Chapter 15: Mad Lab


"Here, Twilight. The Great and Powerful Trixie hopes you appreciate the painstaking efforts it took for us to fetch your forgotten valuables." a pale magenta arcane glow levitates the aged tome teasingly under Twilight's nose.

Said Alicorn's carefully curated 'princess face' was on full display. But with as much time as she had spent with her friend and mentor, Starlight could spot the facade. Well, admittedly the irritable wing twitch that swiped the Alicorn's pinions across her rain-soaked saddle bags was another giveaway.

Canterlot's Hearthrow station was just as busy as ever despite it being well past the mid-day rush. So the quartet of ponies found a semi-secluded spot in the lee of a great brass clock just a little ways from the departure ticketbooths. The time piece's rhythmic tap competes with the howling winds and pattering rains in a vain attempt to drown out the hubbub of the crowds.

Twilight's measured tone emerges with a warble, "T-thank you very mu-"

"Yeah, it must have been quite a struggle to go fetch a book from Twilight's room in the same building you were supposed to be in. Yep, quite the effort." There's a short snort as the unfamiliar voice behind Twilight curtly continues, "Twilight, it's not impossible that I'm wrong, but a travelling magician doesn't sound like the kind of scholastic talent we need to solve our problems. Or any problems that concern us, actually."

'Oh buck.'

Starlight's eyes lock with Twilight's. The princess's gaze slowly pans back as if afraid that any sudden movement would somehow bring everything crashing down.

Starlight spots the other pony, muzzle mostly buried in a hefty medical journal. Cream coated, unkempt mane, dark glasses, enormous scratchy charcoal sweater with a stretched collar. Yep. The mare was the spitting parody of the Canterlotian gifted Unicorn graduate student.

The pale mare peeks over the edge of the page, showing the epitome of disinterest after looking Trixie, then herself, up and down. The blasè expression looked almost permanently acid-etched onto her face.

While Starlight was fairly certain her own too-wide grin at least resembled something close enough to a 'smile', Trixie's face visibly contorts. The scowl of anger and irritated eye twitch combine with an indignant half-snort. If the stage-mare's face hadn't turned an unhealthy shade of scarlet, it might have looked more like she was fighting back a sneeze. But the awkward expression soon melts into a narrow eyed stare and a crooked grin.

Trixie's smile never makes it to her eyes. "So, the Great and Powerful Trixie's reputation precedes her. Really, was there any doubt? It's nice to meet a pony that can recognize a star. It must be what her talent is. It sounds a lot nicer than being some bit-a-bushel magic student who stays up late with her school textbooks every night. Alone." She steps in closer, smirking as she gazed up slightly into the pale eggshell coloured Unicorn mare's unflinching features, "But, my preciously portly little pony, of the great and many things that Trixie knows that could help with your multitude of problems, she didn't bring her grooming kit to shave those bushy little caterpillars crawling on your face. Or pack any extra deodor-"

A pink hoof quickly covers Trixie's muzzle. Starlight's toothy grin stops only a few degrees short of full-manic. "H'okay, that's great. How about we call a truce, it's a lovely day in Canterlot and we wouldn't want to say anything that could spoil it. Right?"

As if intentionally trying to make her a liar, the low rumble of thunder heralds the blustering winds whipped into a frenzy by the miserable storm. The massive doors on the far side of the station even groan in harmony with the creaking roof as breathy tendrils of mist and spray billow in from the outside world.

"Soooo... Uhhh, who's your friend, Twilight?" Starlight's voice crept up almost a full octave as the wane grin on her muzzle stretches well past the 'sane' threshold. Those sweat droplets slowly beading on her nose tip didn't help the image, either.

"Moondancer, grad student and research assistant for Canterlot U's theoretical magic department. I take it you're Starlight Glimmer, then." The strange mare dispassionately mutters as she levitates her glasses from her muzzle and tries to wipe them off on her slightly damp sweater. All it did was smudge the haze across the lenses.

"Yes, that's me. And this is Trixie, as I guess you're aware. Nice to meet you." Still keeping a hoof across Trixie's muzzle, Starlight didn't dare offer it to shake.

Moondancer flicks her snout in irritation while lofting a very noticeable eyebrow. "I'm sure. Alright, lets get this over quickly so we can go back to work. Twilight, you have the book, what's next? I'm sure these two would like to be done here, get their tickets, and be on their way back to wherever as soon as possible."

