//------------------------------// // Unknown Visitors // Story: Zathura: Sibling is Magic // by SuperWriter2329 //------------------------------// The group had managed to salvage any items to be made lunch with Applejack and Pinkie taking over the kitchen, which was completely trashed and all kitchen appliances and kitchenware alike looked like it was pushed to one side thanks to the Tsouris-3 sun passing by earlier. The others were lounging by the hastily fixed dining area which was also cluttered earlier. Shining came back to the room after telling them that he wanted to go and get the game from the living room. After waiting for twenty-five minutes, the dishes are finally ready. As expected, apple related treats were served because the apples managed to survive getting crushed along with other baked items as well. As the Mane Six were enjoying the treats, Twilight saw her brother's hand reached for the key and started to turn it. "Shining, what are you doing?" Her sudden voice startled the older brother as he said, "Twily, you scared the shit out of me!" "Yeah, like I said, what are you doing? Can't you see that we're having lunch right now? We can't afford to have another distraction while we were eating!" "Relax, I'm just gonna take a look and I will tell you if I got a normal card or not, alright?" At first, the young princess was reluctant for letting Shining take his turn during lunch. She thought back to all of the dangers that they have faced like the meteor shower, the defective robot and the sun. However, after thinking long and hard... "Alright Shining, go ahead. But if it is a danger card, don't make me said 'I told you so.'" "Okay, fine," was all Shining said before finally taking his turn. After a number of spaces has passed, another card pops out. The older brother picked it up and read its contents. The others are waiting for a confirmation from him anxiously. "Well, good news is, it's a normal card," Shining started, making the others breathe sighs of relief before he continued, "And it says, 'You Are Promoted to Fleet Admiral. Move Ahead 4 Spaces.'" As he said it, Twilight took a spit take while she was sipping her glass of apple juice, which was also salvaged from the earlier danger. She then said, "Okay, why does he keep getting those kinds of cards but I don't?" "Maybe the game likes me more than you," her brother answered back. "Shining, please don't. Twilight here is a bit down fer now. Show some respect, will ya?" Applejack asked politely. The older brother just rolled his eyes just as his piece stopped four more spaces ahead. He then asked his younger sister, "Well, do you wanna have a turn now?" "Maybe after we finished eating, alright?" Twilight said, which Shining reluctantly agreed to. After the dishes were done, the Mane Six and Shining walked back to the living room so that Twilight can have her turn of the game. They soon settled on a couch and around it, which was the only furniture that was not damaged by the robot earlier, much to Twilight's relief. "You know, I have been wondering. What do you want to do after we get back to Equestria?" the lavender alicorn suddenly asked her brother. "Eh, nothing. Maybe getting out of your face for a change?" the brother said, earning a gasp from the rest of the group. "Ugh, you see?! You keep treating me like I'm nothing! I'm a princess now! And a Princess of Friendship, at that! And how did I get that title? By defeating Tirek with my friends, that's how! So, could you please treat me nicely, at least for now?" Shining just rolled his eyes again and said, "Fine." "Good. Now it's my turn," the young alicorn said before turning the key and pushing the button, getting a number six in the process. The red ship moved six spaces ahead and another card came out from its slot. With trembling hands, she picked up the card and read, "It says, 'You Are Visited by Zorgons.'" "Twilight darling, what in Equestria is this 'Zorgon' thing?" Rarity asked. "Not really sure. My books didn't say anything about them. But no need to worry, they're just visiting, that's all." A loud gasp came from Rainbow Dash as she said, "Girls, look at that!" She pointed to a dark hallway that was suddenly filled with a bright white light that was coming from outside of all places. The others turned their heads to where the cyan pegasus pointed. However, the light seems to be getting closer and closer towards them. Without warning, an ear-piercing noise came to life as the ponies' ears folded and their hands instinctively on them as they tried to drown out the sound that could put the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame. As the light slowly moved ahead, alongside a bit of shaking, they saw a cylindrical shaped spaceship with a muzzle at the front and rocket thrusters at the back slowly passing them outside when they looked out the windows and even from the hole on the walls. "Zorgons!" Rainbow loudly said, but sadly the others were unable to hear the speedster's claim as the sound is still blaring out loud. After about twenty more seconds of covering their ears, both the ship and the sound stopped at once, allowing the ponies to remove their hands from their folded ears. The blinding light also disappeared from view. However, Pinkie Pie suddenly said, "Uh guys, my Pinkie Sense is tingling!" "Really? What's it said?" Fluttershy meekly asked. "Just one word: run." "Run? From what?" the young princess asked without looking at her pink friend. As if to answer her question, three cannons were summoned