With the School of Friendship back in business, and no major catastrophes striking Equestria since the Storm King's defeat, the overall mood in Ponyville was becoming quite content and excited (albeit, probably temporarily) as a result of the region's growing diversity. The increase in multiculturalism in the area was fairly surprising, but more than welcome for most of the town. Given how apprehensive the townsponies used to act about outside cultures a few years ago (particularly before the town's only zebra was understood to be non-threatening), the fact that the town had grown more accommodating for all creatures was nothing short of heartwarming. Whether it be by businesses openly selling meat products, or interspecies relationships becoming more commonplace, the booming progressiveness of Ponyville was more than enough to make Twilight Sparkle's heart swell with pride.

Strangely enough though, it seemed that the Princess' Castle of Friendship was becoming less of a crowded tourist attraction in recent months. Although, given the opening of one of Equestria's most progressive schools nearby, it wasn't too surprising that Twilight's home was seen more casually to most of the locals. In fact, the Alicorn was fairly glad that her and Spike's place of residence was growing more space for privacy. In fact, one particular room in the castle piqued the Princess' interest enough to consult the help of a good friend from the Crystal Empire.

Away from most of the main halls, and hidden by a false wall adjacent to a seemingly useless storage room, a rather large space was secretly kept out of the knowledge of the public. In retrospect, Twilight and the other Elements originally had the space kept discrete in case of emergencies, or for secret planning when the Cutie Map room was compromised. However, given how the girls never used the room before (and technically never had the chance to utilize it for an emergency before it was too late), Twilight Sparkle made the decision to use it for a more positive purpose. And given how the dome-roofed space had no windows or connected rooms, it certainly needed some reason to exist in this castle.

From within the room, the purple glow of Twilight's magic illuminated the space briefly before a section of the wall was focused on. The false wall slid to the side like a closet door, revealing two ponies standing at the outside. The first was Twilight Sparkle herself, who carried a fairly coy-looking smile while glancing over at her guest. The orange-coated unicorn beside her, who most ponies knew as the Royal Crystaller Sunburst, had to blink a couple times while gazing into the hidden room with an impressed huff.

"Oh, wow!" said Sunburst with a scoff as he walked inside first. Even though the empty room had no windows for natural light, Twilight's magic (as well as several lamps hung around the walls) gave more than enough light to show the immense space the place carried. Even though he thought he saw every square foot of this castle, the fact that a room like this was unrecorded made him look back at the Princess in surprise. "I have to say Twilight, I wouldn't have expected you to have a room this discrete."

Twilight shrugged as she kept her horn lit, and trotted into the room as well. "Well, I originally planned to have it for emergencies, just so ponies could be hidden safely in case the castle was compromised. But nowadays, I feel like this room should be used for something else."

"Like what?" asked the stallion as he raised a brow back at her. Even though he knew better than to say anything too inappropriate to Royalty, he couldn't help smirking a little before adding, "I'm guessing you didn't bring me over to turn this into a dungeon or something, were you?"

Fortunately, Sunburst's reply was quickly seen as a joke by the giggling Princess. "Oh, heavens no!" she replied with a roll of her eyes and a smile. "Believe me, I wanted to do something more positive with this space. Although..."

During her pause, Sunburst raised his other brow in slight confusion. Meanwhile, Twilight shuffled her hooves a little before looking back at the open doorway. Even though she felt compelled to close it, she figured that might worry the stallion more than she'd want. So instead, she just hoped Spike was elsewhere as she sighed and turned back to him. "If you don't mind, Sunburst, I... kinda do want to keep the purpose of this room a secret. No exceptions, alright?"

Due to his experience with her brother and Princess Cadance, Sunburst was quick to raise his hoof and say assuredly, "Princess Twilight, you have my word that I won't break any Royal promises or private dealings. You can ask Shining and Cadance yourself if you don't believe me. They both know I'm a stallion worth trusting."

"Indeed, I have talked with them about this," responded the Alicorn in a more matter-of-fact tone, which seemed to have surprised Sunburst a little. Twilight kept her smile as she then added, "And they've both given their approval of the project I wanted to try, as well as asking for your assistance magic-wise."

"Well, that's comforting to know, I guess." After a flattered chuckle, Sunburst scratched the back of his neck and asked, "So... what were you needing my input on, Princess?"

"Well..." Twilight bit her lip in the slightest uncertainty, knowing that her idea might be seen as going too far to some ponies. Regardless, she trusted Sunburst enough to breathe out sharply and continue after her pause. "Before I explain the spell itself, I just want to reiterate that this is purely for research purposes, alright? I'm not doing this for any personal advantages or illegal doings. However... given the legality of the magic itself, I figured it's best to keep this project discrete for the time being."

