Fluttershy had just finished her grocery shopping. She was trotting merrily along the streets, carrying a basket filled with lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, and plenty of carrots for her beloved pet Angel Bunny. The yellow pegasus hummed a happy tune, and her long mane floated delicately behind her. It was such a beautiful day; the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, and Fluttershy felt so relaxed, she couldn't help but daydream a little.
Then suddenly... Thud.
“Oh… I am terribly sorry!” The pegasus had walked smack into somepony, dropping her basket full of vegetables.
As a couple of tomatoes rolled across the ground, Fluttershy wanted to hastily pick them up before somepony stepped on them, but her polite nature got the better of her. She looked up into the eyes of the pony she had bumped into, to give a more sincere apology.
The timid pegasus gasped, when she realised the creature she had collided with was in fact not a pony at all – at least, it looked nothing like any pony she had ever seen.
“Naaay…Brrrhhhh…” said the animal.
“Oh my… urm… sir… I am sorry I just… urm…” Fluttershy stuttered, gawking at the sight of the beast.
It was huge, nearly twice her size, and covered in brown fur. It looked strange, and her eyes struggled to adjust to the bizarre style of its overall appearance. It had four legs, two ears, and a tail, just like most regular mammals. Yet it looked nothing like any 'regular mammal' that Fluttershy had come across before.
The pegasus stared in amazement, as the creature started poking at the ground with one of its hooves. That is when Fluttershy noticed that around the animals mouth and head was a strange thick strap.
“What… what’s this? Urm… Sir… you’ve got something stuck around your…”
“Naaahhhyyy!!” The creature replied.
Fluttershy was afraid, but she felt sorry for the animal, having that thing around it’s face. So, she gathered her courage and lifted a gentle hoof, in an attempt to remove the strap.
The beast was having none of it,
“Naaahhhhhhyyyyyy!!!!” It cried, when Fluttershy’s hoof came nearer.
“Eepp!!!” The filly squealed, and ran for her life.
*********** Twenty minutes later ***************
“There it is. Do you see it?” Fluttershy turned to the pink earth pony on her right, who gawked in amazement at the creature, which was still standing in the middle of the street.
Fluttershy could see the other Ponyville residents staring at the beast from a safe distance, some were inside their houses, others peeping from behind buildings and trees, and a few pegasi were watching from overhead clouds.
“Wow!! It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before!” Pinkie Pie gasped, “There’s only one explanation!”
The frizzy haired mare pulled Fluttershy closer, and whispered rather loudly into her ear, “He’s an ALIEN!!!”
Fluttershy gulped; she had never seen an alien before.
“What do we do?” She whispered back, far more quietly,
“There’s only one thing TO DO!” Pinkie replied, and darted over to the beast.
A few ponies gasped, including Fluttershy – Pinkie Pie was either incredibly brave, or incredibly crazy, most likely the latter.
The pink pony stood before the strange creature, and scratched her chin a little, as though trying to figure out its purpose.
And then, she burst into song.
“Hello there Mr Alien, welcome to Ponyville!
We are so glad to meet you, so don’t just stand there still!
There’s so much fun to have here, why don’t you come see?
Welcome Mr Alien, love from your new friend PINKIIIIEEE!”
There was a moment of silence, and then the alien let off a final “Naaayy” and charged off in direction of the Apple Farm.
“Oh no…” Fluttershy whispered as the large creature darted past her.
“What?” Pinkie Pie shrugged, “He’s just following my advice, there’s lots of fun to be had at the Apple farm!”
“We have to stop him!” Fluttershy told her friend, “He’s so big… and so strong… he could destroy the…”
“On it!” A blue Pegasus pony with a rainbow mane and tail suddenly swooped down from the sky and pursued the beast.
To the other ponies relief, Rainbow Dash was much faster than the alien. She caught up to him in no time, and grabbed hold of his hind legs. She managed to hold him back, as her own legs scraped along the dirt casting deep skid marks into the ground. The creature finally stopped, and Rainbow Dash grinned, thinking she had won. But then... he bucked.
Rainbow's body was thrashed around as she maintained a firm grip on the alien’s muscular hind legs. A few other pegasi had flown down to help, but the beast was kicking frantically, they didn’t have a chance to grasp him. Rainbow Dash managed to hold on for a rather impressive few minutes, before the alien shook her off, and tossed her exhausted body into the sky.
“Oh no!” Pinkie Pie cried, “I’ve just realised something!”
“That he’s heading straight for our friends home?” Rainbow Dash asked as she rapidly brushed the dirt off her wings,
“No!” Pinkie replied, “I’ve just realised that thing can’t possibly be an alien!”
“Huh?” Rainbow was actually distracted for a second by that statement,
“If he was an alien,” Pinkie Pie proceeded, “Than he would have zapped you! With his special space powers! But he didn’t, he just kicked you! So, that thing must be….”
“Gone.” Fluttershy interrupted, and true to her words, the creature was gone.
“Nooo!!!” Rainbow and Pinkie Pie cried together, and the three of them headed off after the ‘none-alien.’
