The Stranger Of The Vortex
It was a Tuesday and like most Tuesdays it just continued the simple and mundane feeling of Monday. It contrasted the peace of a Sunday, as well as being definitely opposite to the universal energy of Friday and Saturday. Tuesday never has an ‘original’ feeling to it. On a particular Tuesday in a distant and far off land that was beyond the void and resided in another dimension, an Earth pony named Applejack was left to work on her own at Sweet Apple Acres whilst the rest of her family were off doing something else important. Luckily for her, she wasn’t alone for too long once Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash made their way over to her home. They helped Applejack go through many of her inventories, but for Rainbow Dash doing any kind of hard work tended to get a little boring after a while. To spice things up, she would need the expertise of a master fun making, party loving, sugar sonic crazy pony …
“And … go!” Pinkie Pie cried out. A mighty boom was followed, and a batch of apples were flung into the air. They fly as high as they can, and come back crashing down. They miss a bucket, and splatter across the floor.
“Good one Rainbow, you nearly got it that time!” Pinkie Pie said with high enthusiasm. For the past couple of minutes, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have been playing a fun game of cannon apples. By using her awesome party cannon, the two would shoot a chunk full of apples, and trying to get them into the basket. Unfortunately they’ve only gotten a batch of apples into their buckets once … out of ten.
“I could have got it in the basket if you didn't distract me so much!” Rainbow said, peeved by how Pinkie purposely distracted her to aim away from the baskets.
“I didn't distract you, I just thought maybe if I played the trombone, it would give you the hype and hysteria of an epic scene where you won!” She said and pulled out a trombone, playing it loudly in her friend’s ear. Rainbow Dash shoved her hoof into the horn, making Pinkie Pie stop.
“Well it doesn’t matter. I’m not counting it that time, so I’m going again.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Okie-Dokie!” Pinkie gleefully agreed with the Pegasus, and in a flash she got a bucket full of freshly grown apples into the cannon. Rainbow aimed it around, trying to get the right for a direct hit.
“Looks like I’m going to beat you this time Pinkie Pie. With this shot, I’ll be up by … how much exactly?” Rainbow asked.
“Let’s see, out of the … ten times! Wow, ten times, where does that tick-tock around the clock thing we call time go? So out of the ten times we’ve done this, we each have … one! Woo-hoo! Uno to Uno! Let’s go Dashie!” Pinkie said, cheering on for Rainbow Dash.
“That’s right! Cheer for the champion at the Apple Bucking Cannon!” Rainbow cried out just as Applejack came around the corner of her house while carrying two heavy bucket full of apples and corn. She was sweating up and down her own body, her coat was shined in the rays of the hot summer sun. Applejack looked up at clear blue skies, feeling the heat of the giant star beam so brightly on this Tuesday afternoon. She sighed and settled the two buckets at the doors of her big red barn. Applejack took a couple of steps to the house to get a drink of water, but stopped once she felt her hoof step in something mushy and sticky.
“D’oh! Please don’t let it be one of Winona’s messes.” she said, fearing it might have been something gross, but instead it was a puddle of mushy yellow stuff with bits of apple skin scattered around. “Is that one of my apples?!”
Suddenly she heard a familiar boom ahead of her. Applejack peered her head up, but lost her sight as a band of apples smashed into her face and punch her in the gut. It was enough to actually throw her back, and fall into the muddy dirt. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie took notice of this and galloped over to their fallen friend.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no! AJ; are you okay?!” Rainbow yelled as she got close to her friend as Applejack groaned.
“Quick, do mouth to mouth resuscitation!” Pinkie Pie cried to Dashie, who blankly blinked at the girl.
“I don’t need no mouth to mouth action! What I need to know is why the hell am I down here covered in Applesauce you knuckleheads launched at men, and you’re groaning because she didn’t try to do mouth to mouth when I wasn’t choking in the first place?!” Applejack yelled as she got up and wiped the sticky applesauce from her face. Then she looked around and noticed small pools of apples splattered along the floor, and even on the wall of her freshly painted home.