Sunburst narrowed his eyes on Twilight suspiciously, but he was also a little compelled to hear where this was going. "Ummm... alright then. I think I understand where you're coming from, and I won't say a word of it outside this room. So... what's the spell for?"

Twilight took another breath before she attempted to explain with a logical mindset in place. "Well, ever since I opened the School of Friendship, I've been able to see how much it's impacted Ponyville in a positive way. I mean, given how the town used to be in regards to outside cultures, I think it's safe to say that open-mindedness can be easy to achieve through the right means. And of those options, one of the best would be to witness new viewpoints personally, correct?"

Sunburst hummed with narrowed eyes as he twirled his goatee with a hoof, pondering the implications of the Princess' words. Even though he wasn't sure where she was going with this, he understood her statement enough to reluctantly nod and reply, "Well... I suppose that's true, Princess Twilight. I mean, I doubt the Crystal Empire would be so keen on changeling cultures if we didn't get the chance to meet them up-close."

"Exactly!" beamed the Alicorn as she lit up her horn with an excited smile. But before she could try and begin her spell, she continued with her pitch while growing less hesitant in her tone. "And because of that, I figured that this room could be used for a more... non-interfering form of that sort of research. I managed to find a Surveillance Spell in Celestia's quarters, and was also able to emulate residual magic from the Friendship Map with the help of Starlight..."

Despite Twilight's enthusiasm, Sunburst tilted his head while his eyes narrowed on her worriedly. "Uhhhh... did you say surveillance spells?"

"And much like how the Cutie Map tracks various friendship problems across Equestria," continued the cheerful Princess like she didn't even hear him, "I figured I could alter the surveillance spell so that we could locate various interactions based on emotion or physical changes. Whenever a significant moment occurs within the Cutie Map's boundaries, we could take note of it and research interactions without any intrusion."

Twilight smiled brightly after that explanation, feeling like she presented quite a remarkable case. Unfortunately, the only response she got from Sunburst were a pair of raised brows beneath a blankly shocked expression. "W... W-Wait a minute!" blurted Sunburst as he held up a hoof to keep the Princess from using that lit horn just yet. "Are... Are you seriously suggesting that we spy on ponies?! Without their knowledge or consent?!"

Despite Sunburst's gawked stare on her, Twilight merely sighed and reiterated her earlier claim. "Like I said, this is not meant to be used for any ill will. I just figure that if we witness interactions as they naturally progress, we can be able to research them without worry of being compromised."

"Wait, compromised?!" Sunburst asked with a baffled look on his face. "What do you mean compromised?!" Even though he had a lot more questions, Twilight's explanation just made him too confused to say more than just that.

"Well, it's just like if you knew you were in front of a camera or recording device," answered the Alicorn with a casual shrug. "Even if you try to act 'normal,' chances are good that your behavior will be significantly changed if you knew you were being watched by some unknown pony or being. By keeping our surveillance outside of the public eye, we can be able to see how things naturally occur, and learn more about how Equestria acts as a whole."

The stallion could only blink a couple times while staring at Twilight confusedly. "This... this is undoubtedly illegal, do you know that?!" he asked while studying Twilight's reaction, almost as if he was making sure she wasn't on something. "We... we can't be interfering on ponies' privacy!"

"It won't be in anyone's private residences!" stated Twilight in a quick and surprisingly stern tone. She pointed back at Sunburst before adding insistently, "I already calibrated the magic sensors to only record in regions that are in public, and not in violation of any privacy laws!"

She then huffed with a roll of her eyes and a disappointed scowl. "Seriously Sunburst, do you really think I'd record a pony in their bedroom? Or in the shower?! I know I might make stupid decisions sometimes, but I'm not a pervert!"

"I'm not saying you are!" clarified the stallion with both hooves raised in assurance. "Princess, I would never assume that! I just wanted to make sure you weren't going into any unethical territories, that's all."

After a couple seconds, Twilight sighed and nodded to his statement. "That's alright, Sunburst. Believe me, I completely understand how this all sounds. If I really didn't grasp the seriousness of this situation, I wouldn't be placing this project in such a hidden room under lock and key, right?"

That point made Sunburst shrug quite notably before answering, "Touchè, Ms. Sparkle."

Twilight nodded with a satisfied smile, and took a breath as she continued her stance. "But don't worry about legalities, Sunburst. Yes, we might be recording interactions without their knowledge, but they'll all be in public spaces. Not to mention that none of our recordings will be published or sold for monetary gain, so we have that on our side as well. This project is solely to see things from an unseen point of view, and to gain knowledge from those moments to better grasp the concept of friendship from a more universal standpoint."

Sunburst was still apprehensive, but he was able to nod faintly to the Princess' valid perspective. "Well... alright then," he said with a meager shrug. "I suppose I can see the significance of using a spell in that regard for Friendship research purposes. However!"

