Descent of Emerald

by malletmann

Splashdown

One hundred thousand miles above an unusual, blue-green planet around which orbited a single moon and, in violation of most of the universe's laws of physics, apparently a mainstream star, there was a brief unexplained flash of light. A few moments later, there was another in the same place. This repeated in a cycle, with the rate of the flashes increasing until they created a constant strobe. Space seemed to collapse in on itself as a swirling vortex of color opened, forming a blossom of light that hung briefly there in space before vanishing. Few of the inhabitants had spotted it, for it was small and not all that bright.

A triangular shaped object of metal spun end over end, flung from the vortex. The lights patterned over its surface flickered erratically as it struggled in vain to right its course. Flames began to appear on its surface as it tumbled down towards the planet below. From the surface, the inhabitants watched, perplexed, as it carved a brilliant arc over their night sky.

One of these inhabitants was far from home. Rarity had been laboring well into the night when she discovered, much to her chagrin, that she was just a handful of gems short to complete her commissioned work. As much as she wanted to simply call it a night and restock her gems in the morning, with the looming deadline she simply had no time to sleep. Perhaps unwisely, she was now out in the fields she retrieved most of her jewels, hoping to unearth the few she was looking for quickly and then get home and out of the night air.

Her efforts paused as the blazing streak lit up the night. "Strange," she said to herself. "I did not believe the princess had any shooting stars scheduled for tonight..." Her curiosity grew into amazement, then fear as the fireball got larger and larger. She realized it was heading in her direction.

With a shriek, she threw herself to the ground, covering her head with her forehooves. The burning blaze soared over her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off of it. There was a tremendous crash as it slammed into the ground nearly a mile behind her, gouging a crevice into the earth and throwing up a cloud of dust. The white unicorn huffed as she examined herself and realized she was now covered in a layer of grime.

Sighing, she stood back up and gave herself a token dusting off. She would, of course, have to wash more thoroughly before she went to bed. Looking back, she noticed something shiny protruding from the wall of the new ditch that the falling star had made. Coming closer, she realized that it was in fact a gemstone. The ground was still too hot to walk on, but fortunately her magic made retrieving it relatively easy. Upon closer examination, she realized it was not the one she was looking for. "No need to fuss," she said as she put the gem in her saddlebag regardless, "I am sure there are many more further along. And maybe I can see if any of the star is left!"

That thought spurred Rarity's imagination into action. She had heard Twilight discussing the nature of stars before, but most of what had been said had gone over her head. Regardless, the chance to gaze upon an object that fell from the heavens was not one the fashionista was willing to pass up. She had long admired the pure shine and glamor that stars sparkled with.

"I hope it is as radiant as it was when it hung in the sky," she said to herself. "To think what I could create with such a beautiful accessory. Why, it would be fit for a princess! Oh dear, I do hope I am able to craft an ensemble worthy of being graced by its presence! Oh, there's really nothing to worry about, Rarity, you truly are skilled and talented enough to do a star justice, all you have to do is put... your... mind... to... it."

What Rarity found at the end of the ditch was not at all what she had been expecting. The object that had fallen from the sky was roughly triangular in shape, and mainly composed of a grey-green metal. It had been bent by the crash, and several pieces of it were sheered off and lay scattered about. Small flames danced in pits on the object's surface, along with random multicolored sparks. Steam and smoke rolled off the entire site, giving it a mysterious and intimidating atmosphere.

For a while, Rarity simply stood there, trying to process exactly what she was seeing. After about a minute, her knowledge of popular culture finally revealed the answer to her. "A... UFO? An alien spaceship? But... how can... I mean," she cleared her throat. "Well, this is certainly unexpected. I'd best be heading straight home, and leave this for more qualified ponies." She could think of at least one of her friends who would undoubtedly be crawling all over this wreck in the morning. Twilight would most likely want to be notified immediately, but Rarity doubted that she would like to be interrupted this late at night for something she would probably dismiss as a hoax.

"She would probably think I'm brain-addled from working too hard," the unicorn muttered to herself as she gathered the gems and began heading home. Tomorrow would be an eventful day for all of Ponyville, and she would need her rest.

What Rarity didn't see, as she trotted back home, was the hatch on the crashed spaceship pop open. If she heard the hiss of the seal breaking, she dismissed it as another random puff of vapor coming from the wreck. A translucent green pseudopod emerged from the hatch, gliding over the surface of the vessel, and adhering to a patch of metal that wasn't overheated.

A formless green mass emerged, pulling itself out of the wreck. The gelatinous creature pulled itself into a ball and rolled off the triangular craft, settling on the ground next to it. A set of stalks, each tipped with a round, bead-like bulb that might've been an eye, extended from its body in every direction, roughly resembling a crown.

The creature extended a pseudopod to pick up a piece of metal nearby, then stopped. One of the eye stalks had spotted the white unicorn moving away from the crash site. Several others focused on the indigenous life form. The alien withdrew all but two of its eye stalks, and drew itself out so it resembled a large slug in form. Crawling out of the ditch, it moved into the nearby foliage.

The native stopped, turning its head back and examining the surrounding area as though it suspected it was being watched. The alien flattened itself against the local flora, until it was mere centimeters in thickness. The native shortly returned its attention forward and resumed its course.

The alien oozed over the landscape, flowing from shadow to shadow and disturbing the environment as little as possible. When the wind blew, it swayed with the foliage. When it was still, the creature was still. It ran into increased difficulty, however, when the native entered a local settlement.

The sparseness of plant life combined with the artificial nature of the structures would increase the difficulty of infiltrating the native's world undetected. The alien paused, considering its next step. As it did so, precipitation began to fall from the sky. This quickly became a moderate rain, with the water flowing down the streets. The alien followed it to an entrance into an underground drainage network. It crawled into the sewer, preparing to explore its new avenue of transportation.