//------------------------------// // Chapter 7, Equestria's Magic // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 11 -- A Wing and a Prayer // by shysage //------------------------------// Hi, its me, Princess Twilight. This next chapter absolutely has to be mine. The tragedy that I had brought about, well I guess it receded into the background to a degree. Shysage was gone to the Equestria Girls world looking for Summer, and Ariel was in loving hooves and hearts. I think we all hoped for the best, but we basically had to get on with our lives. Well, the night before, I couldn't sleep; this was becoming routine for me. Anyway, early in the morning, I gave up on sleep, and got up, and wandered slowly into the Library. I found my brand new mystery book, and started to read. I got into that new book! Later that morning, I know Spike came by and tried to talk to me at one point. He quickly realized he was talking to a blank wall, and he left. I read most of the morning, enjoying every minute. That all changed... Looking up and away from my new book at just the right time, I watched Shysage float slowly away from the Portal, across the Library and down the hall. His eyes were closed, and his head was down. I think he was expecting the worst. Well, he was soon gone, out of sight. It had been two weeks maybe since Shysage left for the Equestria Girls world. Like I said, I think we went on with our lives. But I watched him float by. I couldn't ignore that. I closed my book right then and put it down... "Equestria, Summer and Shysage need your help... They need our help... I caused this..." Talking to Equestria, I had never done that before, I don't know. And I was quickly weeping softly. What I put in above, that is exactly what I said, to Equestria, and just once. Boom... The spell started coming... Like a clean white sheet of paper was right in front of me, the symbols, the glyphs, the strokes... Magical characters began to fill that blank paper. They formed continuous lines, line after line, much like Dark Melvain's spell. But I watched... A section would be written down, then a long pause... With the help of my magic side of my brain, I was able to decipher what the magic was actually doing. I was awestruck... I used the weaving a fabric analogy before, just a guess, then. Now, that fit so perfectly, seeing this new spell a piece at a time. The sections of the spell, it was like each one accomplished a specific purpose, then melded itself into the whole. Links and counter-links all throughout, but seeing it written down before my very eyes, small sections at a time... I understood it all... The details of Equestria's spell took up 35 lines of symbols, and the first line clearly invoked the targets of this magic, Shysage and the Phantom Alicorn. Indeed, I detected separate, parallel handling of a bunch of the magic to be applied to each of them. Like I said, I was awestruck... When the spell was done, I could go back through the glyphs, the characters, every subtle stroke... I knew what each piece was, and how each piece fit together with the overall effect of the spell. I started crying. My understanding of the function, the details of that spell, it wasn't temporary. I will never forget the details of that spell, how it worked. And I quickly realized that no matter where I looked, no matter what I saw, that spell, in its entirety, was always there, directly forward. I could concentrate on other things in my field of vision, but that spell, every single symbol... It stayed right there. I thought about actually writing it down, but quickly realized... In the wrong hands... But it didn't matter. I carried that spell in the magic side of my brain... everywhere... And I suddenly made the connection. The actual details of that spell, Equestria had to be the ultimate author. But, for the last two weeks, on many occasions, I would, in the middle of just about anything, suddenly realize that the magic side of my brain was at work... analyzing... processing... synthesizing... organizing... No doubt, with Equestria's help, my magic brain was solving the problem, a problem I didn't, couldn't even fully understand. This amazing spell was the result. And, seeing it all written, a piece at a time, what my magic brain, what Equestria had done... Magic is my life, like a second language to me. But this... I cried softly for a while. I thanked Equestria, I don't know. I even thanked Summer and Shysage's true friend. What had just happened was beyond parallel, and without precedent. Equestria had given me magic that was leaps and bounds beyond what I could even fathom... After a little while, Spike heard me crying, and came in, alarmed. "Aww, Twilight, it wasn't your fault... It's ok, don't blame yourself..." I think Spike ran out of words at that point. Still crying, I