Twilight swallows and takes a step in front of her associate while digging a folio from her bag, "Starlight, could you maybe take a look at this? I'd like to get your opinion."

A fleeting flash of reproach crosses Moondancer's features, prompting a wince and wordless plea for understanding from the princess. Moondancer relents, withers slumping as she takes a half step forward to look at the book now held in Twilight's arcane grasp.

"I'd be glad t-Yueeeelgh." Starlight withdraws her now wet hoof and waggles it a little, unsilencing a now grinning Trixie.

Thankfully, the stagemare holds her silence, though the smirk said she wasn't done with her fun. But with a sharp warning glare and noticeable muzzle scrunch, any further incident seemed curtailed as Trixie slips back alongside Starlight. The latter Unicorn neatly plucks the folder from the air and starts to shuffle the papers before Moondancer clears her throat.

Twilight spots the momentary glare of disapproval and turns back to Starlight, "Maybe we shouldn't do that here in public. I have a royal carriage just outside that will take us to the castle."

A throaty scoff follows the statement. Moondancer slips her glasses back on and mumbles more to herself than anypony else. "I had to make sure you didn't gallop here in the rain. And yes, this is somewhat sensitive, which is why I thought we were trying to keep this mostly on a need-to-know basis."

Starlight patently ignores it as she slips the plain manila folder into her travel bag. "I understand. But you are gonna' tell us what this is about, right?"

Twilight swiftly bobs her head as she cracks open the new tome. "Of course. Sorry, it's just sensitive. Like Moondancer said." She keeps the book open but turns and trots towards the ticket booth queues and seating accommodations under the rotating schedule. This time, without the aid of a cohort of royal guards, nopony seemed to pay them any mind as they head towards the exit.

Getting through the thinning crowd of ponies took some effort. A few bumps and muttered curses saw them delayed several more moments before Moondancer takes up the lead and gracelessly starts to push past the host of travelers. Many were soaked through by the rainstorm, making the air stifling, warm, and pungent.

"Ey, watch it, mare!" A harsh Los Pegasus drawl confronts Moondancer as she shoulders past a grey pegasus stallion.

He turns to shoot her a harsh glare, only to find it met with an equally irritable scowl. "Stop standing around like a gormless yak. Princess business."

"Pffft, in your dreams."

That raises a brow as she goes to turn, figuring Twilight was right behind her. Instead, she finds nopony, "Twilight?" She calls out, only getting a muted derogatory curse from the stallion as she wanders back the way she came. "Twi?" Moondancer flares her nostrils and sets about muttering to herself as she stamps back towards where she last saw their group, "I turn my back for five seconds and what do I get? Ugh, I swear if you decided to wander off after your little minion and her half-baked bedmare I'm done helping you on research projects. And you can forget me sharing credit for this one."

Stumbling gracelessly through a line of ponies waiting for a ticket booth, she spots the Alicorn standing stock still in the middle of the floor.

"There you are." Moondancer sighs with a grunt of irritation. Twilight and Starlight both crowed around the open book. The latter casts a quick glance to Trixie who had recoiled from the levitating tome. "Twilight, keep up. You made me look like a mule back there. I thought we were headed for the carr-"

Twilight doesn't look up, her eyes stare at her book, a quill held just above the paper.

"Twi?" Moondancer approaches, and for a moment, she swore she could hear the clock grinding and tick far louder than usual.

"Has this ever happened before?" Starlight's voice barely crests above the general hubbub of the station. She gets a mere headshake in reply.

"Something wrong?" Moondancer peers over Twilight's shoulder at the book.

The ink ran from Ponish script in rivulets as if written on baking paper. Black lines flow down the page in spidering veins, somehow obscene and organic before stretching across in long, neat, discernible, and subtly wrong script. Strange glyphs and sigils still spread across an empty page in the centre of the simple faux-leather bound tome. But one by one the ink blobs coalesce onto the adjacent page, flowing over the divot on the spine, and creating contrasting shapes: squares and rectangles form in some while lavish spirals and curvatures appear in others. Slowly, in the center of it all, the ink itself shifts colours as if on a whim. Black turns to blue, and green, and red as it traces out an impossible maze surmounted by an eight pointed star. The shimmering ink gathers at the top of the page as something else drips from the center margin to the station's slab floor.

