As Twilight made her way to the door, she simply wasn’t quite sure how to address what it was she saw. Standing next to a rather confused looking Spike, was a little biped just a few feet taller than the dragon. In fact, he was barely taller than Twilight herself, if at all.
The creature was shuffling his hoof-like feet around impatiently, muttering to himself in Sangheili. "Zaruba gor'auba sempaak. Karimu ze'ekem." When he saw the librarian, he perked up immediately, switching to the natives' Human-like language. “You Twilight yes? Do you have gas for Dadab, mine is running low!”
The unicorn could hardly believe her own eyes. Sure enough, here was an alien being in her house, asking her for methane gas. Of all the weird, possible scenarios, not even Discord could have likely come up with this one. The biped noticed Twilight’s wide-eyed expression, and waved his hands around, seeing if she was even still conscious.
“Anybody home? Hello?” the alien inquired.
Spike decided to intervene, growing impatient “Hmm, I think you might have just caught her at a bad time. Lemme' try something.” He snapped his fingers loudly in front of his friend’s face. Twilight came out of her bewilderment, shaking her head to try and clear her mind.
“Huh?” Twilight said.
The creature continued to stare at her impatiently, before he turned to Spike. “Dadab thanks you, strange lizard man.”
Spike shrugged. “Don’t mention it, name’s Spike by the way, a pleasure to meet you..erm, Dadab is it?”
Spike and Dadab shook hands when the grunt nodded at him. Meanwhile, Twilight had finally collected herself. “How do you know who I am? And...not to be rude, but who and what are you?” she asked.
Dadab jumped up and down, a casual thing most Grunts did when they were in a relieved or excited mood. “I’m the grunt Dadab, deacon of the Great Journey, and possibly smartest Grunt in the whole Covenant! Me not from around here though, I come from the planet Balaho. Nice lady Fluttershy told me you could get methane for me.”
The young dragon shared the grunt’s excitement. “So it’s true, you are an alien then! Wow, this is so awesome!”
Twilight was still skeptical, even despite her shock at Dadab’s foreign appearance. “Alien you say? If you’re an alien, where’s your spaceship? Why aren't there more of you?” She stuck to her theory that Dadab was of this world, and that he was simply a member of a species that hadn’t been seen before, possibly from beyond the Everfree Forest. His people possibly dwelled in methane-filled warrens, perhaps. That sounded like a theory to be trusted, at least in Twilight’s mind. Alien life obviously existed, but what were the chances of it arriving on Equis of all places?
Before Dadab could answer the questions, Twilight heaped another one onto him. “Are you from the Everfree Forest?” The grunt fidgeted nervously. “Scary forest? No, Dadab stays away from the forest, can’t be safe for grunts at all,” he replied.
Then he made an urgent but hopeful motion at his backpack with his hand. “You make methane gas for me with magic, so I don’t suffocate?” The unicorn looked from the alien’s backpack, to his re-breather pack, and finally understood what the Grunt was actually asking of her.
“Hmm, methane. Should be able to conjure some up with a basic synthesis spell.” She charged up her horn, narrowed her eyes in concentration, and aimed at the Unggoy. “Here goes nothing..”
Dadab was hit by the spell in his chest, and he flinched slightly. When Twilight’s aura had faded from around the grunt’s body, he checked his gas meter. Sure enough, it was completely full. The grunt bounced around excitably. “Dadab thanks you, new friends!”
Twilight gave him a dubious expression. Her scientific curiosity over the little alien was only growing. “So, since we helped you get gas, how about you stay around and share with us a few things about yourself, maybe answer a couple of questions? What do you say?”
“I have time for an interview. Ask Dadab whatever you want.”
Twilight rubbed her hooves together in anticipation at the prospect of learning about a new species and their culture. “Wonderful, let’s get started. Hmm, oh yeah, what exactly is the Covenant? Are they your government?”
Rarity was in the midst of pulling Chur’R Yar towards her fashion shop near the middle of town. The jackal had long since given up by the time the duo had arrived at Carousel Boutique. Once inside, Rarity had spared no time getting straight to work.
Without asking, the unicorn sat Yar into a chair, and began taking various measurements of the alien’s head, snout, and lithe arms, waist, and legs. The Shipmistress felt as if she was becoming a test subject in one of the medical experiments the Prophets would secretly perform to random citizens back on High Charity. Understandably, she was beginning to really dislike the fashionista for the weird vibe.
Rarity gave the jackal a few more cursory glances, then set off for the second floor. “One moment, please. Oh, your body shape reminds me so much of a grown up Spike! I have just the things to make you positively irresistible with the townsfolk!”
"Spike?" the Kig-Yar asked, interested.
"Yes, Spike. He's a very close friend of mine, along with the girls," Rarity explained, beginning to disappear up the stairs. "He's the most adorable little dragon you'll ever meet!"
Chur remained in the chair, chattering to herself thoughtfully. If there was another creature nearby that resembled a Kig-Yar in even the slightest detail, it was definitely worthy of at least a brief investigation.