said softly "Spike, I know what to do. Equestria told me, just like Equestria did last time this happened..." It was quiet a few minutes. I was deep in thought. I seriously doubted I could cast this spell all by myself and see any effect. Like I said, if I had learned anything in the last five years... I needed my girls, and I needed our amazing true friends, and every single Unicorn in the bunch. And I was pretty sure we needed the magical amplification of the Group Link to pull this magic off. I sent Spike down the hall to go into town to the Cake's to get Pinkie Pie, and have her round up the rest of my girls. Pinkie met Spike on the steps of the Castle; she was already waiting there for him! "I'll go get the rest Spike, thanks!" Then Pinkie bounced off, yelling "Yippeee!" I heard that in the Library. Spike came back in and shrugged. Next, I had Spike take a note for Princess Celestia. Amazing Teacher, I think I have discovered the magic it will take to rescue Summer and Shysage. But I will need the circle of friendship complete, and every Unicorn among us. And this includes all our Equestria Girls Twins. Can we do that? Lovingly, your student, Princess Twilight This part was tricky; I knew Princess Celestia could easily veto any plans I had in mind. I mean, this amazing magic was glorious news to me, but it occurred to me that Princess Celestia might just laugh when she saw the spell. Ruling Equestria as a powerful Unicorn for over 1,400 years, she had probably seen it all. So, I was a bit nervous, but the reply came back quickly. Dearest Princess Twilight, By all means lets do that. It will be a few hours as Princess Luna and I take care of Equestria the rest of the day, then we will come via Air Coach before dark. Lovingly, Princess Celestia Maybe twenty minutes later, and my girls and I were hugging tightly in a circle, and we cried together for a little while. And this included Filia and Fiona. Twins in real life; their fiery red mane and tail could only hint at their great magical potential. Shyna came with Fluttershy. Shyna was our gift from the Past, an amazingly talented Pegasus, now firmly under Rainbow Dash's care and instruction. Well, she was Fluttershy's adopted sister too, and almost as sensitive. After crying together a bit, I said quietly "I need all of the Equestria Girls, all our amazing Twins..." I don't usually pawn off on others what I could do myself. But that spell, I didn't want to take any chances of losing it. We needed that... Summer and Shysage needed that... Rainbow Dash spoke up quickly. "I think Applejack and I can handle that, Princess. We will go through the Portal, and make a bee-line to Fluttershy's Cot-- er, apartment, and the Equestria Girls will do the rest. They all have those cell things anyway." "That works, but we will need to wait some. I think it is the middle of the night there." I said quietly, and after some thought. "And, thank you girls... Thank you all..." Then we hugged together, and wept softly a while more. The nine of us took a nap scattered around the floor on the Library. I asked Spike to guard the entrance to the Library, just to let us be able to sleep some. I guess I was really tired. I woke up much later to a most amazing presence -- my Twin! Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle! We were quickly hugging, crying... The rest of the Twins were doing the same thing; they were all here with us. And this included Principal and Vice-Principal. I honestly think Princess Celestia and Principal Celestia can communicate across the two worlds, I don't know... And a hopeful tune rose quietly in the background. I heard it right away, but had no clue what it was. Summer heard it too and almost started crying. I guess she recognized it (1). And, by the way, I felt bad, but Princess Cadance was not here. Since she had no Twin that we knew of, I doubted we could pull up the Group Link, and the magical amplification it brought, with her in the circle. Maybe some day, we would find Princess Cadance's and Shining Armor's Twins in the Equestria Girls world, I don't know. That really would be amazing... Still, we were all hugging our Equestria Girls Twins, and weeping softly. ... My Twin, Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle... A look of concern swept across her face. She said quietly "Twilight, that spell..." She had seen those thirty five lines of magic symbols that never left my field of view... It was time... I looked over at Princess Celestia who was now sitting next to her Twin, already looking in my direction. I bowed my head just a bit and said quietly "By your leave, Princess Celestia" Princess Celestia bowed back. "We are all honored. Please tell us what to do." I took a deep breath, and began. "We need the group link. Gather round in a circle, with your right front hoof