//------------------------------// // 20. Touching Moments // Story: Twilight's World // by grouchopony //------------------------------// Rainbow speared upwards through the center of the pentagon formation the other Wonderbolts had made. Her rainbow contrail formed a colorful spire, allowing the Wonderbolts to activate their smoke spells and wind upwards along its length in tight multicolored spirals. “...ie.” Rainbow cut off her color emission as she departed the maneuver. Now she began to fly a lazy spiral upwards to an even greater altitude, preparing for the finale. Even at altitude, Rainbow could feel the roar of the crowd beating against her body. It felt good, real good. “...ashie.” But however good it felt, she had no time to bask in the crowd's approval. The other Wonderbolts were already positioning themselves for the finale and she was approaching her entry position. “Dashie.” With an abrupt rollover Rainbow began her power dive, aiming for a precise point in the open sky. Meanwhile, the Wonderbolts had diverged into a modified starburst pattern, streaming smoke and scribing a pentagon of five vertical loops in the sky. By this time they had already flown the upper half of their loops and were just beginning to pull out of their dives, curving inwards for the lower half of their loop. The audience could already anticipate their loops coming together, to touch the rims of their aerial figures together at a single point. “Dashie.” Rainbow could feel a familiar shock wave forming around her body as she prepared to meet the now ascending Wonderbolts and set off her signature move, her Sonic Rainboom, right at the point where their loops touched together. She was approaching fast, and needed to time her Sonic Rainboom just right or else serious injuries would occur to the whole team. On three. One, Two, Thr─ “Rainbow!” - Snerk*! - “Huh?” Rainbow Dash woke suddenly from her dream. She lay there for a moment, hugely disappointed to realize that she had been dreaming and not in fact flying as Prima Ala for the Wonderbolts in front of a packed stadium. Despite her disappointment, Rainbow made haste to recall as much as she could of the dream. Some of her best routines had been inspired by such dreams. “Rainbow!” At the sound of Pinkie urgently calling out her name, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes only to discover that everything was still dark. It only took her a second to realize that she was in the Library, sleeping on Twilight's couch. “What is it Pinkie?” Rainbow called back. By the sound of it, Pinkie had been calling to her from Twilight's study, where she was keeping watch. “Come quick. There's a weird worm thingy coming out of the floor. Well before that it was a stick, but now it's a worm. A really, really long worm.” A worm? Rainbow wondered to herself. Pinkie, you're making even less sense than usual. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go and see whatever she's making such a fuss about. One of Rainbow's skills was to fall asleep quickly, anywhere and anytime. What few ponies appreciated, or even realized, was that she also had the ability to come fully awake just as quickly. Remembering at the last second not to use her wings, Rainbow Dash rolled off the couch and onto her hooves. Just one more day. She thought to herself. And I should be able to fly again. Making her way rapidly through the darkened library, Rainbow found the stairs and proceeded upwards. At the landing she paused for a moment to listen for any noises. She was rewarded with a sonorous rasping noise coming from her right, where additional stairs lead upwards to Twilight’s bedroom. Heh, Spike's snoring again, and he complains about me being loud. A smirk formed on Rainbow's face. Rainbow's contemplation of Spike’s sleeping habits was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a peculiar snapping noise coming from Twilight's study. Rainbow rushed towards the study where she knew Pinkie was keeping watch. As she did so, she could hear additional tinkling and jingling noises coming from it, quite unlike anything she had ever heard before. “Pinkie!” she called out as she burst into the room. “Are you okay? What was that noise?” “I'm okay Dashie. At least I think I'm okay. Ahh!” Pinkie gasped. “What if I'm not okay and I don't know it? What if I only think I'm okay but I'm really, really not okay? Oh no!” Pinkie gasped again. “I was feeling a little sleepy a while ago. What if that's the first sign? Oh Dashie,” Pinkie began to blubber, "ya gotta help me!" Relieved to see Pinkie acting normally, Rainbow stuck a hoof in the pink mare's mouth. “Relax Pinkie, I'm pretty sure that you’re okay.” “I am?” Pinkie asked, her face showing astonishment. “Yeah Pinkie. You are definitely random.” Pinkie smiled at the compliment. Rainbow continued. “It's when you're not your random self that I know there's something wrong with you. Now what's been going on in here? I heard strange noises in here.” “I dunno what you heard Dashie. Maybe it was wormy over there.” Pinkie pointed off to the side. Turning her head to follow Pinkie's pointing hoof, Rainbow's eyes grew wide and then shrank to pinpricks as she beheld a something coming out of the floor. Even as she watched it continued to grow in rhythmic spurts, elongating itself by a about a hoofs length before pausing briefly. Suddenly the thing emitted that snapping noise she had heard earlier and toppled down, accompanied by further jingling and twanging noises. Rainbow watched, stunned, as the invader rapidly shrank back into the floor and vanished into the floor. No! Not the floor. Rainbow revised her observation as she watched the spot where the thing had retreated to become brighter. It came out of one of those glowing scraps of paper. Looking about, Rainbow suddenly realized that several of the scraps of paper were glowing quite brightly. In fact they gave off enough light to dimly illuminate Twilight's entire study. She could see Owlowiscious, perched on Twilight's drying rack, observing her from across the room. “Pinkie, what's been going on in here? What was that thing?” “I dunno, Dashie. I was just sitting here, feeling a little sleepy and thinking about the cupcakes I'll be baking for Twilight's Happy Homecoming party, when this stick suddenly came out of the floor. And I thought to myself 'Dashie should see this.' so I started calling you. But you didn't wake up and the stick went away, so I thought 'Maybe Dashie doesn't want to wake up if there's no stick to see.' But then the stick came back again so I thought 'Maybe Dashie will want to wake up and see this stick.' So I called you again, and the stick went away again−” Pinkie's torrent of words came to an end as Rainbow Dash held up a hoof in front of Pinkie's face. “Woah, woah, woah, Pinkie. Just tell me what you saw, not what you were thinking. And you don't need to tell me that you called me either, ‘cuz, well, I heard you.” Pinkie gave Rainbow a sad confused look. “But Dashie, I'm always thinking about what I'm saying. If I can't say what I'm thinking then how will I be able to tell you anything?” Rainbow felt the urge to facehoof. “That's not what I meant Pinkie. Um−” Rainbow tried to think of an alternate way to convey her instructions. She had almost given up when an idea came to her. “How about this? You can tell me the words you’re thinking to tell me the words you’re telling me...” Rainbow's voice trailed off as she became lost in the intricacies of trying to match Pinkie's thought processes. “Arrgh!” She decided to plow ahead with her speech. “But, I