Chapter VII
Chapter VII
Space. Cold, lifeless, still. Nothing but stardust and radiation for as far as the eye can see. It is an awe inspiring sight, one designed to make the average observer feel insignificant, as if they were just a speck amongst the vast cosmos.
One observer watched with almost indecent indifference, however, caring only about the subtle electromagnetic waves that flowed through the empty space that surrounded it. Most of the electromagnetic waves were filtered out as just static, emissions from nearby stars, nothing more.
Others it recorded, only to send them back home as a subspace databurst, traveling the vast expanse of space to reach the observer's point of origin in a matter of weeks.
As it observed the stars around it, it received a repeating subspace transmission from a strange nearby system. The observer watched impassively as it decoded the transmission, then sent it back home, marked as a priority message.
If the observer was sentient, it would have been a little more concerned about the content of the message. After all, it wasn't every day that it received a distress signal from a Krin science vessel.
This hardly mattered to the small probe, though, so it merely readjusted its main receiving dish and continued its impassive watch of eternity.
* * *
Princess Celestia yawned as she poured herself a cup of tea. Despite having slept the sleep of the dead, she still felt exhausted. However, if she were being honest with herself, she still felt better than she had in months. Maybe Luna was right, maybe I am overreacting about this whole alien thing... she thought as she sipped at her tea. After all, it had been six months since the crash and there had been no other alien sightings. No UFOs, no missing ponies, and no alien monsters ravaging the countryside.
As she raised a pastry to her lips while lost in thought, she heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” Celestia said, taking a bite of the sugary treat.
Celestia looked up to see her sister enter the room. “Good mor-” she started to say, but the greeting died in her throat when she saw the look on her sister's face.
She looked like her best friend had died.
“Luna, what's wrong?” Celestia asked, worry written on her face.
“I have had a...difficult night,” Luna said as she collapsed on a cushion next to her sister.
Celestia scooted closer to her sister and gently enfolded Luna with one of her alabaster wings. “Do you want to talk about it?” Celestia asked uncertainly.
Princess Luna didn't answer immediately. Instead she snuggled a little closer to her big sister, then levitated a pastry towards her. “Do you remember last night? When I sent you to bed before reading Twilight Sparkle's letter?” she asked uncertainly.
Celestia nodded, unsure of where this was headed. “Yes, you told me you were going to send a note telling her why I hadn't responded.”
Luna fiddled with the pastry for a few seconds before continuing. “Well, I sent the note, but she responded almost immediately, telling me to go ahead and open your mail myself,” she said, then took a bite of the pastry.
Celestia's eyes widened in surprise at this. “Whatever it was, it must have been extremely important for Twilight to let you read my mail like that,” she said, her mouth turned down in a frown.
“It was. Sister, yesterday one of our subjects encountered a terrifying creature hunting wild boar in White Tail. She was so disturbed by the creature's appearance that she fled at the sight of it, only to injure herself to the point where she could not escape,” Luna said carefully.
Celestia gasped at this. “What did it do to the poor mare?” she asked, her imagination running wild with thoughts of butchery and death.
When she asked this, though, Luna merely smiled at her sister, almost mischievously. “By all accounts, the creature picked her up as you would a foal, then carried her back to town.”
The silence that filled the room after this statement was so profound that Celestia could have sworn that she could hear a pin drop.
“...What?” Celestia asked intelligently.
“I had the same reaction when I had read your student's letter, but that isn't what gave me pause. What really worried me most was the description that she gave for the creature,” Luna said before taking another bite of her pastry.
There was a pregnant silence while Luna finished her treat, Celestia almost exploding with impatience as she watched her sister. The waiting finally became too much for Celestia, and she gently nudged Luna. “Well? What did she say it looked like?”
Luna again didn't answer immediately. Instead, she picked up another pastry and fiddled with it nervously for a few seconds. “Sister, it was one of the gorilla-like aliens from the crashed ship,” she said finally.
Luna had to admit that the look on her sister's face was priceless.
