Chapter 6: Checklists

Chance lifted the tips of her skis as the lift caught her suddenly from behind, no less disorienting after doing it hundreds of times. Of course for this Chance skiing was a fairly new adventure, and she was still somewhere between a giggle of delight and squeal of terror when the lift had dragged her forward far enough and lifted her up off the ground, with that characteristic hum of steel cables whirring against powerful motors. Soon she was uncomfortably far off the ground, with legs dangling over open air and stark white slopes.

Perhaps if this hadn't been a dream, it might have been uncomfortable to sit upright in one of these lifts with a spine not built for bipedal motion. If it hadn't been a dream, she also might have noticed the way she had been standing upright to get on the lift, or the way her forehooves were presently detached from the skis and wearing fingerless mittens instead of boots, and this detail was apt to change at any moment.

Dream or no, there were some details that did not escape her notice. Such as the way she was alone in the lift one moment, and very much not alone the next. Her companion did not look much older than herself, though instead of Chance's reflective poly-synthetic fabrics, she only wore a sweater of apparently natural fibers. Her skis were wood instead of laminated polycarbonate, and connected to her hooves by leather straps instead of sophisticated boots with metal clasps and shock-releases. Luna had been observing her for some time now, and carefully crafted this guise. Not to observe unseen, as that was not her purpose. Princess Luna was no nighttime voyeur, but the protector of all Equestrian dreams.

Luna looked to have taken the trappings of the dream, but even so Chance recognized her at once. Her mane might be a simple dark blue instead of the flowing curtain of stars, and her jewelry might be simpler, but this was unmistakably the same pony. Beside her on the lift Chance looked like a filly playing dress up, dressed completely as a human might rather than in the piecemeal style of the ponies.

"You decided to visit your world after all." Luna said, feeling pleased. "A fair place it is, too. There are numerous ponies with a passion for this sport." She leaned over, glancing down at the mountain beneath them.

Luna was the odd pony out with her archaic style of dress and equipment, since all the ponies skiing down the mountain were all dressed like Chance. Also, it seemed the proportions on the ponies below them weren’t quite right, particularly the stallions. No doubt Chance’s imagination could do only so much without proper information. Most ponies might have missed that at this distance, but Luna was not most ponies.

Chance shook her head, looking over at the other filly with her on the lift. Luna looked older, but not by much. She was getting better at this. "This is Equestria, can't you tell? Those are ponies down there, not... not..." She struggled for the word, and failed to find it. "something else."

Luna smiled. "Perhaps some of our skiing ponies would wish it so. Alas." She gestured at the lift they were sitting on, then at Chance's skis. "Were it Equestria, we would be on the ground, and we would be pulled up the mountain by a rope, or have to hike wearing snowshoes." She looked up just as they passed over one of the towering steel suspension poles, with its complicated system of pulleys and faintly whirring electronics keeping tension and speed consistent. "It's an ingenious system, however. We wonder if something similar might not be adapted magically. Perhaps we will speak with our royal engineers."

"We?" Chance wrinkled her nose, looking away from her companion to the challenge course that they were passing over, populated with ramps and pipes and rails and stairs. Long-maned ponies expertly slid over each, performing tricks that no Equestrian skier probably ought to be capable of. As Luna had no conception of Snowboards, she did not find their absence strange as an earth-native might.

The display also caught Luna off guard, and she stared openly. "And we don't have anything like that..." She pointed, suddenly intent. "Why did they build those obstacles into the mountain with metal and stone? Surely the slope itself is pleasant and challenging enough, for judging by the incline one might reach a fair speed."

Chance shrugged. "Dunno, I was never into it. Lots of people liked it. My little brother, he was pretty amazing on the halfpipe. He could do these tricks and spins that made it look like he had wings or somethin'." She leaned over the safety-bar, smiling to herself as she watched. But the lift kept climbing, from lesser peaks to greater, over many different runs. "No fear. The rest of us would be going back and forth, and he just went straight down."

Luna remained silent until the obstacles were behind them and she was forced to look away. Everything before her eyes was fascinating, from the strange materials everypony was wearing to the technology all around them. She had to resist the desire to investigate them further. It was wonderful that Chance was opening up, but that was her first task. When her psyche was sufficiently repaired, Luna could simply ask and satisfy her curiosity that way."You have a brother then? Was he as clever as you?"