around the neck of the pony on your right. Twins need to sit next to each other, but I don't think the order matters otherwise." It was only after I said this that I realized that we had never tried the Group Link with the Celestia and Luna Twins. I guessed we would find out. The circle was quickly formed, but the Group Link did not spring up like it had in the past. Something was blocking it. We had been through this before. We each had to search ourselves for even the smallest animosity we might hold towards anypony else in this circle. Any pain we had caused... anything that would create distance between us. We all did that together. Apologies and tears came quickly. Who apologized to who and why made little difference. I had to set some things straight myself. Pure devotion alone, between everypony in this circle; this is what the Group Link requires. It took a while. Even the smallest of things... Embarrassed, I realized I wasn't done yet, and I was the last one. Again, who or what didn't really matter as long as the breach was healed. The Group Link sprang to life, and we all relaxed into each other's devotion and love... For a few minutes, we just reveled in the peace, the oneness that each of us experienced. It was amazing, I didn't ever want it to end... But Summer, and Shysage... The amazing magical spell... I said softly "Unicorns, through the link, note the thirty or so lines of magic I am seeing. Unicorns, we need to cast this slowly, carefully, and together. Scan the spell briefly, and then I will start us casting in unison, in a minute maybe." Half a minute later, the Group Link evaporated; someone had broken the circle. It was Princess Celestia. She had staggered, and let go of her Twin. That was all it took. Still... "Princess Twilight, what IS this magic? I have never... I don't think I can even..." Princess Celestia looked over at Princess Luna, and she likewise slowly shook her head side to side... This surely surprised me. And I froze. I had no intention of putting Equestria's Princesses on the spot... But maybe I already had... I soon felt even worse... Princess Celestia began to weep softly. "I'm sorry, I don't think..." For a few minutes, nopony moved. I had absolutely no clue what to do... And I doubted anypony else had any idea either... Princess Celestia continued to weep softly. I was pretty sure she realized she was holding this process up... ... At first, I was sure that our Rarity was showing a fairly poorly timed dramatic flair... Both Raritys did the same thing, at the same time... Twins do that... Both Raritys got up, took two steps into the center of the circle, then sat down. Rocking back on their hind legs, both lifted their front hooves maybe two feet off the ground, then crossed them. This put the right hoof in front of the left hoof. This whole... It looked like Rarity was sitting, balancing in a very difficult posture for a pony. I expected her to fall over backwards any minute. I was sure she would then let out the most doleful... "Oh, Rarity... In the midst of everything else that was going on..." I thought this to myself as I tried to work on deciding how to gently approach this... A white mist enveloped both Rarity's Unicorn horns immediately... Amazed, I said nothing... ...The four 'Twins and twins' Red-heads quickly did the same thing. Filia Twins and Fiona Twins, together, and at the same time, they walked two steps forward, reared back on their hind legs, folded their front legs in front of them, and leaned every so slightly back... Head held high, but eyes closed, just like both Raritys... The white mist likewise enveloped their Unicorn horns immediately as well. My Twin Twilight Sparkle and I did the same thing, exactly as we had seen these six other Unicorns do. We walked forward, rocked back on our hind legs, picked our front legs up off the ground, and folded our front legs... The first thing I felt... ...Us eight Unicorns were linked together in a way I have never felt before. It was amazing. We could all sense the magical activity of each other. This proved essential anyway, because we all had to stay together as we cast this amazing spell. And, as I cast, it was clear Rarity's and my Equestria Girls Twins were both stretched by this spell. I just slowed us all down. The next thing I felt... ...We were not precariously balanced on our hind-quarters... We were resting... We were leaning back, and resting on Equestria's magic... We all felt that... Like Equestria's loving magical arms were holding us up... And, as I was adjusting to this new development, Princess Celestia had clearly recovered. She just said gently "Oh, I see... Amazing friends, we need to close the circle around them." This was quickly done, and the Group Link sprang back to life... And, at that point, I also felt... The entire Castle, this