We Are Mares Of Science

They simply had to get it indoors. The Monolith had defied every known teleportation spell, but ultimately allowed itself to be moved by normal means. It seems to have mass, but every attempt to weigh it failed. The worker ponies had to exert effort to move it, but much to their own unease, they could not get a sense of how heavy it might be. Those worker ponies were well nigh traumatized, and they had to be sworn to secrecy on the matter. The problems Spike had foreseen are beginning top appear. The decision to move the Friendship Map was taken with the greatest reluctance. But the Friendship Map resides in the most secure room of the Castle of Friendship, and there could be no discussion of the Monolith being sequestered anywhere else. Starlight Glimmer postures defiantly at the Monolith. She also tries to rally her friends, and break the spell of dread and unbearable quiet that has recently set in. Starlight does not hate the Monolith, nor is she becoming hostile to it. However, the present situation is entirely unacceptable. How can it be so impossible to study something so mysterious, and yet so monumentally present? Twilight Sparkle is at a loss, and she knows it. The Monolith mystifies her, its secrets elude her. Twilight is quickly realizing that perhaps the problem to be solved is not the Monolith itself. At this point, the most immediate concern lies in the fact that almost all known methods of investigation have failed. Twilight Sparkle suspects that before the Monolith can ever be examined in any real way, it will be necessary to devise new approaches to investigation. That automatically implies new ontological frameworks, new approaches to knowledge. Rainbow Dash sits quietly on her hind end. She contemplates this mysterious black box that has effortlessly conquered her. For the first time in a very long while, Rainbow Dash considers whether or not a display of submission is necessary or appropriate. Fluttershy has made no progress. Not only is the Monolith entirely different, it is entirely unyielding. Passivity is not the right word, the newcomer seems to be entirely indifferent. The Monolith does not care whether they leave it alone or stay with it. It does not react to being touched, or moved. But it negates any and all magic brought to bear upon it. Fluttershy has another problem. What does the presence of the Monolith in Equestria mean? It is not the exact opposite of everything Equestria has always stood for, far more perplexing is the fact that it is entirely different. Rarity will not discuss the Monolith itself, she vehemently refuses to do so. Instead, she talks about what a suspiciously hard time the worker ponies who moved the Monolith are having. Rarity complains about lost time and productivity at the Carousel Boutique, about creative blocks and insomnia. Rarity protests that closing the Castle of Friendship indefinitely will have seriously detrimental effects on Ponyville. All of this is to say, Rarity rants and rambles. Of course Spike tries to comfort Rarity, but it's clear she's not really listening. Anyway, Spike is already in over his head, just as he knew he would be. Indeed, closing the Castle of Friendship has become a real mess. Ponies are already asking troublesome questions and are becoming suspicious due to the non-answers Spike has been forced to provide. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are on their way, but they did not hold off on issuing orders. Uncomprehending and unhelpful orders. Star Swirl the Bearded and Chancellor Neighsay will have nothing meaningful to contribute, and will only start throwing their weight around. Spike now finds himself living within an institutional nightmare. Applejack is less concerned about the Monolith and more with the effect that's it's having on everypony, especially Pinkie Pie. Applejack leaves the business of decision making to ponies better suited for that than herself. But Applejack knows fear and discomfiture when she sees it. Pinkie Pie should have been bouncing off of this Monolith the moment she saw it, or she should have fired her party canon at it, or hosted a welcoming reception for it at Sugar Cube Corner. Instead, Pinkie Pie is overcome by some fear which she cannot describe, and is now barely communicative at all.Applejack doesn't know the half of it. For Pinkie Pie, the danger is not escalating or abating, it is stabilizing. And that is a whole lot worse. As long as the Monolith remains, their entire world hangs in the balance. The thought that at any moment, everything might end at the hands of an intelligence which they cannot understand, and which seems to have no interest in communicating, is more than Pinkie Pie can handle. What makes it so bad is the way in which she perceives the threat. Her Pinkie Sense has never lied to her, and it has never once gotten so stuck on, as it has been since the Monolith arrived.