In the vast reaches of space, on a faraway planet, an alien Grey flew his saucer towards a house nestled on a hill during the night. He landed just outside the house and grabbed a ray gun. Just in case, the Grey thought as he looked at the firearm. He put it in his holster, exited the saucer, walked up to the front door, and knocked on it.
Another Grey answered the door. “Xagnor! How goes it?” a Grey asked with a smile.
“Hey, Grognor. How’s my big brother?” Xagnor asked with a smile.
Grognor stepped aside and motioned for Xagnor to enter. “I’m great,” He said. “I appreciate you coming over. It means a lot.”
“No problem,” Xagnor said. “I appreciate you saying that you wanted to make up.”
Inside, Xagnor sat down on a chair across from his brother at a dining table and smiled. “Yes, about that,” he said. “While I do want to apologize for how I worded what I said the other day,” he placed his drink down onto the table. “I also must say that I still don’t buy into your ability to take a ray gun blast to the face.”
“I’m telling you, it happened!” Grognor insisted. “I got into a fight and took one to the face!” He pointed to a scar above his right eye. “See? This is from that blast!”
Xagnor got up and looked at his brothers scar. Sure enough, there was one, but he noticed something unusual. “Grognor, why are there no burn marks?”
“I don’t know!” Grognor yelled. “The bastard who fired the shot looked horrified, though!”
Xagnor put a hand up to his chin. “Yeah, I’ll buy into you getting into a fight,” he said, “but I’m not buying into your ray gun blast story.”
Grognor slammed a hand onto the dining table. “Look, if you want to really make up with me, just start believing the things I say!”
Xagnor narrowed his gaze. “Grognor, I don’t care what you say. There’s no way you can take a ray gun blast to the face. Not without there being a giant hole where your face once was.”
Grognor smirked. “Oh, I think I see what’s up,” He said. “You’re just jealous that I can do something you can’t.”
Xagnor took another sip of his drink. “No, I’m just a realist.”
Grognor growled and glared at his brother. “Look, if you want to make up with me, start believing what I say!” He yelled.
Xagnor flinched. “Calm down.”
“No, I won’t!” Grognor yelled. “I’m sick and tired of you never believing a single thing I say!”
“That’s because everything you say is never true!”
”That’s it!” Grognor yelled as he got up and stormed over to his brother. He glared down at him and raised a fist, but Xagnor threw one of his own and struck Grognor in the stomach.
“Cheap shot!” Xagnor said. He stood up and threw a right hook.
Grognor swiftly dodged the throw and drew his ray gun. “I knew you wouldn’t be willing to make up with me!” He yelled as he fired off a shot, which narrowly missed his brother. “Damn it!”
Xagnor drew his own ray gun and fired off a shot, which grazed his brother’s right shoulder. Grognor let out a shriek of pain and grabbed the wounded shoulder. He quickly recovered and chased after his brother.
Xagnor ran to the front door and ran outside. As sprinted towards his saucer, a ray gun blast flew passed him and the left side of his saucer. He spun around and saw Grognor running towards him. Panic coursed through him as his brother aimed his ray gun and fired off another shot, but missed both him and the saucer.
Xagnor realized his brother would stop at nothing to kill him, He drew his own ray gun and fired off a shot, this one striking Grognor’s left leg, which caused him to fall to the ground and writhe in agony.
With his brother incapacitated, Xagnor leaped into his saucer and started it up. As he began to take off, he looked outside and saw Grognor slowly get up and aim his ray gun at the saucer. He fired off a few shots, most of which missed. Sucker, Xagnor thought as he flew off.
---
A few hours later, Xagnor piloted his saucer through an asteroid field.
I can’t believe Grognor would actually do something like that, the Grey thought to himself as he piloted his way through the field. Xagnor let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. And over something so stupid.
While Xagnor remained lost in thought, the saucers built-in A.I. spoke up. “Xagnor,” it said. “Are you sure this is the best route to take home? I’ve calculated three other routes, all of which are faster and safer.”
The alien shook his head. “I don’t care, Xindy,” he replied. “I want to take a scenic route home and clear my-” before he could finish his sentence, a small asteroid hit the left side of the saucer, which damaged its engine. An alarm began to wail, much to Xagnor’s annoyance. “Head...” He muttered.
“Warning: Engine damaged detected. Emergency landing is advised,” Xindy warned.
“Just great,” the Grey said with a heavy sigh. “Okay, what is the nearest habitable planet?”
“Equus,” the A.I. said. “Inhabitants: Equines, among others.”
“And the second closest planet?”
“Hades.”
