//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Journey // Story: Project Sunflower: Harmony // by Hoopy McGee //------------------------------// ~~*Luna*~~ Luna gave a guilty start at the sound of hoofsteps outside of the Royal Sisters’ private dining hall. The piles of paper strategically placed around her breakfast of strawberry-smothered waffles erupted from the table as she began to frantically gather them up in her magic, arranging them into a single untidy stack. She’d just managed to get them all together just as the door opened, though she realized with a sinking sensation that there was no reasonable place for her to hide them all. Princess Celestia stood in the doorway, looking down at her younger sister with a small and disapproving frown on her muzzle. The young Prince Verdant was nestled between Celestia’s folded wings, curled into a ball and breathing the steady, deep breaths of the soundly asleep. “Luna. I thought we had agreed that there was to be no more working during breakfast?” Perhaps it was Luna's guilty conscience that caused her to flinch at the disappointed tone in her sister's voice. “Ah, yes… well, you see, you weren’t here yet, and I have a simply ridiculous amount of correspondence to get through before Day Court begins.” Celestia settled into the cushions directly across from Luna. Her horn glowed, lifting the young prince off of her back and settling him into his own cushions next to her, which he nuzzled down into with a grumble and a sigh without waking. “I understand,” Celestia said. She broke into a wry smile. “Believe me, I do.” She frowned at the large and irregular stack of paper. No two leafs were the same size or weight, and their colors ranged from plain white to creamy beige, along with the occasional red, blue or pink mixed in with the rest. “What is all of that? And why not let the administrative staff handle most of it?” Luna scowled as she set the papers back down on the table. “Because these letters are mostly from noble families with enough influence to insist upon getting my personal attention. Half of them are calling upon me to step down from my position, half are complaints about my competency, half are blatant attempts to curry favor through base flattery, and the rest are none-too-subtle hints of how our lines should be joined in matrimony at the first opportunity.” Celestia chuckled. “By my count, that is at least three ‘halfs’, sister.” “Yes. There may be some overlap.” Celestia gave an introspective hum she began assembling her own breakfast. “Well, the flattery isn’t unexpected. Nor are the complaints, sadly. I received quite a few of those of my own over the centuries. The marriage proposals are a bit surprising, though. I haven’t seen any of those in… oh, I would say five hundred years, I think.” Luna let out an annoyed harrumph. “For the most part, none of them actually get around to proposing. They contain a wealth of implication without ever reaching an actual point.” “Possibly they are afraid of offending you,” Celestia said as she spread some raspberry preserves on a slice of toast. “Perhaps,” came Luna’s sour reply. After a moment, she chuckled. “I did receive one overt proposal, though. It was really quite sweet. Where is it, now?” Her horn lit, shuffling the papers before her, before she found one that was made of thick, light blue construction paper. “Here, read this.” Celestia took the letter in her own magic, clearing her throat before she began reading. “‘Dear Princess Luna’,” she read. “‘I think you are very pretty and also very nice and I would like to marry you when I get older my mom said it was okay.’ Signed by a young gentlecolt named Burnished Copper, aged six.” Luna was trying to smother her giggles behind her hoof. She was failing. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a marriage proposal written in crayon, before,” Celestia said. She turned the paper around. “Ah! There seems to be a drawing of you together on the back, also in crayon. He seems quite the handsome young fellow, though apparently lacking his back left leg.” Luna giggle-snorted, which caused her sister looked up at her sharply. “Now, Luna. You must treat this proposal with all the dignity and respect that this young gentlecolt is due,” Celestia said, her solemn voice betrayed somewhat by the quirking at the corners of her mouth. “The young lad has given you perhaps the most heartfelt proposal any princess has ever received. How are you planning to answer?” “Ah, well. I must let him down gently, of course,” Luna said with a mock-regretful sigh. “The age difference is simply too great. I plan on keeping the letter, though. It’s just too sweet to discard, which is more than I can say for the rest of these proposals." She gestured at the remaining stack with a waffle-laden fork. "Those I plan to use as firelighters.” Celestia chuckled. “I think that’s for the best. Any other news?” “I thought there was to be no more business at the breakfast table.” “You broke the rule first, dear sister,” came the smug reply. “And, I admit, I’m curious how things are going, now that I’m no longer at the forefront of the Day Court.” Luna considered that while she chewed and swallowed a bite of her waffles. “Hmm. Well, we’ve finally gotten Maggie Henson to begin building our own Harmonics facility here in Canterlot.” “Oh, yes. I’d heard about that.” “We’ll require several of the Harmonics staff to stay here for a number of years, in order to teach us how to use them,” Luna said. “Though, I’m hoping to get some of the archmages out to study the process.” