The Wielder of the Orb

by TheMajorTechie

An Introduction

Nightshade woke with a start. Slowly opening her eyes, she pulled the comforter off her head. It was dark outside, so obviously, it was sometime after midnight. But the room itself possessed a faint glow, as if a thin fluorescent haze filled the room. Nightshade pulled off the covers, and saw, to her great surprise, the orb. She was sure she had placed the orb on her nightstand before going to sleep, so how did it get in her bed? And what was this faint glow?

She gently grasped the orb with her magic to place it back on the nightstand, but she suddenly paused. Instead, she placed it on the bed next to her cradling it in blankets as if it were a foal. She wrapped her forelegs around the orb, and brought it close to her chest. She wanted to go to back sleep, to put this all out of her mind for awhile. But she began reflecting all that had happened to her in that… place. What really was this orb? What powers did it possess? What was this strange connection she had to it? Why was she selected? Who were these Templars? Could she trust them? Could she trust anypony? What about her family? But most importantly: Now what?

She pondered these questions for awhile. As the hours ticked by, her sight slowly grew dim, and she slipped back into sleep….

The next morning, Nightshade woke up with a yawn, lazily rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

Suddenly, she wheezed as all the air in her lungs were forced out by her brother.

“Hey Shady, get up!” shouted Juniper as he repeatedly jumped on Nightshade’s chest, “Mom’s already made breakfast for you.”

Nightshade groaned as she swatted her brother off. “Ok, I’m up.” She said groggily.

As she made her way downstairs, Nightshade couldn’t help but wonder about the events of the previous night. Was it really just a dream? Or was it… real?

---

“So, how was your sleep?”

Nightshade glanced groggily over at her father, oats still clinging to her fur.

“What?” She replied.

Her father sighed. “Listen. Last night, you were saying all sorts of weird things in bed, and not only that, your eyes were open. It seemed at first that you were awake and that you were just talking to yourself, but… well, you didn’t ever respond when I called you. I was thinking that you could’ve been tricking me, but I trust you. You’d never try to trick your own family.”

“Except me!” Chirped Juniper from across the table, “This one time, she put a bucket of water over my do--”

“JUNIPER!” Yelled their mother, “Your father’s talking.”

Berry Crunch paused for a moment. “So, as I was saying… Nightshade, you were acting rather strange last night. Could you tell us what happened?”

Juniper shot up a hoof. “And I also saw this glowey-thingy under Nightshade’s covers. When I looked under her blanket, the glowey-thingy zapped me.”

Nightshade glared at her brother. “You looked under my blanket while I was sleeping?!

“Don’t worry. I didn’t look there.”

Juniper only continued her glaring as her mother turned towards her.

“So… what happened last night?”

“...Uh…” Nightshade lifted the Orb onto the table with her magic. “This happened.”

“What is that?” Berry Crunch asked, looking at the strange orb.

Nightshade held the Orb higher up for everyone to see. “I don’t really know what this thing is, so I’ve just been calling it ‘The Orb’.”

“But what is it?” Her mother asked, looking at the Orb in a concerned manner.

“Well…” Nightshade began, “It’s this really powerful artifact that just kinda-- showed up. There’s not really all that much else to it.”

“And you didn’t tell us until now?!” Her mother said, getting more concerned at the possibilities of what the Orb could be.

Nightshade hung her head low. “Sorry… I was just worried that you’d be mad or something…”

Berry Crunch walked over to his daughter to comfort her. “Listen Nighty, your mother and I are just concerned that this thing could hurt you.” He then looked at the orb again. “Does anypony else know about this?”

The Orb suddenly began vibrating, at the same time as pulsating in a very strange manner.

I know a thing or two about it…

Anicetus rose from the Orb, his body already degraded to smoke and light.

Taking a deep breath, Nightshade began her explanation. “Mom, Dad, meet Anicetus. He’s a being from another universe, but he knows a lot about the Orb.”

The grey cloud shifted to form a body.

Bowing politely, Anicetus introduced himself. “Anicetus. Pleased to meet you.”

Nightshade looked at her parents, then back at Anicetus.

“Um… Anicetus, since you were kinda… watching over me for a while, do you already know my parents?”

Anicetus nodded. “Yes, indeed I do, Nightshade.”

He pointed a wispy finger at Nightshade’s parents. “Berry Crunch, your father, and Strawberry Blossom, your mother. You’re a middle-class family of botanists, with a low-to-mid level of mastery in the arcane sciences.”

“How-- how do you know all that?” Berry stammered.

“As I’ve said before, I have been closely monitoring you ever since the orb arrived in your domicile.”

Nightshade looked back to Anicetus. “So how did you manage to get out of the Orb?”

Anicetus shrugged. “Well, ever since I sent it here, it’s been slowly regenerating it’s energy. I’m guessing that in a few more weeks, it’ll be strong enough to allow for basic interdimensional travel. That is, if nothing draws it’s energy too much, say, my current physical existence.”

Juniper finally spoke up, eager to hear more. “So, you’re saying that right now, your body is composed entirely of energy being drawn from that thing?”

“Heh”, Nightshade chuckled, “that’s the brightest moment I’ve seen of you for weeks…”

Author's Note:

This may or may not be the last chapter uploaded for a while, since I'm moving soon.

Comments

[mastermenthe]

a rewrite that was cancelled?

[TheMajorTechie]

8262929
Yup. I gave up on the general idea itself.