fun where she could in this massive world. Even when they had to push a massive cinderblock for minutes on end, Sunset was there, always smiling. That was enough to keep her going. The images her stupid brain was making, of being maimed, stabbed, crushed, they'd faded almost completely. 

Now, those images were gone. No, they'd been replaced by the image she'd seen just moments ago. That scream. Sunset's scream pierced through Twilight's soul, a tale of pain so devastating it was unimaginable. There was no physical fire, but all over her body, blisters bubbled and black scorch marks appeared on her skin, her arms, her legs, her face. Somehow, Twilight managed to pull her back in, and in that moment, she felt a fraction of Sunset's pain, her arm left blackened and scarred because of it.

All because one of their best friends in the whole world looked them in the eyes.

The guilt came back a thousand fold. Her invention didn't just shrink them down, it sentenced them to death. Who cares if they could be eaten by a frog or crushed by a shoe, they'd be burned alive far before that could ever happen. They couldn't ask for help. Hell, if they left the room, they were dead. When class started in around an hour, they were dead. All because she wanted to know what magic looked like. She wanted to break down and cry, to scream into the heavens.

But she didn't. Because however much she might have been hurting, Sunset was hurting a hundred times more. If they both fell apart now, it was all over. So, she pushed her own worries aside, no matter how loudly they screamed in her ears. She would worry about her own stupid problems later. Sunset was hurting, and not just because of some invisible fire. She didn't need some sniveling crybaby. She needed a friend. She needed Twilight Sparkle.

She approached the sniffling Sunset. "Hey. Do you... want to talk about it?"

Sunset looked up from her scrunched-up form. Her face was red from the tears, and covered in blisters and scorch marks otherwise. She nodded in response to the question.

She waited a few more moments, but Sunset didn't say anything more. "You said you didn't want to be alone again, right?" Twilight prompted.

Sunset visibly winced. "B-but you're here with me, I'm not alone. I'm just being selfish."

Twilight placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you're not being selfish. It's okay."

She shook her head sadly and turned away, shaking off Sunset's hand. "No, it's not. I... I almost killed myself, Twi! You had to hold me back, take everything I gave you, and you were already dealing with so much. I almost hit you! You didn't deserve any of that. What kind of friend does that make me?"

She gave a kind smile. "Hey, you can't hog all the emotional burden. I stopped you because I wanted to, no other reason. And you know what, you didn't hit me. You had a moment of weakness, and you made it out the other side. And you're not gonna do it again, right?"

She shook her head quickly. "No! I-I would never!"

"Then I accept your apology. We're in a stressful situation. You were burning alive out there, I can't expect you to keep it together through that. You freaked out. And you won't do it again. We'll make it through this, together, okay?"

Sunset raised her head to meet Twilight's eyes. She did see a spark of hope in there, somewhere. But after a moment, she lowered it again. "No, you don't get it."

Twilight sat beside her, leaning against the textbook. "I want to. Talk to me, Sunset."

She looked Twilight in the eyes again. This time, the spark was gone, and they were filled with tears again. "Twilight, do you forgive me?"

She leaned in closer. "Of course I forgive you, Twi. I told you, you freaked out, it's understandable. If anything, I hit you! I should be the one apologizing, if anyone."

But Sunset pulled away and shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I mean... I told you about what I was like before, right? Before I met you, I mean. I was a bad person. A really bad person. When I entered this world, for years, I hurt everyone around me. I turned them against one another. I connived, manipulated, made their lives miserable, and for what end? I just wanted power, and nothing more. And in the end, it twisted me into a demon. Do you... forgive me, for that?"

Twilight wracked her brain. Up until now, she'd just been giving Sunset reassurances, the best she could. But this... it came out of nowhere. She knew the story, of course, but for the life of her, why mention it now of all times? Then, she realized. Sunset had almost punched her. She was worried she was going back on her old ways. She clenched her fists. "Sunset, I told you. You didn't hit me. I'm sure the old you wouldn't have hesitated. This is nothing to feel guilty over. You were scared, you were lonely. That doesn't mean you're not becoming your old self again, not even close. I promise."

