• Published 20th Apr 2018
  • 909 Views, 14 Comments

Starlight's Shattered Glass - jrock117



In which Starlight makes a great discovery after breaking a very special mirror and dealing with an ansty Twilight.

  • ...
2
 14
 909

Trust and Strife, a Magical Investigation

The Next Morning

"Hey, Davis?" Jason asked as he rummaged through his fridge, wearing a deep red shirt with an NES controller on it and white shorts.

"Yeah, dude?" Davis called from the couch as he played Warframe. He was wearing a white shirt with an Oriental flower pattern and black skinny jeans.

"Have you ever thought that... What we're currently experiencing is just our life flashing before our eyes as we lay on our death bed? That, since we exist as a series of memories, our life is basically nothing but us recollecting whilst we're dying?"

"..."

"..."

"Dude, you're scaring me. Are you alright?"

"I'm scaring you?" Jason stood and turned to look at Davis. "I'm scaring you? How the fuck do you think I feel? I had to deal with that thought for two hours last night while I cried myself to sleep!" Davis, upon hearing this, gave a small chuckle. "I mean it's funny now, but still!"

"Ok, here's a solution." Davis hadn't looked away from the TV. "Either get a psychiatrist, or get really really fucking stoned, I got a guy who can hook you up."

"Nah, I don't have the money for either. Besides," Jason pulled a small bag of shredded mozzarella cheese from the fridge and ate a small handful, "I'd probably be the paranoid type of high."

"Yeah, that makes sense. You never know til ya try, though."

Thump

---~<P>~---

Earlier That Morning

"No, Starlight!"

"But Twilight!"

"No! Princess Celestia hasn't even responded to the letter I sent her last night, so I'm not even sure if it'd be responsible to do a second investigation by ourselves. Even with that, it would still be irresponsible of me to allow you to take somepony else to this new world."

"But you know he won't tell anypony." Starlight fell to the floor as she pleaded. The two were in Starlight's room in front of her dresser, discussing what their nest course of action should be. "Please let me take him!"

"Starlight..." Twilight rubbed the bridge of her muzzle... If there is such a thing. "You're not a filly that found a new toy, you're practically the same age as me. You're a grown mare that found a portal to another world. If anything, we need to keep this as secret as possible until the Princesses deem it safe for public knowledge. For Celestia's sake, the CHS mirror isn't even public knowledge."

"Hey, if you found a mirror to another world, you'd be acting the same way!" Starlight booped her friend on the snoot.

"I... dy... I would not!"

"You totally would!"

"Twilight!" The two purple ponies paused their heated argument as Spike ran in, scroll in claw. "Princess Celestia finally replied!" The scroll shined within Twilight's purple sparkles as it flew to her from the young drake's claw. Her eyes quickly scanned over it, her lips silently moving.

"What's it say?" Starlight asked as she cleaned her neck to read the letter.

"Really..." Twilight said before reading the letter over one more time. A small, almost unnoticeable smile adorned her lips. "Well, looks like you're getting what you want faster than expected."

"Really!?" Starlight hopped a little, before her face turned to confusion. "Wait, why?"

Twilight's eyes closed as she lets out a sigh, Starlight could barely make out a small squee. The alicorn turned to Starlight. "Princess Celestia herself has decided that we should conduct another investigation. She has informed both Princess Luna and Cadence about the situation and it has fallen upon the two of us, with the aid of three others, to examine the situation further." Twilight puffed up her chest as she looked to the mirror. "I'll go get the journal and talk to Sunset to see if we can work around her schedule. Starlight, you should wait at the castle's main door for a bit."

"What? Why?" Starlight pivoted her head back as she looked at Twilight curiously. Said alicorn looked to her bangs for a moment.

"On second thought, maybe you should wait at the station for him."

"Twilight, please stop being cryptic."

"You wanted to talk with Jason again, right?" Twilight asked as she gave Starlight a smile, receiving a nod from the light-purple student. "Once our guest arrives, the two of you are allowed to go through the mirror into Jason's world and see what types of magic you can find, even if it's just a little spark." Twilight turned to walk out the room, only to turn immediately back to Starlight. "Oh! You should also see if you can talk with the other four peop- I mean, humans, that were present during that... Ritual? Ritual. Princess Celestia wants to know if the connection between our worlds was because of their actions or something on our end." And with that, Twilight turned to trot out the room. Starlight hung her head.

"Just because you're a princess, doesn't mean you have to act like the royal sisters." She said under her breath. Although, it looks like I'm not the only one excited about this. She smiled at this thought. And with the way she was being cryptic, I'll give it three guesses on which stallion will show.

---~<T>~---

Starlight stood at the train station near the edge of Ponyville, wearing her trademark saddlebags, despite nothing being in them. Except for her kites, but that's for her and only her to know. Patiently, she tapped her hoof on the wooden platform as she waited for a specific train to show up and deliver to her a specific stallion. She squinted her eyes, noticing smoke in the distance. The source of the smoke was coming closer, as was evident by the sound of wheels chugging along the track. Coming into view was the crystal train. Perfect. She thought. She only needed to wait a moment before the train slowly halted, the doors opening to let it's passengers exit and let new ones enter. Ponies around her hustled about, but she didn't care for them at the moment. Three guesses as to whom was sent here, and my guess number one is... She stood off to the side so as to avoid being pushed and shoved as she scanned the crowd for-

"Sunburst!" Starlight hollered as she waved her hoof, catching her orange unicorn's attention. He adjusted his glasses.

"Oh! Hey Starlight!" Sunburst made for a quick trot towards Starlight. "I actually wasn't expecting to see you until I got to the castle."

