Author's Notes:

This chapter prompt was suggested by nfreak as part of my Patreon-funded project. I update this story every month with Patron-suggested chapters, so feel free to check out my Patreon for a chance to submit a prompt yourself. ;)

“Hmmm… Alright, this seems fairly straight-forward,” noted Starlight Glimmer with a relieved smile on her muzzle, and her horn brightly lit while hovering one of Sunburst’s books with her magic. Twilight Sparkle was standing right beside her as she scanned the details of the spell as well, and looked equally as confident about the procedure as her student did. Meanwhile, Sunburst was already prepared as he had a table set up in the Surveillance Room in front of the couch, and three identical white crystals laid out side-by-side.

Sunburst may have not been some all-powerful wizard or spell-mage like his friends, but his knowledge of various spells and incantations proved to be an outstanding skill to possess. Even though Twilight and Starlight couldn’t figure out any feasible means to alter their ever-floating orb of surveillance magic, the fact that Sunburst knew a simple kill-switch for it was a great secondary option. As soon as both of the mares memorized the aura calibrations well enough to implement their skills, Twilight nodded to the stallion thankfully as she floated the book back towards him.

Sunburst didn’t say anything when he took the book, but he did give her a grateful smile before stepping away from the table, as well as the orb they were about to toy with.

The Alicorn and her student closed their eyes to take a deep breath, and then lit up their horns in unison to elicit a joint glow of purple and baby-blue. Sunburst could only watch with an impressed and studious gaze as those magical streams zoomed towards the orb individually, before meeting halfway through to combine as one singular surge. The glittering colors swirled throughout that stream in perfect symmetry before it took hold of the magical dome in front of them. The orb lit up brightly as a result of their contact, but the colors within didn’t swirl around randomly like before. Instead, they all seemed to circle around the contact point of the mares’ auras, almost as if they were drawn towards it like a magnetic field.

And then with a violently bright flash, Twilight and Starlight brought their streams down to the table to strike the three crystals with a perfect collision. The colors of magic that were swirling within that orb were yanked out due to their close proximity to those magic streams, and traveled alongside that blast to become one with the crystals before the three ponies. As soon as the Princess and her protègè dimmed their horns, they were able to see that the crystals were no longer a pure shade of icy-white; instead, the three identical rods were now glowing with an irregular, but still oddly-beautiful multicolor hue that was constantly changing before their eyes.

Despite how unusual the items may have looked, Sunburst looked absolutely delighted with the results as he smiled with a relieved sigh. “Oh my gosh!” he exclaimed as he lit up his own horn, and picked up the the three crystals to better analyze their new magical properties. “This is amazing! I mean, I know that converting magical spell properties to inanimate objects isn’t new or anything, but I wouldn’t have expected they would duplicate the spell’s effects so flawlessly!”

Starlight was impressed as well, but her look of relief was much more prevalent as she saw those glowing crystals hovering in her foalhood friend’s aura. Twilight was smiling excitedly upon seeing the end-results too, and had to keep herself from clapping her hooves in celebration. As for Sunburst, he was quick to float out three identical necklace chains that he brought from the Crystal Empire, and magically attach one to each crystal before handing two of them to the mares.

“Alright, here they are,” he said with a cheerful smile as each of them had a magic-infused crystal in their possession. “I know it might not be the same as changing the properties of the spell itself, but this would give us the means to stop it if things get too awry. Whether it’s by the orb getting erratic with its magic, or some villain taking it for their own advantage, any one of us could just break our crystal to dispel the orb instantly.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Starlight said with a grateful huff as she smiled and took her crystal from his aura. “I mean, I know I’m just overthinking things a little, but it’s nice to have something like this on-hoof just in case.”

Sunburst smirked a little as he tried not to chuckle to his friend’s statement. “Heh~ If you’re really starting to overthink things, then that’s probably a sign that you’re becoming more like your Mentor.”