at the side of the ship that was facing the castle. No wards were being said as they all ran away from the ship, which then blast a fireball the second Shining, as the last pony, ran out of the room with the game in tow. He then yelled to the Mane Six, "Girls, hide in the library! I think it's safe there!" The mares said nothing as they made their way to the damaged library and crouched down with their backs facing the windows. But the Zorgons seemed to have sensed them because the ship is now right behind them without them noticing. Except for Applejack, who, on instinct, turned her head around, causing her to create a horrified expression, which was unnoticed by the others. She then yelled out "Run!" before doing the deed, prompting everypony else to turn their heads around to see that the ship was about to fire again. They then sprinted out of the library from where they crouched, just in time before the ship fired its cannons again without any of them losing their lives. The ponies then hid inside Twilight's bedroom, with hopes that the ship goes away. Sadly, it did not as the Zorgons fired their cannons again, this time aiming at a random room that was nearby Spike's bedroom. Without them knowing, the shake caused the dragon's frozen figure to fall down on his back. Thankfully, he stayed intact. The blasts also caused one of Twilight's telescopes to float aimlessly in space, but mainly orbiting the castle. "Okay, first the robot, now the Zorgons that has my Pinkie Sense?! I hate this game!" the hyperactive pony whined. "Worry that later, Pinkie! Now, how in the hay are we gonna git them Zorgons to leave us alone and have them ta stop blowin' up this castle?!" the cowgirl asked. Shining said nothing as he grabbed the game and took his turn. That action was not missed by his sister as she said, "Shining, are you crazy?!" "Well, you got any better ideas, Twily?!" her brother asked, a question that Twilight was unable to answer for the first time in years. "I thought so." He then pushed the button. As the Zorgons ship was still moving as if waiting for its prey, another card came out. Shining picked it up, but only sighed in frustration. "Well?" That came from Fluttershy, as she was still shaken throughout the whole ordeal. Rather than saying it, the brother just showed them the contents of the card, which only contained one word: 'Reprogram'. "Wait a minute! 'Reprogram'?! That's it?! What the buck does that mean?!" Rainbow impatiently asked. "Don't look at me! I'm just as dumbfounded as you guys are right now!" Twilight retaliated. Soon, the Zorgon ship was outside the lavender princess' room. And then, Shining had an idea. He stood up, looked at the window to where the Zorgons were and shouted whilst holding the card out. "Reprogram!" However, the Zorgons were prepared to fire one more blast, prompting Shining and everypony else to take cover, just in time for the cannons to fire the blast. Then, as soon as it was done, the ship was seen leaving the castle. The ponies then stood up from where they were taking cover to avoid the blast, which was then followed by falling debris of crystals and wood. Twilight looked outside and said, "Well, that happened." "Yeah, no kidding, Twi. Clearly that card didn't work on the Zorgons. So, what now?" Rainbow asked. "You're asking me? How should I know?" "I know one thing, and that is for you to take your turn now," her brother said, which earned a shocked look from her. "What?! No!" "Please, just go!" "Fine," the young alicorn reluctantly said, before finally taking her turn of the game. While she was doing so, Twilight's friends and Shining then walked towards the now decimated windows of Twilight's bedroom as a lookout in case the Zorgon ship came back. Back at the princess, her blue piece has finally came to a stop just underneath the game's bridge that leads to the end part of it. Then, another card came out, of which she picked it up with a hint of confusion on her face. "Uh, guys? I got a really weird card. It says, 'Rescue Stranded Astronaut.'" "Wait a minute! 'Rescue Stranded Astronaut'? What was that about?" Pinkie asked. "I don't know! What do you think, Shining?" "Well, I guess it has something to do with a stran-" Shining started, but was interrupted by a clanking sound coming from outside. He and everypony else looked out and, sure enough, a pony in an astronaut suit was suddenly outside by the castle, but with the Zorgon ship quickly passing by as well, taking the astronaut with it. With fear etched in their eyes, the Mane Six and Shining ran out of the room, but with a thought that the Zorgons are back with a possible ally. They soon stopped by the area near the front door of the castle before hearing deep hoofsteps inching closer and closer towards the front door. This caused all of the girls, even the strong willed Applejack and fearless Rainbow Dash, to fall on their knees trembling with fear. As the only stallion in the room, Shining tried to comfort the shivering mares as best as he can while the unknown figure moved closer until... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK The mares' shaking stopped at once, where in its place was confusion. Twilight then asked her brother, "Shining, did you lock the door when you slammed it shut earlier?" "I have no idea," was all the older brother said. As if to answer the lavender princess' question, the double doors suddenly slammed open, revealing a lot of smoke. When the smoke cleared, however, the astronaut was there, with all of the flying backpack that the figure had, which was only useable in space, soon moved inside the castle in small steps towards the kneeling group. Just a few paces away did the figure stop in their tracks to open their helmet to reveal the astronaut's face and head for the first time. The sight before them was a bit shocking, because the pony was a unicorn stallion with the same fur color and mane like Shining did, but a bit more fuzzier as if he never took a shaving before. Then, when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit similar to Shining but a bit more raspier. "Which one of you was the one that spawned me?" When nopony spoke, he asked again, "Well, who was it?" "She did," Shining said, pointing at his younger sister. "Yeah, don't just throw the blame at your sister, buddy. She's the only sibling you've got," the astronaut said, just in time for the Zorgons to fire their cannons again just behind him, causing the whole castle to shake. "Well, it seems you guys got a pretty serious problem right now. Something involving the Zorgons, I presume?" "Yeah, what should we do about it?" Shining said. The older brother's lookalike only said, "Hide." "Hide? If we do that, the Zorgons are gonna blow up the whole castle," the young princess claimed. "What I meant was, we're gonna 'hide' the castle," the astronaut said before more rattling resonated within the place. "And how are we gonna do that exactly?" "Just follow my lead. But first, do you know where the kitchen is?" The only alicorn in the room nodded. "Perfect. Lead the way then." As soon as they made it to the kitchen, the astronaut started to ransack the whole place as if he was trying to find something. He then said, "Hey, could you turn off all of the lights that was in the castle?" "Who, me?" Twilight asked. "Yes, you. Go now!" The young princess nodded before realizing that the castle was huge by comparison and she needs the help of her friends. "Girls, I need your help of turning off all of the lights in the castle." "Wait, all of them?!" the cyan pegasus asked. "Yes, all of them. So, I need all of us to work in pairs. Rainbow Dash, you and Fluttershy take care of the top floor of the castle. Applejack, you and Pinkie took the left side of the castle. Rarity, you and I will take care of the right side. Got that?" Her friends nodded at once. "Okay girls, split up now!" With that, the six friends scattered in pairs with one goal in mind: making sure that the castle was pitch black in darkness. Back at the kitchen, the astronaut was still searching for something until he took out a small vial of gasoline from one of the lower cabinets of the kitchen, just in time for another rumble to resonate the castle again. Afterwards, he said, "Okay, now I need you to put out the pilot light." "Uh, what pilot light?" Shining asked. "I'm talking about the fireplace in the basement. What I need you to do is blow it out like your blowing out a birthday candle," the Shining lookalike explained. He then took off the stovetop for him to demonstrate how its done. "See this little fire right here? It's just like it but bigger." He then proceeded to blow the small fire out. "Okay, I'll do it. But what are you gonna do while I'm at it?" the older brother asked. "Don't worry, I have a plan of my own. You go do yours. Now!" That was all the encouragement Shining needed as he sprinted across the hallway to where the basement is. When he got there, he stumbled upon Pinkie, who was still turning off all of the lights on her side of the castle. "Hey Shining, what are you doing?" the party pony asked. "Well, I-" Shining started before getting interrupted by her moving very quickly, as if she was in a hurry to catch a train. He then shrugged before proceeding to descend the basement stairs to blow off the fireplace that was in the basement. The castle was actually heated up by the basement fireplace, which also serve as a heating source for the showers in case anypony desired to have a warm bath rather than cold ones. The temperature of the castle can also be altered using a thermostat that was located just beside Spike's bedroom, which causes the fire in the fireplace to shrink down to a miniscule size rather than just putting it out. The temperature thing was exactly done by Shining upon realizing that the defective robot from earlier is still there and still fixing itself, prompting him to just turn off the basement lights before heading to the thermostat and decreasing the temperature from a blazing ninety degrees to a manageable thirty five degrees. It also caused the fire to shrink down as well. As for the Mane Six, the progress of turning off all of the lights within the castle is going well, with only about a third of it remaining. Rainbow Dash has finished with the right side of the top floor of the castle and was on her way to doing the same thing to the tower. Fluttershy was down to the last six rooms on the left side and the last hallway light. On ground floor, Applejack and Pinkie were doing their best to close off the lights on the left side, with Applejack doing the rooms and Pinkie doing the hallways, but they were also nearly done. On the other side of the castle, Twilight and Rarity did the same thing as well, this time with Twilight doing the rooms and Rarity with the hallways. Then finally, together as one, they each turned off the last light on each of their given tasks, causing the last six lights to turn off at once, therefore plunging the castle into eternal darkness with the remaining light illuminating