Twilight's Guide to Extraterrestrials

by Eventual Perception

Falling Skies

He awoke when the alarmed sent a scream through the cabin and his pod was opened and he was catapulted onto the ground. The steel grating was hard on his skin, cut into him, and he rose to his feet quickly and got his bearings. The red lights of the dash shined brightly, so he put his goggles over his eyes and moved to the front of the cabin. He sat in the leather seat and raised the covering of the large front window, revealing a planet quickly growing larger and larger. That can't be right, he thought, that planet was far too small to be his destination. Something must have altered his course, but he couldn't be sure what it was. He looked at the planet.

"A long time between stops," he said. He tried the controls, finding them to be not much but sluggish. He looked back at the planet, which was half illuminated in the light of its dim star. He resigned himself to landing on that planet. "A long time for something to go wrong."

Unbeknownst to him, in a large ship that had been trailing his vessel for some time, another being was preparing to follow him onto the planet, preparing for a final equipment check.

---

The night had finally arrived, and all of Equestria whispered excitedly about it. The night had finally come when Karellen, Supervisor of Equestria, would appear at the Gala to honor the fresh alliance between the ponies and the Changelings, and the towns were buzzing with predictions of what he looked like. Predictions ran from vaguely pony-like to an amorphous blob to shimmering gaseous forms; some, like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, thought it might simply look a little like Discord - a little bit of this combined with a little bit of that for the perfect taste of chaos. The anticipation grew to a head as the sun began it's afternoon descent towards twilight, and the royal Canterlot castle began to carry in its walls a sense of otherworldiness. The staff had made sure everything was elegant as it should be.

In her room, Princess Celestia stood before the mirror as Luna sat on her bed, watching her sister as she fretted over this part of the dress or that. "Do you think this is too much?" Celestia asked, before continuing. "I think this is too much, it's too showy, so impressive. What is Chrysalis wearing? Have you seen her dress, Luna? Am I going to look like I'm trying to one up her? Oh, no, we don't want her thinking that, do we?"

"Didn't Rarity design both of your gowns?"

"Yes, Luna, but Rarity is a pony, and is naturally going to be biased towards me, don't you think? We don't want this alliance to fall apart before it started."

"No, we suppose not."

"Really, Luna; how do I look?"

"You look fine, Sister. You look very fine."

"Have you seen Chrysalis' dress?"

"Possibly, Sister."

"Am I overdressed? I'm overdressed, aren't I?"

"You look fine, Tia."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we're sure."

Celestia sighed. "Are you sure sure, though?"

"Yes! We are sure!"

Celestia looked herself up in down in the mirror, moving her hands over her body, picking at the outfit. "I sure hope you didn't mess this up, Rarity."

---

The hall was filled with chattering visitors when Twilight entered, Starlight hanging on her arm. They skirted the edge of the crowd, trying to go unnoticed while they could, ponies and Changelings and various other beings mingling together, eating finger foods and sipping fine wines that Celestia had provided as the waiters moved about the crowd. Starlight leaned into Twilight, and said "Are you sure about this? You want to announce us here?" Twilight leaned back in, caressing Twilight's hand with her thumb and she said, "Yes, Starlight, I'm sure. This is a big night for everybody, and it should be a special night for us. I want them to know how happy you make me." To which Starlight simply smiled and blinked away her emotions. Twilight saw Shining Armor and pulled him over.

"Hi, Shining."

"Oh, hey Twiley."

"You know Starlight?"

"I don't believe we met. Hello, Starlight, nice to meet you."

Starlight held out her hand. "Hello."

Twilight hugged her brother. "How's Cadence and the baby?"

"Oh, they're good. Cadence is getting so big she can't see her feet anymore. Can you believe that? She's as big as a balloon." Shining laughed. "Just, uh, don't tell her I said that, alright? But what about you, how are you doing being the spokespony for Karellen?"

"It's pretty good, I guess. A lot of work."

"I can imagine. A lot of perks come with that job."

Starlight looked at Twilight, and noticed a very slight blush, so slight that she almost missed it. Twilight said, "No, not really. Just a lot of conferences, really."

Shining leaned in, so that the crowd couldn't hear him. "Have you seen him, Twiley?" Twilight nodded. "Well? What does he look like?"

