//------------------------------// // Final Preparations // Story: The Encounter // by Winter_Solstice //------------------------------// There are few things that spread faster than rumor and gossip, so Charles’ deed grew in the telling. Ponies were already making plans to see how they could best reward him, and they buzzed excitedly over the few things they knew about the alien. As most ponies didn’t know a whole lot about him, they were quite happy to make things up. One pony, in particular, was the town’s resident cobbler, a unicorn named Quick Step. He had been given the assignment from Princess Twilight a few days earlier to make shoes and socks for the then-scary being, but he hadn’t been in any hurry to complete the task, as he hadn’t wanted to go near him. But now that it was known that creature had "saved a schoolyard full of fillies by fighting alone against a herd of monsters," Quick Step had no further reservations as he gathered his materials and made his way to the hospital. Rarity, that unicorn that ran the boutique in town, had given him the creature’s measurements, but he was done avoiding. At first, he thought he wasn’t going to be able to get in once he arrived there. There were many ponies still hanging about in front of the hospital, and from overhearing their conversations Quick Step understood the majority had the same purpose as himself. But after speaking briefly to the guards and showing the materials he had they waved him in. Making his way to the front desk he asked the nurse about the alien and told her why he was there. To his relief, she smiled and told him to follow her. When she opened to door to one of the exam rooms, he was not surprised to see he wasn’t the only visitor. There was Pinkie, whom he knew, but there was also that apple vendor and a few other ponies and the dragon there. But looming over all was the strange alien. They all had turned and were staring at the new arrival, and Quick Step’s resolve almost faltered. But then he took a few steps into the room and cleared his throat. “I am here to give the alien a gift, if I may.” “Who are you?” asked the apple vendor. “My name is Quick Step. I’m Ponyville’s cobbler, and Princess Twilight asked me to make the alien some shoes.” He looked intensely at him. “Can he understand me?” “He’s not stupid, if that’s what you’re asking.” Quick Step shook his head. “That’s not what I meant at all. I just want to explain why I’m here, but perhaps it’s best if I just show him.” He took off his saddlebags and laid out his materials. The alien’s eyes grew wide and he sat up as Quick Step levitated some woolen socks over to him. They were simple tube socks, and his heart swelled within him as the alien seized them with delight and pulled them on. Quick Step then produced a measuring tape and got the precise measurements of his…feet. The Princess had given him a rough approximation before, so he had their basic shape, but now there was no guesswork involved. Within a few minutes he had created a pair of laced canvas slippers with reinforced soles. The alien put them on, then tightly laced them up. He then stood and took a few tentative steps in them, then smiled and said, “thank you.” At least, that’s what it sounded like. Quick Step smiled back. “You’re quite welcome. Anything for the Hero of Ponyville!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ Socks and shoes! I’d forgotten how much I’d missed them. For the first time since coming here, I truly felt like myself, and no longer a vagabond. It’s odd how something so simple can have such a profound impact. My joy must’ve been infectious as I looked up and saw all the other ponies and Spike grinning up at me. But then I remembered the real reason I was there in the hospital, and it wasn’t to get myself taken care of. I had to see Fluttershy. I turned and said as much to Applejack, and she looked surprised. “You haven’t seen her yet?” “No…I got h-urt, ponies h-elp I, but I not see Flut-ter-sy…yet.” Applejack spoke briefly to the other ponies, then addressed me again. “C’mon. I don’t think you’ll have any problems now.” I turned and followed her, after nodding and thanking the unicorn again for my shoes. We passed some doors until Applejack stopped at one and gently knocked. Receiving a response, she slowly opened the door and stood aside for me. I walked in. A couch had been set up in Fluttershy’s room, and both her parents were curled up on it, fast asleep. Her brother was at the door and looked up at me as I entered, then walked over and nudged them both awake. Someone must have brought Angel into the room, for he was curled up at her side. He also sat up and gave me a somber look. But I took little notice of their reactions as my attention was drawn to my friend, and it was all I could do to stifle the gasp that tried to force its way out of me. She looked worse than I’d imagined. My fists curled up in rage as I took in the sight of her, then impotent tears began to slide down my cheeks. I took a few hesitant steps forward, then knelt beside the bed. Her eyes were sunken and the flesh around them was dark. The tears were flowing freely now as I gazed upon her whole form, from the bandages that covered her, to the way her wings were splinted, to her ragged breathing. I slowly reached out and gently grasped her hoof. “I’m so…so sorry, my friend.” She stirred and opened her eyes. Char…Char-Elles? I leaned forward. “I’m here, Fluttershy!” Wha…What happened to you? I looked down at my bandaged chest, then tried to pull the remains of my tunic closed. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, I’m fine. You just concentrate on getting better.” I glanced at the rabbit who was staring at her. “Look,” I said. “There’s someone else here waiting to see you.” Angel crept forward until he was beside her cheek, then he closed his eyes and snuggled up to her. “Angel. I’m…so glad you’re okay.” She turned her attention back to me. How… did you… find him? But I just shook my head. “Please save your strength. I’ll tell you all about it when you get better, I promise. For now, get some sleep.” I…am…very tired. She closed her eyes and drifted off. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow had taken her fourth sweep of the town when she noticed the sun suddenly dip below the horizon. In a few moments it was full dark. She hovered where she was and watched. This was very odd. The sun hadn’t gone down for hours, and now it was acting as if it was making up for lost time. She waited, but the moon didn’t take its place in the sky as it normally would. Something was very wrong. Rainbow thought quickly. The ones who knew about this situation for sure had to be Celestia or Luna. She knew Twilight was meeting up with them, so that had to be back at those aliens’ ship. She sped off in that direction, taking note of the guards’ patrols as she flew past. The majority of them were pegasi like herself, and a few bat ponies, but they all seemed to be as surprised as she was over the sudden dark. “Hey! Any of you guys seen Celestia or Luna?” she called out. One group of guards stopped and answered, “No, we’ve not seen their Highnesses in some time. We’ve been too busy searching for more of those creatures.” “They may be back at that aliens’ huge ship. I’m going to go check it out,” said Rainbow. “We’ll come with you. We can’t accomplish much in the dark.” So saying, they fell in line with Rainbow, calling out to other guards to follow. In short order, it was a fair number of ponies that eventually landed at the ship site, and they all were astounded at what they saw. All around the ship lay the bodies of the guards. Dash quickly landed and searched for Twilight, Celestia, anypony she knew. Shaking one of the guards she said, “Hey! Wake up! What happened?” She could see him breathing, but other than that there was no sign he was alive nor was aware of her presence. The guards joined her in her efforts, going from each to each and having the same lack of success. “Aw, crap,” she muttered as she continued her search. As there was no moon, the only illumination came from inside the ship, so that was her next stop. She gasped when she saw Twilight, Celestia, Luna and the gryphon out cold in the floor of the ship. Within their cages, the creatures they’d captured earlier also lay motionless. Dash landed next to Twilight and began frantically shaking her. “Come on, Twi, wake up wake up!” Frustrated by her lack of success with her friend, and inexplicably growing more and more nervous, Rainbow went to all the others and tried to wake them. Then she stopped and peered through the open cargo bay door. She could see nothing beyond the glow of the overhead lights, but suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. _______________________________________________________________________________________ The apex predators and their leader had not been idle. They still had the purple one’s scent, but they reasoned they would not be able to take her out alone. The more help they had, the better. So with that plan in mind they began to hunt down and round up as many of the same creatures from the Antashi ship that they could find. Night fell, and with it their hopes rose as they found more and more of their fellow captives. Some were almost as intelligent and cunning as they themselves were, others less so. But they all could serve the purpose of being “cannon fodder” if need be. Besides, the less competition they had once they killed that purple one, the better they could rule this forest, and possibly this world. Already they had spotted groups of beings like that purple one, but the predators were extremely careful and the thick canopy of the Everfree hid them from their view. Now under the cover of full dark, their leader sent out scouts to seek the purple one, with orders to observe and report, but not to engage. That would only happen when they were all at full strength, and there was little chance of their quarry escaping. One of the three apex predators lead a group of creatures back to the alien’s ship, so it was they who observed the aftermath of the crowd control weapon. As they watched, a number of those indigenous beings were carrying their unconscious companions into the hold of the ship. The predator’s sharp night vision caught a glimpse of a multi-colored one within the ship, standing over their purple target. It focused its full attention on the purple one…it seemed to be in the same unconscious state as the majority of creatures here. The predator flexed its claws in anticipation, but finally turned and led its group back to their leader. It would want to know this information. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Several hours earlier That feeling of dread anticipation had never left Zecora, even after she’d helped the Apple family. After seeing the aftermath of the creatures’ attack on the hospital, she knew this ordeal was far from over. So once she was done speaking to their Highnesses and Belinda, she’d excused herself and slipped back outside. After a brief nod to the guards, she ran just past the edge of the forest, then stopped, closed her eyes and listened. The Everfree retained that unnatural stillness, but by casting forth her awareness she could detect the movement of several creatures. They were too far away for her to distinguish anything about them other than their faint life forces, but it was a start. Wrapping her cloak about her, she melted into the trees and began her hunt. There were more alien creatures in this forest, of that she was certain. Now she needed to find them. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Lieutenant Chapel bit her lip in concentration as she monitored her Captain’s lifesigns. She’d tried over and over to speak to him through the communication device in his ear, but she’d failed to rouse him. She was quite mindful of his orders to not interfere, but this was something unexpected. Through the small camera imbedded in his armor, she had watched the entire scenario play out. She and the bridge crew were aware as the Antashi made their plans and carried them out, bringing the unconscious H’iix to the remaining shuttle. All around her were mutterings of indignation. Chapel was in a quandary. There were two options she could pursue, from disabling the shuttle to triggering its internal defense system, but they both presented the same problem: how would the Antashi react against H’iix? She addressed the crew. “Suggestions? How do we rescue the Captain?” Several crew members gave their ideas, but the one that stood out was from Sub-Lieutenant Oaks: find some way to revive the Captain without the Antashi’s knowledge, and get his input. Chapel mulled this suggestion over. The Antashi had placed the Captain on the deck of the shuttle, face up, so she could quietly maneuver the camera to an angle where she could observe the criminals. They were both crowded over the controls with their backs to the Captain as they tried to override the lockouts and launch the shuttle. She knew she had little time, for they’d soon figure out the controls and take the shuttle off-planet; if she could help it, she’d prefer to not have to chase them across space. Then she hit upon an idea. “Sub-Lieutenant Oaks, we’re going with your suggestion. We need to override the Captain’s armor controls, and slowly raise his body temperature. Can we do that?” Oaks’ face turned grim. “We’d have to modify the systems that monitor his lifesigns, and send a feedback pulse to his armor. But we don’t know the effects that device had on him, nor if the condition is permanent. And we don’t know if it will work.” “It’s the only chance we’ve got. Get started immediately.” “Aye, Sir.” ______________________________________________________________________________________ Zecora looked up in alarm as the sun slid quickly below the horizon, and night fell. Nighttime was when the Everfree was at its most dangerous, for it was then the majority of predators began their hunt. But now with a completely new set of creatures roaming these woods, her mission became all the more urgent. The Everfree Forest was vast and unknown. Nopony had ever made thorough maps of the place, so the zebra shaman had only her own experience with the Forest to guide her. She knew every rock, clearing and cave within a mile of her hut, and in addition to that she had her own sensitivity to the various lifeforms that made up its inhabitants. Closing her eyes once again, she could sense several creatures within a few hundred yards, and just as she expected their essences just felt wrong. Quickly and silently she made her way closer to them, making sure to keep their awareness of her nonexistent. She soon came to a valley, and looking down through the trees she could see a large gathering of the accursed beasts. They looked for all the world to be meeting on purpose, which would indicate them being sapient. A cold ball of fear lodged itself in her stomach at the thought. She looked up at the sky. The Princesses had mentioned there were supposed to be guards flying about, doing just what she’s doing, but she could see no sign of them. In fact, now that she recalled, she had not seen any guards for some time now. This could not be good news. She had made up her mind to return to Ponyville and alert the Princesses, when she saw a small group of the creatures, led by an exceptionally large one, break off from the main group and head off. They were coming in her direction, so she faded back into the trees and watched them file past. Something in their demeanor and purpose caused her to follow them at a distance. Whatever they were up to, the Princesses should be told. She followed them discretely until they came to another clearing. There, the mystery of the missing guards was solved. All within the clearing, around a huge alien vessel, lay the bodies of the guards. As she watched, she saw several other guards picking up their comrades and placing them within the ship. From the light streaming out of the large hold underneath she could just make out Rainbow Dash’s distinctive mane. She was visibly upset, as she went from one pony to another in her attempts to wake them. Then Zecora caught a glimpse of something white, and by peering closely she soon realized that pony was Celestia. Whatever had rendered all these ponies unconscious had affected her as well. As she watched, the group of alien creatures growled to one another, in a manner which she was sure was communication, then they all turned back in the direction they’d come, no doubt to alert the others. Zecora thought fast. Celestia and her guards were helpless. She’d already seen these alien creatures were ruthless, and now she knew they were sapient. There could be little doubt as to their purpose in turning back to the others: they meant to attack! There was only one course of action left. She’d have to rally the ponies of Ponyville, for the few guards she’d seen would soon be overwhelmed by the numbers of creatures she’d already encountered. She waited until the creatures were out of sight, then hurried back to town. Again, she prayed she’d not be too late.