The Orb - A high condensed ball of pure energy, so powerful that it spans across not just dimensions, but entire UNIVERSES. What may become of Nightshade as she begins her adventures as the Wielder of the Orb?
Cover art by: Lokimonster (I just did some minor edits.)
After many a sleepless night, Nightshade begins to realize that there may be something more... special about her than she thinks. One of her only friends, Lightning Rod, seems to be very preoccupied in his own interests as well, until he begins to notice, too.
Criticism is welcome. I'd like to know why you liked/disliked it.
She felt like she was floating in a vast sea of darkness, she could not move, or see anything. She only existed. Then in the distance a prick of light appeared, it seemed to come closer. She felt the floor under her feet, she was in some sort of mansion. There were windows, but the only light that existed came from the “Orb” in front of her. The Orb, she could feel energy radiating from it. Pure power. The Orb called to her, pulled at her. She wanted to take it, to use the power it held for her own desire, but that thought scared her. It scared more than anything ever had before. It could not be right, all that power, just sitting there for any pony to take. It had to be some sort of elaborate trap. And yet, she walked towards it, there was no way for her to stop. She reached out a hoof and touched the smooth surface of the Orb, energy crackled, filling the room and then-
Nightshade woke up with a jolt. She had that weird dream again- some sort of feeling, that strange pull. It felt as if something had tied a rope around her soul, tugging relentlessly into some unknown direction. “It was the Orb”, she whispered to herself, “all of this, it must be the Orb…”
After stopping for a moment to recover from the dream, Nightshade finally crawled out of bed. She winced as her hooves touched the cold floor. It was the middle of winter, and on the second floor where her room was, it was especially cold. She promptly made her way downstairs, the pleasant smell of breakfast bringing her fully into the waking world.
Nightshade shivered as she left her room, her little brother, Juniper Glow, was already sitting at the table with their parents. He was throwing manners to the wind, and stuffing so much food into his face that it was dripping. For some reason, her brother’s current lack of manners was being totally ignored by her parents, who were deep in conversation.
“Juniper, be polite.” She reprimanded.
“Oh, good morning, sweetie. I didn’t know you were up yet.” Her mother said sweetly.
“Of course I’m up. Just because it’s winter break now doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep all the time. Too much stuff to do.”
Juniper continued his rampage of destruction on his breakfast, occasionally sending bits and pieces of eggs and toast flying across the table.
“Juniper!” yelled their mother, “Stop that messy habit, please.”
Juniper only truly stopped his flailing about when he got a look from his father, who then turned to Nightshade, “So, what are your plans for today, sweetie?”
Juniper shrugged. “I really don’t know, dad, It’s the weekend, you know that I don’t have any activities on weekends.”
Nightshade gave her brother a blank look, “You know he wasn’t talking to you, right?”
Juniper shrugged, Nightshade sighed.
“I’m gonna hang out with my friend, Lightning, at Sugarcube Corner. We’ll see how the day goes from there.”
Nightshade stood up, and began making her way towards the door, her saddlebag filled to the brim with various papers and trinkets, though most of it was on botany and chemistry.
“Wait!”
Nightshade paused, and turned to see who called her.
Juniper waved at messy hoof at her. “Bring me a cookie?”
Nightshade sighed. “Fine, I’ll get you a cookie. Bye, mom! Bye, dad!”
She made her way out the door, onto the mildly busy street. From there, she navigated the streets until she arrived at Sugarcube Corner.
Boom
Nightshade jumped as the sound of thunder shook the area.
“You fall for that every time,” giggled a light blue pegasus as he glided down to the ground.
“Lightning… Not funny.” Nightshade grumbled.
Lightning Rod rolled his eyes and tossed his yellow mane out of his face, “Aww, come on, it’s just a joke, Rainbow Dash does that all the time. And also, don’t forget, it’s Electro, not Lightning.”
“Lightning, maybe you should spend some time around other pegasi that don’t like to scare the wits out of their friends.”
Suddenly, Lightning Rod’s face became stern, “Anyways, do you have the papers?”
Surprised at the sudden sobriety that had taken over her ‘friend’, she quickly jerked back. “Uh… yeah, I have them right here.”
