Chapters 1 - No Rest for the Wicked
Jumba's Mobile Laboratory
During the ending of Six Two Six Two
Outside Galactic Federation Airspace
Coordinates: CLASSIFIED
Floating seamlessly against the infinite black void of space was a small ship, barely bigger than your average transport shuttle. It would have been difficult, yet not impossible, to fit six or seven humans inside it. Two aliens and an entire mobile laboratory were another matter entirely.
"Would you stop with the pacing, Pleakley! You are rocking entire ship!" The larger one barked impatiently.
"Well it's not my fault we have to be up here doing things we probably shouldn't be doing in a container hardly bigger than a cantaloupe! How am I supposed to breathe in here, Jumba?"
"Same way you usually do, I imagine," Jumba replied. "Seeing as the Council has not yet allowed me back into my laboratory, must make do with more primitive one."
"And you're still not going to tell me what we're doing up here?"
"Something very evil and bad," Jumba said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"I knew it!" Pleakley announced. "Which is what, exactly?"
"We are guarding this," Jumba said, patting a nearby pedestal with what appeared to be an even smaller capsule carefully positioned on top of it.
"I thought you gave all six hundred and twenty five of those to Lilo," Pleakley said, sounding vaguely concerned.
"I did," Jumba said.
"Then why does that look like an experiment?"
"Because it is!"
"But you said-"
"I am knowing what I am saying!" Jumba declared. "I make new one." He cackled. "Is beautiful, yes? I give Lilo six hundred and twenty five, I never said nothing about six hundred twenty seven!"
"You what?!" Pleakley began to pace back and forth even faster than usual. "Oh, Jumba, if the Council finds out about this..."
"Council does not need to be knowing," Jumba said.
"You can't make more of those things! You promised!"
Jumba rolled his eyes, a feat which always made Pleakley slightly dizzy. "I am evil genius. I break promises," he said. "Besides, is best one yet! Not even Lilo can fix this one! Is guaranteed to be completely and unbreakably evil!"
Pleakley stared at him. "I'm not entirely sure you know what 'best' means."
Their argument at this point was interrupted by a large burst of static from one of the overhanging video monitors. This got their attention rather quickly, and both immediately looked up at it as the screen flared to life. Neither of them were particularly pleased to see what appeared to be an empty backdrop.
"What are we looking at?" Pleakley asked.
"Appears to be wall," Jumba said.
"Up, up, you idiots!" The screen shouted, and a surprisingly fluffy character climbed into view.
"Hipsterviel!" Jumba said, sounding pleased. "You never write anymore. Is very rude."
"Hamsterviel, you buffoon! It's not that difficult!"
"He was a hamster before it was cool," Pleakley muttered, to which Jumba started snickering.
"It still does not excuse your rudeness," Jumba said.
"Shut up, both of you! My sources tell me you have a new experiment. Why was I not informed?!"
"Because I didn't tell you," Jumba said. "Is mine, not yours. Why was I not informed that hacking into secure channels counts as having sources now?"
"Well, well, mister smart alec, you know what IS mine? The giant fleet which SURROUNDS YOUR LOCATION!" Hamsterviel started laughing. "You will hand this new experiment over to me, or you will perish! And don't think you can call the little girl this time, she is busy."
"Very well, I will release it to you," Jumba said.
"What?!" Pleakley gasped. "You can't!"
"You fool!" Hamsterviel shouted. "How dare you! Your denial to my demands will incur the wrath of- oh. Very wise, Jumba! Very wise! Release it to me at once!"
Jumba shrugged. "Release Unit 627," he said. On a nearby control panel, a red light flicked to green. The small experiment capsule fell downwards into its holding receptacle, and promptly disappeared.
Hamsterviel rubbed his paws together greedily like an old timey villain. "Well, where is it?!"
"I released it," Jumba said simply.
"Released it where?!" Hamsterviel sounded horrified.
"Outside," he said. "You are welcome to be fetching it!"
Hamsterviel turned red and jumped up and down with anger. "You can't just drop things like that into space! Do you know what you are parked over?!"
"A wormhole," Jumba said. "There are lots of them. They go to all sorts of places! But here is evil part, organic matter cannot get through! Would tear you to bits. Like cheese." He laughed. "But capsule is dehydrated, my creation is safe."
Hamsterviel glared furiously at him. "But you cannot get it back then, either!"
"Is better than you having it."
The small villain's eye twitched. "Get me my experiment, Jumba! Don't think you've heard the last of this!" The video screen then blinked to blackness.
"He really needs a vacation," Pleakley said, and looked out the window into the black expanse. "Where do you think it went?"
"I will track it," Jumba said. "But it will take a day or two to find the frequency. In meantime, wherever it lands, I hope is prepared for evil and mass destruction!" He laughed.
"You worry me sometimes," Pleakley said. "Wherever it is... heaven help them."