Chance visibly sagged into her seat, and only replied after another long pause. "Had." She leaned over the safety-bar, looking down so Luna could not see her face. "Some of my family might still be alive, but..." She shook her head, and then brightened as she looked up. The lift had begun to get very bumpy, as they were coming up the disembarking station. The safety bar lifted of its own accord, and Chance clicked the boots on her forelegs into place on the very long skis. "Get ready Luna! Tips up!"

The dream-modified lift began to tilt up, and dislodged them on an icy slope. Both wobbled a little at first, but neither pony fell, gliding gracefully down. Well Luna was graceful. Even in dream Chance did not seem to be very good at this, and she stopped with an awkward wedge, not with the dexterous sidelong motion that characterized an expert as Luna did.

For all such lifts might be busy in the real world, there was no other traffic up here now, and just a handful of others waiting for them at the base of the lift-hill, where different trails were marked with different names printed on plastic signs in bold English letters.

Five ponies waited, all with somewhat similar features. They all dressed like Chance, which made it impossible for Luna to see the features that she would normally look for in a new pony, such as their cutie mark. A gray unicorn stallion, a pegasus mare, a young unicorn mare, and a light orange pegasus colt looking surprisingly confident on his hooves. They seemed to see right through Luna, and didn't have much awareness to them. Then they were just backdrop, no more aware than the snow or the machines.

"Is this your family, Chance?" Luna asked, once deliberation on which slope would be taken (the easiest one possible) was over and they were gliding gently down. Chance was so awkward on her skis that Luna was easily able to keep pace without needing her wings, which proper pony attire had left free should she need them.

Chance nodded, looking happy again. "It was for a long time, back when life on my planet was normal." She moved closer to the edge of the trail, leading Luna behind her. The side sloped steeply down onto a bright and snow-covered hill, covered with earth trees. The view was wonderful, the air crisp and cool. "Earth was such a beautiful planet. I dunno much about Equestria yet, but on Earth we had variation like you would never believe. We have this thing called plate tectonics, where huge solid sections of our crust move along a semi fluid molten layer. Over millions of years, they do all these spectacular things... these mountains are very old, so they're mostly worn down now. Newer mountains are much steeper than this... and we've got every climate you can imagine. So many beautiful things used to live here."

"There were jungles filled with life, millions of different types of insects alone! Such pretty animals too, roaming all over the place. Savannas with predators and huge herds of buffalo and antelope, vast oceans deeper than any of us could go without machines to ride in..."

She went on, telling the story of her planet as it had been in her youth. Luna listened closely, watching Chance's memories with her. Luna had seen many wonderful things in Equestria, and it seemed that Chance felt just the same about her home. "Thy world was a wondrous place indeed. I would have liked to see it, I think. Tell me, what of its people? What were thy folk like in the time of thy youth?"

Chance wavered for a moment, nearly falling over. It didn't help the question was timed almost perfectly with a steep embankment, which she nearly careened over rather than making a successful turn. Luna watched as war raged in the filly, as the part of her that was still proud of her people fought with the part that was ashamed and afraid. She watched with concern, preparing for an abrupt ending to the dream like last time. To her surprise and relief, the healthy part of Second Chance eventually won.

"What were the people like?" She grinned, and at once, they skied right out of the mountain and onto the sidewalk over a city. Skis ground in protest against the concrete for a few seconds before vanishing along with Chance's winter clothes. Luna stepped out of the memory too, though she seemed hesitant to return to her proper size and form. Not that Chance noticed. She was far too eager to begin her explanation to notice details like that. "You have no idea!"

At her thought the city of memory rose around them, buildings of steel and concrete rising far above their heads. Wide black streets marked with bright white lines, crisp and free of debris. Sleek metallic shapes formed on the road, moving so fast they were almost a blur. Rubber seemed to glide on asphalt, machines moving as though some greater intelligence was guiding them together in a well-choreographed dance. The air was cold and a fog hung just below the tops of the buildings, which made it seem as though many went on forever, stretching impossibly into the sky.

