A Certain Magical Sunset

by Babroniedad

A Certain Magical Sunset - Act 1 - 23 - Twilight - A Visit from the Doctor

Twilight - A Visit from the Doctor

Thursday, August 21. 6:30 PM Canterlot time

“I’ll drive you home Dash,” offered Sunset. She reached into her pack, grinned then turned to Twilight. “Or not. You still have the ‘keys’ Sparky. Coming with? You can drive,” she grinned.

“Oops! Sorry!” grinned Twilight. “Yeah, sure! I’d love to.”

They went through the gate and up to Sunset’s car. Twilight opened the doors, and Dash climbed into the back while Sunset transferred into the passenger seat. Sunset handed her chair back to Dash to put it behind Twilight. Twilight got into the car and started it up.

“Hi, Nicholi! Dash residence. I’m driving,” instructed Twilight.

“Hello, Ms. Sparkle. Destination Dash residence. Estimated travel time 5 minutes,” responded the car. Twilight put it into gear, pulled out of the driveway then headed towards Dash’s home.

“I really love this car, Sunny!” grinned Twilight. “Thanks for letting me drive!”

“No problem, Sparky! Anything for my BFF!” grinned Sunset.

Dash laughed. “You two are totally gonna get married someday!” she grinned.

“Yup, totally!” agreed Sunset with a smirk. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Just not to each other. Just best friends, Dash! Still, Always and Forever.” She grinned. Twilight laughed.

“I plan on having lots of kids with you, Sunset,” Twilight snarked. “But not like that. You will be by my side though, through every step,” she added.

“That’s a promise, Sparky! BFFs for eternity!” smiled Sunset, nodding.

---

After dropping Dash off, Sunset and Twilight were about to head back to Twilight's house when Sunset got a call. Looking at her phone she saw it was her mom.

“Hi, Mom! What’s up?” Sunset greeted.

“Hi, Sunbeam! Are you in town? Can you come home for a bit?” Celestia asked, sounding a bit pensive.

“Sure mom! Why? Did you need anything? What’s going on?” Sunset asked. She nodded to Twilight who started the car and directed it to drive to the Royal residence.

“I don’t want to worry you, but Dr. Turner is here with some people from NASA. He says no one is in trouble, but they need to speak with you,” her mom answered.

“That can’t be good,” whispered Twilight. “I wonder what that’s all about, and why did they need to bring the Doctor?”

“Guess we’ll find out,” Sunset whispered back. To her mom, she answered aloud, “No problem mom. We’re heading home now. I'll be there in a few. Thanks for the heads up!”

“No problem dear! See you soon!” her mom replied before hanging up.

It was a short drive. Twilight parked the car in the driveway. Sunset got her chair out and transferred into it, then Twilight followed Sunset into her house.

“We’re in the dining room, girls! Come on in!” Sunset’s mom called out.

They entered, then saw her mom, Aunt Luna, Dr. Turner, and two serious looking people in suits, an older man and a younger woman beside him, all sitting at the dining room table.

“Have a seat, girls!” Celestia invited them. “We were just talking,” smiled her mom.

Sunset rolled up to the table. Twilight took a chair next to her. Twilight poured a glass of juice and passed it to Sunset then poured one for herself. Taking a sip, they both set the glasses down and smiled at their guests.

Sunset turned to their guests and smiled. “Hi, Dr. Turner! We don’t see you here often, nice to see you! And hello to your friends too!” She greeted. Turning to the two she didn’t know, she added, “Hi! I’m Sunset Shimmer, and this is my friend Twilight Sparkle. How can we help you?”

The man smiled. “Dr. Moonshot!” he greeted, reaching across the table to shake each girl’s hand. “And this is my associate, Dr. Long.” She nodded and smiled. “We’re from NASA, and we have a few questions for you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes while Sunset groaned. “Is this about that video that got posted?” Sunset asked.

“The one with Ms. Rainbow Dash joyriding on our Lunar Rover?” smiled Dr. Moonshot. “Or the telemetric shots we have from two probes and the Martian orbiter showing a rainbow trail of light traveling up and down the side of Olympus Mons yesterday afternoon? Or the shots of an interesting new setup apparently 80 or so clicks away from it.”