Following the departure of Stitch's last adventure, nopony ever noticed the small flash of light that occurred as a small round object of some sort burst into existence and flew into the Library, bouncing off various walls before flying through the open window. It landed on a small ridge and rolled underneath the tree, never seen and quickly forgotten.
Barely visible on the small object was a set of numbers.
627.
Ponyville - Several months after the events of Six Two Six Two
Stitch had come and gone twice now. The rift which Celestia had allowed open remained sturdy and functional, although it was guarded night and day, with sentry posts monitoring anything that went in and out of it. Although it was somewhat of a thankless job, as nothing ever did. During that time, as fortune would have it, a coronation had taken place, and Twilight had found herself busier than ever.
Unfortunately, this also meant that rain was no longer scheduled over Twilight's Library. At least temporarily. She was set to meet with multiple dignitaries and high ranking officials, and none of them wanted to get wet or have their visit detained by murky weather. So while the pegasi weather teams worked around the Library, the plants and flowers were watered manually, and by manually, of course, meant that Spike had to do everything.
It was nearing the end of the day, and both residents of the Library were absolutely exhausted.
"I don't know about this whole princess thing, Spike," Twilight confided. "Princess Celestia really seems to think I can handle it, and I'll do everything in my power to meet her expectations. But what if I can't do it? What if I mess up?"
"Don't worry about it, Twilight," Spike said. "Everypony messes up now and then. Even Princess Celestia. What's important is that when you do mess up, you learn from it."
Twilight smiled at him. "That's very good advice, Spike. Wherever did you learn something like that?"
Spike rolled his eyes. "I don't know, Twilight. It's not like I'm constantly surrounded by books I can read or constantly asked to write friendship reports or anything like that. It's a mystery." He crossed his arms, his tone not at all something that Twilight was amused with.
Twilight's smile faded. "Alright, you're starting to get cranky. Put the watering can down, and get ready for bed. I'll finish up. And tomorrow you can have the day off."
Spike's eyes widened. "Really? You mean it?"
"Sure. You earned it. I... maybe work you a little too hard sometimes. You're just such a good assistant, I forget you're just a little dragon."
"Alright! Thanks Twilight!" Suddenly in a much better mood, Spike threw the watering can to the ground, racing inside and up the stairs.
Although the watering can had been mostly empty, there still remained enough inside it to spill out over the center opening. The pools of liquid trickled down the front area of the Library, disappearing down below.
"Spike, you can't just leave things out like that! Somepony might trip and get hurt!" Twilight scolded, picking up the watering can and carrying inside, shortly after closing the door.
Neither were present to see the bright surges of light coming from underneath the Library. And neither heard the wild cackling laughter that followed moments later. Nor the dark red claws that burst out of the ground and clawed at the surface.
Author's Note
Attempting a more spaced out format to see if it's any easier to read. Let me know if you guys prefer it like this or my usual text-wall style.
It didn't take much for the similarly designed red alien to climb out from underneath Twilight's Library. The soil was surprisingly soft and fertile, more than adequate for growing plants and crops. He broke free from the capsule prison that had contained him for so long with joyful laughter, standing for the first time in front of the Library. The sun had gone down, and the only source of light came from a few lit lanterns which hung in pre-arranged increments along the various streets.
Very few were out at this point in the day, houses and shops and businesses were closed. A few couples still wandered together along the roads, and they all seemed to be horselike in design. An odd choice, but not one that he couldn't deal with. Scampering away from the library, the small red alien tore through the streets in randomly selected directions, not sure where he was going and not entirely caring. At one point he happened upon a small swingset in a residential yard, it was the pride and joy of some lucky child.
WAS.
It didn't take long at all for 627 to rip the playset apart, crumpling the pieces into an salvageable twisted mess. Unfortunately, this was also a fairly noisy process, and a curiously annoyed stallion appeared in the barely lit doorway of the back of the house, a lantern in one hoof.
"Who's out there!?" He demanded, not yet seeing the traumatic scene that his heartbroken foals would find the next day.
"Evil!" 627 cackled, and disappeared into the darkness, not giving the playset a second thought. He darted down the road again, and the buildings slowly started to become more and more scarce. He turned up one last dirt road, the last for a while, it seemed, rolling into a ball. His spherical form was faster, and the road he was on was lengthy and increasingly worn. He dodged around several large pieces of equipment that had been left around the sides of the road, before springing back onto his feet.
It was dark, late evening, but that didn't stop his eyes from clicking through various modes until he reached night vision. A large farm lay in front of him. It was quiet, though light flickered from one of the rooms. From what little he could see, it appeared to be a bedroom. It took only a moment to climb up the side of the house, peering in over the side of the windowsill. Inside, he could see a small horselike creature fast asleep in bed, wearing a bow that was nearly bigger than her body itself. He grinned. She would do nicely.
Downstairs, two ponies sat across from each other at a worn round table, the mare with rectangular glasses perched on her nose.
