//------------------------------//
// A Dozen Birds With Three Stones 
// Story: Infected With Your Magic 
// by Superbowl 
//------------------------------//

The Crystal Talent Fair was finally here.

Principal Cinch wouldn’t be present for much of it, if all went well. She had instructed Cadenza on how to supervise the event. There was not much to it, really. The fair needed neither judging nor herding. The participants had familiarized themselves with the layout when they registered and chose their stalls.

Cinch watched the students file in, many of them unfamiliar with Crystal Prep’s eccentric take on the classic roanesque style. They raised their heads to stare at the sparkling spires of the building, felt the shards adorning the gates with open mouths. The campus grounds, too, bristled with shiny debris catching many an eye, though that was Sunny Flare’s doing. In her decorating fervor she had dug into the deepest basements, fished out discarded bits of “crystal” and tastefully spread them around. Suffice to say, the sight of the awe-struck teenagers gave Cinch a certain amount of satisfaction.

A scout from CMC chatted up the students, searching for who could best sell him their project. He had been the first to arrive. Cinch doubted anyone passionate enough about their project would want to be noticed for their marketing ability instead of the fruit of their labor, but interest from such a big company was a good sign.

Sunset Shimmer, as one of the brightest students of Canterlot High School, had been confirmed to participate. Twilight was her partner. Cinch didn’t know what they were going to do and she did not care. Still, she looked over the crowds once more, and quickly noticed Shimmer’s colorful hair, then Twilight’s next to her, and then, surprisingly, Shining Armor’s. He was definitely trying to spend time with his little sister.

Cinch watched them set up their stand. It was a mess of electronic cords, dials and displays. Clearly the smart girls had taken this event as more of a science fair than anything. Well, engineering was a talent, Cinch supposed.

The setup didn’t take long. When the contraption was finally put together, Cinch snuck a peek at the girls’ bags.

Both were empty, or at least lacked anything the size of a book. Which meant Shimmer had either left it at CHS or at home.

Cinch left the fair’s grounds and returned to her car. Once inside, she took out her phone to text the sirens.

'They don’t have it. Check the locker and her apartment.'

Adagio would be waiting somewhere near CHS. Sunset Shimmer could’ve left the book there—after the fair the Crystal Prep buses which had gone to each participating school would return the students, so she might have expected to be at CHS before going home.

Aria would be in Sunset’s neighborhood. They had been to her apartment before, so she remembered where it was.

Together, they could use their pendant shards to home in on the book, Adagio scanning the lockers and Aria the apartment. They both insisted that they could “find” a way in.

Sonata was at the fair, paired with Neon Lights, a Shadowbolt. They had some type of on-the-fly sound correction project that she was to supply voice samples for. Even though she didn’t want to, she would have needed to abandon their stall had Shimmer brought the book with her. She’d distract Shimmer with something, which was one of Sonata’s few strong suits, and snatch the book out of her bag.

Afterwards, all three sirens would meet Cinch at her apartment. 

All Cinch had to do was find Cadenza and let her know she was off.





Sonata arrived first. Cinch immediately directed her to the couch and forbade her from touching anything. The siren sat down, crossed her legs on a pillow and started bouncing rhythmically with an uneasy expression.

Cinch turned her chair to the balcony, but the creaking got old fast.

“You may use the bathroom if you need to, miss Dusk,” sighed Cinch.

“Hmmm.” Sonata stopped. “Nah, no need! Thankies!” The bouncing continued.

Cinch's chair let out a long whine as she turned to level a glare at the girl. Sonata tore her eyes from the ceiling and stared back.

Creak-creak. Creak-creak.

Cinch raised an eyebrow, putting all her irritation into the action.

“So...” Sonata said, “What do we do with the book?”

Cinch put one leg over another. “We destroy it, and that’ll be that.”

Sonata’s eyes turned to the floor, her eyebrows knitted and bouncing halted. “Will you...” she mumbled, “Will you need us for anything after that?”

“Perhaps,” Cinch said. “I might require you to perform a spot of hands-on demolition, but that’ll come later, if at all. I’m aware that’s not a specialty of yours.”

Sonata tilted her head sideways. “Will the Rainbooms know?”

