• Published 6th Dec 2014
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Destinies - Sharp Quill



Magic is bleeding out of Equestria and into another realm, a realm where magic does not exist. Twilight must stop the flow of magic before disaster strikes. Can the natives of this realm be of help? What's this about a cartoon?

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9. Guests in a Familiar Land

Twilight led Meg and Steve into Sugarcube Corner. The others were waiting in the back room she had booked for this occasion, but first she gave the ex-humans a chance to walk around the main store, examining the cakes, muffins, cupcakes, pies, danishes, and cookies on display.

Mrs. Cake was behind the counter, serving somepony else. Twilight had told her she’d be accompanied by two out-of-town ponies, so she knew they were with her. Nonetheless, she occasionally looked their way every now and then, ready to answer any questions they might have. After all, they might want to get something on their way out.

While they satisfied their curiosity, Twilight mulled over what she had observed up till now. There hadn’t been any real surprises so far. They had adapted to their new forms quite readily; their control over their magic was a work in progress, but that was to be expected. Their familiarity with Ponyville and its inhabitants was also to be expected, yet still impressive—and a bit unnerving—nonetheless.

Three incidents had caught her attention. The first was when they passed the tallest building in Ponyville. They knew about the “Mysterious Mare Do Well” incident that took place there during its construction. Interestingly enough, they whispered that name, not intending them to overhear it. That led her to two conclusions. First, human hearing must not be as good as pony hearing and they haven’t picked up on that yet. Second, they knew it had been a source of conflict between Rainbow Dash and the rest of them; most importantly, they didn’t want to cause trouble by potentially open old wounds. They were long past that, of course, but it was probably for the best Rainbow Dash didn’t hear them, if Applejack’s snort was any indication.

Then there was the Golden Oak Library. Meg clearly knew where it was in relation to Sugarcube Corner, even though she had no opportunity to see it on their way over. She also clearly expected it to be in ruins.

But what Twilight found most inexplicable was their reaction to Lyra Heartstrings. Why did she make them so nervous? They had taken Discord in stride, for Celestia’s sake, and they know what he’s capable of! Lyra’s just an ordinary unicorn with a special talent for music. What could that cartoon have possibly revealed to make them react like that?

To her chagrin, that incident also pointed out an omission in her planning. She failed to include in her checklist the creation of a cover story. She hated it when that happened. She’ll have to thank Rarity for her quick thinking.

Yet the biggest mystery of all was Meg’s cutie mark. Twilight had never heard of a pony who had acquired a cutie mark and had no idea what it meant. The discovery of one’s special talent or destiny, after all, was what triggered its appearance; but then, that discovery normally happened during childhood. Surely it was only a matter of time until the meaning of her cutie mark became known, and she was willing to bet it would be something important.

Steve came up to her. “So where’s the party being held?” he asked, after having searched around a bit.

There are some things they don’t know. The entrance to the back room was bit hidden, granted, but evidently it was never shown in the cartoon. “Back here.” She led them towards the back, passing the kitchen and the restrooms, and around a corner. After they walked through the open door into the large and festively decorated room, big enough to comfortably accommodate two dozen ponies, the door glowed lavender and closed behind them. Just to be on the safe side, Twilight cast a spell to prevent anypony outside from eavesdropping on them.

“This is a party?” Meg said with disbelief. While catering had provided oatburgers and hay fries, with Sugarcube Corner itself providing cake and cupcakes and various beverages, besides the food there was nothing. Other than the gingerbread house theme, it was just a room with some tables and cushions to sit on.

Pinkie Pie trotted over to them. “Of course not, silly!” she chirped. “I can’t throw a surprise party when you’re expecting one. It wouldn’t be a surprise!”

Meg’s ears sagged from disappointment. “I guess that makes sense,” she said tentatively.

“Don’t you fret,” Rarity consoled her. “You shall have your surprise welcome-to-Ponyville party, just not right this second.” Using her telekinesis, she grabbed two plates, precisely placed an oatburger and some hay fries on each, and levitated them over to a table near them.

