“Eeeeurgh!”

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, lifted the charred branch with her forelegs like a circus strongmare lifting a dumbbell. With a soft grunt, she tossed it aside.

“Whew.” The recently coronated alicorn flexed a foreleg, feeling the corded muscle underneath her purple-grey coat. “I think I’m finally getting the hang of this” Four months ago, she would have needed a heavy-duty telekinesis spell to life something that heavy. Being part Earth Pony definitely had its advantages.

With the branch out of the way, Twilight began sifting through the charred stump that used to be Golden Oaks Library, looking for anything that might be salvageable. So far, she hadn’t had much luck: her finds so far were a lightly-charred copy of Daring Do and the Ruby Raven, and a few fire-damaged photographs.

“Hey Twi.”

Twilight turned around to see Spike walking towards her with a small sack on his back. “You find anything?”

“Not much. “ Twilight motioned to the paltry pile of items she’d salvaged. “What did you find?”

“Not much.” Spike dug through the sack. “I found an issue of Power Ponies #76, a few gems, and a bit of my old blanket.” His crest drooped.

Twilight closed her eyes and embraced the little purple dragon.Though they’d only lived in Ponyville for little over a year, that humble treehouse had been more than a home to them. It had been their shelter; a place where she and her assistant could take a break from the craziness that came with living in Ponyville. All kinds of memories were locked up in here- from the first day she arrived, to her first slumber party, to her alicornification.

“Remember, Spike, it’s just a place.” Twilight mumbled to Spike.  “Tirek could burn our home, but he couldn’t burn our memories.

After a while, Spike detached himself from the alicorn. “Thanks Twi. I needed that.” He hoisted the sack back over his shoulder. Well, I better get back to looking.” He returned to his salvaging. “I think a part of my Rarity shrine survived.”

Oh you. Twilight chuckled and returned to her scavenging.

“Oh, Twilight I almost forgot!”

Spike came running back to Twi. He reached into the sack and pulled out something smooth and shiny. “I found this under a burnt floorboard. Any idea what it is?”

Twilight studied her assistants’ find. It looked something like a small polished rock the color of red wine. Strange, geometric designs were etched into its surface, while thin, silvery threads ran through its translucent interior.

“Any idea what it is, Twilight?” Spike licked his lips, “Is it a gem?”

“No, it’s no gem.”  Twilight said. At least, it wasn’t any gem she’d ever seen. Most uncut gems were rough and lumpy. This thing was as smooth as glass and perfectly symmetrical. If anything, it looked manufactured. For a second, Twilight swore she’d seen something like this in a book, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was.

 

 Twilight picked the stone up with her telekinesis. Maybe she should show it to Rarity. She knew her gemstones. Maybe she knew-

The aura surrounding the stone suddenly vanished. Twilight’s heart shifted into overdrive. Her stomach froze. “What…?”

Before the alicorncould react, the stone gave out a blinding flash of light.  Crimson lightning bolts crawled over Twilight’s body, both burning and freezing at the same time. A chaotic mix of alien thoughts, images, and sensations flooded into her head like a flash flood through a desert arroyo.

Twilight clutched her forehead, trying to make sense of the chaos. It was like watching a movie reel that had been cut to pieces, jumbled up, and pasted back together. An intolerable pressure built up in her head.

“Can’t take... much more... of this”

 To her relief, the pressure ceased. Order began to emerge from the chaos. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the scattered images were put together into a cohesive whole. A voice spoke, as loud as an earthquake and as quiet as a mouse.

“Watch…”