don't want to hear about what you were thinking about before you think the thoughts for telling me what you’re thinking to tell me.” “Ohhh,” Pinkie replied, “Well why didn't you say so earlier.” Rainbow finally planted a hoof on her face. “Pinkie, just tell me what's been happening in here.” “Well, the stick must have gotten an itch; because it started scratching itself on the edge of its hole and then it went away. But after it went away this long wormy thing started coming through the hole. It shakes and quakes, all snappy and jingly. It's really fun to watch.” “What's fun?” Spike asked, padding up quietly behind the pair. “Hi Spikey.” Answered Pinkie cheerily. “Did you come here to see the worm thingy too?” “A worm?” Spike asked, rubbing at his sleep filled eyes. “You guys wake me up in the middle of the night, what with all the noise you're making, and you tell me it’s because of a little worm?” “Yeperooni!” “I-iii don't know, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash interjected. “That didn't look like any worm I've ever seen before.” “Of course it's a worm, Dashie. It's long and wiggly and floppy and it comes out of the ground.” “Urrgh!” Spike growled, “You two aren't making any sense. Would somepony tell me what you’re talking about so I can ignore you and go back to be...” Spikes eyes grew round as he finally spied something long thin and wavery extending itself out of the floor behind Pinkie Pie. It grew longer even as he watched. “What in Equestria is that!?” He shouted, pointing a claw at Pinkie's worm thingy. “Oh Spikey.” Pinkie chided him. “That's just the worm thingy.” “I still don't think it's a worm Pinkie.” Rainbow remarked suspiciously as they watched it grow upwards out of the floor. Even though her heart was racing, Rainbow was pleased at maintaining a cool demeanor. “Of course it's a worm Dashie. Just look at how it's waving at us.” Pinkie said, referring to how the object quivered and wobbled back and forth in slow languorous swings. “Wooooh! Wooooh! Hi Wormy!” As if in response to Pinkie's greeting, the creature hit the top edge of one of Twilight's bookshelves, at which point it went– -snap!- “Augh! It's a monster.” Spike who must have been feeling incredibly nervous, screamed, ducking behind Rainbow Dash and grabbing onto one of her hind legs for protection. Spike's scream into Rainbow's ear, as well as the jolt of pain from his claws digging into her hind leg sent a surge of adrenalin through Rainbow's body. “Eeee-ah!” she screamed in response. Suddenly she felt a strong urge to get physical with something. “Watch the claws!” Rainbow shouted at Spike and kicked her leg, taking care not to hit Spike, but shaking him free from her leg. “Uhh, heh heh. Sorry Rainbow.” Spike attention was momentarily diverted onto the fuming Pegasus. It did not stay there for long. “Oh look, Spikey. It's trying to take one of Twilight's books.” Pinkie remarked excitedly as the strange creature appeared to have fixed itself to the top edge of a book’s spine. For a moment, it was clear that the creature was tugging hard upon the book, deforming it slightly. “Oh no!” Spike cried out. “That's one of the special books Twilight has on loan from the Canterlot archives. It's irre− erra− Ah nuts! It can't be replaced!” Again, as if it had heard Spike's declaration of the book's value, the 'worm' stopped pulling and began to jiggle and dance, all the while emitting its strange noises. Rainbow had had quite enough, she exploded into action. “Stop right there you- you worm! -” “Told ya.” Pinkie singsonged, though Rainbow barely noticed her. “You're not stealing one of Twilight's books.” Shouting her declaration, Rainbow rushed forward and bit the worm – hard. She jerked her head back, nearly stumbling at how easily it was drawn out of its 'hole'. Rainbow knew that she had done the right thing because the worm instantly released the book it had been trying to steal, falling to the floor while making more of its tinkly, jingly noises. Instantly recovering her footing, Rainbow turned and ran out of Twilight's study, pulling an ever increasing length of the worm behind her. “Wow Wormy! You're really long.” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly. Rainbow ran to the landing and down the stairs, reaching the main floor of the library. She continued running across the floor until a sudden hard jerk from the worm pulled at her head and her whole body swung about only to smack down on the floor. As she impacted the floor, her bite loosened and the worm slipped free. Shaking off the pain, Rainbow jumped onto her hooves again. “I've had it with you!” She shouted. As she took few steps forward in the dark, Rainbow happened to step on the worm, causing it to make its distinctive noise. “Ah hah! I found you. You’re going down, worm!” Gripping the worm tightly in her teeth again, Rainbow pulled. The worm resisted. Setting her hooves, Rainbow jerked on the worm and pulled back as hard as she could. For a few brief moments the worm withstood her efforts. But Rainbow had no doubts that she would prove to be the stronger of the two. Suddenly the worm let go ceasing all resistance and causing Rainbow to tumble violently backwards head over tail. Rainbow slammed into one of the bookshelves, hitting her head and bringing down a cascade of books on top of her. “Yeah. Way to go Rainbow! You got it!” Rainbow could hear the distant sound of Spike's cheering. Rainbow groaned from underneath her pile of books, hearing spikes comment, but not in any condition to care. Her entire world consisted of an aching head and the sensation of several heavy objects pressing down upon her in the darkness. Wait. I know this feeling. This is exactly how it feels to crash into Twilight's bookshelves. “Hello Wormy, we're so glad you came.” And Pinkie was already making friends with the worm. “Pinkie, I don't think you should be touching it.” Spike's comment caught Rainbow's attention. Suddenly the mound of books began to shift and several books slid away as Rainbow Dash shot out of the pile. “Pinkie!” Rainbow called out as she skittered across the pile of books; they had a tendency to slide out from under her hooves. “Stay away from it.” Rainbow had lost track of the worm in the darkened library, but on the stairway she could just make out the lighter streak of its body, illuminated by the faintest of light coming from the study. Good, it hasn't tried to run off yet. She thought even as she moved towards the stairs and gripped it firmly in her mouth again. Rainbow moved up the stairs and towards the study, the limp worm hanging down from both sides of her mouth as she dragged it along behind her. Reaching the study she spat it out and placed a hoof down upon its body. “Could somepony turn on the lights? Let's get a good look at this worm.” She asked. Spike took Rainbow's request as his cue to rush over to the light control. A quick swipe of his claws was all it took to invoke full illumination from the room lights. “Ahh!” Spike screamed while Rainbow clenched her eyes shut and grit her teeth, blinded by the action of the bright light upon her night adjusted vision. “Spike!” Rainbow called out. “Not so bright.” “Sorry Rainbow. Uh−,” a sound of scratching came from the area where Spike was, “−just give me a second, I can't see a thing right now.” “Let me help.” Pinkie announced. There came the sound of several hoofsteps after which the light dimmed back down to tolerable levels. “That's better.” She announced. Rainbow opened her eyes to see Pinkie standing beside Spike and removing a pair of dark sunglasses