"Winter was rough, Mac. Rougher than usual. Business was down 17% from the year before."
"Eeyup."
She sighed. "We're really going to have to haul flank this year if we're going to turn a profit. Every year it seems harder and harder t'break even. Ah think we're gonna have to have a second cider haul this year."
The large red stallion placed his hoof on the mare's shoulder, shaking his head.
"Your confidence is overpowering," she deadpanned. "Something's gonna have to go this year, Mac. Ah'd hate to cancel our trip to Manehattan, Bloom is so lookin' forward to it."
Mac looked ready to respond, but a loud scream came from upstairs. The two adults wasted absolutely no time in knocking over the table in their rush to get upstairs. Bloom's door was locked, and the orange pony rattled the doorknob relentlessly. "Bloom! Bloom! Open this door immediately!" She yelled.
No answer.
Mac looked ready to kick it in, and the orange pony looked hesitant. "That's more expenses we don't need, Mac..." She didn't sound fully sure of herself, though. But... heck with it. Mah sisters in there."
"We'll manage," Mac said, and in one swift kick, reduced the door to splinters.
Rushing in, the two frantically looked around. Seeing nothing amiss except the curtains fluttering on either side of the open window.
But the room... was empty.
Rushing to the window, the orange pony screamed a nightmarish cry out into the air, but got no response.
"BLOOM!"
"Twilight, are you sure you're gonna be okay without me?" Spike asked. Naturally he had no intention of giving up his day off, he got them so infrequently. But he did worry about Twilight, who was at the moment the closest thing to a mother that he had.
"Are you sure you're not gonna overwork yourself like last time? Especially now that Princess Celestia has all those new things for you to do."
"I'll be fine, Spike," Twilight said. Her wings were folded, but even that had taken quite some work to get them to behave properly. "I have plenty of strength and stamina, you don't have to worry about that. You're a baby dragon, you can only do so much."
"But I'm not a baby!" Spike insisted. "I keep growing, you said so!"
"Very well. If you're so grown up, maybe I'll let you stay up all night."
"Really?!"
Twilight smirked, and reached under the dragons pillow, removing a large sapphire from it. "Since you're so grown up, I guess you won't need your midnight snack then."
Spike looked devastated. "Give that back!" He fidgeted. "I mean... I don't need it... I don't... I don't need..."
Twilight placed the sapphire back under the pillow, and gave Spike a 'That's final' look.
"Good night, Spike. Go to bed." She blew out the lantern, and paused at the doorway. "It's going to be nice to have a quiet night for once," she said, and closed the door.
3 - Something Old, Something New
Several Moments Earlier...
Buried under her blankets, Apple Bloom was deviously pretending to be asleep. She had genuinely been asleep only moments before, but that was before the scratching noises came from outside. Right by her window. Ears swiveling, Bloom's eyes snapped open and she buried herself deeper within the security of her bed. Waiting. Watching.
Before too long, a strangely shaped shadow framed itself in her window. Laughing, from the sound of it. She slowly inched higher to get a better look. Small shape, two legged. Enormous ears, curved claws. She'd heard Applejack talking about how much trouble Stitch had caused on previous visits, during nights when she was supposed to be in bed and had resorted to listening in on private conversations instead. But she'd been of the understanding that Stitch had gone home. Heck, she'd even see him a few times. And the shadow was unmistakably Stitch.
Bloom frowned. Did Applejack know about this? Or was Stitch lost again? The figure peered into her open window for a moment, before scampering off again. Bloom leaped out of bed and ran to the window. What if he hurt somepony, or if Applejack didn't even know he was back? Climbing out the window, the filly slid into action. Sliding down the drainpipe, she raced off after him. Moments later, hearing her name being called in the distance. She was so totally getting grounded. Couldn't get ungrounded at this point, so might as well finish what she'd started. She kept following.
"Stitch!" She called. "Come back!"
The alien ignored her. He was running into town, and Apple Bloom was intent to follow him. She raced as fast as she could, but even with earth pony endurance, the alien was smaller and faster. She skidded to a halt near the center of town, eyes darting every which way.
Gone.
"Rats..." she muttered. Moments later, her eyes flickered upwards to the second story window of a lavishly decorated circular building. A building which fortunately had lots of small pebbles scattered around the outside.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
"Enough already!" The window swung open, and a small white unicorn gazed angrily down at the street. "Do you have any idea what time it- Apple Bloom!"
"Sweetie Belle! Stitch is back!" Apple Bloom whisper-shouted. It was more of a loud hushed tone, really.
"Stitch? Are you sure?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes! I saw him in my window! I chased him but he got away."
"Does Applejack know?"
"I don't know. Does Rarity know?"
"She hasn't mentioned it," Sweetie said.
"Ah don't think either of them know about this," Bloom said. "But ah don't think they know. We could get our alien hunting cutie marks for this! Maybe you'll get a laser blaster on yer flank or somethin'!"
