The flood beside Twilight Velvet flickered. The water was almost up to her platform now. The angry water quieted down, the lightning on its surface robbed of its sustaining energy. Sparking streams of multicolored electricity flowed out of the generator and into the lightning rod’s air terminal. Pulses of harsh rainbow light glowed through the wire as they traveled and disappeared into the ground rod. Velvet’s mind buzzed, but not like in an adrenaline high. It felt like the arteries in her temples were about to burst. She’d hate to leave any sort of stain on this place.

Hissing through her teeth, Velvet levitated the lightning rod closer to the generator. The heat and buzz pressed further on her skull. It was a small price to pay to get her friend out, though, and as the flood’s orchestra finally melded into a decrescendo, the conductor steadily lowered her baton. The symphony was drawing to a close.

Daring Do’s wings ruffled from behind her. Velvet raised a hoof, alternating her focus between her mentor and the water keeping her prisoner.

“Steady…steady…”

The flood flickered. For two brief moments, darkness, not water, flooded the room.

“Now!”

A dark yellow blur zoomed out the window. The artifact on Daring’s hooves sent an iridescent glow crossing the ceiling. Discovering the deception, the flood roared. The aetheric electricity on its surface rekindled and reached for Daring, but Velvet’s rod had stolen too much of its thunder.

Velvet should’ve been happier: she saved her sole ally from the Spectrum of Lightning's petrifying magic and helped her acquire the last piece of the artifact needed to direct them to their final prize. Yet as Velvet trailed behind Daring—mane frazzled, chest heavy, and eyes watery from the morning's events—she was just…nothing. What was wrong with her?

…

A scene from the concluding portion of Chapter 18 in Spectrum of Lightning This chapter was mostly puzzle-centered, and puzzles aren't exactly my strongest suit. Luckily, sitting on it for a while allowed my pre-readers and me to come up with ways to spice it up a bit. We drew more attention to the effect the puzzle had on Velvet's psyche and characterization, and we gave the puzzle an undercurrent of tension by allowing electrified water to rise.

If you want to know how Velvet got into this state, why Twilight Sparkle's mother is even adventuring with Daring Do in the first place, or what the significance of the weirdly colored tree is, go give my fanfic a read!