"You'll see him in a little bit. What time is it?"

"I don't know. Seven?"

Starlight looked a little depressed, and Twilight noticed her, and leaned in. "Are you alright?"

Starlight looked up, blinked and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just a little overwhelming, you know. I've come a long way from my little village."

A waiter walked up the the trio. "Excuse me, Princess Twilight, but it is time." Twilight thanked him, and he walked away. She looked at Starlight, grabbed her arm tightly, and kissed her briefly. "Time to go," she said. She looked at Shining. "Keep an eye on her, for me, please." Shining nodded and, somewhat sarcastically, held out an elbow for Starlight. "M'lady," he said, tipping an imaginary fedora.

Princess Twilight cut through the crowd and made her way up the stairs where Celestia and Chrysalis waited out of sight, and when she reached the top she cleared her throat. "Excuse me, everypony - I suppose I should say everyone. Excuse me everyone, and welcome to tonight's Gala!" The crowd erupted in applause. "As you know, we are here to celebrate the alliance between the ponies of Equestria and the Changeling nation. Please give a round of applause for Princess Celestia of Equestria and Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling nation." Celestia and Chrysalis walked out and stood beside Twilight after greeting each other customarily. Twilight continued, "from hereon out, Queen Chrysalis will reside here, in Canterlot, in this very castle!" There was more applause. Twilight waited for it to die.

She took a breath. She hoped everypony was ready. "And now, before we get to the festivities and the dinner, which I must say I've been told is quite excellent by any standards, the moment you've all been waiting for." Twilight could feel a light radiating against her back, could see the shadows of herself and Celestia and Chrysalis thrown onto the crowd that as otherwise bathed in a bright bluish-white light. The crowd fell dead silent; ponies, Changelings, none of them made a sound. She could see in her peripheral vision Celestia and Chrysalis turn toward the light. "Fillies and gentlecolts of all races, I give to you Karellen, Supervisor of Equestria."

Twilight could hear footsteps behind her as Karellen descended the stairs, could see his shadow against the crowd, who stood. Twilight herself turned around to see him, but saw that only a silhouette was visible against the light. He extended his wings as he walked forward, and reached the bottom of the stairs at which point the light dimmed and he became visible. His metallic, robotic-looking body stood before all of the guests. In the crowd, Fluttershy pressed herself closer to Rainbow Dash and let out a quiet "oh no." Karellen looked them over with his red eyes, his tail again aimlessly coiling.

"Hello. Do not be afraid. I am Karellen."

---

The planet grew larger, pulled toward it. I'm certainly in its gravity now, he thought. He ran his hands over his shaved head, grabbed onto the the dash of the control panel. The world loomed before him, and it wouldn't be long now, he knew, until flames licked at the hull of his ship. Behind, the larger ship slightly adjusted its trajectory to avoid the planets gravity pull, yet staying close enough so that its cargo could make it to the planet. The entity which would follow the first ship to the planet put its equipment into place, and stepped inside of the pod, and prepared to make contact.

---

The dinner was truly delicious, and everybody enjoyed it; even Karellen seemed to, although he did not eat and merely watched. He answered questions as they came from the attendees, and was generally accepted as non-threatening, even though some pegged his appearance as very peculiar indeed. After dinner, Twilight took Starlight by the hand and led her to one of the many balconies where they could see the stars. Twilight held Starlight close, swaying together to the faint sounds of music which drifted through the open doors of the castle. Starlight put her head against Twilight's chest. "That went better than I thought it was going to," Starlight said."

"Hmmm? Why?"

"I thought they were going to lynch you when you announced us. But they didn't." She smiled.

They continued to sway, a light wind tugging at their dresses. In this moment, Starlight felt very beautiful, very comfortable, very happy. "I love you, Twilight.

"I love you, too, Trixie." Twilight wished she had kept her mouth shut the second it escaped her lips, and for a moment she thought Starlight had not caught her gaffe. But Starlight stopped swaying, and her grip on Twilight loosed a little, and she raised her head to look Twilight in the eye. Twilight could see the pain her blunder had caused immediately.

"What?"

"I said I love you, Starlight."

"No, no, that's not what you said." Starlight took a step back, removing all contact between herself and Twilight. "You said Trixie. You said you love Trixie, not Starlight."