"T-twilight," Trixie stares wide eyed at the little blot of red on cold grey stone, voice creeping up to a hoarse stage whisper, "why is your stupid book bleeding?!"

From immediately above them, the great brass-clad clock tolls.


"...Never?"

"Starlight, do you really think I wouldn't record something like that? No, I've never seen anything like that. Ever." Twilight's voice races up her vocal register again before crackling with an uncomfortable gurgle. Her hooves tap a nervous tattoo on the cold stone floor and only stops when Moondancer presses a hoof to her withers.

"Okay okay, yeah... then, what about the medical numbers? You're sure that these are all right too?" Starlight intentionally looks away from the now-shunned tome laying on a chair they'd shunted away in a corner. She busies herself leafing through the papers from the medical folio and lets her eyes dance over the hastily scrawled numbers that seemed impossible.

"Within a reasonable margin of error, yes." Twilight swallows awkwardly as she nervously grinds a hoof into the stone floor of the occupied medical suite.

Starlight licks her lips, not feeling tremendously better than Twilight by the look of it. Her friends pacing stopped only so long as Moondancer put pressure on her back, like some sort of spring toy. She tries to ignore the awkwardness of the compact room and the slightly raised voices on the other side of the hallway door. But no matter the subject or the distraction, Starlight couldn't help steal a glance at the proverbial giant in the room.

The unconscious Princess of the Night still lay covered by a thin green medical blanket.

Luna remains outwardly the same as she was all morning, at least according to Moondancer. The princess twitches and fidgets, little spasms coursing through her hooves and wings as she lays on the cot. A few home-made contraptions hang from the beds unfurnished wooden frame and flash odd sequences of lights across a battered instrument panel. Absolutely nothing about it betrays its supposed purpose. The only difference had been changing a cold compress that Starlight herself had thought to apply to Luna's forehead, much to Twilight and Moondancer's shared chagrin.

Honestly, that last little bit had given her some stomach to endure the intolerable awkwardness of seeing a princess vulnerable. So she shuffles the papers in her arcane grasp and glances up to a distracted Twilight, "And they were independently checked?"

"hmm?" Twilight's gaze shoots back as she sharply bobs her head, "Oh, yes."

"Double checked?"

"Starlight," Moondancer finally breaks the stuttering discourse that had pervaded the room for the past five minutes, "Those are Twilight's notes. Do you honestly think she'd ramble off numbers without having made us runt he numbers three times and then test the devices twice more to ensure it was accurate?" Another painfully awkward silence greets the scholarly mare.

'She's kinda scary. And a little mean.'

Moondancer's stare was intense and just as chilly as before. It was getting difficult to meet her gaze even at the best of times. And every single moment with Trixie had been an exercise in patience. Part of Starlight was happy that Trixie wasn't there at the moment, and the other part knew she'd have to deal with her sooner than later.

"Ooookay," Starlight tucks her muzzle further into the paper and mumbles, "Point for Moondancer. So what was the final numb-"

Raised noises from the outside draws the attention of everypony present. Trixie's indignant voice, muffled as it was, could still be picked out in each churlish vitriol powered sentence. But all three return to the documents being freely shared between the erudites. Charts, numbers, and even several books make their rounds.

Starlight glances back and forth, Twilight's worried ear flicks and anxious lip gnawing were pretty obvious. But where Twilight looked barely able to stop her front hooves from tapping in anxiety, Moondancer's furrowed brow had barely changed since the moment they'd met at the station. The Unicorn clears her throat again, "Twi, Moondancer, I have to ask: greater than four hundred and twenty thaumins?"

"Yes." Both Alicorn and Unicorn reply at the same time. No, there was no doubt in that. She could only shuffle the impossible number to the back of the pile.

"So, Starlight." Twilight fidgets and takes a breath. Both of them knew what was coming, "We were hoping that you might have a theory."

"Magical attack." she said nearly instantly. From all the evidence and notations given, even from the little spasms and the blip of the cardiograph, Starlight was happy she had looked everything over in the carriage. "It has to be. With that kind of arcane output, she has to be dealing with something that put her body into shock. Perhaps just to keep her from seeking aid, though if she was attacked in her sleep then that might account for it too."