“It’s still a special occasion. Y’all having your first meals as ponies.” Applejack took a bite out of her own oatburger, holding it with her front hooves. The new ponies carefully watched how Applejack was doing that.

Wasn’t it obvious? The evidence suggested it wasn’t to humans.

Fluttershy joined them at their table. “Is this the type of food you normally eat?” she asked, her professional interest getting the better of her shyness.

“It’s similar to something we have,” Steve replied, “but the ingredients are different. Our fries, for example, are made from potatoes. We can’t eat hay.”

“Heh… you can now!” pointed out Rainbow Dash, as she stuffed some hay fries into her mouth.

“Gosh, I wonder why nopony ever thought of using potatoes before?” Fluttershy wondered. “What about oatburgers?”

“Well…” he tentatively started, as if treading on egg shells. “Humans might be able to eat those. We can’t eat raw oats, I don’t think, but we do eat cooked oats. The bun, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, they’re fine.”

“If not oats, then what kind of burger?”

Neither replied at first as they struggled with an answer. Twilight could take a good guess as to what the problem was, but she was more interested in how they would handle it.

“That’s… a bit difficult to explain…” he finally offered, plainly scared of offending them.

Twilight decided that was enough; they ought to be enjoying this visit. “You’re not going to offend us by admitting you’re omnivores,” she assured them. “I’ve had state dinners with griffons, and they’re mostly carnivores.”

“And I once had a friend who was a griffon,” added Rainbow Dash.

“And I’ve cared for many animals that ate meat,” offered Fluttershy.

“Okay, that’s enough, we get it,” said a relieved Steve. “Yes, humans are omnivores, and our burgers usually—but not always—involve some type of meat.” He picked up his oatburger with his magic, methodically moved it to his mouth, and dug in.

“But Rainbow Dash is right,” Meg said. “We’re ponies now, so I’m gonna try the hay fries.” She brought up a hoof to grab some fries, but hesitated. She instead closely inspected her hoof.

“Is something wrong?” asked Fluttershy.

She didn’t answer immediately, struggling to find the proper words, as she continued to inspect her hoof. “I’m sorry if this comes across as a stupid question, but we’re new at this.”

“No question is stupid,” Twilight assured her. They know they can pick stuff up; what could it be?

“We walk on these,” Meg said, waving her hoof around. “Is it hygienic to handle our food with them?”

Ah, interesting what we take for granted. “That is a perceptive question,” Twilight said. “It’s perfectly safe. The same magic that allows you to pick something up also repels dirt and other contaminants. With a little attention paid as to where you step, washing is seldom required.”

“Or, you know, just stay off the ground,” Rainbow Dash joked, earning some dirty looks.

Meg picked up a single hay fry, put it in her mouth and started chewing, savoring the taste and texture for a while before offering a verdict. “Seems like most of the flavor comes from the seasoning. Not really that different from our french fries.” Another hay fry joined the first. “The texture is rather fibrous; as a human I’m sure it would be unpleasant.” She helped herself to some more.

“Yeah, hay doesn’t really have much flavor of its own, which is why we don’t generally eat it raw, tho’ we could if we hafta,” commented Applejack. “What about the oatburger?”

Meg took hold of her oatburger, carefully mimicking how the other ponies held theirs, and took a bite. She thoughtfully chewed it for a few seconds and swallowed. “Pretty much as I expected it to taste.” She took another bite.

“SURPRISE!”

Meg dropped her oatburger in shock, as all heads turned to Pinkie Pie. She was standing by her party cannon with an impossibly big smile, peeking out from under those party glasses. None of these items were in the room a moment ago.

Wait. Those glasses. That’s a human nose!

Twilight had not made the connection before. She had assumed that her weird party prop was due to Pinkie just being Pinkie. Her mind raced as she contemplated previously unexamined possibilities. Would her human guests know anything about it?