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “To what end?” “To improve upon it, of course,” Luna replied with a self-satisfied grin. Her sister was fantastic at maintaining the status quo, but not so much with innovation. “Perhaps we can find a way to go between worlds without violently tearing holes in the very fabric of reality, which could allow us to have more gates open, and to keep them open permanently. Perhaps we can even discover a way to replicate the Harmonics process with magic, rather than technology.” “Ah, I see.” Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “That would be extremely beneficial.” Luna sighed and slumped. “Unfortunately, I’m getting nothing but polite refusals or vague promises of future support from the Arcanum. None of the archmagi I've reached out to seem willing to make the effort to even meet with me, and I’m unwilling to make it a Royal Summons.” “None of them?” Celestia drew her head back. “That’s surprising. And disappointing.” “Indeed,” came Luna’s glum reply. A moment of silence stretched between the two sisters, punctuated by the sounds of silverware on crockery and the gentle snores of Prince Verdant. It was Celestia who broke the silence, speaking with uncharacteristic reluctance. “Staff? Could you leave us, please?” The attending palace staff, stationed along the walls, exchanged startled glances with one another before bowing and walking out. “What was all that about?” Luna asked when the last of the servers had shut the door behind them. Celestia didn’t answer at first. Instead, she was casting what Luna recognized as anti-scrying and privacy spells. Very powerful ones, at that. A band of tension tightened around her chest as Luna realized what her sister wanted to discuss. “Have you considered the matter of my vision any further?” “I have, sister,” Luna said, keeping her face carefully neutral. “Have you? You know what Discord is like.” “I remember,” Celestia replied calmly. “Indeed?” Luna could feel her heart pounding faster. “Surely, thou dost remember what he did to the townsponies of Briarville?” She grimaced at her slip back into Old Equuish and took a deep breath before continuing. “Or those damnable Paths of Wonder?” “I remember those, yes,” Celestia said, still with that insufferable calm. “I also remember the Singing Forest, the Mirror Pool, the Unending Joy Parade and all the rest of the so-called Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Amusements.” Luna shuddered. “At least the Elements restored those things to normal after Discord’s first banishment.” “We can only hope so. The way Discord twisted the landscape before the Elements restored them, there’s no way of telling for certain.” Celestia frowned. “And I know some of his creations survived.” “Oh?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it.” “Most of them ended up in the Badlands, though I had heard reports that there was a small nest of owlbears discovered in the Griffon Kingdom a century ago, and Twilight and her friends have recently encountered both poison joke and a cockatrice in the Everfree forest.” “The latter created because Discord wanted a menagerie of animal statues for his garden without taking the trouble to make them himself,” Luna pointed out harshly. “This is the creature you wish to release?” “He was different this time,” Celestia replied calmly, though she kept her eyes averted. “Different.” It sounded like a feeble defense to Luna’s ears. “In what way?” “He was far less cruel. More playful.” Celestia’s calm veneer finally gave way to a pained grimace. “Still unbelievably dangerous, of course. But he could have stopped Twilight and her friends at any time, in any number of ways. Instead, he played games with them.” Luna’s eyes narrowed. “I remember Discord’s ‘games’, sister. Do you?” “This was nothing like back then,” Celestia replied, having managed to recover that serene expression that Luna was finding almost infuriating at the moment. Only a slight ruffling of her ivory feathers hinted at the tension she must be feeling. “I think the Elements could have affected him, somehow.” Luna scoffed. “So you’ve said before.” “I believe it to be true, though. And I keep coming back to one thing that supports my argument.” “And that is?” “Nightmare Moon.” Luna’s blood ran cold. How could her sister bring up what had been Luna’s darkest time in Discord’s defense? And so casually, as if it were nothing! She drew herself up, her posture stiff and inflexible. “Would you care to explain your meaning, sister?” “The Nightmare Moon of a thousand years ago was powerful, driven and cruel. She would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.” “This is true,” Luna said, glaring into her sister’s serene face. “And yet, Twilight and her friends still live. Why is that?” “That—” Luna stopped, her mouth open. She considered the question for a long moment. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “Perhaps the long banishment weakened the Nightmare’s power?” “Not one bit, I assure you,” Celestia said with a shamed grimace. “Without the Elements, I was overwhelmed almost immediately when she returned. And yet, like Discord, Nightmare Moon chose not to eliminate the most obvious threat to her existence. Why?” A growl rose up in the back of Luna’s throat. “Why don’t you tell me?” she snapped. “I believe the Elements… softened her, for a lack of a better term. Some small modicum of compassion, perhaps even part of the Element of Kindness itself, took root in her heart. She simply wasn’t as ruthless as she had been back then.” “I couldn’t say.” Luna scowled down at the table. She took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to calm herself. “I was still trapped in the Nightmare at the time, barely aware of what was going on.” “Yes, well, unfortunately, we have no way of proving if my hypothesis is correct, short of waking Discord.” Celestia’s folded wings bobbed as she shrugged. “It’s difficult to judge the effects when there’s nopony else still around who has been struck by the Elements.” Luna’s shoulders hunched as she turned her face away from her sister. “There’s me,” she said bitterly. “No.” Celestia’s voice was firm, her expression earnest. “The Nightmare wasn’t you, Luna. Born from you, but it wasn’t you.” An upswell of gratitude helped to stave off the inevitable shame that always rose when Luna contemplated Nightmare Moon. She pushed the emotions aside to focus on the conversation at hoof. “There was one other,” Luna pointed out. “Your former student.” Celestia looked confused for a moment before she flinched and looked down at the small green colt still sleeping next to her. “No. Malachite is gone. Besides, even if the Elements had an impact, it would be difficult to tell if those transferred to Verdant.” Luna chewed the inside of her lip for a moment, then took another forkful of waffle, barely even tasting it. “Alright, Celestia. I agree to freeing Discord, as insane as that sounds.” Luna pushed her plate away. “I have conditions, though.” “And those are?” “The very moment he does something untoward, he’s back in the garden where he belongs,” Luna said. “And spellwork, the most powerful we can weave, to limit where he can go and what he can do. If he is able to twist Twilight and her friends again, or even just hide one of the Elements, then we will never be able to stop him.” “Agreed,” Celestia replied with a nod. “I’ve already researched a few spells that I believe will do the trick. Though, I would greatly appreciate it if you would go over what I’ve developed so far.” Luna sighed, rubbing a hoof at her temple while wondering what it was she’d gotten herself into. “Very well. After breakfast?” Celestia’s warm smile answered her. “After breakfast.” ~~*Riddle*~~ Changelings didn’t typically have the opportunity to feel many different emotions of their own. Fear was common enough, as was the occasional flare-up of anger. The most common was boredom, felt by those waiting at the hive for orders. Love was only ever felt as it came in from their prey. Currently, Riddle was feeling an emotion that she had never felt before. Before today, she’d only ever observed the biting and barbed emotion known as jealousy from a distance. Now it was streaming out of the changeling herself, tainting the air a sickly yellow with streaks of bitter crimson. Why Raka had decided it was necessary to bring Spectral Charm to their sessions, she couldn’t even begin to fathom. “You don’t seem happy,” Raka said. A small wisp of concern emanated from the human, which Riddle gratefully absorbed. “I don’t know what you mean,” Riddle said evenly. “I’m perfectly fine.” Raka frowned. “Is it because I’ve decided to start calling you by female pronouns? Calling you an ‘it’ didn’t feel right, but I could go back to that, if you prefer.” “No!” Riddle blurted. She blinked, surprised at her own reaction. “No. I told you, I was probably going to go with female, if I ever had the chance. It’s fine. I like it.” She smiled at Raka. “I really do. Thank you.” “I think it’s me,” Spectral Charm said. His voice was flat as he glared at her through his ridiculous glasses. “I don’t think she likes me.” Riddle felt a moment of panic. Could the unicorn sense what she felt? She’d always been told that ponies couldn’t sense emotions, but what if that were wrong? What if there were a spell of some sort that gave them the ability? Jealousy and Riddle’s fresh panic weren’t the only emotions in the room, though they were by far the most prevalent. There was still that tendril of affection coming from Raka, which was enough to keep Riddle fed. But there was another link, a thicker one, that went between both Spectral Charm and Raka. The two were friends. Spectral Charm cared for Raka, and Raka cared for the unicorn in return. Riddle ground her teeth in frustration. She’s mine, you insufferable creep! Raka was looking at her. Riddle forced her face to stillness before adding a shy smile. “I don’t know him. I’m a little uncomfortable, is all.” She ducked her head and allowed her gossamer wings to droop. “Sorry.” It was important for Riddle to keep herself under control. Being imprisoned by the humans was bad enough, but now her one steady source of love energy was threatened. Raka had told her that she was leading the scientific team to Harmony in just five more days. Raka seemed to accept that, smiling and giving her an affectionate rub between the ears. “Any worries about the volunteers?” There were plenty of concerns, but Riddle hesitated to voice them. Seven humans had volunteered to try interacting with her, to see if they could provide enough love energy to sustain Riddle’s cognitive functions. Of those, only five managed even the smallest amount. “I think there will be enough energy with the five of them,” Riddle replied