She levitated the binder filled with various documents into Lightning Rod’s grasp. “You should have all the information you need for that potion of whatever that you’re making.”
“Herbal remedy,” corrected Lightning Rod, “if my calculations are correct, the remedy should have the ability to grant any race of ponies with a limited subset of controllable magic of the type you unicorns have.”
Nightshade raised an eyebrow, “And why are you doing this, Lightning?”
Lightning Rod replied in a clearly annoyed tone, “As I’ve told you before, it’s Electro, and I’m only doing this so that I can access certain types of magic that normally I wouldn’t be able to use. Namely, control over certain electromagnetic wavelengths.”
Nightshade sighed, “Li--Electro, isn’t there already technology for that? I mean, those scientist guys over at Canterlot Laboratories have literally been spewing out all sorts of crazy things. Take this for example,”
She tossed a small cylinder from her saddlebag, “This is a special type of flashlight that can emit both infrared and ultraviolet waves at once, using the same semiconductor alloy as many other LEDs.”
Lightning Rod caught the flashlight in his wing, “Yeah, I know that, it’s just that… well… I just wish that I was born a unicorn, so that I could truly feel what it’s like to have active magic flowing through me…”
Nightshade raised an eyebrow, “You do have active magic flowing through you, earth ponies do too. Pegasi are the only race that can make cities out of clouds, and make the weather obey you, even fly! Just because you don’t have the particular magic of a unicorn doesn’t mean you aren’t magical. Earth ponies are as well, neither of our races are as strong, or have the ingrained talent to grow things so well. We all have our own special brand of magic.”
“Yours is just the awesomest.”
Nightshade shrugged as she turned to find Pinkie Pie in her face, as usual.
Lightning Rod turned Nightshade back towards himself with a wing. “Shh…” he whispered, “I don’t want anyone else to know my plans.”
Pinkie leaned in close, putting a leg around Nightshade’s shoulder. “Ooh, so we have a coltfriend here now, do we?”
Nightshade face hoofed. “No, Pinkie. Lighting and I are simply talking about our plans for what we should do tonight.”
Pinkie only grinned.
“Ugh!” Groaned Lightning Rod. “You really could’ve said that in a less uh… suggestive manner…”
Nightshade grinned as she got a wonderfully devious idea, “Oh, yes, Pinkie Pie, Lightning and I are most definitely a couple, so you should really plan a party to celebrate the occasion.”
Pinkie’s face lit up, and she struck a salute. “Yes ma’am! One extra-large shipping party coming right up!”
The pink mare disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Nightshade and Lightning Rod the peace that they had wanted.
“So... “ began Lightning Rod, “About the plan… I think that we should meet up with the rest of the team at the-”
Lightning was cut of by the fuzzy mane of the same mare that had been bugging him and Nightshade just a moment ago.
“At the what?” said Pinkie, “I need to know exactly where the party’ll be!”
“Right here, Pinkie, at Sugarcube Corner.” Nightshade quickly suggested.
“Alright!” Chirped Pinkie, “I’ll get straight to it!”
Pinkie once more vanished from sight, leaving Nightshade and Lightning Rod alone.
“So as I was saying,” continued Lightning, “I think that we should meet with the rest of the team in my lab behind my house.”
Nightshade cocked her head to the side. “Why?”
Lightning held up a paper. “Well, it does have all my equipment, doesn’t it?”
“Wait, so we’re still going on with that plan you were talking about earlier?” Nightshade said in confusion, “The one that’s supposed to grant you limited spellpowers?”
“Exactly,” replied Lightning Rod, “I’ve already prepared it, anyways. What’s the point in wasting perfectly good potion ingredients?”
Nightshade sighed. “Alright, let’s see what we can do.”
The two left Sugarcube corner, leaving the usual tip for Pinkie’s hospitality. Just as they disappeared around the corner, Pinkie burst from the kitchen in an explosion of multicolored confetti.
“PARTY TIME!!!” She yelled, ultimately grabbing the attention of the customers.
Suddenly, she noticed that Nightshade and Lightning Rod weren’t there. “Huh,” she grumbled, “I wonder where they went.”
