{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}
Twilight had her forehead to the books, once again. She leaned over in her wooden stool, peering over an age-old text while searching for answers. The desk she sat at was surrounded by stacks of difference books, scrolls and pieces of parchment. She absent-mindedly used the top of her quill to stimulate the bottom of her chin. Her magic flipped the page over and she mulled over the new content, scratching down notes on paper right beside the text.
The Ponyville library was cozy and lit for the night, although the sign on the door clearly said 'closed'. Bookshelves on the walls were filled with all kinds of tombs, texts and works from various authors during different moments in pony history. The flames that burned in Twilight's magically enchanted fireplace (enhanced to not burn down the entire wooden, paper-filled building) covered the several chairs and sofas that sat in front of it with a soothing warmth. Fluttershy say in a green recliner with a blanket over her head and a cup of hot chocolate steaming in her hooves. Three puffy marshmallows idly floated in the substance while Fluttershy rocked the chair back and forth in front of the coffee table set in the centre of the semi-circle of chairs around the fireplace. The fire had orange light reflect all around the room and was the only source of light, save for the pairs of tiny candles lit on the walls.
Rain continued to pour from outside, the storm that the meteor had brought in full in effect. Thunder and lightning occasionally crashed down with a large boom bang, flashing the library with a blaze of startling white and reverberating their powers, making Fluttershy squeak and shake to the bone. Twilight paid no mind to the disturbances and kept scribbling notes only she and Spike could read, for her hoofwriting was horrendous. When Twilight first sent her a letter, Princess Luna could only wonder how her sister possibly read such a mess of wavy lines and scratches in the first place.
"Oof, here's the books that you were asking for, Twilight." Spike said, waddling into the room with three tall hardcovers wrapped around his purple, scaly arms. He plopped them down right next to his bigger, more equine sister with a huff and tried to peer over to examine her notes.
She paid little attention to his presence and mutter a small "Thenk you." under her breath.
"Why do you need all these encyclopedias on the animal kingdoms anyways? You brought in an alien, not an animal! It's like issue number 27 of the Starline Saga, where Captain Moondust recovers an unknown alien species on the planet Zebes-"
"Spike," Twilight interrupted, pulling her attention away from her work and turning to glare her number one assistant. "This isn't some kind of comic book! This is real life! He could, in fact, be a lost species of Equestria and we just found him out after a number of years! Maybe it existed from the times before Equestria was establish and we've forgotten about them by now! Maybe it has been living under the ground, like the Diamond Dogs do and he hasn't seen the light of day for years and years! We don't know anything about it, so there's no sense in making assumptions too early. And even if, by chance, he was an alien, these books would still be helpful to try and locate some kinds of behaviour patterns between the races of Equestria and the creature in the guest room!"
Spike folded his harms and gave a doubtful look. "Do you really think that something that fell from the sky came from underground?"
"Anything could have sent it flying, Spike. It may have gotten itself in a situation where it got into a lot of trouble and the only way out was by launching magic. Maybe another spellcaster sent it here in a hurry for some mysterious reason! There are a million reasons why it could be here!" Twilight stressed, throwing her hooves in the air.
"Umm…" Fluttershy began from under her green blanket. "I agree with Spike, Twilight. I would have recognized it if it was an animal from this planet. I mean, I've seen and read about a lot of animals before…"
Twilight looked back at her bashful friend. She was probably right. Since Fluttershy is the local expert on animals, if she couldn't identify it at a moment's glance that maybe it wasn't in animal. Maybe it was an alien from outer space. Maybe it was sent here to observe and colonize Equiss, but something drastic happened to it along the way.
"Still," Twilight said, pulling a book from the pile the Spike delivered. "I need to be absolutely one-hundred percent sure that we did not bring in an animal into the library in order to start calling it an alien. There are references and leads that need to be checked, double checked and triple checked."
Spike held back a groan. He wasn't one to complain about Twilight's numerous checklists, but she was getting a bit overboard lately, even for him. "Well, if you need anything else, give a holler."
Twilight smiled at Spike. "Thank you, Spike."
The baby dragon began to walk away when at thought occurred to him. He stopped in mid-stride and remembered a question that he wanted to ask Twilight ever since she got back with Applejack and the Sweet Apple Acres cart.
"So… When do I get to see the alien?" Spike inquired, zipping back to Twilight whilst speaking over his shoulder.
"Spike!" Twilight cried, dropping her quill into the ink pot on the desk. "Should you even be up at this time of night? I think it's past your bed time, young man!"
Spike grimaced. "Aww, come on Twilight! I really want to see it live and in action! As soon as it wakes up, I want to be there to see it all! I want to be the one to say 'I met an alien in Ponyville and was there when it first woke up!'"
"Spike. Bed. Now." The librarian demanded, pointing to the side room where both their beds lay.
Spike sauntered off to where Twilight was gesturing to, muttering something inaudible about how Twilight never let him take part in anything fun.
"I'll be there to tuck you in once I'm done with these next few pages." Twilight said as Spike reached the door.
"If I'm still awake by then…" Spike grumbled as he opened and slammed the door behind him.