"Twilight and I thought it would be a good idea if I met you halfway." Starlight took notice of the overstuffed saddlebag he was wearing. "So, what did you bring?" She asked as she led him to the castle.

"You mean my bags? Well, neither Princess Celestia nor Princess Cadance told me what my specific duty was. So I just kinda brought everything I thought I would need." Using his magic, he levitated various items as he called their names. "Pencils, scrolls, note cards, quills, inkwells, rulers, a few maps, a couple compasses, a clock, a few books on languages and ways to translate any if we run into one we don't know, a-" He stopped as he heard giggling from Starlight.

"That last one is oddly specific, don't you think?"

"Hey, it's hard to know what you're supposed to bring when you don't even know what you're supposed to be doing."

"Fair point." Starlight nodded. "So, neither of the Princesses even mentioned why you were sent here?"

"Nope, they just said it was important." Sunburst turned his head to Starlight. "So, now that I'm here, what am I supposed to be doing?" Starlight took a quick glance around her, nopony was in direct earshot.

"Do you want the long or the short of it?"

---~<T>~---
-+-+-+-+-+-
---~<P>~---

Both Jason and Davis turned to the source of the sound. It had come from the back room. I'mma guess that's Starlight's doing.

"Aight, Davis," Jason said, "you stay out here, I'll see either what that was or what she wants." Davis shrugged and continued to play as Jason walked down his hall to the mirror.

He looked at the dent in the wall from yesterday, it hadn't gotten any bigger. That's a relief. A quick glance at the floor showed the same rock from yesterday, a note attached to it.

Hello again!
A friend of mine
The Princess thought it would be best if an old friend (not Twilight) and I were to investigate your world again.

We will be waiting for correspon
Write back whenever you have time, we'll be waiting.

Your friend,
Starlight Glimmer

Jason glanced to his work apron and took out a blue pen, writing on the back of the note.

Yeah, sure, just give me a couple of minutes so I can set some stuff up.

I'll send another note when I'm done.

And like that, he rolled the rock through the mirror. His eyes lingered on the spot the rock had passed through. I wonder if... He walked back out to the kitchen, grabbing some apples from the fridge and a knife.

"Was it Starbright?" Davis asked.

"It's Starlight, and yeah, she's coming over with another friend." Cutting board in place, he started dicing up the apples. "It's funny, I feel I should be more excited for this, y'know, magical aliens from another dimension..." Jason trailed off.

"I'm guessing there's a 'but'."

"But... I dunno, I just... I dunno..." He shrugged.

"You don't know... What?" Davis exited the game and started up Naruto Storm 4.

"Fucking... God, you know damn well I can't explain shit." Jason slid the little apple cubes into a bowl. "I guess I'm at a weird... Homeostasis right now. Like, I'm still a bit in shock that this is real, I guess."

"Oh! Like when you're having a dream and you can't tell if it is or not?"

"I mean, kinda?" He threw the knife and board into the sink. "It also doesn't help that I haven't exactly seen her world... Speaking of which," Placing the bowl on an upturned basket in the main room, he went to and opened the fridge, taking out a prepared gallon of ice tea, "what do you think her world looks like?" Davis sat up a little, tapping his foot on the carpet.

"Well... I don't wanna seem racist to an entirely new intelligent species from another world..."

"Specist?"

"That'll do, I don't wanna seem specist, but when I think 'talking magical candy colored tiny horse creature', I also think plains of daisies and wheat that they just frolic around." Jason couldn't hold in his chuckle.

"Alrighty then."

"Why? What do you think her world looks like?"

"Umm... Pandora, I guess. And not like Pandora from Greek mythology, I mean-" Jason was cut off as Davis spoke.

"Pandora from Avatar, yeah, I understand."

"But, like, the only way to actually know what her world looks like would be to go there, and I don't think I'm quite ready for that." Jason plopped himself onto the couch parallel to the TV. "I don't think k I'll be ready for that for while."

"Kinda like your sex life?"

"Go fuck off a cliff." Jason stood again and grabbed a piece of paper from the small table tucked away in the corner left of the entertainment center. +Alright, I think I got everything set up, feel free to hop on over.+ He wrote. Now, all he had to do was send the letter through the mirror.

He walked back down the hall to the mirror, looked to the note, back to the mirror, folded up the note several times, and gently tossed it through the mirror. Can anything go through the mirror? What if a mosquito decided 'Oh, hey, this looks fun' and just flew through the damn thing? He turned to his alarm clock, nine thirty on the dot. He sat on his bunk just as Starlight's familiar "purple" face came through the mirror.

"Hey, Star." Jason greeted with a two-fingered salute

"Hey Jason." She said, taking a step before pausing. "Wait, 'Star'?" Jason shrugged.

"Figured I'd give you a nickname." He stood from the bunk. "That- That's not a problem, is it?"

"What, no. I just wasn't expecting it." Jason let out a quiet sigh. She slowly took the drawer/steps down as another face emerged from the mirror. This one had an orange coat, a dual tinted red mane that belonged to a crack addict, a goatee of the same color, and a pair of glasses resting on the white bridge of it's snout. He couldn't exactly tell the gender this new pony, since the shape and overall feel of them was vastly different to Starlight. At the base of it's neck looked to be a the top of a blue and teal cloak or a robe with a tall standing collar. "Jason, this is my foalhood friend, Sunburst." Said pony adjusted it's glasses with a white hoof. "Sunburst, this is Jason." Sunburst stood at the edge of the dresser, showing more of the star-studded cloak, and extended hoof to Jason.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, uh, Jason." He said. Definitely a dude's voice, if a bit nasally. Jason thought.