carefully. “Barring unforeseen circumstances.” Raka sighed. “I’ll ask for more volunteers,” she said. “I’d prefer to be certain, before I go.” The human hesitated. “If we can’t find enough love energy, I suppose I might have to stay behind.” The cascade of emotions that filled the room at that statement was the reason why she hadn’t tried harder to convince Raka to stay. When Riddle had first hinted that even five volunteers wouldn’t be enough, the answering resentment from the human had briefly flooded the room. It was a reflexive emotion, and one that Raka had smothered quickly, but it had shaken the changeling badly. It had been blindingly obvious to Riddle that the human was fixated on the expedition to Harmony to the extent that she would subconsciously begin to hate anything that stopped her from going. If she was going to lose Raka as an energy source either way, she preferred it to be temporary. Raka would come back to her eventually. Riddle stood and put on a determined expression. “Raka, no,” she said, making her voice firm. “I know how much this means to you. I couldn’t live with myself if you gave up on your dream!” “Oh, spare me,” Spectral Charm said, and this time Riddle couldn’t help but shoot him a glare. Unfortunately, he’d been too busy rolling his eyes to notice. Maybe she had laid that on a little thickly. Still, Raka’s stream of affection strengthened considerably for a few seconds, which allayed Riddle’s momentary worry. “Spectral, be nice,” Raka said, grinning down at the unicorn. “Riddle needs our help if she’s going to be allowed to stay here.” That didn't’ sound good. “Allowed to stay? What do you mean?” “I’m trying to convince my superiors that we need to keep you here, in this facility,” Raka said, looking down at the thin-fingered hands clasped in her lap. “They want to move you to a secure facility, and I can’t have that. There’s no guarantee that they could find anyone there who would care about you, and you would die.” Riddle didn’t bother to hide the shudder that swept down her spine. “You should be grateful that Raka is so tenacious when she wants something,” Spectral Charm said, staring down his muzzle at her. “It took her a couple of days, but she managed to convince me to help.” An insufferable smirk flashed across the unicorn’s face. “Fortunately for you, I arrived at a solution fairly quickly. It’s your ability to metabolize affection and process it into magic that is the key to your survival. If my theory is correct, you should be able to generate magical energy, which makes you completely unique here on Earth.” “And, since Project Harmonics has the only magical research department on Earth with employees who can actually use magic, that means you’d pretty much have to stay here,” Raka finished with a huge grin. “You want to feed me love so that I can generate magic?” Riddle cocked her head, blinking up at the unicorn. “I’m not sure what use that would be.” “It’s simple.” Spectral Charm’s horn glowed as he levitated what Riddle recognized as a magic-storing torc out of a saddlebag. “If you can convert affection into magical energy and push any excess into this device, then you have a very definite value to both human and pony kind.” Riddle scuffed a hole-filled hoof across the concrete floor of her cell. “I don’t know. Raka has been wonderful, but it’s not like I have an excess of affection.” “A proof of concept is all we’d need,” Raka replied, picking up the torc and running her fingers over it. “If that works, we’ll push for even more volunteers so we can get you charging these on a regular basis when the gateway is down.” It took a moment for Riddle to realize what had just been offered to her. If she could actually manage to charge a torc, she’d have value. If she had value, the humans would work to protect her and keep her alive. For the first time since her capture, a future that didn’t involve an early and unpleasant death stretched out before her. Happiness and optimism. Two more rarely-felt emotions that were now radiating out of the changeling. Perhaps some more sharing was in order, so as to keep the goodwill flowing. “Being able to convert love energy into magical energy is vital to our ability to disguise ourselves, you know,” Riddle said, attempting to be nonchalant. As expected, Raka glanced up from her examination of the torc, her eyes sparkling at the tidbit of new information. “How so?” “Compared to ponies, common changelings are extremely weak,” Riddle replied. “Outside of illusion magic, my magic is pathetic compared to most unicorns. Basic, weak levitation barely better than a foal's. I can fly, but nowhere near as well as a pegasus, and I can’t normally affect the weather. And an earth pony’s strength? Forget it.” She shrugged and offered up a self-effacing grin. “But we can use the love energy we harvest to increase our natural abilities, make ourselves more appealing. Say, if a pegasus wants a mate who can fly as well as they do, or a unicorn wants someone with a strong magical ability. On our own, we can’t do it. But we can use the energy of their own affection to bridge the gap.” Spectral Charm seemed mildly disturbed by the idea, judging by the sour purple tang of disgust emanating from him. Raka, on the other hoof, was intrigued. Riddle could tell both by the emotions flooding the room as well as the way she leaned forward, a hungry look on her face. “So, you can basically upgrade yourself to better suit your mates?” Raka