Twilight bobs her head and glances over to her associate, "Moondancer said the same thing."

"Well," Moondancer interrupts, and for a moment, she flashes what could be considered a smile. Or at least a far less intense scowl. "More or less. Part of the biorhythms line up with extreme stress, so I had hypothesized it was a nightmare or came in the form of one. But it had to be a different mechanism or vector, y'know, given that-"

"-she's the originator of most of the dream school of magic. And she should be at base RPTE, not elevated." Starlight finishes the thought, and while others might have been irritated, all three seemed to be operating on the same wavelength.

Then the door burst open with a huffing blue Unicorn affixing a gaudy yellow 'visitor' tag to her cloak front. "You would not believe what they wanted to search of Trixie. The absolute hoofsy little wretches. Trixie swears that Canterlot guards are all absolute desperate males that all joined in the hopes that Princess Celestia would notice them. Or that the armour would get them mares, but they All. Look. The. Same." She sidles up next to Starlight, still glancing back at the door with an indignant muzzle scrunch.

The added warmth of a body through a layer of equally familiar cloth was a little more steadying given the gravity of the subject at hoof. "Insisted on searching your hat and cape again, right?" Starlight absently mutters in familiar sympathy.

"I can see why" Moondancer mutters without even glancing at Trixie. Not that the pale blue Unicorn mare in stage cloak and wizarding hat didn't return the favour and glare daggers at her. But while searching one of the more outlandish of the sorcerer Crawley's tomes, Moondancer continues to dig herself into a hole, "A mare that crosses boarders and travels the countryside, talking in third pony perspective and wearing that, is kind of the sort of pony that draws a guard's attention."

Trixie bites her own lip before shooting a glare at the cream coated mare. "Well, at least Trixie can draw a pony's attention. And she can, and does, hold it. Meanwhile, the last thing you held was that niggling sense of insecurity."

'And there's a point for Trixie.'

Moondancer visibly pales beneath her already pale coat, but it didn't stop the slight flush from forming in her cheeks. It was just hard to tell if that was embarrassment or anger.

"Trixie, that wasn't very nice." Twilight scrunches her muzzle and narrows her gaze at Trixie, who merely raises a hoof to her chest as if to ask 'who, me?' But the Alicorn princess takes a short breath, "We're all on the same team. Now, apologize."

Starlight knew when her friend's gaze was drawn to her, and the only reply she would find would be convenient distraction. Starlight's nose was pushed so far in the medical sheet's that she could smell the hours hold ink.

"Trixie apologizes." The reply came and went with a lingering sigh from the pale Unicorn mare. Nevertheless, it would be enough for the time being. Maybe they could fix things with Moondancer later on.

"There. Now, back to the issue at hoof." Twilight meanders over to the medical side table, now heaped and laden with books and spidery esoteric contraptions. "Princess Luna. Now, we seem to have come to a consensus that the most likely cause is a powerful and consistent magical attack. But how can we diagnose the cause?"

"Given the vector, a physical examination likely wouldn't do it." Starlight's found she'd spoken as fast as her agile mind could race. She was just dealing with the section detailing the physicians attempts to cure their unresponsive Alicorn patient. "If we had an empath or other psychonaut pony, we could get down to- That's what the book is for, Isn't it? I knew that book looked familiar." Starlight huffs and looks up over the papers to fix Twilight a questioning expression, "You wanted to bring Sunset into this?"

Twilight nods, once more focusing on the 'banished' book in the corner. "Yes, but we obviously have a problem. I thought it would be best if we didn't have too many other ponies knowledgeable about this situation, and Sunset is one of the most talented empaths I know. But the book isn't working like it's supposed too. And it's never done anything remotely like that before."

"Did you ask Celestia?" Starlight's forward question meets with silence, and even a little incredulity from Trixie.

The question lingers for a moment, and Twilight replies with a lilting hesitation, "Celestia... isn't the best equipped to deal with this particular issue right now. I'd rather not burden her. Okay, so-" Twilight continues with a sharp intake of breath, pacing the length of the tiny room and tearing free a small sheet of disposable medical paper from the bed. "On its own the book may freely transmit and receive messages to its counterpart, regardless of distance or time. But at the moment, the book's counterpart is tangentially connected to a separate world through a mirror portal that opens every thirty moons on its own. However, my trans-dimensional point-to-point gate bypassed the latent rhythms by altering the resting thaumic power-"

"In common Ponish, Twilight." Trixie interjects with a bored stare.