from her face. How did she−? Rainbow wondered. Ah forget it. She probably has a Pinkie sense for 'Blinding Bright Lights'. “Ooo, look at poor Wormy, he's not moving. He looks so sad.” And once again Pinkie derailed Rainbow's train of thought with a random comment. Rainbow, finally, got a good looked at the worm which lay trapped underneath her hoof. Its color was golden yellow; its body could only be characterized as impossibly 'straight'. Looking closer, Rainbow noticed that its body bulged smoothly along its length, imparting to it a gently rounded convex shape. Where she had her foot on it, it was flattened down to something like the thickness of paper. Alarmed that she was causing grievous harm to the worm, Rainbow lifted her hoof, whereupon the worm immediately sprang back into its normal shape. Relieved but still suspicious, Rainbow kept her hoof in the air, ready to stomp down on the worm again at the first sign of trouble. “Rainbow?” Pinkie spoke. “I don't think Wormy's a worm.” “What makes you say that Pinkie?” "Looky here.” Pinkie used her forehoof to point at a different section of the worm from the one Rainbow had been standing on. “See, it has all those markings and numbers on it. And see there, and there. Those black marks are equally spaced and numbered, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five. “And there, see those thin lines between the big marks, they've all got numbers written beside them. And between the lines are even smaller marks with smaller numbers, one eighth, one quarter, three eight's, one half−” “What are you guys talking about? I still can't see anything.” Spike interjected plaintively. “Hoo. Hoo.” Owlowiscious hooted gleefully from the other side of the study. “Yeah, well, you'd be seeing spots too, if you'd been staring right into the lamp when it turned on. That lamp wasn't supposed to be there. When I catch whoever moved the lamp I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind.” Spike muttered darkly. Rainbow suppressed a snicker at Spikes statement; she could see Pinkie doing the same. I wonder if Spike will follow through with his threat when he finds out that it was Rarity that moved the lamp. The sound of Rarity's voice from the previous evening echoed in Rainbow's memory. 'It improves the atmosphere in here ever so much, don't you think, Girls?' This was answered by what Rainbow imagined Spike's probable comment would have been, had he been here at the time. 'Of course. Everything you do is perfect, Rarity.' Hiding her snickers from the temporarily blinded Dragon, Rainbow shifted her attention back to the worm, taking a close look at the section Pinkie had been pointing at. As she examined that part of the worm closely, a horrible suspicion came upon her. Pinkie was right. It wasn't a worm at all, in fact− “It kinda looks like one of Rarity's tape measures.” Rainbow exclaimed. “Only who ever saw such a weird measure instead of honest hooves. And it breaks those down into twelve parts? And then breaks those parts down into eighths? “Hold on.” Rainbow interrupted herself. “I need to see something.” Rainbow turned around and went back to the stairway. From there, with the illumination streaming out of the study she could make out the front end of the suspected tape suspended in midair, half way down the stairwell. Rainbow proceeded down the stairs only to turn around as she reached the bottom. On the way up again she took the end of the tape in her mouth and brought it back into the study. “Look Rainbow, your end's got a hook on it. Maybe it's some kind of tape-worm.” “Gahh!” Rainbow spat out the tape and shied back as a sudden spike of fear shot through her. The tape dropped from her mouth and moved to straighten itself out while playing its tinkling noises again as though in laughter. Rainbow shuddered. Oh how she despised the very thought of tape-worms. She glared at the Pink mare who was convulsing with laughter. “That wasn't funny Pinkie.” “Hah hah hah! Oh Dashie, you should have seen your face. It was a worm but now it's a tape. It's a tape-worm. Get it? Hee hee.” Pinkie poked Rainbow with a hoof as she tittered at her own cleverness. “Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow answered back with a scowl, disgruntled at how good Pinkie had gotten her. Inwardly she was still shuddering at the thought of having one of those parasites in her mouth even though that hadn’t been the case. “Even when I'm right here, I'm still missing out on the good stuff.” Spike grumbled quietly to himself. Upon hearing Spikes muttered comment, Rainbow favored him with a silent scowl as well. Glancing down at the fallen tape measure, Rainbow was surprised to see that Pinkie had been correct, there was some sort of hook on the end, only it was blunt and only came out at a right angle, in fact─ Rainbow crouched down for a better look. “Your right Pinkie. There is a hook on the front end. But it's metal and it looks like it was riveted onto the tape. In fact - I think the tape itself is made out of metal.” Rainbow added, recalling the taste and smooth hardness of the tape in her mouth. “Metal?” Spike queried. He stepped over to the head end of the tape and bit off a piece. Apparently his vision had started to return. “Hmm.” Spike commented while smacking his lips. “There's iron, and a hint of carbon, so it's some kind of steel. But I'm tasting a whole lot of Chromium and some other kind of metal too.” Spike bit off another piece of tape as if it were licorice, all the while smacking his lips. “I'm not sure what it is; I've never tasted anything like it.” “Leave some of that tape for Rarity and the other's Spike. They might have some ideas about it.” Pinkie informed him. Spike suddenly appeared stricken as he considered the fact he had been casually devouring something Rarity might have an interest in. “Nooo!” he wailed, dropping the now beheaded tape. “So it's some kind of steel huh.” Rainbow decided to move the conversation along. Besides, who cared what flavor it had to a Dragon. “Well why would somepony be sticking an alien tape measure made of steel through one of those glowy pieces of paper? “In fact, how is it even possible that it came out of a piece of paper?” “I don't know, Dashie.” Pinkie replied. “Maybe the tapeworm was just trying to see how deep the hole was?” “Gah! Stop calling it a tapeworm.” Rainbow shuddered. “It's not a worm, alright? Somepony must have been pushing it through from the other side.” “GASP!” Pinkie jerked suddenly, “And you broke it! Do you think they're upset now? Oh no!” Pinkie wailed. “Now-they-might-not-want-to-be-our-friends.” Rainbow and Spike gazed at each other in befuddlement as Pinkie suddenly zipped out of the study. “What just happened?” Spike asked. “Hoo.” Owlowiscious commented from his perch on the other side of the study. “I'm not sure Spike.” Rainbow shrugged her wings, feeling a twinge of pain as she did so. “Who can figure out anything that's going through Pinkie's mind?” At that exact moment Pinkie zipped back again. “I got it!” She announced, holding up a pastry box as well as several long thin wooden sticks, skewers actually. “A stick? What good are some sticks?” Rainbow asked. “You'll see.” Pinkie singsonged. She then opened the box, causing Rainbow's eyes to goggle at its contents. It was full of cupcakes, Teensy tiny little cupcakes, less than and eight of a hoof wide. Pinkie picked up one of the tiny cupcakes; it had a dark pink frosting the same color as her mane. Pinkie impaled the tiny beautiful cupcake upon a skewer and shoved it down into the largest of