The Rift

by Colors

#27 The Rift | 5

I

“How?” Gold Star asked in a whisper. “How do you think you can bring them back?”

At the ground of the abyss, there was what Gold Star would describe as a cave, or even a tunnel. It was still sloping downward as they walked through, and Sigma’s and Lynn’s magic was now the only source of light.

“Um. It is very complicated. I’m sorry.”

“But... with magic?”

It felt like a silly question, but she just wasn’t sure.

“Yes. I will try to invent a spell.”

“But if that’s possible, why has nopony ever done it before?”

Was the tunnel getting steeper? Gold Star wasn’t sure.

“It would be extremely hard to do with the conventional approach to magic. Still, I don’t know if anyone has done it before.”

“How long will this go on?” Rainbow hissed. She was leading the group along with the four remaining angels. Fluttershy and Autumn were behind them, carrying the two fallen ones.

II

“Um. I don’t know,” Sigma replied. “I don’t think it will take us more than two hours, but any shorter time is possible. A few minutes are the most likely.”

“Have you ever tried it before?” Gold Star asked as Rainbow didn’t say anything else.

“No.”

“Uhm... why not?”

“Um. I was very busy. I created Command Theory, the field to define languages used to pre-specify spells. It was very hard. I took over twenty years to make it work. I used it to reduce the need for sleep, to stop and reverse ageing, and to create a strong defensive spell. That was also hard. It took me thirteen years.”

“Wait,” Gold Star breathed. “No,” she added as Sigma halted, “I don’t mean... we can keep going. I... how old are you?”

“Forty-eight years.”

“Oh.”

III

Gold Star was twenty-one. Sigma looked about the same age.

“How... how old is your.... your body? I mean, what age...”

“Do you mean what age of a regular pony does it correspond to?”

Gold Star nodded.

“Twenty-four years.”

“But...” It was a silly thing to worry about, but Gold Star couldn’t help it. “Is it... really like this, or do you need... magic to keep it like this?”

“I use magic to keep it at twenty-four years. If I stopped doing that, it would age normally. The spell I use has no other effects.”

“Oh.” Gold Star released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. That was good. She smiled, then after a few moments, she realized that Sigma had raised her gaze from her hooves, and was now looking at her.

“Um. Do you-”

Quickly, so as not to have anyone else notice, Gold Star gave her a short kiss, just beside her lips.

“It’s all good,” she whispered, her gaze already back ahead.