//------------------------------// // Day Three (Part 1) // Story: Observations // by Tolerance //------------------------------// Day: 3 The moment I had awoken, I had intended to have Spike send you the summary that I had prepared the night before, but I soon learned why that would not be necessary. Your sister, who had arrived at the library at a very early hour (or would it be late for her?), had informed me that she had already discussed events with you. Luna still deigned it necessary to not let me know what she suspected of Stein's true identity, which I believe she had started to sort out either during, or after, her conversation with you. In retrospect, I doubt I would have believed her assumptions even now, had I not witnessed things for myself. She did ask to see the sample of Flux that I still had, as though it would be enough to confirm her suspicion. One quick glance at my paltry offerings were no help, however. Luna did offer another theory regarding the method of the substance's creation. My original idea on how Stein had managed to charge the magic crystal with so much raw energy required several unicorns charging in unison. Luna suggested that it might be possible to do the same by giving the crystals a smaller charge over a much longer period of time. As it stands, neither theory can be confirmed at the moment. I asked Luna if she ever managed to trail Stein after she left. “I am afraid our efforts to covertly follow our quarry were met with vain.” “Do you think he suspected you of following him?” “I do not think that is possible, Twilight. There would have been no reason to suspect that anypony would have followed him the way we attempted to last night. There was simply no trace of him to be found within Ponyville, at least, he was not outside when we went to look for him. “Do you think he might have used teleportation to get away?” “It is possible, but it is of no consequence. He is bound to be conducting his interview with your friend shortly.” ~@~ With nothing better to do than wait for news regarding Pinkie's 'interview,' I decided to brew up some tea for your sister and I while we waited. As It turns out, neither of us had to wait long before we heard a knock on the library door. “Hello? Who is it?” I said, as a certain yellow pegasus came through the door. “Good morning! Fluttershy, what brings you here?” “Oh, well I was at the market...” She started, before noticing a disguised Luna in the corner. “It's okay Fluttershy, anything you have to say to me Dusk can hear as well. Do you mind if I tell her?” I asked Luna. “No need for secrets among friends, Twilight. You may tell her.” “Alright. Fluttershy, you should know that Dusk here is actually Princess Luna in disguise. We would have told you all earlier, but we were trying to keep her disguise from Stein, and well... we just never had the opportunity to reveal it earlier.” “Oh,” started Fluttershy. Realizing she was in the presence of royalty subconsciously began to bow, “I'm so, so sorry if anything from earlier might have offend-” “Please, Fluttershy,” Luna interrupted, “I'll have none of the normal formalities whilst I assume this form. It defeats thy purpose.” “Anyway,” I continued, “you were saying, Fluttershy?” “Oh, right! I was in town picking up supplies when I spotted Pinkie and Mr. Stein walking down the street, only something seemed odd about Pinkie. Now that I think about it, she wasn't bouncing around like normal, almost as if she were in a daze. I tried to approach them to see what was wrong, but after they both turned a corner there was a flash and then they were gone. At first I thought that Mr. Stein had brought her to the hospital, so I checked there first. But when I got there Nurse Redheart said that nopony had come in today. After that, I came to the library thinking that they were here, or at least that you might know where to find them.” “Stein just teleports Pinkie away and the first thing you do is check the hospital?” I asked, having somewhat lost my composure, “Why would you assume Stein was so concerned about how Pinkie is feeling? I bet he had something to do with it himself!” “If that is truly the case, Twilight, we must hurry. There may still be time to trace Stein's teleportation spell.” “You can do that? Nevermind. Fluttershy, we need you to take us to where you last spotted them.” “Oh my, yes. I just hope Pinkie is feeling okay.” The fact that both mine and your sister's concerns were unknown to Fluttershy was not lost on us. We hurried towards the marketplace where Fluttershy suspected that Stein had performed his spell. What we found out when we arrived however, was exactly what we expected, and exactly what we could never had guessed. ~@~ According to the spell Luna was using to detect Stein's apparent teleportation, none of the normal indicators that such a spell had been used could be found. Luckily for us, we happened to spot something that Fluttershy had missed in her initial pursuit. Carved into the ground was a circular geometric diagram. Had we not been looking for things out of the ordinary we might have missed it ourselves. One of the most peculiar things about the diagram was the circle surrounding it that was made of a darker material than the rest of the alleyway. Closer inspection revealed that this material did not originate from the local area at all. “Twilight, what do you know about teleportation spells?” “What do you mean? There is a lot to know in order to be able to pull off such a complicated spell. Like how you are not supposed to use the spell when you haven't observed that your landing zone is clear. That way you don't end up inside a wall or something. Also, long distance teleportation should be avoided because errors in the spell tend to magnify themselves exponentially with distance.” “I see that you have come a long ways since you learned to use it against myself, Twilight. Although I am not sure how Stein has done it, he seems to have been