* * *
Carrot Top whistled in a distinctly nonchalant way as she wandered to the edge of her farm. Every so often she would bend down to inspect one of her rows of carrots, or a patch of cabbages, and to the untrained observer that was exactly what she was doing.
However, a trained observer would note that her eyes would occasionally dart around the perimeter of the farm, or occasionally glance over towards the farm house. They would also note that it was odd that she was inspecting her crops while carrying a loaded pair of saddle bags on her back, or that she seemed to inch ever closer towards the edge of her land.
After she had taken one last look around the farm, she turned and leaped over the fence that surrounded her land, quickly making her way towards the road as soon as she was on the other side.
Carrot Top would be the first to admit that she wasn't the bravest of mares, but after what had happened yesterday, she had found that she couldn't sleep through the night. She kept wondering why the creature had not simply ended her, why it had taken the time to carry her back to town despite the danger that the town presented. Not even timberwolves ventured that close to a pony settlement, and Ursa only came close if provoked.
When she had told Script about her inability to sleep, he had told her to let the princesses handle it, that it would all be better in the morning.
Well, morning had come, and all Twilight Sparkle had said about it was 'it was being taken care of, the creature is benign, but the ponies of Ponyville should avoid it anyway, so as not to provoke it.'
Carrot Top had noticed that Twilight seemed a little annoyed when she had told Carrot this, almost as if she were disappointed about how little information she had been given. Carrot was pretty sure that she felt far more annoyed, however. She had seen the creature up close, seen its soulless black eyes, seen the blood drip from its claws and the drool drip from its chin. It could have killed her in an instant right then and there, but as she played back the memory of what had happened, she was sure that the thing had deflated when it had seen her, almost as if it were scared of her.
That was why she was having trouble sleeping. She wasn't having nightmares about the terror she had seen, but rather she couldn't put to bed the questions that endlessly plagued her.
She was so lost in her own thoughts that she completely missed the other pony lying by the side of the road. She didn't miss the throat-clearing sound he made, though.
“I thought I would find you out here, love,” she heard Written say.
Carrot Top spun around to see Written Script lounging against a tree next to the road, his hooves behind his head and a blade of grass between his teeth. He had a very nonchalant attitude, though his eyes were filled with worry.
“Don't try to stop me, Written, I have to do this,” Carrot Top said as she turned back towards the road.
“Who's trying to stop you? I know you well enough to know that when you get into one of these moods, not even Discord would be able to turn you from your course,” he said as he sprung up from where he was lying. “I'm just here to make sure that you don't get into any trouble.”
She smiled thankfully at him as he walked up to her. “Thanks for understanding.”
“No problem, though to be honest, I couldn't really sleep last night either. Kept thinking about what happened, and how certain things really didn't add up,” Written said as he gave his wife a peck on the cheek.
“Like what?”
“Like why it howled to alert the town that it was there. It could have just left you there, but instead it purposefully let everypony in town know it was there, and even went so far as to let some of us see it,” Written said thoughtfully. “That doesn't sound like a wild animal to me.”
“What do you think it is then?” Carrot asked as they resumed their journey towards White Tail Woods.
“Just a hunch, but I think it might be sapient. I've never heard of any race that looks even remotely like it, though,” Written Script said, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Well, if it is, I think it deserves a bit of a thank-you for the kindness it showed me yesterday,” Carrot Top said, smiling as she opened the top of her left saddlebag to reveal a box of cupcakes.
Written Script looked a little dubious at that. “I'm pretty sure it's a carnivore, so I doubt that it would be able to even stomach those.”
Carrot Top looked a little crestfallen at that, but cheered up when her husband threw a foreleg over her withers. “However, if I'm right, and it is sapient, then I'm pretty sure that it will appreciate the gesture all the same,” he said cheerfully.
Carrot Top smiled at this, and leaned into his embrace, glad that he was there to support her.
“Besides, if it doesn't eat them, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't mind if I took a few,” Written said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
Carrot gave him a rough shove and an eye roll at that.
* * *
I smelled baked goods.
Not just any baked goods either. These were cupcakes, probably baked this morning, and topped with frosting made from scratch.