"Twilight copied a mirror gate without the glass and rigged it to work whenever she wants." Moondancer offers, nearly spitting the explanation out as she stares daggers at Trixie.

And, surprisingly, the pale magician smiles and holds a hoof out. "See, Twilight, Crusty there got that done in one sentence."

Starlight chokes back a gasp 'Oh my Celestia, I'm not going to have enough bits for a make up present if she keeps this up.'

"You c-"

"Trixie!" Twilight's raised tone prompts the required response.

"Trixie apologies again, she meant it in only the most flattering way." Not exactly accepted, but not against it, Starlight leans her body into Trixie's to deliver a sharp nudge to her barrel with her elbow. It draws a little gasp of pain, but it was probably did the trick of warning her. "Trixie's treatment by the Guards have made her more sharp and acrid as a result, she didn't mean to take it out on you, Moondancer. Trixie is sorry."

Lowering her head and awkwardly rubbing her foreleg, Trixie's pathetic looking glance up from under the rim of her hat would have almost certainly looked sincere if Starlight hadn't been the recipient of it dozens of times in the pa-

'The mare is serious... huh.'

Even Trixie saw she went too far. Part of Starlight was proud of her for that, and the lean in and slight press of a forehoof to the side of hers was meant as a comfort. And after a non-committal grunt from Moondancer, it seemed that the apology was accepted after all.

Seeing some manner of detente restored, Twilight fetches an inked quill and the book in her telekinetic grasp. "What I was considering was a test. We need an empath, so we need Sunset. If the book doesn't work, the mirror might, or the gate might if we absolutely have to go back to Ponyville. But just to be sure, lets test the book again." And with that, Twilight let the quill scuff the surface of an unmarked page in the tome.

The ink blots, and once again runs in rivulets down the page, swirling and then forming wiggling lines like veins before seeping across the paper. Once again, when it crosses the spine, the ink separates into separate colours and begins to draw out harsh angular patterns and swirls, tracing inwards. And again, lines trace upwards against the forces of gravity, forming an eight pointed star.

"Trixie can't believe she sat on that thing most of the ride here..." The magician squeaks uncomfortably and shimmies back.

All the while Starlight's throat tightens as she watches the display, and Moondancer's breath grew more shallow with every passing second. But after a thoughtful hum, Twilight levitates the book and flips it on its side. The ink still draws itself across the page regardless of angle. The spiraling maze continues, stretching itself in monochrome lines all the way across the little square. It radiates off, forming separate junctures and spaces, before layering more detail onto the sketch.

'That's impossible'

Starlight continues her thought with a gesture to the book, "Anti-gravity ink isn't a thing. And it should have run out well before it hit the bottom of the first page!"

The lavender Alicorn says nothing, but takes the torn corner of medical parchment and eases into the way of the strange inkblot. It dribbles along the edge, soaking into the fibers and slowly spreading up the parchment. But as Twilight pulls the sheet from the book, the ink disappears with an audible hiss. The scent of scorched parchment reaches their nostrils at once, and where it had bled through now flake off in wisps of purple, green, and black smoke.

"Dark magic." Twilight whispers to herself. After a pause that had caught everypony offguard, she looks to each of the other three. "If it's connected, we have to inspect the mirror."

"It might not be related." Starlight offers with a shrug of her withers and upturned hoof. "If it's just a matter of getting someone who can work dream magic, I could just see about switching Twilight and Luna's cutie marks-"

"NO!" Twilight's shout actually shook the room. Starlight's ears fold back flat against her skull as the sound wave dislodges a thin sheet of dust from the ceiling tiles. The door creaks open, the stallion Solar Guard looking inside to cast a stern glance at a sheepish Twilight and a still unresponsive Luna. The shuffle of more guards heralds additional issues. "It's fine, it's fine... just... a scholastic disagreement between mares."

Taking the cue, and a last glance at Luna, the guard taps his teeth and ducks out.

"Sorry, it just doesn't sound like a good idea when Luna's in a state like this." Twilight swallows, looking apologetic but firm. It wasn't exactly a pleasant look but it did soften from the panic that had bled through.