Once Pinkie had the attention of the guests of honor, she fired the cannon, instantly decorating the room with streamers and confetti and balloons, and all the ponies with party hats. Meg and Steve stood there, mouths agape.

Didn’t they know about Pinkie’s party cannon?

Steve recovered his senses first. “I thought there wasn’t going to be a surprise party?”

Then, you were expecting it,” smirked Rainbow Dash, as she drifted towards him. “Now you aren’t.” She blew a party kazoo in his face.

“What do you think of Pinkie’s party cannon,” Twilight casually asked them.

“Well… we knew she claimed to always have one with her,” answered Meg, “but it wasn’t in the room a minute ago.” She rolled her eyes. “I know, we shouldn’t be asking how she got it in here or how it works.”

Oh, yes, they know. “Your sanity will thank you, trust me.” Did they know about that? She wouldn’t bet against it. I really ought to watch every episode, somehow, even if some of them will make me cringe. How many are there?

“But where does she get those Groucho Marx glasses from?” Meg said, pointing at Pinkie as the party pony was setting up the first game. “I can’t believe anypony would be making those here in Equestria.”

“Groucho what now?” Those glasses come from their realm? But the one Pinkie is wearing is too small to fit a human head.

“I have them stashed all over town for smile emergencies,” Pinkie said as she bounced past them.

She was gone before Twilight could ask her anything. Oh, what’s the point. The alicorn looked at Meg, hoping she could finally enlighten her.

“Wow…” She finished off a hay fry before continuing. “She really is that random.”

Twilight nodded in response.

“Well, Groucho Marx was a famous comedic actor of the previous century. Those glasses sorta make you look like him. You’re supposed to imitate him while wearing them, but I’ve never seen Pinkie do that, not in the cartoon and not here and now. But wearing them at a party would be an appropriate thing to do. They’re supposed to look silly.”

Twilight brought a hoof up to her forehead. “None of which explains how she got her hooves on some.”

“Sorry that didn’t help more,” Meg shrugged.

“What about Discord?” Steve asked. “He also, somehow, knows so much about our world.”

“Let’s get some drinks,” Twilight sighed, as she started walking towards the beverages. “I honestly don’t know, especially since he’s spent the last millennium as a statue.”

“We’re willing to do what we can to help solve these mysteries. I mean, it concerns us too, at least indirectly.”

Pinkie started the others on a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-pony—though of course Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy merely observed—as they continued walking in silence. Once they arrived at the beverage table, Twilight turned to look at them. “I appreciate the thought, but it’d be best if you didn’t.”

“In other words, it’s out of our league,” Steve said.

Twilight inspected the beverages. “I wouldn’t use those words, but, yeah.” Discord—even Pinkie Pie—was best left to the professionals. Amongst the pitchers of apple juice and lemonade and plain water, she discovered one that did not belong. “That one’s hot sauce,” she warned. Why does Pinkie insist on doing that?

But before they could pick out something to drink, Rainbow Dash came flying over. “Meg, you gotta try pin-the-tail,” she insisted.

Twilight pointed at Meg’s wings. “You are aware she’s a pegasus.” She couldn’t figure out what had gotten into Rainbow Dash.

“I know!” she exclaimed, throwing her hooves above her head. “It’d be so awesome!”

Steve quirked an eyebrow. “Why aren’t pegasi allowed to play pin-the-tail-on-the-pony?”

“It’s not that they’re not allowed…” Twilight started to say, but then understanding dawned on her. Maybe it would be a good idea for Meg to try it. “You should do it.”

That was enough for Rainbow Dash. She guided Meg, with excessive eagerness, to where the poster of a pony was set up. A tail, surrounded by a light blue aura, floated over to Meg’s muzzle. She opened her mouth and grabbed it. A blindfold then precisely wrapped itself around her head.