"This was my home." Chance said, trotting briskly along the sidewalk. She was fully dressed, in thinner versions of the strange fabric she had been wearing earlier. She also seemed to have little metal things on her body at various points, but they were impossible for Luna to identify. She even wore a pair of sneakers, which remained attached to her hooves through no visible means. The sidewalks in the distance were thronging with similarly dressed ponies, though none were close enough to obstruct their path. "Seattle, it was called. One of the best cities, but I expect everyone would think that about their home." Luna walked along beside her, hooves clopping along the sidewalk as she took in the huge buildings and massive vehicles speeding along nearby. For the first time in their brief friendship, Luna was cowed by what she saw, and completely unable to speak.

"We lived in cities like this all over our planet, expanding and building and learning. So creative, always inventing new and better ways to do things.” Another step brought them to one of the sleek vehicles, a sleek metal shape holding itself in the air through no visible means. Luna would’ve thought of it as magical, except that she could sense no representation of magic here in the dream, not even a hint of it. She was powerless but to follow the filly as she spoke. The instant they were inside, the opening slid closed behind them. The inside was dark, with comfortable seats along the sides. Chance sat down and Luna did the same, though she didn’t make her spine bend the way Chance’s anatomically inaccurate dream-shape was able to.

There was hardly a feeling of acceleration, yet the metal shape lifted from the ground and zipped up into the air like the fleetest pegasus. As the city fell away below them, Luna saw the structures, rising more massive than anything in Canterlot ever could. Ponies had no way to build structures of this size, each one many times higher than the greatest structures in Manehattan. The weight of the material and higher stories would crush the lower and the buildings would collapse. Not here, though. Despite clearly being made of such heavy materials as metal and glass and concrete, the buildings climbed higher and higher, some without any sign of getting thinner until they abruptly ended.

As they rose, the city faded into the fog, replaced by a sky filled with metallic shapes. There were no pegasai, but hundreds of fast-moving shapes like theirs, some many times larger and clearly filled with ponies and cargo. Greatest of all was a tower in the distance, so massive it must dwarf the whole of the city she had just seen. The fog made it impossible to see the size of its base, but it was still quite thick at their height, and tapered only gradually. She strained her neck to see just how high it went, and estimated the height at several thousand meters. It seemed to be their destination, growing so gradually larger that its sheer scale was almost frightening.

Chance was still talking. “Our greatest work of engineering: The North American Magnetic Accelerator; it’s how we used to send things into space. It uses millions of electromagnets, all in series... you know what those are, right?” Chance pulled herself up to the window beside Luna, pointing at the base with a hoof. “Oooh! They’re getting ready to fire it, watch! I only ever got to see this once...”

Little lights came on all over the structure, lighting up in lines all leading up from the base, and seeming to blink in some regular pattern. As they did, a faint voice came from nopony, sounding mechanical and unreal somehow. “Passengers, please take your seats. Turbulence expected from N.A.M.A. Relay in fifteen seconds.” Chance ignored the warning, so Luna did as well, watching expectantly for this ‘so-called’ greatest achievement in action. A way to get something into space was an achievement, though she hardly had fond memories of space travel.

A dull roar came up from ahead of them, shaking their transport. The rattling increased, and the sound got louder and louder, so much so that she would have been frightened were she not quite confident of her safety within a dream. “See, we used to use hydrogen-oxygen rockets to reach escape velocity, but you can’t imagine how expensive that got. Down there’s a track, and the spacecraft goes around and around and around-“

A falling star abruptly rocketed from the topmost opening of the tower, with the roar of an object that has just broken the sound-barrier. It was impossible to follow it with her eyes, but she could follow the trail it left behind in the air leading straight up. Lightning cracked in the narrow corridor left by the craft, following it up into the sky without bound. Then the craft began to shake violently, so much so that she nearly fell from her perch by the window. Chance did fall, though she seemed to land without injury on her back and quickly corrected herself.

The filly was beaming up at her, looking as proud as any pony could look. “See? Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Some people called it a space elevator, but that isn’t technically true since it doesn’t even go higher than the Troposphere.”