amazing magical castle, it was ever so slightly shifting, wavering, quivering... as if huge amounts of magic were churning, circulating, flowing in anticipation, from vast reservoirs unseen... And, I don't know how or why, but the magical lighting throughout the entire Castle dimmed way down. I heard Spike running down the hall and yelling "Twilight... Twilight..." Everypony else came running too; guards, cooking staff... Spike immediately realized something was going on, and stopped calling me. Then he kept everypony else far away from us, back at the Library door. They just watched in amazement... Well, Spike also said later that there was a thin circle of white mist slowly rotating over the heads of us eight Unicorns in the center, connected to the white mist that surrounded each of our Unicorn horns. Our eyes were closed; we didn't even notice. And I guess a larger circle of white mist rotated slowly in the opposite direction behind the ponies in the outer circle as long as the Group Link was active. I learned something that evening. I know that in Equestria, evil monsters can use magic to accomplish their ends, but the magic... It is really Equestria's magic. Equestria had woven the physical laws governing that magic into the fabric of Equestria. That power could be usurped and used by anypony... But as us eight Unicorns rested calmly on Equestria's magic, used at Equestria's beckoning, and for Equestria's purposes... We didn't fall over backwards. We rested on Equestria's magic. It felt amazing, unlike anything I had ever experienced. It is just very hard to fully describe. Well, Summer tried to explain the Pegasus Mare Curtsy to me once. One of their previous chronicles talks about it. But it clearly is a Pegasus thing. Summer understands it as an embodiment of all that being a Pegasus is about; the salute to the heavens where we play, and the celebration of the wings that take us there... ...but this... I think the highest calling for any Unicorn is to actually rest on Equestria's magic, to be the willing servant of Equestria as we use our magical abilities for Equestria... We were doing that, that night. We were celebrarting everything good and amazing about our Unicorn race. Well, I had a hard time not crying... ...And our dramatic Rarity had shown us the way... ... Well, now it really was time... Start to finish, we cast that spell, Equestria's magic, together. Linked like we were, it was easy to see how each of us were doing as we cast, even a symbol at a time. And I realized I could place a vertical green line between what we had cast, and what was next. My Twin Twilight said later that helped her a lot. We took our time, and worked through the fabric of a thousand threads that this magic was all about. I could also easily tell that the Filia and Fiona Twins... This was scary; these four magically gifted Unicorns could easily have ran quickly through the entire spell, and still be hungry for more... But we stayed together, and walked our way slowly through the spell, just as it was written, all thirty five or so lines of it, packed tightly with all manner of magical symbols, arcane glyphs and seemingly insignificant strokes... As we completed the last line, the purest white light grew magically and brightly from the center of our inner circle, and quickly became so bright that we could not see briefly. When that blazing light faded, the Group Link was gone, the two circles of mist were gone, the lights of the Castle were back to normal, and I think Equestria ever so slightly pushed eight Unicorn mares forward and down onto their front hooves so we wouldn't fall. It was quiet for a few minutes... Applejack was the first to speak. "Now what, Princess?" Talking quietly I said "Now we wait--" The next thing I heard... "Princess Twilight, what was that?" It was Princess Celestia. She said this loudly, and it was hard to discern exactly what was on her mind. I walked slowly up to her, struck an apologetic tone, lowered my head to my honored teacher, and began to generally explain that spell... "I'm sorry Princess, if that spell seems a little rough around the edges... It first encloses Summer and Shysage, in, well, a magical wind vortex. Even that has to be carefully controlled, and kept active for the duration... And a simple levitation spell, with, well, helper spells stacked on to ensure slow movement, and continuous activation. Well I didn't know how slow I needed to go, but... And, I added--" "Child! Precious child!" Princess Celestia, my honored teacher, she said this very loudly, interrupting me, then she was quickly hugging me, weeping softly... When she could, a little while later, she explained... "Precious child! Nopony in Equestria has ever succeeded in accomplishing the ordering, the interlinking, the stacking that your amazing spell