"Pleasure to meet ya, too." Jason shook his hoof, thinking that was what Sunburst was going for. When the orange pony smiled, he figured he was correct. Huh, so that's what their fur feels like. He stood back as he watched the pony carefully maneuver down the substitute steps. He looked around at the new environment. "Alright, so, let's go to the living room, I guess. We can do another question session once we sit and get comfortable."

"Actually," Starlight spoke, "I was wondering if we could check something." Her horn glew that familiar shade of blue as some wires connected to metal rods were levitated out of her saddlebag, causing Jason to take a few steps to the right.

"And immediately I am concerned." He pointed at the hovering equipment. "What is that?"

"It's thaumetric equipment. We brought some over to measure the amount of magic this location has, as well as you and your friends." She left a small pause. "If that's alright with you, of course." Jason took a wary glance at the still floating wires and rods as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.

"It won't hurt, will it?" He asked. Sunburst shook his head.

"It shouldn't be painful, whatsoever, it's actually a pretty simple process. Though, it'd be easier to explain once we get settled." Sunburst and Starlight followed Jason down the hall and through the kitchen into the main room, where Davis was now playing MegaMan 1, the chiptune music playing at a suitable volume. Jason didn't look at Davis, as he no doubt had the face of a serial killer about to snap. The ponies, however, were more interested in what was happening on screen.

"Ooh. What's this?" Starlight asked, tilting her head.

"The bane of my existence." Davis seethed. He was on the Cutman stage, and was doing poorly, getting hit by the bullets as he ran up the ladders. With every hit, Jason could see Davis' eye twitch.

"Dude, maybe you should give me the controller." Jason extended his hand to Davis, who only gave it a glance before returning to the game.

"I can do this, I just need to believe and I can get past this-" A bullet catches him from the left, followed by the tell-tale sign of death in MegaMan. The game over screen popped up. "Stupid God damn bullshit! Fuck!" As he said this, Davis violently shot up as he gently tossed the controller upwards, letting it fall back into his hands. Jason had trouble keeping himself together as he covered his mouth, so as not to let Davis hear his quiet laughter. Starlight, on the other hand...

"Umm..." Starlight raised her hoof as she took a step back, "Are you... Is he alright?" In response, Davis flopped back onto the couch, letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Yeah." Davis said. "I just need to calm down for a bit." He let out another sigh and sat forward, looking to Starlight. "Sorry for the langua- I mean, 'forbidden words'."

"No need to be sorry," Starlight said, "those words don't mean anything to me."

"I'm sorry?" Sunburst spoke up. "Forbidden words?"

"Your friend, Twilight, told us that some words we use are apparently forbidden in your world." Davis said. "Ones she reacted to are fuck, shit, and I think damn." Davis gestured to the ponies. "So, what's in the bags this time?" Starlight levitated the same rods and wires she had before.

"Taumetric equipment. Used for measuring the amount, and the range of control, of magic you have." Starlight said.

"There's more to it than that," Sunburst continued, "it also measures-" He was cutoff by Davis waving his hand.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm gonna stop you right there." He said. "Neither me, nor Jason, are gonna a understand what you're about to say, and I don't mean to be rude, but I think it would be faster if we just got this over with."

"I mean," Jason spoke, "I'd like to learn about what's going to happen."

"Jason, I swear to Christ."

"C'mon, Davis. At least let them give us the cliff notes version."

"Fine." Davis said with sigh. He turned to the ponies. "So, how does this work?" Sunburst and Starlight looked to each other before the rods were given to Davis.

"Alright." Starlight took out a machine; looking to be a weird mix between a seismograph, a radar, and a typewriter, placing on the floor next to the overturned basket. Wires attached from the rods to the front of the machine. "First, you hold on to these rods, making sure the wires are coming from the bottoms." Davis did so. "Next," Starlight took out what appeared to be a colander with a black box on top of it, wires attached from the box-like structure to the machine, "we put this on your head."

"Woah!" Davis said in alarm. "You're not brainwashing me, are you!?"

"What!?" Starlight took a step back. "Why in Equestria would we do that!?"

"I've seen how this goes down," Davis said, "person agrees to be tested by alien technology, then in two hours the world is controlled by the aliens!"

"We're not! W-We aren't!..." Starlight continued to step back until she bumped into the counter that separated the main room from the kitchen, sliding down to the sit on the floor. She shook her head with obvious fear in her eyes. Sunburst was by her side in an instant, comforting her.

"Starlight," he said, "Starlight?"

Holy shit, Jason thought, this fucking escalated quickly. Uhh... He looked to Davis, who seemed confused, to Sunburst, trying to help his friend, to Starlight, who looked completely distraught. Fuck! Brain, think of something! Now is not the time to be stupid! His eyes were drawn to the rods as Davis sat them down on the couch cushion.

"Star? Sunburst?" Jason said, gaining Sunburst's attention. Jason grabbed the rods and the colander headpiece, examining them. The rods weren't much to look at, aside from the wires looking like they were part of the rods themselves. The headpiece, however, seemed much lighter than it should've been. It had dark-colored padding on the inside, clearly for comfort, and two slots on the side with a hole nearing the top. It looked about an inch in diameter. He spared a glance at the ponies and assumed the hole was for unicorns, considering the horn and all. This can't be a good idea. Guilt, doubt, fear, these were what Jason felt the most, the emotions pulling at his mind. He didn't know what the best course of action was. I never fucking do. He turned back to Sunburst and Starlight, trying to talk in calm tone. "Hey, d-do you guys need a minute. I'm sorry about this, but..." He trailed off, words escaping his mind as he tried to think of something to say, anything to say. Instead, he looked to Davis, turned to the ponies, dropped the equipment on the couch, and got up. He took slow, careful steps, before sitting to their left. "I'm really sorry about this. Humans don't have the... Best... Interpretations of aliens. Most of what we know is mostly, if not entirely, fictional. I know that's a terrible excuse, but it's honest. You guys can leave if you want, I'll understand." He turned to the rods and headpiece he left, an idea coming to mind. "Or, if you still want. You could test me." He looked back to the ponies, contemplating whether or not he should embrace the two to seem friendly, but decided against it. "I'd be up for learning something about magic, i-if you guys are still willing, that is." He waited for an answer as Sunburst turned back to Starlight, Jason's view of her being obstructed by the orange pony. He scooted to the left a bit to give them some space.