Sweetie's eyes widened. "That. Would be. Awesome. Wait there!" She closed the window, and appeared a few minutes later next to Apple Bloom, coming around the back.
"What took ya so long?"
"Rarity's sleeping. Or working on an outfit. Either way she's not coming out of her room anytime soon, so we gotta hurry. You got a plan for this?"
Apple Bloom beamed. "Uh huh. Celestia said she left a rift out by where the spaceboat crashed the first time. So we just gotta go out there and summon him."
"Summon... him?"
"If we say his name by the rift, it'll summon him. If he's already here, it won't do anything."
"So if he's not already here, we're just going to wind up summoning him anyway. I don't like this plan."
"But he is here! Ah saw him!"
"You're sure?"
"Ah'm sure!"
Sweetie Belle sighed. "What the hay. We've had crazier plans. I'm in. We gonna get Scootaloo in on this?"
Apple Bloom suddenly looked ashamed. "Y'know... ah'm actually not entire sure where Scootaloo lives. Do you know?"
Sweetie Belle's smile faded. "...I don't know where her house is either. It's like a gaping plot hole someone just never filled. Weird. We still gonna do this?"
"We can fill her in later. Let's go!"
With a nod of determination, the two fillies raced into the darkness, towards the crash site they had been to several times before.
The Crash Site
Finding their way in the darkness wasn't nearly as difficult as it had been the first few times. They'd been to the crash site before, and Apple Bloom was more experienced in the paths of the Everfree Forest. The rift Celestia had opened hung in the air just above eye level, barely visible. A small tear in space that was completely undetectable if you were to stare straight at it, only by glancing at it through the corner of her eye could Bloom tell that something wasn't quite right.
"This seems kinda dangerous," Sweetie Belle said. "Can't anyone come out here and accidentally summon aliens?"
"Not possible. Only the Six can do it, so ah figure, by relation, we can do it as well."
"You've been eavesdropping on Applejack again, haven't you?"
"Of course," Bloom admitted. "But only because she doesn't tell me things herself. She's afraid ah'll do somethin' stupid."
"Like come to the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night to summon an alien," Sweetie said.
"Like come to the Ever- hey! This is completely different!"
"Of course it is," Sweetie said. And the two turned to face the rift.
"Stitch!" Apple Bloom announced. Both fillies scampered backwards.
Nothing.
"Stitch!" Sweetie Belle repeated.
Nothing.
"Maybe we gotta say it three times," Bloom suggested.
"That only works on ghosts," Sweetie countered. "It's not gonna work!"
"Or maybe it did work and he's already here like ah told you in the first place."
"GIRLS!"
Both fillies swung around. "Oh, buck, we are so grounded," Sweetie whispered.
Fluttershy emerged from the darkness, a very stern look on her face.
"Are you by YOURSELVES?" She had an empty wicker basket with her that went forgotten for the moment, the unexpected encounter of two small fillies in the Everfree Forest clearly having taken priority.
"Well yes, but-"
"What in Equestria are you doing out here? It's after dark! You're not even supposed to visit Zecora after dark, and we are so far away from her house, don't you dare try to tell me that-"
"Apple Bloom saw Stitch," Sweetie interrupted, and rapidly tried to explain.
"Stitch... the rift... but..." Fluttershy was pale. She didn't particularly care for him, though she didn't want to see any harm come to the alien either.
"You're absolutely, completely sure?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes! Nopony believes me! How many other Stitches could there be!?"
Fluttershy really didn't want to consider the possibility of there being more than one.
"What are you doing out here anyway?" Sweetie challenged. "I thought you were scared of the dark."
"Oh, I am," Fluttershy said. "But I have to overcome that when it comes to my critters, there's a very delicate mushroom that only grows in the dark, and Angel refuses to eat unless he has it. And I don't want him destroying my coffee table again."
The rift started glowing.
Fluttershy squeaked. "Oh, that can't be good, we should probably get out of here..."
Apple Bloom was confused. "I don't get it, what did we do!?"
As if in reply, a very angry bright pink ball of fuzz shot out of the rift, crashing into Sweetie Belle so violently that they both went to the ground.
Fluttershy and Apple Bloom stared in shock, as the newcomer and Sweetie Belle rose and stared each other down.
"It looks like a girl Stitch!" Bloom exclaimed.
"It looks like trouble..." Fluttershy sighed.
"Can we keep it?!" Sweetie Belle asked, reaching out for the pink alien.
The pink alien hissed, taking a defensive position and whipping one of its antennae at Sweetie Belle, who jumped backwards. Looking more closely once the commotion had settled, Fluttershy noticed that large metal shackles bound its wrists in front.
"Something caught it before we did..." Bloom observed.
"You two have a lot of explaining to do to Twilight," Fluttershy said.