“What in tarnation were you two doing?! I thought you both were bringing in the apples, after all that is what you wanted to do right?” AJ asked as she went to observe the squashed apples.
“Actually no; you see, we came because Pinkie and I were bored, so we thought what if we try out this idea I had. Apple Cannon Games! Where I shove all the apples we get from the trees, and shoot them into the three buckets I had set up, and whoever gets it into the buckets wins!” Pinkie Pie explained.
“And how many times did you get them IN the buckets, hmmm?” Applejack asked.
“Twice ... one hit from both of us ... now I know it doesn't sound productive, but it is super fun!” Rainbow Dash commented as she and Pinkie innocently smiled.
“What in the hay made you think this was an effective method to get these once deliciously sweet apples into the basket?!” Applejack was furious at this point.
“Yeah, well we didn’t really think about that. Applejack, I’m really sorry for all this, believe me. It’s just, we’ve been working so hard and done like a bazillion trees so we thought why not play a little?” Rainbow Dash tried to explain, but this only continued to agitate her.
“So you thought it was a good idea to play with my apples?” Applejack asked.
“Oh Applejack, don’t worry about it. I know it isn’t right what we did, and we’re really sorry. Honest we are, especially me since I JUST came up with the game. We will do twice the work to make up all the apples we’ve crushed in the process!” Pinkie said as she grabbed Dashie with her arm wrapped around the Pegasus shoulder. Applejack looked up at her window, not surprised to see it there.
A slight breeze started to come in. No one paid any mind to it, but some of the animals started to look up at the sky.
“Whoa! That’ll take such a long time and it’ll be sooooooo boring.” Rainbow groaned, getting Applejack annoyed enough to stare down at her.
“I understand that this isn’t fun, and this game y’all made sounds it is, but I ain’t got time to deal with this. You knew that when I told you yesterday how my family would be out.” Applejack explained, calmer now. “Granny Smith and Apple Bloom took Winona and they’ve gone to visit Cousin Braeburn in Appleloosa, and you even told me that you saw Big Mac go into town.”
“But I –!” Rainbow Dash tried to say, but was interrupted by Applejack.
“Let me finish.” Applejack said. “Now you and Pinkie Pie are my friends, but as friends, if you wish to help me then please try to respect the rules I have going’ on here at Sweet Apple Acres. You and Pinkie Pie both broke them, and I want a proper apology.”
“But –” Rainbow said.
“Hey! I got a great idea! Why don't we both apologize WITH a Pinkie Promise on I said we'll do to fix the mess we made!” Pinkie Pie suggested.
“Now that's a great idea! Pinkie Pie, how 'bout you go first? Maybe Rainbow Dash needs a little reminder on how to do a proper Pinkie Promise.” AJ commented, getting a glare from Rainbow Dash.
“Oh yay! I love making Pinkie Promises, after all it does have my name in it. You know me Applejack, when I make a promise, I keep it!” Pinkie gleefully agreed, bouncing around the two. AJ and Rainbow smirked while looking straight into each other’s eyes like if they were speaking via psyche. The three friends didn’t take notice of the skies. Something was happening, something that was causing the sun to blur in and out, waves of visible light bending and swirling into a sporadic motion.
“Okay Pinkie, get it to it!” Rainbow Dash said, still keeping an eye on AJ. Pinkie stopped and out of nowhere pulled out a pair of glasses to look all smarty and minty breath spray to clear her throat.
“I swear to fix all the mistakes and messes I have done on Sweet Apples Acres, as well as work twice as hard with my super fantastically awesome friend, Rainbow Dash! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! See, good as-!” She suddenly stopped once her ears started to pick up a strange noise. Pinkie Pie was keen on finding out where that strange and unusual noise was coming from. She turned around, feeling that it might be somewhere close.
“Uhm, girls, I think I just heard something.” Pinkie said.