"...-t." Jason heard a sound come from his right, although he couldn't tell if it was a word or just heavy breathing.

"I'm... Sorry, what was that?" He asked.

"Alright." Starlight said. She stood and walked over to the machine, turning it so the radar-like screen was facing Jason. "You said you were being honest, so I'll trust you." Jason was taken aback by this.

"What? 'Trust me'?" He asked, receiving a nod from Starlight. "I think you've got this the other way around, I should be trusting you guys."

"Why don't we trust each other?" Starlight asked, giving a small smile.

"But," Jason continued, "what do you need to trust me for?"

"Let's... Not worry about that. Just get comfortable, relax, and put the equipment on..." Starlight said. "Not in that order, but, you get what I mean, right?"

"I... Guess?" Jason said. He got back to the couch across from the TV and put the headpiece on. "The weird hole goes in-front, right?" He pointed to the hole he suspected a horn went through.

"Y-Yes." It was Sunburst's turn to speak, apparently. "It's usually for ponies or other creatures that have horns in the center of their forehead." Jason grinned.

"Ha, called it." Jason grabbed the rods, trying to get more comfortable in his seat. "Alright, now what?" Starlight turned the machine's screen to face him again.

"Ok," Starlight let out a small sigh, "now, I just need to turn it on. You'll feel a slight chill when that happens. Or maybe a slight warmth, that differs from pony to pony."

"But I'm not a pony." Jason said with a light-hearted grin.

"You know what I mean." Starlight turned the machine on. Jason wasn't sure how, since she didn't touch it, and her blue magic glow didn't envelope it. What Jason was sure about, though, was that the second it turned on, every joint in his body felt odd. He could feel his muscles react to something that wasn't there, yet they stayed in their relaxed position by his side. Paper started feeding out of the machine, five different rows being visible. From left to right: he saw a green line that spiked and plateaued, reminding him of a heart monitor; a red line that made a constant back and forth, spiking to the right every once in a while; a black line that gave him a bit of a scare, completely erratic spikes to the left and right, almost touching the lines to its right and left, with no pattern, at least not one Jason could identify; a blue line that slowly went back and forth in a slow, wave-like pattern; and a row of, what looked to be, random Braille, as if someone had taken a Braille keyboard and just started mashing random keys. He couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.

He gave Davis a quick glance, seeing that his friend wasn't looking at anyone, pony or human. He had his arms crossed as he sat on the couch, his eyes turned away from the other three in the room. Jason felt that same guilt and doubt again. His mind began to focus more on his friend and the awkward sensation his joints and muscles were feeling. What if Davis had a point? He thought. I mean, it's not like it's out of the realm of possibility. Maybe I made the wrong call, what if this is the start of some weird conditioning experimant? What if my partaking in this situation is the beginning of some global enslavement plan. What if- He was brought out of his thoughts by a ticking sound coming from the machine. The valleys of the green line had lessened in length, the spikes becoming more and more common. The red line had shifted, once it stayed generally in the middle of its row, now it had moved to the right slightly, almost overlapping with the black line, which was still just as erratic as before. The blue line had stayed the same as well, including the random Braille-like pattern to its right. He saw Starlight and Sunburst rouse a bit, a bit of panic shaping their features. They both looked at Jason with, what he felt was, concern. What if I'm being stupid. He felt his breathing return to normal. Actually, he hadn't even noticed his breathing had become irregular until it already passed. No, stupid isn't right. Ignorant? That doesn't sound right either. Whatever it is, I shouldn't feel this way. At least, I don't think I should feel this way. I said I would trust her, and if I become some mind controlled pawn, then it's my own damn fault. He saw the green and red lines return to their earlier patterns and positions. Eventually, the machine was turned off and the paper stopped, a good fifteen feet of rolled up paper, relieving Jason of that sensation.

"Welp," Jason said, "that was an experience." Sunburst carefully tore the paper from the feed with his own yellow glow and scanned his eyes over it a few more times, before handing it to Starlight, who did the same. "Is... Is it good?" He asked. "Is it bad? Don't just leave me in suspense guys."

"Well," Starlight said, using her magic to turn the paper to Jason. "First off, we should explain what each column means. The green is your heart beat, which I'm sure you've already deduced. The red line is the rate at which information is carried and fired through the neurons in your brain." She paused, her hoof lingering over the black line. She bit her lip. "Would you rather have the others explained first before this one?" Jason didn't know how to answer that. The fact that she was dodging the black line in general could only mean something horrible.

"Save the black line for last..." He said.

"Ok." Her hoof went for blue. "This blue line here," she tapped the paper, "measures the amount of magic within you in wavelengths. The shorter the wavelength, the greater the amount of magic. This final pattern in the paper shows the amount of control you have over the magic within you. I know it may look random, and it kind of is, but this shows that your control over your magic is almost nill."

