Cog paced back and forth in front of his equipment, checking every piece. Trixie had been in that other world for nearly three days at this point, telling him more and more details about it, but something was bothering him. He'd been seriously worried for Trixie's life when that performer had confronted her, and since then, Cog was trying to figure out whether there was any truth to this. Trixie had been performing a couple times each day, thanks to that first audience spreading the news, somepony had even paid for her to have a hotel room.
A flashing red light by the monitor caught the scientist's attention, and he went straight to the microphone, "Trixie! Drop whatever you're doing, there's something wrong!"
"What?" Trixie said from the other side, "What's happening?"
"The headset was supposed to be able to last for up to a month! You've only been there for a couple days and it's flashing the low battery warning!"
"What?!"
"It runs off of magic. If the power in that headset has been draining that quickly, then maybe that illusionist actually knew what he was talking about!" Cog said urgently. "You need to come back before anything happens!"
Coming from some crazy illusionist, it had sounded like a threat, but from Cog, it elicited worry in Trixie.
"Just get back through the portal so that I can make sure you're alright," Cog said, "Please."
"Okay," Trixie acknowledged, "Put a rope or something through the portal, because I can't see it on this side."
Cog turned and looked around the basement, grabbing some cord off of the floor and tossing one end through.
"I see it," Trixie said, "I'll just move this garbage can under the portal so I can reach it."
Cog heard grunts of effort and watched the portal. Suddenly, it started to shimmer, slowly getting smaller, "Trixie, hurry! It's closing!"
"What do you mean it's--" Trixie's voice cut off as the battery in her headset died, and the portal closed, cutting the cord.
"Trixie, repeat!" Cog said into the microphone. No answer. "Trixie?!" Nothing. "Trixie! Shit!"
He went through the notes and journals he'd taken on the portal, desperately searching for something that could give him a clue how to open it. "It moves at random... I can't fit through it... It's magical output is on a level higher than that of a high-level unicorn... Dammit!"
He threw the notes to the floor, cursing again, then something occurred to him, "Magical output..." He galloped upstairs to his room, grabbed a book off of the shelf, "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide..." He looked through the book, which was filled with notes, "Currently linked to Princess Twilight Sparkle."
------
"Cog? Cog, please, answer me! The cable just fell!" Trixie shouted into the headset, reaching a hoof towards where the cable had been dangling from.
She took the headset off, and checked it, now realizing that it had gone completely dead. A voice sounded behind her.
"I told you you needed to go home, Trick," Steven said, leaning against one of the nearby posts. He was now wearing a black jacket, T-shirt, and Jeans, as well as his sneakers, "I guess I could've gone about it somewhat differently."
Trixie looked at him, "How did you know the world was draining me?"
Steven walked towards her, "Because it's happened before. You're not the first pony to wander into this place from a world of magic." With that, he looked into her eyes, "And now you're stuck here for a while. That portal opened shortly after it was too late for the last one. Now, you'll have to wait for the portal to open, and if my calculations are correct, you've got about a week, barring any spellcasting, before your magic reserve is completely drained. You need to hope that the portal opens before then."
------
Twilight lay there, opening her book, but shutting it quickly when she heard a commotion outside the library. Annoyed, she placed her book on the bedside table and went to the window to see what was happening.
"...can't just run into the castle in the middle of the night like a madpony! Especially during the Summer Sun preparations!" The guard outside was saying to some silver unicorn.
"I need her help! Please!" The unicorn shouted, pleading with him, "Just let me talk to her!"
"I said no," the guard said irritably.
"But--" The unicorn tried to counter, before the guard shouted.
"Leave now or you'll spend the night in a cell!"
"TRIXIE COULD BE DEAD ALREADY!" The unicorn shouted back, his horn starting to glow.
Twilight had seen enough. She stepped onto the balcony, "I'll speak with him."