Everypony was busy gathering materials or making preparations to finally lure out and contain the destructive blue creature that had fallen from the sky. Twilight, in her spare time, had been trying to read up on anything that might resemble the visitors species, but had fallen short. At present she had just left the forest with Rainbow Dash, both eagerly racing towards Ponyville for their first shot at a successful capture.
Pinkie Pie was also quite busy, digging around in the storage room for something she kept locked away for especially demanding occasions. As of the present, she'd only had a few chances to use it. The item she pushed out of the storage closet was covered in a sheet, the only thing visible, or what should have been visible, were the heavy wheels on which it rolled.Or should have rolled. This time, however, Pinkie found the object much harder to maneuver than usual, and conducted an investigation under the sheet. The wheels were completely missing, and a yellowed note was stuck to one of the axles, apparently having been there for some time.
You'll thank me later.
Trixie
Pinkie threw her hooves up in the air, jets of steam bursting from her ears. She screamed towards the ceiling, although her dramatic outburst would have been more entertaining had anypony actually seen it.
"TRIXIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" She yelled, then quickly burst back into her normal energetic self. "Oh, how silly, I have spare wheels stashed in the chimney, in case of wheel emergency!" In moments the covered object was fixed, and Pinkie continued her quest rolling the mysterious item towards the center of town. Applejack was already waiting for her there, as the entire Apple family had been critical in creating the baked goods which lined the tables that had been set up. Nopony was sure if they'd even be needed, but they'd spared in expense in creating alternative options.
Rarity was occupied, as she so often was, with preparing an order for a client, however that had not stopped her from participating. She had worked double time to get as much work done as she possibly could, then left for the center of town early to cover the tables with elaborate cloths. Appearance was everything, after all.
Fluttershy, however, had the most important role. Her ability to communicate (to some degree) and understand the animals more than the others gave her the best chance of finding out where Stitch came from, and more importantly, how to get him home. She was on her way back to her cottage, having been delayed some as she'd needed to help a lost squirrel find its way to the north end of town. When she did arrive, she found the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her yard, bouncing a large cardboard box back and forth. Sweetie Belle knocked it towards Scootaloo with her hoof, who in turn knocked it to Apple Bloom. What a strange thing, didn't they have actual toys?
"Um, girls, what are you doing?" She asked in wonder, approaching.
"We're kickboxing!" Apple Bloom explained. "Applejack wouldn't let us practice on each other, so we had tah try somethin' else. Why, what're ya doin? Where are ya goin'? Can we come?!""
Fluttershy blinked. "Oh, we're just trying to catch a critter that's gotten loose, we've set up a whole bunch of things for him in the center of town, we'll have him in no time," she said, and went inside. She was fairly certain Apple Bloom already knew full well what had been going on, the other two perhaps to a lesser extent. Inside, Discord greeted her with his usual enthusiasm.
"Hello, Fluttershy! Are you ready for some fun?" He asked with a smile.
"I suppose so. Did you finish the traps that Twilight asked you to make?"
"Yes, of course," he sighed. "They're so simple and trivial though, why can't we make some really good ones? Something other than broken plates and string. I mean honestly, a few cans of spray paint? That's boring!"
"It's not about chaos, it's about potential chaos," Fluttershy reminded him. "We need to lure him out, and we should really be down there already. Will you come along?" She asked. "If you don't mind..."
"Not at all. Hold tightly now!"
Fluttershy barely had time to ask him what he meant before he teleported them both to the center of town. Fluttershy disliked teleporting, even when Twilight did it. It made her head all woozy. They landed underneath one of the covered tables, where Applejack and Pinkie were already waiting.
"Ack! Send a warnin' or somethin' before y'all do that!" She complained. She didn't hate magic, but didn't quite fully approve of it either. It seemed to her a substitute for honest hard work, why reach for something when you could float it down, or walk anywhere when you could be there in an instant? It wasn't as satisfying, but she recognized situations where it was necessary.