"Mind if I guess something?" Jason asked, receiving a 'carry on' gesture from both ponies. "Does a more regular pattern in the fifth row show more control over magic?"

"You hit the nail right on the head." Sunburst said. " Each set of three dot wide, four dot tall margins is different character. Now, think of each character as a number, from zero to nine. The range of control can go from an ever repeating number like one-one-one-one or four-four-four-four, meaning complete control over your magic, to... Well, this." He tapped the paper. "We're basically at the numerical value of pie(π), not a single number nor series of numbers repeats."

"One more question." Jason said.

"Yes?"

"What does the specific number mean? Like, if the pattern were to have the same repeating singular number, what do different numbers mean in that situation? What's the difference between two's and three's, between five's and nine's?"

"Well, the numbers was just an example. These characters don't really hold a numerical value themselves, but more of a meaning that would have to be deciphered." Sunburst scanned his eyes over the paper again. "There has never been a single pony, or creature for that matter, who has ever gotten a completely repeating pattern of the same character. At least, none that has been recorded."

"Oh..." Jason... Didn't quite know how to take in this information. On one hand, it was incredibly fascinating to learn the science of something that had been nothing but a fantasy until two days ago. On the other... He couldn't really understand much of it. "So... I guess that just leaves the black line." As he said this, the two ponies cringed.

"About that," Starlight said, "it regesters... Stability." Jason's stomach did a flip at that. While this whole thing felt like trying to learn a whole other language without a guide, two plus two will always equal four. The most erratic and chaotic line on the whole paper, the line that had the experts on magic cringe, was the line that showed how stable the magic within him was.

"Oh... Christ..." He said.

"The good news is," Starlight continued, her voice took on a more cheerful tone, yet contained a nervous laugh, "the amount of magic within you is small, so even though these are the worst stability charts I've ever seen, it doesn't mean much!" Immediately, she planted her hoof onto her face. "Wow, Glimmer, way to put that in the worst way possible."

"Hey now," Jason said, "I'm just happy that I do have magic." He took off the headpiece and placed it next to him with the rods. "So, why is my heart rate important?"

"To make sure you're alive." Starlight said with a smile.

"Don't be such a-" Don't say 'smartass'. "-wiseguy." Jason responded with his own smile.

"The first two lines are here to detect any irregularities in your vitals, specifically your heart and brain." Sunburst said, tapping the red and green lines. "In fact, the instability of your magic actually brings up an odd point." Jason didn't like the sound of that.

"What would that be?"

"Usually, magic this unstable would cause your vitals to be all over the place. Aside from that fear-induced spike earlier, your vitals are pretty steady." He took another look at the paper, his eyes narrowed at it as he inspected each end. "Wait, Starlight?"

"Yes?" She responded.

"Take a look at this." Both ponies studied the ends of the paper, bringing the most recent part of the paper above the beginning. He spoke to her in a hushed tone. "The end of his magic wavelength is just a sixteenth of an inch shorter than the beginning."

"But that would mean..." Starlight's voice became too quiet for Jason to hear, and he didn't like what that could mean.

"Shorter wavelengths means a higher amount of magic, right?" Jason asked, gaining the attention of the two ponies. "You said that earlier, right?" Sunburst nodded. "And if my magic is super unstable, and increasing... That's a bad thing, right?" The ponies looked to each other, then back to Jason.

"Well," Starlight said, "we won't know for a few days."

"... What?" Jason asked, receiving a sigh from Starlight.

"Within the time it took for a full scan, your magic only increased by a very miniscule amount. Considering the time it took for the increase to happen, I'd say we won't know the consequences for at least three days, maybe four." Starlight lowered her head.

"I... Guess I can wait that long." Jason said. "Actually, I may need to wait till next Monday."

"Why's that?" Starlight asked.

"I have to work the next four days, and I work closing shifts." Jason said, scratching his stubble. "Maybe we can meet early in the morning. Eight or nine sound good?"

"That... Sounds doable." Starlight said with a nod. Before she could speak again, Davis cut in.

"Starlight," he called her attention, "sorry about what I..." Davis didn't look directly at her, instead opting to stare at the floor. "I'm... What Jason said is right. About humans not having the best interpretations of other beings." He Dave a low sigh. "I'm not sorry about what I said, but I am sorry that I said it." His eyes trailed up to her own. "Sorry about the half-assed apology, but it's how I feel right now." Starlight turned her own eyes to the floor. "I'm still a bit paranoid, but I'd be willing to use the equipment if you want me to." She looked back.

"Only if you want to." She said. Davis held a hand to Jason, who then placed the rods and the handle for the headpiece in the palm of his hand. He put the headpiece on and got into a relaxed position, taking a sigh.

"Alright, I'm ready." He said. Jason, now on the viewing end of the experiment, couldn't really tell when the machine was turned on. He didn't even see Davis twitch, which would've been a good indicator. "Oh God," Davis said, "It feels like I'm laying in jelly."

"How would you know what that feels like." Jason asked.

"You ever dip your finger in a jelly jar?" Davis asked back, getting a nod from Jason.

"Let me guess, 'imagine that, but on your whole body'?" Jason asked.

"Yup." The paper began feeding from the machine again. Jason wasn't interested in the red nor the green lines. What he kept his attention on were the black and blue lines. The black line, he could tell, wasn't reaching to the left and right quite as far as his own. The blue line, Jason could hardly tell a difference between his and Davis', same for the row of dots. Eventually, fifteen feet of paper later, the machine stopped and Davis let out a loud sigh of relief. "Not gonna lie, I don't want to experience that again."

"Hm." Sunburst and Starlight began comparing the paper to Jason's. "It looks like Davis' magic, while still unstable, isn't quite as unstable as Jason's."

