The Holy Land

Twilight looked out the window of her tree house, watching the rain pour from the sky.

A powerful storm was created by the pegasi to make up for the lack of rain this month. A few flashes of light were seen here and there and she could hear thunder.

The mare was glad she managed to get everything done before the storm started mid afternoon. It would storm all through the night until morning.

Only a fool would be caught in this storm.

Her thoughts were sharply cut off as she heard a knock at her door. She looked at it in confusion. Only a FOOL would be out in this storm.

Who on Equus would be out at this time of night?

The only reason she was awake so late was because as usual she was studying something.

Twilight was studying the culture's of other kingdoms and species. Specifically she was interested in the minotaurs.

She'd never met one or been to the island of Minos but it might come in handy. Besides it was a very interesting culture. There were some similarities between the griffins and minotaurs.

Like they both picked their ruler by strength instead of votes or other ways. Those vying for power would fight each other and the winner would be crowned the king or chief.

Slowly, she approached the door. Her anxiety starting to rise as her mind raced with possibilities about who was behind the door.

Maybe it was an assassin coming to kill her or a robber.

Okay, now she was just being paranoid.

She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath to calm herself.. Maybe it was a friend coming over late. It didn't make sense, but it could be possible.

The door knob lit up as Twilight used her magic to open the door a crack to see who was behind the door.

She saw a pony wearing a black cloak standing there.

She opened it wider and she got a better look at the pony, but only a little bit from under their hood. They appeared to be a unicorn stallion. His eyes were grey and his coat was light green. She didn't recognize this stallion so there was no way he was from Ponyville. He was a complete and utter stranger.

"Hello? May I help you?" She asked cautiously, but the stallion said nothing.

She shuffled on her hooves nervously.

A moment later his horn lit up with a light grey glowing, causing Twilight's anxiety to shoot through the roof. 'Is this how I die?' She thought with paranoia.

Her paranoia was short lived as he pulled out a small idol and levitated it over to Twilight.

Twilight hesitated before taking the item in her own magic.

Once she had taken it the pony turned and ran off before she could ask any questions.

Twilight sighed and closed the door shut. She made sure it was locked before turning around and bringing the idol closer to her face to observe it.

IIt was dark grey, most likely made of stone. It was cylindrical, with a sphere on top which looked like a head. So… the cylinder was like a body. Except on the 'shoulders' there were two spikes.

'What is this idol for?' She thought. So many other questions buzzed in her head. Like how old was it? Was it's purpose for religion? Most idols were religious but if this was for that then what god or goddess?

Maybe... she should contact Celestia about it. Maybe she knew more about this idol. She was over 1000 years old so maybe the alicorn had seen it somewhere before. At the very least, she'd have heard of it.

But what if she didn't need Celestia at all? What if she could figure it out herself. That joy of discovery on your own was something Twilight loved, and it wasn't cheating to use the princess but it seemed to take the fun out of it.

As a last resort, she decided to go to the princess if she couldn't figure it out.

She glanced at the clock. It was very very late, though she already knew that without needing to look at the clock; she just didn't know how late.

Normally, time wouldn't be a problem for her but she knew that if Spike was awake or somepony was here, they'd tell her to go to bed. She really didn't want to, but she'd have all of tomorrow to focus on the idol.

Her mind would be rejuvenated and clear the next morning. She'd be able to work faster than she would tired.

With that, she went upstairs and placed the idol on her desk and went to sleep.