the glowing paper scrap ‘holes’ she could find. Surprisingly, the end of the stick just sat there, protruding out of the 'hole' by about a hoof, and not sinking down any further. “Everypony loves cupcakes. I'm sure they'll want to be our friends now. Even if Dashie was a big meanie and broke their tapeworm.” As she spoke, Pinkie prepared another Cupcake on a stick and inserted it down into a second 'hole'. This second cupcake had a blue frosting similar in appearance to Dash's coat color. “Pinkie. We're not supposed to touch those scraps of paper.” Spike whined. “They're the only clue we have for getting Twilight home again.” “Relax, Spikey. I only stuck the cupcakes through the holes. I didn't even touch any of the pieces of paper.” Spike scratched his head, trying to deal with the strange sensation of Pinkie's logic making sense. After several minutes had passed Rainbow grew bored of waiting. “Do you seriously expect this to work, Pinkie? There's no way─” Rainbow's comment was arrested by the sight of the first stick disappearing as it suddenly shot down into its hole. “Ooo, we’ve got a nibble.” Pinkie declared, clapping her front hooves enthusiastically. ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ Mike was the first to comment. “I think something just pulled the tape off of my tape measure. It pulled on it so hard that it broke off.” After a pause he added “Am I ever glad I didn't stick my finger in that hole.” Twilight could only agree with Mike's assessment. But now she had an even deeper mystery to consider. A thrill of excitement ran through her even as a smile began to form on her face. I wonder what's on the other side of that hole. “What do we do now?” Mike asked pulling Twilight away from her mental speculations. “We've got nothing else to probe the hole with, and it even looks like it's begun to shrink.” As soon as Mike mentioned the shrinkage, Twilight became aware of it as well. She also noticed that during their investigations, five holes had disappeared and another four had replaced them. Twilight stamped a hoof in frustration over the fact that she could not detect any magic, either residual or active, associated with the holes. In fact, she almost felt as if they were mocking her. And Mike's right, she thought, we don't have anything with which to probe those holes. Twilight sighed in defeat, “I can't think of anything. Do you have anything back at your house we could use to probe these holes?” Twilight gave Mike an expectant look. “Maybe if you went back to get it and brought it here again...” “I have several things back home that we might use, Twilight. But I think we are out of time for today.” Surprised, Twilight glanced overhead at the position of the sun. It was only about an hour past noon, surely there was plenty of time left in the day. Mike forestalled her. “I know what you’re thinking, Twilight. But you have to remember that we took about three quarters of an hour to get here, what with all the traipsing through the woods that we had to do. So at a minimum, a trip home and back here again will take us about one and a half hours − let's say we return here at about Two-Thirty. “Then you have to remember that it starts getting dark a little after Four. We shouldn't be traveling in the woods when it starts getting dark, so ideally we should plan on leaving again before Three-Thirty.” “That still leaves us almost an hour, Mike. We can do this.” Although a part of Twilight agreed with Mike, her scientific curiosity was making her rather aggressive. Mike grimaced and let out a strained sigh. “I'm sorry to let you down like this Twilight, but I don't think I can handle being out in this cold for another three hours. My extremities are getting cold and my face is feeling frozen. Too much more of this could have an impact on my health.” Twilight was shocked by Mike's declaration. True, Mike had been acting in an odd manner over the last little while, stamping his feet, shaking his arms and repeatedly removing his hand covers and pressing his bare hands up onto his face, but she had dismissed his behavior as just being − well, Mike. Much as she had learned to ignore Pinkie. Twilight's pupils expanded and then contracted as she realized she had been thinking of Mike as if he were a pony and expecting his stamina to be the same. Come to think of it, even an Earth Pony would not be happy to stand around in this cold like we've done for the last three hours. In fact, I'm uncomfortable too− she stamped her hooves and flicked her frozen ears back and forth. −and the only reason I can even consider staying here longer is because I'm an Alicorn, with Earth Pony stamina and the Pegasi’s resistance to cold. If I were still a Unicorn, I really would have called it quits by now. “You're right, Mike,” Twilight gave him a smile to let him know she understood, “we are done here for today. We've finished our survey and I've got plenty of samples to analyze. Risking your health simply to discover the depth of those holes is not worth it.” I can only hope the holes are still here when we come back again tomorrow. Twilight thought glumly to herself. “Well I can't say I'm too disappointed about how things turned out, Twilight. The truth is I'm spending so much energy on trying to keep myself warm that I’ll soon become exhausted. We have to go soon.” “Right.” Said Twilight. “Let's pack up our stuff and get going. The sooner we start, the sooner we can get warmed up again.” --------------------- It took less than four minutes to pack everything up. Mike went around the clearing, winding up his Surveyor's Tape and re-packing his camera equipment, while Twilight packed her notes and cautiously sorted the samples, waiting for Mike to non-magically place them into his 'saddle-pack' as she had privately named it. Having completed her tasks, Twilight took a moment to look around, mentally preparing and checking off her departure checklist. Notes. ...........................Check. Samples. .......................Check. Lunch cleanup. ..............Check. Camera. ........................Check. Tripod. ..........................Check. Measuring Tape's. ..........Check and Ch... Twilight suddenly remembered that she had not seen Mike picking up the broken spool. “Mike, did you pick up the spool from your broken Tape Measure?” “Uh, no. Guess it sort of slipped my mind.” He stated while packing away his camera into its protective bag. “Could you get it for me?” “Sure.” Twilight agreed. Twilight could have easily levitated the broken spool from where she stood, it was plainly visible, but she decided instead to take a walk back up to the rock face. Just one last look, before we have to go. Twilight's thoughts betrayed a lingering desire to stay and continue the investigation. As she approached the rock Twilight levitated the broken spool out of the snow and sent it through the air, placing it directly in front of Mike. Next she scanned the rock face, counting the holes one last time. Two─ Four─ Six, Seven. That's all of them. Twilight moved closer to get a close look at one of the holes that was in the process of disappearing. The process was similar to, only the reverse of, the formation of a new hole which she had witnessed not half an hour earlier. “Come on Twilight. I'm all packed up and ready to go.” Mike called from the edge of the clearing. Twilight turned her head to answer Mike. “I'm coming.” But instead of returning to Mike, Twilight's attention was caught by a curious pink bump protruding from the rock which was itself a pink colored Gneiss. Out of curiosity, Twilight moved