//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - The Road to Tomorrow // Story: A Scientific Breakthrough // by Eruedraieth //------------------------------// The sun's rays were the culprit today. My head felt like a blacksmiths anvil being used, the constant hammering nearly driving me insane. My eyes stung due to the amount of light entering them, so to prevent blindness I shielded my eyes. I looked over to Twilight's bed and saw her sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, her head near the foot end of the bed. I eased over to her bed and poked her softly, causing Twilight to groan. " Ow, my head. " she said, opening her eyes and holding a hoof to her head. " We let ourselves go a bit too far didn't we? Remind me next time to never accept a drinking challenge, ugh" I said, groaning. Spike walked into the room, looking elated. " Good morning! Did you two rest well?" he asked. " Not nearly as well as I hoped, but thanks for asking anyway. My head hurts like hell." I said. " Hell? What's that?" Twilight asked. " A place borne of fire and brimstone, where religious people believe that bad people who have sinned are sent to. It's opposite is heaven, to which they believe all the good people think they go to. Honestly, if that keeps people happy, who am I to stop them from believing such nonsense. " I said. " What do you believe in, then?" Spike asked. " Science. And science can't explain what comes after death, so to me it's just the empty void. " I answered. " I'd have to agree on that. Science indeed can't explain that, so nobody can be sure what comes after. It doesn't matter either, what's important is what is happening in the here and now. " Twilight contemplated. " Well said Twilight." I said. "Hmm. Spike, could you maybe make some breakfast for us? Neither me nor Twilight is in a state to do anything right now. " I added. " Sure! Anything for the two of you. Any preferences? " He asked. " I really don't mind. What about you Twilight?" I said. " I would like an omelet and a sandwich with daisies. If we still have those, of course. " Twilight answered. " Alright, mystery meal for the man and an omelet and daisy sandwich for the lady, coming up." He said as if he was a waiter at a posh restaurant. " Don't forget to make something for yourself! " Twilight shouted to him as he walked down the stairs. " Don't forget to ask Michelle too! She's in the guest room right?" I shouted. I heard footsteps heading back up the stairs and to the guest room. I heard Spike ask what Michelle wanted, and she responūded with something I couldn't quite make out. " Where is Sabrina, by the way? " I asked Twilight. " Try calling her. She'll be around I suppose. " she answered. I called my pet, and sat still for a moment. A door unlocking downstairs and pawsteps heading up the stairs answered my call. Two golden eyes looked at me a moment later, confused. " Sorry for calling you, I just wanted to know if you were around. " She licked my hand with a rough tongue, telling me she understood. She then plopped down in the corner of the room, head resting on her paws. " It's still astonishing how good of a bond you two have. If I was woken up like that I certainly wouldn't be that friendly. " Twilight said bewildered. " Add me to that statement. I am happy she's so statisfied with being with me. I might take her out with me when I get a contract. She could be extremely useful. Although I'd have to try and augment her slightly, I'm worried I could hurt her trying that. I've never tried enchanting living beings. " I said. " With experiments like those, try something which isn't as valuable to you or someone else. Maybe Fluttershy could allow you to test on an animal. " she said. " I should ask her that indeed, thanks for the suggestion. " I said. A moment later, Spike appeared holding two plates with food. He made two sandwiches with what looked like jam on them for me. He handed us the plates, and some cutlery for Twilight. " Thanks Spike, this looks good. " I said. " Wait until you taste it before thanking me! " This drew confused looks from both me and Twilight. I took a bite from the sandwich, and noticed just now that the jam was shifting colours. The intense explosion of flavour in my mouth drew a wide smile from me. " This is Zap Apple Jam isn't it?" I asked. " Sure is. Applejack gave me some when I left the party yesterday. " he said. " Give me a taste! " Twilight commanded. I held one of the sandwiches in front of her, and she took a bite. " This tastes amazing! I'll be sure to thank Applejack for this. " she said after swallowing the bite she took. " I'll leave you to enjoy your meals. I'll head downstairs and read a book. " Spike said, and left the room. We ate the rest of our breakfast, me enjoying