Despite the fact that she felt justified about her worries, Starlight couldn’t help giggling to the stallion’s remark. Twilight merely groaned while hearing both of the unicorns laughing to his joke, and rolled her eyes to keep from growing too offended. After a moment or so, the Princess finally spoke up in defense of her student. “Well… if it means anything, I’m grateful we have a failsafe like this as well. After what we had to encounter with Tirek and Cozy Glow, we can’t be too careful with a magic source this powerful.”

The mention of those villains instantly made Sunburst’s expression drop to a pained wince. Starlight shuddered with a strong cringe to that reminder as well, which prompted Twilight to pat her back sympathetically. “I know, I know,” said the Princess with an understanding nod of her head. “I’m sorry for bringing that up. I’m just saying that I understand why you needed something like this.”

Starlight kept her muzzle tightly pursed while she nodded back at her, and eventually gave a faint smile that Twilight could see. “Yeah, I… I can’t say I needed it, but… it’s definitely something I’m glad to have just in case.”

“Well, hopefully we won’t have to use these crystals anytime soon,” noted Sunburst, while he used his magic to slip his crystal into a padded pocket that he added to his satchel specifically for the item. “Not to mention, it’s nice being able to help both of you out with something like this.”

“Hey, you’re part of the experiment too,” said Starlight as she glanced back at him with a raised brow. “Heck, you were the one who helped start it. Remember?”

“Yeah, I know that,” Sunburst replied while rolling his eyes with a playful smirk. However, his expression softened to a slightly guilty look after he sighed to himself, and added in a more meager tone, “I just mean that, ummm… I’m grateful I was able to do something to… you know… make amends…”

Starlight couldn’t help making a face as her ears dropped downward with a look of pity. Even though she wasn’t the one to catch him in the act, she knew enough about the event to feel as uncomfortable about it as the stallion did. Fortunately for Sunburst, Twilight was quick to move in and give him a comforting hug. “Sunburst, you don’t have to keep apologizing to me about that,” she said with a kind and sincere tone of voice. “We all make mistakes, and I already forgave you. You’re not the first pony to do such a thing, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

Due to the Princess’ genuine assurance, Sunburst smiled shakily as he tried not to cry, and hugged Twilight back just as earnestly. After the two finished their exchange, Twilight pulled back before adding with a more insistent tone, “However, I do expect that to be the last time in this room.”

Sunburst immediately put his hoof up so he could give the proper motions while reciting, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! I PROMISE that’s a one-time mistake!”

Even though that assurance was made sincerely enough to satisfy Twilight, Starlight tried her hardest not to giggle at how quickly he recited that vow. “W-Wow, Sunburst!” she said with an amused huff while shaking her head. “How the heck did you know how to do the Pinkie Promise that well?! It took me a couple times to get it down correctly.”

Sunburst blushed a little as he looked away from her sheepishly, and managed to say with a meager chuckle, “Well, uhhh… heh heh… let’s just say that a situation arose where I... had to learn it from Pinkie herself.”

That made both of the mares’ brows raise up a bit, but Twilight was the first to raise a hoof and respond with, “You know what? I’d rather not ask too much and risk opening up that can of worms.”

Sunburst seemed happy by that answer, as did Starlight who decided to keep her opinions to herself too. Given what she and the stallion encountered outside of Twilight’s knowledge, she knew better than to press for any secrets that Sunburst may have still had himself. So in an effort to redirect their discussions to something more constructive, Starlight glanced back at that ever-floating orb that was still hovering in wait; and despite its recent imprinting onto those crystals, she was able to see new swirls of colors floating around within that orb to indicate it was still active.

“Well, since we’re all here...” Starlight sat herself down on the couch, and illuminated her horn to give a preemptive zap to the magic dome. Twilight and Sunburst seemed surprised by their friend’s quick summoning without their input, but neither of them interrupted Starlight as she spoke with a shrug. “... If neither of you are against it, how about we see what’s happening out in the wide world of Equestria again?~”

Since the orb was already re-activated, and the swirls of colors were moving around wildly to conjure up a screen, both of Starlight’s friends merely shrugged before sitting down on the couch beside her. “Well, hopefully we won’t see anything too inappropriate,” noted Twilight as she tried to keep her tone and expression on the positive side. “Given how things were going, I’d rather not have the mood dampened by seeing something inappropriate.”