The alien grimaced. “Set a course for Equus. I refuse to deal with those sandworms again!”
“Course set,” Xindy replied. “Estimated time: Five minutes.”
“Excellent,” Xagnor said with a smile. He hit the autopilot button and lay back in his seat. “So, tell me more about ‘Equus’,” he said as the saucer made its way towards the planet.
“It appears to be mostly populated by ponies of three races. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. Other races inhabit it too, including Griffons, Dragons, and Changelings, to name a few,” the A.I. said.
“Well, at least the inhabitants sound friendlier than the sandworms.” Xagnor sat up and adjusted his seat. “Have any Grey’s ever been there?”
“Negative.”
“Oh boy, time to make history,” Xagnor said as Equus came into view. “Looks sort of like home,” the Grey said as he looked at the planet. He turned off auto pilot and entered the planet’s atmosphere. “Think someone will try to kill us?”
“Most likely not. From what I’ve gathered, these inhabitants are mostly peaceful.” Xindy said.
“Whatever you say, boss lady,” Xagnor said with a slight smirk.
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t refer to me as ‘boss lady’.”
“You can still report any stupid mistakes I make to the higher ups back at home,” the Grey retorted. “I think I can safely refer to you as ‘boss lady’.” As he finished his statement, a field of trees came into view. He let out a heavy sigh. Of every place we could descend to, it has to be a forest. Xagnor rubbed his temples. Landing’s going to be a bitch, he thought as he activated the saucers cloaking.
After a few minutes of aimless flying, the Grey finally found an empty field to land in. He deactivated the cloaking as the saucer touched down and asked the A.I., “Is the air breathable here?”
“I haven’t detected anything toxic or harmful,” Xindy replied.
“Alright,” Xagnor said as he got up and exited the saucer. “Let’s see what damage we have here.” He looked up at the left side of the saucer. After a few moments, he went back into the saucer and grabbed a toolkit. I could probably fix this in a matter of hours.
---
Meanwhile, a young earth pony mare named Crystal was on her way home from school. Her bright blue coat matched the equally blue sky, and her cutie mark was that of a thread and needle. As she walked along a path, the Spring breeze blew against her coat. Up ahead in the sky, she saw something flying quickly- quicker than any pegasus could fly- through the air when it suddenly disappeared into thin air. What in Celestia’s name was that?! she thought as the color drained from her face.
After several seconds, Crystal continued on her way home when she stopped in her tracks. I need to know what that was, the student thought. I couldn’t be seeing things, right? She asked herself. Crystal shook her head ‘no’ and galloped in the direction the mysterious object had flown.
After galloping for several minutes, Crystal found herself in a large, empty field. She stopped and tried to catch her breath. I am NEVER galloping for that long ever again, she thought as she fell to the ground, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest.
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind blew against her. She put a foreleg to her forehead and looked up. The student gasped when she saw a large, disc-shaped aircraft appear out of thin air. Crystal stared; slack jawed. Slowly, she stood up and took a few steps back. A part of it opened and what she saw made her nearly faint.
A tall, bipedal creature twice the size of her exited the disc. Its skin was entirely grey and its eyes were enormous. Oddly, they were also entirely black. Its head was huge, and it seemed to be wearing some sort of suit.
Crystal snapped out of her stupor. Is that an alien?! Crystal thought. Oh sweet Celestia, it is! Crystal shook as she stood up. Once the alien reentered the disc, Crystal, recklessly, ran towards it.
---
Xagnor walked out of the saucer and put his toolkit on the ground. Just as he was about to grab a wrench, he heard a voice. “Hey, you!” The alien looked to his right and noticed Crystal standing there, a nervous smile on her face. “What are you?”
The Grey stared blankly for a few seconds, shocked by the sudden question. “Omecay againyay, ittlelay onypay?” he asked, still perplexed.
Crystal cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Come again?” she asked.
Xagnor fiddled with something on his suit, right near his throat. After a minute of toying with it, he spoke again. “How about now?”
“You can speak Equestrian?” Crystal asked, taken aback by her sudden ability to understand the alien.
“No, I can’t,” the Grey said. “I’m using a Universal Translator Module. It allows me to speak whatever language it detects.” He walked over Crystal and gestured to a small device on his suit. “See?”
“Oh,” She said. “Well, now that we can talk, mind telling me what you are?”
“I’m a Grey,” he replied. “Now that I’ve told you what I am.” Xagnor kneeled down to stare Crystal in the eyes. “Mind telling me why you are here?”
“I saw your fancy disc disappear and wanted to know what it was.”