At her answer, Sunset just averted her eyes. "No, that's not what I mean. Please, just answer the question."

That was even more confusing. If not guilt, then where was this coming from? If only for the lack of a better response, she decided to just give her honest answer the question. "You want to know if I forgive you for something I never even saw you do, then? Sunset, I've only ever known you as the confident, kind, amazing person you are today. Besides, I turned into a demon myself once, I'd be pretty hypocritical to hold that against you." She raised herself up and sat on the book's surface. "But I know the other girls have forgiven you. They love you like a family, and you hurt them most of all. I can speak for all of us when I say we forgive you, Sunset."

At that answer, Sunset finally gave a slight smile. The blisters on her face seemed just a little smaller than before. "Thank you, Twi. I-I needed to hear that. I agree with you, you know. I had a whole heartsong about that a while back. I'm not the mare I was before. Everyone forgives me. The people I hurt the most in the past are now my best friends in the whole world. My past is behind me." She wiped away a tear out of her her eyes, but as she did so, a few more started coming, faster than the ones before them. Her smile faded. "I'm forgiven by everyone I know. And then something like this happens, and I feel like the universe itself hasn't forgiven me."

"The... universe?"

She sniffed. "Every single time I think I'm happy. That I've made a place for myself in the world as Sunset Shimmer, monster fighting high schooler, savior of Canterlot High, friend to all. And then something like this happens, and I'm alone again. First, the memory stone took you all away from me. For three days, I saw your faces, and you looked at me like I was a monster. And not just you. Everybody. I was alone. Every person who loved and cared about me forgot who I was."

Twilight put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Sunset..."

The tears were coming faster. "A-and I fixed that! Everything was fine again, people knew me, loved me for who I am, not hated me for who I was. But then I got trapped in a time loop. T-that one wasn't as bad, not at first. But nothing I did mattered. It was like you were all shallow reflections of your true selves, going on predetermined paths. I could change those paths, maybe. But no matter what I did, come the next morning, you were reset. I could have killed you, and none of you would have known. So what did anything I do even matter!? I hurt Pinkie, and the next day, she didn't even remember. Again, I was alone." 

Twilight was tearing up. "Sunset, I..." She choked up, unable to continue.

Sunset took a shaky breath. "I can deal with otherworldly monsters. Giant magical storms, Human abusing a powerful magical artifact. B-but you girls are my everything. They pulled me out of the darkest part of my life, and you've become just as important as any of them. And then, like clockwork, they're gone. And I have to know... did I do something wrong? Was what I did  so truly unforgivable that I have to suffer through all this again and again? Why else would I keep losing you?" She began full-on crying again. "And now we're here. We burn when out friends look at us, and for what? Just to make me suffer? Just to add one to the pile? I'm alone again, Twilight. And if we don't find a solution, I'll never be able to talk with them, never again. I'm alone."

Twilight began crying, herself. The resolve she'd built up crumbled away. "I didn't know! I'm so sorry!"

Sunset buried her head in her hands. "Sorry for what? It's just some sort of sick, twisted fate. You can't stop your memories from being stolen, stop me from being trapped in a time loop. There's nothing any of us can do."

"It was my experiment!" she blurted. "If I hadn't done this, you wouldn't be separated from your friends. This is all my fault!"

She looked up at Twilight, eyes red due to the tears. "Please, don't take the blame for something you had no control over, Twilight. It doesn't make anything better." She looked away. "It isn't going to bring them back." 

That just made her feel worse. "I'm sorry," she said again.

Sunset sniffled. "I've never told you girls, but every week, I dream that I've woken up, and you're all gone. Not your memories erased, not lost due to a time loop, just... gone. And try as I might, I never, ever bring you back. For the rest of my life, I'm alone. And then I wake up in a cold sweat. And you know, I thought it might finally be over. Maybe, just maybe, I was safe, and my friends wouldn't be taken away from me again. And then my best friend looks me in the eye, and it sets me on fire. Let's say I survive this time, who cares!? It's just gonna happen all over again. What if, next time, every time I look at them, they burn away? What if I'm sent to the distant future and you've all been dead for a hundred years? What if I shatter your minds with my geode, and you're brain-dead for the rest of their lives? I can't do this, Twilight! I can't be alone again!" She was crying even harder than before.

