Sager was sitting in his room, thinking about his life. He had no real talents, and college was only 4 years away. And after that, he was going to be on his own in the world, to fend for himself, to keep track of his money, pay bills, get a job, learn to drive, etc.
It wasn't just the academics that worried him, although he wasn't too confident in his abiities; no, it was the real-world application of the skills he was learning.
He wanted to be a biologist, but scientists need to work to discover new things with other people's help.
He wanted to be a pianist, but he was only really a novice, and how qualified can one get in 4 years?
He considered writing, but language was a tough sword to wield, and people are quick to ridicule those with differing viewpoints than their own. In short he was depressed.
Sager stood up with a sigh and walked to his keyboard. He tried playing the famous Minuet in G, but his heart just wasn't in it.
He turned to his bookshelf. There were lots of classics; Shakespeare, Frankenstein, King Arthur, and some books on politics that his father gave him. He hadn't been able to enjoy reading in a long time however, and so he turned back away from the shelf.
He began to rise from his chair, when he heard a faint buzzing from behind him. He turned to see a purple sphere floating in his room, no bigger than a golf ball. All he could do was stare at it, having no idea what it was or where it came from. It was stationary, suspended in the air, giving off a faint glow and buzzing.
Sager rose from his seat and approached it slowly. He wasn't about to touch it, but he wanted a closer look.
It seemed to be growing, but extremely slowly. The buzzing also steadily became louder.
Now startled by the sphere, Sager began to back away from it. He hit the wall as the sphere reached the size of a basketball, and the buzzing became louder.
He would have called his father, but both he and Sager's sister were off at her appointment.
Sager picked up an old stick that he had once called a toy, and tried to touch the sphere. The sphere instantly turned red, and the buzzing stopped. Sager quickly pulled the stick back and stared, his heart beating rapidly.
Suddenly, the sphere exploded; it expanded to the size of a cow, and the buzzing returned, this time much, much louder.
Sager had to drop the stick to cover his ears, it was that loud. The sphere kept expanding, but this time, it was moving. It was moving closer to Sager, and the buzzing only got louder, until it was like a banshee, and even covering his ears did little to mask it. He cowered in the corner, on his knees, as the sphere approached him.
⁂
"So, why exactly are we comin' out here again, Sugarcube?" asked Applejack as she trotted to the spot alongside her friends.
"I told you, Princess Celestia wanted us to check the Millenium Portal," answered Twilight Sparkle, a little annoyed that she had to repeat herself.
"The Millenium what, now?" Applejack asked.
Twilight sighed. "Every thousand years, a portal, called the Millenium Portal-"
"That's a nice name for a portal!" interrupted Pinkie Pie.
"Yes it is, Pinkie," Twilight said, more annoyed.
"Now, as I was saying, the Millenium Portal opens up once every thousand years, and something from another dimension is transported to Equestria. I swear, it's like you girls don't hear what I say half the time."
"It's hard to focus on what you're saying when you're talking in Egghead," Rainbow Dash pointed out.
The group, excluding Twilight, laughed.
"It's not funny! This is rarer than a once in a lifetime event, it's like a once in a hundred lifetimes event! Almost nopony gets to see this portal, and we get to be the first to see what comes out of it this time."
"Ooh! Is that it over there?" Pinkie Pie shouted out as she hopped along.
"Yes, Pinkie, that's the p- THAT'S THE PORTAL! Quickly, we've got to move!"
The group galloped towards the red sphere, with Rainbow Dash flying ahead.
"Oh, thank Celestia, we've almost missed it!" Twilight said, out of breath.
"Oh no, this galloping has ruined my mane!" Rarity sobbed.
Twilight quickly shushed her. "Quiet, it's starting."
And starting it was. The sphere was growing, and there was a buzzing sound coming from it too, progressively getting louder until the sphere was around the size of a house. The portal changed color to a dark purple, and a large explosion occurred, like a sonic rainboom, but monochromatic.
The purple blast left sparkling dust in the air, and the ponies made various sounds of awe at the sight of it.
After the explosion, there was an implosion. All of the purple light from the blast quickly came together at the original position of the sphere, and made a strange purple silhouette of something.
The light quickly vanished, and the silhouette fell to the ground.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash yelled out. "It was like 'woooooo,' and then it was like 'boooooom!' and then it was like 'whoooooosh' and then it went 'poof!'"
"I can't wait to see what the portal brought! It's gonna be so COOL!" Everyone looked at Twilight, who had jumped up in the air, and seemed to be more excited than Rainbow Dash.
"Uh, are you alright, Twilight?" asked Applejack.
Twilight blushed and cleared her throat. "Yes, now let's go see what the portal brought."
"Are- are you sure it's safe?" Whispered Fluttershy, who seemed to be recovering from the blast.
"Of course Fluttershy. Of all the times that the portal appeared, the artifact has never once been dangerous-" Twilight lowered her voice "-unless you count swords as dangerous, maybe."
Evidently, Fluttershy did, as she hid behind a nearby tree with an "Eek!"
"Don't worry Fluttershy, I'm sure it's just a pot or statue again," Twilight said to her scared friend, "We'll go look and see what it is, so you'll know it isn't dangerous."
"Oh- Okay." Fluttershy replied.
The five ponies walked towards the object that fell from the portal. When they got close enough to see it however, they all gave out a gasp.
"Fluttershy! We need your help!" Twilight yelled. "It's some kind of monkey, and it's hurt real bad!"
Fluttershy, upon hearing that an animal was hurt, quickly galloped to meet her friends.
It certainly was hurt. When it fell from the portal, it hit hard stone, and there was blood everywhere. It wasn't moving.