It took Luna several moments to collect herself enough to reply. She was Princess Luna, the diarch of the moon, a nigh-immortal being older than the entire civilization she observed. Still, she could not deny she had been affected by Chance’s amazing vision, perhaps more than any pony dream she had ever seen. So affected that she did what she almost never did in dream, and thought of herself before the pony she was trying to help. She did answer, though considered in retrospect she would long wish she could go back and erase what she had said. “This is amazing Second Chance! All of it!” She was so eager that perhaps, for once in a long while, the young form she had taken was more truly expressive of her nature than her usual one. “But how? How could a people with the harmony to create such wonders ever fall? Your people would have made short work of Equestrian foes. What conquered your people?”

The effects of her error were not obvious at first. The filly got quiet, and her unquenchable enthusiasm finally died. In her hunger for the answer to this riddle, Luna almost failed to notice the change in Chance’s emotional state. Had she not been a princess, perhaps she wouldn’t have noticed. But by the time she did, it was too late. Nothing she said or did would make a difference. “W-what… what conquered…”

There was a flash, brighter than any light she had seen on Equestria. Brighter than the sun, however briefly. It began to grow, expanding to encompass the entire city beneath them. Chance did not look, but Luna did, though it would have blinded her if she had real eyes to see with. The dream didn’t continue long. As the filly began to whimper, covering her face with her hooves, a wave of heat and sound approached them so fast that there was nothing they could do to avoid it. There wouldn’t have even been time for Luna to erect a spell to protect herself, if she had needed to.

Chance’s impressive metal chariot was crushed by the pressure, blown into a billion tiny fragments and burned in a heat far greater than the surface of the sun. The pain was so intense, and the ending so abrupt that even Luna was briefly overwhelmed, shocked back to reality and out of the world of dreams entirely. She was gone quickly, but not so quickly that she couldn’t hear Second Chance screaming.

This was an accomplishment. For the first time since arriving in Ponyville, she managed to make it to sunrise before waking up drenched and pale and screaming. Her eyes burned with those last images of her hometown in flames, that beautiful city reduced to a crater of radioactive glass. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-“ She managed to catch herself after only a few seconds this time, sitting up against the headboard with both forelegs shielding her face. As though that would make any difference.

There was no way she hadn’t woken up the room’s other occupants, though looking up sheepishly Twilight seemed far less bothered than she had been on previous occasions. According to Spike, Twilight usually got up around sunrise anyway, so this probably wasn’t much of an interruption in her normal routine. “Nightmares again, huh?” She asked, sounding as bleary as she looked.

Chance nodded. “I didn’t think I would, but I guess I did.” Unlike Twilight or Spike, Chance was fully alert, without a trace of sleeplessness to her. She had after all slept quite soundly until the end. What had she been dreaming about? Seattle? She remembered it now, though like all dreams it had started to slip away. If she had been dreaming about that place, why did she remember riding a ski lift? Both Twilight and Spike looked concerned, but Chance was not forthcoming with any more information, and neither was bold enough to ask her to elaborate. Only on the first day had Twilight asked what her dream had been about. After the disastrous consequences that had followed, she had not repeated the mistake.

“Well, no reason to let it get you down. Today is going to be just perfect!” Twilight had already climbed down to the lower section of the bedroom, and opened all the windows with a sudden surge of magic. The light coming in from outside seemed far livelier than the day before. Chance smiled a little at the clear sky. “It’s an exciting day for you Chance, because…”

“Oh, here it comes…” Spike muttered, before pulling the blanket over his head and curling up again, covering his ears with both claws.

“I wrote you your first to-do list!” Twilight produced a scroll from a nearby shelf, holding it up in the air in front of Chance’s bed and unrolling it so she could see. The scroll was longer than it looked, for as it unrolled it trailed along the floor, vanishing from sight. “There is nothing more essential to being a good apprentice than accomplishing one’s responsibilities. This way, you’ll know exactly what you need to do, and everything will get done exactly right.”

“Uh-“ Chance squeaked, raising a hoof tentatively in the air to try and stop Twilight.

It didn’t work. She went right on talking. “Of course, you may need help the first few times through, which is perfectly fine! Being a good apprentice is about more than just working and studying hard. It’s also about taking initiative and-“ She had begun to pace slowly back and forth in front of Chance, the list rolling itself up and setting itself in her lap before the magical shimmer faded from around it.

“Twilight, I-“

“make decisions for yourself. But if you take a more historical angle, every accomplished unicorn took on an apprentice or two at some point during their career. Being able to carefully and correctly accomplish assignments is absolutely necessary-“

“I CAN’T READ EQUESTRIAN!”