"I'm sorry, Trixie, I --"

"There! You did it again, Twilight!" Starlight raised her voice, and Twilight was thankful they were on a balcony. Way to go, Twilight, she thought to herself; you're certainly a smart one, aren't you? Starlight focused on her, wrapping her arms around herself, her ears flat against her head. "Who is she? Do you still love her? Did you ever love me?"

"Starlight, please try to --"

"What's going on out here?" Rarity appeared at the door. "Why aren't you two inside with the rest of us? What's wrong, Starlight?"

Starlight looked to the ground, then to Rarity and finally to Twilight. "Nothing much, just, you know, having my heart broken."

"What do you mean, darling? Twilight, what does she mean?"

"What I mean, Rarity, is that when I told her I loved her, she told me that she loves Trixie!"

"Oh. Oh, my. I'll..... be back in a minute." She disappeared into the castle, lowering the curtains to the balcony as she did so. Twilight reached out to Starlight, took her arm and pulled her closer. Starlight resisted but largely allowed it.

"I'm sorry, Starlight," Twilight said. "I am, I really am. I do love you, very much. It's just.... I never told anybody about Trixie, ever. Nobody ever knew, and she was my first love, my first real love, and it's just.... I miss her. I can't help it, Starlight."

"So you can't be open with me?" Her eyes, welling with tears, caught the stars and reflected them, beautifully warped. "You can't let me in?"

"I wanted to. I wanted to. Very much, but...... How do I start to tell you? You're so new to this, and I didn't want to overwhelm you. Make you feel unimportant."

---

The entity put its helmet on, and then the pod sealed shut around it, and it crossed its armed across its chest. The time of first contact had arrived.

---

Fluttershy and her friends stood on the balcony with Twilght and Starlight. She felt terribly bad for her friend, to have kept a secret for so long, only to have it blow up and ruin her happiness. She had to do something, she thought. She reached out and put a hand on Starlight's shoulder. "Come on, Starlight, I know Twilight wouldn't hurt anybody. Especially not the ponies she loves. Please, try to understand."

Starlight sniffed. "What's to understand? She loves Trixie, not me."

"Oh, that's not true."

Rainbow Dash hung in the air, flapping her wings lazily. "Yeah, Starlight. Trixie and Twilight had something special. But you two have something special, too, and this shouldn't ruin what you have. I mean, none of us knew about this, and we're here best friends. This was bound to happen when she keeps things locked inside like that."

"Yeah, sure."

Across the balcony, Rarity and Applejack were talking to Twilight.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, darling, I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt her."

"But I did, Rarity. I did hurt her, I know I did. I'm not even sure I deserve her now."

"Ah, come on, sugarcube, ya don't really believe that. Y'all looked happy whenever Ah've seen you together, ya can't let one little mess up ruin that, can ya?"

"Maybe I should, Applejack." Twilight jumped and sat on the railing of the balcony, putting her face in her hands. "Maybe it should be ruined."

"Ya should just let her into yer heart, Twi," Applejack said. "Let her help ya through this, and it'll fix this. Ah'd guarantee that."

"I wholeheartedly agree with Applejack," Rarity said. "Be vulnerable with Starlght, let her fix you. That's how you two got together, it can bring you together again. Come on, Applejack, they should be alone now."

"Alone? Now? Are ya sure, Rares?"

"Oh, trust me, Applejack, I know a thing or two about relationships. Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Please help me and Applejack; I'm sure Pinkie Pie is terrorizing the Changelings and Karellen already."

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other, and then to Starlight, who only looked at Twilight. "Eh, yeah, let's go, Fluttershy."

"But are we sure that --"

"Yeah, Fluttershy, I'm sure. I'm very, very sure. We should pull Pinkie Pie away from whoever she's terrorizing now."

When they were alone, Starlight took a deep breath, and walked over to Twilight. The music covered her hoofsteps. She took Twilight's wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. "Twilight," she said, but Twilight didn't respond, so she lifted Twilight's chin, forcing her to look into her eyes. "Twilight, are you alright?"

"No. I'm not, Starlight, I haven't been for a long time."

"Why not? Was it because of Trixie?"

Twilight averted her eyes. "Trixie.... yeah."