"Is there any chance we can just pretend none of this happened and not tell our sisters?" Sweetie asked.
Fluttershy stared at the two of them so intently that they both retreated several paces.
"Ah didn't think so," Apple Bloom sighed.
Princess Celestia led the four newcomers further into the library. Angel and Fluttershy behind her, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle behind them. In the main dining area of the Library (try to visualize THAT one), the rest of the Six sans Rainbow Dash had gathered. Pinkie crept in with the alien who had a stack of sandwiches, and took her place next to Rarity, who looked infuriated.
"I do hate to be rude, Princess, but will you finally explain why you've woken us all up in the middle of the night? All you said was to meet in the Library, and that it was alien related."
"It obviously has something to do with Stitch, or that new alien that Pinkie found," Twilight said. "Don't interrupt."
Apple Bloom stood next to Applejack, staring at the ground to avoid the harsh glare that was being sent in her direction. "Now don'tch y'all think yer gonna get away with sneakin' out like that. We're havin' a talk as soon as we get home," Applejack whispered.
"I know," Apple Bloom said miserably.
Sweetie Belle found herself in a similar situation, and gave her poutiest look to Rarity, who humphed and looked away.
"Well?" Applejack demanded. "Are we gonna get an explanation or not?"
"Certainly," Celestia continued. "It was a few months ago when I first noticed a spike of activity from the portal which links Stitch's world to ours. Luna and I monitor it, of course, in case anything should happen, and I alerted her at once. But we couldn't find any sign that anything had come through it, despite extensive scans, and after a few weeks we reluctantly decided it was a false surge."
"But no activity?"
"No activity."
"A few months... around the time Stitch left last time?"
"Yes," Celestia said. "And neither of us saw anything after that until yesterday, when Luna observed Pinkie summoning... this thing," she said, glancing at the yellow creature.
"It wasn't intentional!" Pinkie insisted. "I was standing watch and I just said I wanted sandwiches!"
"...I see," Twilight said.
"And then this thing came through," Pinkie continued. "And I said boy isn't it a good thing Stitch isn't here, cause then I'd have to share."
"And?" Rarity pressed.
"And then this blue bolt came flying out of the portal, and Stitch waved, and he ran into the forest before I could catch him."
"And you didn't say anything about this?!" Twilight scolded.
"I thought you'd get mad! And I didn't want trouble!"
"As opposed to dealing with three aliens instead of one?!"
"Four," Applejack chimed in.
"That explains why he didn't appear when we tried it..." Sweetie Belle said quietly. "He was already out."
"Alright. That's enough." Twilight said. "Pinkie, you go back to the bakery and take the sandwich maker with you. Do not let him out of your sight, he seems harmless enough. Control the situation until further notice."
"Aw, but I like the pink one!"
"PINKIE!"
"Alright, alright..." Pinkie said, and departed from the library with the yellow alien on her back.
"I suppose it might be worth mentioning that all of these different surges... they had different magical frequencies but the same point of origin," Celestia said.
"Which means what?" Applejack asked.
"Which means... they very likely all came from different points in whatever timeline lies on the other side of that portal."
"Whoa." Twilight's eyes got huge. "That's serious."
"Indeed it is," Celestia said.
"Alright, this is all getting very confusing. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle," Twilight continued, and the two fillies looked up eagerly. "You both go home. And stay there. It's going to get dangerous with all these aliens out here."
"Awww, but we want to help!" Bloom said.
"You've both helped enough already."
Grumbling, the two fillies left as well, decidedly heading straight home at risk of being grounded again.
Applejack sighed. "Ah do hate bein' rough on em, but this whole night is about tah get outta control."
Fluttershy piped up in her usual quiet fashion. "Apple Bloom mentioned seeing a red alien, has anypony else seen one?"
The others shook their heads.
Celestia looked out the window, scanning for any signs of trouble, but saw none. "It's a bit of a stretch, but perhaps that's what Stitch went after. Pinkie said he ran off fairly quickly."
"We won't know until we ask him," Twilight said. "Fluttershy, you take the pink-"
"I think her name's Angel," Fluttershy interrupted.
"Fine. You take Angel and keep an eye on her. She's obviously come from some sort of captivity so we can't tell if she's a criminal or not."
"I'd be happy too," Fluttershy said.
"That leaves Applejack, Rarity and myself. A set of horns, a set of wings, and a set of... well... whatever you can do, Applejack. Move stuff around and such," Twilight said. "The three of us, we need to find Stitch and this red thing and find them fast. You girls know what to do. Move out!"
Now on the hunt, the mares dispersed from the library. Princess Celestia sighed with worry, and returned to the main reading area of the Library. She summoned a communication bubble, in which Luna quickly appeared.
"How much time do we have, sister?"
"Another day or two at most. I can only hope it's enough."
Celestia sighed. "Do you think we should tell them?"
"Not now. They have enough to worry about."