“It’s my ship. It suffered engine damage and needed to be repaired.” Xagnor got up and walked back to his toolkit. He picked up a wrench climbed onto his sauce and got to work on it.
“Can I help?” Crystal asked as she looked at the saucer.
Xagnor stopped and put a hand up to his chin. “You know what, you can. Tell me if anyone comes walking this way,” he said. “The last thing I need is someone trying to bring me to their leader because they think I’m here to invade them.”
Crystal jumped back. “You aren’t here to do that, right?”
Xagnor chuckled. “No, I’m not. Even if I were, I doubt I could do it on my own.”
“Okay.” Crystal chirped. “So, what’s your name?’ She asked a she looked out across the empty field.
“Xagnor,” he said as he tightened a few bolts.
“My name’s Crystal,” the student replied. “So, if you’re an alien, where are your fancy ray guns and gadgets?”
“In my holster.” Xagnor got down from the saucer and grabbed the toolkit. “Though it’s not as cool as you’d think.” He picked the kit up and hopped back onto the saucer to resume work.
“What makes you say that?” The student asked as she turned around to face the alien.
“They take a long time to recharge,” Xagnor said. “Though if you’re like my brother, and aren’t skilled with them, they’re also wildly inaccurate.”
“You have a brother?”
“Yeah,” the alien said as he put the wrench away and grabbed a hammer.
Silence filled the air for a minute. “So... are you two close?” Crystal asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
“Not after today,” Xagnor said. “I went over to his house, hoping to make up after a fight we got into.”
“Did you end up disagreeing more?”
“That’s putting it too lightly,” the Grey said. “He ended up trying to kill me.” Xagnor put the hammer down and looked down at the pony, whose eyes were wide. “My brother has always had terrible anger management issues,” the Grey explained. “As time went on, he also grew incredibly arrogant, and started to always believe he was right. He also began to get a lot more aggressive.”
“Aggressive how?” Crystal asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“A few months ago, he sent someone to the hospital after they got into a fight over a girl,” Xagnor said with a scowl. “What’s amazing is they both had girlfriends at the time.
“Did your brother get into trouble?”
“Nope. The other Grey threw the first punch. Of course, my brother antagonized him to the point that he did, which angered me greatly.”
“So, I’m guessing that this all somehow lead to your brother to want to kill you?” Crystal asked, still wide eyed.
“That and I refused to believe anything he said, as it never proved to be true.”
“Did you ever stop to think that something he might’ve said was true?” The student asked.
“Well...” Xagnor paused and thought for a moment. “The things he said were always so preposterous and ridiculous. There’s no way they could happen!”
“A lot of ponies would believe that alien life can’t be real, but I’m talking to one right now.” Crystal said.
Xagnor let out a heavy sigh and covered his face with his hands. “Even then, it’s too late to apologize. My brother won’t forgive me for shooting him.” He looked back at Crystal, whose mouth hung open. “What?”
“You shot him?!” Crystal shrieked as she took a few steps back.
“He shot at me first!” Xagnor yelled in an attempt to defend himself.
“Yeah, but still.” Crystal looked down at the ground. “Never mind.”
Xagnor didn’t attempt to retort. An awkward silence filled the air for several minutes until Xagnor spoke up again. “Does Equus have any fuel cells?”
“What’s a ‘fuel cell’?” Crystal asked.
“Where I come from, they’re used to power saucers and other vehicles.”
“I don’t think we do. We have trains though!” Crystal proudly said.
“Are they powered by fuel cells?”
“I don’t think so,” Crystal said sheepishly.
“Damn it,” Xagnor said, his voice filled with disappointment. “Wait out here, I’m going to send a distress signal. Maybe someone will come by and help.”
Crystal nodded as Xagnor leaped down off of saucer and entered it. He walked to the cockpit and turned the saucers A.I. on. “Send a distress signal to all nearby saucers,” the alien said. “Alert them that I need a fuel cell and will be willing to negotiate a price for one.”
“Distress signal sent,” Xindy said.
“Great,” Xagnor said as he left the cockpit.
---
Meanwhile, Grognor flew aimlessly through space. A bandage covered his left leg. “I still can’t believe what that bastard did to me!” He growled. “His own brother!” The rage-filled Grey clenched his fist, but resisted the urge to slam it.
As he entered the asteroid field that his brother had flown through hours earlier, his saucers A.I. spoke up. “Alert,” it said. “Distress signal received from one ‘Xagnor’.”
A wicked smile grew on the Grey’s face. “Where is he?” Grognor asked.
“Equus. Would you like to set a course?”
“Yes.” Grognor hit the autopilot button and engaged the saucer’s cloaking as the saucer flew to the sight of the distress signal.
