Jewel Of Nightmares

by Darksonickiller

Problems on Both Sides

Chapter 7
Problems on Both Sides

As Rainbow planned her trip to return home, Twilight and Luna were soon given terrible news as Starlight faintly groaned, “Girls, we can’t bring Rainbow back.”

“What!?” Twilight and Luna exclaimed as they quickly walked over to Starlight, hoping that what she said was a mistake.

“Ya according to this, the last set of runes make it impossible for us to use willingly.” Pointing to the line of written words she continued, “I have to ensure that no creature foolishly uses this damn thing, so the best I can do is restrict its use from the user and set it to only a moment in time.”

“So then we can only wait till the jewel wants to activate?” Luna asked as they continued to read.

“It’s worse than that I’m afraid.” Starlight sighed as she continued on, “Unless the sister jewel is activated by some means on the other end, a gateway allowing transfer from that world into this one cannot form. However a gate going from this one to that one will open as a result, but will only pull within twenty feet of itself.”

“So that’s why Rainbow got pulled in, and everything else was just a mess.” Twilight pondered as she began to measure out the distance, “So then she was holding out her saddle bag just past the twenty feet, that’s why it wasn’t pulled in as well.”

“And to add to that problem, we could be pulled in as well when it activates.” Luna groaned as she slowly stepped a little further back, “As we wouldn’t know when or even if Rainbow has reached the sister jewel.”

“But if a gate opens.” Twilight hmmed as she slowly started pacing back and forth, “If it starts to pull things in, maybe we could send something through. And hope Rainbow gets it. Or…” Twilight claimed as she slowly gave a devilish smile.

“Or?” The other two mares asked as they worried what Twilight had in mind.

“We could mix a location tracking spell with a scrying spell, and attach it to whatever it is we send through.” The violet mare claimed as she slowly started to draw out her plan on a blank piece of parchment, “The object falls through into that world allowing us to track it on this end, wherever it lands we will get to see what’s there and hopefully see how Rainbow is if it falls anywhere near her.”

“But how can we even ensure that our magic will still work in that world?” Luna inquired as she looked at the simple drawings Twilight shown them.

“Didn’t you try to use magic when you got pulled in?” Starlight asked as she recalled Luna having explained her own experience with this other world.

“I actually never tried to use magic in that world.” Luna claimed as she rubbed her chin thinking back to that time, “I fell into that world next to another jewel just like the one before us, I touched it and came back into the dream realm. I feared what would have happened if I didn’t return to lower the moon at the right hour.”

“Since we don’t know if our magic can work, then why not use the one thing that does seem to work regardless of where it is.” Twilight giggled as she pranced towards the jewel, “We make our own runes for both, and carve it into the object we send in.”

“And if it lands in the middle of nowhere and Rainbow never comes close to it, then what?” Starlight faintly laughed as she rolled her eyes hoping the joke would help lighten the mood.

“Or what if we get the runes wrong and nothing happens?” Luna chimed in as she looked over a chapter in regards to crafting runes.

Twilight gasped as she teleported with magic, popping up next to Luna and flipping through the pages, “Or worse we get it wrong and it blows up in our face, or turns us into statues, or even-” Twilight trailed off as Starlight slowly walked up to Luna.

“We just had to get her started didn’t we?” Starlight groaned as the two mares watched Twilight go stir crazy with the possibilities of what could or couldn’t happen.

Luna sighed as she shook her head at the sight before her, “Well we all have our moments, I believe it would be best for us to let her work this out on her own.” Turning her attention towards Starlight, Luna continued to explain, “I don’t know much about that other world, only that when I had arrived there it was already rather dark. Almost as if there was a thick cloud of smoke blanketing the place.”

“Like there would be when a building is on fire.” Starlight said to make a similarity between the two.

“In a way yes.” Luna nodded in response, “Only this smoke had no source and was constant throughout that world, or at least what little of the area I was in. When I returned everything seemed fine to me, and I carried on with my task of lowering the moon. Thought for the first time in my life I had thoughts against lowering it, even wanting to keep it up in the sky for just an hour longer.”

“Is it possible something came back with you, or rather inside of you?” Starlight inquired as she looked passed Luna and straight towards the journal, “Forgive me for speculating, but the writer did mention some creatures over there being similar to a parasite. And how they could go unnoticed in many cases.”

“It is a possibility that could have happened.” Luna sighed as she thought about the events that caused her to turn into Nightmare Moon, “But still it would all come down to me having made that first choice to tamper with the jewel, and to eventually take it out of the dream realm and put it in the castle my sister and I once ruled.”

As Starlight acknowledged Luna’s willingness to lay claim to her own faults, Twilight continued to rack her brain against the metaphorical wall that she had come to know. All in the namesake of trying to find a way to communicate with their lost friend.