By all that is holy, I have missed baked goods. I thought as my saliva glands kicked into overdrive. I missed them so much that sometimes, during my weaker moments, I would go to town under the cover of darkness and stand outside that weird gingerbread house, just to smell the wonderful scent that emanated from that building.
I had stopped going recently, though, because I had noticed that the inhabitants of the building had started leaving a plate of baked goods out on the front porch at night. Most people would have thought that as just odd, but my paranoia had led me to believe that some sort of trap had been laid for me.
On retrospect, especially after taking a bath with real soap, they were probably just being nice. They probably had noticed a shape that had lurked outside their store, and had thought that I was some sort of homeless pony that needed food.
Still don't think they would have left the cupcakes if they had known what I was, though.
I was confused though. Usually I could never get that smell this far away from town, but my nose was telling me otherwise. This could only mean that there were ponies in my woods, and that they were carrying cupcakes, probably for some kind of picnic.
How likely was it that ponies were having a picnic in a monster infested forest, though?
Now don't get me wrong, my opinion of the ponies had been significantly raised since last night, let's get that out of the way right now. However, I still couldn't trust that the soldiers from last night had told the townfolk that I was friendly, nor would the townfolk necessarily trust the government when they told them that the evil looking monster that haunted the woods was perfectly safe.
True, I was again applying human logic to ponies, but that was what had kept me safe so far.
It was also what had kept me so freaking lonely these past six months.
So, against my better judgment, despite the whole thing reeking of a trap, I started to follow my nose through the woods. I tried to be as stealthy as possible though, my paranoia still very strong despite recent events.
After all, If I'm going to err, I'd rather err on the side of caution rather then cause a misunderstanding that could get somebody killed.
That somebody being me, most likely, I thought as I made my way through the woods.
* * *
“So, how did you expect to find it exactly?” Written Script asked nervously as the pair trudged through White Tail. Normally the forest was a bright and cheerful place, but now each tree seemed to be a little more sinister, each shadow seemed to hide a claw, and each sound seemed like a nameless terror inching ever closer.
Of course, we've already seen that the creature isn't like that, he reasoned with himself as his eyes scanned the forest. However, Written couldn't help but feel a small worm of doubt enter his heart at the wisdom of what they were doing. Sure, dragons were sapient, but they were just as likely to eat you as they were to talk with you...
Well, Spike's the exception to that rule, but still... he thought.
“Well, I figured we'd start with where I met it last. We can look around a bit and see if we can find any leads, but if not, we should probably leave,” Carrot Top said, her voice quivering slightly. This seemed like a much better idea earlier, she thought ominously as the shadows in front of her seemed to shift and move.
Despite their growing apprehension, though, they reached the clearing without any incident, although Written Script couldn't help but feel like something was out of place. Carrot immediately started searching for clues, but Script opted out, deciding that keeping a lookout was a far more intelligent idea.
As he swept the perimeter with his eyes, though, he couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness he was getting. The sun was out, the trees gently rustled in the breeze, everything pointed towards today being a completely normal day.
Something is wrong though, he thought grimly.
“Well, here's where the pig was,” Carrot said in disgust as she spotted the blood trail. “But I think something else got to it while our friend was escorting me home, if these bear tracks are anything to go by.”
“Well, there are other animals in these woods, so it shouldn't come... to...” Written Script started to say, but trailed off when he realized what was setting him on edge. “Uh... Carrot, honey?” he said, his voice quivering with fear.
Carrot Top paused at that, looking back towards her husband in alarm. “Yes? Did you see it?”
“No, but it is very, very, close by.”
Carrot cocked an eyebrow at that. “What makes you say that?”
“Listen, and tell me what you can hear,” Written Script said as he slowly edged closer towards his wife.
Carrot Top frowned, but swiveled her ears around anyway. “I don't hear anything.”
“Exactly. For the past half hour there hasn't been a single tweet of a bird, or a rustle of a bunny in the grass. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say there wasn't a single animal anywhere near us,” he said as he reached his wife.