the rich taste of the zap jam bite after bite. " Darn, that was the best breakfast I've had in a very long time. " I said. The food calmed down our hangovers, and I stood up from the bed. " I'm going to take a shower. " I said to Twilight. After I finished showering, I magically put on some clothes, and left the bathroom, deciding to pay Michelle a visit. "Morning. " I said to Michelle who just finished her breakfast. "Hey Joshua. You sure did a number on that orange mare with that drinking contest. I didn't know you were such a party animal! " she said. Michelle still called me by my real name when we were alone. " I didn't know either. I guess I just let myself go that night. Luckily I prevented an awkward scenario with Twilight when we got back. You should've seen how drunk she was!" I said. " I take it that meant 'the business' ?" she asked. " Jeez, why do you even need to ask that. " I said. " Scientific purposes of course. " She joked. " Wait a minute, you can heal yourself easily right? " I asked. " I suppose I can. I haven't really tried yet, but I guess it will come easily to me. Why?" she answered. " Well I want to augment Sabrina so I can take her along with me on missions. But I'd rather not test on her, as I've never tried augmenting living beings. " I explained. " So you want me to be your test subject then. " she concluded. " You don't have to if you don't want to. I could just ask Fluttershy for one of her animals. " I said. " No it's okay. I know you, and I know you don't want to do me harm. Besides, what's augmenting me going to do to hurt me that much?" she said. " I don't know. You could suddenly explode or something. " I said. " I doubt that. Not even the stuff in the lab was dangerous enough to do me harm. " " Alright, so if you could come after you have cleaned up we could try immediately then. "I said "Sure. I'll go take a shower to wash off yesterday's party. I'll see you after. " she said as I left the room. I headed downstairs. Twilight was reading a newspaper and Spike was reading a book, as he said. I just sat opposite of Twilight at the table, and stared in front of me for no reason. Luckily , Michelle's shower had been quick as she already walked down the stairs, and a lavender scent wafted down with her. " You smell good. You want to impress someone? " I said. " No, I just really like the scent of lavender. " she responded. " Alright then. Let's go outside. " I suggested. "What for? " Twilight asked, looking up from her newspaper. " Michelle agreed to be my 'test subject ' for something I wanted to try out. Nothing dangerous, at least it shouldn't be. I'll be back soon. "I said. Twilight looked slightly worried, but nodded anyway. Michelle followed me outside and we went to an open grass field nearby. " Alright, should something happen anyway, the townsfolk will be safe. Just in case. " I said. " I doubt it's necessary, but ok. What do I need to do? " she asked. " Hold out an arm without sleeve. I will create a magic resistance rune and infuse it into your arm. Once that works I'll cast a simple spell at it. Heal yourself quickly if necessary. "I explained. Michelle did as was told, and I created the resistance rune. The sign floated in the air for a moment before I willed it onto her stretched out arm. I then carefully burned the sign into place and infused it with magic. A shockwave of magic burst through her body coming from the sign, and the power returned to it. " Let's see if this works!" I said, hoping for the best. I cast a small fireball right at her. The fireball simply vanished, and at the point of impact another shockwave of energy appeared which travelled to the sign. " Awesome! Now let's see how much it can absorb before breaking!" I said before casting a much larger fireball. The sign absorbed this one aswell, but I saw a slight crack appear in the markings of the rune. " Alright, so it has quite a lot of power. You can keep that rune as a gift, but I want to try somethingreally experimental now. I doubt it will work, but maybe with a bit of modifications after testing...." I said and cast a completely different rune. This rune was moving on its own accord, and it floated directly at the resistance rune, and combined with it. The markings of both fused into one, and the cracks seen previously started to mend. Within a few seconds the sign was as completely restored. " I honestly didn't expect that to work. The rune I made basically draws ambient magic out of the air and stores it, handing it out if required. I think your version would draw magic from water, and probably be a lot stronger since there's less of that than air. " I said. " So I have a regenerating shield for magic now? " Michelle asked. " I can add a physical blocking effect too. It would take a bit