"Th' others are hidin' in their spots, y'all got back a bit late," Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash flew ahead and said that Stitch was spotted near-"
"There he is!" Pinkie exclaimed, peeking out from under the tablecloth, and effectively cutting off Applejack, who glared at her.
"...Ponyville." Applejack finished.
Indeed, Stitch had returned. The 'dog' was in full feral mode, extra arms, antennae and spines extended. Spike, who had joined underneath Twilight's table seeing as the Library was temporarily closed, shuddered.
"Dude, that's creepy. What kind of dog does that?"
"None that I know of," Twilight said. "I don't think he's a dog at all, heck, Pinkie may have been onto something before."
Stitch scurried forward, pausing to examine the expansive line of dominoes which had been erected. Time had been short, and Discord had been elected to conjure up an intricate system of them, as they hadn't the resources to set up them by hoof. Stitch cackled with delight, and flicked a claw against the tile on the end. Naturally they began to fall against each other, clacking faster and faster, distracting the experiment.
"That's yer cue, Fluttershy." Applejack whispered. "Go nab him."
Fluttershy suddenly wanted to do no such thing anymore, and began to back away. "I... um... actually think I hear my teddy bear calling..."
Applejack was about to have none of this, and shoved Fluttershy out from under the table. The pegasus rolled and tumbled out, landing on her hooves behind Stitch, shaking her head to clear the sudden disorientation. Stitch's heightened senses had not failed him, and by the time Fluttershy was on her hooves, she was already facing down the barrel of a blaster.
Stitch growled, facing down the pegasus, who shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to hurt anypony," she said gently. "I only want to be your friend."
The word 'friend' seemed to initiate some sort of relapse in the alien, who, very briefly, almost seemed to lower his weapon. But a moment later they were up again, baring large teeth.
"Come on now, don't you think you'd rather get a nice big party instead of a dungeon sentence?" Fluttershy asked, who gestured to the large covered object Pinkie had wheeled over. The party pony burst out from under the table, whipped off the sheet.
"Preeeeeeeesenting, my super duper-ific one of a kind patent pending double barreled PARTY CANNON!" Pinkie exclaimed, and lit the fuse. "HIT THE DECK!" She squealed, and dove into a bush. Both barrels fired loudly, coating the entire town center in confetti and streamers. At the same time, though he had covered his ears at the noise Stitch seemed to become increasingly relaxed at the sight of the sudden party atmosphere. Fluttershy hugged him from behind, and although there was resistance, there was no violence. Not towards her, at least.
"That's right, you're just a poor little misunderstood... whatever you are... and Fluttershy is here to make it all better. You just wanted some friends, and I'm going to be your friend." Fluttershy said.
All seemed well at that moment, until the Cutie Mark Crusaders made yet another appearance charging down the middle of the street, frustrated at having been left behind again, even more so when they saw the newly decorated party scene. They were not amused.
"AW COME ON, we missed all the fun AGAIN?" Scootaloo protested.
"Girls, go home at once, this isn't a party!" Twilight insisted.
"Could have fooled us," Apple Bloom countered.
Stitch, however, snapped back into his defensive mode as the intruders came charging in out of nowhere. He raised his blaster protectively, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. The girls continued their approach, ignoring the protests of Twilight Sparkle, drawing closer and closer to Fluttershy, still desperately hugging the alien, who now ignored her. His weapon was trained on the girls, who had never seen the likes of him up close before, and immediately wanted to know what he was. Stitch hesitated, but moral reservations had been abandoned. He fired, someone screamed. Time slowed to a dead spot for what felt like hours, nopony daring to move. Perhaps he had missed, yes, that was the most logical conclusion. A lot had been happening at once, it would have been understandable for him to miss.
Unfortunately, time resumed its relentless march forward. Seconds later, Sweetie Belle collapsed to the ground.