Unsure on what else to do, Twilight hugged her again. She knew Sunset was hurting, but... this was too much. "I'm sorry, Sunset. For everything. But I promise, I won't let you be alone. I'm here." She didn't know what else to say. It was such a small thing compared to what she was going through. This was all her fault in the first place, anyways. Compared to that, this gesture was nothing. But she said what she could, and she held her close.

Sunset shook her head, still in her hands. "What does it matter? We can stick together all we want, it's not going to fix anything. That phone was our goal, out plan this whole time, and it failed. My- our friends are gone. We're stuck like this. And we're alone."

The pressure on her was crushing. On the inside, her self-doubts were screaming in her ears, telling her that Sunset was like this because of her experiment. On the outside, the person she trusted to help her through this, the person who would never falter, had given up. If Sunset Shimmer of all people couldn't make it through this, what chance did she have? She was weak. She'd crumbled within minutes of being shrunken down. She couldn't do this. She was supposed to be able to ask herself, what would Sunset do? But right now, she knew what Sunset would do. She would break down and cry. It was hopeless. They were going to die here.

Then, beneath the voices screaming in her ear, telling her to give up, Twilight heard a softer voice. It told her she was wrong. Sunset wouldn't break down and cry, not until it was all over. The Sunset she knew would never give up, never back down. And if Sunset disagreed, then maybe she just needed to remind her otherwise. And you know what, crying isn't what Twilight would do either. That voice, quiet as it was, told her to fight. It told her that, until the last bell rang, it was no time to be giving up. No matter the odds, it told her to push on to the end.

So with a confidence she didn't feel, she wiped away her tears. She took hold of that quiet voice and turned it into a roar. She jumped up onto the textbook before her, because she knew that's what Sunset would do. And she stomped her foot down on the hard surface beneath her.  "N-no. NO! We didn't give up before, we won't do it now. This isn't over."

She looked up weakly. "What's the point? We failed. The phone's useless."

Her voice was shaky at first but it got clearer as she went on. "Oh, r-really? You didn't forget what our original plan was, did you!?"

Sunset blinked. "Huh?"

"We were never after the phone, Sunset. It was just a means to an end. Don't you remember?" She hopped down from the textbook, and opened the lip of the backpack to show the classroom beyond. "We were after the Pulsar! It brought us into this mess, so it's going to get us out of it! It's the key to this whole plot! So until we activate it again, don't you dare give up on me!"

She averted her eyes. "I-"

Twilight cut her off, a newfound strength filling her core. She struck another dramatic pose. "This isn't the Sunset Shimmer I know. The Sunset I know had her friends forget every positive thing she'd ever done, and she kept fighting. The Sunset I know got stuck in a time loop, and she kept fighting! She's shown me the light at the end of the tunnel over and over again. And she never, ever gives up! So are you gonna stay quiet, or are you gonna fight!?" She breathed heavily, not used to such grand posturing.

Sunset just stared for a few seconds. She looked at the ground, head turned away from Twilight. Twilight looked at the ground. She... she failed, didn't she?

And then, Sunset let out a light giggle. Twilight looked up at her again, but she was unable to see Sunset's face.

"Man," she said. "You look really dorky trying to give a rousing speech."

Twilight blushed. To be honest, she'd felt pretty dorky when she'd given the speech, too. She smiled sheepishly. "Well... did it work?"

She finally turned back towards Twilight. And yes, she was smiling again. "I think you're right, Twi. Until we turn on that bear again, this is no time to be giving up."

Twilight grinned, and she grinned wide. For once, she didn't even care that she called it a bear. Because Sunset was back. "That's my girl." 

