//------------------------------// // The Experiment // Story: Shadow of Twilight // by GreenS21 //------------------------------// Lucian, Hugo, and Red Shield (who was wearing a dark green vest) were talking in the foyer of the house when they all heard somepony knocking on the front door. They all turned to look at it, Red saying, “It’s open. Come in!” Lucian and Hugo glared sideways at him for a moment, but it quickly faded when the door opened and Twilight stepped in. Lucian quickly approached her and said, “Hey Twilight! You sure like to show up unexpectedly, don’t you?” The lavender mare giggled, “Yeah, I guess I do. Well, I do here anyway.” Hugo spoke, “Mother’s down in the basement working.” He then smirked at Twilight, “You did come to see her, not Lucian, right?” Both Twilight and Lucian blushed slightly at that, Lucian turning to look at Hugo and saying, “Ugh, will you cut it out?!” Hugo took a step back, waving one his front hooves around in the air as he said, “Alright, okay…” Twilight turned to look at Lucian and said, “I just need to talk to your mother for a few minutes, but I think I should be able to stick around for a while. I mean, as long as you don’t mind.” Lucian looked back at her and said, “Of course not. That would be great.” Red nodded, “For sure! It’s been two years since we last saw you, Twi’. It’ll be great to actually get to spend some time with you.” Twilight nodded, “Okay, I won’t be long then.” She then headed for the basement door and pushed it open, Red using a hoof to pull it closed for her, seeing as he was the closest one to the door. She nodded at him before it closed completely and then walked down the stairs. As she walked down, she looked at the lab. It didn’t look any different from the last time she had visited. Even Dr. Wagner didn’t look any different; she was still standing by the kiln, using her magic to stir something in a pot. When Twilight stepped off the bottom step, Dr. Wagner looked up from the pot and looked back over her shoulder at the lavender unicorn. She released her magic hold on the stirrer and turned to face her, asking, “You… You have, by chance, the Philosopher’s Stone?!” Twilight replied, “Yes… Is this it?” She reached her muzzle into her right saddlebag and gripped the red stone with her teeth. She then walked over to the nearby table and set it down, backing away afterwards. “That’s the only stone I’ve seen that could possibly be it,” she said. Dr. Wagner looked from her to the stone before approaching the table while saying, “Ah, by the pegasi of Cloudsdale!” She used her magic to pick up the stone and said, “I shall start the preparations for the experiment right now.” She then looked back at Twilight and said, “It’s all right… it doesn’t matter if this is not the true stone. I am grateful for your help regardless. But if it truly is the stone, the results should be wondrous.” Twilight couldn’t help but find the old mare’s excitement contagious. She was admittedly feeling a little excited about this experiment. Dr. Wagner looked down for a moment, thinking, and then said, “Please, come back again in… let’s see, five… no, make it ten days.” Twilight nodded, “Ten days, okay. That would be the… thirteenth…” She trailed off as she remembered that was when she started her search for the sea hare antidote. She remembered what the house looked like and what she had been told during that visit. “Oh!” she gasped. Dr. Wagner asked, “What is it?” Twilight carefully asked, “Um, i-isn’t that experiment going to be dangerous?” Dr. Wagner replied, “That may be, but… this is something I want to do… Something I must do. Please, try to understand…” She then turned and walked back over to the kiln, murmuring, “Ten days from now – by then, the experiment should yield fruit.” She looked back at Twilight and said, “I will be able to show you the Homunculus. At last, science will prove itself capable of creating life.” She then looked down and softly said, “How I wish she could have been here… Mother…” She shook her head and then nodded, “That is my only regret. See you in ten days then.” Twilight replied, “Okay then. If there’s anything else you need…” Turning to look over at Twilight again, Dr. Wagner said, “Actually, there is one more thing. Could you keep this a secret from Hugo and Lucian?” Twilight replied, “Sure. Why?” Dr. Wagner explained, “I don’t know about Lucian, but knowing Hugo as I do, if he learns of this, he might do something like attempt to bring Helena back from the dead…” She shook her head, “We’ve all been deeply affected by her death, but Hugo just can’t seem to face it.” Glancing back at Twilight, who was looking at her worryingly, she said, “Should this experiment succeed – if I manage to find what answers I can in my quest for truth – I shall commit all records of my research to the fire. Now, take care…” She then turned to look back at the kiln. Twilight looked at her for a moment before turning and heading back upstairs. Hugo looked up as Twilight stepped out of the basement and pulled the door closed. “Hey, did you manage to see Mother?” he asked. Twilight replied, “Uh-huh. What is it?” Looking away, Hugo said, “Man, what’s the matter with Mother anyway?! She hasn’t let me into her laboratory lately. When I went in there the other day, she got really angry with me, and ever since…! There’s