I led Aiko back to the others, where dinner seemed to be wrapping up, and people were just chatting idly. At least they weren't hiding in their rooms, so that was a big step up. I waved at them eagerly. "Hey guys, so what kind of games do you like to play around here?"

The adults looked at me like I was asking a very silly question, but one of the younger ones, a colt, hopped forward. "They gave us a video game to play. Wanna see?"

I wasn't sure what that was, but followed him into one of the side rooms. I saw some boardgames in there that might be useful later, but he was guiding me right to one of those screens and after some fiddling, got it to turn on, then pointed at a box. "This is it. They gave us six games." He pulled down some boxes and put them in front of me. "Which do you want to try first?"

I looked over the boxes with a soft 'hmm'. "This one has party in the name."

"Oh! Alright!" He pulled it open with all the dexterity of a born pony and popped a little disc into the box, and the screen came alive with colors.

"Hey, you're real good with your hooves." I waved a hoof at him. "Where'd you learn all that?"

He shrugged a little. "Practiced. There isn't a lot else to do, and I didn't want to just lay around." He passed me what looked like a white nunchuk of some kind and wielded one of his own. Was this a play fight? No, he was waving at the screen and making it do things. "Point yours there."

I raised one side, then the other, finding what made the little hand on the screen point with me, and the game was on! Before we could get far, another pony popped into the room and joined us. Our noises must have drawn another, an elderly female who sat down calmly and began playing with us. I didn't really understand all we were doing, but they were having a good time, and I was having fun being with people having fun, so I'd call that a success!

A new sound drew my attention, swiveling an ear to try and hear it better, but I couldn't make it out. Aiko slipped into the room. "Pinkie, there's something going on outside. You should see this."

I set down my controller thing. "I'll be right back." I barely needed to have said it, as they all came with me to see what the noise was together. There were no windows that faced out, but there was a place we could stand to hear better, and it was crowded with curious ponies.

"Let our people go!" came a male voice from behind the walls of the building, echoed by what sounded like hundreds of others, chanting the words over and over. "They have committed no crime. Let them return to their families and their lives!"

A slightly crackly voice spoke to us from the ceiling, "We have everything under control. Stay calm."

One of the stallions clopped the floor. "When do we get to visit our homes?"

"When the disease is rendered safe. For their safety, and yours, you will remain here."

Aiko cocked her head at the voice, then looked to the others. "Until we can keep being a pony to ourselves, that's probably for the best."

Unhappy mutterings spread, but people were calming down.

~Don't mention the time we were walking around.~

I nodded at Aiko, that'd probably rile them up. The noise from outside changed, turning from droning chanting to shouts and fighting. The rally or whatever it was seemed to be well and over, and even the sounds of the fight began to fade away quickly. I wondered what happened.

~From what I've seen on TV and read about, Chinese protesters are not treated very well.~

I tilted my head at Aiko silently. ~What did they do?~

~Probably beat them.~

"What!?" Suddenly every eye in the room turned on me. "Ah heh... Um, sorry, just noticed I forgot it was my turn." I slipped from the hallway back into the game room. ~Why?~

~To keep them quiet. I'm not Chinese, or in charge. I wouldn't know the real reasons going on behind it. We shouldn't make waves with this.~

The other players took their places around me and we resumed the game. As fun as it was to play with them, we still had a job to do. ~Aiko, any idea how to talk to them faster?~

~Certainly. If we can fix the disease, then they'll want to speak to us right away.~

I nodded as I thought at her, ~Can you do that?~

~I... don't know?~

Hmmph. ~Go ahead and show them how to use their horn. Maybe you'll pick something up out of it.~

As if on cue, the lights suddenly died, along with the magical screen and the game attached to it. I squeaked in surprise in the sudden darkness as others groaned with frustration. "What happened?"

The voice of the colt that showed me the game came from the dark, "The power's out. No games until it comes back."

Aiko poked her head in from the hallway, her horn glowing brightly. "Everyone alright in here?"

The other ponies were gaping at her. She flushed a little. "What? It's unicorn magic, right Pinkie?"

I nodded quickly. "Sure is! I don't remember you getting that trick down though."

~Go with this,~ came Aiko's mental voice. "Oh sure. You're the one that gave me the idea, silly."

"Oh! Yeah." I gave a nervous little laugh. "I forgot in all the sudden darkness. I was winning too."

"Was not," called the colt, sticking out his tongue out at me.

A unicorn stallion approached Aiko. "Excuse me, Aiko? How do you do that? I'm a unicorn too, show me."

