"Come on girls! We said we was goin' campin' and we are gonna go! "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" that is the motto of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom cheered as the storm began.
"No it ain't, that's the motto of the Post Ponies! And they're crazy too if they're gonna be out in this!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Apple Bloom, are you sure about this? It's looking like it's gonna storm pretty bad." Scootaloo watched the clouds swirling ominously.
"Yeah! No place safer than the Everfree!" Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"Have you lost your mind Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nope, ponies was just scared of the Everfree cuz of Zecora, remember?" Apple Bloom asked.
"And the manticores, and the basilisks, and the weather that not even the pegasi can control, and the dangerous cliffs, an-"
Apple Bloom covered Scootaloo's muzzle with her hoof.
"Hush now, none a' that." She scolded.
"But what abou-"
"I said hush!" Apple Bloom repeated. "Everything will be fine! You'll jinx it if ya keep talkin' like that."
Apple Bloom trotted into the forest, her friends hesitantly keeping close to her.
Scootaloo suddenly stopped dead.
"What was that?" She questioned perking her ears up and rotating them.
"What was what?" Apple Bloom asked. "I don't hear nuthin' but the forest."
"And our impending doom via lighting bolt to the head." Sweetie Belle added sarcastically.
"There was...I don't know, a voice."
"Chuuuu."
"Oh! I heard it! "chew"? Does somethin' wanna chew on us?" Sweetie Belle yelled.
"Hush! Or it will wanna, if you keep makin' so much noise." Apple Bloom scolded. "Tain't nothin' in this forest that would eat us."
She sounded much more confident than she felt.
"Timberwolves, mantacores, cockatrices, ursa majors, ursa minors, dragons, parasprites." Scootaloo listed off.
"Parasprites only eat crops." Apple Bloom corrected.
"And the rest of them?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice cracking.
"Well.... we just have ta not run into 'em." Apple Bloom said simply and shrugged. "If it was gonna eat us, it wouldn'ta made noise! Predators sneak up on ya."
"Unless it knows it can catch a filly with no stealth!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed and hugged Scootaloo tightly.
"But what if it's somethin' that's hurt? We should find it and take it to Fluttershy. It's prolly just an herbivore, like us, or hurt!" Apple Bloom insisted as she began to nose through the foliage in an attempt to find the source of the strange noise.
"If it eats us, I'm gonna come back and haunt you Apple Bloom." Scootaloo grumbled, carefully extracting herself from Sweetie Belle and helping search.
The storm around the fillies grew stronger as they began to search together for whatever creature was probably injured.
"I found it! I think... what is that thing?" Scootaloo called to the others.
It was a bright yellow, with brown stripes on it's back, and rabbit-like ears. Its cheeks appeared to have been painted red, as there were perfect circles on each, several bruises and scrapes lined the fainted creatures side.
"Lookit it! It's all bruised and cut up!" Apple Bloom exclaimed and lowered her head to examine the creature closer, not wanting to get too close in case it bit her.
"Come on girls, let's take it to Fluttershy, I bet she knows what to-AH! It bit me! I think..." Apple Bloom frowned.
"You think? How would you not know if it bit you?"
"Well it's still out cold, but.... ah felt it!" She insisted. "I think it bit me with magic."
"Get Twilight?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Get Twilight." The other two nodded.
"It's right over here." Sweetie Belle said trotting towards Scootaloo, who had been ordered to stand guard over the injured creature, resident Princess, Twilight Sparkle, trotted behind her.
"Oh! Good you found her!" Scootaloo exclaimed happily.
"So this is it?" Twilight asked and bent to examine the strange creature the Cutie Mark Crusaders had stumbled upon.
"Don't get to clo-" Apple Bloom started to warn the princess.
Twilight was flung back as a bolt shot from the little creatures cheeks again.
"Buck! That hurt!" Twilight exclaimed. "Oh... jeez. Girls, don't repeat that."
"We won't." Apple Bloom giggled at the cursing princess.
"So... what is it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I've never seen anything like it." Twilight answered mystified.
"Somethin' Twilight don't know about?" Apple Bloom asked astonished.
"Welp, we're doomed." Sweetie Belle answered. "Totally and completely doomed. Nice knowin' ya, it's gonna eat us."
"Just because I've never heard of it or seen it doesn't mean we're doomed Sweetie." Twilight laughed gently and tousled the little unicorn's mane.
"But you know about everything, so if you don't know what it is, it's...it's... IT'S AN ALIEN FROM THE STARS!" Scootaloo exclaimed, losing her head completely.
Apple Bloom smacked her friend.
"Ow. Thanks, I needed that." Scootaloo said.
"Anytime." Apple Bloom nodded. "Equestria is huge! It's entirely possible a creature went undiscovered until now. Especially since almost nopony goes into the Everfree still, and even we only go as deep as Zecora's hut! It's dangerous in here!"
"Well, while I do not approve of your methods Applebloom, I must agree, you three girls may end up famous for discovering an previously unknown creature!" Twilight squealed and clapped her hooves together in excitement. "And I can present it to the World Science Leaders too once I've run some tests on it and can-okay, no. Breathe Twilight, breathe! It may be entirely sentient, in which experiments, unless it consents, are entirely unethical."
"Pika..." The little creature said much louder than any of it's other noises.
"Oh! I think it's awake!" Twilight exclaimed.
Scootaloo knealt down beside the little yellow creature.
"Hi, my name is Scootaloo, what's yours?" She asked.
".... Pikachu?" It cocked it's head.
"Your name is Pikachu?" Scootaloo asked.
"Pika! Pikapika pipi pika! Pikachu!" It said.
"Is... is that all you can say?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Pika?" It said questioningly.
"I think it's broken." Scootaloo said staring at Twilight.