“I’m now going to lift and spin you, darling. Please keep you wings folded.” Rarity levitated the pegasus and spun her around for ten seconds. Once back on the floor, she stood motionless for a second, turned around to face the poster, and started walking towards it. When she was within a few feet, she slowed down, probing ahead with a hoof, until she felt the wall. She then pinned the tail and stepped back.

“Did anypony not see that coming?” rhetorically asked Rarity as she removed the blindfold.

“I didn’t, for the record,” said Steve.

“Me neither.” Meg looked at the poster and saw that she was only three inches off from the bullseye. “I just knew which direction to go. All that spinning had no effect on me.”

“That’s why pegasi don’t bother playing this game,” explained Twilight. “They are strongly resistant to disorientation.” And I can infer that humans are not. “It comes in handy when flying through fog or stormy weather.”

“You mean I have something like a built-in gyroscope?”

“Gesundhoof,” Rainbow Dash quickly said. “If you want a challenge, you should try a dizzitron. Not that it was much of a challenge for me!”

Shouldn’t she learn how to properly fly first? Twilight had managed to avoided the dizzitron, so far, but it was only a matter of time.

The party lasted another hour or so. Steve also tried his luck at pin-the-tail, and didn’t do any better than any other unicorn, which is to say, not well at all. He then tried his luck examining and explaining Pinkie’s party cannon, and did even worse.

In due time, everypony went their separate way, with Pinkie staying behind to clean up and prepare the room for the next reservation. Twilight decided she might as well give Meg and Steve that tour of her old home.

They walked the short distance to the Golden Oak Library. Twilight had spent little time there since its restoration, only what was needed to move her belongings over to her new castle. It was currently unoccupied, as a new full-time librarian had yet to be found.

The front door glowed lavender and opened. The former occupant stood aside as Meg and Steve walked in. They immediately looked all around, taking in the half-empty bookshelves, the center table, the stairs, and the living quarters they led to. That her old home had somehow become a tourist attraction left her feeling melancholic. We haven’t even gone upstairs yet.

They walked over to an eye-level bookshelf and scanned the titles. That shelf held books on Equestrian history.

Steve looked at the empty shelves above. “I’m surprised these shelves aren’t all full of books.”

Twilight followed his gaze. “I moved the more specialized books to the castle library. The plan is to fill these shelves with books of general interest, but we haven’t found a new librarian yet.”

She walked over to the other side, where fiction was located, and pulled a book from a shelf. The book floated in front of her, presenting itself to the other two as they came over.

Meg gasped as she saw the cover. “Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone,” she read out loud. The pegasus looked expectantly at Twilight. “This is it? The actual book? The one that got Rainbow Dash hooked on Daring Do?”

“Not this specific book,” she informed them. “That one belongs to the hospital.” The book opened to the first page, as a big smile planted itself on the bookworm’s face. “Since you knew about Daring Do, I thought you’d like to see her work.”

Meg started to read the book, speaking the words. “As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could… escape this…”

She quickly scanned down the page and onto the next, finally looking up at Steve. “This really is the book. It continues past the few paragraphs Rainbow Dash read in Read It and Weep.”

“You can borrow my copy when you go home.“ The book returned to its home on the shelf. “It has the advantage of being autographed,” she smugly said. It helped knowing the author.

“You don’t have to do that,” Meg protested. “This one would be just fine!”

“It’s only fair, considering how many of your books I’ve borrowed.” Their books were in good condition, so she had no reason to fear for the well-being of her own books in their hands.

The alicorn made her way to the stairway, signaling her refusal to take “no” for an answer.

Meg and Steve followed Twilight up the curved stairway along the wall. This second level was the residential area, with a kitchen, bedroom, and living room with a fireplace, all in a circle around the open area below. It was depressingly vacant.

They wandered around from one end to the other, but there really wasn’t much to see beyond memories of what once was—and only Twilight could see those.