Moondancer carefully levitates the small flakes of scorched paper in front of her eyes, squinting and nudging her glasses up with a hoof. "It's not a good idea. With the kind of stress the Princess is under, any change could result in far more severe reactions. It's far too risky. Twilight is right, we need an empath or somepony skilled with telepathy delving, a psychonaut. If this Sunset is necessary, then we have the added complication of determining what's wrong with the mirror. Besides," Moondancer glances at the door and starts to quickly stuff some of the books into her saddle bags, "I have a feeling we might be getting moved out of here soon enough. So, lend me a hoof and lets get the important stuff packed up."


The quartet of ponies had adjourned from the Princess's room just ahead of two Night Guard officers and three doctors. The four trekked through the nearly deserted halls of Canterlot's castle, meandering through darkened hallways meeting only wandering patrols who seemed to give them some space after spotting Twilight.

But the little party eventually left the grandeur of the more visited halls and descended the spiraling staircase into the bowels of the diarchy's personal archives. And amid one almost non-descript granite hall lit by the steady thrum of arcane lumin orbs, their quarry lay in stately grace. The granite vault door that sat in the middle was large, banded with bronzed beams etched with arcane wardings. While the Elements of Harmony had been kept in one such room not too long ago, it was a repository in a place of honour.

Starlight knew what everypony else did just by the halls haunting absence: this was a place to forget.

The door wasn't particularly difficult to open; a steady hoof and awkward press of Twilight's horn into a divot in the center of the granite saw it swing back on counterbalanced hinges. Pale white light filters in from the hallway to cast eerie pony-shaped shadows across the floor while the vault itself was only lit by soft moonbeams streaking down from arcane glass fixtures on the ceiling. They fall across a single tall object standing in the centre of a small circular room while the rest of the chamber is plunged into darkness. Aside from the white sheet draped across the object, the chamber was silent and empty.

"I still seriously can't believe that you have this in an unmarked room in the basement of a castle." Moondancer's whisper breaks the silence.

Twilight merely follows up a little louder and more confidently, "It's kinda marked, those warding spells aren't on every door down here. Just most of them. And think of it this way, Moondancer: what pony is going to stumble across it?"

Moondancer cringes sharply. The scholastic mare's muzzle contorts like she was trying to formulate a reasonable reply, failed, then came up with a half dozen more. In the end, she sighs while placing a forehoof to the bridge of her muzzle.

Early onset headaches were definitely a thing around both Twilight and Trixie, Starlight could vouch for that personally. So she herself cautiously steps towards the cloth covered device standing alone in the middle of the room. Her own uncommonly silent companion in lockstep beside her by the sound of matching hoofsteps and the press of fabric between bodies. It was a comfortable sensation in stark contrast to the tall covered object that radiates a sense of dread and awe. "Alright, alright. But if it's magic, why's the sheet over it?"

"Trixie bets it's for protection from the other side. Just like closing the curtains stops lightning."

With her muzzle still mostly covered, Moondancer lets out a pained groan that couldn't have been all that different than if she'd been shot, "Oh. My. Celestia. Starlight, she better be amazing at hornjobs because she's dumb as a bri-"

"Hey!"

Starlight's face flushes like it was on fire. Words failed, though she was sure the spluttering mess and hiccuped gasps were from her. She couldn't lock eyes with anypony else, she just stared at the sheet and tried to forget that somepony had just said that.

"Moondancer." Twilight's warning growl fills the gap left in conversation.

Edging further inside, the door slowly swings closed with a final squeak and resonant thump. The unexpected noise did make Starlight's heart skip a beat, but Trixie spins to face the now-sealed exit. With the door shut and little left to bar their access, the chamber felt more threatening than ever. Dust motes float in the pale light, illuminating the white sheet and falling across her own body. The monochromatic scene should have been soothing, but the towering mirror felt 'wrong' even from here.

With a chime of magic, the white sheet is caught in Twilight's grasp and carefully folded up and over the object. There is no flex, no wobble, just a single stately mirror framed in a thick boarder of garnet studded opalite and supported by stanchions of twisting black platinum filigree.

The mystic appearance is all but undermined by a single wooden plank hanging from the crown-shaped keystone of the frame. On the plank is a simple message written in dribbling daubs of red paint.

OUT OF ORDER