“Hold on a minute Pinkie, we ain’t done talking about how Rainbow Dash needs to accept her instructions given!” Applejack said, frowning at the Pegasus.
“Or how Applejack needs to chill and give me a chance to prove that doing things my way can get things done without it being boring!” Rainbow responded, growling at the farm girl.
“B-B-but-” she tried to say, but the two continued to bicker on about the game and debating on who was right or not. Pinkie’s ears then picked up the sounds of electricity crackling and zapping from somewhere. As her friends kept on with their bickering, Pinkie Pie rushed around the farm trying to find whatever it is that might endanger them. It was as if her special senses felt something extraordinary was forcing that noise to be made. She ran around the barn, the house, the fields, the chicken and pig pens, and as far as even checking in the hay stacks, but the only thing she found there was a needle. She was out in the fields, far from her friends, and tired from all the searching.
“Ah hornswoggle! Where is that sound coming from?” Pinkie Pie said. She looked all around herself to hear from wherever that noise could be coming from. It was then she took a look up at the sky. There was something, a tiny little speck in the sky. She squinted and tried to focus in on it, but the light of the sun made it too blurry to see. So with her ears, Pinkie Pie could hear the noises of a large swooshing sound and tiny booms with sharp cracks followed by an ominous sound. The next thing that came into her vision was a little black dot flying across the sky. She suddenly felt her tail as it twitched like crazy. Pinkie soon noticed the black dot start to get bigger and shape into a cylinder object. She jerked her neck back and forth from her tail to the falling object. Pinkie Pie then figured it out, and as the object kept swirling about in the sky, puffing smoke all around it, she screamed out to her friends.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no! Girls! Girls!” Pinkie Pie screamed, bouncing and waving her arms about. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still arguing, enough to not make them take notice of Pinkie nor the cylinder object in the sky.
“They can’t hear me! I’ve got to warn them!” Pinkie Pie said, but before she could do anything, her body stopped with an intense shudder that rocked her every nerve. She looked up at the sky and watched as the flying object started to come more into view. Fire and smoke engulfed its entire shape, except for an opening that was whooshing out an intense and blinding light. Then as it was only mere feet from crushing the poor pony, it immediately rocketed past her head and change its direction. Pinkie Pie ducked herself, hoping it would be over soon, but the shudder was right for instead of a quick death came a saving grace. She opened one eye, then the other. She suddenly jumped up cheering as it flew away from her.
“I’m not dead! I’m not dead! Yahoo!” she cheered, while bouncing around, until suddenly she heard and felt a large explosion that rattled her ears and shook her body from the ground up. Pinkie Pie jumped around to see a large cloud of fire and smoke emerge from what sounded like if an explosion went off. “That’s not good; whoa!”
Without any warning, the ground beneath her rattled and shook enough to make Pinkie fall over. Applejack and Rainbow Dash held their bickering off for the moment to try and get a handle as to what had just happened. Rainbow Dash lifted herself and Applejack off the ground, while Pinkie Pie started to bounce back her way back to her friends. The barn, the house, the fields; almost everywhere in and around Sweet Apple Acres was in a state of chaos. As if it couldn’t be even crazier, Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of the skies. What looked like a dozen waves swayed and moved outward from the mountain; looking the like ripples merging from a rock being dropped into a pond with no rebound. In a state of shock, she accidentally lost focused on Applejack and dropped her, sending her straight down into a puddle of applesauce and Applejack soon realized that the quakes had stop just as the ones in the sky by Rainbow’s perspective. Pinkie Pie kept bouncing, knowing it was over, but continued due to how much fun it was.
“What the hay just happened?!” Applejack asked while wiping off the sticky applesauce off her body and Stetson.
“Something unexpected is what just happened. You won’t believe how crazy my senses were going off just now! Like ultra-super-out of this world crazy!” Pinkie Pie explained.
“Whoa, your senses went off? Why didn’t you tell us?!” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, a little warning would have been nice.”
“I tried, but if you two didn’t stop focusing on that little issue from earlier than you would have heard me warn you two.” Pinkie Pie commented.