“Busted!” grinned Luna, smiling at the girls.

Sunset groaned, resting her face in her hands. Twilight looked stricken.

“You didn’t happen to get any photos of a cute little helicopter flying around the Martian landscape?” Sunset snarked. “I would hate for you to not have the full set.”

“Actually yes, we did, and my compliments to you both. Whatever you have powering that thing is amazing. We can’t believe it’s been in the air the entire time we’ve been tracking it. Your solar cells must be something else. The Ingenuity hopper can't stay up even a fraction of that time. We also noticed that our arrays are significantly larger than yours,” continued Dr. Moonshot.

“Actually the drone is powered remotely. We have a quantum tuned crystal we’re using to transmit both the power and communications between the drone and the hub. Both creations of my friend Twilight here.” Sunset hugged her stricken friend.

Dr. Long was taking notes on everything. After a moment she said, “Pardon my asking, but what kind of losses are you taking on the power transfer? Also, how do you deal with the heat buildup from the losses? Furthermore what kind of throughput are you getting by transmitting information through the crystal? Is there a limit to the range? What kind of dropoff are you seeing on the signal?” she asked.

“Definitely a kindred spirit there, Sparky!” Sunset teased her friend, lightly squeezing her arm.

“Wha… What was that? Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment there..'' answered Twilight. Dr. Long repeated her questions.

Twilight answered. “Uhm. Yes. Well… you see, we take no losses on the power transfer. The crystal acts as a superconductor so any losses are restricted to the actual powering of the device, not the transfer. There’s no build- up to speak of. As for the throughput? We haven't really tested to find a maximum rate but I seriously can’t think of any practical limit, as the Nyquist frequency of quantum entangled crystals is virtually infinite. As for the range before drop-off? As far as we can tell the range is practically infinite with no signal dropoff.”

“No signal drop off? How is that even possible? When you say quantum tuned, do you mean quantum entangled crystals?” asked Dr. Long.

“Yes. The crystal is actually part of a quantum entangled pair. The information and power are passed through the tangle instantaneously,” answered Twilight.

Both scientists’ jaws dropped. “Wait! Do you mean you’ve developed a quantum entangled chip that can channel both power and signals? And you have it on Mars?” gasped Dr. Moonshot.

“Uh, yes?” answered Twilight with uncertainty.

Sunset smirked. “Wait, there’s more,” she grinned. Dr. Turner was grinning from ear to ear.

“What more?” asked Dr. Long, incredulously.

“Well, to start, the matching device housing the other paired crystal is in my bedroom at home,” grinned Twilight sheepishly. “My bedroom is powering the probe as well as providing instantaneous internet to both the drone and our bunker. I guess you could say I am hosting the entire planet's internet from my bedroom,” she snarked.

“Holy smokes!” exclaimed Dr. Moonshot. He turned to Dr. Turner. “You told me these kids were brilliant, but now I see you undersold it!” He shook his head.

“So. A question. How did you get all this to Mars?” asked Dr. Long. “And I’m assuming that really was your friend on our lunar rover? How did you get her to the moon? And what in the world did you do to our rover to get it working again? It should have been dead decades ago!”

Sunset answered, “Twilight created a transporter using the same principles of quantum entanglement. We used it to teleport to the moon and Mars. We’re calling the unit the TACIT system which is short for Time and Continuum Interdimensional Transporter.”

“Thank you for that…” Dr. Turner said quietly to himself.

“But how did you get the transporter to the moon and then Mars in the first place?” asked Dr. Moonshot.

“That was me,” admitted Sunset. “I used my magic to teleport the receiver to both locations.”

Their jaws dropped again. “Your magic? Really?” Sunset nodded.

“Wow!” said Dr. Long. “That’s a lot to take in. So clearly this TACIT system can teleport both animate and inanimate loads.”

“Yup. We’ve tested that out. Extensively,” agreed Sunset.

