Twilight was trying to catch her breath after having lost sight of Rainbow. She wasn't in too much of a hurry—it's not like Rainbow knows where the speck is, anyway, and she couldn't scope it out using magic since she wasn't a unicorn. As Twilight was regaining her energy, she noticed a pale-yellow, pink-haired pegasus trotting towards her.

"Oh my. Twilight, are you alright?" Fluttershy had been keeping her pace, so she wasn't winded like her unicorn friend was.

"I'm fine Fluttershy, just catching my breath." She spoke her words between pants. "That Rainbow Dash…sometime, I swear her curiosity and hard-headedness will bring the end of us." Twilight's attention moved toward the direction she last saw the flying cyan pony.

"Don't say things like that, Twilight. We all have those little things that make us who we are; sometimes those little things aren't the best parts about us, but there are plenty of other nice, good things that make up for it!" she smiled to Twilight, who was now feeling much better, both physically and emotionally.

Regaining her composure, Twilight returned the smile to Fluttershy, and looked back in Rainbow's direction with a look of determination.

"Okay, Fluttershy. This time, I'm going to teleport over there, bit by bit. Think you can keep up and keep an eye on me in the sky as I go?"

Fluttershy really preferred not to fly, despite her being a pegasus, but she nodded to Twilight; she'd go out of her comfort zone if it meant it'd be easier for her friend. She took to the sky and followed Twilight as she teleported in and out on the main road, going a couple dozen feet forward each time.

Twilight eventually reached the area containing the speck. She knew she was there as she felt the small tug on her horn when she teleported within its range. Fluttershy landed next to her a few seconds afterward. They both took notice that Rainbow wasn't there.

"As I guessed, she didn't find it." Twilight stated. She then sighed, "Actually, come to think of it, there really was no reason to come all the way here, seeing as how Rainbow wouldn't find it, anyway."

Fear suddenly overcame Fluttershy's face. "U-unless she did find it, and then it…it… ATE HER!"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow as she turned to look at Fluttershy. "It 'ate her'? I didn't realize you could be so paranoid, Fluttershy." She then turned to look back at the invisible dot in the air. "Although, I don't know about 'eating' anypony, but perhaps it could…I dunno, teleport somepony somewhere else when coming into contact with it." She was startled by a small yelp from behind her. "But it's highly unlikely, I mean, technically speaking; it wouldn't even make sense for that to happen." She tried to comfort the now-trembling pegasus; the words of comfort were a lie, though, as Twilight seriously considered whether or not the speck could become a portal.

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash came flying in from overhead, greeting the two. Fluttershy's face of fear left, but she was still trembling a bit, still recovering from the thought that she may have just lost one of her best friends.

"Thank Celestia you two showed up! I had no clue where the hay I was going…OW!" Her sentence was stopped short when a sudden jolt of pain hit her at the base of her right wing as she was descending; Twilight and Fluttershy were frightened when they even saw a spark form and bounce off of the spot where she was hurt. "What the hay was THAT?"

"Rainbow, move away from that spot RIGHT NOW!" The commanding tone in Twilight's voice made Rainbow obey without a second thought, and she landed on the ground next to a now very stoic Twilight and scared Fluttershy. "That spark just now, that happened when the base of your wing came into direct contact with the speck."

"It did!" Rainbow seemed very concerned about having touched it, despite having been the one who was seeking it out in the first place. She glanced to her right wing; the whole thing was fine, intact, and without any sign of damage from what had just happened. Now more confident, and aware of the speck's location, she flew back up near it.

"Be careful…" said Twilight as she watched Rainbow investigate it further; half her mind was yelling at her to tell Rainbow to stop at once, after seeing what had just happened, but the other half wanted Rainbow to continue what she was doing, after seeing what had just happened. Fluttershy was simply too scared to say anything, and hid behind Twilight, unsure of what was about to happen next.

Rainbow stuck out her hoof, just in front of where she thought the speck was, using a nearby sign hanging down as a reference. She looked to Twilight, who simply nodded, confirming that the speck was where she thought it was. Rainbow then stuck her hoof out more, past the speck, into the speck.

Nothing happened.

Confused, Rainbow now started to swing her arm around through the speck. She then stuck her nose into it, and then started to move her head through it, making sure it came into contact with most parts of her head. Dumbfounded, she decided to touch it with her wing again.

Another spark appeared, this time larger, brighter, and more painful on Rainbow's wing. She immediately went back to the ground, recovering from the harder blow. Twilight was still trying to make sense of all this.

"Why does it only spark when it touches my wings? And—OW—why does it spark in the first place?" Again, Rainbow showed no physical signs of injury, and recovered from the pain quickly. She looked to Twilight Sparkle, who appeared now know what was happening.

"Well," Twilight started, "it appears that it only reacts to other sources of magic; that's why it only reacted with your wings."

"Uh, what are you talking about? It's not like I can use my wings like a unicorn uses her horn. These babies are meant for me to fly." To prove such, Rainbow stretched out and fluttered her wings to Twilight.

"Exactly." Twilight stated to Rainbow. She received questioning looks from both Rainbow and Fluttershy; apparently neither of them knew anatomy nor physics very well. Twilight sighed, "Do you honestly think that you would be able to fly with those wings were it not for magic? We're ponies, and ponies' bodies are not well-suited for flight. What allows pegasi to fly is their own, special brand of magic within their wings that activates automatically; it's an instinct from birth, and when you want to fly, the special magic in your wings allows you to. Besides, how else do you explain how only pegasi can stand on clouds?" She could see that Fluttershy understood, but Rainbow still had a mild look of confusion. "Magic," Twilight concluded as she snorted a couple times, rather disappointed that Rainbow didn't understand how her own wings worked. But then again, neither had Fluttershy; Twilight had learned this as a filly in Canterlot—could they really not be teaching this in Cloudsdale?

