Turner ran down the streets of Ponyville back to his shop. He needed to find out what that creature was, and his only hope of doing that was back at the TARDIS. He was running at full speed until a voice stopped him.
“Hey, Turner!” Turner skidded to a halt and found Lyra on the side of the road, playing her lyre. “What’s the big hurry?”
“You wouldn’t… believe me… if I told you,” Turner replied between heavy breaths.
“Said the alien pony,” Lyra mumbled with a smirk, loud enough so Turner could hear.
“Fair point,” he conceded. “I was just at the library. Twilight and I were talking about Applejack when this… thing… I don’t know what else to call it… swooped in and kidnapped her.”
“Kidnapped?” Lyra levitated her instrument onto her back and magically sealed it there, as she was prone to do when she wasn’t playing. “Do you think this is what happened to Applejack?”
“And, if Twilight is correct, Rainbow Dash as well,” Turner added.
Lyra gasped. “Three kidnappings in one day? What do we do?”
“Well, since you’re here, get the others and bring them to the TARDIS. I’ve got samples to collect.” Lyra didn’t bother asking about the latter statement and ran off. Turner also made his way back to the shop.
Turner returned to the library, his saddlebag packed with the materials he needed. He walked through the open front door and set the bag down. Spike was still there, waiting for him; he still had a hold of his nose.
“Did you open all the windows like I told you to?” Turner asked.
“Not that it helped, but yeah,” Spike returned.
“And you didn’t touch the fluid?”
“I’m still tempted to try to clean it right now. But no, everything’s still there.”
“Good.” He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a giant cotton swab. “Our best chance of finding Twilight is to identify the creature that took her.” He swept and twirled the swab along the floor over the wet spots. “An analysis of this compound should provide a valuable clue.”
“And I suppose you know somepony who can look at that and come up with the right answer?” Spike asked skeptically.
“I have a… friend who has the resources,” Turner replied.
“Okay. Just make sure she comes back safe, okay?” Spike’s voice started breaking up.
“You have my word.” Turner lifted the swab from the floor. “This should be a suitable sample size.” He took a plastic bag out of his saddlebag and sealed the swab inside it. “Feel free to clean that up now. I’ve got a creature to find.” He barely waited for a response before running back out the door.
“My pleasure,” Spike whispered. He lightly released his nose, but then he gripped it even tighter. “Sort of.”
Turner practically rammed the shop’s door open and almost did the same thing to the basement door, stopping himself when he remembered he’d have company. He slowed down, but his sense of urgency still had a hold of his faculties as he only shoved the door open. As he expected, the rest of his friends were already here, almost huddled around the TARDIS.
“There he is,” Bon Bon announced. The others looked up.
“Okay, Timey,” Vinyl said, “Ly told us what happened. What’s the plan?”
“Everyone, into the TARDIS,” Turner said. All six ponies went through the doors and stepped aside to let Turner reach the console. “Keep those doors open,” he said as he started pushing seemingly random buttons.
“What are you doing?” Derpy asked.
“I’m activating the air filters.” Turner ignored their confused looks as he slipped off his saddlebag and pulled out the swab, still sealed in the plastic bag. “When Twilight was kidnapped, that creature sprayed this liquid at me. I had to get a sample so we can have a shot at figuring out what attacked us.”
“So why the air filters?” Vinyl asked.
“I just want to make sure we aren’t immediately exposed to any toxic fumes that may come off this stuff. The open doors are a further precaution. Right now, we should be able to breathe safely. However, I should warn you: the smell is still incredibly potent.”
“How potent, exactly?” Octavia asked worriedly. Turner opened the bag.
Everyone suddenly pushed their forelegs to their noses and groaned in disgust. “Jeez!” Vinyl interjected. “That stuff reeks!”
“It smells like a skunk sprayed directly in my face after swimming through a landfill!” Octavia complained.
“I think you’re being too kind, Octavia,” Lyra nearly choked.
“How do you stand it, Turner?” Derpy asked. Out of all the ponies, he was the only one not holding his nose.
“I can’t,” he replied, “but I can build up a pretty strong tolerance to it.” However, he turned his head away. “Can’t say it’s any more pleasant, though.”
“Just hurry up and do what you gotta do,” Bon Bon said, almost demanding it.