“So, that rainbow on Olympus Mons. That was magic too?” asked Dr. Long.

“That was me. Again,” agreed Sunset. “We were attempting to measure the innate magical power on Mars. Turns out, to our surprise, the planet is not completely dead.”

Both the scientists looked at her in shock.

“Yeah. I mean it,” Sunset assured. “ We found evidence of life blooms in several locations. The riverbed our drone is tooling around has several of them suggesting subterranean water. We’ve only taken measurements of the magical radiation from it, as we want to avoid actually touching any of the sites to prevent any contamination. We need further testing before we can say with certainty it’s life. But the indications are all there.”

The scientists nodded appreciatively. “So… where is this TACIT portal located? Would it be possible for us to ‘send’ someone over to your site as well and perhaps take some measurements?” asked Dr. Long.

Sunset looked at Twilight who nodded happily. “Absolutely!” agreed Sunset. “Would either of you like to see the bunker now? We can take you there directly. The base is in Twilight’s lab in her home.”

“Yes, please!” They both agreed.

“Grab your coat Luna! We’re going too!” said Celestia as she got up from the table.

---

Dr. Turner had a prior engagement, so apologetically begged off on the excursion and said his goodbyes.

They all crowded into Twilight’s lab in the garage. She passed out a pair of goggles to each of their guests and one to Sunset as well, putting a pair on herself.

Sunset took her goggles from Twilight and put them on. “Thanks, mom!” she snarked.

Twilight rolled her eyes and grinned. “Please keep these on while we are operating the TACIT receiver. As someone,” she glared at Sunset, “can attest, the flash that accompanies using the TACIT unit can be painful. These should protect your eyes from any harm.

“We’ll travel in two groups. Sunset, you’ll go first with your mom and aunt. Once you’ve cleared out of the base, we’ll follow and join you in the bunker. Any questions?” Twilight asked.

Seeing none, Sunset rolled up to the booth and backed in. Celestia and Luna crowded in beside her. Shutting the door, Sunset took out her phone and loaded the control app.

“On three!” Sunset called out. “One, Two, Three.”

There was a bright magenta flash and the booth was empty. Twilight got a text from Sunset. “All clear!”.

“Okay! That's our cue! Let’s go.” Twilight stepped into the booth followed by Drs. Moonshot and Long, both facing her. “On three. One, two, three.” She pushed the engage button on her phone. With a bright magenta flash they disappeared.

When the glare cleared the scientists could see the control room outside of the booth.

“Sweet Maker! It worked!” exclaimed Dr. Moonshot.

“Of course it worked,” observed Twilight as she opened the door and stepped out. She took off her goggles and placed them in the container on the workbench beside the TACIT receiver. “You can take the goggles off. We’re done with the TACIT system for now,” she advised. The scientists obliged, placing their goggles with the others.

“Where’s your mom and aunt?” Twilight asked Sunset, who was sitting alone waiting for them.

“They went to put snacks and drinks out for everyone. Let’s go join them!” Sunset proposed, rolling out into the main room. Twilight followed with the scientists.

Once they were in the main room, Sunset spun around and greeted their guests.

“Doctors, welcome to Mars!” she grinned.

---

Twilight gave the scientists a quick tour of the bunker while Sunset helped her mom and aunt set out the snacks and drinks on the conference room table. When they finished the brief tour, Twilight and the scientists joined them at the table.

“Wow! You’ve really outdone yourselves with this bunker. And a communal bath? Awesome! You won’t find that in any of our Martian habitat plans!” grinned Dr. Moonshot.

“Mostly because we figured that water was going to be a premium,” noted Dr. Long. “Having a teleporter capable of spanning several AUs really is a game-changer. And there’s no magic involved, you say? It’s completely driven by quantum entanglement?”

“Correct,” answered Twilight. “Though we do use magic to create the entangled pairing between the crystals in the first place. I’m working on a device that will be able to create entangled pairs using only scientific principles with no magic involved. It’s not quite there yet. I expect I’ll have it operating shortly. We’re also working on a tuned pairing that would allow a network of TACIT receivers to be joined together. That would allow teleportation between any networked unit. That’s a bit further out. We’re still having some issues with the tuning collapsing quantum entanglements. But, in theory, it should be doable. I expect we will get it working eventually.”