That got the princess’s attention. Twilight Sparkle stopped talking and stared. She was silent for what felt like several awkward minutes. “You… uh…”

So she wouldn’t have to look, Chance occupied herself with getting out of bed, and trying to make the bed behind her. It was a much more difficult task than she remembered, requiring her teeth more than anything else. Even then she wasn’t doing a very good job, but that didn’t matter to Chance. Anything not to have to look back at Twilight was worth doing just then.

“I’m sorry Chance, I had no idea!” She wasn’t particularly sure where the list had fallen to, but it lifted itself back up into the air, and vanished behind Twilight. “I… I suppose I just assumed… since you were so clever and everything…”

The filly spun around, feeling suddenly defensive. “I can read, just not Equestrian. The Nightmare taught me how to speak, not how to read.”

Twilight retreated a pace, frowning to herself. “Oh, uh…” Her face brightened, with apparent effort. “That’s okay! Plenty of ponies don’t know how to read. That won’t do for my apprentice, though. We’ll just… hold on a minute! I’ll make you a new schedule using pictures instead.” She vanished down the stairs, seemingly unaware of her severe case of bedhead.

Chance exhaled, collapsing right where she stood. “Spike, was it hard for you to learn to read? Dragons can’t be born knowing how, right?”

However he might’ve been acting, the reptile’s compassion clearly exceeded his selfishness. However reluctant he might be to give up his sleep, Spike sat up in his basket and met her eyes. “It was a really long time ago, Chance. But it wasn’t too hard. Twilight taught me!” He yawned, stretching both arms in the air above him before he went on. “They don’t have classes for dragons. She’s a very good teacher. Besides, you’ve got a head start! You seem to already know what all the words mean!”

Chance nodded glumly. “The Nightmare taught me when I first got to Equestria. When I was…” She looked up through the window, trying to phrase what she was thinking in a way he would understand. Nothing easy came to mind. “an idea. She showed me all the different words there were.” She paused, looking concerned. “I hope I still remember English.”

“Ang-liss, huh?” Spike repeated, trying to mimic her concern. “That sounds really important, I wouldn’t want to forget that either.”

She gave an exaggerated sigh before looking away, and didn’t reply for a few minutes. Spike stood up and stretched, and occupied himself with making Twilight’s bed.

“Wait.” She brightened a little. “This is a library, right? So there are probably… books to learn how to read, right? With pictures and bright colors and stuff to teach foals who don’t know yet…”

Spike nodded. “There are a few. Books aren’t cheap, but I think we have a few.”

Chance relaxed. “Good.” She stood, rising to all four legs. It was getting easier with each day, and she didn’t even wobble this time. “Do you think Twilight would mind if I took a bath? Who knows how long she’ll take to make that new list.”

He shrugged. “Can’t see why she would. Just don’t use all the hot water, okay?” He stretched again, yawning. “Since I’m up, I suppose I might as well go and make breakfast. Eggs sound okay?”

“That depends. Is there such thing as ketchup in Equestria?”

Chance took much longer than she remembered taking back home, just grateful for something that felt familiar. She had no idea how she could be using hot water in a world that seemed to lack electricity, but didn’t waste time thinking about it.

When she was washed and dried (but not dressed, since her clothes hadn’t arrived yet), it was back out to face the proverbial music. The first thing she noticed was the smell, even more wonderful than the pancakes that had been her first taste of equestrian cuisine. She was less than surprised to see she was the last to arrive, and that Twilight was eager to explain the changes she had made.

“Well obviously this has to be our first priority, since a full third of your schedule was previously devoted to reading.” She had another list already drawn up, though this one couldn’t be much larger than a regular sheet of paper. Whose dimensions Chance knew for some reason. As it turned out Equestria did have ketchup, so she was far too cheerful to be worn down by what Twilight was saying. Besides, for all that Chance was clearly a poor candidate for the position, Twilight still hadn’t given up on her. That was worth a thousand illustrated lists. “But that’s no problem!”