Cinch turned to the girl. ”Who?”

“Sunset Shimmer and her friends.”

“Provided you can be discreet about it, they won’t.”

Sonata resumed her bouncing.





Aria arrived next. “I’ve got it,” she announced.

Cinch stood up. “Excellent work. Now we wait for Adagio.” She took the bag out of Aria’s hands and gestured for her to join Sonata on the couch.

“Should we text her?” Sonata asked.

“Might as well,” Aria said, shrugging. “I hope she remembered to mute her phone.”

While they waited, Cinch decided to crack open the book. Knowing that it was a means of communication, she put on her reading glasses and flipped to the last entry.



Dear Princess Twilight,

I don’t know. We’ll try. I haven’t seen them since then, but there’s this big talent fair coming up that Crystal Prep is hosting, and we might catch them there. I’ll write to you when I come home from the fair, whether or not there’s any success.

~Sunset.



Although Cinch had an idea what this was about, she decided to read the previous entry anyway. There wasn’t anything better to do, after all.



Dear Sunset,

That’s unfortunate to hear. I had really hoped you’d befriend the sirens. But are you certain they’re colluding to take their magic back? Unless you forgot to mention it previously, they never touched the subject before you asked to see their pendants’ pieces.

I think you should try to talk to them again anyway. I realize it was a heated moment and you guys parted on bad terms, but it’s unfair to assume the worst. Please consider reaching out to them again and tell me how it goes.

~Twilight.



It was proof the sirens had been slipping out of her grasp. Had she known the others were so willing to forgive the sirens yet again, she would’ve made sure to keep the groups separate until the mission was complete. She had underestimated those CHS girls’ kindness… or their foolishness.

Luckily, the sirens had done the same, so there had been no contact between the two groups since that day.

Cinch put the book down and reached into her breast pocket, taking out three freshly cut red gems, now shaped into elongated diamonds. The sirens had told her that these operated based loosely on the wielder’s intent, which she just confirmed since the stones weren’t draining the book’s magic—they were just glowing in its presence.

According to the sirens, they were the only ones able to make full use of the pendants. Cinch, however, had always prided herself on having a well-controlled mind so she was certain the trinkets would obey her too. On a whim she had ordered them cut in the shape of her equine version’s hip picture. Who knew with this magic nonsense? Perhaps that could help somehow.

“By the way,” Cinch said, “I believe you’ll be glad to see these.”

Having gotten the two sirens’ attention, she presented the glowing stones in the palm of her hand.

“These have been cut, and the polish on them replicates their original surface.” She put the pendants back into her breast pocket.

“Hey!” Aria furrowed her brow. “Give’m here!”

“You’ll get them after the book is completely and irreversibly eradicated,” Cinch replied calmly. “As we’ve agreed.”

Aria crossed her arms. “Whatever.”





Waiting for somebody was always tedious. This is why Cinch preferred to associate only with punctual people.

There was no reply from Adagio yet, and no way to know if she’d received the message or was held up somewhere. They couldn’t call her and risk getting her found out if she was still at the school.

Wonderful.

Cinch remembered the excursion she’d had to Equestria. It seemed so long ago now. It occurred to her Sparkle might’ve written about that. A smile crept up her cheek. She had time to kill, so she reached for the book.



Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I apologize in advance, but I need somewhere to vent and I feel like you’ll understand me better than anypony right now.

Simply put, I completely failed in my duties today. Yes, it’s about Principal Cinch’s visit. I hope the other me isn’t too disappointed with… well, me. But I couldn’t get through to her at all.

You know, the thought that someone from a world without magic can see things completely differently just hadn’t occurred to me. I told Principal Cinch about things like defeating Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra — hoping to impress, you know? I hadn’t realized that it would be an argument for magic much more than an argument for friendship. The two are too closely connected in my mind, I guess.

I’m usually so good with pre-planning stuff! I was too confident that I could convince anypony I met, being the princess of friendship and all. Especially after managing to befriend Starlight.

I let the title get to my head.

I should’ve considered smaller instances where friendship accomplished things other than saving all of Equestria. That way it might’ve been more relatable to her.

The Crystal Heart too... If only I’d considered what a brief mention of its powers might sound like to an outsider.