inside was the light shining from the deep space. At the same time, the Zorgons finally stopped their assault on the castle, ceasing any charges on their cannons and stopping their ship as well, as if they were waiting for their prey. The pegasi finally made it back down and was on their way to meet up with Twilight. However, along the way, Rainbow can clearly see that the astronaut was doing something to Twilight's last intact couch. Upon closer inspection, she can see that he was pouring something on it but was unable to make out the details of the liquid that was being poured onto the couch. Wanting to tell Twilight about it, she soon catches up to her fellow pegasus friend. At the same time, the earth ponies were doing the same thing as well. Then, Pinkie stopped to look outside. She can see that the Zorgon ship has stopped moving for some reason. Shrugging it off, she ran in order to catch up to Applejack, who was already far ahead. Meanwhile, Twilight and Rarity gathered to catch their breaths after a really long run from turning off the lights earlier. They were soon joined by Rainbow and Fluttershy, who have worked up the sweats as well. Applejack and Pinkie arrived last, with Pinkie wanting to tell Twilight of what she saw earlier. "Twilight, that Zorgon ship from earlier stopped moving!" "Wait, what?" Twilight said, before realizing that the castle was no longer shaking. Instead, pure silence filled the room. "Pinkie, you're right. I don't think that the Zorgons have fired their cannons anymore. It turns out that turning off all of the lights worked for some reason." "And what would that reason be, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "I think I know what it is, but I'm not sure if it is true or not." "Speaking of which Twilight, I saw that the astronaut was doing something to your couch earlier. He's pouring something that came from a small canister but I can't make the details of it," the speedster explained. "A small canister?" the young princess said, before realization dawned upon her. "Oh no..." She then took off and flew towards the front door area of the castle, leaving the others baffled before they ran or flew to catch up to the flying and panicking princess. Once Twilight and Shining (who wanted to stay by the front door so that he can meet up with the others) made it to where the astronaut was, the former was shocked to find that he was dousing her last remaining couch with what looked like gasoline. "Hey, what are you doing? That's the only couch I have left!" As of now, the rest of the Mane Six have finally arrived at the scene, just in time for the astronaut to use his horn to create sparks that soon engulf the doused couch in flames, much to everypony's surprise. However, there was a brief moment that caused the astronaut and Shining to look at each other with the fire illuminating their faces, as if they were actually the same person inside and out. That moment was soon interrupted by the astronaut saying, "So, who wants to help me get this thing out of here?" Without saying anything, Twilight and her earth pony friends volunteered to do so since they all have the same strength, with Twilight developing it the day she ascended to princesshood. Within seconds, the fiery couch was now floating aimlessly in deep space. Then, they all gathered by the front door, with the astronaut mumbling to himself, which was heard by everypony. "Come on. Take it. Follow it. Follow it," was all the Shining lookalike mumbled, looking as if he was wishing that the Zorgons would follow the couch. Suddenly, as if on cue, the ship came back to life, but this time they no longer paid attention to the castle. Instead, to everypony's shock, they seemed to be following the couch that was currently on fire and floating further away from the castle. "Wait, how in the hay did that worked?" the cowgirl asked. "Well, that's because those Zorgons are actually huge bucking lizards. They are vicious, dangerous and cold-blooded heat seakers. Anything that was either on fire or lighting up, they will destroy until nothing is left," the astronaut explained, causing the others to gulp in fear. "Oh, that's why the ship stopped moving when all of the lights went off earlier!" Pinkie said nervously. "Yeah, that's what I thought as well. Luckily you confirmed my suspicions. But there is one thing I didn't get. Those Zorgons have a planet of their own, right?" the lavender alicorn asked. "Yeah, they did. Why do you ask?" the astronaut said. "Well, why didn't they burn it up if they just wander around in space like that?" "The thing is, they already did." "What?!" the rest of the group yelled at once. "Yeah, you heard me. But the bad news is, that's not the worst of the stuff that they did. And I'm talking about their huge and sloppy appetite. They never stop eating," the astronaut explained again. "Ah'm afraid ta ask but what did them Zorgons eat actually?" Applejack nervously asked. "Meat," was all he said. "Oh, that's good," the shy pegasus said. "No girl, pony meat." "What?!" the others yelled again. But for Rarity, she fainted upon hearing what the Zorgons' huge appetite for. "Okay, that was freaky," Rainbow said. "Yeah Dashie, I mean what kind of appetite was that? I really do not want to be their meal the next time they tried to attack this castle again!" Pinkie agreed. No more words were being said as the remaining conscious ponies watched the Zorgons as they kept chasing the couch that was still on fire and still floating aimlessly in deep space.