Evidently Twilight had already eaten, because her food was largely untouched. “We’ll start with two hours of reading together after breakfast, since not much goes on that early anyway. I’ve got you down for another two hours of private practice using some of the beginner’s books here in the library.” She lifted a glass of orange juice magically then, and took a small sip before going on. “Then three hours off for lunch and the social activity of your choice. We’ll see about letting you roam Ponyville eventually, but for now Spike or I will have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t get too lost.”

Chance thought there were probably other reasons for that, more closely attached to the “being an alien” bit, but Twilight wasn’t nearly bold enough to say so, and Chance had no desire to make her uncomfortable.

“Another hour for personal magic practice, and then you’re free for the night! Well… except for helping out with dinner, and any other chores we need around the library.” She put on a look of mock sternness. “Spike and I have always got along fine, but now that there are three of us we’ll have to make some changes. I hope you don’t mind hard work, because everypony works hard around here.”

Chance shook her head. “Course not, Twilight! I’m… I worked really hard to get here, and I promise I’ll work even harder to make myself worth keeping!” She smiled, not aware of the messy tomato stain all over her lips. Not until Spike started giggling, anyway. Even Twilight smiled.

“Good.” Twilight nodded, and stifled a few of her own giggles as Chance solved the Ketchup problem with her tongue. “I think you’ll be a perfectly fine apprentice, Chance. This is all just a minor setback, is all. After yesterday’s first lesson, I think you’ll be helping me before you know it!”

Chance tried to ignore the obvious compliment. Even though she suspected Twilight was just trying to make her feel better, she couldn’t cognitively separate that knowledge enough not to feel just a little proud. “Just as soon as I can turn feelings into actual magic.”

“Well, all the more reason to get reading! There are plenty of books on the subject. That’s how I learned, after all!”

“You already told her that, Twilight.” Spike muttered.

“I know!” She defended. “But it seemed worth repeating! A little more motivation to study!”

“Do you think…” Chance paused to lick everything that was left from her plate. “Could I use a pencil and some paper while I study? I mean, I might want to take notes while I go, so I can keep track of everything I’m learning. Like… I’d like to make a key out of phonetics and letters first, since I could probably use that to reason most words.”

The princess smiled even wider. “Of course, Chance! You just hold on one second!” She got up, so eager to comply with her instructions that she seemed to have completely forgotten the rest of her breakfast. “My little apprentice already wants to take notes of her very own!” She said to herself in her proudest voice yet.

Spike rolled his eyes. “What’s the point of paper if you don’t know how to read, Chance? How will you even know what you wrote?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” It seemed Twilight hadn’t explored that logical avenue, so eager was she to see that her teachings were already rubbing off on her pupil. “I do know how to write, just not in Equestrian. I’ll take notes in my old language. At least until I know enough to use yours, cuz’ that would be great practice.”

“Ooooh!” Spike smiled too. “I bet it’s crazy looking! I wanna see!”

“Sure.” Chance answered. “I’ll show you, if you… scoop me the last of the scrambled eggs!” She pushed her plate a little closer to Spike, smiling slyly. “Oh! And put some more ketchup on there, too.”

He stopped halfway through serving her, eyes narrowing. “You could’ve just asked.”

So it was that as Chance began her very first reading lesson, it was with a pencil in her mouth and a little notebook in front of her. Twilight rolled a chalkboard into the library proper. Spike sat next to her on the sofa, watching her every movement and seeming to give Twilight no notice at all. His boredom manifested rapidly however, exacerbated as it was by the way Chance’s scribbles were just illegible copies of the symbols Twilight was showing her.

Eventually he was completely unable to contain himself, and he sighed loudly. “Come oooooooooooon! Twilight, this is really interesting and all, but could you stop the lesson for a minute so Chance can show me what her writing looks like.”

Twilight sighed. “Spike, couldn’t you ask about this after our lesson was over?” She glanced at the sun in the window. “We’re not even halfway done yet!”

“But Twilight! Just a few words! It’s not like she has to write down everything you’re saying or anything.” Then he lowered his voice, muttering privately into Chance’s ear. “Or else it might take you years.”

Chance didn’t know how good ponies could hear, but Twilight glowered down at him. “Spike."

Chance paused, ignoring the two of them as they went on like this for a few seconds more, moving her mouth very carefully. Writing this way felt completely stupid, but the first half of the lesson had given her enough practice that as long as she went extremely slow, she felt like she could do it. So she focused every last ounce of her concentration into writing legibly. As it turned out, she hadn’t forgotten English.