Another staircase later and they were on a high balcony, where a telescope resided. It hadn’t been touched since it was restored, still pointing in the same direction as on that fateful day. Meg looked through the eyepiece. It wasn’t hard to deduce what was going through her mind. Yes, it was pointing at him when he tried to kill me, she thought with some irritation.

But it was something she had better get used, and not just because of fans from another realm. It was part of being a princess. What happened that day, what will happen in the future, shall become history, taught in school and become the subject of field trips and family vacations.

Curiosity satisfied, they worked their back outside. Twilight led them back to the castle via a different route, but not before discreetly re-aiming that telescope so that it pointed towards the sky.


A hot air ballon rose gracefully above Ponyville, lifting towards the layer of dark clouds above. On board were a baby dragon piloting the ballon, an alicorn and her student for the day, and a pegasus eagerly looking forward to her first flight lessons.

Meg hung her front hooves over the basket’s edge as she looked down at the town below. It was not a large basket and it was a long way down to the ground, but she felt strangely unbothered by those facts. Her wings ruffled, as if pointing out the reason why.

Her attention turned to the clouds almost on top of them. The weather pegasi had only just finished putting the clouds into place. They had a few hours before rain was scheduled to begin. Rainbow Dash should already be up there waiting for them.

Spike began bleeding some hot air to slow their ascent. The balloon penetrated the clouds, breaking through into the late afternoon sun. More hot air was bled, and as the basket started to fall back through the cloud, Twilight hopped onto the cloud top and cast a spell anchoring it in place.

It didn’t take long for Rainbow Dash to spot them and fly over. She hovered in front of the unicorn. “Steve, I’m sure you already know this, but don’t get out until Twilight casts her cloud-walking spell on you.”

She then drifted over to the other pegasus. “Meg, just get out as if we’re on solid ground. As far as you’re concerned, this is solid ground.”

Twilight added her own reassurance. “Just do what I did.”

Meg looked down at the dark, primed-to-rain cloud, nervously licking her dry lips. Just do what I did. All she had to do was push with her hind legs and clear the top of the basket. And fall right through. It was illogical. Twilight was standing on that cloud right in front of her. Even if she did fall through, she knew darn well Rainbow Dash would swoop down and grab her. But Logic could not compete with a lifetime spent as a human.

Steve tried to reassure her some more. “You’re a pegasus. You know you can stand on a cloud.”

Meg continued staring at the insubstantial mist. What if my magic isn’t fully working yet, like this morning?

Rainbow Dash folded her wings and dropped onto the cloud, bouncing once before coming to a rest. “You’re not gonna fall through.”

This is ridiculous. She came up with a compromise. She spread her wings and proceeded to hover just above the top of the basket. Using her front limbs, she pulled herself out of the basket and over the cloud. Slowly, she drifted downwards. Her hooves made contact with the cloud—and did not pass through.

Meg stopped flapping, but kept her wings extended. Her full weight pressed against the cloud, which pushed back with equal force. A smile broke out on her face. I’m standing on a cloud. She folded her wings, secure in the knowledge that, for the moment, they were not needed.

She took a few tentative steps. “It does feel solid… soft, a bit springy, but solid.”

Rainbow Dash walk up to her. “That’s why flight school is held on clouds,” she explained. “It’s a lot less painful crash landing onto a cloud.”

Twilight cast the cloud-walking spell on Steve and Spike. “Okay, you two can come out now.” Spike hopped right out. Steve needed a few seconds to work up the courage before jumping out himself.

Not so easy, was it?

Meg knew that not all unicorn magic worked in her universe. Was the same true of pegasus magic? “Can pegasi walk on clouds back in my world?” she asked her instructor.

“That was one of the first things we tried. It was a big relief when we could.”

“How about sonic rainbooms?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t attempt one.”

“No, the lack of a magical field makes it impossible there,” Twilight said. “A sonic rainboom is a shockwave in the magical field.”

Rainbow Dash got a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“No, the field produced by those pills won’t let you do one,” said Twilight preemptively. “Never mind the attention a rainboom would attract.”