“How many devices would be able to function on one network?” asked Dr. Long.

“Not completely sure. Initial testing seems to support the idea that, once we manage to make the crystals tunable without collapsing the entanglement, there wouldn’t be a limit to the number of ‘addresses’ we could include on the network. We’ll see if that holds up when we get further along in our testing.” replied Twilight.

Dr. Long turned to her associate. “Jeff, imagine that! We could network the entire solar system together! You could literally go anywhere!”

Dr. Moonshot nodded, smiling. “It’s going to revolutionize space exploration,” agreed excitedly.

“That was our hope,” agreed Twilight. “Of course, we’d be happy to share our research with you. Please send me your contact information so I can send you our research notes and data.”

“Happily!” agreed Dr. Moonshot.

“Switching gears, I’d like to show you the data we’ve found on what we are calling the ‘life blooms’. We have a localized colony of them in an ancient riverbed a few klicks from here as well as readings from several other locations, including Olympus Mons.” Twilight went over the data and pointed out the interesting parallels to growth blooms documented and studied on earth.

When she finished, Dr. Long asked the question they had been waiting for. “So. Can we go outside?” She grinned.

Sunset grinned at Twilight. “Who's up for a little excursion?” she asked. Twilight smiled back while everyone nodded in assent.

---

Everyone was fully outfitted with daypacks and canteens. Both girls ponied up. Both scientists gawked, then turned to one another. “I thought as much,” commented Dr. Long to Doctor Moonshot.

They all passed through the magical barrier and up the ramp. Twilight led, followed by the scientists, then Ms. Celestia and Ms. Luna. Sunset brought up the rear, rolling along behind them. A magenta and teal glow surrounded them, encasing the entire party in a bubble of breathable air and protecting them from the cold and radiation.

“Okay, everyone! Headsets on. We will need them to stay in communication with Sunset.” Twilight instructed before reaching into her backpack and pulling out her headset. She turned it on and adjusted it to sit comfortably on her head.

Confused but accommodating, the scientists and sisters followed Twilight’s example. They remove their headsets from their daypacks and put them on.

“Not sure why we need these when we’re all right here,” observed Dr. Moonshot as he placed his headset on.

“That’d be my fault,” noted Sunset as she placed her headset on then rolled back from the group. “Sorry! I just need a little space for this. One second.”

Fully-extending her wings, she flexed and with a few powerful strokes rose up from her chair lifting several meters into the air.

“Sorry about that,” explained Sunset over the headsets. “It’s either this or literally sit the excursion out.” She grinned and waved at them.

“Ah. I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me,” apologized Dr. Moonshot. “Forgive me.”

“No apology needed,” Sunset smiled. “But thank you.”

“We can’t actually go into the riverbed or we’d risk contaminating whatever is causing the blooms, but we can go close enough to look at the banks of the ancient river so you can get a feel for the landscape,” explained Twilight.

The scientists nodded their agreement. Following that, the group headed out.

Sometime later they neared the riverbed. They looked over the terrain at the banks nearby. In the distance, a drone could be seen zipping up and down the riverbed. It stopped briefly from time to time then continued. Off to their left, the awe-inspiring Olympus Mons towered over the horizon.

Twilight found a rock large enough to accommodate the party and took a seat. Sunset settled down next to her and tucked in her wings while her mom and aunt sat down beside her. The scientists sat next to Twilight, grins plastered on both their faces. Both of them had their phones out taking pictures and videos of the Martian landscape.

“It’s breathtaking, isn't it?!” gushed Dr. Moonshot. Dr. Long just smiled and nodded.

Turning to the girls, Dr. Long asked, “So what other planets have you explored?”

Sunset laughed. “Aside from Equus? Just the moon and here. I need to either have a line of sight or a good knowledge of the destination or I can’t teleport the base. That’s why our bunker is where it is. Mars was up at the time and this was the facing part of the planet, so here we are.”