Carrot Top's eyes widened in understanding, her body language suddenly becoming far more nervous than it was before. “Do you think it's stalking us?” she asked, stuttering a little as she spoke.
“I don't think so. It would have been-” Written Script started to say, but his voice died in his throat when a shadow detached itself from the branches of a nearby tree and landed on the forest floor with a dull thud.
The two of them started to shake in earnest as it rose to its full height, then slowly started to creep forward.
It's a demon, Written thought in fear as the creature came closer. Its soulless black eyes, razor sharp fangs, spindly build and spines all spoke of a creature made from the sickest and most depraved of nightmares. However, as it got closer, Written Script couldn't help but feel his fear waning. Maybe it was because its fore claws seemed to be sheathed. Maybe it was the way its head kept darting from side to side.
Maybe it was the quivering, fearful way it took each step, almost as if it were forcing itself to move closer despite its better judgment.
Carrot was right. It's downright terrified of us, he thought to himself as his own body relaxed.
The creature kept moving forward until it was only ten feet away. It stared at them for what seemed like an eternity before finally plopping itself down on the grass in front of them.
Well, now what? Written Script thought to himself.
* * *
I had been watching these two for a long time, and frankly I couldn't figure them out. They seemed nervous, as I would have been had I been wandering these woods, knowing that a monster was on the loose.
I had instantly recognized the orange one from earlier, but the other one was somewhat new to me. I had seen him from time to time in town, but I hadn't really payed any attention to him before. He was a unicorn who stood a little taller than the mare, probably around four feet three inches if you counted the horn. His coat and horn were both a dull shade of gray, which complemented his purple mane and tail quite nicely. On his flank I noted that he had a tattoo of a unfurled scroll with writing upon it, while his eyes were a deep green color.
What those marks meant still eluded me, but I figured it was probably some sort of clannish, coming of age thing, seeing as how the extremely young ones did not have tattoos. Despite my lack of understanding over the marks, though, it still made giving nicknames to the ponies extremely easy.
However, there were far more pressing matters at hand than the question of what those marks meant. Questions like 'why on earth are they even here?' The orange one in particular was a complete mystery, seeing as how during our last encounter I had very nearly made her wet herself in fear.
The two stopped in the clearing that we had met in yesterday and started to look around. Carrot was busy searching the ground in the clearing, while Scroll seemed to be keeping a lookout of the forest around them.
They looked scared, especially the gray one.
Well no duh. I would be shaking in my boots if I were them, I thought to myself.
As I watched them talk, however, Scroll suddenly became ten times as nervous as before. I briefly wondered why, until I noticed that he seemed to be whispering now. Carrot got up from where she was to look around, only to ask a question in confusion.
That's when I saw her ears turn, as if listening for something.
Well crap, their hearing must be better than I thought, I thought to myself.
I turned, readying myself to make a hasty break back towards my cave, when I suddenly stopped myself. I turned back, looking at them while deep in thought. I didn't know why, but something deep inside me wanted to go up to them, to at least try to communicate with them, find out why they were here, no matter how futile the gesture might be.
No, that would only scare them further. They might come back with a mob, despite what their rulers might say, the more paranoid part of my brain whispered. I had to agree with it, but somehow I found myself dropping from my perch in my tree, landing on all fours with a dull thud.
Their reaction was instantaneous. They both stopped what they were doing and started shaking with fear in earnest, their eyes wide and their ears flat against their skulls. They didn't flee though, I noted in amazement.
With each step forward that I took, I couldn't help but shout at myself, informing myself that this was a truly stupid idea. However, I soldiered on, regardless of my skyrocketing fear, though I did have the brains to keep looking around for any potential ambushes these two might have set up for me.
That's far enough, I thought as I stopped ten feet away from them. They seemed a lot less fearful of me now, so that was a plus. Either that, or I had just walked into their trap as planned.
We stared at each other for what seemed like hours, until I finally let my guard down and plopped myself down on the grass in front of them, looking at them in what I hoped was an expectant way.
Well, now what? I thought to myself.