"Twilight, look at me. I love you, alright, and I want to save you like you saved me. Tell me, what happened?"

---

Flames engulfed the ship and the interior grew hot, and sweat dripped down his body as he tried to keep the vessel from tumbling during entry. He braced himself. This could very well end up badly.

---

Twilight was about to answer Starlight, to finally let what had been eating her inside out, when she heard Applebloom yell from the castle grounds.

"Look! Big Mac! Applejack! Look! It's a shooting star!"

Twilight looked up, but Starlight just looked at her. "Twilight, I wish you would open up. Let me be to you what you are to me. Please."

"Starlight..... look." Twilight was transfixed on the sky. There, in the darkness and the stars, a fireball fell from the sky, flames covering something metallic and pointed. "That's..... not a shooting star. I don't know what that is. Is it a ship, like Karellen's?"

"Twilight. Behind it. Look." Behind the fireball, a second one appeared, not going as fast and with a different trajectory. A piece broke off of it and the larger piece headed back up into the sky while the little one continued to fall. They both rocketed through the sky, heading in the direction of "Everfree forest," Twilight said suddenly. "They're going to crash in Everfree forest." The took Starlight's hand to go inside and tell Celestia when she was interrupted: "Twilight!" Starlight said. "Look - over there!"

Twilight look and saw, in the sky, teeter-tottering like a toy top, a disc shaped comet engulfed in flames, heading in the direction of the Crystal Empire, large and silent yet alarming. "Oh, no," Twilight muttered. "Not another one. What's going on? Come on, Starlight, we've got to see Karellen." But when they got inside, Karellen was already speaking, the news of the comets having spread throughout the castle. The Changelings, the ponies and even the castle staff stood silent as Karellen spoke to them.

"My friends, my charges on the planet Equestria, it is my displeasure to announce to you that I must be leaving your presence now." He folded his hands together. "The comets you have just witnessed are but the arrival of many challenges for your planet, and I must not interfere. I must never interfere, and I must take my leave of you, I'm afraid." He looked at Twilight. "Twilight, thank you for speaking on my behalf, but your services are needed no longer. If you make it through, I will speak to you again. I hope my time with you was as beneficial to you as it was to me. My ships will remain in your skies, but will not interfere, will do nothing. We are here, for now, only to observe and record." With that, he spread his winds, and he was gone.

---

The ship made contact with the canopy, branches snapping and cracking as it crashed through into the understory and ultimately slammed into the ground. He was throne around in his pod, which he has secured himself in as he readied himself for impact, and his forehead smacked into the plastic so hard that the plastic cracked and warm blood ran down his face. The ship ran into a particularly thick tree and was thrown around, spinning violently, cutting through trees and tumbling into deeper into the trees. Finally, the ship slammed into the ground, and he was - for a moment - very afraid the pod would not remain bolted to the ship's hull.

Finally, the ship was still, steaming from its entry in the trench it had carved in the dirt and through the trees. Everything was quiet, and above the stars twinkled silently.

He shook himself, felt his head, and tried to open the pod door. When it wouldn't open, he kicked it out, and it clattered to the floor. He stood, stretched, and searched around the cabin, grabbing what things he needed into a small backpack he then slung across his back. He moved to the ship's door. He took a breath, and hit a large red button. The door frame exploded, and the door shot out into the darkness, and was caught in a tangle of broken and ragged branches. He looked outside, and looked up just in time to see a pod fly through the sky, about to touch down on the planet. He growled to himself. He didn't know who that was, but he knew what it was. At least, he had a pretty good idea. You tend to have a bead on things when there's always a price on your head.

Richard B. Riddick stepped off of his ship, and onto Equestria.

---

The pod cut through the tree branches easily, breaking nothing, it's final descent silent. It landed in the soft earth with a thud, and the door opened after a second. A tall humanoid creature stepped out, it's mask featureless, its dreadlocks hanging down its shoulders as it scanned the world around it. It switched from one filter to another, until, finally, it decided on a filter sensitive to ambient heat and thermal signatures. It looked around. A good distance away, a very large head signature lay in the trees, warm steam rising from it. The creature pushed a button, and it became indistinguishable from its surroundings.

It had begun the most dangerous game it has so far played.

---