“First off, it’s not an issue, and we’ll hold that conversation off for now. Secondly, did any of y’all notice how the sky went all weird when the mountain exploded?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, I saw that too, but whatever caused that explosion must have been powerful.” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It didn’t explode.” Pinkie Pie said, getting raised eyebrows and a scuff from her two friends.
“What do you mean it didn’t explode?” Applejack asked.
“It was a spaceship. I saw a spaceship crash into the mountain!” Pinkie Pie said, getting raised eyebrows and a scuff from her two friends.
“Oh come on Pinkie Pie; a spaceship? Are you serious?” Rainbow Dash asked, not believing what she said.
“Not on Mondays, taking Mondays seriously will just ruin my Mondays. If I took every day one hundred percent serious and strictly makes it boring. However, when it comes to flying spaceships crashing into a mountain, that I take seriously” Pinkie Pie commented while looking up at the sky at the same time as her tail started to twitch again.
“Yah mean to tell me that Pinkie Pie, the ultimate prankster and jokester in all of Equestria is serious for once in her life … and it’s about some Martian?” Applejack asked. Usually she and Rainbow might have believed her, especially with what they’ve dealt with in the past three years, but this seemed too crazy to even consider as a possibility.
“Hey! That’s not fair, I’ve been serious – sometimes – but yes and maybe he is or isn’t a Martian.” Pinkie Pie said, still focused on something up in the clouds.
“Forget this, I’m going to see Twilight about this; maybe she has an idea on what we should do next. Besides that I don’t believe in Ghosts, let alone Aliens … and how do you know this alien of yours is a ‘he’?” Rainbow Dash asked while walking away from her.
“Because HE is about crash into Applejack’s home!” Pinkie Pie said. Rainbow’s and Applejack’s eyes shot wide open as they jerked their necks around to see the shape of a pony fall out of the sky and crash into Applejack’s room With not a moment to lose, the trio rushed into her home. The three made it past the porch and door, galloping up to Applejack’s room. They could hear the stallion’s screams as a golden light emitted from the openings of her doorway. It was enough to make them believe that he was on fire.
“Oh dear Celestia! I’ll go get a bucket of water! You two go in there and try to help that poor pony!” Applejack said.
“Hurry! He sounds like he’s in pain!” Pinkie Pie said, but Applejack was gone by now.
“Okay Pinkie Pie, we’ll buck the door on three and when we do, let’s try and help the fella, got that?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting a nod from Pinkie.
“Yep! Ooooh, I’m so excited!” Pinkie Pie gleefully responded
“One, two – wait, huh? Why are you excited?” Rainbow asked, a little confused and curious.
“I don’t know, but think about it Dashie! Behind this door is an alien who needs our help! Do you hear me? I said, an ‘Alien’ from outer space!” Pinkie Pie said, and smiled out into space like she usually does at the epic moments like these.
“Who looked like a normal pony too?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Focus Pinkie … on three?” Rainbow said. Pinkie nodded enthusiastically “One, two, and three!”
Both bucked the door and jumped right in, only to see the rubble and debris of the crash. There were no traces of the light or the pony as they steadily walked in.
“What the heck?” Rainbow Dash was stumped. “But the light and the screams, didn't we hear that?”
“Maybe that light we saw was from his mother ship?” Pinkie pie suggested and waved her hooves in the sky while making a weird wooing noise. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and frowned at her.
“Pinkie be serious, please; some pony could be hurt under all this stuff.” She said while lifting up Applejack's tossed over furniture. She pushed through the rubble, trying to find any signs of a body, but found no signs of it.
“I am serious! It’s not my fault you and Applejack didn't see his ship fall out of the sky while on fire! And it's not like YOU were nearly crushed by it!” Pinkie Pie said, frowning at her friend's lack of trust to believe in her wild story. Then they heard Applejack running down the hall.