asked. “Temporarily, yes.” Riddle nodded. “There are limits, depending on class. Common soldier, the various levels of officer, generals, princesses and the queen, we each have our upper limits. But, yes, generally speaking.” She grinned. “Changelings become whatever those who feed us need us to be. We don’t even have to think about it, really. It’s all automatic. If you love me enough, I could almost pass for a Wonderbolt.” Raka whistled and leaned back. Once again, Riddle was amazed by how easy it was to trigger a release of affection from the human. All she had to do was engage her scientific interest. “Well, maybe we should stop wasting time and see if you can pass for a battery,” Spectral Charm said, his voice flat. Riddle bared her fangs at him, hoping it would be taken as a grin. Seriously, his jugular was right there. “Well, then,” she said through her fake smile. “Let’s get started on that proof of concept, shall we?” ~~*Twilight*~~ The sound of an explosion startled Twilight out of the light doze that the rocking of the train had lulled her into. She glared at Spike, who was sitting next to her and playing some silly little game on his tablet. From what she could see, it involved launching fruit at passing birds for some reason, which would then explode when hit. That wasn’t the disturbing part. The disturbing part was how the little dragon would break out into the occasional giggle when it happened. “Spike, I think that’s enough of that game, don’t you?” Twilight recognized the protruding lower lip and wide eyes of an incoming pout, and decided to head it off before it got any traction. “Maybe you could watch a movie, instead?” Spike brightened at the suggestion. “I suppose I could, yeah.” “Just make sure it isn’t so loud it disturbs the other passengers,” Twilight said. Spike, already poking at the screen with his stylus, grunted in reply, and Twilight went back to looking out the window. Her trip to Canterlot had lasted much longer than she’d expected. Almost two full weeks, half of that time spent being frustrated in her attempts to learn Dream Magic. After her eventual success, there had been a few more lessons before Luna had declared that her training had progressed far enough for her to continue it from Ponyville. After all, her physical presence wasn’t required if they’d be meeting every night in the Dreamrealms. By the time the princess had made that decision, Twilight was more than happy to go. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Trixie had been avoiding her ever since her first successful trip to the Threshold. Whenever they did talk, the former showmare had been stiff and oddly formal, which put Twilight on edge. Twilight had no idea what she’d done to upset the other mare, but at least she wouldn’t have to deal with her directly. Not outside of the Dreamrealms, at least. The train pulled up to the Ponyville station some time before noon. Spike put his tablet away as Twilight retrieved their minimal luggage, and together they made their way back to the Golden Oaks library. The swell of emotion at the sight of the tree library sometimes still felt odd to Twilight. Home. A couple of years ago, she never would have been able to credit it. Living in a small agrarian town with next to no research facilities? Not to mention moving so far away from the Princess. A younger version of herself would have found the very thought absurd. Even the fact that her residence was a library wouldn’t have been enough to convince past-Twilight that she could live here. Today, she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, and the books were only a small part of that. Twilight opened the front door to the library, smiling like she always did when she caught the smell of the books, all properly in their shelves… More or less. A quick glance told Twilight that the temporary librarian, Mrs. Stacks, had been reshelving things again while Twilight was away. She wouldn’t have minded if it weren’t for the fact that the older mare arranged every book alphabetically, with no regard to subject and in complete defiance of the Duet Decimal System. Not that she minded, of course. There were few things more relaxing and fun than Reshelving Day. And the silent battle of wills between the new and old librarians was actually something she looked forward to. She suspected that Mrs. Stacks did, as well. Spike slid off of her back and immediately charged the stairs with a quick, “See ya!” His little legs pounded up the steps, the noise bringing Mrs. Stacks out of a side room. The older mare stopped, her eyes narrowing. “So,” Mrs. Stacks said. “This is what counts as ‘a few days’?” Twilight wilted under the glare and offered up a sheepish smile. “Sorry?” she offered. “It took longer than I expected to get my hoof in the door with dream magic.” That brought the elderly mare up short. “Dream magic?” She frowned. “Oh, yes. I remember there was an announcement for that. So, you went and joined Princess Luna’s Dream Guard, then?” “Oh, no,” Twilight said as she floated her saddlebags off of her back, placing them nearby with the rest of her luggage. “I just wanted to learn! Oh, and this is for you,” she added, opening up a suitcase and removing a small, wrapped box from inside. “As a ‘thank you’ for maintaining the library while I was gone.” The gift had its hoped-for disarming effect. Mrs. Stacks brought a hoof up to her chest as her eyes widened. “Oh, you didn’t need to do that!” “I