“Yeah, ditto,” remarked Sunburst, who was internally begging that Twilight’s statement wouldn’t somehow summon a scene that would test that assumption. But despite what possibilities may have been lurking within that ominous orb of magic, neither he or the two mares tried to jinx themselves as they turned silent, and watched the image that was coming up on the screen before them…

“Guys, there’s no way that your experiment is gonna work!”

Much like Twilight and Starlight’s previous viewing, the surveillance spell gave the three ponies a bird’s eye view of the front walkway that lead towards the School of Friendship. Fortunately though, it seemed that this scene was less likely to turn lewd, given how many students were casually walking about the area. But for the scene itself, it seemed to be focused on Gallus and Sandbar while they were standing by a bench beside the school’s front fountain. Meanwhile, Spike could be seen seated on the bench while holding a notebook and quill in his claws, and an unenthusiastic look on his face.

Sandbar didn’t say anything in response to Spike’s bluntly-stated opinion, which Twilight and the others just barely managed to hear when the screen first came up. But after a couple seconds of silence, Gallus spoke up as he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Dude, you gotta trust us on this, okay? I did enough research to figure out what we needed to do, and I know this can work.”

Even with how determined the gryphon may have sounded with his claim, Spike merely raised a brow while staring at Gallus with skepticism. “Hmmm… So, when you say you ‘did research,’” asked the dragon while making air-quotes with his claws, “did you actually look in a book to see if this would work? Or did you just ask Smolder about it?”

Gallus grew a peeved-looking stare back at the dragon, and tried not to grimace as he refrained from giving an answer. Sandbar’s muzzle pursed tightly shut while he winced a little, seeing clear as day that Spike likely hit the nail on the head with that assumption. But alas, the gryphon only needed to breathe out sharply while he stared back at Spike, and pointed towards the massive roll of parchment paper that was laid out beside the bench. “Just so you know, I actually did do the research for this!” he said in a more ‘matter-of-fact’ tone of voice. “That paper is the exact same type that Princesses Celestia and Twilight use for their scrolls, which means that you can use your fire-breath for it, right?”

Back at Twilight’s castle, the three ponies seemed intrigued as they watched the scene unfold. Twilight seemed especially curious as she got a look at that roll of paper, and realized that it likely was the same material. However, neither she nor her friends were able to guess what the parchment was actually going to be used for. That was, until Spike sighed and rolled his eyes to give his answer.

“Uggghhh… yeah, that is the same type of paper,” he noted while he crossed his arms over his chest. “But! Just because I can send messages through my fire-breath, doesn’t mean that I can send ponies through it too!”

“Well, why not?” asked Sandbar with a shrug of his shoulders, and an expression that seemed genuinely confused about the dragon’s response. “I mean, you can stuff things into the scroll that gets sent along with it, right? Don’t those usually go through undamaged?”

Spike groaned even more notably that time, and was quick to point out, “Yeah, but that stuff is usually inanimate! I don’t think a pair of tickets or a candy bar can be compared to a fully-grown pony, Sandbar!”

“Wait, they’re doing what now?!” shouted Twilight while she sat on the couch wide-eyed. With the way her mouth was dropped in utter shock, it was somewhat surprising she hadn’t already lit up her horn to teleport in and stop the three from continuing. However, Sunburst and Starlight seemed rather intrigued at the concept the two students were presenting to Spike.

“Well, have you ever tried sending anything like that through a scroll?” asked Gallus as he shrugged his shoulders in contemplation. “Like, you can’t tell me the thought hasn’t crossed your mind once or twice!”

Spike didn’t say anything to that point, but he still looked rather fed-up with the gryphon’s insistence. Sandbar decided to add to Gallus’ question as he said, “Okay, like… think about it like this: If you actually agree to try this, and it ends up working, we would end up discovering a whole new mode of transportation! I mean… this could make us richer than the guy who invented the airship!”

