The Switchy-Witchy Stone

Chapter 2

"Are...you OK?" queried Discord, helping Twilight to her hooves.

"I think so," said Twilight, shakily, "That was...really weird. I felt like something was...draining out of me. Then it kind of...came back."

"I felt that too," said Discord, glancing over at the stone, suspiciously, "What do you suppose it did?"

"Well, I don't feel any different," said Twilight, slowly, looking over at the stone, too, "I don't think anything bad happened."

"Twilight?" called Applejack's voice from the top of the hole they had fallen through.

"Discord?" called Fluttershy's.

There was a loud "Whoah!" and then a thump! as Applejack landed on her hooves on the floor of the cavern.

"Look out below!" another voice squealed, and Pinkie Pie landed right beside Applejack and bounced back onto her hooves. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy descended down, holding Spike and Rarity in their hooves.

"Where are we?" wondered Applejack, looking around at the cavern, "Twilight! Discord! Are y'all OK?"

"Yeah," said Twilight, slowly, still taking in what had just happened, "I think so."

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Rarity, spotting the gem on the pedestal, "What in Equestria is that beautiful gemstone!?"

She trotted towards the pedestal, with a wonderstruck expression in her eyes!

"Rarity, wait!" exclaimed Twilight, throwing out a hoof, "Don't touch tha—"

But before she could warn her friend, Rarity was already at the pedestal, and placed a hoof on the stone. Twilight leapt down and shielded herself from any impact. But nothing happened. Slowly, she opened her eyes and stood back up. Rarity had her hoof on the stone, but nothing was happening. There were no flashes of pink and blue light shooting out of it, and Rarity's hoof didn't seem to be stuck.

"Rarity," she said, uneasily, "I really don't think you should touch that thing."

"But why, darling?" breathed Rarity, taking in the gem's magnificent glow, "I don't think I've ever seen such fabulousness!"

"Ooh, shiny!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, popping up beside it.

"It looks kinda like that chest we got from the Tree of Harmony," said Rainbow Dash.

"I really don't think anypony should touch that!" exclaimed Twilight, pulling her friends away from it.

"Why not?" asked Fluttershy, "It's just an ordinary gem."

"It's not, though," said Twilight, slowly, "Something really...weird happened when I touched it."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Nothing happened when we touched it."

Twilight hesitated. "No," she agreed, uneasily, "It...didn't."

Taking a deep breath, she reached out her hoof and touched the stone. As her hoof grazed its silvery surface, the purple alicorn braced herself for the impact she had previously experienced. But nothing happened. No stuck hoof. No mysterious glow. No pink and blue light.

The rest of her friends watched her, curiously.

Discord ran his finger down the stone's surface. "Odd," he said, eyeing the stone, thoughtfully, "Nothing happened."

"It's—really nothing to worry about," said Twilight, nervously, as she withdrew her hoof from the stone, "We should all just head back to Ponyvi—"