The sun was just starting to set over the horizon, casting all of Whitetail Wood into shadows. Amidst the trees, the great granite sphere just sat there, unmoving and unchanging, unaware that it was being scrutinized by a pair of mismatched eyes.
“Come on, you stupid thing, do something!”
Discord continued to try working his unusual brand of magic into the sphere, but nothing about it either moved, or changed. Once more, the draconequus ran his lion’s paw over the perfectly smooth surface.
“What are you?! Reveal your secrets!” he shouted, not caring for how silly he must have looked at the moment. Then again, could anypony really tell the difference with Discord?
Discord heard a soft beating of hooves behind him, and he turned to see his best friend, Fluttershy.
“Is there something wrong, Discord? I heard you shouting as I was out gathering food for my animal friends.”
“No, nothing’s wrong Fluttershy, it’s just that I’m frustrated by this thing.” he said, gesturing to the sphere behind him.
“Oh my, did you make that? It looks very nice.”
Discord heaved a heavy sigh. “No, I didn’t make this, I just found it here. I don’t know what it is, or where it came from, all I know is that it is somehow immune to my magic.”
“Uh, Discord,” Fluttershy whispered, her voice growing faint, “could we maybe go someplace else? I could make you some tea back at my cottage.”
“Well, I do suppose this thing is pretty boring. It just sits here, like a rock. Oh right, it is a rock. Okay then, tea it is.”
Discord turned back to Fluttershy, and was startled to see she was already trotting back to her cottage quite a bit more quickly than was necessary.
“Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” asked Discord, teleporting in front of the shy pegasus. “It’s like you’re afraid of that rock.”
“I uh, I don’t like it. It makes me feel weird. It’s like something inside me doesn’t want to look at it.”
“Really? I didn’t feel anything, and I’ve been staring at it for the better part of 10 minutes before you came along.” Discord stated calmly, giving a parting glace back at the stone orb.
“Well, maybe it doesn’t affect you that way, but I still don’t like it. Can we get going, please? I still want to make you that tea I promised.”
“Alright Fluttershy, for you, we can leave it be.”
Twilight had just returned home after a lengthy conversation with Applejack about what she found, and even though Twilight voiced her concerns about the strange round stone, Applejack didn’t seem very worried at all. Perhaps Applejack was right. Perhaps Twilight was, once again, worrying over nothing, as the sphere didn’t seem to have put anypony in danger for as long as it was in that forest.
“Spike, are you there?” called Twilight up the steps to the bedrooms. Nobody answered. “He must have put himself to bed. He’s become so independent as of late, he might even want to move out and get his own house before long.”
With Twilight musing about the potential future of her number one assistant, she decided to head into the kitchen and have a few bites before going to bed. After a few mouthfuls of juice and hay, she went upstairs to her bedroom, where, sure enough, Spike lay in his basket, sound asleep.
Twilight put her own head down on her pillow, and tried not to think about that ominous sphere that was left in Whitetail Wood.
Suddenly, Spike’s head bolted upright, as he began to look as if he was sick. A second later, a loud belch was heard, followed by a flash of green fire which materialized into a scroll.
“Ugh, are you kidding me? I was having such a nice dream.” complained Spike as Twilight snatched the scroll out of the air.
“Hmm, sending me a message at this hour? This must be important.” thought Twilight as she looked at the Princess’s royal seal upon the scroll. Unrolling the scroll, Twilight began to read.
To my former student
Princess Twilight Sparkle,
Twilight, I think I know how to determine what the true nature of the sphere is. I need you to return to Whitetail Wood with Spike and your other friends tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. if they are available. I will need somepony I can both trust, and who has already seen the sphere to help me run one final experiment on it. My sister will be there as well, and if this experiment is successful, it may mean the dawning of a new era in Equestria.
-Celestia
Finally, it was time to unveil the mystery of this thing. Tomorrow, all would be revealed, hopefully. And what did Celestia mean by the dawn of a new era?
“Sleep first, worry tomorrow.” thought Twilight as she laid her head back down on the pillow, and fell into a steady sleep.