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Update
Now it's time to eat bakery food!
Oh that's just Pinkie trying to be nice.
Now it's time to eat bakery food!
Oh that's just Pinkie trying to be nice.
Oh, I want more it's getting exciting!
Lack of space
th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2013/243/1/6/pinkie_pie_hugs__by_geffenleffen123-d6js3od.png
5049230 Thanks for the catch! already fixed.
Oh, and yes YES! HUGS FROM PINKIE! DO WANT!
5049230
Damn...
5049243
Are you a proofreader of this story\author?
*Hugs* poor abducted human, so alone, so scared. The human need for social interaction is a powerful thing, and does sometimes trump the self preservation instinct. But those conflicting emotions are very hard to balance when everything you've ever know has been changed or taken away.
5049253
No, I was saying damn to the pinkie hug.
Hugs are awesome! He should get one, like, right now. This very instant. HUG!
Also yay update! I think you have described their feelings perfectly, the "the fecal matter will hit the oscillatory device" expectation from them radiating from this chapter.
Also the beginning of this chapter.... not ominous at all! Gonna be fun.
Hopefully (though probably not likely) in the good way
Alright, you got me hooked. You avoided all the stupid clichés of Xenophobic ponies, brainless guards and carnivore hate (seriously, where did people get that idea? Fluttershy happily murdered fish to feed her otters), and your protagonist is likable. You can have my thumbs-up and my fav. I only hope the tragedy tag isn't an indication for the ending, as stories with bad endings make me sad. I want happy endings!
Also, hopefully, no alien invasions or anything. The strength of the story so far lies in the interaction of the protagonist with his surroundings and the ponies, so I hope you'll stick to that.
Good story!
5049298
And worms. She also viciously slaughtered worms to feed them to birds.
Yeah, it's always the quiet ones.
5049304
And how appropriate that your profile pic reflect on that
5049314
photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-0/s240x240/10407398_463901003746768_2371056817333944774_n.jpg
5049298
I'm really hoping it's mislabelled. From the FAQ:
That ominous foreshadowing...
I'd expect he needs a lot o' hugs right now. And cake. Lots of cake.
And BLOODY VENGEANCE ON THE ALIEN *BLEEEEEEEEP* WHO WRONGED HIM. 
Buuuuut mostly Pinkie Pie.
5049298 5049365 it's mislabeled. It's a tragedy more in what happened before the story even started. I wanted to use the sad tag, but for some reason the sad tag and the comedy tag are incompatible. Go figure.
5049298 To be fair about the fish thing with carnivore hate stories, I have met people who thought that vegetarians could eat fish because "fish dont think."
It's still dumb, but its legitimately possible dumb. 
He needs a hug eh? Well I think we all know the pony just for that.
You magnficent basterd iíiii RRRRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAADDDDDDD YOUR FANNNNNNNNNNFIC and its gloarious as always. Proceads to throw a taco at your face
Monster is as monster does, and he doesn't seem to do monster very well. I'd hug him.
i still have no idea what this thing is. it sounds like a cross between the 'Pale Man' in Pans Labyrinth and some kind of werewolf.
retractible claws, eyes black as space itself, no fur, and a flattish face? I don't get it. if i can, i want some art of this creature somewhere. I bet it'll look cool
Excellent story, btw.
5049378 That's because, for whatever reason, they consider "comedy" to be a goal and not a genre. The way they see it, your ultimate goal is either to make the audience feel sad or make them feel happy, and that they will be feeling one way or the other, but not both. This is also why "Slice of Life" and "Adventure" are mutually exclusive (although, how does one tag a fic about Derring Do?)
5049583 I imagine he looks a lot like this: img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110209040717/creepypasta/images/0/04/The_Rake.jpg
I'm impressed. I don't think I've ever been confronted with any kind of media where the alien craft had a black box.
I hope the ponies can de-transform our MC now
An HiE that avoids all the cliches and actually makes the ponies live by all that love, tolerance, and friendship stuff?
What strange sorcery is this?