Nightshade trailed Lightning Rod as they made their way to the familiar little shack behind Lighting’s house. Emblazoned across the shack in large, blue block letters, was ‘Electro’s Lab of Curiosities’.
Lightning Rod stopped at the doorway to the shack, momentarily pausing to check his surroundings.
“Um… Lightning… I mean, Electro, I have a question.” stated Nightshade.
Lightning Rod turned and replied, “And I have an answer.”
“Why does your lab have such a funny name? The last time we were here, it was just ‘Lightning-Lab’”.
Lightning opened the door. “Eh, I just felt like it. I’ll probably change it again in a week or two.”
The door lead to a short, spiraling staircase down into the ground. Obviously, the shack itself was far too small to actually hold an entire laboratory. As the two ponies descended into the lab’s main hallway, she was hit with the familiar, musty smell of old books and machinery.
The two finally arrived in a small room filled with various boxes of chemicals. All around the room were centrifuges that seemed to never cease their movement. At the center of the room was a small table, piled to the top with dirty flasks and other items of the sort.
Lightning picked up a small quartz vial that held a translucent, blue-green fluid. “Here it is,” he announced, “the unfinished potion. All I need is for you to cast a weak enchantment on it. This fluid is made from liquefied crystals, so it should be able to absorb any sort of magic you throw at it.”
Nightshade eyed the mixture warily. “So you want me to just randomly zap it?”
Lightning nodded. “Yeah. These specific crystals cancel out any spell effects, and only absorb the raw magic in and of itself. So… yeah, just zap the thing.”
Nightshade nodded, and charged her horn. One brief moment of spellcasting later, the tonic began bubbling ferociously, as if in attempt to escape the vial altogether. Lightning began to raise the vial to his lips, before being stopped by Nightshade.
A look of worry flashed in her eyes. “Are… are you sure that this is safe?” she asked.
Lightning nodded again. “Of course this is safe.” Just before he sipped the vial, he whispered to himself, “I hope…”
Lightning’s eyes darted about the spinning room, his mane still mildly singed from the shockwave of magic that had coursed through his body moments prior.
“Get up, lazybones,” joked Nightshade as she held out a hoof, “your experiment worked. And coming from a mare who believes that you’re a nutcase, that’s definitely saying something.”
As Lightning pulled himself back up, he couldn’t help but notice the strange feeling circulating about his body.
“So... Shady,” He began, “Do all unicorns feel like their insides have turned into a magical pinball game?”
Nightshade sighed in annoyance at the mentioning of her nickname. “No, at least, not that I know of. Maybe it’s just because we’re used to it or something.” she pointed a hoof at Lightning’s forehead as she continued. “And besides, how are you going to channel and use your new power without a horn?”
Lightning waved away her hoof. “Ok then.” He finally got back onto his hooves, though still a bit woozy from the potion’s after-effects. “So first of all, you’re saying that I’ll just get used to this feeling. And second of all,” he pointed at a nearby shelf with various prototypes, “I’ve already got that handled. Ok?”
Nightshade nodded. “Fine, fine. Do whatever it is you’re gonna do. I’m outta here.”
Though the potion’s effects were directly tied to Lightning Rod, as Nightshade left for, she couldn’t help but notice a light tingling sensation on her horn. It felt just the same as it did in her dreams, but this time, she knew that it was real.
That night, as she lay in bed, she tried hard to push the tingling into the back of her mind. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened. It was as if her thoughts had taken hold of the sensation, and amplified it, filling her mind with so much commotion that it was becoming near impossible for her to not scream out in pain. She took hold of her pillow, slamming herself into it multiple times to subdue the pinging, and yet, it only grew worse. At times, it felt as if something had began dissolving her horn, gnawing through the nerves relentlessly, and at other times, it would die down to a dull hum in the back of her mind. Through the sheer power of exhaustion, Nightshade finally fell asleep.
~~~{}~~~
Nightshade…
Nightshade’s eyes darted about the room. It was the same dream again. The dream that’d been playing each night for nearly a full month now. The same old mansion, the eerie glow of the ‘Orb’, it was all there.
The only thing is, this time, upon magically pinching herself, she actually felt it.
This wasn’t a dream, it was real.