"I hope you're right, Luna. I hope you're right. Because if we're not..." Celestia glanced out the window. "Ponyville may cease to exist."
Author's Note
Have I seriously not updated this in almost two weeks?! NAGA BOOTIFA!
6 - Red Vs. Blue
As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were discovering the arguably 'angelic' powers of the rift in time and space, not far away a pair of large eyes was watching them. The large eyes belonged to a previously introduced creature of diminutive stature, who seemed more than amused that the big yellow horse was yelling at the two smaller ones. It warmed his heart to see such disorder.
But he couldn't stick around forever, especially considering the two smaller ones had come so close to catching him. So off he went into the dark forest, though it wasn't hardly dark at all for a creature equipped with heightened senses and night vision. Sure, a few frightening, twisting creatures of indescribable origin snapped their jaws at him, but were easily evaded.
627 eventually emerged from the forest near a large field covered in apple trees, the fruit supply of which he managed to put quite a dent into before his appetite was satisfied. No creature seemed to be home at the moment, and he was quite stealthy in climbing up the walls and peering in all the windows from the outside. The small yellow horse had chased him from here, and the place reeked of equine musk. But it was empty.
It would be a perfect point of origin for a display of mass destruction, and 627 wasted little time in spitting generous amounts of acid around the interior of the barn. Floor, walls, ceiling, loft. No place was safe. Few knew that aliens of his design could spit acid, fewer still knew that it was highly flammable. And with the barn covered in straw as it was, the result of setting it alight would be... delightful.
The small alien cackled, rubbing his palms together. Slowly at first, then faster and faster at impossible speeds. After a few moments, wispy trails of smoke drifted from his rapidly rubbing paws, It took sincere effort to create so much as a spark, but destruction was worth the time he was putting into it. A few failed attempts did manage to get on his bad side, although it only took one spark to fall upon the blades of straw, which the alien quickly set to blowing upon. Smoke first, then a single lick of flame, and a wide grin spread across his face.
Oh yes.
The small lick of flame soon turned into a series of small licks of flames, which spread rapidly as they were fueled by dry straw and the pools of acidic waste. They soon consumed the barn, and in turn consumed the house, then the fields, then the trees...
Wait. Where was the consume? There was supposed to be a barn-burning consume!
627 snapped back to attention, finding to his great rage that the great fire had been stopped in its infancy by a small blue creature very much like himself.
"You. Stop." The blue one bared his teeth.
627 had no intention of stopping. "Broken," he snarled back, referring in part to the barn, in part to the matriarchal society in general, and in part to the family of country horses that couldn't catch him.
"Broken, yes," his counterpart said. "But good. Yeah, still good."
627 charged 626, and the two crashed through the back wall of the barn and into the field. Fangs bared and claws raised, it was the beginning of a battle the likes of which Ponyville had never seen, and indeed would never see again. Red picked up a nearby plow from its resting place in the ground and swung it, smacking 626 with devastating force and driving him into the ground. 626 shook his head in mild irritation and charged forward, seizing 626 by the ears, and tossing him in the air.
"Play ball!" Stitch announced, before striking 627 with a forging hammer and hitting him with such force that the red alien plowed right through the middle of an apple tree, leaving a hole through the center of it. The tree remained upright, somehow.
627 was not amused by this, and lay dazed for a moment or two on the ground where he'd landed, trying in vain to snatch and crush the small yellow birds circling around his head. He rose to his paws and shook himself off, raising his claws in anger.
626 was not about to be beaten in his own fight, and raced around the side of the barn, knowing that his crimson cousin would not be far behind. Stitch raced into the house, swinging the back door open with such force that it flew off its hinges completely and landed in the dirt. He grabbed the kitchen table and propped it up against the now vacant doorway, before running towards the front door.
627 was waiting for him there, having gone around to the front in the first place. Stitch turned and leaped onto the counter of the formerly clean and tidy farmhouse kitchen, utensils and pans clanging to the floor. 627 leaped up after him, and pulled a knife.
"Destroy!" 627 announced
"En garde," Stitch said, wielding a large metal spoon of his own. And then they parried. Up, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, up. Moving back and forth across the top of the counter. Stitch frowned and looked for a moment behind 627, seeming concerned. 627 turned to look, and was promptly bashed off the counter with a frying pan.
Stitch leaped down, hurling 627 through the kitchen table and leaping through the doorway, where the red alien was already on his feet. Both were battered and breathing heavily, but not about to quit.
"You bad," he said to Stitch, his vocabulary extremely limited.
"Not bad," Stitch replied. "Just drawn that way."
627 charged forward, and 626 charged forward. The two aliens met each other in a violent flurry of swinging appendages and tearing claws, rolling in a cloud of dust across the field and down the hill. Their descent was stopped only by the normally serene pond at the bottom, crashing into the water with a splash that would have rivaled most aquatic-centric theme parks.
The surface of the pond bubbled for a few minutes.