closer, aware all the while of Mike's growing impatience. The pink bump had a uniform color, darker than and quite unlike the surrounding rock. It also had a symmetrical dome shape and most curiously – fine striations, like a corrugation, barely visible underneath its pink dome. Twilight moved even closer. Suddenly she gasped and wondered why she had not noticed before that the pink bump was protruding out of one of the mystery holes. Eight. Twilight unconsciously bumped her hole-count upwards. “Twilight!” Mike called for her attention again. “Mike come and have a look at this,” Twilight called back, “there’s something new here.” Thankfully Mike didn't voice any complaints. Instead he began moving towards her. As soon as he arrived, Twilight showed Mike what had caught her interest. “Look there, Mike. There's a tiny pink dome protruding out of the rock. I'm certain that it's coming out of one of the holes.” Mike unlatched his saddle-pack and set it down in the snow before approaching for a close-up examination of the newfound mystery. As he did so, Twilight pulled herself back to give him some room. Glancing over the rock face again she was startled to discover that a second tiny dome, this one having a blue color, had appeared and was protruding from one of the other holes. I know that hole was empty just a minute ago! She thought excitedly. “Mike! I see a second one. Look over here.” “Now that one really stands out against the rock.” Mike commented. “I wonder why I didn't spot it earlier.” “It wasn't there a minute ago.” Twilight answered confidently. “Two minutes ago, when I counted the holes, it definitely wasn't there.” It's like something pushed them out of the holes for us to find. Twilight was thinking hard. But why? “Twilight.” Mike began. “If something behind the holes pulled on my tape, then it's reasonable to assume it's feeling angry for the intrusion. It might have sent these objects here to cause us harm.” No, not angry. Twilight's thoughts suddenly became clear. Apologetic. “You've got it wrong, Mike, they aren't angry with us. Whoever broke your tape is trying to apologize.” For a moment Mike froze, staring at Twilight with his mouth open. “You think they want to apologize? Where did that come from? You have absolutely no evidence to support such a conclusion.” Mike's arms were flapping in an agitated manner. “Mike, you have absolutely no evidence to support your conclusion that they are hostile.” Twilight countered. “And before you bring up the fact that they broke your tape that could equally as well have been the result of panic and confusion. We were after all probing their space.” Twilight's ears drooped and her eyes shifted downwards as she realized it had been her own investigative excitement which had instigated everything. Mike sighed, “You're right, Twilight. I don't have any proof for my conclusion either. Maybe I'm just expressing some racial paranoia. But we have a saying here on Earth, 'It's better to be safe than sorry'. Could we at least move back a little?” Recognizing Mike's concern for their safety, though not in agreement with his paranoia, Twilight elected to move back several steps. Mike kept pace, moving back with her. It soon became clear to Twilight that Mike still remained anxious about their proximity to the mysterious objects. I wonder if this is how Celestia feels when her Guards get a little overzealous. She thought to herself with a few backwards flicks of her ear. “Mike, you said your actions and concerns might arise from some form of 'racial paranoia'. Believe me, I can understand that. You only need to think back to my reaction to you when I found out that you ate meat. But please understand that right now my actions and convictions are coming from my sense of Harmony.” “Harmony?” Mike asked, clearly not understanding her explanation. “Harmony.” Twilight repeated. “The essence of friendship, cooperation and tolerance. You see, on my world, magic permeates everything. That magic in turn resonates with everything it is in contact with such as the rocks, land, air, water. It resonates deeply with all living organisms and even more strongly with sentient beings. And all of those things resonate with the magic, causing minerals to form, animals to become partially sapient and fully sapient creatures such as us ponies able to manipulate magic. “When beings are cooperative and friendly with each other, whether by accident or design, the magic resonates and the surrounding material world operates that much more smoothly. Trees are healthier, streams are clearer, rocks are less likely to be obstacles, animals are more cooperative and friendlier, and the list of effects goes on and on. This magical resonance affects our entire world and we call it Harmony. “Mike, I have−” Twilight paused, not wishing to boast about being one of the Elements, “a special relationship with that Harmony. In fact, I have devoted my last year to studying Friendship and the Magic of Friendship as they relate to that same Harmony. “Right now, everything I know and even the magic within me is telling me that that those objects represent an act of friendship. “Mike, please trust me.” Twilight looked up into Mike's eyes, silently pleading with him while simultaneously trying to project the confidence that she felt. “Alright.” Mike said, letting his shoulders sag. “I said that I would support you, and that's what I'll continue to do; my own contribution to our friendship. Just promise that you'll be careful.” Twilight flashed Mike a grateful smile. Perhaps, Twilight thought as she turned her attention back to the rock, Mike does have a point about 'better safe than sorry.' It wouldn't hurt to check out those objects before I disturb them. They might intend friendship towards us, but they could still harm us quite unintentionally. Invoking her magic, Twilight quickly scanned both objects for the presence of magic and not a few harmful substances that she was aware of. She was quite pleased when her tests all came up negative. “They don't contain any magic.” She informed Mike. “I'm going to pull out the pink object now.” Surrounded by the rosy glow of her magic, the pink object was levitated out of the stone. Almost immediately, the pink dome was revealed to be just that, a dome, situated on an even tinier brown trapezoidal cylinder. Surprisingly, the cylindrical section was mounted on a smooth stick about two hooves long. Twilight levitated the object up to her face for a closer look. Out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but notice Mike tensing up. It looks like nothing so much as a cupcake. Was the surprising thought that popped into Twilight's head. But that's impossible! But the more Twilight tried to reject the idea, the stronger it became. The more she looked at the object the more obvious it became that it was just a cupcake. The dome was pink frosting, the brown cylinder underneath looked like onionskin that had been adapted somehow into a miniature paper cup including the cup’s corrugations and the stick it was mounted on looked like an ordinary roasting skewer used for grilling vegetables. Spike used them all the time. “What is it?” Mike asked in a soft whisper. “I think it's a cupcake.” Twilight replied. “Ridiculous!” Mike blurted out. “Who would even consider making one so small?” As soon as Mike asked the question, Twilight knew the answer. She knew of one pony who not only could but would bake such a ridiculously tiny confection. “Pinkie!” she exclaimed, a wave of happiness washing through her as she put a name to the mystery baker. Thinking