Turner removed the swab from the bag and rubbed it on a panel on the console. He resealed the swab (though nopony was willing to clear their faces anytime soon) and began typing into the computer. The panel with the liquid started glowing. “Just need to run a chemical trace and compare it to all known species.” The computer screen started flashing through various images.
Finally, it stopped. Turner looked at it expecting promising results. “Only one match; that should narrow it down a bit.” He paused to read the information. “The Xaxion?”
“What’s that?” Derpy asked.
“The wrong answer,” Turner answered, much to everyone’s confusion. “The Xaxion are a race of creatures that resemble scorpions. And while I will concede that the creature I saw had a scorpion-like tail, the overall body was equine in appearance.”
“What other features did it have?” Octavia asked.
“Oh, where to begin,” Turner said, exasperated. “Bat wings, buffalo horns, spurs on the hind legs, sharp teeth…”
“Sounds like somepony tried to put a jigsaw puzzle together,” Bon Bon remarked.
“And failed spectacularly,” Lyra added.
“Wait a minute,” Turner said suddenly. “A mix of details from different creatures, one of which is an alien scorpion?” He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper and mumbled to himself. Finally, he nearly shouted, “Of course! Krillitanes!”
“Krilli-what?” Vinyl asked.
“Krillitanes,” Turner repeated, “a composite race whose biology is constantly changing. That’s why the TARDIS has no information on them through the liquid; it only recognizes the primary species! Something that keeps changing and evolving to the point of inconsistency could never have a truly reliable file!”
“But how does it have access to that… stuff?” Octavia asked, pointing toward the liquid.
“Give me a second.” Turner started typing again. New text started replacing the old on the screen. “Aha! Just as I thought! Krillitanes add to their biology by conquering other planets and taking the best bits of that planet’s inhabitants. And according to this, the Xaxion homeworld was attacked; they barely pushed the Krillitanes back by the skin of their mandibles.”
Derpy gasped. “Does that mean they want to conquer our planet?”
“It’s a strong possibility, I must admit,” Turner mused. “But whatever their intentions, they’ve kidnapped three ponies so far and…” He stopped. “Hang on.” He turned back to the computer and started typing again. The screen shifted to a new set of data accompanied by what looked like a map.
“Oh, this goes farther than just Ponyville,” Turner said solemnly. “The kidnappings we know about are just the latest in a string of disappearances throughout the region that have been going on for days now.” No one said anything for a while. “Well, that settles it,” Turner soon continued. “Whatever they’re doing, we put a stop to it today!”
The others shared a determined look, like they were already in agreement before Turner even said anything. “Then what’s our first step?” Octavia asked.
“We need to find out where the Krillitanes are hiding,” Turner replied. “Since the kidnappings have been limited to just the surrounding areas around Ponyville, we can assume their base of operations is close by. And luckily, we have the perfect tracking source.” He pointed to the panel with the foul-smelling liquid. “All I need to do is run a trace for Xaxion fluid. And unless there are actual Xaxion in the area, where that stuff is, the Krillitanes should be there as well.”
Turner began typing into the computer again and the screen shifted; it remained on the map, but the data shown was replaced by something else, like small patches of red scattered throughout the area. “These spots mark where the fluid has been emitted,” Turner explained. However, his face turned disappointed. “But it doesn’t look like there’s a large enough cluster to make any solid guesses.”
“What about up there?” Bon Bon pointed out, walking up to the map. “This spot looks like it’s in Whitetail Woods.”
“What does that prove?” Vinyl asked skeptically.
“These… Krillitanes…” Bon Bon struggled to get the word out correctly, “they’re kidnapping ponies, right? So why would they be in a forest where there isn’t any real pony population?” No one had an answer for this.
“Bon Bon, I think you’ve figured it out,” Turner said. “Even if they were just passing through, they’d need a good reason to even think about shooting. We’ve got to get to that forest. Erm, just so we’re clear, is this one of those forests that you ponies seem to be so scared of?” He recalled their last adventure, which took them into the heart of the Everfree Forest. He had been surprised to learn that the main reason ponies feared that particular forest was because they couldn’t control the nature and weather in that area. Even though he was now sufficiently informed of the dangers that lay within, he still had doubts that it was really as scary as everypony else was led to believe.
“No, this one’s perfectly normal,” Derpy answered.
“I could argue that by my standards, the Everfree is perfectly normal,” Turner mumbled. “But we don’t want to be here arguing pointlessly, so allons-y!”