Eventually, the bubbling stopped.
Eventually, a few crickets dared to chirp again and the birds joined in with their own chorus.
Eventually, the dust settled around the field of destruction that had moments ago been a lovely kitchen filled with memories.
And then everything was still.
The still surface of the small pond that lay on the Apple property remained so for only a moment. There was a great rush from the depths below, as a hideously deformed creature pulled itself from the sunken bank. Completely covered in mud, it was unrecognizable, and dragged with it a second figure of similar size, this one also covered in mud but still and seemingly lifeless. The first figure threw the second against a tree, leaving it there for only a moment while a rope was retrieved, and the still form was then bound it several times to the base.
The second figure contained for now, the first seemed satisfied with its work, and ran off on all fours down the road that led away from the Apple Farm. It passed Applejack coming up the road, and quickened its pace, knowing that she would not take kindly to having her home destroyed. She glanced in suspicion towards the small mud monster, but continued on her way without incident until she reached the back door.
It was at this moment that the last thing the visitor heard before getting out of earshot was a long stream of loud, unrepeatable obscenities.
"How about now, Spike?" Twilight had grown weary of searching the town top to bottom for the alien, and with a heavy heart came to the realization that if he didn't want to be found, he probably wouldn't be found. She was trying to distract herself by organizing the Library, a feat which even then didn't make her feel any better.
"We've alphabetized everything three times, Twilight," Spike said, jumping down off the ladder. "I don't think this is going to satisfy you at all."
"Well something has to!" She began to pace once more, restless.
"Ponyville is filled with aliens that we need to send home immediately, thankfully Pinkie and Fluttershy seem to have found ones that aren't problematic. Yet. The sooner we get them all home and close the rift, the better."
"I guess," Spike said. "I kinda like Stitch though. It's hard being the only one of your kind in the whole town."
"Aw, Spike," Twilight said, putting her foreleg around him. "You know we'll all help you however we can."
"Yeah, I suppose," he sighed.
There was a loud bang from the lower level at that moment, and Twilight immediately stepped in front of Spike. "Wait here," she demanded. She prepared a teleport spell, but at the last moment Spike latched himself onto her leg. Twilight flashed to the lower level, and glared at him.
"You're not leaving me behind again! Something might happen to you!"
Twilight turned her gaze to the front door, which had been torn off its hinges by what appeared to be a mud monster of some sort.
"What is it?" Stitch asked.
Twilight frowned, and gave Spike's tail a very gentle yank. Spike gasped with surprise and a flaming fireball erupted from his mouth. It hit the intruder, whereupon the mud quickly hardened and rendered the creature immobile.
"You could have asked," Spike said, rubbing his tail.
"No time... had to react. Sorry, Spike."
Spike crossed his arms.
"I'll take you to see Rarity when this is all over with?" Twilight asked.
Spike melted a bit. "You're forgiven," he said.
Meanwhile, Twilight approached the intruder, and summoned a large hammer in front of her, which was surrounded by a misty purple aura. The hammer cracked down on the intruder, and the hardened mud fell away in pieces to the floor, revealing a traumatized small alien with bright blue fur.
"Oh no!" Twilight gasped.
"Oh no!" Spike repeated.
"Oh no?" Stitch asked.
"Oh YEAH!" Pinkie shouted, bursting out of the nearby cabinet.
Twilight gave her the most obnoxiously evil look she possibly could.
"Sorry!" Pinkie said. "I'm in the next chapter, and I didn't wanna wait."
"PINKIE." Twilight said firmly.
"Okay, okay!" The party pony disappeared back into the cabinet and shut the doors.
Twilight turned her gaze on Stitch, and looked at him very carefully. "Start explaining," she said.
Stitch did just that, making wild diving motions with his arms, explosion noises, and miming fireworks in the sky. He swung his claws like a crane, shouting "Pew! Pew! Pew!" and eventually miming what appeared to be a lasso.
"All good," he finished.
"Oh, is that all," Spike deadpanned.
"I think you'd better show me, Stitch. This sounds important."
"Ih!" Stitch said, and ran out the door, with Twilight and Spike close behind. Twilight's horn glowed, teleporting a very confused Rarity from wherever she'd been searching.
"What? Who? Where? Twilight! What is the meaning of-"
Twilight pointed towards Stitch, still chasing after him.
"Well I suppose that's a good reason," Rarity said, and joined in the chase. The three of them were led along the outskirts of Ponyville into Sweet Apple Acres, where a fuming Applejack still stood by what was presumably a mud coated 627 tied to the tree, and he was not happy about it.
"Somepony please explain why mah house is destroyed?" Applejack hissed.
Stitch pointed towards his captive. "Red, bad. Blue, good."
Applejack wiped some of the mud off of the captive, revealing a very angry 627. She jumped backwards as he tried to bite her.
"Well ah never..."