“Guys!” exclaimed Spike as he threw his claws down, and leaned his head back while sprawled-out on the bench. “I’m telling you that it won’t work! Scrolls don’t work that way with my fire-breath! And given how I’m technically a member of the school faculty, I’d rather not deal with any lawsuits from your parents for literally setting you guys on fire!”

Despite Spike’s heated and truthful point, Gallus scoffed at the dragon while one of his brows was raised. “Uhhhh… you are aware that I don’t have any parents to try and sue you for that, right?”

Spike instantly winced and looked away from the gryphon, seemingly forgetting that unfortunate detail regarding Gallus’ past. Meanwhile, Sandbar raised a hoof and said in a more cheerful tone, “Oh, don’t worry about that! I took some precautions to make sure I’ll be alright!”

He then reached into his saddlebags with a hoof, and pulled out a large jar of some greyish substance. Spike had no idea what it was, since the labeling was long gone with only the dirty adhesive remaining on the side. “I had this old jar of petroleum jelly in my bathroom for the longest time. It’s never been used, and I know that stunt-ponies cover themselves in the stuff to make sure they don’t burn up while doing fire stunts.”

Spike gave the pony a flat stare, and waited a second before asking, “Dude, you are aware that the scrolls literally turn into a magical smoke that travels towards Celestia herself, right? How is a jar of vaseline good enough to counteract that?”

Twilight was looking increasingly wary about where this conversation was headed, but she also seemed rather proud of Spike for looking at the students’ plan with some much-needed logic. Meanwhile, Starlight and Sunburst were busy whispering to one-another about the logistics of Gallus & Sandbar’s theory.

“We also got a fire extinguisher just in case,” said Gallus as he pointed to the device propped right beside the paper. “Look, we’ve talked about it a lot before coming to see you, and we can only think of two ways this could end. Either I have to extinguish Sandbar from dragon-fire -- in which case I promise that I’ll take full responsibility in front of Headmare Twilight! Or… You help Sandbar travel all the way to Canterlot, and we all celebrate finding the greatest discovery since cheese in a can!”

Spike had to cover his face with a claw as he shook his head, and tried not to exhale too hard in annoyance. “Okay, so… if you guys are so sure that this will work, why couldn’t you get Smolder to do it?”

“Because her dragon-breath isn’t linked with Celestia and Twilight’s magic,” noted Gallus rather quickly. “If we asked her, it wouldn’t work since her flames aren’t linked to any source. We need you for this.”

Despite how valid that point may have been, Spike still seemed less than enthusiastic by their insistence. However, Sandbar decided to take action as he huffed sharply in thought, and then uncapped his jar. “Alright, how about this?” he began while he took out a huge glob of the cloudy, colorless gel with his hoof. “If you can get Smolder to come out here, and have her hit me with a blast of her fire while I’m all gelled-up, would you at least consider the idea if I turn out alright?”

“Dude!” Spike had his claws raised up while he shouted at him in growing exasperation. “Those flames can reach levels that can melt flesh off of bones! Some jar of petroleum jelly isn’t gonna be enough to--”

Unfortunately for the dragon, Sandbar decided to smear that glob of gel across the top of his head, which matted down his mane with a thick sheen of the greasy substance. Gallus saw what he was doing, and shrugged his head before reaching into the jar with a couple of his talons. Spike remained on the bench as he gawked at the two, looking unsure whether or not they were on some sort of illegal substance. Meanwhile, Gallus helped his friend out as he began to rub that gel across the pony’s back. “What?” Gallus asked the dragon upon noticing his confounded stare on them. “We already got all the other stuff set up!”

Back at the castle, Twilight was getting up from the couch as she said, “Alright, I need to get down there and stop this!”

“But wait!” exclaimed Starlight as she put out her hoof to stop her Mentor. “Didn’t you make a big deal about staying out of things within this experiment? I mean, how are you going to explain it if you just... popped out of nowhere?”