exhibits! Starswirl the Bearded said it should be possible, but he was never successful in putting together even two simple inter-dependent spells! I... How... I am absolutely amazed... I don't know what to say... You have done what Unicorns for over a millennia were unable to even envision!" Well, I knew I had to give credit where credit was due. I pulled back briefly, put my head down and said quietly "Princess, Equestria gave me that spell... It was Equestria's magic..." Princess Celestia and I hugged tightly and wept softly together for a few minutes. While doing that, Princess Celestia spoke up loudly, for everypony else to hear. "Everypony, I am absolutely amazed at the abilities of our Princess Twilight. I feel so honored to have been her teacher. She has advanced so far... And now, she will be my teacher..." Weeping softly, Princess stopped there in thought. Then she added "Still, the details of that spell need to be forever cloaked in secrecy. Such magical power, such magical ability is very powerful..." Princess Celestia and I hugged and cried together for a while... Later, I looked up, then noticed that everypony else in the room was bowing to us, even Spike. I pulled away, and was about to join them. I love my teacher. Princess Celestia gently pulled me back up. "Princess Twilight, this is for you..." Princess Celestia backed slowly up, then bowed with the rest. I... I was a mess... All I could get out was "Oh, girls..." and I cried... It was really hard, but I got out something like "please arise all of you" and then I threw my front legs around Princess Celestia's neck, and cried some more... I used to do that a lot when I was younger, when Princess Celestia really was my teacher. Like I said, I love my teacher... ... I think then, well, all of us... It was only at that point that we noticed Summer and Shysage's daughter, Ariel Dawn, laying on her belly on the floor, next to the rug, facing the Portal, waiting, weeping softly. Well, she was crying deeply but quietly. She was really hurting... My Twin and I joined her quickly as the Fluttershy Twins and Shyna Twins were on their bellies on Ariel's other side. The Celestia Twins, the Luna Twins... The rest of us joined Ariel, as close to her as possible, on the wood floor near the rug in front of the Portal and just cried and waited with her. Feeling us all close... Feeling us with her... Ariel began to calm down I think. Like I told Applejack earlier, all we could do now was wait. I didn't know how long it would take, but I guessed an hour or two. But it might be much longer. I didn't really know where in Equestria they were, or specifically how fast the spell would bring them here. Well, this was a strictly Unicorn thing. We were waiting anyway, and we had no idea how long it would be. Princess Celestia asked that I quietly explain that spell we cast, Equestria's magic, to the rest of the Unicorns present. She really did want me to be her teacher for this. With everypony's permission, us Unicorns all huddled together in a quiet corner of the Library, and I began to carefully explain the spell. I realized it was no longer in my field of view, but I was able to easily pull it all back up. I don't think I will ever lose it. And with the spell details back before me, we talked our way through the spell. Well, two things impressed me. Princess Celestia spent most of that time... She was clearly amazed at this complex spell. I told her that I was too! I tried a few times, and I hope I communicated that I had not just thought up this magic. Equestria had given it to me. And this too... A number of times, I actually had to stop and re-orient myself to what was going on in the spell. The Filia Twins would invariably jump in and explain right where I left off. Both spoke as one, Twins often do that. And they would start off with something like "Princess, I think..." then an explanation of the spell details for where we were, would follow. Both Filias were doing that from memory, the spell details were not even before them. These two amazing Unicorns... Such a complex spell, and even from memory, they were able to explain the inner workings of that spell. That amazed me too. Such untapped magical potential. Well, Equestria pony Filia is my student, and Equestria Girls Filia spends a lot of time with my Twin, Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle. After maybe an hour of discussing Equestria's magic, we rejoined everypony else around Ariel, next to the rug in front of the Portal. We just waited. There was not much else we could do. And I hoped the spell we had cast would actually bring Summer and Shysage here, and not somewhere else in Equestria! ... Maybe an hour after that, Summer and Shysage floated slowly into the Library, the same way I had seen Shysage float past earlier. I guess it was