Tracking~
5049673 Nah, the rake is closer.
JESUS WANTS A HUG!
God in heaven... I just caught up and I'm both amused by the antics of the ponies and infuriated at the callousness of these insectoids! Ultimately, I'm loving the story so far. I'll keep an eye on it.
5049941 Deathclaw was the first thing to come to mind for me personally.
I'm loving this story more and more. I love the way ponies are scared of him, but willing to give him a chance once they realize he's intelligent. One piece of advice, sentient just means you can think for yourself. Even a goldfish is sentient. Sapient is capable of higher and creative thought. It's a very common mistake.
5049298 I agree. Sure, ponies might be nervous around carnivores due to herbivore instincts, but there are griffins and diamond dogs living in Equestria. Dragons likely eat meat as well, meaning Spike might, too. I've always written ponies as being accepting. One of my stories even has a scene with Rarity frying up some bacon for an omnivore (not a self-promotion. I'm making a point)
5050197 Dash flies through a gorge populated by pony-eating Quarry Eels... for fun.
Fluttershy... is pony Doctor Dolittle.
I think many ponies are comfortable living near carnivores.
5049727 But then those evil bug aliens are gonna show up...
... and they join forces with the evil changelings, cuz they're evil bugs too!
And that's when the piles of dead ponies happen.
But don't worry! Monster Human Guy will save the day!
Maybe...?
I really do love this story. :)
5050425
I'm pretty sure that the evil bugs will be just as much threat, if not even more so, to the evil changelings as they are to everything else. Evil bug plus evil bug ponies does not automatically equal "Hey! We are vaguely like you! Let's be allies!" Rivals, perhaps, or "grotesque abominations that must be destr... hey, these things are rather tasty..."
Train of thought. Derailed. Again.
5050197
Not to detract from this story, but I am going to go read your stories just so I can see rarity cook bacon...
5050425 If it's being written well, the monster-human will contribute, but it will be as much the ponies that save the day as him; they wouldn't be able to do it without him, but he wouldn't be able to do it without them. It's how you get over most mary-sue writing, you don't let the over-powered main character save the day alone, nor do you let him be more or less important to the plot than the other characters.
Of course, there's always the other side of the spectrum, you could Raiders of the Lost Ark the story... the main character is actually completely incidental to the events that happen, even without Indiana Jones, the Nazis in the movie would have found the Ark, taken it to the ritual site and opened it, only to die from hubris. The only thing Jones was there for was ensuring that everything got cleaned up afterwards, like locking the Ark in the giant warehouse.
But as long as nobody notices, then it's all good fun
5049941
I do not know why but I imagine him as something similar to Kyo from anime Fruits Basket in his demon/cursed form
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131007172821/fruitsbasket/images/f/f5/Kyo-X-Tohru-fruits-basket-kyo-and-tohru-33687905-500-300.gif
cosplayers.acparadise.com/44546/44546-19902-1.jpg
kyo-s0ma.bloxode.com/images/124342693846.jpeg
Sorry I could not find a better picture
And by the way if you want to keep the image of the guards as professionals then it seems unnatural to leave our friend with no hidden here and there observers
say a couple of pegasuses in clouds
5049378
I think that "Slice of Life" is what you're looking for
if he needs a hug i would be glad to give him one!!!!!
why does this remind me of Toothless and Hiccup?
5049239
Probably don't want hugs from that particular Pinkie Pie...
5050850
At the very least, the info Luna got from the "monster´s" dream will put the diarchy on guard if/when the insectoids decide to pay Equestria a visit.
5050849 Sorry, you can't see Rarity cook bacon... Only read about it
5051429 I've seen it before, no thank you. Still want hugs from pinkie though.
Hooray!! Update!!!! I love this and The Nautilus Protocol so much! *squees into the next house, where I sit awkwardly for a second then run back home*
MOAR !!!
euhm,if you dont mind
5051429 PERFECT!
5049644 yes, like that, but large black pupils and (somehow) retractable claws. what mammalian animal has claws, let alone one foot long (i think. it was noted in first or second chapter) retractable claws?