Pills? Meg kept silent, figuring that if they wanted her to know, they would tell her.

“Could you do one for us now?” Steve asked.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah,” she sheepishly began. “I’ve been told not to do them near populated areas without permission.”

“Hold on, I’ve been meaning to try something.” Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, her horn glowing. A wave of lavender spread out across the cloud top.

“What was that?” asked Steve.

“A sonic barrier that should prevent the boom from reaching the ground below—or triggering premature rain.”

Dash gave her a skeptical look. “And if it doesn’t?”

Twilight sighed. “I’m giving you royal permission. Satisfied?”

Producing a fierce grin as her answer, the fastest flier in Equestria positioned herself for a high-speed launch. “Prepare yourself for total awesomeness!” Rainbow Dash rocketed high into the sky, leaving behind her rainbow contrail.

Wait, what about any pegasi flying above the clouds? But then Meg realized there weren’t any. They preferred flying under the solid cloud cover, so they can see where they’re going, and they knew rain wasn’t scheduled for several more hours.

The one pegasus that was flying above the clouds was now far above them, beginning her dive. Faster and faster she dove. Her body assumed a streamlined shape, front hooves directly in front and rear hooves pointing back. She stopped flapping, her wings held close to her side. Yet somehow she seemed to be accelerating more than what could be accounted for by gravity.

A cone developed around her, partially obscuring her. Rainbow Dash strained, willing herself ever faster, until something snapped and a rainbow shockwave exploded outwards. A thunderous boom reached them a half-second later. The pegasus continued onwards, banking to approach them, leaving a solid rainbow in her wake. She wrapped the rainbow around them, then came in to land beside them.

The shockwave was still rippling outwards, shifting through the colors of the rainbow. Even in broad daylight, it was plainly visible, radiating its own light instead of refracting the sun’s light. Meg could only wonder what it’d look like at night. It was not spreading out that fast, certainly nowhere near the speed of sound, but Twilight did say it was a shockwave in the magical field, not in the air.

“And that’s how it’s done!” Rainbow Dash said as she solicited hoof bumps from both Steve and Meg.

Twilight had a pleased look on her face too. “Looks like my sonic barrier did its job.”

“Awesome! That means I can do them all the time now!”

“And I can do a proper scientific investigation of sonic rainbooms.”

That threw cold water on Rainbow’s excitement. “I can do them only if you can study them?”

“If you want to do them here, yes,” Twilight smirked.

As the rainbow circling them finally faded away, Steve felt this was a good time to express his gratitude. “Well, that truly was awesome! If someone had told me a few weeks ago that I’d be able to witness that in person, never mind witnessing it as a unicorn, I’d have thought them certifiably insane. I could actually sense the shockwave with my horn.”

Twilight gasped in surprise. “You could?”

It took Steve a moment to grasp the implications of her question. “You mean, that isn’t typical?”

“No, it’s not. Even I can only poorly sense it. It’s one of the things I’m working on. This must be related to your special talent. It puts your cutie mark in a whole new light. I want to explore this sometime.”

“You two eggheads go talk your sciency stuff while I work with Meg,” Rainbow Dash said dismissively, as she led Meg away to a safe distance to begin her schooling.

“Have fun!” Steve called out as the two pegasi trotted away over the cloud.

As they trotted a few dozen feet, Meg’s anticipation built. How would the legendary Rainbow Dash teach her? What will she learn?

Meg’s instructor came to a stop and turned around, facing her. “What I want you to do is just copy what I am doing. That seemed to work well for you this morning.”

Meg began to protest. “I almost crashed in a wall.”

Dash waved that aside. “That’s because you weren’t fully in touch with your magic yet. That shouldn’t be a problem now.” Sweeping a hoof in a big arc, she added, “Besides, nothing to crash into but clouds here.”

She leaped several feet in the air and hovered. Impatiently, she looked at Meg, who didn’t realize the lesson had begun. “Get your flank in the air and follow me.”