You know, Twilight didn't know why, but she was feeling better, now. More focused. Though she'd sought to sooth Sunset's fears, in the process, her personal internal haze seemed to fade. She still felt a little bit of guilt, but it wasn't so overwhelming anymore. A bit of fear, but a bit of hope as well. In helping her friend, she'd found what it took to push forwards, herself.

After all, now, they all knew the stakes. Maybe Twilight started this whole mess, but she could finish it, too. Get to that pulsar, and it would all be over. They may have been in danger of invisible fire, sure, but until class let in, there was no reason to be afraid. From here, there was no more time for playing around, or for wallowing in guilt. They had a goal, and so long as they focussed, they could do this. Get to the pulsar, and it would put this whole thing behind them. The pulsar would fix them.

It had to.



Sunset was ashamed in herself. She had just... given up. It had all been too much. She thought that, after everything she'd went through, she was better than that, but... this was too much. If Twilight wasn't here, she didn't know if she could have ever recovered, not until it was too late. But through the swirling thoughts and doubts, Twilight had stepped up and made a stand. Her speech was clumsy, awkward. Her posturing looked ridiculous, and she stumbled over her words multiple times. When she first started talking, she didn't even seem to believe the words coming out of her mouth.

And she glowed. 

A purple aura surrounded her, friendship magic bursting at her seams. It washed over Sunset, and with it, a feeling of hope, companionship, and life. As the speech continued and Twilight's confidence grew, so too did the glow, washing over her brighter and brighter. And in that wonderful glow, she knew she wasn't alone. They still had each other. So yeah, maybe they had a plan, now. That was something to hold on to. But Twilight's heart is what dug her out of the pit she was in, not her words.

She glanced Twilight's hand, guilty that she'd forced Twilight to get burned for her. And... it was completely healthy. Wait a minute, what? She glanced down at her own hands, and her skin was flawless, not a scorch mark in sight! Had Twilight unlocked some sort of healing ability? But... no, now that she was back in her right mind, she noticed. The whole conversation, her skin had been healing, the pain fading. The process just happened to finish as Twilight gave her speech. What, so whatever magic burned them up, the burns were only temporary, then? Why? For that matter...

She shook her head. She needed to stay on topic. She could worry about the true nature of the spell later, they only had about an hour before the first kids would start arriving for class. If everything went well, they'd be back to normal by then, and they could talk about what happened all they wanted. For now, she needed to focus.

As if on cue, Twilight spoke. "So, what's the plan? I know I said we needed to get to the pulsar, but that's easier said than done. The desk's three times as tall as your backpack, and it's completely smooth."

Sunset smiled, though. She'd already come up with a solution to this particular problem. "That came to me while we were wrangling with the phone. So far, we've been solving all of our problems mechanically. Somehow, we managed to forget, we have magic! Twi, when you pony up, you have wings, right?" She cocked her head. "You know, considering you're still only a unicorn when we cross over, the wings seems a bit odd to me. You can fly with them, right?"

Twilight shrugged. "Long story short, yes. As for the why... I was confused on that point myself, to tell you the truth. I wrote Princess Twilight about why the wings appear in one form and not the other, but a lot of the magic stuff went over my head. I read it through a dozen times, and could barely make heads or tails of it. Something about a mutual connection to the elements of harmony?"

Sunset blinked. "Wait, you're telling me that a magical explanation from yourself went over your head?"

Twilight chuckled. "From what I can tell, all the years she put into researching the intricacies of magic, I looked into technology. When she gets deep into thaumic radiation and inherited magical wills, I'm as lost as anyone else. Any time I try to explain one of her inventions, it goes over her head just as hard, trust me."

...Huh. That actually made a lot of sense. Princess Twilight wasn't exactly an artificer, herself. It made her wonder, if she ever ended up meeting her own counterpart, how might their lives have differed? Would her counterpart be a scientist as well? "Interesting," she said. Then, she shook herself off. "Anyways, we can finish this conversation later, we're on a time limit here. Point is, you should be able to fly up there, yeah?"

She nodded decisively. "Of course, that shouldn't be a problem. Should've thought of it earlier, myself! I'm not sure if I could carry you, though, I'm not exactly a skilled flier."