I don’t know why I’m writing all this. The opportunity’s gone.

I hope the other me will understand. I feel like I’ve let her down. It was her idea after all.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle



Dear Princess Twilight,

I hope you don’t mind that I call you Princess, otherwise it’s hard to separate you from the other you.

Anyway, don’t beat yourself up too much. Sure, I know Principal Cinch even worse than you, but her changing her mind was a long shot anyways. And it’s not just her that’s the problem.

You were right when you said that the magic of friendship exists in this world too, but the thing is, both magic AND friendship work differently over here. I’m not sure your Equestrian experience would’ve ever been a fit for Cinch. Besides, you are ONLY a princess of Equestria, right?

I don’t think you should feel bad about this until you become some sort of higher being and an interdimensional princess of friendship! Just kidding, but seriously, don’t beat yourself up. I don’t think anyone expected a miracle, and who knows, maybe you’ve given her food for thought. Although I wouldn’t be too optimistic.

I’m sure Twilight will understand.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.



Cinch felt no satisfaction at the apparent distress in the little pony princess’ writings. Well, distress was perhaps too strong a word, but the fact remained: Cinch couldn’t find it in herself to be pleased by what she’d left in her wake.

She wondered how the equine would present her arguments again if given the chance, but quickly rid herself of the thought. She needed to destroy the book as soon as possible: she could feel its magic in her head.

If only Adagio would return sooner. Without someone both cooperative and knowledgeable, Cinch was not about to tamper with magical energy... again.

She decided to read on. Just for idle curiosity’s sake.



Dear Princess Twilight,

I need some advice on friendship. The other you (let’s call her Twilight and you Princess since you didn’t object) seems to believe that we all only forgave her because we saw you in her, and wouldn’t have done so if she was some other random girl. She thinks we’re not really friends with her. I’m not sure how to convince her otherwise, and it seems to be eating her every time we meet.

I mean, I had similar doubts after getting my second chance. I thought the girls had only given it to me because you’d asked them to. It was slow and painful, but over time I realized it wasn’t the case. But I’m a tough girl, I could get through that. I don’t want Twilight to have to go through the same ordeal. No offence, but she seems vulnerable and insecure. And she’s gone through more than enough distress already.

Besides, this time we have an idea about the cause of her troubles, while I don’t think the others suspected anything with me. I was good at hiding it, I like to believe.

This seems a bit like cheating, asking you for advice on how to best help the other you. Is it cheating? I don’t know, all of this is so very weird. But I figure it doesn’t really matter, what matters is making Twilight feel better.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.



Dear Sunset,

It IS weird, isn’t it? I think that I’m used to the idea of the parallel world, but every time I think about it, I end up with a headache. To be honest, I gave up. This whole parallel dimensions thing is way, way above anything I’m prepared to deal with at the moment, or will be prepared to deal with in the foreseeable future. Equestria is enough of an enigma by itself!

But to the point, I wouldn’t consider it cheating, just a good opportunity. I can’t imagine being in the sort of place where the other me is right now, so I can only offer general advice.

Try to always be there for her. Show her that she’s wanted and that she can trust you. Make sure to do your best to distance her from myself and let her know that you think of her as her own person first and foremost.

Okay, that last bit was, admittedly, rather unique to this situation.

Anyway, if it still seems bad, you should probably talk to her about this upfront. In fact, talk to her about this when you next think it’s appropriate. If it’s truly eating her, she’ll be glad to let it out, even if at first she might pretend that nothing’s bothering her. Trust your instinct.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. It’s getting weird signing off my letter like that. It felt right at first but surely we both know who’s writing… And we know that we’re friends.



Dear Princess Twilight,

We discussed it with Twilight. She denied it when we asked her, but I asked again in private and she spoke up… She was hesitant, though.

She confessed that your appearance, and the explanation of your history with us, had hit her hard. I felt bad for her. She’d finally found herself happy amongst people who liked her and then this revelation convinced her that it was a lie. I tried to convince her, and she really wants to believe me, but she can’t right now. Not immediately in any case. We’ll have to wait, and in the meantime be the best friends to her we can possibly be.

Thankfully, she likes me enough to hang out with me, so I think we’ll be able to work through it.