Nightshade, speak to me…
Gasping, Nightshade flinched back in terror. “W-who is that?” She stammered.
It is I, the bearer of the Orb.
“Wait… what?”
Allow me to introduce myself… I am Anicetus, or at least, what’s left of his uncorrupted soul. The Orb is in great danger, and through years of searching, I have come to believe that you may be one of the best choices…
Nightshade continued glancing around the room. “Um… Anicetus, could you like, come out, so that this doesn’t seem as awkward?”
Indeed I will, as you please.
A looming shadow began forming behind the orb, slowly materializing as Anicetus’ very soul came into the physical plain. He was biped, with arms and hands much like a minotaur’s, and yet, he looked… different. He appeared to be wearing retro-futuristic clothes, from what Nightshade could tell, and his short ‘mane’ barely grew past his ears.
“So… this is you?”
Yes, it is me. This is what I looked like, before the corrupting powers of greed befell upon me. I am what is left of Anicetus’ soul, and it will take the last of my power to grant you the power over the multiverse, through the Orb.
The floating figure of Anicetus gently grasped the Orb in both hands, lifting it from it’s pedestal.
I shall grant you your power over the Orb, in the same manner as the Wielders before me have done so. In this symbolic act, I shall transfer the possession and therefore, the power of the Orb through the many realms of the multiverse, to you. When I return you to your proper realm, you shall find the Orb in it’s basic physical form nearby. Take haste, for these may be my final moments among the livi--
The image of Anicetus began disintegrating, starting at his feet.
Quick! Catch the Orb!
The ‘Symbolic Orb’ flew gracefully through the air landing gently in Nightshade’s hooves. The image, however, was already gone, and the mansion around Nightshade immediately began to crumble.
~~~{}~~~
Nightshade woke up with a jolt. Was that all real? A cool, smooth object shifted under her covers. In mild annoyance, Nightshade took hold of it in her telekinesis, and pulled it out.
“Huh, it was real.”
Then, she remembered the night before, and quickly hopped from bed.
She raced along the sidewalk towards Lightning’s house, and knocked furiously on the door.
Lightning opened the door. “Hey, Nightshade, what’s that in your saddlebag?”
“Notimetoexplainjustlemmein,” rattled Nightshade, “Look... just let me inside, and I’ll explain.”
Lightning shrugged as he opened the door wider. “Sure thing.”
~~~{About an hour later...}~~~
“...and so, now I’m apparently the Wielder.”
Lightning nodded blankly, his fragile mind already blown out several minutes prior due to Nightshade’s description of the Orb’s supposed link to the Multiverse.
For the second time in two days, Nightshade found herself in the laboratory. Lightning was busy rummaging through boxes and digging out equipment. Finally, she asked, “So Lightning-,” she heard him sigh in disgust, “-Electro, what are we doing again?”
“We are going to determine exactly what that orb is.”
“And how are we going to do that?”
“We're going to take some basic measurements and then start getting it to react.”
“React with what?”
“We're going to find out.”
Pulling a scale from the equipment pile, Lightning placed it on the table. “Pass me the orb.”
Levitating it from her saddlebag, she passed it over to Lightning.
ZZZTTT!
Lightning jerked his hoof back in pain from the orb.
“You okay?” asked Nightshade.
“The thing’s got a static charge. Just set it on the table.”
Nightshade placed the orb on the table. Lightning reached for the orb and -
ZZZTTT!
“Agh!” Once again Lightning jerked his hoof back from the orb.
“Want me to put it on the scale?”
“Only if you want a shock.”
Nightshade reached out to the orb, and with a slight hesitation, picked it up. She felt no static shock, but some strange power instead. After a moment of holding the orb, she placed it on the scale.
The dial on the scale turned. “Four point two pounds,” read Lightning. The scale shifted. “Twenty point two pounds.” The scale shifted again. “Five pounds….six point nine...sixteen point eight. What the hay is going on?” The dial kept shifting, faster and faster. Lightning reached out to the orb. ZZZTTT! “Agh!”
Nightshade reached out and picked up the orb. “What's next?”
“I want to measure its diameter. Just place it on the table.”