Sunset shrugged. "Hey, you're the one who knows how to turn the device on. So long as I'm in the room when it goes off, I'm happy."

Twilight nodded, and raised her hand to the sky. "Okay, then! I'd better get started as soon as I can. Pony up, go!"

Absolutely nothing happened.

"...How do I pony up at will, again? We don't have any musical instruments on hand."

Sunset sighed. "Normally, it activates when we play music, or otherwise strongly show our emotional affinities. Like, if Fluttershy is particularly kind, or Rarity particularly generous." Then, her eyes narrowed. "Now that I think about it, why didn't you pony up when you gave your speech? That was one of the most harmonious things I've ever heard. Weird..."

Twilight blushed. "I'm sure you're giving me too much credit. I was terrified, myself."

"Twilight, you were literally glowing with harmony magic."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Wait, really?" She looked down at her hands, excited. She slumped slightly, disappointed the glow was gone. "Well, point taken, guess it was a pretty good speech. Harmony magic provides a pretty objective judge."

Sunset frowned, distracted. "Still, why no wings, no pony ears? There was enough magic it should've happened. Could it be another aspect of the curse? Or maybe the magic doesn't know how to form our bodies at such a small scale? It's weird, whatever the case...." She trailed off. It was baffling, really. Shrinking was one thing, but why wouldn't the transformation occur? It clearly wasn't blocking their mana channels, Twilight glowed just fine. What was different now?

Twilight seemed deep in thought, herself. After a moment, though, she shook herself off. "Okay, we need to focus. We haven't been very good at that, have we? Look, there's no use endlessly hypothesizing when we don't have the data to figure it out right now. Whatever the case, if what you're saying is right, we're gonna have to find another way up the desk. It pretty much means Ponying up's off the table."

Sunset shook her head. That was one possibility, of course. But without knowing why it wasn't working, they couldn't rule something else out. "Not necessarily," she said. "For now, all we know is that your output of harmony magic alone didn't do it, and we don't know why. Like you said, we don't have the data points. If we want to be sure, I suggest we go back to our origin: music. Even before the magic started manifesting when we showed strong emotions, music was the trigger. It's never failed us before."

Twilight cocked her head. "You sure it would make much of a difference? It might have been first, but doesn't the distinction seem a bit arbitrary? I feel like directly showing an aspect of friendship should be more powerful than strumming on a guitar..."

Sunset shrugged. "Well, music's at the core of equestrian magic, isn't it? Heartsongs are the one type of magic anycreature can use, from dragon to pony to griffon." 

"Heartsongs?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "When life becomes like a musical number."  Twilight let out a little 'oh,' which Sunset took as a sign to continue. "Point is, music is special. While a unicorn can cast spells and a griffon fly, anyone can sing, given strong enough emotional resonance. And I mean anyone. With a tiny fragment of magic, even humans can join in! Friendship may be the most powerful magic of all, but music is the simplest. If I had to guess, that's probably why our particular magic responds most strongly to music. Magic responds to song for anycreature, under any circumstance."

Twilight hung onto her every word, fascinated. Finally, she cut in. "Oh my gosh, that's so cool! Could magic have some inherent musical property to it? Oh, or maybe song was the first magic, and all other magic is just an offshoot! Or-"

Sunset put up her hands. "Slow down, slow down! Weren't you just getting on my tail for getting distracted? Trust me, you're asking questions the greatest equestrian minds have been asking for thousands of years."

She froze like a deer in the headlights. She laughed nervously. "Right, sorry." She did one more 'squee,' then shook her head to clear it. "Back on topic, I totally see what you're getting at. Even if shrinking down changed our "race," so to speak, music should still help us focus our magic!" In an instant, her simmering excitement faded. She slumped. "Wait, that just brings us back to my first problem. We don't have any musical instruments. It might be due to our human heritage, but from what I've seen from the few experiments I've done, having instruments helps us channel the magic far more reliably than voice alone." She brightened a bit. "Then again... heartsongs, right? I've been in a few of those without playing an instrument, I think. Maybe we don't need them!"

