Chapter 53

11-21-14, 2:14 P.M.

To Jeremy’s delight and Mary’s consternation, nothing had happened since the incident with the sniper. Jeremy was quite grateful for the reprieve, allowing him to study for tests – Hell Week lived up to its name in every respect minus the fire and pitchforks. In addition, he was looking forward to Thanksgiving – one of the few popular Earth holidays that had no Equestrian equivalent. He had explained what it was before he had come to college, after Celestia had asked him to list all the most common holidays when they were still discussing the differences between their universes.

Relaxing on his bed and savoring the upcoming weekend, he took out a book he had read many times before – he was sorely tempted to bring Equestrian books through the portal for reading, but he had the distinct feeling his roommate might raise an eyebrow if they caught him reading 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'. Ah well.

After a few more hours of no communication from anyone important, Jeremy closed his laptop, brushed his teeth and hopped into bed. Laying there, he could’ve sworn he saw lights moving outside his window, and sat upright only to find an errant car driving through the winter streets. Sighing, Jeremy flopped back down onto his pillow and slowly drifted off.

11-22-14, 5:17 P.M.

The day so far had been uneventful – a few hours spent on gaming and drawing. That was just the way Jeremy liked it on a Saturday, after all – relaxation like this was a rare commodity in college life. Of course, it was about to be a lot more common – he did have a short Thanksgiving break, after all.

After a few more hours of relaxing, he was surprised to notice a message from Luna pop up on the corner of the screen. “Dinner?” it read, and Jeremy smirked – he hadn’t known Luna would be up this early, and wasn’t it technically breakfast for her? Almost as soon as he finished reading, the closet door opened and a pair of starkly white hands covered his eyes.

“Guess who?” a familiar voice trilled.

Jeremy laughed. “Is it… could that be Chrysalis’ voice I hear?” he teased. Luna took her hands off of his face and placed them on her hips as he turned around in his chair.

“So, didst thou get our message?” she queried, as Jeremy stood up and stretched.

“Yeah, where to?” he asked. Luna thought for a moment.

“We think the dining hall wouldst be appropriate – nothing too special, yes?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Whatever works,” he answered, standing up and closing his laptop.

“Tis’ so much larger than thy high school’s,” Luna remarked as they entered.

Jeremy laughed. “Considering how many people live on campus? It’d need to be.” They got their respective meals and headed over to an empty table.

“So, dost thou have anything to do today?” Luna asked. Jeremy shook his head, and Luna smiled in anticipation. “Wouldst thou like to join us for the night once more?” she continued, and Jeremy gave it some brief thought before nodding. “Excellent,” Luna exclaimed, clapping her hands together with glee.

They finished their meals and headed through the portal, guards stopping to salute Luna as she passed by. Luna nodded at Celestia as they passed by, and she nodded back, smiling at some unseen cue. To Jeremy’s surprise, they exited the castle, and Luna raised her head to stare at the daytime sky. Seemingly of its own accord, the sun sped down from its position up above, and Luna lit up her horn so that the moon could take its place. Jeremy watched, still amazed by the speed and grace with which the massive planetoid rose into the newly darkened sky. As it reached the apex of its ascent, it stopped, with no forewarning or deceleration – something which must have taken the practice of a thousand years, he thought to himself. “Hmm, perhaps a little to the left,” mused Luna. And just like that, she adjusted its position ever so slightly – if Jeremy hadn’t been referencing the nearest stars as he watched, he wouldn’t have been able to tell it had moved. “Much better,” Luna announced, once again setting off. Jeremy was tempted to examine the night sky some more, but reluctantly followed.

They stopped at the edge of the Canterlot cliff, looking down upon the rest of Equestria.

“We always wonder how this will look in time – when decades, centuries, perhaps millennia pass,” Luna commented, gazing fondly at the still-lit Manehattan. Jeremy smiled.

“You never know what small thing might make this place look completely different, huh?” he answered, recalling his lessons on materials science and history.

“Well, one thing never changes, at least…” Luna remarked, and a second later they teleported.

