Nix: Collision

        Twilight Sparkle stared in shock through her telescope as the white flash faded. Her mind took a moment to evaluate this new wave of information, before she levitated over a scroll. The flash had been brief; and she had thought she had seen some “things” fall through; but she couldn’t be sure. Around her were neatly ordered bookshelves; she and Spike had spent most of the day fixing up the library. The sun was starting to set, its bright rays jutting past rolls of clouds, showing that it was nearing afternoon.

        She furiously scribbled out her observations, careful to be extremely detailed in her notes. Soon she had filled out the scroll, complete with diagrams and charts.

        “Twilight?”

        Twilight yelped and dropped the scroll, whipping around. She let out a sigh as she saw who it was. “Spike, what’s wrong?”

        “You saw that flash, right?” Spike the baby dragon asked fearfully.

        “Well, I couldn’t exactly have missed it,” she responded. “In fact, I’ve been writing down my observations. I plan on showing Princess Celestia them.”

        Spike still looked a bit uncertain. “Do you think that… that it was aliens?”

        Twilight gave him a confused look. “What, you mean that white flash?”

        “Yeah, couldn’t it have been like an alien attack?”

        Twilight deadpanned at him.

        He looked away. “It’s a legitimate question…”

        She sighed, turning away and resuming notetaking. She was just about to finish another scroll, when…

        “YAH!”

        A multi-colored blur suddenly flew in, bringing behind it a strong wind that knocked down Twilight’s books. The unicorn ducked as her cyan friend flew by, landing on a bookcase.

        “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

        “No time!” Rainbow Dash the pegasus righted herself, facing her unicorn friend. “Gotta get you out of here!”

        “What? Why?” Before she could react, Rainbow began pushing her towards the door. “Rainbow, stop!”

        Seeing that the pegasus had no intention of doing so, Twilight lit her horn and teleported a few feet away, appearing behind Rainbow. “Wha-Twilight!” Rainbow cried. “C’mon, no time for games!”

        “Could you at least tell me what the hay is going on?!”

        “You saw the flash, right?” Twilight nodded. “Then you should know what’s going on!”

        “I really don’t…”

        “Ugh! Do I really have to spell it out to you?” Rainbow placed a hoof on her face. “Whatever it was, it’s dangerous, that’s for sure! And we have to go investigate it!”

        Before Twilight could respond, Spike suddenly spat up a letter. Twilight levitated it over and began to read:

My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle,

It is likely that you have seen that white flash in the sky a few minutes ago. Luna and I saw it as well, and have our foremost astronomers working on the issue. I am writing to you to see if you know anything about the event that we do not—any notes or observations you have written down are welcomed.

We are unsure if this poses a threat; but I want you to remain where you are. If a threat arises, I do not want to place the Elements in danger; especially after the Elements being used so recently with Discord. Please respond as soon as possible.

Princess Celestia

        Twilight levitated her scrolls with her notes over to Spike. “Spike, please send these to Princess Celestia.” The dragon nodded, and held the scrolls in his hands. A second later, he shot out a green flame, teleporting the scrolls back to the Princess.

        “See?” Rainbow said. “Now we have to go out and investigate.”

        “But Princess Celestia has asked that we don’t,” countered Twilight. “We don’t want to endanger the Elements!”

        “We don’t need the elements to go investigate something!”

        “Ah’m going to have to agree with Twilight there, Sugarcube,” a Southern-accent drawled out.

        They turned, finding Applejack in the library’s door. She walked inside with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity following.

        The Southern Earth pony continued, “We don’t know what that flash was, either. Going out there without a plan and any further information would be mighty foolish of us.”

        “But we can’t just stay back here and let some random force take over Equestria!” protested Rainbow.

        “Rainbow, dear,” Rarity said, “there’s no proof that that white flash was anything dangerous.”

        “There’s no proof that it isn’t!”

        “We shouldn’t wait for proof to hit us in the face!” exclaimed Pinkie. “We should go out there, and hit proof in its face!”

        They stared at her for a moment, before Rainbow forced a grin. “See? Pinkie agrees with me!”

        “What do you think, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

        The timid, butter-yellow pegasus instinctively shrunk under everypony’s sudden gaze, but calmed herself. “I… I think we should wait and see what the Princesses think.”

        “A wise choice,” said Applejack. “That makes four against two. Sorry, Rainbow; looks like we wait.”

        Rainbow sighed. “Fine! Just, when this comes back and bites us in the behind, don’t come running to me!”

        Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Hopefully I’ll be able to talk to Celestia in Canterlot tomorrow, she thought. Perhaps we’ll be able to discuss our findings.

***

        Princess Celestia stood out on the balcony in Canterlot, looking out into the distance. Her purple eyes narrowed on the spot where the flash had been seen, now a fairly simply blotch of sky. Her sun was now in its afternoon stage, creating an orange backdrop to the blue foreground. The sky had been cleared by the pegasus ponies in the morning, allowing her to view the scenery clearly.

        She frowned in contemplation, still wondering what that flash of light was all about. It had been a wide-scale flash, as most of Ponyville and Canterlot had seen it. She and Luna did their best to lessen the growing worry of the populous, but they were beginning to grow anxious.

        What worried her the most was the amount of power she felt when that flash occurred. It reminded her of the Elements of Harmony, perhaps just as powerful. It had sent invisible shockwaves through her, shaking her to her very core. The amount of energy given off was enormous, and frightening; it almost seemed otherworldly.

Otherworldly, she mused. Strange… I haven’t felt anything like that before. I’ve certainly beheld creatures and entities of greater power; yet nothing can compare to this.

        “Sister?” Luna called from the inside. “Are you alright?”

        Celestia turned and smiled slightly at her sister. “Just fine, sister.”

        Luna gave her an uncertain look, walking up to her. “Celestia… what’s wrong? Is this about the flash earlier?”

        Celestia laughed a little. “Is it really that obvious?” Her smile fell. “Yes, it is quite worrisome. I have no idea where that power originated from.”

        Luna faced the horizon. “Perhaps it was nothing more than an inundation of magic?” she suggested.

        Celestia shook her head. “I don’t think so; it didn’t seem… magical.”

        “Maybe you shouldn’t worry about it too much,” Luna said. “We’ve our best astronomers and observers working on it. Speaking of which,” she added, “I would assume you’ve seen Twilight Sparkle’s report?”

        The sun princess nodded. “Yes. Though it doesn’t differ much from what we already know.”

        Luna placed a wing on her older sister. “Nonetheless, you shouldn’t worry about it too much. You’ve already an entire kingdom to care for.”

        Celestia sighed. “I hope you’re right Luna.”

        Luna nodded, and walked back inside, leaving Celestia staring out into the distance.

        She felt a little guilty. She hadn’t mentioned that the flash had seemed awfully similar to the one she had seen in her dream. She shook her head; she couldn’t worry anymore. Hopefully, by the next the day, the issue would be resolved.