But Sunset shook her head. "No, an instrument isn't optional, here. True, a heartsong forms when enough emotional energy meets in one place, and in that case, you'd only need your voice. But we don't have the time to wait for that to happen naturally. In order to force it, to direct the magic into a heartsong, a musical instrument is much like a magic wand, or a unicorn's horn. We really do need some sort of musical instrument to make this all work."

Twilight frowned further. She glanced around the backpack, not that there was much to find. Glancing around confirmed what she already knew: Sunset kept her backpack tidy, much to her current chagrin. "Well, that's kind of a problem. It might take me a while to get a reliable instrument working. I'm not sure I could get it done before class let back in. We might need to wait in here until class lets out again."

Wit all the talking they'd done, they had maybe 50 minutes left, now. Sunset pursed her lips. Waiting was tempting, but... "Not an option. We should be able to stay hidden in here pretty easily, but that's not the problem. Once class starts, there's  no way that bear stays up there. Someone could take it to the lost and found, or worse, damage it somehow. When the others arrive, it's too late."

Twilight looked at the ground. "I could put together rudimentary I guess? I mean, it doesn't take that much to get an instrument to work. Put together a few cans and you've got percussion. But I don't even have that at this scale. I'd have to experiment what we could even make work at such small sizes. We don't even know how the soundwaves would work! I'll try my best, but it'll be cutting it pretty tight."

Sunset frowned. Even if this worked, they'd have to spend all their time on it. Building instruments from scratch, learning them, all in the off-chance it even worked at all! Was it really safe to put all their eggs in this basket? 

On the other hand, what else were they supposed to do? Climbing the desk wouldn't be like climbing the backpack. There were no handholds, no footholds. Its surface was a smooth plastic all the way down. Music might be a long shot, but at least it was feasible! No, they needed to pony up. It was their only option. And considering Twilight's trepidation in making an instrument at this point, their best bet was to sing without instruments. It was still a long shot, but at least they had a chance to try something else if it didn't work. ...Not that she knew what else there was to try.

As she was about to say as much, her eyes settled on her smartphone. And in a moment, the answer hit her. She grinned. "Hold up, hold up. there's no need to make something, Twi. We've been focusing so much on what we can build that we forgot what was right in front of us! We put in all this work grabbing our own personal supercomputer, didn't we? And it's got a few instruments downloaded. What say we use it?"

Twilight stared at the phone as well. And her face filled with color again. "Sunset, I've said it once, and I'll say it again. You're a genius!" She ran forwards and hugged her friend. Sunset grinned and returned the hug. But in a moment, she broke it off. They had work to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

Sunset stepped onto the phone's smooth surface. From the side, while it took a bit of a push, Twilight managed to press in the power button, and it was up to Sunset to enter her passcode. The ease of which would depend entirely on whether or not her shoes would activate the touch screen. An uneasy step forwards and... whew, fortunately not. Her shoes blocked the magnetic charge of her feet, so she could easily walk across the screen without activating it, only registering a touch when she used her entire palm. It took a minute, but she entered her passcode and opened her phone.

"Can I look now?" said Twilight.

Sunset glanced over at Twilight. She was looking away from Sunset's phone, with hands covering her eyes. Sunset sighed sighed. "Yeah, because that's so important right now. Worrying about the preservation of my passcode. Yes, I'm done."

Twilight only  looked when Sunset confirmed she was done. From there, she stepped up the side of the phone. "Well, I didn't want to look without permission."

Sunset rolled her eyes as she walked to the home button. She jumped on it to activate it, bringing her to the home screen. "I'm not worried you're gonna steal from me, Twi. In case you need to get in without me, it's 0753, Starswirl the Bearded's birthday."

Twilight nodded with utmost sincerity, like Sunset had entrusted her with some sort of state secret. It was cute in a way. After a few moments, though, the actual number hit her. "Wait, July 53rd!?"