A millisecond later, they arrived in the still-busy streets of Manehattan, other ponies shying away in shock or giving a nervous bow before continuing on their way. Jeremy looked around in amusement, and Luna gave a regal smile to the watching passersby. “This place is still the City that Never Sleeps,” she finished her earlier comment, and Jeremy laughed. He cast his gaze around to find that they were in a miniature equivalent of Times Square, complete with magical screens and billboards advertising the latest theatre and market developments. He’d never actually been to the ‘real’ Times Square, but he’d seen plenty of pictures and videos. Luna, noticing his renewed fascination, politely waited for him to finish looking around before directing his attention to the nearest Bridleway theatre. On it, an unfamiliar title was depicted, featuring a mare in a 1950’s-era dress against a countryside backdrop.

“What’s it about?” Jeremy wondered aloud.

Luna shrugged. “Let us go and see,” she answered, and trotted off towards the ticket stand, Jeremy casually following.

A few minutes later, they were sitting in the top box, Jeremy flicking through the program pamphlet while Luna merely waited for the show to start. The lights dimmed, and Jeremy stopped reading in order to look at the stage.

“I can’t believe her friend didn’t betray her out of jealousy,” Jeremy mentioned as they joined the exiting crowds.

“And the stallion’s son being the murderer all along was more believable?” Luna retorted with a laugh as they crossed the street.

Jeremy smirked in reply as they headed off to another part of the city, brightly lit storefronts making them cast long shadows.

An hour had passed, and already Jeremy had forgotten any notion of sleep as he perused yet another store window.

“Art thou going to buy anything at any point?” Luna chided, looking at him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

“Probably not, but this is fascinating,” Jeremy answered, tearing his eyes away from the store.

Luna finally managed to get him away from the storefronts long enough to teleport them somewhere else – this time, it appeared to be a series of caves.

“This is a popular tourist spot,” Luna announced as she led him inside.

“…Why?” Jeremy asked as he followed. It was a pretty ordinary cave, and he couldn’t make out much.

Luna lit up her horn to reveal a single wooden door, which she opened. Inside this section of the cave, lichen glowed with blue-green bioluminescence as a glowing pool bubbled below, its depth obscured by the coloration of the churning water.

“Tis’ a natural hot spring – the official, paying attractions are nearby, but we thought thou might enjoy the privacy.” Jeremy nodded.

“This is… amazing. What is this place called?”

Luna smiled. “To the tourists, it is referred to as ‘the Cauldron Caves’. Apt, is it not?”

Jeremy chuckled. “Too bad I didn’t bring my bathing suit.”

Luna rolled her eyes, and a flash of light later Jeremy’s clothes were on the floor next to the pool. Sighing at the all-too-familiar occurrence, Jeremy stepped into the pool, immediately relaxing as bubbles surged around him.

“So, is there a volcano nearby?” he asked.

“A magma vent, so not quite,” Luna answered. “There is also a lake near to here, giving rise to this particular series of heated pools. The color is from bacteria, none of which are harmful.” Jeremy nodded appreciatively, and spent a few moments staring at the glowing green moss that surrounded them.

“Truth be told, this is not the pool we had in mind – there used to be an easier path to it…” Luna commented, looking around.

“Would it be possible to teleport?” Jeremy wondered.

Luna shook her head. “If we were to try, and end up in a location that was already occupied by rock… the results would be unpleasant, to say the least.” Jeremy grimaced – so that was a legitimate danger, then. Luna looked around, then down, and finally brightened. “Not to worry,” she announced. “There is an underwater passage to the correct pool – only a short distance. Art thou up for some diving?” she asked. Jeremy was apprehensive, but nodded. With that, Luna gracefully dived in, and Jeremy followed, submerging and slowly opening his eyes.

The whole pool was coated under the surface with lichen and moss, and was worn smooth from thousands of years of age. At the very bottom, maybe fourteen feet down, Jeremy spotted the opening Luna was talking about as she swam through it, using her wings instead of her hooves to propel herself forward. Smiling, he surfaced to take a deeper breath before following, wincing at the water pressure.

They came up to a sight that Jeremy could only describe as breathtaking – it was like a bigger version of the other pool, complete with a small opening in the roof of the cave to allow the moonlight to shine through. The pools were even different colors – mostly shades of blue and green.

