The Sphere

by random reader

Anomaly

“Rainbow, wait up!” Twilight called ahead, as Rainbow Dash zipped ahead of her, obviously eager to show Twilight this “rock ball” she claimed was in the Whitetail Woods.

As Twilight struggled to keep herself flying at the same rate as Rainbow Dash, Rainbow seemed to get more and more tense as they approached the boulder.

“We can’t be far now, we’ve been flying over 15 minutes.” thought Twilight, starting to pant heavily from the exertion of keeping up with her friend. Twilight noticed that Rainbow was starting her decent, and began to follow her downwards.

“Okay Twilight, it should be around here somewhere. I’m not exactly sure where it was though, but it should be really easy to spot.”

Twilight began scanning around, and quickly spotted a boulder behind a few trees that she hadn’t been there before. “Is that it over there, Rainbow?” Twilight said pointing with her hoof.

“Yes, that’s it, let’s go.” Said Rainbow, a bit of a quiver to her voice. “What could possibly be so scary about a boulder?” thought Twilight as they approached the sphere.

Twilight looked at the sphere, and for once, she was at a loss. It was just as Rainbow had said, perfectly spherical, and about 3 meters on diameter. Twilight reached out her hoof to touch it, and discovered the surprisingly low friction of the sphere.

“You see what I mean? Freaky, right?” said Rainbow, trying to look anywhere but at the sphere.

“It’s certainly unusual, but I don’t see why it would be scary, especially to someone like you.” Twilight said, reaching out to tap it a few times. “Hmm, it seems to be made of granite.”

While Twilight was busy running over scenarios in her mind of who could have made this thing, and who could have put it here, Rainbow was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. If this thing was really just a ball of granite, then why did it feel so, off?

“Maybe it’s not really granite.” Said Twilight, coming out of her revere. “Maybe it’s just something that’s made to look and feel like granite.”

“Well, how are you going to see if it’s real granite or not?” asked Rainbow. “That’s easy, I’ll just lift it up with my levitation, and see if it weighs as much as actual granite.

Twilight closed her eyes, and began to channel her magic into her horn. She focused her intention on enveloping the sphere with her energy, and once she could feel that her aura was big enough, she began to lift it up.

“Something’s wrong, that was too easy.” Twilight thought as she focused, eyes still closed. “Uh, Twilight, I think you might wanna see what you’re doing.” Twilight opened her eyes, and saw the sphere just… sitting there, untouched. Her levitation spell’s aura was now just partly enveloping the rock, and partly just hanging in the air.

“Wha… How… Huh?” Twilight spluttered, losing her focus, and dispelling her magic.

“It looks like your spell just slipped right through it Twilight, maybe you should try again?” suggested Rainbow Dash. Twilight nodded, and refocused her efforts, and this time, she put double the amount of energy needed to lift granite.

Once more, Twilight was at a loss, as her aura just slipped right through the sphere with absolutely no effect on it whatsoever.

“Okay, I’m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for this…” said Twilight. “Maybe there is some kind of weird rock that counter’s any spell cast at it.” Rainbow began to notice that Twilight was looking less and less sure of herself with each second.

“But that can’t be right. My magic wasn’t countered, it just… didn’t work.” Said Twilight looking a bit more troubled. “Is there something wrong with your magic, Twilight?”

“Yes, of course! That must be it, Dash! I’m just having an off day, that’s all. If my magic isn’t working though…” she trailed off. Rainbow Dash watched silently as Twilight wrapped a nearby stick in her aura, and lifted it off the ground easily.

“Well, it does seem like your magic is still working, but this rock isn’t budging. Also, you’ve been slowly backing away from the rock for the past minute.” Twilight looked at the sphere, and saw that Rainbow was right. She had indeed been inching her way backwards from the thing ever since her second levitation attempt had failed.

“I just don’t get it Dash, it’s like it can’t be touched by magic. But, that’s impossible! Everything in the universe can be affected by magic in some way or another.”

“Do you still think it’s granite?” asked Dash, finally looking up at the stone sphere. “It might be granite, Dash, but it’s something else too. It’s almost like…”

“Like it’s forbidden.” Rainbow finished for her.