of your magic to complete however, since that one lightly draws from physical strength I think. It should amplify your blocking, which explains why it needs your strength. It would not have anything to amplify otherwise. " I said. I created the base rune in the air and burned it on top of the already existing marks. " Channel your power into it now. " The mark glowed, fused itself with her skin and combined with the other two runes to create a single rune. I looked around for a sharp object, and found a rock on the ground with a pointy edge. " Time to test it. " I cut a large gap across her arm with the rock. The mark singed, and started repairing itself and the skin around it. " Looks like it works! Thanks for your help with this. I hope Sabrina can understand the physical rune so I can apply that on her too. " I said, excited that my experiments worked out. " No problem! I got a sweet self regenerating shield for both physical and magical attacks, so really I should be thanking you. " she said. " Oh it's all for the greater good." I said. " I will go back to Twilight and tell her the news, and go to Sabrina after. " "I'll go visit Rarity at her boutique. I think she could help me with some new clothes. " she said before leaving for the boutique. I walked back to the library, and opened the door to it a moment later. "Ah, you have returned in one piece I see. Did it work? " Twilight asked. " It did, and more. I'll go to Sabrina now to augment her immediately so she can adjust to it. " I said and walked up the stairs, back to the bedroom Sabrina was in. "Sabrina, come here a second. " The panther stood up slightly agitated, but walked towards me. " I want you to sit still here okay. I'm going to imprint some runes on you so I can make sure you survive against even the strongest of attacks. " The panther complied, and I created the three runes. " I'll do a physical blocking rune first, which wil require a bit of your strength. When I tell you, I want you to pour your essence into the rune okay? " The panther nodded her head in understanding. I singed the mark onto her right shoulder. " Now " I said. The mark glowed just like before. " Great. Now I'll place two others onto it. Just sit tight for a moment. " I said. I burned both the magical resistance and magical regeneration rune onto the physical resistance rune. All of them fused together, and my panther looked amazing now. " Alright, amazing. Now to double the effect and make it symmetrical I'll do it for the other side too. I repeated the entire process, and now Sabrina had two marks on her. " What's a creature of the night without a veil though? Hold on, let me do something so you can communicate with me easier. I cast yet another experimental spell, but this one was documented and proven to work. I gave Sabrina the ability to talk like we did. "Try speaking now. " I said. " Hello? " a soft feline voice said. " Oh, this is quite weird. At least I don't have to use sign language and behaviour to tell you what's up now. Thank you! " "You are an intelligent creature. It's only fitting that you are able to talk really. Now for that veil I talked about..... " I said. I explained what she needed to do and created another rune which I latched on her back. She used the method I explained and the panther vanished from sight. " Truly a unique and worthy being now. I'll call you my spirit companion now. Pet sounds so..... disrespectful. " " You call me intelligent, but look at you. I have never seen such manners among my own kin. I was right in leaving my pack to find my own destiny. I knew the moment I saw you and that pony that I just had to be with you. " Sabrina said, still uneasy with her new voice. " Let's go downstairs. Twilight is in for quite the shock when she sees and hears you. " I said. She followed me downstairs, and Twilight was writing something down now, having finished the newspaper. " Twilight, someone has something to say to you. " I sidestepped and let Sabrina pass me, who headed to where Twilight was sitting. " Hello, pony called Twilight Sparkle." Sabrina said. Twilight had the most confused look I've ever seen on her face. " You can talk? " after which she looked at me with asking eyes. " I might have given her the ability to communicate like we do. It's fitting really. " I said. " I heard you were what's called a marefriend to my spirit master. I trust you will not defile that situation. Otherwise, you will have to deal with me. " Sabrina said menacingly. " Hey, no need for threats. Twilight will never do me harm. " I said. " I apologise, I should not have been so rude and protective. My real name is Ch'en , which is a mayan name for Goddess of the moon. I left my pack a long time ago to forge my own path, and I have finally found my