about her friend, she popped the minuscule cupcake into her mouth. “Twilight!” Mike shouted; alarmed by her precipitous action. “Mmm, delicious.” Twilight announced, still savoring the taste of the tiny morsel after it had dissolved in her mouth. Plucking the blue cupcake from the other hole, Twilight brought it up in front of Mike's face. “Here, Mike. This one’s for you.” She announced while favoring him with a mischievous smile. --------------------- “It's chocolate!” Mike exclaimed in astonishment after having taken the tiniest nibble from his cupcake. He quickly took another cautionary bite, then another. In an instant the entire cupcake was gone. Twilight could see a pleased smile on his face. “Honestly.” Twilight muttered to herself. It had taken a good three minutes of arguing to overcome Mike's paranoia and have him try a taste. Mike had shown no signs of acquiescing until she had threatened to take the treat back and eat it herself. For some reason the threat of losing it had suddenly made him treat it as something edible. Suddenly Twilight smiled as she remembered how Celestia used to pull that trick on a much younger Spike. Wait! Twilight's smile vanished as realization struck her. Cadence and Shiny used to pull that trick on me! “I'm sorry, Twilight.” Mike's apology pulled Twilight out of her musings. “I let my fear take over and I gave you a hard time. I only came to my senses when I thought you were about to give up on me.” Twilight felt moved by Mike's statement. He hadn't been won over by a childish trick, but rather by something more significant. Her good opinion was what had truly mattered to him. Enough for him to suddenly overcome his paranoia and fear. “You know, for a friendship offering, those cupcakes were kind of small. Do you think they have any more?” Mike asked Twilight with a smirk on his face. Twilight gasped. She had gotten so involved, arguing with Mike, that she had forgotten who it was that had sent them the cupcakes. I need to write a letter. Now! Frantically Twilight began looking for her notebook. “My notebook. Where's my notebook? Where's my pen?” “Relax Twilight, they're in my backpack.” Backpack? It's called a backpack? Twilight's mind filed away that piece of trivia even as she fought with her urge to levitate the 'backpack' over to herself. No! If I use my magic I'll contaminate the samples! “Please Mike, I can't use my magic anywhere near those samples but I really need something to write on. It's urgent that I send a note right away. One of my friends is on the other side of those holes.” If her words were not enough, the sight of Twilight pawing at the snow with her forehoof would certainly give Mike an idea for how urgent the matter was. Mike took his backpack and began to unpack it. Twilight couldn't help but notice that his hands appeared to be stiff, slow and clumsy as he attempted to unlash the bindings holding his camera tripod in place. She realized that his growing clumsiness was probably an effect the cold had on him. Feeling guilty at her unconscious attempt to push Mike faster, Twilight stopped pawing at the snow. Regardless of his stiff fingers, Mike soon had the top flap of his backpack opened and was reaching inside to search through its contents. “Careful, Mike! Don't mix up the sample bags.” Twilight called out anxiously. Mike paused briefly, as if to calm himself before resuming his activity, using both hands now and being more deliberate with his motions. After a few seconds he produced one of the spare notepads and soon after, Twilight's pen. While Mike busied himself with retrieving her notepad and pen, Twilight had set about mentally composing her letter. As soon as her magic gripped pad and pen she began writing as fast as she could manage. Dear Pinkie. I know it was you who sent us the cupcakes. Thank you, they were delicious. I wish I could hug you to say thank you for being there right now. I can't tell you how happy it makes me feel but sad too, knowing that you are so close; Just a few hooves away on the other side of these mysterious holes. And mere words cannot express how happy and relieved I feel, to be able to send you this note letting you know that I'm okay. Please let everypony know that I'm fine, and that I'm working on finding a way to get home. If you see Spike, give him a special hug from me. Tell him that I'm so sorry for messing up his birthday like this. Please let Princess Celestia know that I'm doing well and that I've found a good friend to help me through this difficult time. His name is Mike. Twilight Sparkle. P.S. Mike forgives you for breaking his Tape Measure. P.P.S. Mike was wondering if you had some more of those cupcakes. He's right about one thing. They were a little bit on the small side. As soon as she finished writing the letter, Twilight read it aloud for Mike's benefit. He nodded his assent to the postscript but looked a little embarrassed as she read out the post-postscript. Twilight tore the page out of the notepad (still marveling at the convenience of having a line of perforated-holes forming a tear-line at the top of the paper) and rolled it into a tight cylinder. Using her magic, she levitated it over to the hole from which the pink cupcake had arrived and inserted the scroll into it as far as she could. She hoped that this particular hole wasn't abnormally deep. “Eee!” Feeling as if she had been released from a tremendous burden, Twilight squealed like a giddy filly and jumped up to embrace Mike in a hug, her forelegs clasped about his neck, her head beside his head while her wings beat slowly, keeping her in the air, level with his shoulders. “Yes! I did it! Yes! I've contacted home! Yes! Now my friends will know that I'm okay.” Mike was speechless as Twilight's continuing hug and beating wings slowly rotated them around several times. Stealing a glance, she saw that he was smiling, even as he reached up his arms to hug her in turn about her withers. She felt so happy and the hug felt so good that she elected to continue it for far longer than was necessary. “Mmm, Twilight. You feel so nice and warm.” Mike commented humorously, snuggling his cheek up against her neck. “Can you do my other cheek now?” “What!?” She drew her head back in mock indignation. “Am I nothing but a warm pillow to you?” “You’re so much more.” He replied with a smile. “But right now getting warm again is occupying a considerable portion of my thoughts.” “Well, in that case...” Twilight shifted her position slightly and resumed the hug, now warming Mike's other cheek. They held that pose for a few moments longer before eventually breaking free. Twilight could see that Mike's cheeks had warmed up enough to display a weak blush. After that bout of excitement, Twilight attempted to settle down as she anxiously waited for a reply to her note. Her efforts to remain calm proved fruitless however, as she found herself to be almost as restless as Mike, and she didn't have the excuse of suffering from creeping hypothermia. After a wait which seemed to last forever, a white cylinder emerged from the 'pink' hole, as she had taken to calling it. Twilight emitted a squee of delight as she pulled out the cylinder of parchment. Eagerly she unrolled it and began reading the contents. Dear Twilight− she began reading, recognizing Spike's familiar claw-writing. Ohh Spike! I've missed you. Twilight closed her eyes as a wave of home-sickness washed over her. Hi. It's me, Spike, Helping Pinkie to reply to your letter. Oh, and Rainbow's here too. Twilight paused again as another wave of nostalgia flooded her at the