A short levitation spell later, and the orb now sat upon an anti-static cloth that had been draped over the bench. Lightning cautiously wrapped a measuring tape around the orb, this time, holding it in his newfound magic.
Fwoosh!
In an instant, the measuring tape, although it was made from a fireproof alloy of metals, had disintegrated almost immediately. The Orb still sat in the middle of destruction, a light haze drifting off it’s blazing hot surface.
“Rejected”
“Wha--” Lightning began in response to the voice in his head.
“I am the only surviving portion of Anicetus’ soul. My one and only task is to protect and defend the orb and it’s powers from intruders. You may not attempt to remove me, as I have been absorbed into the Orb’s very being.”
Lightning took a step back, rubbing his head with a hoof. “O..ok…”
Nightshade glanced questioningly at Lightning.
“You do it…” he gulped, “I’m not allowed to.”
Nightshade nodded, and cast a reconstitution spell on the tape. She then wrapped it the best she could around the midsection of the impossibly smooth surface of the Orb.
“Huh,” she began, “Even with a static measuring device, the measurements seem to always change.”
Nightshade pointed at the tape, motioning Lightning to come and look. “See,” she continued, “look.”
On the tape, printed clearly across the measurement marks, was a bold “INVALID” mark.
Lightning shook his head. “It says that we’re invalid.”
“No it doesn’t,” replied Nightshade, “It’s just saying that it’s unmeasurable. See?”
Nightshade took the tape back off, and the markings faded away. She touched a small corner to the Orb, and once again, the markings appeared.
“Well then,” began Lightning, “I guess that means that the Orb can communicate through messages on random objects...”
Nightshade rubbed her temples. “Light… I mean, Electro, can I go home now? We’ve wasted days trying to figure it out, and meanwhile, I seem to get all the answers in my sleep. Literally.”
“Fine, fine. Go back home. I’m gonna try and replicate this thing based off what I was able to get.”
Lightning sighed as he sank into the comfort of the swiveling chair he sat on. He glanced over at the immense mountains of papers collected in front of the various machines in the lab.
Finally, his eyes laid rest on the single successful test made.
Nightshade stirred for a brief moment in her sleep, surprised at the familiar voice.
“Anicetus? But… aren’t you dead?”
I was, but I am no longer. The Orb must keep a portion of every wielder’s soul protected within itself. The others in here lie dormant, while I, being the most recent, serve as the main voice.
Nightshade glanced about the room. It was still the same one as the one in her previous dream, just more… congested.
“Anicetus, what’s that smell?”
That smell? It is simply the aroma of the wielder I replaced. They lived in a garbage heap at the time of death.
A face of disgust made it’s way onto Nightshade’s face.
“And you just left it here?”
I do apologize for that but I am unable to do that due to the fact that we’re all trapped in this place.
Nightshade nodded. “It’s alright. I’ll adjust. But still, get some air freshener for this place.”
Viola, air freshener.
“Wait… what?”
The inner side of the Orb is a land of no logic, no physics, only imagination, knowledge, and power. It only makes sense in the way it makes sense to oneself.
“So, you’re saying that we have near unlimited power in here?”
In a way, yes. The creators of the Orb, known around here as the Templars of the Multiverse, were the first civilization in all of reality, and thus were able to learn how to bend the rules of reality itself to their will.
“That sounds dangerous. What if I do… this?”
Nightshade lit her horn, and cast a spell that she’d normally never be able to cast. Suddenly, the entire room was set ablaze with green flames, the walls of reality folding in upon themselves. Perception bent to the will of noone, and flopped about as shamefully as a fish out of water.
That was… impressive, so to say, In all my years, I’ve never seen such power contained in such a small body.
Nightshade looked at the aftermath in surprise. “I...I don’t know how I did that. I’ve never really been able to cast anything like that before.”
A bipedal being appeared in front of Nightshade. It looked similar to Anicetus, but at the same time, looked just about as horribly decayed as a corpse.
“Anicetus?!” Gasped Nightshade in surprise, “Is that really you?”
Yes, it is indeed me. This is what a soul eventually looks like after spending so long inside the Orb. The others are in much worse shape than this.
“So, if I ever see your corrupted self, he’ll look like you?”