calling alongside the avatar of Shadow. " Sabrina said, properly introducing herself. " So not only is my companion a moon goddess, I'm also the avatar of Shadow. Who figured. " I said. " Anyway, I got some stuff to take care of for the renovation of your house. I'll see you guys later." With that, I left the tree house to find Applejack, Sabrina following me. Applejack would be able to help with the plans.... WWWWW Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Nightmare Moon Today had proved to be boring. My stay in the Canterlot Castle had to end at some point, and I was furiously searching for a solitary place to call my home. "Hello Night. Is something troubling you? " Celestia asked as she entered my room, breaking my train of thought. "As a matter of fact, something is. I would rather not stay in this castle forever, but I cannot find any good, solitary place nearby which I could settle in. " I said, not really wanting to share my troubles with the sun princess. " I might have just the place for you. I figured you would not want to stay here, so I took the liberty of assigning some of my workers to refurbish the old ruins in the Everfree Forest. They should be about done by now, so you can live there. " Celestia suggested. "The ruins? That place was a mess after our battle! How did you manage to fix that so quickly? " I asked. " A lot of hard workers can fix that in a day. It should nearly be as good as new. You would need to add your own touch to it, however. It is really empty right now. " she answered. " I.... I do not know what to say. A thank you should be in order I feel, but for a service that big after I nearly caused eternal darkness.... How can I ever repay you? " I stuttered. " What is in the past, stays in the past. All I ask of you is to not cause any trouble. I will attempt to arrange a re-introduction of the proper Avatar of Darkness. " she said. " Could you accompany me on my visit to the ruins? " I asked. " I do not have any business to attend to right now, so why not. " she answered. We walked to the landing platform for carriages, and took off towards the ruins flying side by side. The forest, and the location of the ruins appeared in our view quickly, and we landed next to a sparkling new castle. There were a few workers walking around, and when they noticed me instantly cowered in fear. When they saw their solar princess next to me, they eased up slightly. All of them bowed in respect to their princess. " Princess, may I ask you why you are not banishing that evil queen back to the moon? She tried to plunge our lands into eternal darkness right? " a worker asked. " Fear not my subjects. Nightmare Moon no longer means any harm. She has proven herself to be a respectful and benevolent pony to me, Princess Luna, the Elements of Harmony and the Shadow of Equestria. I will re-introduce her to the Equestrian kingdom once the time is right. Her actions in the past were ones made in a state of panic, confusion and most of all, dismissal. She felt looked down upon her and her night, and acted like a cornered cat by lashing out. " Celestia explained. The workers looked at me, still with slight fear, but also with respect. " Who is this, "Shadow of Equestria " you speak of? I heard about the Elements of Harmony, but I never heard that. " another worker asked. " That is correct. The Shadow is an assassin in my employ. He makes sure peace is kept in these lands by assassinating evildoers and infiltrating cults and organisations intent on disrupting Harmony. " Celestia said. " He sounds like a force to be reckoned with. " Another worker mentioned. The others agreed with him. " He is definitely a force to be reckoned with. He has eyes and ears everywhere, so do not attempt any bad things or he will come for you. My verdict determines his amount of mercy shown. " Celestia said. " I have trained him in the art of duplication, so there may even be more than one of him coming for you. " I felt like mentioning. " You trained the Shadow? " one of the workers asked, to which I nodded. "I am well-versed in his area of expertise, so both of us can learn from the other. He teached me one of his signature techniques, and I teached him to properly use clones. " " Aside from the whole ' casting the world into eternal darkness' thing, you do not seem to be that much of a bad pony, Miss Nightmare Moon. " a worker said. " Please, call me Night. Nightmare Moon sounds too evil for my liking. After that eternity on the moon I came to realise being nice is better than attempting to force my will unto all of you." I said. " Princess Luna! " a worker shouted, and he bowed after. The rest followed suit. Luna landed next to me. " Rise, my ponies. I heard I could find you two here. Why are you out here?" Luna asked