Six Two Six

by lunabrony

Resistance Is Futile

With Stitch missing in action, Twilight had no choice but to call upon her friends. The six ponies were gathered in the work room of Rarity's Boutique, as the mare in question was under a deadline and had politely declined to leave her work to chase down some hyperactive alien of unknown origin. She had compromised, however, and kindly allowed the other five to use her Boutique as a headquarters.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders ALIEN CATCHERS!" Sweetie Belle announced excitedly, all dressed up in her Daring Do Nightmare Night outfit, complete with a large butterfly net slung across the back of one shoulder. Although the Six had tried to keep their activities quiet, the young ones had a way of finding things out anyway. And having such information kept from them only resulted in them being even more determined to find out what was going on.

"Sweetie Belle, honey, this isn't a game," Rarity said gently. "We have absolutely no information about what or where this thing is, and it could be dangerous. This is a job for big ponies, so run along."

"I AM a big pony!" Sweetie insisted, pouting her lower lip so severely that Rarity had simply taken to calling this attempt at manipulation 'the face'.

Twilight frowned. "And big ponies go to school. Which you aren't in right now because..."

Sweetie Belle brightened. "Firestrike tried to get his cutie mark in safely transporting hazardous waste. He didn't get it, but they had to shut down the school." She brightened up suddenly. "Maybe if we get bitten by radioactive animals we'll get...like... radiation powers or something! I'm gonna go tell Scootaloo!"

Sweetie Belle raced off, followed quickly by a suddenly concerned Rarity.

"You will do no such thing! Come back here!"

Fluttershy looked at the ground. "Should we wait for her to come back? I'd hate for her to miss anything..." She looked at the ground, scuffing at the abnormally clean floors with a hoof.

Twilight shook her head. "We'll have to fill her in if she's gone too long, we have too much to discuss. Does anypony know where Stitch came from?"

Pinkie started bouncing. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Mememe!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Somewhere more specific than from space? You have the actual name of a-"

The bouncing intensified. "Space?! I like space! I wanna go to space! You know what my favorite part of space is? Trick question! IT'S SPACE!" Pinkie settled down for a moment, and lowered her hoof from its raised position. "Oh...Stitch? Haven't seen him."

None of the ponies seemed to know exactly where he'd come from, so Twilight continued. "Does anypony here have a logical reason why we should continue to focus our efforts on sending him back to wherever he came from? Implying that he can't stay here."

Fluttershy squeaked. "Um... well... he has a..."

Rainbow Dash interrupted. "He can climb up walls and he's super strong, that's totally cool!" She grumbled. "Almost cooler than me, even. I say he needs to go, he's making me look bad."

Twilight sighed. "We can't send him away just because he's showing you up, you'll just have to deal with that."

"But-" Rainbow protested.

"No! I'm sorry Rainbow, but it's a fact of life. Nopony is the best at everything all the time. Besides, I thought you LIKED competition?"

"I do, but he's a little TOO good, but even if he can outlift me, he still can't outrun me!"

Fluttershy raised her hoof a bit more. "If you check the collar around his-"

Rarity returned, looking a bit out of breath, but presumably Sweetie Belle's desire to become irradiated had been exterminated. She had heard snippets of the conversation as she returned, and promptly resumed her place behind her sewing machine. "I for one think Stitch is quite adorable, he simply needs to be kept on a leash. Such a charming little creature."

Rainbow Dash eyed the fashionista. "He ripped your fabric and SPAT an acidic hole in your floor," she reminded her.

Rarity twitched. Having been as busy as she was, she had not yet encountered this particular set of damages.

"Well... they're only material things, damages can be replaced."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "He thinks plaid is fashionable."

"He WHAT?! Send the brute away at once! Banish him!"

Applejack cut in. "He destroyed mah barn, ah can't keep buildin' barns, ya know! Barns don't grow on trees! It takes time an' money, time an' money ah don't always have!"

Fluttershy squeaked, her voice rising a bit. "I really think that someone might be look-"

Twilight shook her head. "Well most of those are logical reasons, but there's a collar around his neck. This implies ownership, and although it's hard to believe, someone must be looking for him. We have a responsibility to reunite them!"

Fluttershy's ears pinned. "Oh, never mind... I'll just stay here until you're done..."