Twilight just sat there for a moment, looking at the ground. “I need to get back to Ponyville. I think I should send a letter to the Princesses about this.”

“Good idea.” Replied Rainbow “The less time I spend near this thing the better.” As Rainbow Dash took to the air, Twilight spared one last glance at the sphere, before feeling the urge to look away, and took to the skies as well.

---

“So Twilight, what did Rainbow find?” asked Spike has he came downstairs, finished with his nap. “Hmm, how should I put this…” thought Twilight. “We found a large spherical boulder made of granite sitting on the ground in the woods.”

“Is that really all? It seemed like Rainbow was nervous about something when she came here earlier.”

“No Spike, that’s not all. I need you to take a letter.”

Dear Princess Celestia,
Earlier today, Rainbow Dash told me of a strange rock she found in the middle of Whitetail Woods. At first, I was quite skeptical of her claims that a boulder just appeared out of nowhere, but after leading me to it, I was able to see it for myself. The rock in question is about three meters in diameter, seems to be composed of granite, and is perfectly circular, probably down to the molecular level. (Although that’s just a hunch, as I can’t feel differences that small) The strangest part of my analysis of the sphere is this. It is completely untouchable by magic. I know it sounds impossible, but no amount of effort could lift it even a tiny bit with magic. I hope that you can help shed light on what this thing may be, and I must go back to conducting further tests on it.
Also, it may be notable that it seems to invoke a feeling of unease upon any who look at it.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Twilight Sparkle.

Author's Note:

I thought I would upload the second chapter by now, but I doubt that all future updates will happen this fast.

Comments

[Pump It Up]

4885475
I still haven't read it, let along favorite it, so no.

[random reader]

4885563
Sorry, it was arrogant of me to assume you would favorite it, with me being so new to writing and all...

[Pump It Up]

Okay, I read both chapters. I will be watching this. However, there are a few grammatical and formatting errors, but nothing too major. Oh, and you mixed up whether and weather.

I feel that the two chapters should be combined. Where you ended the first one felt like a fine place have a scene break, maybe using a [hr ] (minus the space) or ***** for a scene break marker.

[Luyten]

at least you update your stories unlike some authors out there (cough cough me)

[Pump It Up]

4885590
No, it wasn't arrogant; although, it was a silly question, since you'd know when I favorited a story.

[Mooncalf]

This is a pretty interesting story. There's a lot to work with on something being just strange and off, maybe a little sinister. Keep it mysterious.

I spotted a particular grammar error a few times, though. Specifically, having multiple talkers in the same paragraph. You should avoid doing this as often as possible; keep one speaker per paragraph. It's worsened by the fact that you don't indicate the new speaker.

“But that can’t be right. My magic wasn’t countered, it just… didn’t work.” Said Twilight looking a bit more troubled. “Is there something wrong with your magic, Twilight?”

“Do you still think it’s granite?” asked Dash, finally looking up at the stone sphere. “It might be granite, Dash, but it’s something else too. It’s almost like…”

In both these paragraph, I initially thought it was the same pony speaking (Twilight and Dash respectively) for the whole paragraph, and it wasn't until I noticed that they seemed to be talking to themselves for some weird reason. (I.e. Twilight asking herself if there's anything wrong with her own magic.) As this was probably not intentional (unless it's another strange effect of the stone) you may want to keep a closer look on these things.

[Cheesejellycommander4]

Looks like you had a bit of extra granite there.

[random reader]

4915190
If that was a joke, I don't get it.

[FinalFan]

Nitpicks:

rock that counter’s any

counters

“But that can’t be right. My magic wasn’t countered, it just… didn’t work.” Said Twilight looking a bit more troubled. “Is there something wrong with your magic, Twilight?”

(Need to separate two speakers into different paragraphs)

“Good idea.” Replied Rainbow “The less time I spend near this thing the better.”

“Good idea,” replied Rainbow. “The less time I spend near this thing the better.”

asked Spike has he came downstairs

as (not has)

perfectly circular

I suppose this may technically be true, but I think Twilight would be more likely to say "perfectly spherical" or "perfectly round" when describing this object.