To their horror, they followed the creature’s tracks all the way to the Apple Farm, which is where their earth pony friend Applejack lived and worked. The Apple Farm was very precious to AJ, she took great care of the place, as it was her family’s legacy.
The three friends were devastated to find that the main gate to the farm had been utterly destroyed. The pathway leading to the farm house was covered in pieces of it's wood, as well as huge, deep hoof prints... but the beast hadn’t stopped there. He had run across the fields, damaging plants, and it would appear that he had also crashed into a few trees, knocking down branches, along with many apples before their prime.
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash stood wide eyed and open mouthed, looking at all of the destruction. Then, they saw the culprit, standing outside the barn, casually chewing on some grass, showing no remorse for his actions.
Pinkie was ready to charge over and give him a piece of her mind, when all of a sudden, the barn doors opened.
“Well that’s the haystacks piled up, what’s next on the agenda Winona?” Applejack was carrying her list of chores, and talking to her faithful pet dog, who also worked on the farm.
“Hmm… water the new saplings!” She read, “a task I for one thoroughly enjoy! It’s so exciting when they first start to sprout! I can hardly contain mah-self!”
The orange earth pony then glanced up from her list, and she saw it all.
She noticed the broken gate, the dirty hoof prints, the damaged plants, and the pre-bucked apples. Her face dropped, her mouth fell wide open, and then her eyes fell upon... him.
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash covered their faces. They didn’t want to see the fury Applejack was going to impale onto this creature. The farm was her life, her whole world; there was nothing more precious to her.
“Wh….who…is…THAT?” Apple Jack stared at the beast, and took a few slow steps forward.
“Huh?” The three friends said simultaneously.
“My, my, what a strong build. What magnificent reins. You are… Sir you are… I think... I…”
“What?” Rainbow Dash called aloud,
Applejack seemed oblivious to her friends presence. She approached the creature and was blushing intensely, shuffling her orange hooves across the dirt, and making dozey go-go eyes at his face.
“Could ah get… ya name?” Her voice was soft, it sounded almost as though the farm pony was under a spell.
“Naaayyyyy!” The animal replied at last,
“Well Mr Nay. I sure think you are mighty fine.” Applejack seemed to be struggling to hold herself off the creature. Her body kept swaying towards him, and she never lost eye contact with his long, oddly shaped face.
“What’s a dashing fellar like you doing in a place like this?” She fluttered her eyelashes.
“Naaayyy Brrr!!” The animal replied,
“Oh, so you’re foreign.” Apple Jack gave a huge goofy grin, “That’s kinda… wow.”
“Okay enough of this!” Rainbow flew over to the two. “What the heck are you doing AJ? This monster destroyed half your farm! She stomped,
“Oh hey Rainbow Dash.” The farm pony said dreamily, “Have you met Nay? He’s from some tropical far off region. We were just thinking about grabbing some coffee or something… well, I was thinking about… uhh…” She blushed again, and gave a quick glance at Nay, then toward the ground.
“AJ?? AJ look at me!” Rainbow frantically waved her hooves in front of her friend’s face, but Apple Jack was smitten.
“This is ridiculous!” The blue Pegasus flew back over to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.
“I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied, “They do look kinda happy.”
"Urghh!" Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead with her hoof,
“I agree!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “What we need is a love expert!”
“A love expert?” The two pegasi questioned,
“To Rarity!” Pinkie announced, before grabbing her two friends and dragging them back across Ponyville, toward the Carousel Boutique.
They soon arrived at their friend Rarity’s work place. It was a beautiful building where dresses and other outfits were both made and sold. As usual, the glamorous unicorn was busy at work, applying the finishing touches to her latest masterpiece. She was so wrapped up in her sewing, that she at first didn't notice the three ponies.
“Rarity! Rarityyyyyy!” Pinkie Pie shouted, making the unicorn jump.
“Oh, Pinkie Pie. It’s good to see you.” Rarity smiled politely, she had gotten quite used to Pinkies behaviour.
“Aw Rar, it’s always good to see you too! How nice of you to say!” Pinkie smiled and hugged her friend,
“Ahem…” Rainbow interrupted, when the hug went on for a little too long.
“Oh I’m sorry Rainbow.” Pinkie Pie turned around, “Did you want a hug too?”
“No!” Rainbow Dash pushed Pinkie back before the chirpy pony could grab onto her, “Rarity, there’s a problem! You see Applejack…”
Pinkie butted in, “Oh yeah! Rarity, Applejack has a boyfriend!”
“A what?” The unicorn was stunned for a moment, but then she started to chuckle. “Oh Pinkie you are silly, Applejack doesn’t have any interest in love, she has no time for that kind of…”
“It’s true.” Fluttershy finally got a word in, “Well, sort of, she mentioned they were going on a date…”
“A date!? Really?" Rarity was suddenly brimming with excitement, “But Applejack doesn’t know the first thing about dating! When is this date? Where are they?” She shook Fluttershy a little, then released her when the pegasi looked frightened.
“Urm.. well they were near the Apple farm… but…” Fluttershy answered, a little nervously.