Sunset laughed. "Different universe, different calendars." She placed a palm on the screen and began walking across to swipe to an adjacent screen.

Twilight tapped a folder labelled 'Music.' "You need to walk me through all the different parts of your universe sometime. We need more one-on-one time, seriously, I didn't realize just how many questions I have about your world! I think I know just about everything, and then you tell me that our very calendars are different!"

Sunset pulled up the 'Piano' app. Beneath them, the floor morphed into an uneven checkerboard of black and white. Sunset unfastened her shoes, and tossed them aside. Twilight did likewise. "Hey, when we make it out of this, you can pick my brain all you'd like. For now..." She spun dramatically, skirt twirling beneath her. She stopped and extended a hand. "May I have this dance?"

Twilight blushed furiously. "Huh?"

Sunset giggled. "We're playing the piano with our feet, aren't we? If that's not dancing, I don't know what is." She lightly stepped on a few piano keys, letting their music fill the air. She looked up and met Twilight's eyes once more. She still seemed uneasy. Sunset lightened her tone. "We've danced before, haven't we? Just do it again and it'll be fine. We've got this."

"Well yeah, but... it wasn't just the two of us before."

Stage fright, eh? Sunset smirked. Well, no need to treat her like a fragile flower, then. "This is for your own good, Twi." Without a second thought, Sunset grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her inward. Twilight stumbled slightly, playing a few notes on the way in, but settled in Sunset's grip, one hand outwards, one on her back.

"S-Sunset?"

"It's okay, Twi. Just follow my lead."

Sunset pulled Twilight across the piano, a simple set of steps. It didn't create any music, just a series of notes, but it didn't need to yet. Twilight was tense, but Sunset kept dancing. She didn't bother with the notes beneath her feet, just the rhythm in her step. She went from note to note, slow across the piano beneath her, pulling Twilight along. In time, Twilight untensed, dancing in earnest herself. A, C, A, C. Despite the lack of music, she felt on the brink of something, but she wasn't sure what. The phone wasn't all that big, not really, maybe the size of a large gym mat, but it was enough to make it work.

Twilight began pulling with direction, showing a will to take the lead, so Sunset let her. She was a bit clumsy, watching her feet with every step. She pulled them out of the established rhythm, instead stepping on piano keys with intent. Clearly, she was trying to turn their scattered steps into music, leading them from one note to another with purpose. But with the two of them together, she wasn't having much luck. The double-taps on every note were awkward, and she had trouble defining a melody on such an unusual instrument. She couldn't press notes quickly, and she couldn't change by more than a few musical steps in a single leap.

Twilight broke hand contact with Sunset and kept dancing, frowning as she did so. Losing contact with her friend, Sunset grew to a halt. To be honest, she was pretty sure Twilight was on the wrong track, but she would give her time. Unfortunately, even on her own, Twilight didn't do much better. Yes, Sunset wasn't in her way anymore, but she still couldn't play the instrument very effectively. She couldn't seem to make a melody work. Finally, she stopped altogether, frown on her face. "Clearly, this isn't working. We need to try something else."

Sunset took a step forwards. "But we were doing so well at the start! The dance felt... right!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't music, just some random notes. If we want to do this for real, we need more than that. Maybe another instrument might work better?"

Sunset sighed. "No, no, the piano's gonna be the easiest to play. What I mean is, didn't you feel that at the beginning, right before you took control?"

Twilight shifted her weight. "Maybe? But... that was nothing. Just a bit of adrenaline."

Sunset grabbed Twilight's hands again. "For both of us? No, it wasn't. It was magic."

Twilight stared. "But we weren't even playing music yet! I thought you said-"

Sunset cut her off. "Look, I don't play this card often. but this is magic, Twilight. I know it better than you. And I say, if we want to make a heartsong right now, we have to stop trying so hard to make a heartsong."

Twilight sputtered. "But... w-what!?"

Sunset pulled her close again. "Just follow my lead. Don't worry about making a song, just... dance, okay?"

Twilight looked between Sunset's face and hands. "O-okay. I'll try."

