Sunset Shimmer strode purposefully through the halls of Canterlot High, making her way to the spare classroom where her friends were waiting. Her heart was pounding, and she was trembling with excitement. Today was the day they would finally activate the project they had been working on for the last few months.

Stopping outside the room, Sunset took a deep breath to steady herself before she pushed the door open. Inside, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both leaning against a window, not a trace of nerves showing on their faces. Rarity was occupying herself with her makeup, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were playing cards to pass the time. Lastly, there was Twilight Sparkle, hunched over as she inspected the machinery that dominated one end of the room.

The machine was what Sunset and her friends had been working on for the last few months. A complicated system of electrodes, Tesla coils and power supplies had been constructed around a large, ornate mirror; a technological twin to the mirror portal in Equestria. A series of intertwined cables connected everything to a large console just off to the side, with lots of little screens and dials set into it.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset called out as she dumped her bag on an empty desk. “Is everything ready?”

Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “It will be if you can get Twilight to stop re-checking everything over and over.”

Twilight turned around, nervously adjusting her glasses. “Hey, Sunset, I was just checking this cable configuration again. Then once I’m done with that I’ve just got to re-calibrate the calibration equipment again and we’ll be ready for final checks!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Chill out, Twilight. You've done all of that, like, three times already.”

Sunset walked over and threw an arm around Twilight‘s shoulders, pulling her away from the machine. “Come on, Twi.” She grinned, guiding the nerd into a chair. “Sit down and try to relax until Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna get here.”

“Thanks, Sunset, I’m just a bit worried is all.” Twilight sighed, her shoulders slumping. “After all, this is the first magical machinery I’ve constructed since the Friendship Games, and look how that turned out!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air.

Rarity looked up from admiring her nails. “It’ll be fine, darling. You may have made some... boo-boos... in the past, but you were on your own back then. This time around you have us.”

“Rarity’s right,” Applejack said as she threw herself into a chair. “Heck, even Princess Twilight has been helping us out with this.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I know, and I am grateful she took the time to look over the schematics for us.”

“It was awful nice of her to help us,” Fluttershy added as Pinkie packed their card game away.

Sunset couldn't help but smile at Twilight hunched in her chair. At least she wasn't the only one who was both excited and nervous about this. “It’ll be fine, Twilight, the preliminary tests have all gone perfectly.”

“True, and the results have all been promising so far,” Twilight agreed. “I’m just so excited, but I’m so nervous at the same time it feels like my head is going to explode!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air again.

“Ooooo you’re nervicited!!!” Pinkie Pie squealed.

The other girls all looked at each other in bemusement at Pinkie’s word-mashing, but before anyone could respond the door opened and Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna walked in.

“Well, girls, I got your message saying you had completed the project you have been working on,” Celestia announced. “Perhaps now you could fill us in on what exactly this is all about.”

Twilight stood and walked over to the control console, preparing her well-rehearsed speech. “Well, as you know, Sunset Shimmer and I have been working on a way to detect magical anomalies such as those that we encountered at Camp Everfree, the Daring Do premiere, and our more recent encounters with the Memory Stone and Vignette. We now think we have a solution.”

Sunset joined Twilight at the console. “We call this machine the Geode Diviner. It’s a combination of the technology our Twilight used to track magic during the Friendship Games and the system Princess Twilight uses to keep the portal to Equestria open. When activated it scans an area for any magical energy and, once we’ve finished calibrating the GPS, will project a holographic map showing the location of any anomalies.”

Celestia looked amazed, but Luna frowned at the machinery. “While this is indeed impressive, girls, are you sure it is safe? We all know how these things have gone wrong in the past.”

Sunset nodded. “Safety was our top priority when building this, which is why we have been working with Princess Twilight back in Equestria. We have been constantly re-checking our theory and running simulations to make sure we have everything under control.”

Celestia and Luna both sighed with relief.

“Alright then, so how does it work?” Celestia asked.

Sunset fingered her Geode absently as she replied, “The Diviner works by radiating magical energy at a certain frequency. This energy resonates with the magical signature of our Geodes and the portal to Equestria outside. When it reads a signature that doesn't resonate with them it reacts to the disturbance and sends a signal to our Geodes so we can tell when something has been detected, even if we aren't in the room.”

“We actually got the idea from Princess Twilight,” Twilight added.

Celestia walked up to the mirror, inspecting it closely. “So is the hologram projected from the mirror? Or onto it somehow?”

“Oh, no, Principal Celestia,” Sunset replied as she sidled up to her. “The mirror is actually for an additional feature we had the idea for while checking our theory.”

“What kind of feature?” Luna asked, joining her sister at the mirror.

Twilight stepped forward eagerly. “We realized that if we could send a signal to our Geodes, then we could send one to the Equestrian portal too! We’ve tested the system a few times already, on a low power setting just to be safe,” Twilight added quickly, seeing the look on Luna’s face. “If you are both ready, would you like us to activate it and show you?”

“Very well then, it seems you have taken all the necessary precautions. Please proceed,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Excellent!” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing the activation lever. “You may want to step back a bit, though,” she added nervously.

“I thought you said it was safe?” Celestia asked dubiously, taking a step back nonetheless.

Sunset stepped in quickly, “It is, but whenever we switch it on with a Geode in the room the magic can react a little bit. It has a very short reaction range, and it hasn’t actually hurt anyone, but we don’t want to take any chances with people who don’t already have magic.”