Indeed not. That petty scum of a being stole my body. The moment he defeated me, he immediately took full control of my handsome body, leaving me with-- with this!
Nightshade hesitated, afraid of another outburst. Finally, she stammered, “S-so, If you stay here for as long as the others, then… what would you look like?”
Eventually I’ll wither away to the point of becoming a being of pure conscience. Hey Stan, get over here and meet the new wielder.
A large can suddenly appeared beside Anicetus.
Stan, I’ve told you before, can you please stop appearing that way?
The soup can trembled as a massive can opener floated above it. With an anticlimactic ‘pop’, the can opened up.
Yo, Ani, wazzup?
Nothing much. Could you stop calling me Ani please? It sounds girlish.
Heh, girlish. Reminds me of those pretty ladies I’d watch on the street.
Oh for the love of... Please don’t scare the young lady we have here.
It’s not my fault I was accidentally chosen as the wielder for a week.
Nightshade looked at the two. “Wait you were only a wielder for a week?”
That’s right. For a week, I was able to summon as much food as I wanted. And then I died in my own garbage pile after my stomach burst.
As you can see, there was already nothing left of poor ol’ Stan when his soul arrived here. That’s why he, like the others before him, is simply a blip of light. In maybe a year or two, that’ll be all that is left of myself too.
Nightshade blinked. “Oooook, that was weird.”
Of course it was. Why else would we be the Wielders? That’s half the fun.
“Wait…” Nightshade turned to face Stan. “Weird… we’re all weird, outcasts, in fact. Is-- is that why we were all chosen?”
Yes, in fact. The outcasts of society, the low-lifes, the unloved, they all understand things in a much different light. It isn’t everyday when a random nobody from the in-crowd truly understands what the true corruptive power of the Orb could be. It takes someone who’s suffered loss, one who always casts a wary eye upon others, to even get half the way to becoming a wielder.
A sudden realization struck Nightshade. “Outcasts… society… I’m an outcast at school, forever destined to be teased and bullied into submission… I have seen the corrupting strength of power, I am one who truly understands the sheer strength it takes to stave from the spiraling pit of despair that is the Orb... “ She turned to Anicetus, “And I know why the Orb was created.”
You do?
“Yes, I do. I believe it was created by the ‘Templars’ to protect others from the power of the Templars themselves, and in the case of which the Templars were destroyed, the Orb would permanently replace them, drawing from our very souls to create a new and improved set of Templars, each one knowing the full power of the Orb, each knowing just how devastating power may be in the wrong ho-I mean, hands.”
I have never thought of that before. You, out of everyone in here - myself included, likely understand more of the Orb than all of us here put together. Tell me, how did you know that?
“Easy. I live in a world where a Monarchy actually works, even though it’s technically a Diarchy now.”
Nightshade projected an image of Equestria onto the walls. “You see, when the elder sister, Celestia, was ruling alongside her younger sister, Luna, she gained a near absolute power over the ponies. That power, that oh so highly coveted power… it changed the younger sister. Luna, alas, was new to that strange longing. Never in her life had she craved power in such a way, and so she simply let it consume her, change her, into her darkest form: Nightmare Moon.”
And so for a thousand years, Nightmare Moon was imprisoned upon her namesake, and returned, only to have the corruption set upon her destroyed by the Elements of Harmony.
“Wait, you know that?”
Yeah, I read up on this place when the Orb got transferred.
“How?”
Just because I’m trapped in this cramped place doesn’t mean that I don’t have access to all the knowledge in... what’s it called… Equestria.
Suddenly, Stan reappeared beside Anicetus.
Seems legit to me, Ani.
Argh, would you please stop calling me that?!
Nah I think I’ll keep it up forever.
Of course you won’t, you little…
Nightshade butted herself between the two. “Would you please stop arguing?! This tiny place makes the echoing go crazy!”
Fine I’ll wait ‘til ya leave Bro.
As Stan dissipated into the air, Anicetus facepalmed with his remaining intact hand.
One of these days, he’s really gonna get it.
And what makes you think that?
Stan! I thought you left!
“...I’m just gonna leave now,” Nightshade grumbled as she made her way towards the “exit” of her dream: the door.
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…”