“Equus?” asked Dr. Long. “Never heard of that.”

“Inside joke. Sorry,” grinned Sunset. “Where I grew up… so, no. We’ve only tried the moon and here so far, but I’d be happy to try some other locations with you going forward.”

Twilight looked concerned. “But not with our existing TACIT unit.”

“No,” agreed Sunset. “Not with our existing unit. We need it to travel between here and home. Not touching that.”

“We’ll build out a few more paired units we can use for testing. I’d be happy to provide you with a pair when they are done,” Twilight offered the scientists.

“Yes, please. And thank you,” nodded Dr. Long. Turning to Dr. Moonshot, she commented, “I’d love to take a crack at Titan. Can you get some decent telemetry for Ms. Shimmer so she can attempt to park one of their TACIT units there?”

“I don’t see why not,” he agreed. “Yeah, I think that would be a great next target.” He turned to Twilight and Sunset. “Thank you, girls. I’m looking forward to working with you both on this.”

“As are we, Dr. Moonshot,” smiled Twilight.

---

After an hour or so exploring the riverbank, it was decided to head back to the bunker. Sunset excused herself, then lifted off to hover overhead.

“I think I’m going to take advantage of the chance to stretch out for a bit. I’ll meet you back at the bunker.” She lit out towards Olympus Mons, wings beating majestically.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget this moment,” said Dr. Moonshot while watching in awe as she faded towards the horizon.

“Ah, wait. I bet I can top this,” snarked Twilight. “Sunset! Feeling like really giving those wings a workout?” she asked.

“Ah! Sure Sparky! What do you have in mind?” said Sunset over the headset.

“I upgraded your and my headsets to fall back on network connections when the line of sight fails. You're plugged in Sunny! You don’t have to worry about line of sight anymore. Feel like putting on a show for our guests?”

“Woo hoo!” came the excited call over the headset. “I love you, Sparky! You don’t have to tell me twice!”

With that, there was a rainbow flash in the distance and a rainbow streaked towards Olympus Mons.

“Is that what she did when we saw the rainbow on the telemetry?” asked Dr. Long in awe.

“Yup!” grinned Twilight watching her friend streak off towards the towering volcano. Together they watched as the rainbow curved, heading up the side of the mountain.

Luna and Celestia were both yelling and clapping in encouragement.

The rainbow cressed the mountain and headed inward towards the caldera. “Woooo hooooo!” they heard Sunset yelling excitedly. Moments later a rainbow flash lit up the sky over the mountain. Waves of rainbow colors rolled across the sky. From the caldera, they could see a rainbow streak shooting straight up into the sky. During that time Sunset was still shouting out in excitement. Before it faded out completely it circled back around and traced out a path around the mountain's base as it descended in a spiral. The rainbow trail grew stronger as it descended. By the time it was back down to the height of the mountain, it disappeared around the backside.

“This. is. So. Awesome!” Sunset called out. A few minutes later she reappeared on the other side of the mountain.

“Bless the Maker! How fast is she going?!” asked Dr. Moonshot. “She just effectively circumnavigated Arizona in less than 4 minutes!”

The rainbow was heading back in their direction now. A few minutes later there was a flash of rainbow light. Sunset stopped about a half klick away, several hundred meters up. She waved and flew down to hang over them.

“That was so epic! I wish I could go on forever!” Sunset enthused.

“Not without me, you better not!” laughed Twilight. Her mom and aunt joined in the laughter.

“Okay, I’ll meet you back at the bunker. How does spaghetti sound for dinner?” asked Sunset as she headed back.

---

About an hour later the group walked up to the bunker. Sunset’s chair was gone as her return journey was substantially quicker than theirs. They walked down the ramp and back into the main room.

“Honey, I’m home!” called out Twilight with a grin.

“Ugh! And you say I’m the tease!” laughed Sunset, while waving from the back of the room. She stirred the sauce for dinner. “Dinner’s almost ready. Clean up and I’ll bring it to the table.”