"Plus," Starlight said, "the amount of magic Davis has is also lower, the wavelength is almost an inch longer." This earned an unwholesome chuckle from the two humans. If the ponies heard, they didn't bring attention to it. "The control pattern looks just as crazy, meaning almost zero control." It seemed the ponies were talking more to themselves than to the humans. They kept speaking to each other in hushed tones.

"So, anything else you guys need to check up on?" Jason asked.

"Now we need to check the area for any ambient magic." Sunburst said, lifting his cloak a bit to access a pair of saddle bags underneath. He pulled out a smaller, similar looking machine to the one already sitting on the floor, with an absence of wires.

"You've had that on you this whole time?" Jason asked. "How is your back not in pain?"

"It's actually lighter than you think." He said as he extended an antenna from the top of the machine. "Hmm..."

"What's wrong?" Starlight asked.

"It's nothing. I was just wondering if it would be a better idea to test for ambient magic outside of the house."

"Uhhh..." Jason cut in. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Why's that?" Sunburst asked.

"I think I agree with Jason on this." Starlight said. "Humans in this world are unfamiliar to us. What if one saw us and immediately panicked."

"What makes you say..." Sunburst trailed off as he looked at Davis. "Yeah, forget I said anything."

"I mean," Jason said, "if you really want to, I'm sure we can think of something."

"Like what?" Davis said. "Are we gonna cover them with blankets and take them to the alley?"

"I dunno, maybe?" Jason shrugged "what time is it anyways?" Davis pushed the home button on the controller, bringing up the time in the bottom right corner of the TV.

"Twelve forty-two." He said.

"It's only been three hours?" Jason asked as he looked to the TV. "Feels like it's been longer than that." He rubbed his forehead.

"I know a cloaking spell." Starlight said. "It only lasts a minute or two, but that should be enough to get a reading from outside." Davis and Jason looked to each other, hesitation clearly on their minds.

"I don't know..." Davis said. "Every part of my body is telling me this is a bad idea." Jason stood and pointed to the hallway.

"Gimme a sec, I'll be right back." He said, storlling through the kitchen and down the hall. He stepped into his room and looked over his top bunk, finding a miriad of thin blankets. That may not be such a bad idea. He grabbed two, a light blue one, and a dark green one. While not big enough to sleep in, they seemed big enough to cover a large dog. Perfect. He walked back to the main room, where Starlight was munching on the chopped apple cubes. Oh, I actually forgot those exiested.

"What're you doing with those blankets?" Davis asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well," Jason began, "I figured we'd all go camping in the late hours of the night and watch fairies fly by- the Hell do you think I'm doing. We're going with what you said earlier." Jason placed the blankets on the couch Davis sat upon.

"What!? Dude, I was-"

"Joking, I know. But it's not that bad of an idea." Jason gestured to the TV. "It's not even one yet, the only neighbor I have that's still at home right now would be Judy, and she's most likely asleep. If we're quick about this, we won't even need the..." Jason paused before turning to Starlight, "you said 'cloaking spell', right?" She nodded. Jason turned to Davis. "Yeah, we won't need that if this goes right." Jason grabbed the blankets and showed them to the ponies. "Alright, put these over yourselves." Starlight and Sunburst glanced to each other before grabbing the blankets in their magic, Starlight grabbing the blue, while Sunburst grabbed the green. "Those blankets are pretty thin, so once we're outside, you should be able to see just fine." Jason, after awkwardly walking around the ponies, went and opened the front doors, allowing light to completely flood the room. "Hey, Davis, we're in luck. It's nicer out here than it was yesterday."

"Don't try dragging me into this." Davis said. "This was your stupid idea, I'm staying inside."

"Technically, this was your stupid idea. I'm just using it."

"Whatever, I'm still not going outside." Davis picked up the controller and switched over to Halo. "You still have Xbox live gold, right?"

"Nope."

"Ffffffff-" Davis switched over to YouTube, "There goes that idea, I wonder if Markiplier uploaded anything today." Jason stood there for a few seconds, waiting for Davis to say anything else. When nothing came, he just walked outside.

"You guys comin'?" He asked the ponies. After Sunburst placed the smaller machine back into his bag, the two covered themselves with the blankets and followed after Jason.

---~<P>~---

He wasn't joking when he said it would be bright enough to see through the thin blankets. In fact, calling what Sunburst and Starlight wore 'blankets' seemed a bit of a compliment, as they were more like a thin sheet compared to what Starlight was used too. Starlight, despite how green the grass looked, could feel how dry they were on the bottoms of her hooves. They weren't as vibrant as she was used too. She stopped for a second as she took a quick glance around her. To the left of Jason's... place... was a large, brown house surrounded by a cained fence, a small wire rapping around the top with a yellow sign saying 'Danger/Electric Fence'. To the right, was a large white house with a white plastic fence. Across the black road was a building that looked to be the seize of four three-room houses, an apartment maybe. She looked to the sky, but couldn't see anything other than the blue of her cover.

"Could you guys not gawk around and follow me, please?" Jason asked quietly. Starlight turned to see his basic figure, but couldn't tell the features of his face. "You guys look like a bunch of confused dogs walking around like that."

"It's hard to look at detail when your vision is obscured by something." Sunburst said.