“This is… whoa…” Jeremy breathed.

Luna smiled. “Thou can see why we do not share this location with many others,” she remarked, and he nodded.

She shook out her wet hair, and he laughed at the adorable sight. With that, they settled into the center pool, by far the largest and shallowest, colored in a shade of teal that reminded Jeremy of Chrysalis’ carapace.

“You must know all the best vacation spots,” he joked a moment later. Luna smiled.

“There used to be more – but being away for a thousand years tends to change things…” Jeremy frowned. “But enough about us, what about thou? Dost thou know of any good locations for this winter, perhaps?” Luna asked.

Jeremy thought for a while. “Well, typically we’d go someplace warm for the winter. Usually Mexico, or something like that.” Luna nodded.

“Celestia told us of thy trip to Mexico – she said it was quite enjoyable.”

Jeremy smiled in return, fondly recalling the memories. “Anyway, I think just being home for the winter would be vacation enough – from Ohio weather, at least.” Luna chuckled appreciatively, and they went back to staring up at the ceiling, Jeremy mesmerized by the shifting glow as the light from the moss reflected off the stone.

Finally, they headed back to the familiarity of Canterlot, Luna having used a spell to dry him off.

“So, the night is still young,” Luna joked. “Is there anything else thou can think of to do?” Jeremy thought about this.

“See a movie back home?” he wondered. “That tends to be the gold standard for dates…” Luna frowned.

“We do not think that would be… appropriate, given the circumstances on Earth currently. Teleporting to a movie theater would most likely cause undue alarm to Mary and her team, not to mention the others.” Jeremy grimaced, considering this.

“We could always stream a movie at home, I do have an account,” he reminded her. Luna brightened.

“Of course! Then it is decided – we shalt watch movies!” she declared, striking a royal pose. Jeremy burst out laughing.

Unfortunately, Jeremy’s dormmate was asleep by now, so he quietly stepped through the portal and grabbed his laptop, along with the charger and mouse. Luna was waiting in anticipation on the other side, and they traipsed up the flights of stairs to her room. Jeremy set up the computer on the bed, shoving the pillows aside to make better room before logging in and attempting to open the Internet.

“Ugh, the wifi’s bad enough at the dorm,” he complained, trying to think of ways to troubleshoot this. Luna’s horn lit up, and a second later the connectivity increased to full strength. Jeremy gaped at her, openmouthed. “…When’d you learn to do that?” he exclaimed in wonder.

Luna laughed. “Tis’ a simple spell to amplify radio waves. Now, about that movie…” She snuggled up on the bed next to him as he successfully connected and began browsing the movie database.

“Hmm… How about this one?” he asked jokingly. Luna glanced at Twilight’s face on the cover art, before looking at him with an unamused smirk.

“Too… ‘meta’,” she replied, and he chuckled before scrolling down some more. “Ooh, that one,” Luna asked, pointing it out.

“…Okay,” Jeremy answered after some hesitation, selecting the movie and waiting for it to load.

Midway through the movie, they were cuddling together, half asleep.

“Does this really pass for ‘magic’ in thy world?” Luna asked, sounding amused.

“Yeah…” he sleepily answered.

She giggled as bright bursts of light and sound emanated from the screen. “And it requires a ‘wand’… Perhaps we should obtain one for thee,” she remarked, ending her comment with a yawn.

Jeremy fought back laughter. “Believe me, I tried when I was a kid. Didn’t work too well,” he answered. Luna chuckled, and Jeremy went back to watching the movie.

By the time they finished, it was well past midnight.

“I’d better get to bed,” Jeremy said, yawning. He made to get up, but a blue force pushed him back down as Luna wrapped her hooves tightly around him.

“Stay with us,” Luna pleaded. Jeremy looked down at her. He could never say ‘no’ to that face.

“Oh, alright,” he said, lying back down and replacing the blanket covers.

Luna hummed appreciatively, snuggling into his shoulder as they lay there. Jeremy placed an arm around her, adjusting his position so as to not hurt her wings, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

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