“Don't worry girls, I got the water now! Gang way!” Applejack cried, rushing into the room, and thrashed the bucket of water that dangled from her saddle. It splashed on the other side of the bed. Immediately out popped a stallion who was gasping for air. They gasped as he fell back down, throwing his arms around calling for help.
“Somebody help me! For God’s sake, I’m drowning! Help! Heeeelp!” he cried out, as the trio kept staring at him. He was wearing a torn up red cloak knitted with strange golden symbols that covered his body from head to hoof, even as he was standing upright. Glimpses of a light-gray coat could be seen, along with the curly black mane that poked out of a ridiculous looking hat. It took him a moment, but soon enough the stallion realized he was on dry land. “ … Oh, well that’s embarrassing, I hope no one saw that.”
“Actually we did … hey mister, are you alright?” Applejack asked. The stallion looked up for a tiny moment, and yelped.
“Ah! Stay back! All of you stay away from me, please don’t hurt me!” the stranger yelled while scurrying behind the bed and peeked from the edge to see the three girls. He kept staring at them as they did back at him, their minds racing with all sorts of questions and more confused towards a lot of things.
“Okay, okay, relax there fella. Don’t worry about anything, we won’t hurt ya, right girls?” Applejack said, getting quick nods from her friends to him.
“Are you sure? You’re not dangerous are you?” he asked, getting a confused look from the girls.
“Actually we have done a lot of dang – Ow!” Pinkie Pie groaned as Rainbow hit her in the back of the head. She rubbed the spot where her hoof hit. “Well I’m sorry for trying to be honest.”
“Listen pal, we’re not dangerous. In fact, you’re in the presence of three of Equestria’s greatest heroes!” Rainbow Dash bragged. “I’m sure you’ve seen me before, but to be clear since you took a nasty fall, I’m Rainbow Dash … and-”
“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie! You're in Applejack's room, which is in her home of Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville of Equestria! Welcome to Planet Earth! Oh and are you okay? You took a pretty nasty fall from your ship! Did you know it’s on fire? It nearly crushed me, but then it went ‘vvvvvvvoorrmp’ and crashed into the mountain! Are you from Mars?! What’s it like on mars? Is it everything really red? Is that why you’re wearing a big red cloak? Why doesn’t your ship look like a saucer? And what was that glow you made?!” Pinkie Pie kept asking numerous questions, making the stranger feel very nervous. Applejack pulled Pinkie back and clamped her mouth shut.
“I'm sorry about that. She – well all of us are a little stirred up by that explosion from the mountain, but trust me when I say that we aren't going to harm you in any way.” Applejack said and slowly approached the stallion who listened to her the most. To him, she seemed like the most calm out of the three. He climbed on top of the bed, slowly crawling to them as she reached her hoof out to him. “You can trust me.”
“Thank you. What's your name?” He asked, cringing a bit inside his stomach.
“I'm Applejack. Now tell me, what's your name?” She asked as he stood on her bed with his four hooves.
“Oh, well I don't know.” He pulled back his hoof, suddenly feeling a slight pain go up his hooves enough to make him drop. “I think I am-GAH!”
Without any warning, the stallion jumped off the bed and screamed in pain as he felt something coming up his throat. He coughed loudly as the three mares tried to help him. He pounded his chest, grabbing hold of it as if he was having a heart attack. His mouth kept on coughing and coughing, trying so strongly to get rid of what was inside him.
“Oh no! This is bad; this is bad; this is bad; this is bad! Okay Dash, pull yourself together and help this guy now! … Applejack, Pinkie, I think he's choking! Quick hold him down while I try to –” Rainbow Dash tried to explain, but was interrupted by the sudden flash of light that engulfed his hooves and face. They were stunned at seeing his body light up like if it was on fire. His blood curdling scream made them cringe. Then just like that, the energy that surrounded him faded away. He coughed a final time and rolled his eyes back before collapsing. Their jaws hung in shock and horror at what had happened before them. Their minds were lost, confused, and utterly stumped by this stranger who fell from the sky.