"So, because of that," Fluttershy was trying her best to put together everything she just learned, "this 'speck' only reacts to other sources of magic," she stated, repeating Twilight's earlier words.

"Well if that's the case, let's see what happens when it touches Twilight's horn!" Rainbow made a move to lift up Twilight, but stopped dead when she received a very cold look from her.

"Pegasus magic is very latent, and doesn't show itself much even when in use. If THAT is how the speck reacts to such a dormant presence of magic, do you have any idea what would happen if it touched the horn of a unicorn, much less my own?"

"No. That's why I wanna find out." Rainbow stated plainly.

Twilight was now becoming rather interested in what would happen as well. She knew it was a horrible idea, she also realized that the pain Rainbow felt could be nothing compared to what she may feel upon touching that speck with her horn. It really would be best if she waited for a letter from the Princess further regarding this issue. If anything, she could send Celestia the info she had just learned about the…small sphere, floating right where the speck should be.

"Um" was all Twilight could say. This wasn't good. The contact with Rainbow's wings only twice had apparently…what…activated it? It didn't appear to be growing at all, but it certainly was peculiar; she could see it quite clearly now, despite it only being a couple inches in diameter and floating several feet off the ground.

It was a perfect sphere, appearing to be made out of metal, and at the same time it was very translucent. The surface of the sphere shone a perfectly reflected view of them and the area around them, but the image was also flipped upside-down, much like when you look at yourself in the inward curve of a spoon. The sphere didn't waver, didn't shake, and didn't move— it was in perfect equilibrium.

Was it really a good idea to leave now? The sphere wasn't very noticeable where it was, and the spot they were in right now what a small street branching off from the main one, but Twilight didn't want to risk having some curious pony touching it. Now, she had to see this through from start to finish.

"Hoist me up, Rainbow," Twilight said to the shocked pegasus. Without a single question, Rainbow lifted Twilight by her armpits with her hooves and brought her face-to-face with the see-through, metallic, enigmatic ball. As she did, she activated her magic, her horn starting to glow a faint purple aura. She could feel the pull from the "magic magnet" again, but this time it was MUCH more powerful; not because she was so close to it, but because what was once an atom-sized dot was now a two-inch-wide orb of clear metal. Hesitating, she finally stopped pulling back against the force of the ball, now letting her horn move inward to it, the tip of her horn touching the very surface of it.

Suddenly, there was a massive burst of light, and the spark that emitted from the sphere entered Twilight's head and jolted its way down her spine, temporarily paralyzing her. Rainbow started moving away as quickly as she could, a numb Twilight in tow, but the sphere suddenly and almost instantaneously grew over thirty times wider than its initial two inches. As it spread out, it also solidified; now no longer translucent, it was a simple massive metallic ball floating in midair. Rainbow realized that she couldn't pull Twilight away anymore, and turned to look, in horror, that part of Twilight's leg was inside the sphere, making the smallest ripple in its surface, as if the metal ball were made of water. Fluttershy's adrenaline was pumping now, and without a second thought flew up to assist Rainbow right in front of the menacing sphere. No matter how hard the two pulled though, Twilight's leg wouldn't budge outward. They both took a split second of a break, each giving a little slack, to which Twilight was pulled in a few inches further. They immediately started to pull back again.

As Twilight was starting to regain control of her body from the momentary paralysis, she noted how much pain her right leg was in now—not because of the sphere engulfing it, but because of the two pegasi yanking her out of the joint in her knee. She met this newfound pain with a loud cry of agony.

"Girls, please stop!" she yelled to her friends, holding back tears of pain. Rainbow and Fluttershy immediately stopped pulling, and Twilight sunk into the sphere a few more inches. She tried to use her magic to teleport her out, but all she felt was the sphere absorbing it, and increasing in size, gaining even a few more inches around her. "My leg! You have to stop trying to pull me out! I'm stuck, and there's only one way to go now!" She turned to face the malevolent ball of metal, and it returned her look with her own face, only flipped upside-down.

"NO! Don't give up, Twilight! We can still get you out of there! If all else fails, we…we could saw off your leg!" Rainbow regretted saying that, as she was given a look of fear and disgust by Twilight, who obviously didn't take well to the thought of that.

"There is no other way, Rainbow," the tears were now streaming from her eyes. What had she done? Why was this happening? Why hadn't she just waited for Celestia's letter? Just this morning, she was eating cupcakes with Pinkie Pie in the Sugar Cube Corner. Now, she was facing potential death that loomed on the opposite side of this metallic menace. She tried to calm her mind. Hopefully, this was a portal, and though she hoped that it didn't send her to some faraway land from Equestria, it was a better prospect then death. "I brought this upon myself, and I must face the consequences. I'm going inside."

At that, she let go of her friends and fell inwards, slipping past and into the surface of the sphere.

Tears were now upon Rainbow's face as well, staring into her own inverted reflection. Then, a look of determination replaced that of sadness. Fluttershy, adrenaline still flowing freely, happened to notice her friend's change of face, and she too became overwhelmed with a sense of necessary heroism as she prepared to face this metal piece of crap head-on.

"THEN YOU'RE TAKING ME WITH YOU!" they both screamed as they dove into the sphere.