"I Just Happened To Be In The Neighborhood."

Prologue.

Twas a dark day when THEY came to Equestria, they arrived with a whole armada of air ships, arriving from out of nowhere and blocking out the very warmth of the sun with their presence; bleaching out the lush colors of Equestria with their artificial searchlights. Scanning Equestria, but for what? What could they possibly want? those questions and more plagued the mind of filly and mare alike as ponies of all shapes and sizes skirted around their gazes, hiding from their cannon’s that gleamed in the sunlight that they blocked out.

Three long days passed as the armada from the unknown hovered above all of Equestria, and to the amazement, they purpose there had been surprising and at the same time, rather underwhelming; for on the fourth day, early in the morning, a lone being from the ship hovered down to the planet’s surface, dressed in loose fitting, light, clothes, and a stand-alone-hood that everypony swore was just some pajamas and a nightcap, a point furthered by the bags under the being’s eyes and distant look in said eyes that screamed, “It’s too early for this bullS**T...”

The being yawned as he paced out about 20 or 30 strides, everypony watched in silence as being opened his mouth to speak, quite surprised to find that he was fluent in Equestrian.

“Alright, I’m good!, drop the pods!” the being called out to the ships above. Pod? Everypony watched with cautious eyes as a hatch in the ship above him opened, and many fainted as the pod slammed into the ground, shaking the earth as the pod left a crater in the earth, and it was only the first of many..

Equestria watched with stifled screams as pod after pod pounded that same spot. each one building off the other as each pod formed a segment in what was become a heavily armed watchtower.

Ship after ship, passing in shifts, added a segment onto the tower before leaving the planet from whence they came; and by the time the last ship left, the being’s watchtower towered over Equestria-- no pun intended, reaching into the heavens. However, days passed, and not once did the tower’s weapons activate. One per day the being would leave the Tower, go for a run, and then go home, sometimes It even waved to the ponies in the street. Everypony was conflicted, It came to Equestria with escorts and a tower armed to the teeth! Yet here it was, acting like a new neighbor who just moved in, always dressed in pajamas and a nightcap and always looking like he’d been up way too late.

Eventually the residents of Tall Tale, the location of the Tower, decided to call upon the aid of the Princesses’. The Mayor explained the situation to the Order of Friendship and the Princesses of Sun, Moon and Love and of course the Princesses’ agreed to come speak to It; after all it’s rather hard to ignore a GIANT watchtower with CANONS, moving in like there’s nothing wrong.

It is here that our story begins, with Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Order of Friendship bound for the small town of Tall Tale to confront the Tower of the Unknown.