Satisfied with the result, she interrupted Spike and Twilight’s banter by holding the notepad up so Spike could see, gesturing at the bottom. “There.” She looked back up. “You can keep going, Twilight. I’m listening.”

The lesson went on for another few minutes, until Spike got up from where he sat, walked across the room to where Twilight was standing, and held up the notebook right in front of her face. “Spiiiike! If you’re going to keep…” She trailed off abruptly, going quiet. Then without warning, she ripped the notebook clean out of Spike’s grip, and it followed her through the air as she darted down the stairs.

“Uh… was it something I said?” Spike stood speechless, his arms in exactly the position they had been in a moment before, too shocked to move.

Chance squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, getting worried. “She… must’ve recognized it or something. Are there more books in the basement?”

The dragon shook his head. “Only the ones she brings with her to study down there. It’s a lab more than a library, which is why we’re not allowed down there without Twilight’s invitation. There’s dangerous magical equipment down there.”

A glance passed between the two of them with more meaning than any words could hope to convey. Chance got up, followed closely by Spike as they made their way to the still open doorway. “Do you think we should ask?” Chance stopped at the threshold, shivering a little as a breeze blew past her into the opening. She pawed nervously at the top step, curiosity battling with fear of reprisal.

They didn’t have to decide. Another second later and they heard hooves pounding up the stairs. Almost in unison they turned and darted for the couch, leaping the last distance as Twilight crested the stairs. They collided in mid-leap, landing in more of a pile than any proper sitting position. Neither dared move as the alicorn approached, out of irrational fear that any motion might somehow help Twilight to realize they had been about to do something wrong.

“Chance, could you take a look at something for me?” She had brought several books back with her, along with Chance’s few words. She held the book toward her much-lower position, with her head resting against the cushion and Spike sprawled on her head and neck. “I’ve been doing some research since you got here, and it looks like your letters-” She trailed off, the book drooping a little in the air as she looked at the both of them, as though seeing them for the first time. “What are you two doing?”

It was as though they had suddenly unfrozen. Spike scrambled free, and Chance pulled herself back into what passed for a comfortable sitting position as a pony. “Nothing!” They insisted, only a few seconds apart.

Chance reached out with her hooves, tugging the book out of the air so she could get a better look, mostly as a way of shielding her face from Twilight. It felt strange to try and grab onto something with hooves, and she had to awkwardly squeeze the book between the two of them. Twilight evidently wasn’t holding the book very strongly, because she was able to pluck it out of the air, and hold it up to her face to hide behind.

Chance’s eyes widened as she saw the page. It looked like someone had tried to sketch something archaeological, tracing over some ruin in a long-lost temple somewhere to preserve it for the future. They might not have even known what it meant, merely done their best to record their observations so colleagues in some distant university might benefit.

“That’s from a temple, thousands of years old.” Twilight explained, unable to hide the first hints of amusement in her tone. “They worshiped this special stone. The pony who wrote the book thinks they got these symbols from the stone, and copied them all down as best they could.”

Chance just stared, utterly transfixed by a wall in ancient Equestria covered with perfect English writing.

Author's Notes:

Well there we are, another Saturday update done. I really hope I can keep this bi-weekly schedule going, though I am beginning to have my doubts. I've started working part-time a little more regularly now, so that's 20 hours a week I won't have to write these stories. Granted, most chapters are written the night before from 1-4AM, but then... (shrugs) Then edited the day before, then posted that day. If I only had one update a week that would make it easier to keep up. But I want to know where the story's going as much as any of you! If I only updated once a week, I would have to wait until next week to learn what was going to happen next! That would be lame.

Dunno, just mumbling. Thanks to the fantastic Zutchafor the art again, who has been kind enough to grace this chapter with another image of its protagonist. Until further notice, I suppose you can expect an update to pop on in Tuesday at some point. Not sure if I would go with a Saturday or Tuesday release if I was going to go for just once a week. Probably... Tuesday, since there's a new episode on Saturdays.

Also: Plot! Our first real glimpse at the world Second Chance comes from. Hurray!

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to comment, even if it's to point out all the stuff I've got wrong. It's excellent motivation to keep writing and to do even better for my next chapter.