Celestia walked back to join her. “I’ll help!”

The rest headed into the washroom to wash up before eating.

After washing her hands in the sink, Celestia pulled down a colander and drained the noodles then placed them in a serving bowl. She pulled another bowl down, handing it to Sunset. SUnset turned off the stove and filled the serving bowl from the saucepan, then placed the sauce and noodles on a serving tray on the counter for her mom to finish. She gathered plates and silverware, placing them on their own tray with drinking glasses for the six of them, then rolled, with the tray on her lap, over to the dining room table and set the table.

Her mom pulled the tossed salad Sunset had made earlier from the fridge along with the cheese, dressings, and condiments for the meal and placed them with the noodles and sauce on the serving tray, bringing it over to the table as well. Sunset returned to the kitchen area, and collected the fresh garlic bread from the oven, turning it off. She returned, placing the bread on the table.

Sunset rolled up next to Twilight. Smiling, Twilight took her hand. “Nice spread, Sunny. Thank you,” she smiled.

“Anything for my BFF!” grinned Sunset back, squeezing her hand.

“Wow! She can cook and she can fly!” grinned Dr. Long. “Girl, you’re a keeper!”

“Har dee har har,” snarked Sunset passing the bread around. “I can do more than that! I’ll have you know that I’m much more than a keeper. I’m priceless!”

Twilight laughed. Everyone joined her.

Celestia bowed her head. Taking her cue, Sunset took Twilight's hand and bowed her head as well. Luna bowed her head as well. The scientists looked confused for a moment then joined them as well.

“Thank the Maker for this food set before us. Bless our ways with Harmony and Friendship.” intoned Celestia.

“Thank the Maker,” responded the girls and Luna. The scientists just nodded and smiled.

“I didn’t know you were a Harmonist,” smiled Dr. Moonshot. “My parents were Harmonists. Growing up, we observed all the feasts and holidays.”

“All my life,” smiled Celestia. “It’s a family tradition.”

Sunset nodded, smiling.

The salad was passed around as well as the pasta and sauce. Everyone served, they dug into the meal with relish, hungry from their earlier hike.

---

Dessert was warm apple pie served with vanilla ice cream, courtesy of Twilight’s mom.

“I’m stuffed!” smiled Sunset as she leaned into her friend. “I just want to stay here just like this,” she smiled. Twilight put an arm around her friend and smiled back.

“Too bad,” Twilight grinned. “We have work to do. Maybe we can settle in and watch a movie or something later.”

“Slave driver,” Sunset snarked. She hugged Twilight then began clearing off the table.

Twilight looked to the scientists. “I can give you a lift back to wherever you need,” she offered. “I think we're done for the evening if you’re ready to head back.”

Dr. Long laughed. “After today I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to head back. But yes. That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can even trade contact information as well?” he asks hopefully.

Dr. Moonshot laughed too. “I second that one, never wanting to head back.” They gathered their things.

“Thank you for this, girls! We’ll remember this to our dying day,” promised Dr. Moonshot as they headed into the control room.

“I’ll be back, Sunny!” called out Twilight as she followed them in. A few moments later there was a magenta flash.

“What about you guys? Do you need to get back too?” asked Sunset the sisters.

“Sadly, yes,” answered Luna. “We have a meeting first thing in the morning but we can head back after we help clean up.” She went into the kitchen to help her sister who was cleaning the dishes.

“Ah, I can get that you guys! You don’t have to do that,” offered Sunset as she rolled in after Luna.

“Nonsense, Sunbeam. I want to help,” her mom answered from the sink. “Besides this will only take a moment. We can relax for a bit before we head back after this.”

“Okay. Thank you both!” Sunset smiled. “I am so grateful to have you both in my life.”

“As are we, Sunset,” smiled her aunt as she dried her hands then hugged her niece.

With the dishes cleaned and everything put away, they drifted into the game room. Sunset settled in next to the couch. She took the laptop from the conference room, set it on her lap then logged in.

Luna and Celestia fired up the game system then went head to head with some PVP arena action. Sunset smiled at their antics and laughed at their taunts.