Sunburst seemed conflicted while looking towards the two mares, but kept his muzzle shut while it was skewed slightly. Meanwhile, Twilight glared back at her protègè and replied, “Starlight, I’m pretty sure the experiment won’t be compromised if I keep two of my students from setting themselves on fire!”

“Do you really think Spike is gonna let them do that!?” retorted Starlight as she motioned a hoof back towards the screen. “It’s obvious that he’s not gonna use his fire-breath on Sandbar!”

Sunburst shrugged to himself as he looked between the bickering mares, and the screen showing Sandbar getting increasingly coated in that gel. “Honestly, I don’t think it would work anyway,” he noted while his head tilted at the peculiar sight.

“Well, it shouldn’t matter!” the Princess scolded while pointing a hoof at both of the unicorns. “When I became Headmare of the School of Friendship, I made a vow to protect my students from any and all foes we might face! And that includes each other!”

“You could at least have an excuse ready or something!” replied Starlight as she tried to settle Twilight down. “Like, if you go out there right now, Spike might get suspicious as to how you knew they were--”

“HUUHHHH!!!” Both of them instantly turned back towards Sunburst upon hearing his loud and horrified gasp. The stallion’s hooves were covering his shocked expression, and his eyes were wide-open enough to overshadow his rounded glasses. When Twilight and her student looked back at the same screen Sunburst was staring at, the two of them immediately gasped as well.

Meanwhile, through the other end of that magic orb, Spike could be seen looking just as disturbed by the sight before him as the three voyeuristic ponies. Gallus had turned deathly silent, and his face was paling quickly to accentuate his terrified expression. Sandbar, who undoubtedly looked the most freaked-out in the group, could only stare down at the ground beneath his hooves while his entire body was covered in what he thought was petroleum jelly.

Unfortunately, the large mound of Sandbar’s mane that had fallen off of his head made it clear that it indeed wasn’t.

“... oh shit…” Sandbar’s pupils were as tiny as a couple of pin-pricks, and his hooves began to tremble as he saw more pieces of his mane fall down to the ground. “... oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…”

Gallus looked absolutely terrified, and backed away from his friend in utter fear as he saw pieces of Sandbar’s coat begin to fall away as well. Since neither of the students were around during Rarity’s ‘Mane Remover’ incident, only Spike was able to catch the grave mistake Sandbar had made. The dragon hopped off of the bench, and ran towards that giant scroll with his quill so he could get some help. “Hold on!” he shouted as quickly as he could, even though it did nothing to catch either of the guys’ increasingly freaked-out looks. “I’ll get Twilight to--”

Sandbar fell back onto his flank, which was now growing bare-skinned as more of his coat dissipated from his pink flesh. Right at the moment that Gallus and Sandbar were about to start screaming, a violently bright flash of light erupted above them before a couple of mares spontaneously appeared. Twilight was the first one to pop in out of nowhere, and used her brother’s forcefield spell to encapsulate both of the students in a soundproof dome. Starlight teleported into the scene immediately after, and went right up to Spike to say, “SPIKE! Go get Zecora and Rarity NOW!!!”

The dragon had absolutely no idea where both of them came from, or even how they knew to come to this spot at that exact moment. But with the sight of Gallus and Sandbar freaking out inside of that soundproof shield of magic, Spike knew better than to ask too many questions. “S-Sure thing!” he blurted before he jumped up into the air, and flapped his wings to soar off like a rocket into the skies.

Meanwhile back at the Surveillance room, Sunburst could only watch as he saw his two friends intervening into the scene as best as they could. While Starlight put up a magic barrier around them so no students could see Sandbar’s hairless state, Twilight was trying her hardest to console the stallion after getting into the dome with them. The Royal Crystaller may have been worried about the integrity of this recording in regards to their research, but he was also extremely grateful that the two were assisting Sandbar and Gallus as best as they could. Just as the screen began to dissipate, and Sunburst looked around the now empty room, he waited until the scene was completely gone before he muttered with a disappointed huff, “Ugh… why can’t I teleport like that too?”