some secret in there she can’t tell me about, I just know it.” Looking back at Twilight, he asked, “Hey, are you like Mother’s right-hoof mare? You know, with tools from the future and stuff?” Twilight replied, “Of course not, nothing like that.” She then noticed Red Shield had draped a wing over her back and was gesturing her over towards Lucian, so she stepped towards the light brown unicorn while he stood next to Hugo. While following Twilight with his eyes, Hugo spoke, “Really? I’d definitely ask for your help if I were Mother. Then I could make a machine to move through time, like the one you showed me before.” Twilight froze at that, but Hugo went on, seemingly oblivious, “I sort of understand how it works, anyway.” Turning to look at him, Twilight asked, “Wow, really? I’m impressed.” Hugo sheepishly said, “Well… I said ‘sort of’.” He glanced back at the basement door with his eyes for a moment before looking back at Twilight and saying, “Anyway, I’m more interested in what Mother is working on right now.” Red Shield shrugged, “Haven’t you always been kind of interested in what your mother’s doing down there?” Hugo looked at him and said, “Well yeah, but not like this. I’m really interested in whatever this is.” Lucian spoke, “Hugo, I’m sure Mother will tell us one of these days.” Hugo looked down as he said, “I don’t know about that…” Suddenly, the basement door opened and everypony’s eyes focused on Dr. Wagner as she stepped out. She began, “Children, I have something to tell you.” Once she was sure she had everypony’s attention, she explained, “I’m going to start another experiment, but this one will be very dangerous. So Hugo, Lucian, I want you both to leave the house for a while.” Hugo looked at his mother suspiciously while Lucian asked, “Right away?” Dr. Wagner nodded, “The sooner the better. I’ll send word in about ten days. Go to our relatives’ homes, or anywhere else you like. That is all.” Hugo asked, “Can I help with the experiment?” Dr. Wagner sternly shook her head, “No. Both of you have to leave this house.” She then backed up through the basement door, using her magic to close and lock it before going back down to the laboratory. Upstairs, Hugo kicked at the ground as he said, “Oh, for Pete’s sake! What does she think she’s doing, huh?” Lucian sighed, “Come on. Where should we go?” Both Hugo and Red looked over at him, Red asking, “You’re just going to go along with this, Lucian?” The light brown unicorn replied, “Mother has always been concerned about our safety. Whenever the chance of something bad happening came up, she’d always let us know. The fact that she’d tell us to leave the house must mean that it’s as dangerous as she’s suggesting. Besides, what other choice do we have?” Hugo started, “B-but bro…” Lucian spoke calmly, “It’s only going to be for a little while. Come on, Hugo, we have to get ready.” Twilight spoke up awkwardly, “I guess I’ll be going now.” Lucian looked over at her and said, “Of course. Sorry; it seems like we’re always in the middle of something when you come to visit.” Red spoke, “I’ll get out of your hair too, okay?” Hugo nodded, “Yeah. See you both soon, okay?” Both Twilight and Red Shield nodded and then headed for the door. Outside, Red turned to Twilight and said, “I’m gonna head home now. I assume you have other plans?” Twilight nodded, “Pretty much, yeah. I wouldn’t want to be a burden anyway.” Red snickered and then said, “Okay, see you in ten days, probably.” He then extended his wings, flapping them and lifting up off the ground. He then waved to Twilight and she waved back before he flew away. After he left her sight, Twilight brought the glowing Z-pad out of her saddlebag and looked at it. As she suspected, it was allowing her to travel to ten days after the start of the experiment. She pressed it up against her horn and vanished soon after. ________________________________________ Twilight once again appeared in the Canterlot square, but this time it was in the early evening on the thirteenth. There was plenty of time for the Twilight that had first traveled out to this particular point in time to have come and gone. Shaking the thought from her head, she left the square and quickly made her way to Lucian’s house. As she thought, the house had once again been destroyed. Before she could go inside, however, she heard a familiar voice call to her from above, “Twilight! Up here!” She looked up to see Red Shield swooping down, coming to a stop and landing in front of her. She spoke, “Red Shield! Did you just get here?” Panting, the gray pegasus replied, “Yeah. I was held up by my classes. That’s what I get for being a senior. But I heard the news from my classmates. They all said the alchemist house had exploded! I thought they were just making it up, but now I see they weren’t…” Twilight said, “I kind of just got here too. I was just about to take a look inside.” Red nodded, “Lead on, then! I’m right behind you.” Twilight nodded and used a hoof to push the front door open, Red following her in. Inside, they both looked around at the state of disarray the house was in. Twilight called, “Hello! Is anypony here? Anypony…?” Red also called, “Dr. Wagner! Lucian, Hugo! Is anypony here?” Suddenly, they both heard Lucian exclaim, “Hugo!!” They both turned towards the source of the exclamation, Red asking, “The