Celestia sat down in her throne, letting out a sigh of relief as she settled into the comfortable cushions. It had been a long day, and it was almost time to lower the sun. Looking to a thick tome on the ground beside her, she picked it up in her magic and opened it, reading the contents aloud.

"Both mares looked each other in the eyes. They could see the very essence of their souls. And as the rain pelted their bodies, they leaned toward each other, lips puckered, and--"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Celestia quickly hid the book behind her throne and put on her best smile. "Come in, my little pony."

The large double doors opened and Luna stepped into the room with a serious look on her face. "Tia, we have a problem."

"What is wrong, sister?" Celestia asked calmly, secretly wishing to go back to her book more than anything. She had just gotten to the best part.

"It has awoken once again," Luna stated in a dreadful voice.

"Has it said anything this time?" Celestia asked.

"No. It just sits there," said Luna.

Celestia brought a hoof to her chin as her eyes looked down. She thought long and hard before speaking once more. "Perhaps it is time we let my students handle this."

The Next Morning

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all walked down the massive hallway in Canterlot Castle. As soon as Twilight had received the letter, she had gathered up her friends and they had all came as soon as possible.

"Remember," Twilight warned, "Celestia said this would test our wits and our bonds. We have to be prepared for anything."

"I think we'll do fine, sugarcube," said Applejack. "We've faced plenty of baddies before, and we've always come out on top."

"She's right, darling," said Rarity. "I'm quite sure we'll overcome this like everything else."

"Maaaybe it's a test on baking!" said Pinkie hopefully as she bounced alongside her friends. "Or maybe it's a giant cake monster!" She then gasped. "What if we're baking a giant cake monster?!

"I doubt we're going to bake a giant cake monster, Pinkie," said Rainbow Dash as she flew overhead. "If anything, it's probably something like a dragon!"

"Oh my..." Fluttershy muttered, being the last one behind the group. "Does it really have to be a dragon? What about a really grumpy bunny instead?"

Twilight shook her head with a smile. "Well, whatever it is, we'll be ready."

As they approached the large double doors that led to the throne room, Twilight enveloped the handle with her magic and opened it slowly before stepping through. Inside the room were Celestia and Luna, sitting next to the most peculiar sight: a shiny, silver-colored metal sphere.

"Princess Celestia? You wanted to see us?" Twilight asked as she sheepishly approached. Celestia gave her the most gut-wrenching look Twilight had ever seen in her life. It looked as if Celestia was about to go to war.

"Twilight Sparkle," she began, "do you believe that as the Princess of Friendship, you can befriend anypony?"

"Is this a friendship quest?" Twilight asked. "If it is, then I will do everything in my power to finish the mission!"

Celestia looked to Luna and then motioned her head to the sphere.

Luna approached the metallic ball and placed a hoof upon it. "This is what you will be making friends with."

A few seconds of silence passed before Twilight tilted her head and asked "The... ball?"

"Indeed," Luna replied. "It it no ordinary sphere. Over a thousand years ago, a few years before I was banished to the moon, this object came crashing down to Equestria in what is now known as Ponyville."

"You mean... it came from space?" Twilight's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "It's extra-equestrial!"

"Ya mean... that thing there's an alien?" Applejack asked, taking a step back.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flying over to the orb. "So... is it alive? It doesn't look like it's moving."

Luna rubbed the smooth surface. "It's in a hibernative state. It will only open for one word."

Twilight stepped forward and looked at her reflection in the sphere. "What word is that?"

Luna hesitated before stepping back. "Hope."

The sphere suddenly released a hiss of steam and began a series of beeps. From seemingly nowhere, a black screen opened up from a pinprick, and upon the screen, blue gibberish appeared. It started to speak a series of different dialects. It sounded rather feminine. "Hablas Espanol? An bhfuil Gaeilge agat? Sprichst du Deutsch?"

Twilight tilted her head as it continued to speak in its strange languages. "What's it doing?"

"Let it finish," Celestia recommended.

The machine continued to speak. "A ty govorish' po russki? Est-ce que tu parles francais? Do you speak English?"

"It speaks P-Ponish?!" Twilight stammered, eyes widening.

The machine stayed silent after hearing Twilight speak. After a few seconds of silence, it speaks again. "English confirmed."

"English? No, Ponish!" Twilight corrected.

The machine went silent again and beeped. "Ponish?"

"Yes, Ponish!" Twilight comfirmed.

"Twilight? Maybe we shouldn't be talkin' to it? It could be dangerous," warned Applejack as she took another step back, clearly scared out of her wits.

"Accent detected. Is this region America?" the machine asked, showing a blue map upon its screen of an unfamiliar landmass.

Twilight shook her head. "I'm sorry. This is Equestria. I don't know where America even is, or what planet you're from."

"What planet is this?" it asked, clearly sounding a little worried. Celestia closed her eyes and braced herself, her horn emitting its aura.

"Um... Equus," Twilight answered softly.

The sphere suddenly shot out a beam of blue light across Twilight's body, and upon its screen, two blue eye graphics appeared. "Not human... Step away or be eliminated."

"E-Excuse me?" Twilight asked, wings raising in alarm. Celestia suddenly enveloped Twilight in a shield of yellow before the machine fired off a bolt of lightning, the flash nearly blinding everypony in the room.

Rainbow Dash zoomed at the machine, her hind legs outstretched in a karate style kick. As she made contact, she was immediately overcome by a shaking sensation. She was being shocked, and she didn't even know it. Luna pulled Dash away from the machine, ceasing the assault.

"W-Wait! Why are you doing this?!" Twilight shouted from behind the shield. The machine did not answer. Instead, it fired more bolts of lightning in random directions.

"I knew this would happen," Celestia said as she enveloped the machine in a magical bubble, keeping it from doing more damage. "This happened a thousand years ago as well, the moment it asked what planet it was on."

"Did... did I fail?" Twilight asked dreadfully.

"No, Twilight. You didn't fail," Celestia said as she lifted the machine. "However, I see now that this creature isn't capable of learning friendship."

"Wait... What are you doing with it?" Twilight asked, looking worried.

"I'm going to send it back to where it came from: into space," answered Celestia as she started to leave the room.

Twilight, her eyes darting back and forth as thoughts raced through her mind, grabbed the machine in her own magic bubble, canceling out Celestia's.

"Twilight!" Celestia snapped, looking at her student with a disapproving look. "What do you think you're doing?"

Twilight's ears drooped as she reared back. "I... I don't know! I was just... I'm sorry!"

Celestia looked to the Luna, who had a concerned look. She then turned back to Twilight and sighed. "Twilight, this is something that is not from our world. We don't know what it could be capable of. I only kept it for so long because a certain bearded pony thought it would be beneficial to ponykind. Unfortunately, I have not seen any benefit in over a thousand years."

"But he's right! We could learn from it!" Twilight tried to reason.

"I'm sorry," Celestia said to her pupil, "but it's just too dangerous... I'm shooting it out into space tomorrow morning."

And so, Celestia left the throne room with the mysterious machine, leaving Twilight to think up ways to defy her teacher.

Author's Note

I've always wanted to put out this scenario for a while now, and I'm hoping this becomes one of my better fics. Possibly one that may even surpass Where The Apples Grow. This doesn't mean I won't do Where The Apples Grow. I'm just saying that I'll be updating both of these at around the same time, somewhat monthly. The next chapter will be even longer, just like with WTAG.