//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Friendly Skies // by Liquidfirest0rm //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle watched as Spike breathed fire over the rolled up parchment, transforming it into a puff of smoke that made it’s way out a nearby window. Hearing the bathroom door open, she turned to see Rainbow Dash coming down the stairs with a towel draped over her back. “That shower felt amazing!” Rainbow said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She shook out her mane, throwing loose droplets everywhere, much to the unicorn’s displeasure. Twilight opened her mouth to scold the Pegasus, but was abruptly cut off as the library door burst open. A familiar yellow Pegasus stood in the doorway, panting heavily. They both turned to face her, Twilight speaking up first. “Fluttershy! What-” “Twilight!... In… The woods!… Monster!” Fluttershy said, her sentence punctuated by gasps. The look of fear on her face adding emphasis to her words. Twilight and Rainbow rushed to her side. Trying to calm her down so that she could tell them what had happened. Ten minutes and two cups of tea later, she was finally calm enough to recount her story. “Well, I w-was out in the f-f-forest after the storm had cleared,” She paused, taking another sip of tea from her cup. “I w-was checking o-on the little c-critters, making s-sure they were OK.” She pause again to take another drink. “I heard a noise and w-when I looked up, I s-saw a creature I’ve n-never seen before. It stood on two legs and it kind of looked like a monkey, but without the fur all over.” “Woah. Do you think it was an alien?” Rainbow cut in. “Um… I don’t really know. As soon as I turned to look at it, a Manticore jumped out from the forest behind me!” “Oh my gosh! Are you alright? How did you manage to get away?” Twilight asked worriedly. “Um… I’m not sure. I was so afraid of the Manticore, that I just froze up. Then I heard the creature scream, and two really loud noises came from where it had been standing. It sounded like thunder, only it was much, much louder. Then the Manticore fell to the ground, and I took off running and made my way here.” Fluttershy said, finishing off her tea and setting the cup on the table. “Was it some kind of magic?” Twilight asked. “I don’t think so, there was just the noise.” “It’s got to be an alien!” Rainbow exclaimed, a look of worry quickly coming across her face. “What if it followed you here?” “Stop it Rainbow, aliens don’t exist.” Scolded Twilight. “If it is some new kind of creature that we haven’t seen before, it could have some kind of magic or special defenses that we haven’t heard of before either. Whatever it is, we should go check it out.” She said, a spark of excitement flashing in her eyes at the prospect of a new discovery. “I dunno Twi, what if it’s dangerous like ‘Shy said?” “Let’s grab Applejack just incase it’s hostile and we have to detain it. Spike! We’re heading out! Watch the library while I’m gone!” She called out to her assistant. They were already on there way without waiting for a response, not wanting to delay their discovery any longer than necessary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweet Apple Acres - Earlier ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack finished putting the last cart of apples away in the barn. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she walked back outside, feeling accomplished with her hard day’s work. She got about three feet outside the barn when Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came charging at her from out of the orchard. “Applejack! Applejack!” They both yelled as they closed the distance. “Now what ‘n th’ hay has gotten inta’ y’all?” She asked in a condescending tone. “There was a monster!” Scootaloo cried. “Two of them!” Sweetie Belle corrected. “And one of them was covered in blood!” “And the other tried to get us!” “But we left it in the dust! Didn’t we Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked, but received no reply. “Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking back. Not seeing her friend, she looked back towards the way they had come from. To her horror she saw that the monster had followed them and was now standing at the edge of the orchard, staring at them. “There it is!” She cried, pointing a hoof in it’s direction, causing Scootaloo and Applejack to follow her gaze. “And it’s got Applebloom!” Hearing that the monster had her sister, Applejack turned towards the creature and started pawing at the ground, getting ready to charge. She could see Applebloom in its arms, but she wasn’t moving. Her blood boiled at the thought of harm coming to her little sister. She took off towards it, and the creature’s face suddenly turned to a look of surprise. It put Applebloom on the ground before turning and running back into the orchard. She saw Big Macintosh running full speed right towards the creature and knew he would have no trouble catching it, so she stopped once she reached her sister to see if she was OK. Leaning down, she gave her an affectionate nuzzle but got no response. Her chest rose and fell, so she was still breathing, but she was out cold. A nasty bump could be seen forming on top of her head as well as a little bit of blood, now matted in her fur. She put Applebloom on her back and made her way back to the farmhouse, telling Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to head inside as well. As she turned back towards the house, she saw her friends running up the path that led to the road. “Applejack!” Twilight called out when she got closer. “We need… your help… creature…” Not being the most athletic mare, she was severely winded from the run. Her gasping for much needed air was preventing her from forming complete sentences. Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to fill her in properly. “Shy saw some strange hairless monkey thing in the forest, and Twi here wants you to help us catch it.” She said, a little bit of her excitement making it’s way through her cool exterior. Just then they heard the sound of something hitting a tree… hard. “Well, ah jus’ chased a critter off that sounds like what yer talkin’ ‘bout. It came outta th’ orchard carryin’ Applebloom. Sounds like Big Mac jus’ caught it.” Applejack said, turning towards the direction the sound had come from. She went inside and put Applebloom on the couch, telling Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to look after her before heading back outside. Once she returned, the four of them quickly made their way through the orchard, eager to see if this was the same creature that Fluttershy had seen in the forest earlier. As they approached, they saw Big Mac sitting on his haunches in front of the creature that was now slumped against one of the apple trees. It was definitely an odd looking creature. As Fluttershy had said, it had no fur, save for a brown patch on top of its head and above its eyes. Its muzzle was short, barely making a bump on the front of its face. It’s front arms ended in hands that looked similar to spike’s, but the talons weren’t as sharp looking. It also wore some kind of strange clothing, that was grayish with blue splotches all over. If Rarity could see it, she would declare it a crime against fashion. Twilight cautiously walked over to the creature, her horn lighting up as she cast a spell to check on the creature’s condition. A look of surprise came across her face as the extent of the damages were revealed. “Wow Big Mac! You really did a number on it! It’s got several cracked ribs, a concussion, and a dislocated shoulder.” She stated, looking back at the large workhorse. “Ah didn’t think ah hit ‘em that hard.” He said, looking upset that he had unwittingly hurt the creature so seriously. “Well, it will live, but we need to get it to the clinic as soon as possible.” “You sure about that Twi? If it hurt Applebloom I don’t think we should be helping it.” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Even so, we still need to study it, and some things can’t be studied if it’s dead.” Twilight said, her horn lighting up again and her magic gently lifting the creature off the ground. “Wow, it’s heavier than it looks!” She exclaimed. Rainbow’s ears suddenly perked up, and she looked off deeper into the orchard. “Did you guys hear that?” She asked. They all listened intently, all of them scarcely breathing. A few seconds later they heard what sounded like a faint cough coming from the direction Dash was looking in. “I knew I heard something!” she exclaimed, taking to the air and heading off in the direction of the sound. “Rainbow! Wait for us!” Twilight yelled fruitlessly as they all gave chase. She took care to make sure she didn’t run the creature she was levitating into anything as they went to investigate. A short walk brought them to the fence that marked the boundaries of Sweet Apple Acres. “Hey guys! Over here! I found another one and it looks like its been hurt pretty bad!” Dash called out as she saw her friends emerge. She looked back down at the creature before her. It looked similar to the one they had found but was a bit smaller and the fur on its head was a blonde instead of brown. It wore the same clothing, and blood covered the clothing on its right shoulder and part of it’s chest. It’s breathing was very labored and it looked a lot more pale in comparison to the other one. “Oh my, is it still alive?” Fluttershy asked when she saw the blood. “It’s still breathing.” Dash answered. “Twi, are you gonna be able to carry both of these things?” She asked. “No, they are a lot heavier than they look. Big Mac, could you carry this one?” She said, motioning towards the one in her telekinetic grip. “I don’t want to risk making the other one’s condition worse by having it bounce around.” He nodded and she lay the first one down along his back. She then gently picked up the other one with her magic. “Alright we really need to get to the clinic in a hurry, this one has lost a lot of blood. Rainbow, fly ahead and tell them that we‘ll be there shortly.” Her friends all nodded their agreement and they turned and hurried off towards the clinic. Applejack broke off from the group and went to the farmhouse to tend to Applebloom. The other three made their way down the road to Ponyville as fast as they could manage without causing anymore injury to the two creatures.