---
Xagnor exited out of the saucer. “Alright, distress signal sent,” he said. “Hopefully, it won’t take too long for someone to arrive.” He climbed back onto the saucer and looked over what little damage was left on it. “I think I can finish this before anyone answers it.”
“That’s great!” Crystal beamed. “Want me to stick around?”
“It’s up to you,” Xagnor replied. “If you want to, I don’t care. Just don’t touch anything, please,” he said.
Crystal nodded happily. “Mind if I ask a question though?”
The Grey turned his attention to the young mare. “Depends on the type of question.”
“Is your brother only angry at you for you not believing the things he says?”
Xagnor shook his head ‘no’. “He also hates the fact that I’ve been so successful in life.”
“Why isn’t he happy for you?” Crystal asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Jealousy.”
Crystal frowned. She let out a heavy sigh and looked back out at the empty field. “I don’t understand it,” she said. “Nothing like that has ever happened here in Equestria. Everypony is so happy. Friendship conquers all.” She turned back around and looked up at Xagnor, who had turned his full attention to her. “So why doesn’t it fix your problem?”
The Grey shrugged. “Perhaps it’s just how your way of life is,” Xagnor said. “Our way of life doesn’t believe that friendship conquers all. It does, however, believe that friendship is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted,” he said with a small smile.
Crystal smiled back. “Maybe if your brother wasn’t so blinded by jealousy and rage, he could realize that.”
Xagnor nodded. “I’d be a very happy Grey if that were to hap-” Before he could finish his sentence, a powerful gust of wind blew against both of them. They both turned their attention to see another saucer appear out of thin air. “Oh crap,” Xagnor muttered. “Grognor must’ve gotten my distress signal.” He leaped down from the saucer and stood next to a frightened Crystal.
Grognor exited the saucer, fury filling his eyes. “There you are,” he growled as he stormed up to Xagnor and knocked Crystal aside. “Now to finish what we started earlier.”
“I’m sure we can talk this over,” Xagnor nervously said. “There’s no reason we have to resort to violence!”
Grognor stopped in his tracks and looked at his brother, dumbfounded. “You say this after you shot me?!”
“And you tried to shoot me!” Xagnor snapped back.
The two brothers stared daggers at each other. Both seethed with rage. “Look, we can talk this over like adults,” Xagnor said.
Grognor glared at him “How do I know you won’t try and kill me?” He asked.
Xagnor took his ray gun out from its holster and dropped it next to him. “There, happy?”
Grognor looked down at the ray gun. “Fine,” He said. “How do you want to go about this discussion?”
“I want you to apologize.” Xagnor said.
“What?” Grognor asked with a growl.
“You apologize for attacking me,” Xagnor said, “and I will apologize for shooting you.”
“You first,” Grognor said.
“No, you first,” Xagnor said with a smirk.
Grognor noticed the smirk and clenched his teeth. “Bite me, Xagnor,” he growled.
“I knew you wouldn’t accept my proposal.” Xagnor shook his head in disappointment.
Grognor’s right eye twitched at his brother’s remark. “Enough!” The alien roared as he stormed up to his brother, who flinched from the fury in his brother’s voice. “No more playing games!” He grabbed Xagnor by the neck and hurled him against his saucer. He stormed over and started mercilessly punching him.
Crystal stood up and shook her head. “Stop!” She yelled to the rage-filled alien. “Please, you don’t have to hurt him!”
Grognor turned his attention to the pleading pony. He walked over, but Crystal swiftly bucked his bandaged leg. “Ah, damn it!” the Grey hissed in pain.
Crystal went to buck him a second time, but Grognor managed to grab one of her hind legs, and yanked her towards him. “I don’t think so, little pony,” Grognor growled as he tightened his grip until he felt Crystal’s neck snap from the pressure. He dropped her lifeless corpse and kicked it aside. The alien turned his attention to his little brother, who was doubled over in pain.
Xagnor slowly turned over and tried to grab his ray gun from his holster. As he drew it and went to aim it, Grognor ripped the gun from his hands. “No cheating this time,” he said as he threw the gun aside. He lifted Xagnor up against and threw him against his saucer. He walked over and looked down at his brother, who could now barely breathe.
“It... hurts...” Xagnor said, weakly.
Grognor said as he kneeled down next to his brother. “I don’t believe you.” He grabbed his brother’s head and, with every ounce of strength and rage inside of him, slammed it against his saucer, which caused his skull to crack open.
Grognor stood up and looked down at his brother’s corpse. A devilish smile formed on his face as he began to laugh hysterically.