Twilight frowned. Maybe she had been a little to hard on him. Maybe she should have given him more credit for all the hard work he has been doing lately, and that giving him one tiny look wouldn't hurt much. He deserved to have at least one little desire fulfilled in that dragon mind of his, didn't he? She shut him down so easily, and he had been so sour about his denial that, ooh, it broke her heart seeing him upset like that.
Twilight shook her head and tried to collect her thoughts back into place. She had to remind herself that there was a reason why she said no. It was too dangerous. Sure, keeping an alien in your guest bed isn't the greatest idea in the world, but it certainly wasn't hers. If she got her way, then she would be containing the creature in a magic circle down in her basement! That would be the perfect place to trap any kind of malicious intent the creature may have and prevent it from doing any harm to her, her friends, Spike or Ponyville! But no, Fluttershy wasn't having any of it. She said that it was Twilight's duty as host to give him a proper bed in her guest room. She didn't however, stop Twilight from putting in a strong shield spell around the alien to make sure he didn't go anywhere without her knowing. If it escaped, she could only imagine what kind of chaos and destruction it could cause in it's wake! If it fell from the sky and landed untouched by a magical barrier so strong it rival one of her brother's, then playing the caution card was a small price to pay for peace in their little town.
Twilight was about to go back to her work when a flash of lightning shot out from the dark, cloud-ridden night above, quickly followed by a loud bang of thunder. It cracked and practically shook the tree they were in by the roots! She flinched and brought her ears back, but gave her attention to the high-pitched squeak that came from her recliner that sat in front of the fireplace. Fluttershy had placed her cup on the coffee table and was trebling under the blanket as she folded it over herself. There was another intense instance of light and flowery Pegasus squealed again, trying to press herself into the material of the chair and make herself as small as possible.
"The storm is getting really intense out there." Fluttershy noted, wrapping the blanket tighter around her.
"I know." Twilight acknowledged, tapping the bottom of her chin while looking up thoughtfully to one of the library windows. Masses upon masses of raindrops continuously assaulted the building and anypony outside who hadn't gotten themselves to a dry place already.
"I mean, it's getting really, really intense!" Fluttershy repeated.
Twilight turned to address her speaker. "What are you getting at, Fluttershy?"
"Well, we're safe and cosy inside the library while Rainbow Dash is still outside, fighting the storm…"
Twilight frowned. "I'm sure Rainbow Dash will be fine, Fluttershy. It's her job to control the weather and keep natural storms from causing too much damage. She's a paid professional. A large storm like this once in a while probably won't hurt her. If anything, she would enjoy a challenge like this."
Fluttershy was anxiously switching her gaze between the various windows around the room. "But Ponyville hasn't experienced anything this bad before. Not ever."
"Fluttershy," Twilight began as she got up and approached her friend, putting her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Look at me."
Fluttershy hesitated, then brought her eyes from the window to Twilight.
"She'll be alright, ok? Rainbow Dash will be just fine."
The nervous flier bit her lip. She twisted her hips and swung the recliner away from Twilight's touch. Twilight backed up, startled by the sudden action. "I just can't shake this feeling, Twilight. There's something telling me that this storm is a doozy, and I know it."
Fluttershy got off the chair, shedding her blanket and leaving it on the seat. She hastily landed on the floor as the recliner rocked back and forth in place. "M-My stomach's doing flips, a-a-and there's a tingling feeling in the tip of my ears. Oh Twilight, I have never felt this bad about anything before."
Fluttershy turned around to face Twilight, and Twilight's eyes widened when she saw her friends deep blue pools threatening to let loose the dams to a shower of tears down her yellow cheeks.
"Never."
Twilight had to digest the thought for a bit. She bit the inside of her cheek, considering every single word said by her friend over and over again. Fluttershy wasn't one to predict anything; that was Pinkie's forte. But since Pegasi have an inert connection with nature and weather, maybe Fluttershy's instincts were telling her something that Twilight couldn't pick up. Maybe they were trying to give her a message, and only now Fluttershy was recognizing it. She wasn't even outside and she could tell that there was something horribly, fiendishly wrong with the black clouds that trapped the night sky in all its glory. Fluttershy only understood that there was evil in the clouds, and she may be right, but until Twilight got some data on the situation, she had no idea what to think.
Suddenly, there was a pinch of pain in the front of Twilight's skull. She winced, and held her hoof over the area. There it was again. It felt like something was tapping the side of her sensitive organ with the blunt side of a hammer. The pressure wouldn't break her or cause permanent damage, but was a warning. Twilight knew that pain was the body's warning of damage to the system, and she may not have been casting any spells at the moment to cause her the pain in her horn, she had cast a spell in the past. Right over the alien.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed, rushing over in a fit of wings and feathers. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Twilight answered, glancing up to her friend who hovered over her in her low and vulnerable stance. She rubbed the base of her forehead, trying to get some more blood flowing into her horn. "I just got a message from my shield spell. The creature has woken up."
Ignoring the annoying tingle in her head, Twilight ran over to the staircase on the far side of the room and rapidly climbed the steps.
