"So what you're saying is..." Inhio kept walking around the room with the ball in his hands. "The lot of you are travelers from another dimension, and you got here only with the help of a magic spell?"

"Yes," Twilight gave a firm reply.

Aliens... Inhio thought to himself. If it weren't for the shades covering his eyes, then you could probably see stars in them right now.

"Well, that, and then there's this magical sphere that some scholars recently started using to relay voice messages, rather than sending written letters. They said that they couldn't be used to transport anything other than words...turns out they were only half right..." Twilight added while Inhio was still in his state of trance. "But that's beside the point...Anywho! What..."

"Wait," Inhio interrupted. "What do you mean - half right?" he inquired.

"It's....complicated," Twilight replied shyly.

"Well, try to explain it as best you can," Inhio encouraged her in a sincere tone.

"You see, the thing is," still a bit hesitant, Twilight answered. "These spheres were never designed for carrying anything more than a pony's words. Even though it's spiritual capacity is large, enabling it to carry a practically unlimited amount of information, it's physical capacity still remains about the same as it's size. Thus, even though you can hear us, and we can even see ourselves and each other in here..." Twilight paused in the middle of her sentence in order to demonstrate something. She stomped her hooves a few times.

Woah...That didn't sound like feet. Inhio thought to himself.

"Our actual bodies are not with us. Up until the very moment the transaction is complete, and our landing is secured, only our spirits will remain trapped in here, leaving our bodies out of harm's way," Twilight explained as best she could. "I guess it's even better that way," she quietly added.

"Now that's what I call travel insurance," Inhio jested.

The voice in the ball giggled.

"So how do I get you out of there?" Inhio asked. "Do I just smash this thing?"

"No!" several voices shouted at once.

"All right...Bad idea, I guess."

"Indeed," Twilight replied. "That wouldn't complete the transaction...To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what exactly would that accomplish. Best case scenario - it would return us to our bodies with our minds unscathed. Worst case..." Twilight paused.

"It wouldn't..." Inhio took over the sentence. "Your minds could neither return, nor venture forth, leaving you forever trapped in the void."

Even though Inhio did not receive a reply, he could almost hear the sound of shivers running down their spines after his wicked thought. "Right, then...Did you have something different planned?"

"Yes," Twilight replied.

"I'm all ears."

"Aside from this sphere, there was another object that traveled with it. A sort of pedestal. Something that would keep the sphere from simply rolling around."

"I see..." Inhio had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Any idea where that pedestal might be now?"

"No clue," Twilight sadly admitted. "We can't see what's going on outside the walls of this sphere. Thus, we did not see the route that it took to get where it is now."

"But you could hear it, couldn't you?"

"What good is that?" Inhio received a reply from a voice that wasn't Twilight's

"You could describe what you heard," Inhio suggested. "Maybe I could figure out where your ball initially landed if you told me about what the surroundings sounded like."

"It's worth a shot, I guess..." Twilight slowly replied.

"Well, if you've got any better ideas..." Inhio added and didn't get a reply for some time.

"You remember the foal that walked in here carrying that ball?" Twilight asked.

foal? Inhio wondered. "Yeah, why?"

"Do you know anyone close to him? Someone who might have willingly given him this sphere as a gift?"

"Not really..." Inhio replied and pondered on that thought. "As far as I know, he didn't have many friends. He was a foreigner, mocked for his accent."

"What the?" a voice with a distinct westerner accent emitted from the ball

Huh? Is it just me or did that one just talk in a country accent? Inhio wondered. "You know, I really can't think of anyone like that...Well, apart from..." Inhio paused.

"What is it?" Twilight asked, unnerved by Inhio's sudden silence.

"Before you were given to the boy, did you happen to hear any, like...metallic sounds? Hammers, wrenches, chains, etc..."

Twilight rubbed her chin as she tried to remember. "You know, now that you mention it..."

"Say no more," Inhio interrupted and began walking towards the exit.

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked. She was as happy about this as she was confused.

"To the local mechanic."

"What do you hope to find there?"

"The boy's father."