mention of Rainbow's name. Pinkie says Hi and she's happy that you liked her cupcakes and that, maybe, you, tomorrow Sorry about that, Pinkie's talking way too fast for me right now. So I guess I'll just go ahead and take this break to say that I've been really worried about you. Don't worry about my birthday (I can't believe I even wrote that) because hearing that you're okay is the best present I can think of right now. Even Princess Celestia was crying when she got your letter yesterday, I've never seen her so happy. Wait, the Princess got my letter? What letter was that? Twilight remained puzzled until she remembered her impromptu friendship report from the night before. The irises in her eyes expanded as the implications of that struck her. She was simultaneously pleased to have contacted the Princess and annoyed to have been unaware of its success. Twilight. This is Pinkie again. I'm really, really, really happy to get your letter and even if we can't see each other it's good. I'm good, you're good, Spike's good and Rainbow's good. Oh, and Owlowiscious is good too. Sorry Owlowiscious, I nearly forgot you. Twilight, I'm sending you some more cupcakes now. Twilight lifted her eyes from the page and saw that a small forest of cupcakes were protruding out from the stone. Mike was already helping himself, quite a far cry from his earlier paranoia. Twilight picked out three of them for her own enjoyment. Rainbow here, Twilight. I just have to say that I hope you’re having an awesome adventure, but please come home soon. It's just not the same without you around here. And tell that Mike guy that he'd better be taking good care of you or else I'm going to take good care of him. Don't worry Rainbow, he is. Twilight replied mentally as she gave Mike a look. What she saw wasn't too encouraging. Mike was absorbed in his strange dance again, trying to warm up his extremities. I have to end this soon. Mike is suffering. Spike here. Just so you know. I didn't have anything to do with breaking that weird measuring tape. Rainbow did it. Pinkie, Rainbow,and Spike . and Owlowicious. P.S.: Rainbow and I are wondering why you're doing this in the middle of the night. Its way past midnight and I want to go back to bed. Twilight was shocked to realize that the two universes had their diurnal cycles so far out of sync. It made her realize that continuing this conversation was an imposition on her friends as well as on Mike. Quickly she penned a reply and shoved it through a hole – after removing a fourth cupcake of course. Dear Spike. I did not know that it was after midnight there. From where I am, the time is about one in the afternoon. It's also Winter here, and strangely the days are very short. Both Mike and I have been out in the cold for several hours and it’s been hard on him. We need to get back to his house to warm up. By the time we warm up again, night will have fallen, so I won't be able to return to this place again until tomorrow. But now that I know where this place is, (we are standing in front of a rock, in the middle of a forest) I think I can arrive two hours earlier than this. Whatever time it is there for you right now – tomorrow, about two hours earlier. Spike, what you said about Princess Celestia receiving my letter was really important. I had not expected that letter would ever reach her. I wonder why she didn't try to send me a reply. Maybe she did, but the magic only works in one direction. As soon as you read this letter, please try to send me a note using your Dragon Mail flame. It doesn't have to have anything written on it. The important thing is that you try to send it. I want to try an experiment. Later when I get back to Mike's house, I'm going to send two letters using the Dragon Smoke spell that Celestia taught me. One to you and one to Celestia. I don't know if either of them will get through. But don't worry if they don't show up. This is an experiment and finding out what doesn't work is just as important as finding out what does. Twilight Sparkle. P.S. Mike and I are leaving now. So, goodnight everypony. P.P.S. Don't forget to try sending me that Dragon Mail. P.P.PS. And tell Rainbow not to worry. Mike has been taking very good care of me. “Okay Mike. That was the last note.” she announced after pushing it into a hole. After passing her notepad and pen back to him she announced. “Let's go home.” Mike had just finished returning the pen and notepad to his backpack, and was buckling the top flap when Spike's Dragon Mail arrived, startling Mike sufficiently for him to stumble backwards and fall down. Fortunately the broken ice and snow cushioned his fall. “What was that?” Mike asked, glancing at the rolled up paper caught in her magic. “Just an experiment. I asked Spike to send me a letter using his Dragon Mail. I guess I was wrong. It does work in both directions.” “Dragon Mail?” “It's a kind of magic that delivers a letter directly to the recipient, no matter where they are. I hadn't expected it to span universes but I've been informed that it's working, albeit somewhat sporadically. I'm conducting a few experiments to try and discover what the problem is.” Glancing at the note Twilight saw that Spike, for his part, had indeed sent her a blank sheet of paper. He always gets so literal whenever he's tired. She mused. I bet he's already gone back to sleep by now. But the sheet of paper wasn’t blank. Somepony, Pinkie most likely, had drawn four smiling faces on it using four different crayons. The faces were colored pink, cyan, purple and brown, the last face was recognizably that of Owlowiscious It's strange, she thought, her eyes suspiciously moist, how happy the sight of this a crude drawing is making me feel. Underneath, the faces, in large bold letters, Pinkie had written two words. BYE BYE! Suddenly Twilight no longer felt as if the day's work out here in the forest was being left incomplete. Instead she had a feeling of remarkable accomplishment. Feeling a sentimental attachment to the foalish drawing, Twilight rolled it up and turned to Mike. She wanted to ask him if he could carry it in his pack along with the other letters. But instead of seeing Mike all loaded up and ready to go, his backpack was still open. Mike was holding some small gray object in his left hand while poking at the object with a finger from his right hand. Curious, Twilight moved closer to get a better look. She saw buttons on its lower half while images and symbols appeared and disappeared from its upper half. “What's that?” She asked, her curiosity burning. “This, Twilight, is a Jee-Pee-Ess.” Upon hearing such a strange name Twilight's right ear twitched. “That's an acronym which stands for 'Global Positioning System'. When you mentioned how your dragon-mail was able to find you anywhere, it made me remember that I had this GPS with me.” Global Positioning System? Twilight wondered. Is that some kind of teleportation device? The name sort of implies that. “What this device can do, is tell me my absolute position anywhere in the world. It's the ultimate navigation tool.” Twilight was both disappointed that it was not some kind of human teleportation system and intrigued to learn about how humans navigated without the aid of magic. “How does it work?” She asked. “Well, as I understand it, a large number of satellites are in orbit, passing overhead even as we speak. Each satellite broadcasts a special radio signal which announces its exact location and the exact time at which it sent out the signal. Since they are constantly moving they continually update this information. This unit