Gillian threw open the door to her room, and Twilight was immediately overtaken by the hum of machinery and the smell of oil and fruit. All around the edges of the room sat various machines and other apparatus that were most likely used in experimentation. At first, Twilight thought Gillian was skipping her way across the room, but as Twilight followed her, she tripped over one of many thick cables that snaked across the floor.
"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that, Princess. I didn't really think'a cleaning up beforehand. I don't usually have ponies'n my room," the griffon admitted abashedly.
"Don't worry, Gillian. I, for one, can relate to secluding myself in my studies," Twilight assured her.
"Oh, uh... thanks, Tw-uh... Princess," the griffon stammered, flustered by Twilight's statement.
"Of course. If it's up to us to find a solution to this problem, we should find it together as friends," Twilight spoke proudly.
Twilice, on the other hoof, chuckled hoarsely to herself. "Never since Ma Vie have I met someone so undeniably sure of themself, Princess. It's very entertaining."
Twilight huffed indignantly to herself as Gillian tried her best to maintain her composure over Twilight's words. Trying to hide the awkward atmosphere as quickly as possible, Gillian cleared her throat and placed the hunk of ice on a small metal platform.
"So, uh... ahem I ran some experiments on it. Nothin' complicated, heat retention, compressional 'n' tensional stress, meltin' point... Jus'some cardinal information," She mumbled.
"Have you gained anything of importance from these tests?" Twilight asked.
"Nothin'a much interest. By all means this's pretty normal ice... but..." Gillian paused.
"What?" Twilight squinted at the ice, trying to find whatever secrets laid within it's frozen exterior.
"I looked at the way the ice was formed, and it's completely different from natural ice found back home," Gillian pointed out, pushing a magnifying lense in front of Twilight's watchful eyes.
Twilight looked meticulously at every inch of the small clump. Sure enough, Gillian was right. Instead of the usual crystalline formations that any normal ice block would have normally been composed of, this clump was completely smoothed, and was devoid of any holes, bubbles or pores. It was as if someone had carefully carved the ice down to a microscopic scale.
Twilight turned to Gillian, who was futzing with a panel that was hung from the wall. "You're right Gillian, This isn't right at all. Do you have any idea how it might have ended up like this?"
"Well from what I've seen, it's composition's consistent right down to it's center, so erosion's out. We've already proven that this stuff's pretty hard t'melt, so that's out too. The only explanation that'd make sense's that it formed that way." the griffon explained as she continued to meddle with the panel.
Twilight took another passing glance back at the ice before returning her gaze to the spindly griffon. "What're you doing, Gillian?"
"I'm settin' up a way to see'f there's anythin' off with it chemically. It could be a separate elemental composition or somethin'," the griffon stated absentmindedly as she continued setting up her machine.
Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. "Gillian, have you run any magical tests on it yet?"
"I wish, but I can't say I have. I don't have anythin' to do it with. We griffons aren't very mag-" in an instant, Gillian whipped around with an ecstatic look on her face. "You.. you have magic!"
Twilight let out a sharp laugh in surprise. "I do have magic. Would you like me to-"
"yes! Absolutely, please! Use your magic on the ice!" Gillian scrambled back over to the table where Twilight stood, watching her in eager anticipation.
Twilight giggled at Gillian's enthusiasm, then concentrated. In a flash, her horn glowed with raspberry light. The bright essence that surrounded her horn enveloped the ice, causing it to lift into the air. Gillian watched in complete awe as Twilight's face scrunched in confusion. After a short moment of quiet splendor, the light from Twilight's horn began to fade, and the ice gently fell back into place.
Twilight opened her eyes to see Gillian's starstruck expression.
"That was... so cool! I've never seen anyone use magic before! How was it? what did it feel like? Tell me everything!" Gillian stood up to her full height as she unleashed a barrage of questions onto Twilight. She towered over the purple pony as deranged excitement flooded her face. But then, whether it was because of Twilight's expression, or the realization that she was shouting at royalty, Gillian immediately shrunk back down.
"Oh i'm so sorry, Princess! I didn't mean to come off as so overbearing I just never met anyone who could use magic before I didn't mean to be so forward I should've controlled myself, I'm so so sorry!"
Twilight had to steady herself from the whiplash of watching the griffon change emotions so rapidly, but she put her hoof on Gillian's shoulder once she did. "Hey, it's alright Gillian. It's ok to be curious about new things. I mean hey, I can't tell you how many times I've come to Princess Celestia with a boatload of curious questions. You're alright, you have nothing to be sorry for."
Gillian stood up slightly, trying her best not to stand to her full height again. "Ok... sorry, Princess."
"It's ok, Gillian. Also, you can call me Twilight if that's alright with you," Twilight affirmed.
"Ok... thank you, Twilight," Gillian said quietly.
"Of course. Now, would you like to come and see what I've found out?"
"Y... y-yeah." Gillian whispered.
The two stared at the immobile ball of ice, Gillian with curiosity, and Twilight with a mix of confusion and fascination.
"So did'ja... uh... sense anything weird with it?" Gillian asked.
"Well I couldn't quite place it, but there's a very strong spell on this ice, and from what I can tell, this spell predates any of Starswirl's spells. This spell is... incomparably ancient and incredibly strong. I can't even figure out what it consists of, but One thing's for certain..." Twilight spoke ominously.
"What's that?" the spark of curiosity returned to Gillian's eyes.
"This ice, and possibly the entire Wall, is magic." Twilight spoke.