Princess Celestia led the four newcomers further into the library. Angel and Fluttershy behind her, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle behind them. In the main dining area of the Library (try to visualize THAT one), the rest of the Six sans Rainbow Dash had gathered. Pinkie crept in with the alien who had a stack of sandwiches, and took her place next to Rarity, who looked infuriated.
"I do hate to be rude, Princess, but will you finally explain why you've woken us all up in the middle of the night? All you said was to meet in the Library, and that it was alien related."
"It obviously has something to do with Stitch, or that new alien that Pinkie found," Twilight said. "Don't interrupt."
Apple Bloom stood next to Applejack, staring at the ground to avoid the harsh glare that was being sent in her direction. "Now don'tch y'all think yer gonna get away with sneakin' out like that. We're havin' a talk as soon as we get home," Applejack whispered.
"I know," Apple Bloom said miserably.
Sweetie Belle found herself in a similar situation, and gave her poutiest look to Rarity, who humphed and looked away.
"Well?" Applejack demanded. "Are we gonna get an explanation or not?"
"Certainly," Celestia continued. "It was a few months ago when I first noticed a spike of activity from the portal which links Stitch's world to ours. Luna and I monitor it, of course, in case anything should happen, and I alerted her at once. But we couldn't find any sign that anything had come through it, despite extensive scans, and after a few weeks we reluctantly decided it was a false surge."
"But no activity?"
"No activity."
"A few months... around the time Stitch left last time?"
"Yes," Celestia said. "And neither of us saw anything after that until yesterday, when Luna observed Pinkie summoning... this thing," she said, glancing at the yellow creature.
"It wasn't intentional!" Pinkie insisted. "I was standing watch and I just said I wanted sandwiches!"
"...I see," Twilight said.
"And then this thing came through," Pinkie continued. "And I said boy isn't it a good thing Stitch isn't here, cause then I'd have to share."
"And?" Rarity pressed.
"And then this blue bolt came flying out of the portal, and Stitch waved, and he ran into the forest before I could catch him."
"And you didn't say anything about this?!" Twilight scolded.
"I thought you'd get mad! And I didn't want trouble!"
"As opposed to dealing with three aliens instead of one?!"
"Four," Applejack chimed in.
"That explains why he didn't appear when we tried it..." Sweetie Belle said quietly. "He was already out."
"Alright. That's enough." Twilight said. "Pinkie, you go back to the bakery and take the sandwich maker with you. Do not let him out of your sight, he seems harmless enough. Control the situation until further notice."
"Aw, but I like the pink one!"
"PINKIE!"
"Alright, alright..." Pinkie said, and departed from the library with the yellow alien on her back.
"I suppose it might be worth mentioning that all of these different surges... they had different magical frequencies but the same point of origin," Celestia said.
"Which means what?" Applejack asked.
"Which means... they very likely all came from different points in whatever timeline lies on the other side of that portal."
"Whoa." Twilight's eyes got huge. "That's serious."
"Indeed it is," Celestia said.
"Alright, this is all getting very confusing. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle," Twilight continued, and the two fillies looked up eagerly. "You both go home. And stay there. It's going to get dangerous with all these aliens out here."
"Awww, but we want to help!" Bloom said.
"You've both helped enough already."
Grumbling, the two fillies left as well, decidedly heading straight home at risk of being grounded again.
Applejack sighed. "Ah do hate bein' rough on em, but this whole night is about tah get outta control."
Fluttershy piped up in her usual quiet fashion. "Apple Bloom mentioned seeing a red alien, has anypony else seen one?"
The others shook their heads.
Celestia looked out the window, scanning for any signs of trouble, but saw none. "It's a bit of a stretch, but perhaps that's what Stitch went after. Pinkie said he ran off fairly quickly."
"We won't know until we ask him," Twilight said. "Fluttershy, you take the pink-"
"I think her name's Angel," Fluttershy interrupted.
"Fine. You take Angel and keep an eye on her. She's obviously come from some sort of captivity so we can't tell if she's a criminal or not."
"I'd be happy too," Fluttershy said.
"That leaves Applejack, Rarity and myself. A set of horns, a set of wings, and a set of... well... whatever you can do, Applejack. Move stuff around and such," Twilight said. "The three of us, we need to find Stitch and this red thing and find them fast. You girls know what to do. Move out!"
Now on the hunt, the mares dispersed from the library. Princess Celestia sighed with worry, and returned to the main reading area of the Library. She summoned a communication bubble, in which Luna quickly appeared.
"How much time do we have, sister?"
"Another day or two at most. I can only hope it's enough."
Celestia sighed. "Do you think we should tell them?"
"Not now. They have enough to worry about."
"I hope you're right, Luna. I hope you're right. Because if we're not..." Celestia glanced out the window. "Ponyville may cease to exist."