"Fluttershy!" Twilight barked.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Fluttershy yelped. "Oh, yes Twilight?"

"You know more about animals than any of us, you're going to have to be the one to convince him he needs to go back home, can you do that?"

"I think so," Fluttershy responded.

"Good. Get Discord to help you, it might take chaos to find chaos. Have him set up various traps, such as easily breakable objects, and leave them stationed around Ponyville. Eventually he's going to want to break something. Dash, you're the fastest, you'll be monitoring these traps."

Rainbow trotted in place, impatiently. "Great, can I go now? I'm happy to help, but I've got lots of cool stuff to do."

"Fine, go, but stay close. We'll need you."

"Yeah, yeah, stay open. Got it." Rainbow bolted out a window, and streaked out of sight.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Pinkie!"

"Yepparooni!"

"Get a party ready, lots of loud bangs and noisemakers, but don't set them off until we tell you. Have Applejack help make some cakes and pies, those sorts of things."

"Oki-doki-loki! But what about you?"

"I need to check on Apple Bloom, she's been working on that ship for several hours now. Rarity, you stay close in case he returns here. If you see him, follow him."

Rarity looked despairingly at Twilight, then back at her work. She hated the thought of procrastination, there was still a lot to do to prepare for an order she had to send to Canterlot in a few days. But Twilight and the others would always come first, and she gave a weak smile.

"You can always count on me, darling."
***

Approximately an hour after the meeting took place, Twilight had gathered up enough resources to ensure that everything was going as planned. The party was in full preparation, Rainbow Dash was scouting the city or doing whatever it was that she did when she wasn't napping. Rarity was on lookout, and Fluttershy had enlisted Discord in creating several sneaky and outlandish traps. Things ranging from a single bucket of paint precariously balanced on top of a ladder, to a seemingly abandoned table full of cakes.

Twilight trotted down the path through the Everfree Forest, and paused when she heard a multitude of voices coming from the direction of the spaceship. Voices that sounded very scared.

"Help me, help me, don't eat me!" That sounded like Apple Bloom!

Twilight teleported forward, flash after flash propelling her forward, making her way to the spaceship as quickly as possible. It took several seconds to arrive in the clearing, where she quickly scanned her surroundings to find out what was going on.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were huddled together under a tree, shaking with fear. Approaching them was what appeared to be a large, monstrous reptile, jaws filled with teeth. Sweetie Belle stood on top of the ship, holding what very much appeared to be a weapon in her hooves, her head and horn wrapped in what appeared to be aluminum foil. "I got this!" Sweetie announced.

"Don't worry girls, I'll save you!" Twilight yelled, and rushed the monster from behind. It was fairly odd looking, but most things that came out of the Everfree Forest were. The unicorn rushed forward, preparing a heavy kick from her hind hooves, a move that Applejack had taught her several times.

Apple Bloom suddenly stopped shaking. "No, Twilight, wait, it's not-"

Twilight slammed her hooves into the monster from behind, which slammed into a tree. The monster lay still for a moment, then rubbed its head. "Anypony get the number of that carriage? I'm filing a complaint..."

The unicorn frowned. She knew that voice. She approached, and flipped over the 'monster', looking down into the face of her loyal assistant. "Spike?!"

"Hi Twilight." Spike said, still a bit groggy.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing?!"

"We're playing Alien Invaders!" Scootaloo said.

"I'm a dragon!" Spike announced.

"And I'm the fearless laundromat come to save them!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"I think you mean astronaut," Apple Bloom corrected.

"Great, egghead, meet dictionary. Dictionary, meet egghead," Scootaloo said.

"Sweetie Belle! Put that down at once," Twilight demanded. "Where did you even get that?!"

"It was in the spaceboat!"

"Well put it BACK in the spaceboat, you could've been seriously hurt!"

"Oh, fine..." Sweetie disappeared into the hatch, returning empty hooved a moment later.

"And Spike, what are you doing out here? I told you to stay at the Library!"

"But you always tell me to stay at the Library, and I've already done all my chores," Spike complained. "You girls are always running around all over Equestria, having adventures, but where's Spike? At the library, always at the library. I want to have fun too, and you hardly ever take me with you."

Twilight felt rather bad about that, and decided to fix that later.