Hearing this, Celestia and Luna quickly made their way to the back of the room, very close to the door. They shared a glance, then turned back to the girls.

Celestia nodded to them. “Very well, girls, you may begin.”

Grinning with anticipation, Twilight cranked the activation lever. Instantly a low hum emanated from the machine and a pale light shone from the mirror. As the hum grew louder and the shine from the mirror intensified, Sunset felt the Geode hanging around her neck grow warm, emitting a bright glow of its own. Looking around, she could see the same thing happening to the Geodes around the necks of the other girls, the glow slowly growing to encompass their entire bodies. With a sudden popping sound, the humming stopped and the glow from the Geodes disappeared. Looking up at the mirror, Sunset saw that the light had faded, replaced with an image of a large crystalline room, and a familiar purple Alicorn.

“Princess Twilight!” The girls all called in unison.

“Hey, girls,” Princess Twilight called back, waving one of her hooves. “Everything looks good from this end, any problems on your side?”

Twilight bent over the monitor on the control panel. “Nope, all energy levels are stable.”

Pinkie skipped over to the mirror. “Is everything staaable on your end, Twilight?”

Princess Twilight just rolled her eyes and smiled.

“So this is what you really look like, Princess?” Celestia asked, moving closer to the machine again now that it seemed safe.

Princess Twilight nodded. “Yes, though I must say it is a little strange seeing you girls like this while still standing on four legs.”

“I have a question, Twilight,” Luna said as she walked over too.

“Yes?” both Twilight’s asked.

Luna blinked in sudden bemusement. “Er… I meant Princess Twilight.”

Sunset folded her arms. “We really should come up with a way of differentiating you two when we’re talking to you both.”

“That’s easy darling,” Rarity chimed in, raising an eyebrow as if it were obvious. “Twilight and Princess Twilight.”

Princess Twilight smiled awkwardly. “Calling me Princess all the time is a bit too formal-sounding, to be honest. How about a nickname?”

“You could always just call this one 'Her Royal Twi-ness'!” a voice called through the mirror.

“Or 'Nerd Force One!” Another voice added.

Princess Twilight scowled at somepony out of view. "That wasn't funny the first time and it isn't funny now!"

Sunset grinned at the mirror. “Hey, Starlight!”

Starlight Glimmer popped into view, waving at the girls. “Hey, girls. Sorry, I can’t really talk. I’ve got to monitor these readings just in case.”

“I recognize Starlight Glimmer...” Rarity said as Starlight ducked back out of view, “...but that other voice surely can’t… I mean, it sounded like-”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie!!!” Trixie shouted as she bounded into view, her hat and cloak flapping about wildly.

Princess Twilight turned to glare at the prancing unicorn again. “Trixie! I only agreed to let Starlight invite you to this if you stay quiet and stay put!” Trixie sat with a snort as Twilight turned back to the mirror, composing herself. “Vice-Principal Luna, you had a question?” She asked in a dignified voice.

Luna blinked for a moment, then gathered her thoughts. “Yes, I was wondering how exactly you would know if we are trying to contact you through th-”

“Hold on a second,” Starlight cut in suddenly. “Twilight, these readings don’t look good.”

Sunset looked over to where their Twilight was bent over the monitor. “We see it too, it looks like something is interfering with the signal,” Twilight called out.

Princess Twilight frowned. “It’s not coming from here, I’ve put a shielding spell around this entire room. It must be something from your end.”

A low hum started coming from the machine again as the lights flickered in the room.

Twilight typed some commands into the console, checking sensor readings. “The Diviner isn’t picking up any magical energy. It seems like there’s some sort of electrical pulse coming from somewhere.”

Sunset stepped back, worried. “Either way this isn’t good, we should switch it off until we figure out what’s wrong.”

The image in the mirror suddenly flared and sent sparks running up and down it’s frame. The whole machine was vibrating loudly.

“Shut it down, now!” Sunset yelled as the others shrieked and backed away from the machine. As Twilight grabbed at the activation lever electricity arced from the console, forcing her back.

“Are you okay?!” Princess Twilight shouted. “Starlight, shut it down!”

The image in the mirror vanished, but instead of the surface of the mirror, a swirling vortex of dark energy appeared. Sunset yelped as she felt her Geode get yanked towards the vortex. Falling to her hands and knees, she saw the same thing happening to the rest of the girls. Their Geodes glowed madly as they, and the girls, were dragged screaming towards the vortex. Celestia and Luna each rushed forwards and grabbed Fluttershy and Applejack, who had been closest to them.

A loud bang came from the Diviner and several cables were knocked free. As they came loose the vortex grew suddenly more powerful, sucking everything in the room towards it. Sunset saw Twilight, who was closest to the machine, get sucked right into the vortex and disappear. Desperately trying to claw her way away, Sunset grabbed hold of Pinkie who was sliding along the floor, unable to get a good grip.

As another loud boom rocked the room Sunset felt herself and Pinkie lifted from the floor and hurtle towards the mirror, swiftly followed by Rarity and Rainbow Dash. The last thing she saw was Celestia and Luna finally losing their grip on Fluttershy and Applejack, before she hit the vortex and everything went dark.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 - The Other Side Estimated time remaining: 49 Hours, 6 Minutes