Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #35: Connected to Home

“I’m not getting older.”

Those were the very first words out of Sunset Shimmer’s mouth the moment that Twilight emerged from the base of Canterlot High School’s statue. No greetings, no hug, just a statement. The full moon hung overhead, and Sunset herself was in a dress that Twilight was positive was a Rarity original, and much more fancy than her usual attire.

“Sunset? What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.

“I’m not getting older, Twilight, and I should be,” said Sunset, beginning to pace, “I’ve been here for I don’t know how long, but I look exactly the same as the day I first dived through the mirror. When I was back in Equestria, I had the exact same body as I did before I quit being Celestia’s student. I’m stuck like this, Twilight, and it’s bothering me.”

“Before,” continued Sunset, “It wasn’t such a big issue. Just meant that I had to change schools every few years, fake looking younger or older for a while, because I was just biding my time until I could take over Equestria. But now, all of my friends are asking what I’ll be doing now that I’ve finished school, and it’s worrying me that I haven’t aged at all.”

“I asked Princess Celestia about your departure after the first time I came here,” said Twilight, “you left shortly before she found me, so you’ve been gone from Equestria for ten years. I don’t know of many spells that prevent aging, but I can have a look through the Canterlot Archives for something that can help.”

Sunset shuffled on her feet, before reaching around the side of the statue, and pulling out a bag.

“Here,” she said, as Twilight took hold of the bag, “this is everything that I could find on the mirror and anything like it. I took it from the castle library when I left. I’ve already looked through everything there, but I couldn’t find anything. Book study was never my strongest suit, anyway.”

“I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, Sunset,” said Twilight, heading back through the portal.

*******

Twilight, true to her word, immediately threw herself into her study the minute she got back through the mirror. She started with the books that Sunset had given her. They were mostly generic discussions upon the mirror, with no in-depth examinations upon how it worked.

Two trips to the Canterlot Archives, one conversation with Moon Dancer and a chess game with both Celestia and Luna, and Twilight was still no closer to understanding what the source of Sunset’s problem might be. She had learned of several methods of delaying the aging process, but most of them involved sacrificing other ponies.

Then she had an idea.

“No,” murmured Twilight, “it can’t be that simple, can it?”

To confirm her suspicions, Twilight cast the most basic analysis spell that she knew on the mirror itself. The gems around the outer edge of the mirror lit up, and Twilight had her answer.

******

“You’re familiar with the concept of a phylactery, right?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Yes,” said Sunset, “dark magic, keeps your soul alive despite harm to your physical form and so on.”

“Well, the mirror is effectively one,” said Twilight.

Sunset Shimmer blinked.

“My best guess is that the mirror was designed to be a prison for really dangerous beings from Equestria, a one-way portal that strips all of your magic and a piece of your soul, and stores it in one of the gems around the edge of it,” said Twilight, “basically, a piece of your soul is still connected to Equestria, preventing you from aging, and it would be returned to you upon your return through the mirror. But from what I can tell, this only happens when an Equestrian goes through.”

“Huh,” said Sunset, “that sort of makes sense.”

“Now, it’s not quite enough to fully prevent death,” said Twilight, “but functionally, you are immune to aging. Immortal, not invulnerable, if you will. Unless you’d like me to purge the gem of your soul, of course.”

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #35: Theme Week, Day 4
The prompt: “No matter where you are...everypony is always connected.”