"And Apple Bloom, why aren't you working on the spaceboat? I told you to fix it."

"Oh, ah fixed it about an hour after y'all left. Insulated a few wires, hammered out some dents, reconfigured th' control board, replaced a few fuses. Most of th' replacements were under the seats. Gimme somethin' hard tah do next time," she shrugged.

Twilight blinked, giving a subtle blink to the filly's flank. Still blank.

"And did you perhaps feel as if you were any good at all that?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Aw, heck no, it's just stuff ah know how tah do, ain't no talent in it. B'sides, ah've redoubled mah efforts on gettin' mah cutie mark in scrimshaw, ain't gonna have time for this namby pamby fixin' stuff!"

"Scrimshaw?"

"Y'know. Whale bone carving!"

Twilight sighed. So much for that. "How do you even... never mind. Alright, well it's getting late, the sun will be down soon. You girls go STRAIGHT to Sweet Apple Acres, alright? This forest is-"

"Dangerous, we know." Scootaloo finished.

The three fillies ran off, and Twilight returned her attention to Spike. She was about to say something, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, flying in from overhead.

"Twilight! We spotted Stitch in Ponyville, just like you said!"

Twilight nodded, and grabbed Spike, leaving the silly dragon costume behind. The three of them raced/flew towards Ponyville, determined not to let Stitch get away again. He was hard enough find as it was, maybe now they could finally get some answers out of him.

Author's Note:

Portal 2 reference credit: Ponies - The Anthology

Comments

[Tatsurou]

... ... ...
Just how long is it going to take Apple Bloom to realize that "fixing things" can be a special talent? She figured out how to fix a seriously damaged space craft that's at least 1000 years ahead of Equestrian technology - as well as identifying all parts, damaged or otherwise - in under an hour...and that's NOT a special talent? I don't even...ugh...

[lunabrony]

2891999 EQUESTRIAN LOGIC!

[The Dimension Traveler]

2891999

I am in agreement, also Equestrian Logic CAN NOT be that screwed up. For fixing Stitch's ship, she deserves a rainbow colored apple with a bite taken out of it for her Cutie Mark at the very least!

It wouldn't be going to far to give her the Aperture Science decal! Or maybe a sonic screwdriver! I DON'T KNOW, JUST GIVE THE POOR KID HER WELL DISERVED CUTIE MARK!

[Tatsurou]

2892009>>2893880
Then again, it could very well be that - since she has so convinced herself that fixing things CAN NOT be her special talent, her Cutie Mark in it will never appear so long as she resists the possibility. In essence, a Cutie Mark only appears when:
1) A pony discovers their special talent, and
2) A pony accepts their special talent.
For example, it could very well be that Scootaloo's special talent is being a fashion model. That's a Cutie Mark that will never appear, no matter how good she is at it.

[lunabrony]

2894002 That's pretty much exactly it, she found her super special talent, but hasn't REALIZED it yet, thus no cutie mark

[Tatsurou]

2894770
And all it would take to fix that here would be
Apple Bloom, the reason I asked you here to fix the ship is because I knew it was well beyond my abilities.
Huh? But...you're Twilight Sparkle! You can do anything!
No, Apple Bloom, I can't. I can do lots of things with magic, but just like every other pony in Ponyville, if I'd tried to fix the ship, I'd have probably made it worse.
But...but it was so easy for me.
Like Magic is easy for me.
But...magic is your...special....
*glow from Apple Bloom's flank.*

[lunabrony]

2895588 You understand why I'm hesitant to give Apple Bloom her cutie mark, don't you? That would upset the whole balance of the CMC, disrupt the story, and everyone would start arguing that I ruined Apple Bloom. I'd really rather just keep her adorably and facepalmingly naive.

[Tatsurou]

2895618
True. Apple Bloom getting her Cutie Mark would need to be its own story.

[Silver Flare]

"And Apple Bloom, why aren't you working on the spaceboat? I told you to fix it."

"Oh, ah fixed it about an hour after y'all left. Insulated a few wires, hammered out some dents, reconfigured th' control board, replaced a few fuses. Most of th' replacements were under the seats. Gimme somethin' hard tah do next time," she shrugged.

Hahahahahahahahahaa!!!! Nice! And then the line about scrimshaw! Holy bananas, this stuff is gold!