wanted to,” Twilight assured her. “It’s really the least I could do after leaving you here for two weeks.” “Oh, well… Thank you, dear,” Mrs Stacks replied with a smile. She took the box in her own magical field and opened it with a quick efficiency that impressed Twilight. She removed the contents and gasped. “Oh, it’s lovely!” Twilight relaxed a little, glad that her intuition had paid off. The few times she’d been allowed in Mrs. Stack’s house, she’d noticed that the other mare had collected quite a few different crystal animals. The gift, a pair of crystal robins in flight, had looked like it would fit right in with her collection. Mrs. Stacks placed the robins gently back into their padded box. “Well,” she said as she floated the box over to her own saddlebags, which were hanging on a peg by the door. “I suppose that we should go over the business of the last two weeks?” With a smile, Twilight nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” ~~*~~ Twilight looked around at the first floor of the library with a pleased smile. For all her adherence to alphabetization as a method of sorting books, Mrs. Stacks never did less than an exemplary job keeping the library tidy. The woodwork practically glowed, and not a cobweb was in sight, which Twilight wasn’t always able to claim when she was in charge. Spike was where she had expected him to be, lounging in his little basket at the foot of her bed while watching a movie on his tablet. There was the sound of an explosion, followed by Spike’s juvenile giggling. Twilight scowled, wondering if she should take the thing away. Then she remembered her own tablet, which was sitting on her nightstand. With a smile, Twilight magically retrieved a stylus and tapped the screen. Her smile faded as she looked at the display. A large, colorful box, rounded at the corners, was dominating the screen. Erin’s name was scrawled across the top of the box, in what would be the header area if this had been a letter. Inside the box were smaller boxes, each with a line or more of text in it, along with a date. After a moment of contemplation, Twilight realized that this must be the “texting” that her friend had described to her a few weeks ago. Hi Twilight! the first text box read. Guess what? Pony tail has Wi-Fi, now! This was followed by the Earth date and time of Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:12 pm There was a second box under the first that read: Sorry, that should be Pony Villa. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:12 pm. A third box read: Ponyville, dang it! Text-to-speech is great, but it has its limitations. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:14 pm “So, each message gets its own little box within a bigger box?” Twilight mused aloud. “How tidy!” “What?” Spike asked from his basket, raising his voice so he could be heard over the noise of the movie he was watching. “Oh, nothing. I just received a few messages from Erin.” Spike grunted and turned back to his movie. Twilight lay down on her bed and scrolled through the rest of the messages. Hah, I keep trying to go on the internet. Old habits… Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:32 pm Pinkie says hi. No pony else seems to have noticed we’re connected. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:34 pm Oh yeah. Kinda forgot you left your tablet in the library. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:37 pm And that you wouldn’t be able to see this anyway, since the network doesn’t reach Canterlot. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:37 pm Well, when you get back, we can communicate with this whenever we want! Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:38 p.m. Not when we’re sleeping, obviously. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:38 pm But whenever else. Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:39 pm We should have lunch when you get back! Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:42 pm Wherever you want… Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:42 pm Even hay burgers! I know you love those Fri, 03/25/2039, 5:45 pm This is so cool! Jerry just told me I have control over the drones left behind from Harmonics! Fri, 03/25/2039, 6:00 pm You know, those black flying things? Fri, 03/25/2039, 6:01 pm I guess they’re using them for wireless repeaters, so the network can reach Fluttershy’s and Applejack’s houses. Fri, 03/25/2039, 6:05 pm I have an app to control them! It’s really cool. Fri, 03/25/2039, 6:06 pm I’ll show you when we get together. Fri, 03/25/2039, 6:08 pm Hey, are you back yet? Sat, 03/26/2039, 8:07 am How about now? Sat, 03/26/2039, 9:30 am When are you coming hooooome? I want to show you this stuff! Sat, 03/26/2039, 11:15 am Sorry if I’m pestering you. I’ve missed texting so much, I can’t even tell you! *does a happy texting dance* Sat, 03/26/2039, 11:30 am Ugh. Looking at all this stuff I sent you, I look like some lunatic stalker or something. Sat, 03/26/2039, 11:33 am Maybe I should go over and erase this off of your tablet before you get home... Sat, 03/26/2039, 11:44 am Twilight glanced at the time on her tablet. It currently read 11:50, which meant that Erin had sent her last message just short while ago. After some experimentation, Twilight was able to figure out where to tap in order for a small keyboard to pop up on the screen, allowing her to begin typing out her own reply. She’d barely begun when she heard the library’s front door open, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of hooves quickly coming up the stairs. Twilight smiled just as her bedroom door opened, revealing a slightly frazzled looking Erin, whose look of panic faded to one of dismay. “Hi, Erin,” Twilight said sweetly. “Something I can help you with?” “Hey, Erin,” Spike said from his basket. Erin’s eyes flicked towards the tablet, then back up to Twilight. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then deflated with a sigh. “Um. Welcome back?” “It’s good to be back,” Twilight said with a grin. “I’m surprised you knew I was here.” “Oh, well—” “Though I shouldn’t have been,” Twilight continued. “I suppose if anypony would know where I was, it would be my lunatic stalker.” Erin deflated a little more while blushing. A sheepish smile crept across her face. “You saw that, huh?” Twilight laughed, rolling out of her bed and leaving the tablet behind. She went over and gave Erin a hug, which was enthusiastically returned. “It’s really good to see you,” Twilight said. She released the hug and stood back. “And, I hate to ask, but are you busy right now?” “Not really. Why?” “Well, I was wondering if you could go round up the others for me. Celestia has something she wants us to do.” Erin took a step back, her eyes widening. “Is there a problem?” “Not yet, no.” Twilight sighed. “Something big is coming up, though.” “What is it?” Twilight shook her head. “It’s better if I tell everypony all at once. It’s not an emergency, but it’s fairly urgent. Would you mind?” “Not at all,” Erin said, then smiled. “It’s not like I have a job right now, or anything.” After Erin left, Twilight sat down on her floor and stared at nothing for a few minutes. Of all the things Princess Celestia had asked her to do, attempting to “reform” the spirit of chaos would undoubtedly be the most difficult. For the first time in a long time, she had no idea how to proceed. She wasn’t even sure if she should bother making a plan. Discord’s mere presence defied planning, which was one of the more aggravating things about him. With a sigh, Twilight glanced up at the clock on her bedroom wall. Judging by prior experience, it would take at least an hour for everypony to gather at the library. Plenty of time to begin reshelving the library, which would at least keep her mind occupied. The thought cheered her up a little as she made her way downstairs. Within minutes, she was happily reorganizing shelf after shelf, troubles momentarily forgotten. ~~*Raka*~~ The day had finally come. A fleet of semi-trucks were staged in the parking lot of the Harmonics compound, engines idling while waiting for the gateway to open. Of the trailers attached to the rigs, some were self-contained labs, others were dormitories, and a few were packed with the supplies they would need for the next few weeks. A mobile science base, all ready to go once the gateway opened. This same procedure had been pioneered for bulk shipments of goods to Zanibra, in order to assist in building humanity’s first non-Terrestrial city. Raka figured that it would work just as well to get the science team and all their equipment onto the world of Harmony. A pair of large emitters were bolted to one end of the parking lot. The six member security team would be the first to go through in their two rugged diesel-powered pickup trucks to make sure the landing zone was secure, and then the semi-trucks would go through. Finally, the research team of both human and Equestrian scientists would walk through, once everything was clear. Raka was standing next to Maggie Henson, just outside of a large tent made of clear plastic. The Harmonics team was inside the tent, monitoring readings and preparing to open the gateway. According to the estimates, the opportunity to open the gateway was coming up very soon. A large LCD clock was posted on top of the temporary framework that the large-size emitters were tied into. The number was currently counting down from ten minutes. Nerves were wound tight amongst the science crew, and Raka was struggling to stay focused herself. There was something she needed to make absolutely certain of before she left. “So, you’re sure Riddle will be fine?” she asked. “She said she would be,” Maggie replied. “We got another two volunteers, so we're up to seven now. She said that was finally getting enough to keep her going, with enough left over to charge some torcs.” “It figures that it would take seven people to replace little old me, hm?” Raka shot a grin at her old friend. “Sounds about right.” The grin faded as she turned serious. “Promise me you’ll take care of her, okay?” Maggie groaned and rolled her eyes. “I promise. Just like I did three times yesterday, four times between breakfast and lunch, and then twice within the last hour. I won’t let her starve, I promise.” “It’s not just starvation, though. We’re basically talking about giving her a lobotomy if she doesn’t get enough affection.” Raka twisted her fingers together, biting her lip as she looked at minutes counting down on the digital clock above where the gateway would soon appear. “Maybe I should stay behind…” “No!” Maggie took her by both shoulders and turned her until they were face-to-face. “Just, no. If Riddle hadn’t said she’d be fine, I would agree, but she said she would be.” She considered for a moment. “Would it help if I asked for more volunteers, just to be sure?” “Sure, if you can find anyone else willing to go through daily brain scans for a little extra pay,” Raka replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m amazed you got as many as you did, honestly.” “I’ll put the word out,” Maggie said. “I wish I could try it out myself.” Raka knew Maggie would have at least tried, but she, along with several other key members of Project Harmonics, were forbidden from going anywhere near Riddle. The reasoning was that it was still unknown if the changeling was somehow able to alter their minds in a way that even the best tests weren’t able to catch. “It would be easier if they'd let her disguise herself as something cuddlier,” Raka muttered. