The Great Equestrian War

Twilight Sparkle had just finished taking a bath and was trying desperately to comb her mane; she had recently run out of conditioner and more pressing matters had interfered with her obtaining a new bottle. As she bit her lip in pain, struggling to just get the comb out of her hair, a flash momentarily disoriented her. After being able to see again, though with a large blue blur in the center of her vision, she turned and saw a stallion just out the window across the room with a camera. The instant she saw him, he ducked away, but it was too late. Using her magic, she opened the window and lifted the stallion into the room. She dropped him on the ground and inched forward, feeling her face turn red in fury. "Just what the manure do you think you're doing!?" He was a reddish pony, like the color of Big Macintosh, though he was definitely smaller and wormier. He had no cutie mark, and had a large black camera strapped around his neck, along with a small watch-looking device on his right leg. "Peeking Tom on a mare, a Princess at that!" Twilight was not one to boast about being a princess, but she wanted this pony to know the severity of what he had done.

"Well, um... I, uh-" the stallion, who had previously been sitting on his flank with his two back hooves crossed, fell over on his back, and fidgeted to get back up, like he didn't know how. Twilight magically yanked the camera off the stallion's neck and crushed it, sprinkling the pieces over the stallion's chest. Panicked, the pony pushed a button on his leg-bound device. A small beep emanated from it, and then the pony turned blue, became surprisingly translucent, then his original form was abandoned for five small glowing orbs, which spun together, then vanished completely. The pieces of the camera clattered to the floor, the only noise in the room.

Twilight stood, dumbfounded. That sure as flank wasn't magic! Not only did it look nothing like it, but the pony was an Earth Pony. But then what was it? Some kind of enchanted bracelet? Who would give it to him? Why? And where did he go? There were too many questions for Twilight to take, so she instead focused on the here and now. "S-Spike?" She called. The door to the bathroom opened, and Spike poked his head in. "Yes? I heard some noises, and I was wondering..." Spike trailed off, looking down at the shattered camera. There was a silence, then Spike asked, "Do you want me to clean that up?" Twilight nodded at the servant wordlessly.

Spike did so. He came in with a broom and dust pan and cleaned the camera up. Neither of them spoke, there was a mood in the room that told the whole story. Someone tried messing with me. They're gone now, it said, and that was all Spike wanted to know. However, as he cleaned, he noticed a bit of color among the black, green, and glass. It was yellow and small. The purple dragon looked over to his master, saw she was once again combing her mane, and he leaned over and picked it up.

It was plastic, a small looking device. It didn't appear to be chipped, like it was a standalone piece. It read, "Kodak SDHC 8GB." Spike didn't know what that meant, but it sparked his interest, so he slid it behind one of his scales. He finished sweeping up the destruction and carried the dust pan out of the room. As he passed a window, a flash of bright light momentarily disoriented him. He quickly looked over to the window, saw nothing, and continued to the trashcan.