"Shady?" Lightning Rod called, entering the room with a bottle of juice in hoof, "I got you a drink. You go--"
The stallion paused, staring at his unconscious roommate.
Nightshade's eyes shot open as she smacked Lightning in the face.
"GETBACKGETBACK!" she shouted, throwing her hooves out in front of herself. "...Oh?"
Lightning Rod made a face, rubbing his sore cheek.
"Eh, sorry 'bout that," Nightshade smiled, "I... think I might've had some sort of nightmare or something. Whatever it was, holy heck was it weird."
The two fell silent for a few seconds as Nightshade contemplated the events from earlier, while Lightning Rod continued to nurse the slap mark on his face.
"Well," Nightshade breathed, picking up the Orb, "I think I'm gonna get back to studying. Figure out just what this thing here can do... besides mashing things to a pulp. Y'know?"
Lightning Rod shrugged.
"I mean, I can already feel this pull towards this thing, almost like I was... chosen by it. So I'd might as well figure out what I can even do with it, right?"
Lightning Rod shrugged again, still rubbing his cheek.
"Uhh, do a thing!" Nightshade shouted, swinging the Orb at a glass cup.
Nothing happened.
"C'mon! Abra-cadabra! Kazam! Um... Please! Ka-Chow?"
Nothing happened.
Lightning Rod knocked on the door.
"Shady, could you be a little quieter, please? I wanna sleep, y'know."
Nightshade rolled her eyes with a grumble, setting the Orb atop the cup as she trudged to her bed.
"...And I don't want to have to help you pick out glass shards from the carpet, either. I heard you put that crystal ball thing on top of your cup."
The mare let out an agitated hiss, turning over in bed and lighting her horn. The cup tipped over, letting the Orb fall onto the floor with a heavy thump.
Nightshade crept back beneath the covers into her blanket igloo.
A dull knocking panged through Nightshade's head.
Clunk.
Clunk.
Clunk.
Clunk.
The mare yawned, lifting the covers and peering over the side of the bed to find the Orb, rolling itself against the bedframe.
"Hm?" she hummed, lighting her horn. The Orb rose as her aura enveloped it, lifting it into her lap.
"Huh."
Nightshade picked the Orb up again, this time with her hooves. Nothing in particular seemed to stand out-- no imperfections, no cracks, lines, or anything, really. It had even since stopped moving now that it was in her hooves. She lifted it up to the moonlight, peering through the translucent blue glass that made up the artifact.
The knocking sound abruptly resumed, louder this time, though it didn't come from the Orb. A dark shadow materialized over the moonlit window as the same face from before once again faded into view. Two spindly claws of black appeared on each side of the face, pressing themselves against the smooth glass of the window.
The mare took a shaky step back, swinging the Orb in front of her just as she did the night before. Unlike the last time, however, the claws didn't follow the motion of the Orb, instead continuing to be planted firmly beside the piercing red pupils of the face staring in from the window.
"Gg...iii-iiiiii....vvvve..." a guttural moan seemed to beckon from all around, "Yo...oooooouu... un-wwooooo...rrrthhyyyy..."
A different knocking sound filled the air.
"NIGHT!" Lighting Rod grumbled from behind the door, "Can you please stop it with whatever wacky magical shenanigans you're doing at the moment? Some of us need to sleep, y'know!"
His voice fell silent as Nightshade took another step back.
"Nighty?" Lighting continued, knocking a little softer this time, "Hey, you alright in there?"
The door clicked open as the stallion peered inside. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the creature lurking on the window.
"By Celestia's holy plot, Nightshade!" Lightning Rod shouted, pointing a hoof at the creature, "First you keep everypony up at night, and now we gotta deal with demons?!"
"Not now, Lighting," Nightshade snapped, "I gotta deal with this demon thing first."
"But I literally just aid--"
"Not. Now."
Once again, the knocking from before returned, this time coming clearly from the creature at the window; a third, disembodied, spindly hand slowly pounded at the glass.
"Rrrrrretuuuu...uuuurn... t-o... mmmas-terrr..." the creature groaned, its pounding growing harder.
Both Nightshade and Lighting Rod jumped as a crack formed in the glass.
"Heckin' thing is physical?!" Nightshade shrieked in surprise, "Last time around they were just magical constructs!"
Lightning Rod cocked a brow.
"Physical, you say?" he queried, "I think I might have something to deal with it, in that case..."
The stallion left without another word, leaving Nightshade once again alone with the strange creature of darkness at her window.