Looking around the shop, the pirate then got a different idea as her mind began to wander. Yar began scanning for anything of value. There wasn’t much in the immediate vicinity, just a few reels of expensive silk, a few clothes stands in the shape of an equine's, and polished, high quality sewing equipment. Only the silk slightly interested Chur'R-Yar; she was looking for other things.
Before Chur could continue her plot to potential plunder, the alabaster unicorn had returned, this time carrying a few articles of clothing and other products with her. Approaching Chur, she declared, “Now darling, I’m going to need you to be a still as possible, while I get to work.”
Chur fidgeted in her seat. “Is this all...necessary?” she inquired.
“I promise, you won’t regret the results. In fact, I would think you shall be bedazzled by my work!” Rarity declared. The jackal merely shrugged at this. Chur might as well just go with the flow of things...for now. If the horned clothing merchant was willing to give the former Shipmistress a free touch up, how could she refuse?
The fashionista got right to work on the jackal, preening and primming feathers. All in all, Rarity's work was quite painful. Chur was beginning to feel her rage boil over with each pluck of a feather, no matter how delicately it was performed.
Somehow, the unicorn failed to notice this fact, and unknowingly dealt the final blow to the alien’s cool. “Alright darling, now that the main part is out of the way, why don’t you get out of that...garish armor, and try on this fine garment?”
It was a civilian dress, recently cut to easily conform to the Kig-Yar T'vaoan's unique body shape. Just as Chur was about to draw out her needler to make her outrage crystal clear, something stopped her in her tracks. The strange-looking article of clothing was adorned with sapphires.
Much more about the gems were revealed in the light of the room. They were undoubtedly genuine finely-cut sapphires, by Chur'R-Yar's reckoning. Looking up from the dress, she saw that in addition to the clothing, Rarity had also brought a small box filled with more of the gleaming precious minerals.
Rubies and diamonds also beckoned to her from the container. The alien’s eyes widened like dinner plates in disbelief.
“Do be a dear and try it on, I fear I have forgotten something upstairs. Let me know what you think of it when I come back down, won’t you,” Rarity instructed. She closed her eyes as she sauntered up to the second floor.
No longer able to keep her intense Kleptomania under control, Chur rushed to the box. The alien grabbed it, the silk, and the dress, and dashed out of Carousel Boutique faster than a speeding ghost.
Putting the dress over one shoulder, and the reel of silk under her arm, the jackal made her way towards the tree dwelling she had originally intended to visit. Without hesitation, Chur jumped up into the shadows of the ancient oak's branches, stashing her new treasure hoard in the cover of its verdant leaves.
Chur then leaped down several feet to the ground, and approached the front door casually as if she hadn’t just stolen thousands of bits worth of merchandise. She looked through a window, and found another unicorn, this one with a purple coat and a star burst marking on her flank, and a being Chur was suspicious could be the Spike of Rarity's description, sitting next to Dadab. Quickly, the jackal pounded her fist on the door.
“That’s the Covenant then? Interesting! So, what do you call that thing you have strapped to your belt?” Twilight inquired.
Dadab reached for it, drawing it in his hand. “Elite bosses call them plasma pistols. We use for battle, but I rarely have reason to use it myself.”
“An...energy weapon then? How powerful is it?” Twilight inquired.
“I demonstrate?” Dadab offered
Twilight shrugged. “Just don’t hurt anybody, try to aim at the floor or something. Don’t fire at any of the books!”
Dadab put his finger to the firing mechanism, and let loose a green bolt of energy at the floor. Twilight and Spike both yelped in alarm as the bolt buried itself into the floor, leaving a charred hole that lead straight into the library’s cellar.
"Awesome, totally amazing!" Spike shouted, recovering quickly. "This beats watching a sci-fi flick at the cinema any day!
“Okay! That’s enough, I think.” The librarian said quickly, chuckling nervously.
“I’m sorry, I didn't intend to frighten you.” Dadab apologized. Privately, the grunt mentally snickered at how they might react if he had fired a fuel rod cannon in close quarters.
A banging sounded at the door. Twilight looked annoyed as she got up. “Darn, I still have so many questions. I’ll get it, I suppose.” Going to the door, she was shocked for the second time today. Where Dadab had been mere minutes ago, there now stood another strange creature.
This one was taller than the grunt, and resembled a vulture. That wasn't the strangest thing. The creature's feathers were all arranged in a strange pattern that could not have been natural, or comfortable, for its kind.
Finally, the bird-thing spoke to her. “Is Dadab here?”
Twilight merely nodded, still unsure as to how to process what she was seeing. Not one, but two alien species had inexplicably just appeared on her doorstep, and both in the same day. Still saying nothing, Twilight motioned with her hoof towards the living room. Just as the jackal had sat down on the couch with everyone else, a furious voice boomed from the once again open door, startling the entire room witless.
“Chur! Are you the one who stole my jewels! Get over here, you pilfering little RUFFIAN!” The normally elegant, polished voice was now seething with unbridled rage.