Universe 63

by CarmenColor


Lamentation

It had been two weeks since Elusive had begged Rarity not to tell Twilight about their discovery, and he felt worse and worse about it each day. Like something was trying to eat him from the inside out. Every time he saw Twilight, it reminded him of the thing that he was keeping from her. She had recently been able to cast the mind linking spell herself, making it unnecessary for him to be there. If he went to keep a check on Rarity, he would seem suspicious.

However, it would seem that the fashionista was good at holding her tongue when need be. Elusive had expected her to be more talkative about the issue. He didn't want Twilight to figure out that he'd been keeping things from her, but at the same time, he wished that Rarity would tell her. He'd tried to tell her several times, but he'd never been able to make the words come out. He felt like such an awful pony, not telling her what he knew.

Twilight was happy for now, though. The visits with Rarity had helped, and the Prince had finally responded to her letter. The purple unicorn remembered getting it. It read:

Dear Twilight,

I am glad that you have chosen to write to me about this matter. I know from my experience with Dusk that not doing so could've caused you to go into some form of mental breakdown. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, as I'm sure this had you concerned. I had to work on helping Prince Artemis prepare for the meteor shower tonight. It's been such a long time since he's done one...

Anyway, I'm not sure how I can help you, but perhaps you could just think of your time here as a vacation. Like a trip. Since I've never been in your situation, I'm not really sure what to do, but I do know that you should not worry, Twilight Sparkle. We will get you home soon.

Your temporary teacher,
Prince Solaris

Twilight had been ecstatic when the letter had arrived, but then she was a little down. Not even the Prince knew anything about what she could do. Her down mood did not last long, however, as she was still very sure that she could talk to Rarity whenever she wanted to. Rarity always seemed a little on edge when Elusive was around. Maybe it's just uncomfortable for her... Oh, well. At least I can cast the spell myself now, so she isn't as anxious. Twilight was still ignorant to what the two alabaster unicorns knew, and in her ignorance, she was content.

"I should still tell her, even if she is okay with things right now," Elusive mumbled to himself as he and Twilight trotted to Sugar Cube corner to join the others for a little get together. He had been considering telling her for quite a while. Finally, he decided to grit his teeth and tell her. "Twilight? I have to tell you something..."

"Okay, what is it?" She looked at him.

"I think I may have--um... Well, I might have found...." he coughed once, "I think I found a way for you to go home." Twilight stared at him uncomprehendingly for a second before her face broke into a huge grin.

"Really? How?"

"Well...could we talk about this later? We don't want to keep the others waiting." She frowned a little.

"Okay, I guess," she agreed, "I suppose we really shouldn't keep them waiting, and I've been waiting for this all week." They walked into the bakery to the sound of a canon. The room was instantly covered in party decor. Both of them being used to the antics of a certain pink pony, they barely even flinched at the sound. They trotted over to join the others at a very large table.

All seven of them had decided to have group gatherings every week, to keep Twilight in the loop. This was often the only time that she saw any of them. Sure, this week she had helped Butterscotch with the animals while Elusive was otherwise occupied, but that was very seldom an opportunity for her. Not to mention that she often didn't really want to do anything that they were doing.

"So, how is everypony?" she asked cheerily. They all smiled at her, replying in positive manners.

"How's yer magic coming along, Twilight?" Applejack questioned, hoping to start up some friendly conversation.

"Pretty good," Twilight replied, "Actually, Elusive was just saying that he might have found a way for me to get home." There was a collective gasp from the others, besides Elusive of course.

"Really, Elusive? How?" Dusk asked, clearly surprised that the white unicorn colt had figured something out before he had. Everypony leaned in towards him to hear what he had to say. Bubble leaned to far and fell forward on his face.

"Well..." he started, slightly nervous, "Twilight was telling me how the spell worked one day. She said that it locked onto you own magical signature in the other universe, and it got me wondering if it has to be your own magical signature. Then you were using that mind linking spell to talk to Rarity..."

"You what?!" Dusk asked, "Twilight, why didn't you tell me?"

The purple mare blushed. "Anyway," Elusive went on, "I was wondering if maybe it would be possible to combine both of the spells. Like, lock onto Rarity's magical signature and use that to pull you through to the other universe." Both purple unicorns looked at him, completely astounded that he had put that together.

"Elusive, that's brilliant." Twilight was extremely happy.

"Thank you, Twilight," he said, "I hope you're not mad... I didn't tell you right away..."

Twilight cocked her head, "Why does it matter? I know now." Elusive sighed, relieved that Twilight was not mad at him. He still had her trust. As he sat among his friends, he only wished he had been able to tell her sooner. He wondered why he had felt so worried about telling her earlier...