Before Twilight could say another word, Sunburst pointed at her warning and asked in a firm tone, "Regardless of whether or not we're obeying privacy laws, what's going to happen if we accidentally witness something that's not meant to be seen? Or... Or illegal even?"

Twilight's smile dropped as she exhaled pertly through her nostrils. She didn't want Sunburst to ask about that, but she already thought it over enough to answer, "Well... depending on the severity of the illegal act itself, it might be best to report to authorities if it's anything that needs to be known. However... as long as it's something where no innocent ponies are being harmed, or no property is being destroyed, I don't see much reason to interfere unless necessary."

Sunburst seemed content with that response as he nodded in agreement. Alas, his cheeks still reddened a bit as he added, "B-But, ummm... what if we see something, errr... inappropriate? Like... a couple of ponies making out or something? Or... you know..."

Twilight looked away from the stallion as she blushed a little herself. She scratched the back of her neck while trying to answer in a somewhat professional-sounding tone, "Ummm... Well, I... I doubt we need to interfere unless it's something really bad, but... if anyone is risky or foolish enough to try that sort of thing in public, then... I don't think we should feel too bad about keeping the recordings in our notes..."

That answer may have been a little too blunt for Sunburst's tastes, but he was still able to shrug and reply, "I... I suppose that's one way to see it..."

After that awkward pause in silence, Twilight huffed before bringing the discussion back on track. "Nevertheless, I still do think this project could help with Friendship research immensely. And if you're willing, I... I really do think this is something we should at least try. If not for me, then... then for the prospect of learning more than we already do."

Sunburst stayed silent for over a full minute, tugging on his beard while thinking over Twilight's proposal. Despite how shaky the grounds for this experiment were on legal bases, not to mention ethical and moral ones, he couldn't deny that the Princess had an interesting idea. Plus, given how much Equestria had to learn in regards to outside cultures, perhaps a more candid viewpoint could give them some perspective they never would've considered in conventional means. Heck, maybe understanding citizens and creatures alike could prevent future disasters if they're witnessed in more personal means. They could get a first-hoof view on things no other ponies could, and take notes of it to use in future conflicts if necessary...

The idea was undoubtedly risky, and probably not something he should be agreeing to. However, after taking a deep breath, Sunburst made his decision when he looked back at Twilight and answered, "Princess Twilight... As long as I have your word that this research will be used for purely scientific and research purposes, then... Then I'll assist you however I can."

Twilight smiled warmly as she nodded firmly, and put out her hoof before the stallion. "Sunburst, I promise by my title and Princess Celestia herself, that this experiment will only be for the greater good. No spying in homes, no personal gain, and no illegal tracking."

With that statement sounding as genuine as his smile, Sunburst took the Princess' hoof and shook it confidently. "Thank you, Twilight."

After nodding back to him, Twilight let go before lighting her horn even brighter. The room illuminated brightly with the aid of Twilight's lavender-tinted magic, which grew into a mystically-glowing orb connected to the Princess' horn. With one last grunt, Twilight used the last of the spell's power to make the orb break from her contact and float freely above them. The magic stayed suspended beneath the domed-ceiling, levitating like a bubble frozen in time. And within that orb of purple magic, both ponies could see countless streams of pink and blue colors swirling within it like fish in a coi pond.

"Wow..." Huffing with an impressed smirk, Sunburst glanced back at Twilight and said, "I gotta admit, you and Starlight are really giving me a run for my money."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short," she responded as she smiled coyly back at him. "Your research is the reason I was able to figure out how to record what gets projected in that magic. Your work is just as significant as either of ours."

Even though he felt hesitant to agree, Sunburst still smiled warmly to such a genuine-sounding statement. However, the moment was interrupted as a flash of blue expanded from within the bubble. Both ponies looked back at the magical orb as the blue aura grew outward, looking like a screen being projected from within the space. "Ohmigosh, it's already working!" shouted the Princess quite excitedly.

"R-Really?!" asked Sunburst in surprise. "W... Where is it coming from?!"

"It's random, so I have no idea. But who cares?! This is science at its greatest form!"

With Twilight smiling giddily, and Sunburst gawking up at the magic in worry, only another moment passed before the blue magic morphed into a clearer image. The screen turned clearer with each passing second, soon revealing the first moment captured within Twilight's research...

Of course, as soon as the two realized what it was, both of their expressions turned into shared looks of shock.

"Uhhhh..." Sunburst tilted his head while staring at what the Princess unknowingly broadcasted inside of the room."Wh... what the heck is that?"

Author's Notes:

Note: This chapter is merely the brief introduction I'm giving to this Collaboration Project. All the other chapters will be ideas/prompts suggested by members of my Patreon.