“Then we have no time to lose! My dress will have to wait! This is far, far more urgent!” Rarity turned away from her work and set off out the door, “Nothing is more important than love!”
The ponies tried to warn Rarity about the strange creature, but the unicorn refused to judge her friend’s bizarre taste in men.
"I'm sure he's wonderful." She said confidently as they galloped along, "After all, if he's managed to woo Applejack, there must be something really special about him."
"Oh... he's special alright." Rainbow Dash replied.
They didn't have to look far, and soon came across Applejack, who was walking side by side with her new boyfriend, Nay.
“Oh… my…” Rarity raised an eyebrow.
“See, we told ya.” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Oh hey Rarity.” Applejack still had a dreamy, vacant expression, “This here is Nay, he’s new to the area, so I’m just showin’… showin’… him… around…” She sighed, leaving the unicorn stuck for words.
Rarity stared at Nay. He was like nothing she had ever seen before. She froze in place, and watched silently as Applejack and Nay headed off in the direction of the town.
“What… is he?” She asked at last.
“We don’t know!” Rainbow Dash answered, "That's the problem!"
“He just appeared here in Ponyville this morning.” Fluttershy added.
“Then I sang him a song!” Pinkie Pie began to sing,
“Hello there Mr Alien, welcome to Ponyville!
We are so glad to meet you, so don’t just stand there still!
There’s so much fun to have here, why don’t you come see?
Welcome Mr Alien, love from your new friend PINKIIIIEEE!”
She then quickly added, “Oh, we thought he was an alien back then, but he can’t be, because he doesn’t have LASER POWERS!”
“I… see.” Was all Rarity could say.
Fluttershy then spoke up, “Urm… guys… maybe, maybe we should get Twilight’s opinion?” She suggested.
“That’s a great idea Fluttershy!” Pinkie patted her friend on the head, which the pegasus found a little patronising, “Perhaps aliens only use their lasers in extreme circumstances, I’m sure Twilight can tell us!”
“Enough about aliens!” Rainbow Dash shouted, "let’s go!"
The group headed to the castle, where Princess Twilight was lounging casually in her throne, reading a rather large book about Ancient Equestrian Civilisation.
As usual, Pinkie had no problem interrupting her friend,
“Twilight!” She bellowed at the top of her lungs.
The purple alicorn jumped a little and dropped her book, before turning to the others. Her majestic golden crown nearly fell clear off her head, and she had to adjust it back into place.
“Pinkie, don’t do that, you startled me!” She said,
Pinkie was about to say something, but Rainbow Dash felt it was best for her to speak up this time,
“Twilight, Applejack is dating this… thing, we don’t know what it is, but it’s dangerous, and we need your help. She could be in serious trouble!”
At that statement, the Princess leapt to her feet, “What? Applejack’s in trouble? Where is she?” She said, spreading her wings.
With their alicorn Princess friend accompanying them, the ponies headed off to once again track down Applejack and Nay. They found the couple sitting outside the Ponyville Café, sipping some hot chocolate. Well, Applejack was sipping some hot chocolate, Nay just had a mug of it placed in front of him, and was standing there staring at the drink.
Twilight was incredibly stunned at the sight of the strange animal, and a little afraid, but she was far too concerned for the safety of her friend to let that immobilize her for more than a few seconds.
“Applejack, what are you doing? Get away from that thing! It could be dangerous!” She warned,
“Heyyy Twi,” Applejack waved her hoof, “This here’s Nay, he’s mah new boyfriend… aint he dreamy?”
Twilight’s eyes shifted from Applejack, to Nay, and then back to Applejack.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, “I’m not even sure what he is!”
“What the blazes are ya talking about?” The earth pony sounded a little annoyed, “He’s foreign; that’s all, from a different place.”
“Clearly.” Twilight agreed before adding, “A different universe maybe!”
This angered AJ, she finally turned her attention from Nay, and onto the alicorn Princess. “Now look here Twilight! If you don’t like foreigners then that’s something you and your narrow mind are gonna have to overcome yourselves, cos me and Nay are gona be together for a long time. We are in love!”
“In love?!” Twilight snapped, “You just met him today! He’s not even a pony! I’ve read all about mystical creatures and I’ve never heard about anything like that before!”
“Now you hold on just a minute there!” Applejack was now furious, “You can’t lecture me about love Twilight, you’re the Princess of 'Friendship'. If I wanted love advice, then I’d go to Cadance, but I don’t! I’m perfectly happy with mah new boyfriend, and if you can’t accept that then…”
Suddenly, Nay turned his long head to face Twilight.
“Nay? What are ya doing?” Applejack asked, concerned.
“Brrrrhhh” Nay replied, as he approached the Princess.
“Wha… you can’t be serious?” The earth ponies eyes welled up, and she looked as though she was going to cry,
Twilight just stared, confused and afraid, as the bizarre creature came very, very close to her.
Nay raised his front hoof slowly toward the Princess’s mane, and with a single tap, he knocked the crown right off her head. Then, Nay lifted the crown by hooking his front hoof around the frame. Finally, he leapt straight into the Café window, which just so happened to be a portal, back to his own world.