After a while, there was a magenta flash from the other room. Twilight came in and joined them, sitting down on the couch next to Sunset.

“What’re you doing Sunny? Going over the data again?” she asked.

“Nah! I’m going over the matrices for the tuned entangled crystals. I’m trying to see why we keep collapsing the entanglement.” Sunset answered.

“See anything I missed?” asked Twilight.

“Not yet, but I’ve only been at it for a few minutes. We’ll figure it out, we always do,” smiled Sunset. Twilight smiled back, joining her. Together, they quietly discussed ideas as they reviewed the matrix data.

A few games later, Luna looked up. “I guess that’s it for us. Care to drive us home?” she asked with a smile.

“Sure, I can do it,” agreed Twilight, getting up.

“I’ll come with you,” smiled Sunset. She shut down the laptop, rolling out to place it back on the conference table.

“Sounds good! Let’s go!” agreed Twilight. They turned off the lights and headed into the control room. A few moments later there was a magenta flash and the bunker was once again silent.

---

No Trial is ever complete until it has taught us what we need to know - The Celestial Teachings

---

Toma - Academy City

Toma stirred in his sleep, restless, dreaming of the battle he had survived. Done with tossing and turning, he stretched, opening his eyes to see where he was.

“Oh, again? What, do they keep this room open for me because I use it so often?” he groaned to himself as he woke. He was once again in his recovery room at A Certain Hospital.

He quite suddenly realized at that point he couldn’t feel his arms and legs, and that one of the sisters was sitting on the bed before him, holding his hand to her breast.

He blushed furiously. “Uh, what are we doing?” he asked in embarrassment.

“You reached out to Misaka in your sleep, states Misaka. You grabbed me, though Misaka did take your hand and place it on her breast, admits Misaka. Misake rushes to inform you it is only so I can measure your heartbeat and brain waves using the electric flow in your body, Misaka states in embarrassment,” she added hastily.

Toma tried to move his hand away from the offending spot, noting with regret that he could neither move nor feel it, both noted with sorrow. “I’m sorry, I can’t move my hand,” he replied sadly.

“It is probably due to the anesthesia that was used on you, provides Misaka helpfully.” smiled Misaka. “Misaka is grateful you were able to save her, continues Misaka with gratitude.”

Toma smiled back at her. “I’m just glad we both made it out of that fight alive,” he said in relief. “Wasn’t sure for a few moments there.”

Misaka sighed. “Yes, Misaka agrees. But I cannot go out into the world yet, informs Misaka. Even though the experiment has been suspended, Misaka’s body needs to be readjusted, as she is a clone that was accelerated to growth, provides Misaka.”

Smiling, she returned his hand to his side, and rose to leave. She picked up the sleeping black cat she had brought with her, scoping her into her arms from where she lay at Toma’s feet. Turning back to Toma, she smiled. “Goodbye Toma! Thank you for saving me, states Misaka.” She turned to leave.

“So, will the readjustments cure you? Will you be able to live normally after them?” Called Toma after her.

She turned, smiling. “Don’t worry, Toma, you will see me again soon, Misaka assures,” she said, then left the room, leaving Toma alone.

Smiling, Toma laid back, resting.

---

The frog-faced doctor who ran the clinic Toma always seemed to end up at was examining him. The anesthesia now completely out of his system, he was able to complete every simple task the doctor requested.

“Well, it’s clear there’s nothing seriously wrong here. You seem to be almost completely recovered. Though you do seem to have an affection for this particular room I note,” grinned the doctor.

Toma laughed. “So it would seem.”

The doctor smiled. “Get some rest! We’ll have you out of here soon enough.” He rose, making his final notes in his chart before heading off on his rounds.

Toma laid back down, relaxing for a bit, and fell asleep.

What felt like only moments later, he awoke, hearing the door to the room opening. He turned, smiling as he saw Mikoto enter, a box in her hands. “Hi Zapper!” he called out.

She rolled her eyes as the came over to sit on the bed next to him. “I brought you a gift! These are the most expensive cookies I could find in the basement of the department store I went to,” she smiled, presenting the box to him.

