Twilight Sparkle was prancing about her library, collecting materials left over from the previous week of intense study. Papers were thrown everywhere, and checklist upon checklist plastered the wall. Leather books were strewn about, many open to information and knowledge that was older than Equestria itself. Indeed, many of these tomes are hard to find nowadays, or even are the last in existence. That’s one of the privileges of being the Princess’s star pupil.

Her horn glowed with magic, and the hundreds of parchment scrolls, books, and other miscellaneous office supplies darted everywhere. For a moment, the room was obscured completely by the blurring figures of scrolls and books flying everywhere all at once. When the items stopped flying and the dust settles, all that remained was a squeaky-clean library with no hints of disorganization.

“Okay then… That’s all done.” Twilight said.

Twilight admired the results of her cleanliness spell, and then called for her assistant.
“Spike?!”

The baby dragon poked his head out from behind a desk.

“You didn’t need to hide, you know.”

“Do you remember the last time you tried that spell? The library was in flames, Rarity was turned into a squirrel, and my cupcake was suddenly burned. I’d rather not relive that.”

“As much as I feel for your cupcake, Spike, that time I had drunk too much Vodk-” Twilight’s eyes widened slightly, and she quickly corrected herself.

“Apple Cider. Yes, it was cider. In any case, it won’t happen again.”

The baby dragon seemed confused.

“Cider messes up spells? How…”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “It just does, Spike. Okay? I’m already late for tea with Zecora. Keep an eye on the library while I’m gone.”
With that, Spike dismissed the previous conversation quickly and responded.
“Alright, Twilight. Be safe!”

Twilight used her telekinesis to lift a satchel onto her back, and walked outside, the door closing behind her.

Spike walked to a nearby stool and sat down. He immediately became bored.

“Oookay then.”

The test bed for Joe L*****’s spaceship technology looked exactly like a stereotypical flying saucer. It had a disc-shaped hull, and had all the features of something otherworldly and alien.

Except it was a fraction of the size.

Joe was working in his insulated workshop, his long dark hair flowing behind him. His eyes were obscured by a pair of welding goggles. It was all a bit of a cliché, really.

Sparks flew about the space as Joe welded a plate to the car-sized disc. Smoke arose from the joint that he was working on.

He cracked a wry smile that could seem almost demonic in the moody light given off by the welding torch.

Joe lifted the torch off of the joint, and raised it up, turning the cut-off valve with his other hand.

“Ex-tra-ord-inary,” he enunciated softly.

Joe walked to a nearby workbench that had an open briefcase with joysticks, screens, along with a number of switches, buttons, lights, and other doohickeys. He grabbed a key from his pocket, inserted it into a lock, and turned it. The computer flared to life, and wirelessly connected to the prototype.

He flipped the master power switch, and the dynamo inside the disc began to spin up, building a massive electric charge. For a moment, the device vibrated with energy, and suddenly, the disc jolted into the air, plowing right through the supposedly reinforced steel ceiling.

“Yes!” Joe screamed excitedly.
He was simply too rabid with happiness to notice the new hole in his roof.
“Full power! Incredible!”

He tweaked the joystick to the right, and the disc softly hovered to his left, just as planned.

“Okay, let’s fire up the ER Bridge capacitors. Maybe we’ll jump 10 feet in altitude to test.”

Joe entered some coordinates into the console, pressed a confirmation button, and then flipped a protective cover over a switch entitled ‘Einstein-Rosenberg Jump Bridge’. The capacitors charged for a moment, and then he engaged the switch.

The disc wobbled for a second, then disappeared in a spectacular spherical ripple. The console’s status screen flashed red.

CONNECTION LOST

“Okay… I just need to wait now.”

He waited. He waited for hours. The disc never returned, and the connection stayed silent.

“Oh Zecora, thank you for the wonderful tea,” Twilight mused over a ceramic cup.

“You are welcome for the tea, my friend and purple pon-y,” The creative zebra said in rhythm.

Twilight sat in silence, and Zecora went to clean up the dishes they had used.

“You know, Zec-”

WHAM!

A loud noise startled Twilight and Zecora, who ran outside to find a silver, cone-shaped hunk of metal fly out of the ground, and land 10 feet away from the hole it exploded from.

“What in Celestia’s name…” Twilight said, and then approached the device.

“Be careful my little pony, for you know not what it could be.”

Twilight stepped over the hole it had erupted from, and looked closely at the silver hull. It had only one externally visible feature. A small block of text inlaid on the shell.

Twilight had one reaction to this.

“What.”