me and Celestia. " Celestia refurbished the castle for me to stay in, and I asked her to accompany me. " I explained. " So we did this work for you? I thought this would be a vacation resort for Princess Luna and you, your Highness." The first worker said. " I hopeit will be to your liking, Miss Night. " " I heard it was still a bit empty inside, so I would need to add some personal touch. The foundation will be well suited however, and I thank all of you for your hard work. " I said gratefully. The workers bowed one by one, and took their leave to allow us to check out the castle. I walked inside, excitement in every step. A younger me would have scoffed me for openly showing such excitement, but the me now did not care. The inside of the castle was very spacious, and there were large stained glass windows on either side and on the far wall, behind the thrones. The throne room connected to the library and the dining hall, which was connected to the kitchen, via long and winding hallways. The dining hall and library were the two most important rooms, since the rest conected to the hallways were all empty rooms. " This should be perfect for what I had in mind. Thank you again Celestia, and I promise to lay low untill you arrange the introduction. " I said and turned around to start decorating the place. " We will leave you to your decorating. You can always come by the castle, I'll notify my guards to not attack you on sight. " Celestia said, as she and Luna left. "This place still need a whole lot of work. " I mumbled to myself. " Nothing the Avatar of Darkness cannot handle however, and this place will look worthy of housing one in no time! " WWWWW Change of Character - Nightmare Moon -> Twilight Sparkle Primal told me to take a day off so he, Applejack and her family could work on my house. I decided to visit Rainbow to ask her for anything good to do. Primal had sent Sabrina with me since the cat decided it was of no use in construction work. " RAINBOW! " I shouted at the cloud the cyan mare called her home. As always, her head poked off the edge of the cloud to see who called her. When she saw me, she immediately flew down to the ground and landed next to me. " Sup Twi? " Rainbow asked. " Primal basically kicked me out of my house so he and Applejack could renovate it today. I came by your place to ask if you could hang out with me today. " I said. " Sure Twi! Anything you had in mind or did you expect me to come up with something?" she asked. " I didn't really, no. " I said. " Oh I know something we could do! We could visit the old ruins in the Everfree Forest! " Rainbow suggested. "Why not. If something bad happens we have our wits, skills and marks to save our hides. And a black panther. " I said. "Don't be such a worry wart. There's nothin' the most awesome flier in Equestria and the most gifted and talented unicorn in the land can't deal with, right? " "Ha, you bet." I said. " Let's go before the ruins decide to move elsewhere out of boredom. " Rainbow flew above and ahead of me as we entered the forest, and Sabrina walked beside me. We had been to the old ruins so many times now since first we went there, that the way there was just a stroll in the park. We approached the site of the ruins in no time, but Rainbow quickly flew back to me with a worried and confused look on her face. I asked her what was wrong. " Well, the 'ruins' as we knew them, are no longer ruins. Come and see!" She said. I followed her, and in the place where the ruins were was a tall, dark and ominous castle. " What happened to this place? Did it come alive after all? And why would it restore itself like this? I don't remember any books saying the ruins looked like this previously! " I said. " That is because no books have documented this particular restoration. " a familiar voice said. " Nightmare Moon? " Rainbow and me asked in unison. " Please, call me Night. " she said as she appeared next to us in a cloud of black and blue smoke. " I do not wish to be called Nightmare Moon any longer, since the name brings forth a past shrouded in evil intentions. And I see you brought Primal Dagger's pet along with you. " Night said. Sabrina, who had kept silent all this time, spoke up. Much to the confusion of both Rainbow and Night. "I am not his 'pet'. It sounds really disrespectful, for an intelligent creature as he called me. Instead, I am his spirit companion now. My real name is Ch'en, mayan goddess of the moon. " Sabrina said. "The mayans? I heard of that long-thought dead civilization of ponies. How is it you can suddenly talk now anyway? " Night said. " Primal cast a spell on her after augmenting her with some combat runes, allowing her the ability to speak as we do. " I explained. " Wait, you knew she could talk? Why didn't she