Meg did as commanded, as the adrenaline started to flow. Rainbow Dash kept it simple for now, emphasizing the basics: how to accelerate, slow down, glide, and bank. Unlike that morning, copying the actions of the experienced pegasus worked. It was almost too easy, as if she already possessed the muscle memory and reflexes, but simply had not known it yet.

Her instructor regularly upped the ante, challenging her with higher speeds and more aggressive maneuvers—challenging for a new pegasus, anyway. Eventually, she hit the limits her new form had been endowed with, and crashed, grinding against the cloud for a full ten feet before coming to a halt.

Rainbow Dash landed beside her on the cloud and helped her up. “I’d say that was typical of a non-athletic pegasus.”

Meg checked herself for any bruises or other injuries, as she grabbed this opportunity to catch her breath, and couldn’t sense any. She wasn’t joking about crashing onto clouds. Satisfied she was okay, she admitted, “I wasn’t an athletic human either.” She wasn’t sure how much more she could do before she had to rest.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Better get used to crashing, then. Any improvements from here on out you’ll have to earn the hard way.”

And with that, she launched into the air.


“So that’s how your solar system works,” Twilight said, deep in thought, as she reflexively tossed a ball with her magic over to Steve. “It certainly explains the illusion of your celestial objects rising and setting.”

Steve’s eyes tracked the ball as it crossed the dozen feet separating them. It wasn’t aimed at him, but several feet above and to the left. This was not due to carelessness on his instructor’s part. He fought the urge to move to intercept it; he was supposed to stay exactly where he was. Concentrating, he reached out with his mind to where the ball will pass him and waited, his horn glowing. He grabbed it, then threw it back.

As his horn’s glow faded, he was able to resume his end of the conversation. “So what exactly are your sun and moon and why do they need magic to move?”

Ideally, he was supposed to talk and do telekinesis at the same time, like Twilight was doing, like what most unicorns could do, but it still required too much of his attention. It was getting easier, however. At least he was no longer letting the ball slip through his magical grasp. Fortunately, Twilight had enchanted the ball so that it wouldn’t fall through the cloud.

“They’re physical objects, highly magical, but”—she received and tossed the ball back—”not very large objects, in fact far, far smaller than they appear, hovering approximately twelve thousand miles above the surface, and they don’t physically move at all.”

That so caught Steve off guard that he missed the ball. It landed on the cloud with a muted thump and began rolling in the direction of a napping Spike. “I’m sorry, this just demands too much of my attention.”

The ball, engulfed in a lavender glow, returned to the basket of the balloon. “No problem, it was time to move on to a different exercise anyway.”

“Just how small are they?”

“Around a thousand feet in diameter.”

“How do they appear so much larger?”

“An optical illusion. The emitted light is directed and focused on the entire world such that the Sun and Moon appear to be in the same relative position in the sky, after adjusting for latitude, no matter where on Equus you are.”

But that would mean… He was beginning to understand Twilight’s reaction to his own world’s cosmology. “Are you saying that sunrise and sunset occur everywhere simultaneously?”

Twilight nodded yes.

It would explain how Discord was able to really mess with day and night the first time he got loose, and why Celestia needed to do something to raise the sun in the morning and set it at night. She was switching it on and off, not moving it around the back side of the planet. It also meant no time zones, no jet lag.

Steve looked at the alicorn who herself once raised the sun. “And yet the two systems produce perceptually indistinguishable results, or nearly so.”

Twilight frowned. “I don’t have an explanation for that.”

It also would have huge ramifications for climate. There was no day and night side of the planet, so there was no temperature differential. Did this planet even rotate? If not, and there was no reason for it to, there would be no Coriolis force to divert north or south air movement to the east or west. No wonder the weather had to be managed by pegasi.

And what about the stars in the night sky?

Twilight retrieved a set of various small objects from the basket and sent one over to him. “I want you to move this in a circle about you. Every so often, I’ll send you another one. Try to keep as many objects as possible circling you, equidistant along the arc from each other.”