A pair of unicorn mares nearby nodded in agreement. "Please, if you would. We would appreciate it."

~Go ahead.~ I smiled at Aiko. ~Besides, we need more lights, and you need the practice. Maybe it'll even be fun.~

Aiko nodded at the three. "Gather up all the unicorns, and we'll go over what it means to have one of these." She tapped at her horn softly. "This is a great blessing, and I'll show you how to use it, for yourself and your friends."

She led the unicorns away, bringing the lights with them and plunging us right back into dark. I pulled out a flashlight and waved it around and saw some of the other ponies were getting to flashlights of their own. "Oh! I know what we can do."

"What's that, Miss Pie?"

I flashed a bright smile. "Time for scary stories!"

As it turned out, Equestrian scary stories made them laugh and giggle more than squeal in terror, but they took their turns, and boy were they chilly! Humans had some real doozies of stories, and I tucked a few away to scare the pants off my friends when I got back to Equestria, after I caught my breath.

The colt patted my side lightly. "You're safe."

I giggled a little and grabbed him in a hug. "I'll be alright. Screaming is half the fun of scary stories."

Suddenly it looked like the lights came on. An excited cry came from where Aiko had gone, then the lights flickered out, just to snap back on a moment later. A mare came running past, glowing like a little sun. "Look look!" We emerged into the hallway to see her glowing all bright, and all the lights were on. On her flank was a new symbol, showing a stylized sun with rays coming off.

I clopped my hooves excitedly. "You've got your cutie mark." I pointed at her hindquarters and she twisted to have a look at it. In her surprise at seeing it, the lights blinked out, and so did she. With a chorus of clicks, we had our flashlights back on. "This is great! Congratulations."

Aiko approached the surprised mare with a gentle smile. "It's a good thing, relax. It means light magic comes naturally to you. You'll only get better at it with practice."

She gave a nervous little sound as she sat up. "Let me try more carefully." Her horn began to glow and the lights slowly came back to life, making everything easier to see. "I'm really doing it..." This time she wasn't glowing herself, minus the horn.

I nodded at her. "This calls for a party!"

Aiko rolled her eyes at me. "Everything's a reason for a party."

"That doesn't make it untrue." I stuck out my tongue at her, then trotted off to the kitchen. Funny thing though, the lights being on didn't make the ovens work at all. Making a party meal would have to wait until they fixed whatever was wrong.

Keeping the lights on wasn't easy, since it went back out in a minute or so, leaving us back in the dark. Click went the flashlight and I started going through the ingredients. At least I could have everything set up for when everything started working again.

A surprised yelp brought my attention back into the hallway, where some armed and armored men were waving ponies away. "Miss Zhang, step forward." They had their eyes set on the newly-made light unicorn.

She looked quite nervous as she stepped forward. "Y-yes, sir?"

"What were you doing?"

She licked over her snout. "I was lighting things, sir. Did I do anything wrong, sir?"

"Show us."

She sat down and focused on her horn, squeezing her eyes shut as it began to glow, then the lights flickered back to life.

The soldier looked impressed even behind his partial mask. "Amazing. How are you doing this?" He pulled free a radio and talked into it. "Yes, she's doing it now. Stop now." He put up a hand at her, and she flickered right out almost instantly. "Good." He waved back down the hallway. "Come with us."

Aiko suddenly moved forward. "Wait, please. I was just showing her how to use her magic."

"We have another pony, also horned, claimed to be the trainer. Yes. Alright." He waved at her. "Come along too."

~I'll be alright.~ She smiled back at me and went off with Miss Zhang and the soldiers.

One of the other unicorns looked to me. "Is it safe to learn magic? I don't want to be taken away because of some mark on my butt."

I shook my head quickly. "I have one and they haven't bothered me. They probably just want to see it work and maybe hear how cutie marks happen and they'll be right back.

My words of support didn't seem to sink in around the crowd, and they dispersed, softly grumbling under their breaths. The pink stallion found me though and walked with me back into the kitchen. "I'm sure your friend will be fine. Let's prepare for tomorrow."

Author's Notes:

The soldiers have an interest in all this light-shedding magic it seems.

1: Hey, pink pony, aren't you married? Stop looking at me that way.
2: The Chinese government has more interest in the magic of unicorns.
3: Someone agrees it's time to talk to Aiko and Pinkie about Japan.
4: Pinkie decides to break free and find Aiko herself, using her amazing Pinkie Powers!
5: The lights going out was only the first part of the problem.