Modern Equestria

Twilight Sparkle raised her head from the book where it had drooped. Stifling a yawn, she looked out the library window to see the moon making its westward descent through the star-filled sky. By its position, it looked to be about three or four in the morning. She looked back at the book she had been studying, a tome purportedly written by Clover the Clever. Just then, she was startled out of her reverie by a knock on the library door. With a groan, she stood up from the pile of pillows she had been laying on, wondering who could be knocking at this unholy hour of Luna's night.

"Ugh... Hello?" she said, opening the door.

To her surprise, the pony on her doorstep was Ditzy Doo, the Ponyville mailmare. Twilight gazed into the pegasus's crossed eyes for a moment before noticing the package she was balancing on her back.

"Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night, Twilight," she apologized. "But this came from the castle with instructions to get it to you as fast as possible."

"The castle? I wonder what it could be, and why they wanted it to get here so fast..." The librarian looked up to see Ditzy still awkwardly balancing the package on her back. "Whoops! Sorry Ditzy!"

Twilight levitated the package inside, then signed the slip with a quill she had been keeping behind her ear for note-taking.

"Goodnight!" She waved to the departing gray mare. "Say 'hello' to your kids for me!"

Retreting back into the library and closing the door, she looked over the parcel she had received. It was cubic, about two hoof-lengths to a side, and tied up with coarse twine. Tucked into the twine was a piece of paper reading 'Urgent!' and a sealed envelope. Twilight discarded the former and looked at the latter. The seal holding shut the envelope was a crescent moon symbol pressed in dark blue wax, quite unlike the usual red wax sun insignia that Twilight was used to getting. The lavender unicorn opened it and withdrew a letter, written in an old formal script.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As a gesture of thanks for your help on

Nightmare Night, we have convinced our

sister to allow us access to this artifact,

which we are sure thou will find to be

interesting. Gather thy friends before

making use of it, and make sure that

thou have no pressing engagements,

for we think it will prove time consuming.

Sincerely,

Princess Luna of Equestria

***

"Ah wonder what Twilight wanted with us today," said Applejack, trotting through the winter snow. "And why she asked if we all had nothin' to do."

"Honestly, Applejack, I didn't think you would be able to make it," replied Rarity. "It seems like you always have some work to be doing at your farm."

"Yeah, well, you what runnin' a business is like. But we finished all our accountin' by Hearth's Warmin', and Ah can't very well work the fields in the dead of winter."

"What about you, Fluttershy? Your animals require a lot of care, do they not?" asked the designer.

"Yes, well, um, no, well, what I mean is, um, kind of. Most of the ones at my cabin are hibernating this time of year, and I told Angel bunny to look after them while I'm gone. Oh, and, um, also, if we take too long, well..." the yellow pegasus trailed off. "Big Macintosh said he'd check up on them."

Eyebrows were raised, especially by Applejack, as the demure pegasus blushed heavily and hid behind her mane. Despite this, her friends decided not to press the issue.

"Ugh, this is so boring! Hurry up, you guys!" said a rough voice from overhead, where Rainbow Dash was flying circles around her friends.

"Nopony's sayin' you have to travel with us, Rainbow. The four of us can catch up."

"Four?" questioned the colourful pegasus.

Applejack looked around their group.

"Now that's strange, Ah could'a sworn Pinkie was with us."

"She'll pop up where it's convenient for her. Later, slowpokes!"

With those parting words, Rainbow sped off towards the library, leaving her namesake in her wake.

"How rude!" huffed Rarity.

***

"Hello girls!" Twilight said as her friends entered.

Rainbow Dash was already there, lounging on top of a bookshelf. From the basement, Spike could be heard alternately grumbling and moving something heavy.

The librarian looked at her friends with a hint of confusion on her face.

"Where's Pinkie Pie?"

"Right here!" said the pony in question, stepping out from behind a bookshelf where she could not possibly have been.

"Whuh- Buh- How?" Twilight shook her head, then reminded herself that Pinkie was just being Pinkie. "Uh, right. Well, I'm sure all of your are wondering why I called you over today. The truth is, I'm not quite sure myself. Last night - late last night - I received a package from Princess Luna."

"What was in it?" asked Dash.

"I don't know. Luna's note said to 'gather my friends', so I decided to wait for you all to get here before opening it. Come on," she said, walking towards her basement stairs. "I asked Spike to set things up."

At the bottom they encountered a green and purple baby dragon slumped against a table leg and panting.

"I moved that table for you," he said weakly.

The six friends gathered around the table, upon which was the package. Twilight grabbed a string with her magic and pulled, removing the twine that bound it. Beneath that was brown paper which she unwrapped, revealing a cardboard box. Within the box was another message from Luna, resting on top of something else. Moving this aside, she and her friends looked into the box... And gasped.

The cause of this collective intake of breath was an enormous opal, a perfect sphere about one hoof-length in diameter, swirling with every colour of the rainbow. As they looked at it - was there movement inside? Or was it simply their imagination? Looking closer, they could see a design etched into its surface - a globe, similar but different to ones they had seen before.

Slowly they shook themselves out of their trance. The orb was enveloped in a blue field as Rarity levitated it from the box. Below it was a base, shaped to hold it; this she also levitated out, setting it on the table before placing the orb on top.

"This is the most beautiful gem I have ever seen," said Rarity reverently. Then she looked at Spike who had curled up for an impromptu nap at the base of the table. "Well, the second most beautiful."

Twilight in the meantime was poring over the map etched into the stone's surface.

"This map is very detailed but... It's not correct. Here-" She gestured towards the edge of a large landmass. "They have a coastline. But that's where the Highmane Mountains are, and on the other side is the Western Desert, where Appleloosa is."

"What's this note say?" asked Rainbow. "Huh. The Princess says it's a way to 'look into the past'. She says we should all put our hooves on it together."

"'Look into the past?' Care to do some explainin', Rainbow?"

"I can't explain any more because that's all it says! I swear!"

"Ooh!" Pinkie interrupted. "Looking into the past sounds super exciting! I bet it's gonna be really fun!"

"Well, if Luna says we should do this, I trust her," said Fluttershy, quietly.

The six friends looked at one another and nodded. As one, they placed their forehooves on the opal.

There was a flash of light...