The time came end for the training session to end. Soon the weather pegasi would be back to begin the scheduled rain. Twilight was impressed with the progress Steve had made, even if it was expected. He had achieved a level of telekinetic competence one would expect of a typical unicorn.

It was quite informative too. Twilight was beginning to think her realm might be a relatively insignificant pocket universe hanging off the humans’ universe. Unfortunately, that hypothesis raised more questions than it answered.

Rainbow Dash was walking Meg back to the balloon. “You’ve done enough flying for your first day. Take the balloon back.”

Meg used her wings one last time to enter the basket, with far more grace than she had exhibited a few hours ago. “Before we go, I want to thank you so much. That was awesome!” She looked back at her wings. “I’m just afraid I’ll have really sore muscles tomorrow.”

“Eh, probably not,” Dash said. “Wing muscles are pretty tough.”

She started to hover and drift away. “Anyway, I have to meet up with the weather crew. See ya.” Rainbow Dash disappeared, leaving behind her rainbow contrail.

Twilight went over to Spike and nuzzled him. “Wake up, Spike! Time to go.”

Spike sluggishly got up as Twilight and Steve hopped into the basket. Twilight gently lifted the sleepy baby dragon into the basket. Soon Spike was sufficiently awake to prepare the balloon for departure.

The trip back to the castle was uneventful. Twilight’s guests shared their experiences, their enthusiasm overcoming their exhaustion. Later on she would touch bases with Rainbow Dash for her feedback.

The ballon touched down on the expansive east balcony, close to the entrance as the rain had started. Twilight opened the door and they all rushed inside, except for poor Spike who had to first secure the balloon. He can have an extra gem.

Once inside, Meg and Steve did some more gawking. On their way out earlier, Twilight had teleported them all directly to the balcony from the downstairs library, after they had expressed a desire to experience teleportation. This was their first look at the second level.

She first led them to her private library. With a bit of trepidation, she opened the door, waiting for their inevitable reaction. I should be used to it by now. And as they entered the room, she got it.

Meg said what they were both obviously thinking, as she looked around at the all too familiar library. “Uh… isn’t this an exact copy of your old home?”

“Yes, it is,” she admitted. It was part of the remodeling she had done, a way of hanging on to a part of her former life. Some had questioned its wisdom, but in the end she had put her hoof down and insisted on it. How would a future episode of that cartoon present that?

Will she now have to take that into consideration with every decision she makes?

But enough of that. She pushed those thoughts aside as she tried to adopt a more positive attitude. “You can come here tomorrow morning for breakfast after you wake up. Just don’t come upstairs without my permission.”

She turned around and headed back into the hallway. “I’ll show you your room.”

They followed her to the far end of the hallway, where an open door welcomed them. Twilight led them inside and pointed out the accommodations. It wasn’t as fancy as the guest rooms in Celestia’s castle, or even some fashionable Canterlot hotels, but it was still a cut above anything in Ponyville. Celestia was quite insistent on that, and Rarity was all too happy to comply.

“And what’s that thing,” Meg asked, pointing to a rough crystalline cylinder, with a hinged lid, sitting on a small table next to the bed. The lid was open, exposing a soft, almost ultraviolet glow from within.

Steve turned away from the view of Canterlot he was admiring and walked over to see for himself.

Twilight had to suppress a giggle. It was so odd that an adult pony wouldn’t know what that was. What did humans use? Surely they had to have something equivalent!

“That is an anti-fertility charm,” she informed them, as nonchalantly as she could manage. “It’s only operative when the lid is open, and it covers the entire room.”

Meg blushed as understanding dawned on her. “Is… is it one hundred percent effective?”

“Of course, so long as it’s glowing. I enchanted it myself.”

Twilight headed for the door. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

She allowed herself a smile, now that they were behind her. And you’ll have to figure out that activity for yourselves.