"You guys can look later," Jason said, "I need you to follow me so you can do the scan." He began to walk backwards, moving his arms as if to say 'hurry up'. "Now, let's go." He led the two ponies through the long yard on the side of his place, leading them through a narrow space between the two opposing fences. The dirt and gravel of the alley didn't seem to Sunburst from what she could see, which wasn't very much since his face was covered. "Alright, I think this good enough." Jason said. Starlight and Sunburst uncovered their faces and got a good look around. They were standing to the right of a dumpster, which could easily fit five grown ponies. The alley was packed with heliotrope bushes, tiny light-purple petals occasionally falling and drifting through the air. Cotton also drifted through the air, landing and falling into clumps on the sides of the alley. Starlight got a good look at the sky, at least a good as look one can get in an alley way, and saw complete blue, not a single cloud.

"So, does the weather here work on it's own?" She asked.

"Yeah," Jason said, "why do you ask?"

"I just thought I should ask." She said. Sunburst took the machine out and pulled the antenna once again, carefully placing the machine on a level patch of gravel-free dirt. He started it up, a low clicking filling the air as paper fed out of it, only two rows on the paper, the familiar black and blue lines. She glanced to the side and saw Jason was leaning against the metal fence. It wasn't a relaxed kind of lean, though, more so scared. Although his arms were crossed and he tapped his foot, he seemed ready to run at a moment's notice. His gaze never left the machine. Moments later, the machine stopped its feed of paper, Sunburst quickly tearing it off with his yellow magic. Starlight moved to his side so she could see the details. Throughout the whole length of the paper, the blue line made half a wavelength, with the black line completely straight.

"Well," Jason asked, "how is it?"

"I... Don't really know what to say." Sunburst said. "It seems the magic in the air is so small, it can't even get a read on the stability." He looked up to Jason. "With a reading like this, I would be less surprised that this magic is emanating off of something rather than being natural to the air." Jason leaned into the fence more.

"That sounds bad." He looked to Starlight. "Is that bad?"

"Well," she said, "I don't really know." She scanned her eyes over the paper again. "Just like when we measured yours and your friend's magic, I've never seen anything like this. We..." she looked back up to Jason, "we may have to check back again, just to see if this is natural."

"Just like my magic?" He asked.

"Just like your magic." She nodded. An uncomfortable silence filled the alley way, only occasionally broken by the chirping of a bird a few feet away. After putting the machine back into his saddle bag, Sunburst spoke up.

"I think it would be best if we went back inside." He said.

"Yeah, probably." Jason agreed. He took the lead once again, Starlight and Sunburst following close behind him. The walk back was uneventful, aside from when Jason went to open the door.

---~<P>~---

Jason didn't know how to feel about this new information. He didn't really have anything to compare it too. Magic and magic wavelengths and instability, it was a bit much for him. All he knew was that Starlight and Sunburst didn't know much either, and that scared him even more. He grasped the handle of the front door, intent to open it, when he got pulled with it.

"Fuck!" He said as he bumped into something on the other side. He calmed down when he noticed it was just Davis. "Jesus, dude. You scared the Hell outta me."

"Same." Davis said, his hand over his heart. He let out a chuckle as he grabbed a longboard with a red bottom.

"You goin' somewhere?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Davis looked around Jason, obviously looking at the ponies. "I need to cool off, so I'm just gonna board up to my girlfriend's place." He put in a red ear bud and tapped his pants pocket, starting up some music. Jason stepped out of his way and watched as Davis almost ignored Starlight and Sunburst when he passed them. He turned to Jason with a salute. "See ya, man."

"Deuce." Jason said. Davis took off down the street, singing the lyrics of the song he was listening too. Jason led the ponies back into his house, unsure of what to do next. He sat on the couch across from the kitchen, Starlight and Sunburst hopping onto the one across from the TV. "So... Uhh..." Jason tried to think of something to talk, anything, but nothing came to mind. "Nnn... Anything you guys wanna talk about?" Almost immediately, Starlight looked to the TV, the Game Over screen still present.

"Do you mind showing us what this game is like?" She asked with the teensiest bit of excitement. Jason chuckled and picked up the controller.

"Aight, I guess I can do that."

---~<T>~---

"C'mon man! What kind of stupid- GAH!" Jason shot up, clasping his hands over his eyes as the Game Over screen played for the Nth time in row. "Stupid Yellow Devil." He flopped back onto the couch, massaging the sides of his head.

"How are you even supposed to beat that thing?" Starlight asked, pointing at the TV. "You barely have enough time to hit it once before it globs to the other side of the stage!"

"'Globs to the other side'?" He asked with a chuckle. "First time I've heard 'glob' be used as a verb."

"What else would you call it?"

"Good point."

"Is there a special method to beating it?" Sunburst asked. "You said the main enemies were weak too each other's weapons. What's Yellow weak too?"

"I think he's weak to Elecman's weapon." Jason sat forward. "And yeah, there's a method, what sucks though is that it involves the pause glitch."

"Pause glitch?" The ponies asked in unison.

"There's this thing with the MegaMan games that, when you shoot a certain weapon and pause, the enemy will take damage once you unpause. Doing that over and over again will cause the enemy to take multiple hits from a single shot." Jason looked at the TV, grinding his teeth. "However, the version of the game I'm playing doesn't have that glitch... As far as I'm aware, at least." He said with uncertainty. Jason hit the home button, bringing up the time. "Two twenty, huh?" He heard the sound of hooves hitting hard carpet.

"We should get going." Starlight said. "We need to run the information we got by Twilight anyways." Sunburst hopped off next to her. She was about to wave to Jason when he stood up.

"That reminds me!" He quickly maneuvered around the makeshift table and the ponies, grabbing a finished paper towel roll and a normal towel. "Follow me." They went to the back room to the mirror, Jason covering the paper towel roll with the towel.

"What are you doing?" Sunburst asked.