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “Look, be careful around her, okay? I don’t think she’s been using magic on me, but she’s still a manipulative little thing.” “I saw some of the video footage,” Maggie said wryly. “It didn’t look like you’d noticed.” “Of course I noticed! I’m not dim!” Raka stuck out her tongue, causing Maggie to chuckle. “I don’t even know if she’s even aware that she’s doing it half the time. It’s a survival skill for them, after all.” She looked up at the clock. There were less than five minutes remaining before the gateway would open. The volunteers were ready, fear and tension thick in the air while every eye was fixed on the display. “Almost time,” Raka said softly. Maggie put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, right?” “Yup!” Raka’s grin seemed to have a life of its own. “I can’t wait! This is history in the making, and I’m going to be out in front of it!” “Just… keep yourself safe.” Maggie was playing with the pens in her lab coat's breast pocket, a sure sign of her anxiety to anyone who knew her. “There’s three weeks before we can open another portal. You’ll be completely cut off once the gate closes.” “I know,” Raka replied. She’d never have admitted it, even to Maggie, but that thought had kept her up most of the last three nights. “We’ll be safe, though. I promise. No civilization found, no large predators yet… we’ll be fine. And we’ve got the Bunker,” she said with a gesture towards the vehicle in question. The vehicle in question was an ex-military mobile command vehicle. Nicknamed the Bunker by the security team, it was armored, bulky, ugly, and freshly painted a dark green. It was twice as wide and fifty percent longer than the trailers and, in a pinch, could hold the entire team, human and Equestrian alike. Provided they didn’t care much about comfort, that is. It had air filtration, oxygen candles, water filtration, emergency rations, a medical station and the bulk of the armory that the security team would be bringing along. Fairly conservative estimates showed that, with strict rationing of supplies, the team could survive for up to three weeks inside the Bunker. The Equestrian research team were at the far end of the lot, clustered together while talking quietly. With the way their ears flicked around while they kept an eye on the vehicles and the human technicians, the pony explorers were obviously on edge. Raka found herself vaguely wondering if it were some sort of herding instinct that brought them so close together, or if it was just a fear of the unknown. After a moment of consideration, she realized that there was no appreciable difference between the two in this situation and resolved to study the question further when she had a chance to speak with some of the pony scientists. Engines revved and chatter cut off as the countdown passed the one minute mark. With her heart hammering and her mouth suddenly dry, she wished that she’d thought to grab a bottle of water earlier. “It looks like this is it,” Maggie said softly next to her. “I’d better go and make sure this all runs smoothly.” “Yeah…” “Take care, Raka.” Maggie hugged her so fiercely that Raka briefly feared a rib would crack. “You too, Mags. I’ll see you when I get back.” Maggie’s smile trembled a little before she turned to walk inside the plastic command tent. The last few seconds counted down. When the clock hit ten seconds, a klaxon sounded. Engines revved, and several of the trucks in the parking lot jerked as the drivers put them into gear. The clock hit zero, the klaxon ended, and the air shimmered between the bulky emitters. A high-pitched tone started, setting Raka’s teeth on edge. The tone softened, and the shimmering air suddenly snapped into focus, revealing a pleasant-looking landscape on the other side. The landing zone looked like it was a fairly flat space on top of a hill, with only some strangely-textured alien plants clinging the ground. One of the security team barked an order, and the two security vehicles darted through. After a few minutes, the all-clear was given, and the semi-trucks began rumbling through, starting with the Bunker. Then it was the research team’s turn. Raka hefted her heavy duffle bag up to her shoulder and glanced over at Maggie, who was looking back with concern etched deeply into her face. Raka offered her a saucy grin and a farewell wave before joining the rest of the research team. She walked quickly, making her way to the front of the pack. She wouldn’t be the first human on Harmony, the security team had that honor, but she was damned if she wouldn’t be the first scientist to walk on the alien world! Thus it was that, with a spring in her step and a gleam in her eye, Doctor Raka Nayar stepped confidently through the gateway onto the world they called Harmony.