Fluttershy met her at the top, already looking at the door to the guest room. Twilight reached the peak and flinched again as the alien shot a fairly powerful blow against her shield. She could feel the energy in the other room waver as it took more and more damage. The alien was strong, that's for sure, and that's what Twilight was afraid of in the first place. She was thankful that she attached the spell to a strand of magic that came from her horn, but wished that her brother was here to cast the shield spell instead of her. He would have done a much better job.
"Fluttershy, stay out here," Twilight order, putting her hoof on the doorknob. "I don't want it hurting you with anything that could possibly penetrate my shield, and I want to knock it out before it does any real damage or escapes."
Fluttershy put her forelock over Twilight's ankle and softly pressed on it, sliding Twilight's grasp off of the doorknob. "No, Twilight. It's angry and upset, and if you go in there and knock it out, it might be even more upset at us once it wakes up again."
Twilight silently stared at Fluttershy, coming to the conclusion that her quiet friend was right. The two waited, and from beyond the door they could hear inaudible words come from the creature as it smashed into Twilight's barrier. Twilight could not pick up anything it said and doubted that she would even understand it's language anytime soon, but she swore she could hear it say the same three words over and over again.
"Let me go in first," Fluttershy urged. "I can try and talk to it and calm it down. If it's still angry then you can go and put it to sleep."
"But what if it hurts you?" Twilight asked.
"I know how strong your shield spells are, Twilight," Fluttershy answered. "You don't give yourself enough credit. I'm sure it will keep me safe long enough for me to talk to it."
Twilight kicked herself in her head. Fluttershy was so forgiving, but in situations like these...
"I'm coming in there with you. If the alien gets out or does anything drastic then I can protect you and put it to sleep again."
"No. If we both go in at the same time, we might make him even more nervous and stressed. He will feel threatened that there is two of us and only one of him. We need to do this one at a time. I need to go in alone." Fluttershy reasoned, landing carefully on the floor with a clop.
Twilight bit her lip. "Well, at least let me put a shield on you. That way, if something does go wrong you won't get hurt."
That was something Fluttershy couldn't disagree with. "Ok." she answered, backing up to give Twilight enough room to cast the spell.
Twilight nodded at took two steps back. She closed her eyes and started forming the energies needed to cast a sufficient barrier for her friend. A pink light formed on the tip of Twilight's horn and she felt the energy surge up her spine and through her head. After a few seconds, Twilight cast the spell and Fluttershy saw the air around her shimmer. Her coat started to stand on end as there was a tingling sensation that ran over her body. She shivered, not used to having enchantments cast over her very often.
Twilight opened her eyes and examined her work. There wasn't a visual difference to Fluttershy, but if somepony looked close enough they would be able to see a tiny membrane of bent light that kept itself as a circle half a foot way from Fluttershy's centre. It surrounded her entire body and even sunk into the floor. It wasn't perfect, and wouldn't be able to block anything too extreme, but Twilight made sure to cast a shield spell as she would cast one on Spike or herself. Twilight watched as Fluttershy looked around herself, fluttering her wings and sensing the disturbance of air around her.
"It'll only last for about thirty minutes. After that I'm coming in to see if you calmed him down. I'll be down here, continuing my research." Twilight directed, pointing to the desk with dozens and dozens of books piled on and around it.
Fluttershy nodded. "Ok. I'll try not to be too long. Well, unless he has something he wants to talk about for a really long time, but I'll make sure that we go through this as quickly as possible."
Twilight forced on a smile on her face, despite her feelings about sending Fluttershy in alone, by herself. "Fluttershy, I—"
"Don't worry about me, Twilight," Fluttershy reassured. "I'll be fine. I mean, you can worry, if it makes you feel better…"
That got a giggle out of Twilight. "Ok. I'll try not to worry too much. Just keep yourself safe, ok?"
"Ok, Twilight." Fluttershy said, smiling.
The two shared another moment together before Fluttershy approached the door. Twilight backed up a tad and stared as Fluttershy put the utmost care into grabbing the doorknob and turning steadily and carefully to the left, making sure to make the smallest amount of noise possible. After, Fluttershy pushed it forward with the tiniest amount of strength, and the door inched open bit by bit. The creature wasn't saying at this point, but Twilight could make out it's heavy breathing in the next room. It was tired, angry and willing to do anything to get out of it's prison.
"Umm, hello. Do you mind if I come in?" Twilight heard Fluttershy say as she leaned in and peeked around the corner of the door. The organism exclaimed a few profanities that Twilight could not make out. Fluttershy jumped and flicked her tail up, her wings unfolding upward as she hastily shuffled backwards. She turned around and lowered her head to meet Twilight with an embarrassed smile.
"Umm, I highly suggest we talk to him later. He's kinda riled up at moment and I think he wants to be left alone." Fluttershy explained a little too quickly.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed.
"You're right, you're right." Fluttershy acknowledged, and she opened the door again to quietly make her way in. Her glossy tail almost got caught when it was shut.
Twilight sighed. "Fluttershy, I hope you know what you're getting in to…"