here, receives the signal from several satellites and through a sort of three-dimensional triangulation, calculates its position in three dimensional space. It's accurate to within three meters.” Twilight froze as her thoughts took off; attempting to work out the basics of the geometric puzzle so casually given by Mike. It needs a spherical coordinate system! She thought excitedly as she recalled the 'globe' Mike had in his office. But all too soon Twilight hit an insurmountable problem. As described by Mike, there was insufficient information for solving the problem. “How do you determine the exact distance from the satellite to your little device there?” Mike had a ready answer for that. “It's just a straight forward speed, time and distance calculation. The radio signals travel at the speed of light, a known constant.” From her reading of that book the previous evening, Twilight could readily accept that. “This device calculates the amount of time the signal needed to traverse the distance by using the time stamp embedded within the signal. From that the distance is easy to calculate.” Twilight thought about it for a moment. It was easy, except- “How does your device synchronize with the clocks on the satellites? If your device's time base was off by just one second off then the error in position would be nearly two hundred thousand miles.” Mike appeared to think about her question for a few moments. “I'm sorry Twilight, I don't know. This cold is too distracting and I can't think too clearly right now. Maybe it gets its time base from the satellite itself. The satellite is moving quite rapidly and if you compare the time delay from two separate position reports it might be possible to work that information backwards to determine the time base of the satellite.” Twilight was starting to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calculations required. “How is it possible for such a small device to do such things? The problem may be interesting from a mathematical point of view. But it's totally impractical for any pony in real life.” “This device is basically a computer Twilight. That's what computers do; they perform mind numbing computations quickly, easily and repetitively. This unit is a computer which has been dedicated solely towards performing GPS calculations, and then displaying that information on a map.” “A map?” Twilight asked, intrigued by the possibility of seeing a map of their surroundings. “That's what I've been trying to do Twilight. I've been trying to call up a map of my farm and the surrounding area.” Mike fell silent as he continued to punch buttons. After another half-minute he grunted and then exclaimed “Ah-hah.” Some more finger and button activity ensued before Mike held out the device for Twilight's examination. What she saw was a rather simplistic map. A rather large, narrow triangle was situated somewhat near the edge of a large green area. Up above it, just outside the green area was a smaller round dot, and much further beyond that yet another dot. “The Triangle shows our current position within this forest. The smaller dot, here,” Mike used a finger to point at it, “is where I estimate my snowmobile is located. From what this device tells me, our current location is just two hundred and sixty meters away from where we entered this forest. In this snow, that's less than a ten minute walk.” “What? How? It took us nearly half an hour to get here...” Twilight was chagrined to realize she had traveled a much larger circling path the night she had arrived. “Oh never mind.” Mike hit a button on his device and started walking in a direction to the right of and past the rock face. Twilight followed behind wondering if the device could truly be as accurate as Mike had claimed. In response to her question, he showed her that the device was now showing a circular dial, with a large arrow pointing directly towards their destination. Another part of the display was counting down the 'meters' remaining until they reached it. In remarkably short order they arrived at the forest's edge, Mike's device having brought them within easy sight of the same broken tree they had observed earlier that morning. Their path, had they not changed course upon first sight of it, would have taken them to within one hundred hooves of it anyway. By unspoken consent they paused behind the veil of the fallen branch, taking a break. “That device you have is quite impressive, Mike. Your decision to use it was a very good idea.” Looking up at Mike revealed that he had his eyes closed and he was breathing heavily, his arms limp at his side. “Mike?” She asked. “Is everything okay?” After a few seconds Twilight grew anxious and prompted him more forcefully. “Mike!” “Sorry Twilight.” Mike opened his eyes. He looked rather pale. “I'm feeling exhausted. I tried to warm myself up by forcing a quicker pace.” Mike paused for several breaths. “Either I overdid it or the cold is sapping my strength, maybe a little of both.” “Will you be alright?” She asked with some concern. “I think so. But I'm really not looking forward to making my way through those thickets again.” Mike's eyes fell closed again even though his breathing had eased up considerably. As she considered Mike's condition and the distance they still had to cover, Twilight knew what she had to do. Where once a mighty tree had stood guard as the gateway into the forest, that tree, broken, had closed the gate. Twilight would force that gateway open again. Gathering her magic in a deliberate fashion, a bright rose colored nimbus formed around her horn, and then around the massive branch and around all its smaller branches, branchlets and twigs. Next, a great crystalline ringing sound was heard as Twilight transformed all of the ice clinging to the tree limb into liquid ice. The falling droplets, now un-liquified again, were impacting the ground like a cart-load of crystal beads. Next, the massive branch groaned and shook as her magic began to levitate its many tons into the air. It pivoted slowly about the thick tongue of living wood which still attached it firmly to the main trunk of the tree. Twilight's magic blazed even brighter, the density of the magic aura about her horn rippling like water as she began to repair the massive broken limb. Massive splinters writhed and began to merge as the branch pivoted back up, approaching its original position and orientation. Foreign moisture, ice and debris were either squeezed out or encapsulated as ruptured fibers sought out their matching ends and fused seamlessly back together again. Galleries of crushed and twisted capillaries reformed and opened up again, and damaged cells quickly healed and grew even stronger under the onslaught of magic. Numerous twigs that had been frozen to the ground and broken off were replaced by new buds, awaiting the coming of spring. In all, the effort had taken Twilight over a minute to complete, leaving the forest guardian standing proud and whole again. Thank you for holding the way open when I first arrived. Twilight thought in silent tribute to the massive tree. “Th-That was incredible.” Mike stood in wide-eyed amazement. “But why did you do it?” “I had my reasons.” Twilight blushed lightly and looked away. She did not want to admit to Mike that she had done it for his sake. He had helped her so much. Surely it wasn't too much to ease his path when his strength was failing? “Come on, Mike. Let's get you home.” So saying, she led the way, under the newly repaired tree. Sure enough, she could see Mike's snowmobile parked directly in front of them.