Twilight had to give up. “I’m a bookworm.” she told herself. “I’m not built for frantic searching through a desolate forest that seems to go on forever. I need to stop and just THINK!” With her last word, the alicorn swooped down and landed her tired flank on the unforgiving soil. “There has to be something in my studies that can help me…” Out of nothing more than habit, the studios mare lifted her hindquarters off of the cold ground and began pacing around a conveniently nearby tree stump. “Come on Twilight! Your girls need you!” She stopped momentarily before once again continuing her unconscious circular movement.
“Girls… Girls… I do remember something about being able to use other unicorns as a conduit for a more precise and distanced teleportation spell, but all that would do is make us stuck in the forest in the same place.” Twilight smiled. The purple princess had to admit that sounded much better than her current predicament, but in the long run, it would hinder them finding their friends more than help. She may have loved Rarity more than anything, but Twilight found it much harder to think critically while the fashionable mare droned on with small talk. “If only she hadn’t pulled me away from that book to take me on this camping trip!”
A rush of reality came back to the alicorn’s mind, followed by a new determination. “All I need is some time to think. I can do this. For my girls. My two adorable, perfect girls. Mama’s coming home.”
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Rarity wanted to give up. Her legs, her eyes, her hooves, her mind; nothing of hers could take it anymore. The mare just wanted to be home, drinking a nice cup of earl grey, reading the morning paper to Amethyst while letting Twilight have a nice morning nap before the dressmaker left to open up her Boutique. “What was she going on about this time? Quantum Spell Entanglement?” The marshmallow mother giggled so violently she nearly fell muzzle-first onto the cold, leaf-ridden ground.
The mare did, however, decide to take this as an opportunity to stand still and simply remember. “How could I have forgotten last week’s fiasco? Discord nearly exploded with anger when Twilight explained her newfound hypothesis to him! I guess an agent of chaos would be upset at a pony trying to force the hoof of quantum events.” The unicorn began to move again, almost without thinking, and certainly paying more attention to her thoughts than to where she was headed. “Now what was she studying this week? Cosmic Inflation? Yes, I think that’s what it was. She was positively fuming when I practically dragged her out of the library to come camping with all of us! How could she have forgotten? That mare can be so absent-minded…” The marshmallow mare’s steps stopped along with her voice; no train of thought was carrying her any longer.
Abruptly and unexpectedly, Rarity was brought back to the harsh reality she was currently in. The white unicorn just wanted everything back to the way it was. “Curse this camping trip!” she screamed to herself. Just as suddenly as the forest reentered her thoughts, the mare’s body finally gave way. The emotional dam Rarity was so incredibly talented at holding up when work needed to be done burst, releasing instantaneously and incapacitating her completely. With it came a rain of cries and a freshly carved river of tears, the marshmallow lover’s erratically beating heart the headwater. The white mare felt as though her very being was seeping from her eyes onto the frigid, filthy forest floor.
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Twilight now knew there was only one thing she could do at this point in her search, however improbable and ridiculous the idea was. The purple mare felt that no matter how far she trotted, she wasn’t truly getting anywhere, and had finally officially decided conventional means of finding Rarity just weren’t going to work anymore. Twilight knew it was risky, and most of all, she knew it could be dangerous if not done properly, but it was her only hope of ever seeing her beautiful, sweet, generous love again.
The mare’s horn began to emanate a magical magenta as it always does, but with a twist; wisps of blue and purple shone forth as Twilight channeled her energy into the spell. In theory, any two unicorns with a great enough bond can use each other’s magic to teleport to the other’s location, no matter the distance. However, all that would currently do is let the couple be lost face to face. So Twilight came up with a new plan; she would attempt to teleport both her and Rarity back to camp through their mutual love of their daughter. It was entirely possible that it would simply fail, but a student must be ready to failure. As Celestia once told her, “Greatness can come from a leap of faith; assuming, of course, you’re willing to jump.” The most recently crowned princess may not have been very confident, but she was more than willing to do what it took to get her Rarity back.
“Here goes nothing…”
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Fluttershy couldn’t quite tell why, but something just didn’t seem right about this morning. Between a normally relaxed Amethyst keeping the mare up nearly all night, and what could only be described as a strange feeling in the air that the yellow pegasus just couldn’t explain, Fluttershy was very afraid of what was to come. Walking out of her tent, the mare’s body shook with each step, caused by the sleepy unrest in the little filly Fluttershy was carrying on her back.
Fluttershy began to think worriedly. ‘Oh my, another nightmare? I don’t think she’s ever had a good night’s sleep since—’ A deep purple light began to emanate from Amethyst’s horn, cutting through the butter-colored pegasus’ train of thought. ‘She’s never done that before…’ A scream erupted from both mare and filly as a bright mixture of sapphire and magenta light flickered into existence with a loud crackle of energy. Neither of them were prepared for who was contained inside, or how loudly she would be sobbing.
“Mommy!”