basement?!” Wasting no time, Twilight’s horn lit up and she used her magic to force the door open, almost ripping it off of its hinges as she did. She then dashed down to the laboratory, followed closely by Red Shield. As they descended the stairs and the lab came into view, they stopped on the stairs and Red called, “Lucian?! Hugo?! Where are you guys?!” Twilight looked confused. There was no sign of either stallion, but that wasn’t what had grabbed her attention at the moment. Sitting on a small stand in the middle of the ruined lab was some kind of device she knew hadn’t been there during her first visit. Going down the rest of the stairs, she walked up to the stand and reared up on her hind legs, placing her front hooves on the stand to steady herself. She could see a meter and what appeared to be a clock on the device. The meter itself seemed to be split into years, months, and days. And it was set for the previous day in her time. “This meter here… Is this a… time machine?!” she breathed. Red Shield heard her and came down the rest of the stairs, walking over to her asking, “Time machine?! That’s a time machine?!” Twilight replied, “I don’t know… But that might explain why we heard Lucian a minute ago and now he’s not here.” Looking back at the meter, she said, “But if this is a working time machine, it’s set for my time. Why would they travel out to that time?” Red Shield looked at her gravely, “You think they went that far into the future?” Twilight slowly said, “That’s the only thing I can come up with right now. But this doesn’t make sense. I know Hugo talked about making a time machine, but he said he only sort of understood how the one I have works. How could he have built one in ten days?” Red turned away, muttering to himself, “Sweet Celestia… Lucian is… oh no, what if something happens to him…? What if he got separated from Hugo…?” Twilight could hear his ramblings and decided to intervene. “Red, calm down!” she yelled. Red turned to look at her and asked, “Calm down? I can’t calm down! If Lucian was here and now he’s in another time, who knows what’s going to happen to him?” Twilight looked at him for a moment before carefully asking, “You’re really that worried about him?” Red nodded slowly, “…Yes. I… He told you, right? How he’s shunned by everypony? He was right, of course, and that’s what confuses me. Nopony wants to talk to him; nopony wants to spend time with him… except me. I like Lucian as a friend; I can’t understand why nopony outside of his family doesn’t like him that way. That’s why I spend a lot of time with him; I want to be there for him when he needs me, just like any true friend. I know Hugo can take care of himself, but Lucian… I guess all that time we’ve spent together has made me a bit protective of him…” Twilight looked at Red for a moment before saying, “I understand, Red. Come on; if he is in my time, we’ll find him together.” Red looked up at her and asked, “What? You mean… travel out to your time?” When Twilight nodded, he shook his head, “I’m sorry, Twilight. I-I can’t do that.” Twilight asked, bewildered, “Why not?” Red replied, “I don’t know. I just… For some reason, the thought of traveling to the future makes me nervous. I don’t know how to explain it…” Twilight replied, “Well, all right then. I-I’ll go back then. I’ll find them and figure out what they’re doing and help them get home, okay?” Red nodded, “Okay. But Twilight, I’ve got a favor to ask you.” When she looked at him, he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small shield patch that had two snakes curled around a staff in the center. He carried it over to her and allowed her to take it with her magic. After looking at it for a moment, she asked, “What’s this?” Red replied, “Lucian made that for me. He made it for the day I would become a royal guard.” At her confused expression, he explained, “Look, I don’t know what you’re going to find in your time, but that’s not the point. You think Lucian’s your ancestor and want him to come back because of that, that’s fine. He’s grown to accept that he may be your ancestor. But things change; he may have changed his mind about staying in this time. If that’s the case, you should listen to him. Let him decide what he wants to do. As for that patch, he made more than one for me. If he decides to stay in your time, give it to him. It’ll be something for him to remember me by.” Twilight looked at the patch again before looking back at Red and nodding, “Okay Red. I’ll find him and I’ll listen to him before I decide to do anything. I promise.” Red said, “Thank you, Twilight. If I don’t see you again, I just want to say… you’re an awesome mare and a great friend. We didn’t spend a lot of time together, but you’re cool, okay? And if Lucian decides to stay in your time, you’ll take care of him, right?” Twilight nodded in response, so he said, “Good. I’m going to go ask around, see if anypony saw either them or their mother. Good luck, Twilight.” He then turned and ran up the steps, heading back outside. Twilight watched him go, finding how he felt about Lucian to be nothing short of remarkable. It showed her just how deep friendship could really go. Nodding to herself, she placed the patch inside of her left saddlebag and summoned the Z-pad from her right saddlebag, setting it to take her back to her proper time.