"I had this thought earlier today," Jason said, "it seems anything can go through this side of the mirror. When I tossed the rock back through the mirror, it looked like the mirror went around the rock, so..." Jason placed the roll on its side and slid one end through the mirror. At the halfway point, he slid the towel off. Everyone's jaw hit the floor. "I... I..."

"Whoa." Starlight said.

"I can't believe it." Sunburst said.

"Holy shit, it worked?" Jason said, slapping his hand over his mouth. Calm down with the cussing. He told himself. Through the paper towel roll, everyone could see the other side. "I wasn't expecting that to actually work."

"So... Anything on this side can go through the mirror..." Starlight said, if a bit quietly.

"Looks that way." Sunburst nodded.

"I'm sorry..." Jason said, "I... I'm still amazed that my stupid idea worked." He leaned forward, trying to get a good look through the new opening in the mirror. "Is that room?"

"That would be my room." Starlight said, rubbing her foreleg. Immediately, Jason grabbed the roll and flung it over his shoulder, hitting the wall.

"Nope!" He said.

"What? Did you see something?" Sunburst asked.

"I ain't comfortable with peeping into her room." Jason sat on his bunk. "I was thinking the mirror led to a forest or a laboratory, not someone's room."

"I can move it to somewhere else if you want." Starlight said.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to." Jason said with a wave of his hand. "I don't want you to feel obligated."

"Oh, it wouldn't be a problem. You don't have to worry." She insisted.

"Only if you want to." Jason said.

"Then it's settled," She said, "Sunburst, you may have to help me find a place for the mirror once we get back."

"Uh, alright." Sunburst nodded. "I think I can do that." He walked in the steps of the dresser. He paused and turned when Jason called his name. "Yes?"

"Nice meetin' you, dude." Jason extended a fist to Sunburst, to which the pony bumped.

"Likewise, Jason." With that, Sunburst walked through the mirror. Starlight walked up the steps and turned to Jason.

"Well, see you later, Star." Jason said, extended fist.

"You too, Jason." She bumped his fist and hopped on through, leaving him with an uncomfortable silence. He sat back on his bunk, unsure what to do. Davis had left, so dueling was out of the question.

"Maybe I should call up Dan, see if he wants to play some XenoVerse." He said to no one in particular.

---~<P>~---

Starlight hopped onto the floor of her room, taking a glance at the mirror. She grabbed it in her blue magic and popped it out of the frame, after taking the photos out of course.

"Wow," Sunburst said, catching Starlight's attention, "to think you had a portal to another world in your room."

"It's taken until now for that fact to settle in for you?" Starlight asked, a smile small adorning her lips. Almost immediately, he grabbed her face by the cheeks, bringing her face close to his.

"I've been waiting for a moment to let out this excitement for way too long that I feel like I could pass out!" He said. The door to her room opened, allowing Twilight to walk in.

"I'm not... Interrupting anything, am I?" Twilight asked.

"Why do you ask?" The unicorns asked in unison, Starlight's cheeks still in Sunburst's grasp. Twilight said something under her breath.

"Nevermind that," She said, "how was your visit to Jason's world?" The unicorns looked at each other again, before turning to Twilight. Starlight walked to her, three long sheets of paper in her magical grasp.

"I think it'd be easier to show you."

---~<P>~---
---~<T>~---

"That's pretty cool." Jason said. Dan didn't answer when he called, so Jason decided to marathon some Fact Fiend videos. It had been a couple hours since Starlight had left, and Jason couldn't get rid of this odd feeling. Like, something just wasn't right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. That feeling you get when you walk down a dark road in a notoriously bad neighborhood. He jumped when his phone played that familiar tune. It ended as soon as it began, being replaced by a ting. He picked up his phone and saw a message from Dan that led to a web article. The message sent with it said 'This showed up in my inbox after minutes ago'. He tapped the article, and what it said didn't sit well with him.

-+-+-+-+-
Six Kids Missing After Building Fire.

Six children, aged between twelve and nineteen, were reported missing, the first four on Friday at nine in the morning and the final two on Saturday at two in the evening. The names of these young individuals; Bobby Ruth, female, eighteen -- Alex Raes, female, sixteen -- Alan Raes, male, seventeen -- Yuna Olcceski, female, eighteen -- Edward Decker, male, twelve -- Chima Decker, female, nineteen.

The source of the fire appeares to be a ruptured aerosol can and a set of matches. A mirror was also found at the scene, althought it was broken when found, it has since been pieced together. Witnesses say the children entered the building just minutes before the fire consumed the building. It seems as though there was no attempt at escape, as every exit was completely sealed and undamaged. No bodies have been found.

Please, if anyone has any information on these individuals, contact either the Phoenix Police Department or your local Police Department.

-+-+-+-+-

Author's Note:

You guys have heard me say that whole lazy thing for far too long, so let's talk about something else.

This chapter was originally going to be entirely different, with a different chapter name too. It was supposed to have Jason and Davis teaching Starlight and Trixie how to play a game, but that was thrown way out the window when I got to Starlight wanting to bring someone to the other world, then all of a sudden Sunburst popped into my head. Eventually, the chapter went so far from what I had intended in the beginning that I just decided to go with the new direction.

Anyways, sorry to those of you who have been waiting for this chapter to be finished, and thank you if you haven't decided to drop this story just yet. I will try my hardest to get the next chapter as quickly as I can. It might take a while, since I don't have much planned for this story at all, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants for now. I hope the unintended length makes up for the absence.

Peace and love.

PS: I really wanted to use the line "Hey, Davis, I'm a Feta-Jason Alfredo." When Jason put on the colander.

Sorry for uploading it at 1:30 in the morn.