Toma took it with a grin, unable to resist a little teasing of his friend. “You know, homemade cookies are the best.”

Mikoto recoiled as if she had been slapped. “What! Do you think I am some stupid character from a manga! The clumsy girl that tries her best, only to make a box of cookies then turns it into a box of crumbs!” she growled.

Toma waved his hands. “No, that’s not it! That’s not what I meant at all! Sorry if I offended you. And thank you for the cookies!” He smiled. “But even if they were crumbs, I bet they would still taste good!”

Mikoto playfully scowled, raising her eyebrow.

“Hey, just remembered something. Misaka 10032 was here!” Toma smiled, taking her hand. He explained Misaka’s condition, and what was going on with her. While happy that the experiment had been suspended, Misaka was clearly agitated at what she heard, and got up to leave immediately.

“Hey, before you go, think on this!” Toma called out to her. “If you hadn’t given your DNA to the researchers, your sisters would never have been born. And even though the experiment they were involved in was evil and wrong, their birth, and the fact that they are alive now is something you should be proud of!”

Misaka spun to face him. “It’s hard to be proud of being the cause of more than 10,000 of my sisters being killed!” she stated angily.

“Misaka, your sisters don’t hate you. They’re grateful. If they had never been born, they would never have been able to experience joy, or sadness. Look, it’s okay for you to smile! Your sisters aren’t the type of people who like to force their pain onto others. They don’t hate you, quite the opposite!” he smiled.

Tearing up, Mikoto closed her eyes and smiled. Nodding, she looked back at Toma. “Goodbye, Toma!” she smiled, then left.

Smiling as well, Toma laid back down to rest.

---

Later in the day, sometime after lunch, Toma was sleeping in the room. The sound of cicada could be heard laconically chirping out in the distance.

The door to Toma’s room quietly opened and shut as a robed figure stealthily crept up to his bed, a grin on her face. She climbed up on the bed, sitting astride the sleeping boy.

Jostled by her movement, and feeling a pressure bearing down on him, Toma woke. Opening his eyes, he saw Index looming over him, grinning. Horrified, he tried to sit up.

“Well, Toma! Do you have anything to say?” Index demanded.

Stricken with fear, Toma blurted out the first words to come to mind. “Good morning?” he said hesitantly.

“What!?” She growled. She launched herself onto him, grabbing his head and biting down hard.

Toma screamed.

---

“Index! Stop biting me! Can’t you see I’m injured?! Stop!” called out Toma, fighting to push her away. She continued biting down hard on his head. “Seriously! You shouldn’t worry about me! I’m the master of the house! Stop!”

Index stopped, scowling. “I was worried, you idiot!” she shouted. She pulled him into a hug. “I was worried! You left without a word! I had no idea where you were, or what was happening! And I was completely powerless to do anything about it!” She hugged him tighter.

“Index, I am so sorry. That was stupid of me,” he agreed, rubbing her back and holding her close.

Index looked up at him. “Toma, you always try to carry other people's burdens! When are you going to start asking me for help? Do I need to lecture you? Do I need to do this every time!”

She hugged him tightly again. “So, what were you fighting for this time?” She sighed.

Toma smiled, holding his dear friend tightly. “I fought for myself, Index. I was fighting for myself.”

---

Happy, Mikoto walked back to her dorm. As she neared the building, the doors slammed open. Her roommate Kuroko flew out, tackling her in a tight hug.

“Onee-sama!” she cried out happily, holding Mikoto tightly, her face buried in Mikoto’s chest.

---

Crouched down on the floor, Misaka was feeding her cat. She held out a kibble. The cat happily consumed it, then jumped up onto her leg, rubbing and purring.

Scooping the cat up with a grin, Misaka brought her up to her face. It licked her, which startled her briefly, as it was an unexpected surprise. She smiled, nuzzling the cat back.

---

Author's Note:

Events in A Certain Magical Index during this time:

• The Sisters Arc (Index).

Comments

[Babroniedad]

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rolmao!