good we were all on our bellies; Summer and Shysage were only a few feet off the ground, still being pulled backwards like I had watched Shysage. Fluttershy burst into tears, then Ariel. Summer and Shysage stopped over the center of the Portal rug. I guess the magic quit at that point, and both ponies fell the two feet or so, onto the rug in front of the Portal. Laughing loudly, they ended up with their legs, their bodies all tangled together. Neither minded, and they were quickly hugging each other tightly, weeping softly. I don't think this offended anypony, that is just Summer and Shysage, the most loving Mare and Stallion we know. I could only hope for a Stallion like that. If Summer and Shysage had taught me anything... Integrity and devotion; I would wait for that, and would not trifle with anything less... Summer and Shysage were quickly up and holding their crying daughter. Now, in mom and dad's embrace, Ariel cried loudly and heaved deeply. Summer and Shysage both turned into people, sat down, and pulled Ariel into their laps, and they cried together for a while. I guess they had done this a lot when Ariel was very young. Well, we cried with them. This had been a scary time, and we still didn't know what Shysage and Summer had been through. I suspected a book would be written, and I hoped I would get to write a few chapters! Crying too, both Fluttershys leaned up against Summer's back, and were both changed back into people right away. Well, it seems that only Summer can do that. She can turn into a people here in Equestria, but she needs to do that to activate the Phantom Alicorn form. But, while she is a people here in Equestria, if she touches another pony who has been to the Equestria Girls world, they turn into a people too. That is what happened to both Fluttershys. Of course they were glad their Sis was ok. After a few minutes, Equestria Girls Fluttershy (the Fluttershy from the Equestria Girls world) jumped up with a gasp, unexpectedly turned back into a pony, then fell over backwards onto the rug. That didn't stop her, she was quickly back on her feet. "I need to tell my sister!" I think she was telling us more than asking for our permission. She was quickly up, and she bolted through the Portal, and was gone, into the Equestria Girls world. Shysage, Ariel and Summer moved off the Portal rug, then Summer and Shysage turned back into ponies, and we all waited together. Summer's Equestria Girls Twin (Equestria Girls Summer Rain) came through the Portal within five minutes, and she cried buckets as she held her Twin, Equestria pony Summer, the one who had been missing. The prospect of losing a Twin really is a heavy load, and both Summers cried pretty loudly, at the same time... in the same way... This just needed to happen. Shysage hugged Ariel as they continued to cry softly together too. Well, this all seemed like a happy ending to me. And the mess I had caused was pretty much taken care of. With my girls nearby, well, we all cried together. ... Maybe ten minutes later... A very small foal landed unsteadily on four shakey legs on the rug in front of the Portal, and began to cry. Both Summers knew immediately who it was, and Equestria Girls Summer squealed, then ran quickly over to comfort her daughter... This shakey little foal was their Ariel Dawn! ...from the Equestria Girls world! She was maybe only 6 months old. And judging by Equestria Girls Summer's response, it was a complete surprise that their Ariel was even here in Equestria, but here she was. Still, little Ariel cried at everypony, even her own mom. She had never been a pony before, and she was now surrounded by a whole room full of ponies. She was scared. She was scared even by her own mom. Shysage's Twin, little Ariel's dad came through soon after (Equestria pony Shysage, long story), and little Ariel was even afraid of him! Fluttershy came back through too. Wow, this is complicated, and I apologize. The Summer that got taken, she and her Shysage's daughter from the Past, Equestria pony Ariel Dawn, she is a full grown pony now. Well, she seemed to know exactly what to do. She walked slowly over to the other, little Ariel, and began to talk quietly to her. She convinced her to lay down next to her. Little Ariel couldn't ignore her own Twin! Soon both Ariels were laying down calmly next to each other, as the rest of us tried hard to not cry. Little Ariel soon warmed up to her mom and dad, as big Ariel backed away and let this new (to Equestria) pony family bond. Well, big Ariel was quickly back with her mom and dad, crying softly as they hugged her. And, according to her parents, little Ariel said the first words she had ever said -- "mom" and "dad" Seeing this cute little foal laying calmly between her pony parents, that just does something... We all cried together for a while.