The pair began dancing again. The dance had a rhythm to it, but no music. Left foot, right foot. They weren't making any real music yet, just dancing while a few notes filled the air, echoing lightly against the cloth sides. Twilight was nervous at first, just like last time. But she began to untense after a few moments, letting herself be pulled along. And soon, she began to lead in turn, leading Sunset into a pirouette between the F and F sharp. She didn't try to pull them into a melody, just a simple series of steps. Still no music, but Sunset let herself get lost in the dance regardless. Soon, Twilight began smiling as well.

As they danced, their movements grew more fluid. Naturally at first, an extension of their sync. But as their dance continued, the magic of harmony began to flow through their bodies as well, little by little. It didn't puppet their bodies, it just seemed to point them in the right direction. A little half step further that way, a step back instead of forwards. And in a matter of moments, the random notes they'd been playing flowed together into a beautiful duet. Each step of the dance caused another note to fall into the tapestry of music. They would break up their dance to form two concurrent melodies only to join together again for the chorus. They would form harmonies without a word passing between them. Sunset closed her eyes and gave in to the music around her, letting her body move on its own. A few moments later, she opened them to meet Twilight's own. And across from her, Twilight began to sing.

I look across the piano and see
A pony, a human, friend.
Beautiful hair, beautiful eyes,
And a heart that shows me no end.
I should be fearing the vision-made searing
And the pulsar behind it all mine.
But I see your face, your wondrous smile,
and everything seems to be fine.

I've had regrets in the past, this I know,
For knowledge, a demon I spurned.
I did it again, messing with magic,
How much must this lesson be learned?
I hurt you, and yet you look me in the eye
And say you forgive and forget.
You let me see back into your eyes
And show naught but a grateful duet.

Sunset began to sing the chorus with Twilight.

I fear that I will be the one to blame,
It will be due to me that you'll meet your end,
But just for right now, in this moment,
I'm glad to be here with my friend.

I'm not alo~one.
We're not alo~one.
We're alone, together.

Twilight's voice faded as Sunset sang.

There once was a pony who wished to move on
And yet a curse followed her name
It trapped her, it hurt her, it left her behind
It watch-ed her wallow in shame.
But there followed a human, will strong as steel
Broke through the curse just to say,
"You won't be alone, not while I'm here."
And she was here to stay.

I look 'cross the phone, look into your eyes
Your glasses, the bun in your hair
A part of me thinks you'll be gone when I blink
But then I look back and you're there
I wonder if I'm selfish, to pull you along
Should I be glad you're burning with me?
But so long as we're not alone
A light at the end, I can see.

Twilight and Sunset sang together for the chorus once more.

I fear that I will be the one to blame,
It will be due to me that you'll meet your end,
But just for right now, in this moment,
I'm glad to be here with my friend.

I'm not alo~one.
We're not alo~one.
We're alone, together.

We're alo~o~one
Alone, together.

As the song faded, the pair locked legs at the center of the piano, faces inches away from one another. They were literally glowing with harmony magic. It radiated off of them, purple and orange light completely flooding the chamber. But no matter the beauty of the music, or the rawness of their emotions, pony ears and wings refused to appear. While they were glowing, though, she couldn't bring herself to care. She felt a kinship with Twilight. Both of them were struggling with taking the blame for something they couldn't control. Sunset worried her curse would hurt Twilight, and Twilight worried her inventions would hurt Sunset. And of course, they were both glad they had someone else by their side to help them. 

Sunset finally broke the silence as the magic began to fade away. "So... that didn't work."

Twilight laughed. "Nope!"

She sighed, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Well, there goes that theory. And we only have around 40 minutes now. 30, if you want time to actually activate the thing. And to be honest, I got nothing. We might just have to wait until after class and... hope for the best, I guess. All that's left that I can see is climbing that desk manually, and I don't see a way to do that."

Twilight smiled, though. "Not so fast. You can't hog all the ideas. That song gave me a burst of inspiration." She smiled. "You've solved enough problems today, Sunny. It's my turn. Time to show you what a true scientist is capable of."