speak earlier? " Rainbow asked. " I did not feel the need to speak to you since you did not address or notice me once during our trip here, even when Twilight Sparkle told you. And yes, she knew first because Primal augmented me at her home before he left to plan the reconstruction with the orange pony named Applejack. " Sabrina said. "Oh... Hehe, sorry..... I should have at least acknowledged your company, I guess. " Rainbow apologised " No harm done. Anyway, I expect you and me to become good friends, Miss Night. " Sabrina said. " I expect so aswell, with you being a goddess of the moon and me being the Avatar of Darkness. " Night said. " Well, I used to be a goddess or at least seen as one before I left my pack centuries ago to find my own destiny. I do not have any actual powers as far as I know. " Sabrina said, producing a sly smile on her feline face. " And then you found the Avatar of Shadow after all that time. Hardly coincidence. " Night said. " Enough chatter outside, come in and see the new Everfree Castle! " She didn't have to ask a second time, as it was quite chilly outside in this time of the year. Mid-November tends to usually be colder after a long period of varying temperatures. The inside of the castle was the complete opposite of how it looked like from the outside. In some way this reflected Night perfectly. From the outside, she's seen as evil, but inside, she was kind and gentle, if a bit rash at certain times. " Wow, this place looks stunning! Did you do all of this yourself? " I asked. " I merely decorated the place. Celestia sent a squad of workers for the actual restoration of the castle. " " I have to agree with the unicorn, even though I am not well-versed in architecture. This place is gorgeous. " Sabrina added. " I'm not usually somepony to call stuff beautiful, but this? I'm afraid I have to break that common look and say it: This place is beautiful. " Rainbow exclaimed. " Don't tell anypony I said that. " " Thank you all. But this really is nothing compared to what Celestia did for me with this castle. " Night said. " I take it you came here with a reason though? " " Actually, we just wanted someplace to hang out, and decided here would be good. It's even better now! " I said. " What's there to do around here? " "I have not gotten to exploring the surrounding area just yet, so I suppose you could join me? " Night suggested. "There should be a river nearby, we could head there first? " I could catch some fish to eat while we are there, so it is fine to me. " Sabrina said. " I don't like water, but I don't mind coming along. Not coming is even more boring!" Rainbow said. " I guess it's settled then!" I concluded. There was indeed a river close by, and we spent the rest of the day enjoying ourselves near the waterside. Seeing Night being so playful with Rainbow really showed a different side to the otherwise mysterious pony. Sabrina managed to catch and eat a few fish, and even caught spare to take back with us. When evening dawned, I decided it was time to head back. We said goodbye to Night as she left for her castle, and the rest of us headed back to the library to see the changes made. WWWWW Change of Character - Twilight sparkle - > Primal Dagger "There! That should be about everything! Thank you so much Apple family, amd you too Michelle, for assisting me with this. I wouldn't have been able to do this alone, and Twilight is going to love it to pieces! Well, I hope it will stay in one piece, that is." I said, happy that our work was finally done. The idea for the observatory was a bit too much of a far fetch, so instead we opted for a balcony with a clear view of the stars, and a telescope to watch them with. For the other rooms I made sure to keep the same style as the original. The bathroom is now bigger, an extra bedroom has been made in leftover space, Spike had his room extended downwards to include a small cave, and the hidden lab was now much bigger and an actual part of the home instead of a secret. The main room had been closed off from other rooms to conserve both privacy and the function of a public library. This room had also been extended, and repurposed to library by moving tables and chairs to a separate dining room connected to the kitchen. " It's nothing, Primal. Ah've seen how good you were for Twilight, and she deserves this more than anythin' . " Applejack said humbly. " Ah! Hear she comes right now! Go greet her! " As Applejack said, Twilight was indeed approaching the library. Rainbow and Sabrina were with her, and all of them looked elated. I opened the door for them. "Welcome back to your improved home Twilight! And hello Rainbow and Sabrina, always good to see you. Come inside! " I said. I guided them through the door, and we stood in the now