Twilight frowned. "So if he's like Stitch, why hasn't he broken out of the rope yet?"
"Wet," Stitch said.
"That sounds like a weak plothole explanation that an author doesn't know how to explain," Spike pointed out.
"You sound like Pinkie, Spike," Twilight said. "Do you want to be the new Pinkie?"
"No..."
"Then don't question it. It's all we have right now."
Spike shrugged.
"Applejack, you're the strongest of all of us. Can you keep this alien doused in water and restrained while we figure out what to do with him?"
"Me an' Mac should be able to handle that. Ah won't let him outta my sight," Applejack promised.
"Good." Twilight sighed with relief. "Everything seems to be working out at last. The last thing we need is more drama."
Spike tugged on Twilight's tail. "Um, Twilight?"
"What, Spike?" Twilight turned.
An astral blue figure stood some distance away, framed by the slowly rising sun that was just beginning to peek over the horizon. The ponies had been up all night.
"We need to talk," Luna said.
4 - Someone Pink, Someone Blue
Author's Note
Really short installment just to prove I'm not dead yet.
4 - Someone Pink, Someone Blue
Fluttershy marched the children right up to the front door of Twilight's Library. Apple Bloom was behind her, Angel behind Bloom, and Sweetie Belle in the rear. None had spoken during the entire walk to the Library, and both fillies had their heads low to the ground. They knew they'd been caught going outside in the middle of the night, and it would be morning in a few hours. They were probably going to be grounded harder than they'd ever been grounded before.
Pointing into the Library, Fluttershy glared at them. "You two know you could have been killed, right?"
"Yes, Fluttershy." The two echoed.
"The other girls have gathered to discuss what we're going to do about Stitch," Fluttershy said. "You can tell them what you were up to."
"Do we have to?" Apple Bloom groaned.
"Yes. It's the responsible thing to do. Do you think any of us would be ignorant enough to bring an alien like that into Equestria for our own amusement?" With that she kicked the door open, only to be confronted by two figures seated at a table in the entryway. One was Pinkie, who was stuffing her face with sandwiches being handed out by the other figure.
Yet another alien.
"Yo," he said.
"Fluttershy! You gotta try this!" Pinkie squealed.
"Alright, that is it!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Will somepony please tell me where all these critters are coming from?!"
From the side room, still another large guest to add to the already crowded Library. But this one in particular was even more unexpected than all the other aliens combined.
"I think I can answer that," Princess Celestia said. "The others are already present, waiting for you. Minus Rainbow Dash, we'll have to fill her in later."
"Where's Dash?" Fluttershy asked.
"She and Scootaloo are at the Cloudsdale Cloud Corral Competition, or C4. They'll be back in a few days."
"What?!" Sweetie asked. "Why weren't we told of this?!"
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "It's obviously a clever invention meant to write several characters out of the story so the author doesn't have to deal with writing for so many characters at once."
Princess Celestia stared at her.
"Or... maybe just poor timing," Pinkie said, chomping down on another sandwich.
"...Anyway." Celestia continued. "Come with me. It's time you all got some answers, and prepared yourselves for the trials ahead."
"No more aliens?" Fluttershy asked.
"No more aliens," Celestia promised. "I'll explain everything."
Author's Note
And now a short break from the action as we see what Pinkie and Flutters are up to! (Flutters is next)
8 - Pink vs. Yellow
"So what's your name?"
Pinkie and the yellow alien were seated at one of the dining tables in Sugarcube Corner. Her normally endless displays of energy were remarkably on hold, as she wasn't exactly sure what to do with this alien or how to interact with it. She supposed the normal, conventional routes worked well enough, although there was quite a difference in common interests.
"625," the alien said, carefully squirting a container of mayonnaise onto a piece of wheat bread as if it were the last piece of bread on the entire planet.
"No, I mean, what's your name?"
"625," the alien said again. "I don't have a name. I just make sandwiches."
Pinkie gasped, that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "If you don't have a name, what did your mother call you?"
"Don't have a mother either. I was created." He didn't seem to mind too much.
The party pony had just about had enough of these awful answers, and she shook her head in disbelief. "Well, how about you show me to make a sandwich then?" She of course knew how to make sandwiches, but it couldn't hurt to extend an offer of interest into the only thing that the little guy seemed to like doing. "Then maybe afterwards we can go to the beach!"
"I do like the beach," 625 said. Finally! A break! "It's great for picnics." Alright, maybe not.
"See, what you gotta do," he continued. "Is balance your meat with your produce. Some people like to just fling a whole bunch of meat on there, but then you miss out on the other flavors, and it completely throws off your sides."
"What about alfalfa?" Pinkie asked.
625 froze. "I've never tried alfalfa... and I've tried everything."
"Then you haven't tried everything," she said cheerfully.
"TO THE KITCHEN!" 625 yelled, dashing into SugarCube Corner and pulling Pinkie along behind him.