able to bypass such limitations using this glyph. The source of this carving does not appear to be from this locale, but from wherever Stein had transported himself too.” “Are you saying that they switched places? How does somepony even have enough magic to transpose two separate locations onto one another, let alone at a greater distance than we can detect?” “Just think, Twilight. Isn't there some powerfully magical substance, that until recently, you have never seen? A substance that Stein's seems to possess in great amounts?” “The Flux!” I shout, examining the magical glyph excavated sections with closer scrutiny. “He must have poured the flux into the carving in order to power the spell! Why didn't I think of that? Do you think we can just use the glyph the way Stein did?” “I am not sure. There does not seem to be enough material here to power another such spell.” “Wait! I have an idea! From what Stein has said, Flux is just a magic crystal that has had a substantial amount of raw magical energy added, until it turns into a liquid. Do you think that we can pull together enough energy in order to repeat that process?” “Again, I am not sure. I am not familiar with the creation of the substance.” “What if I grab what's left of the sample that I have, and a bunch of crystals with similar composition? We might be able to coax the process along, even without working knowledge of the original procedure.” “If there is no other option, then we must put forth our best effort.” “Great. Now Fluttershy,” who up until this point in the conversation had been utterly lost, “I'll need you to go over to Rarity's place and grab all of the red gems you can find. In fact, bring Rarity too. We might need some of her magic power. I'm sure Dusk here will be happy to accompany you. I'll head off to the library to collect the sample and meet you all back here. Did you get all that?” Fluttershy seemed to find herself being pushed along before she could answer, “Come on now,” Luna/Dusk said, “we have no time to waste. Twilight, what should I tell Rarity should she inquire what it is we intend to do with her merchandise?” “Just tell her it's an emergency, which is the truth. Or tell her the whole truth, at this point it doesn't really matter.” ~@~ I decided against using teleportation so that I could conserve some magic for the task at hoof. By the time I arrived back at the alleyway, the sample safely inside my saddlebag, the others had been midway through your sister's explanation of what it was that we were about to do. “YOU'RE GOING TO DO WHAT WITH MY PRECIOUS RUBIES!?” Rarity demanded. “Calm down, miss Rarity, I'll see to it that you are justly compensated.” Was the reply from your sister. “That is not what I'm referring to. I am glad that these gems will be useful in finding Pinkie. I just wish that you didn't have to destroy such perfectly beautiful stones!” “We all appreciate your sacrifice, but can we move on?” I said, in order to hurry things along. “Right, of course, just tell me what to do so that we can rescue our friend.” “Just stand over there and wait for my signal to start pouring raw magic into the crystals. You shouldn't need to cast any actual spells.” I gestured to a spot near the perimeter of the glyph, which I had been placing the gemstones over its carved surface. “Now for the Flux,” I said as I emptied the sample directly into the center of the glyph, “I hope that'll be enough. Is everypony ready?” Nods all around. I had Luna start pouring some of her energy into the Flux itself, followed by the crystals touching it directly. I would have done it myself, but your sister insisted that she be the one to start the process. She did have the most magical energy stored up between the three of us, after all. Either way, after a few moments the nearest crystals started to glow internally. Soon after, they they had emitted enough light that they became painful to look at directly, this is when I nodded to Rarity to begin assisting Luna's magical stream just as I had started to. The process quickly sped up after we had added our combined power and soon the flux had filled up the glyph. The process was now complete, and I was confident that the translocation spell embedded within the carving could now be activated. There was only one problem, the procedure had literally sapped almost all of the magical energy available to it. Luna was no longer able to maintain her disguise, and Rarity, now unconscious, was being helped back up by Fluttershy. I was also feeling quite drained, but was still able to function. Whether my condition was from a difference in how magic is handled by different species or whether I had an exceptional store of magic, I cannot be certain. “Luna! Rarity! Are you two alright? Your disguise!” “That was not something I wish to experience again.” replied a drowsy sounding princess. “I think she's going to be fine.” Fluttershy commented on Rarity's condition. “I think it worked! We should be able to go directly to Stein now.” “Not we. You.” “Huh?” “Neither Rarity nor I still possess the energies required to use magic, but you still do Twilight. You must activate the glyph and stop Stein.” “Are you sure you two are going to be okay without me?” “We only need a little rest to recuperate. I will attempt to follow you as soon as I am able. I stepped onto the still-glowing carving and began the process of activation. “There is one thing you should know, Twilight. There is only one pony I suspect of being capable of so many feats of magical ingenuity. It is my firm belief that Stein is none other than Star-Swirl the Bearded, from ancient times. “How is that possible? Only Alicorns are immortal!” The glyph started to actively shine, it would only be moments before it completed it's spellcraft. “I am not sure how he managed it. but my only clue is his name. Stein means stone in an ancient tongue. I think he sealed himself away until he found-” And then I found myself in another place.