The day was ending, and Twilight Sparkle had (finally) finished buying groceries. As she walked up to the front door of her "castle", not quite used to it yet, she looked up at its crystal branches holding the actual structure. It was beautiful to some, she supposed, but she didn't see why. All she saw was a castle, sitting on a tree. An impossible tree, made of crystal, grown in seconds, complete with fully furnished main castle, kitchen and library; that last actually almost made her forget the impossibility of what she was living in, as she had yet to fully catalog the entirety of it. Nevertheless, she did think about it, and had gone so far as ask the Pri- Celestia about it. That had been fruitful.
‘I couldn't begin to know for sure, but from what you told me its seed came from the Tree of Harmony. Doubtless the Tree's magic had something to do with it. After all, the Elements did things we could never explain, and they came from the tree as well.’
That didn’t tell Twilight what the tree did. It didn’t tell her how the thing managed to grow so fast and yet be strong enough to hold an entire castle in its grasping faux branches, or how it managed to produce fine silverware (actual silver), golden plates (actual gold), silken sheets (actual silk) or fill the pantries with real food. And that didn’t touch the library! As excited as she was to see so many books, she had to question where they had come from. As far as she had found, none of them were teleported, and that meant the Tree had made them. Made books written long after it had grown, long after the Elements had been returned to it. All in all, it made Twilight’s obsessive desire to know surface.
And so she stopped thinking about it, something she was getting better at doing (especially after Rainbow Dash’s flight training). Instead, she thought about the large stallion in full armor to the side of her door. He was big, not quite as big as Big Mac, or as muscular as Bulk Biceps, but he was big. But despite his size, he was never intimidating, and decently friendly when not on duty. As such, Twilight never felt awkward talking to him, even though he never talked back.
“Sergeant Sentinel.”
“…”
The ever silent guard-pony saluted, eyes never wavering, no other part of him moving aside from the one leg it took to salute. Twilight didn’t even see muscles shift to balance on three hooves. She wasn’t sure any did.
“Did anyone stop by while I was out?”
“…”
A nod, followed by the Sergeant opening the door to allow Twilight and her small pile of groceries into the castle.
“Oh? Who was it?”
“…”
A subtle nod of the head pointed to a shadow along the wall, one not normally there. Twilight was confused, not quite seeing anything at first, but then she say the odd pony-esque shape. She recognized the alicornian outline immediately.
“Luna, is that you?! Why are hiding in the shadows of my entryway?”
“…”
“Oh no, I get enough of that from the good Sergeant, I’m not having it with you Luna. Why the shadows? You know you’re welcome here anytime. After all, I can empathize your jealousy. Celestia has a palace, and though you share that it’s not the same; Cadence has the Crystal Empire and its palace, and now I have this….. Thing. So why do you hide?”
The shadowy figure moved, ever so slightly, and unfolded a wing. A wing too big, and too white to be Luna’s.
“Is she really that jealous? And of a palace of all things?”
The voice was melodious, serene, and slightly amused. It was also definitely not Luna’s.
“Celestia, I…..”
"Hello, thank you for coming, we will begin shortly."
The crowd of reporters sat and were quiet for the time, though there was an air of tense anticipation filling the hastily prepared warehouse. A few of the reporters fidgeted, checked their cameras and mics, touched up their hair and or makeup, or took practice poses in front of their cameras. Even fewer looked around at their surroundings. Not that there was much to see, except black walls, floor and, ceiling. All in all it gave the reporters an illusory sense of depth in all directions, even though the warehouse was rather small. The only things to break the mold of black on black on black were the reporters themselves, and the reason they had gathered in this tiny, yet huge, warehouse.
"Hello! And welcome to my humble little display. Now, I know you’re growing impatient, beginning to wonder if this was all a joke. But fear not! It is time to begin the show!"
The speaker, dressed in simple clothes, stepped back. Where before the reporters had only seen infinite blackness now stood an odd, clear, bubble like structure, with metal braces and a machine attached to one side.
"Looks a fair but like an egg! Is this what we've come to witness? A fancy mechanical egg?" cried one reporter, sporting a thick accent.
No reply came forth from the blackness that had seemed to swallow the simply clothed speaker whole. Instead, a humming noise could be heard, and an odd glow seemed to come from the egg-like machine. With quiet breaths held the reporters watched as the glow dimmed, yet seemed to expand. When it had reached the edge of the bubble "egg", the clear material dissolved, and the glow halted its expansion. For a full minute the reporters sat staring, waiting. And as a certain thick accented reporter' patience began to fade yet again, an unholy SNAP was let loose, more felt than heard.
As the reporters began to scramble back, they witnessed a sight more beautiful than earth from space. Instead of an egg filled with a dim glow, what stood before them now was an open hole in the fabric of space, contained by a machine. Not that any of them knew that, but that knowledge wasn't needed to understand what was before them. For through the hole they saw life. Not human life, though it seemed terrestrial to some degree. No, what stood staring back, with an expression oddly like surprise, stood a pony. But not a normal pony, no, this pony had eyes that filled its face, a shortened muzzle, and a mane that almost seemed like human hair. For the briefest of moments it stood there, not quite sure how to react.