large library. Applejack and her family and Michelle welcomed Twilight aswell, and waited for her response. "This is the library now? My, I'm impressed! This room is enormous now! Think of all the books I could provide to the public! This place is going to rival Canterlot's collection pretty soon. " Twilight said. " You haven't even seen the rest of the house yet! Notice how this room is separated from the rest now?" I said. "I have! This is amazing!" " Let's show ye the biggest stuff now. Follow me! " Applejack said. She walked to the door separating the rest of the house and the library, Twilight following closely behind her and me, Rainbow, Sabrina and Michelle making up the rear. Applejack's family had left the library to return home after seeing Twilight's reaction. " This is the dining room now, with the kitchen right over there. We kept this pretty much the same to not waste that authentic feeling of a tree house, but we added a few things here and there to make your life easier. Michelle helped me to shape part of the tree into a table here aswell. " I said. " That table looks fantastic! As if the tree itself made a table for us!" Twilight said. " Yeah, that was exactly what we aimed for. Spike's room is over there, and he got a small cave as a part of it. The basement is down here, with a new and improved non-secret lab. Upstairs are a few additions aswell. Where do you want to go first? " I asked. " Let's go to Spike's room first, then to the lab and then upstairs. I have a feeling the biggest thing is upstairs. " she answered. We walked into Spike's room, and Spike himself was lying on his bed. " Hey Twilight! How do you like your home so far? I can say I'm pretty happy with the cave addition! " Spike said. "It's more than I could have ever wished for. And I'll take your word for the cave, it's yours after all. " Twilight said. " Sure you don't wanna see it? " he asked, to which Twilight shook her head. " Alright then!" " Lab is next right? I'm interested to see how that looks like now. " Twilight asked. " Sure is! This a' way" Applejack said, leading us to the basement and the lab. " Wow " I heard Twilight exclaim. The entrance to the lab had been completely opened up, with big stairs heading down to the dug-out level the lab was in. Digging this out had taken the least amount of time since no real caution was required after moving all of the equipment out. The basement functioned as extra storage for anything now, but Twilight was more interested in the lab. I took the liberty of adding a few Earthly touches to it, causing it to look futuristic and slick. " Now you can science your way out of anything, egghead! " Rainbow grinned. " Is this how a laboratory on Earth looks like? " Twilight asked. " Mostly, yes. Me and Michelle worked in one looking similar to this. Minus the equipment of course, we had a few different things than what you have. " I said, and Michelle nodded in agreement. "Maybe you and Michelle could add some stuff to my collection then some time! " Twilight said, smiling. " Alright, the big thing next! I'm ready! " We moved towards the upper levels. Applejack toured us trough the additions, and we eventually ended up at the balcony. " Is this...... Is this what I think it is? " Twilight asked in excitement. " If I think I know what you think it is,then yes. If not, go ahead and prove me wrong. " I said. She ran up the stairs and out of the double stained glass doors. The balcony was suspended slightly above tree level, the platform itself made in the same way as the table downstairs, forming half of an elliptical circle. The state-of-the-art telescope with added zooming was standing proudly on it. " I...... I....." Twilight tried saying, but instead was left speechless. " How did you know....? " " I had some idea, but I can't explain how. Trade secret, dear. " I said. " Nopony ever knew this....." She said, a single tear rolling down her face. "....Thank you...." I noticed she was on the verge of crying, so I stepped closer and gave her a hug. It felt like the best approach to the situation, to which I was correct. She sobbed silently for a minute before recollecting herself. She thanked everyone again for their support. "We should get going, AJ. Busy day tomorrow I expect. Good night, all of you. " Rainbow said, and Applejack followed her out. " I'm going to bed aswell. Good night! " Michelle said, and headed to her room. " I'll leave you both in the solemn company of the moon and the stars. Sweet dreams. " Sabrina said, heading downstairs. " That leaves us then. Want to spend the night up here? " I asked. " I would love that more than anything now. " she answered. I conjured two simple beds for both of us, and we both took to sleep quickly in them, basked in the moonlight glow.