But there’s something else I wanted to tell you. You’ll never guess who we saw today among the crystal prep students (we sometimes hang out together too. It’s pretty nice).

Actually, go ahead, take a guess.

~Sunset.

P.S. You’re right, we should simplify the signatures. Not like anyone else will be reading this anyway.



Dear Sunset,

Why would you do this to me? There’s so many possibilities, I can’t even guess. Did you meet your human counterpart? Maybe someone you knew from Equestria? Maybe a third counterpart of one of us, from yet another parallel world?

I really don’t know. Just tell me, will you?

~Twilight.

P.S. Likely not, but I’ve considered publishing this in the distant future, just like I thought about doing with a journal we all keep here. For the future generations, you know? But I’d only think about it if we got some nice, unique and relevant lessons in here, not just friendly correspondence. And I’d ask for your consent before doing anything, of course.



Dear Princess Twilight,

Alright, alright, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Promise me that you’ll read this till the end before freaking out, and that you won’t rush over here in a panic to help us, alright?

It was the Dazzlings! They’ve apparently enrolled in Crystal Prep at some point after the Battle of the Bands. Small world, eh? But they were actually—



Before Cinch could reflect on how she wasn’t finding any hints of ill intent, brainwashing-themed conspiracy or magic abuse encouragements, she heard the sound of her doorbell. Aria got up and let Adagio in.

“Well, now that we’ve regrouped, I can proceed,” Cinch said after Adagio entered the room. “The easiest way to destroy a book is, of course, to burn it.” She picked up a lighter. “However, this is a magic book, so I think we should test on a smaller scale before setting all of it on fire.”

“Sounds reasonable,” said Adagio.

Cinch took the open book and tore out the page she had been reading before getting interrupted. “Let’s see,” she said before walking out onto the balcony and setting the page on fire.

A barely visible wisp of magic emerged from the flame and was promptly sucked into Cinch’s breast pocket. It worked. Cinch turned towards the sirens. “Ladies, we’re leaving.”





When Adagio asked, Cinch said that she would not be burning anything in her apartment. They discussed a good place to do it and settled on the empty lot behind the Winding Trail’s Forest Park. It was an area they all knew, far away from curious onlookers and not a fire hazard (like the forest itself, which Sonata had suggested at first).

While they discussed, the now slightly mutilated book received a message, one that Cinch hadn’t expected but definitely should have, in hindsight.

It was written by Sparkle and addressed to Shimmer, inquiring about why one of the former’s book’s pages had randomly turned into ashes. After not getting a reply, Sparkle wrote several more times and finally announced that she’d be coming over to check what had happened.

Cinch quickly realized that the princess, the other alien and their Canterlot High friends were going to search for the book one way or another. For that reason she’d have to forgo using her car (as it could be identified by some of the students, like Fluttershy) and take a bus, which the sirens complained about but ultimately agreed to.





On the bus the book buzzed again. Cinch reached into her bag and pretended to dig for a phone. The bag didn’t allow her to open the book wide enough to calm the enchantment. Irritated glances started flying her way.

Cinch wanted to smack herself in the face. If she ignored the buzzing, one of the short-fused passengers could make a scene, maybe even reach into her bag. To stop it she had to take the book out. Of all the idiotic situations...

Fortunately, the signal was rhythmical. Cinch grasped the book, put her thumbs between the freshly filled pages and waited for another buzz to end. As soon as it did, she tore the book out and snapped it open, drawing a tearing sound from the spine and quizzical looks from the people around her. Cinch decided to keep the book open for the remainder of the ride in case of more incoming correspondence.

She looked down at the haphazard cursive. It was addressed to the sirens and written by Sunset Shimmer, containing pleas not to destroy the book and give friendship a chance instead and similar balderdash. She’d figured out who had taken the book, at least. Something didn’t seem right about the messages, though.

Written by Sunset Shimmer. Written using the other book. The other book that had to be kept in Equestria at all times.

Sunset Shimmer had left to Equestria—probably with Sparkle, so that the former could write to the sirens.

This was fortunate. On top of cutting off the portal, she'd trap the aliens in their home world. Cinch allowed herself a slight grin. Everything would be made right again.