Philosopher of Earth

+++The next morning, with the freakishly tall alien+++

I awoke to something very startling. Something, had just crashed right outside the shack, it had landed with a meaty thud and was followed by some moaning. Curious, but still being wary, I looked outside the shack. Sure enough, something had crashed right outside. It was a lightish blue, and I had no idea what it was. So I cautiously stepped outside and approached. I was about a meter away when it tried to stand up, but fell back down again. This scared me, I admit, but if something that just crashed is trying to move, then wow. As I now was very close, I realized it was a light blue pegasus, with a rainbow mane and tail. She, as I had also noticed, was still conscious, but just barely. Her wing was also bent at an awkward angle, so that meant her wing was probably broken. She tried stirring again, and failed. I looked around, if I left her here, then I could be discovered, so I would have to move her. But I couldn't move her if her wing was broken, at least not without a splint. And a splint was like holding up a sign that said "Hey I'm here, come shoot me!" Cursing, I debated this dilemma. The pegasus moaned. Curse whatever diety watched over this land, I couldn't do nothing, I decided to splint her wing. I found a decently sized strong stick, and gathered some long grass. Not very sanitary I know, but sacrificing some of my clothing risked my own survival, and camouflage. I soon had her wing in a decent splint, not the best but all it needed to do was survive until a hospital, if there was such a facility in this place.Unfortunately however, she briefly awoke from her blackout.

"Wha...?" she stammered. My cover was blown. Fuck. But then I suddenly realized that my head was in between her eyes and the sun, so all she saw was a silhouette. Thank goodness. And ungracefully, the mare passed out again. Careful not to jostle the broken wing, I picked her up. She was surprisingly light, I guess she needed to be in order to fly. Remembering the direction of the barn, I started walking carrying the blacked out pegasus over my shoulders. I finally saw the barn through the trees. Deciding that I had come far enough, I gently laid the sleeping mare down, taking care not to further injure her wing. I then dashed back into the shadows, in case no one came, I would standby, just in case. Fortunately I wasn't needed any more as three ponies soon almost tripped over the sleeping mare.

"Ooh! Ooh! I found her!" yelled a bouncing pink mare.

"Pinkie we know!" said a disgruntled Applejack, it took me a moment to recognize her. The purple "alicorn" was also with them.

"Oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash! Are you oka..." she stopped when she saw the splint. The mare, "Rainbow Dash", started to stir.

"Wha happon?" she mumbled, clearly disoriented. "Who was that?"

"What?" asked the confused "alicorn"

"I dunno, one minute I'm high in the sky, the next flat on my back with someone looming over me." this "Rainbow Dash" replied while checking herself over.

"What did they look like?" asked the alicorn.

"I don't know! the sun was behind their head so I couldn't see him, her, it, something!" the wounded mare shouted. Realizing she wouldn't get any answers from Rainbow Dash, the alicorn started looking at my handy work.

"Do you suppose they did this?" she asked, indicating the splint.

"Well obviously! I sure didn't do it! Ow!" Rainbow Dash had touched her wing "I think it's broken."

"Then we better get you ta the hospital." Said Applejack. Good to know there are hospitals. The three ponies then picked up the maimed Rainbow Dash and began slowly walking back towards the village. I waited for a few minutes. During that time I realized how thirsty I was. Curses. Water should take priority over food. While the apples juices may have helped some, it was not a replacement. So I wandered the orchard, searching for a stream or other source of fresh water. Thankfully my suspicions were correct, an orchard had to have a source of water, and I happened across a stream. I tasted it, good it was fresh and didn't have any unsanitary taste. While it was good for the moment, I would have to boil future water so I didn't get sick. And that meant a fire, and a pot. Fire meant exposure, and I didn't have a pot.

Unfortunately I didn't have a choice, so I had to steal a pot and risk exposure. I decided I would sneak into the town that night. Odds are someone had to have a pot there, and I could search for other materials that I don't realize I need just yet. With my decision made, I grabbed a few apples off a nearby tree and started back towards the shack, if I was going to sneak around at night, I would need my wits about me, and that meant more rest. But as I got there, I realized that the crashed pegasi had left a crater. I quickly did some math, if a four foot tall pony, that weighed maybe about 90 pounds, left a crater like that? It looked like the crash site of a UFO or something, gouge marks, dirt piled up at the sides and everything... Just how fast was she going? Thinking that if found, this would be an obvious place to start looking for yours truly. So I packed the dirt back into place, and made it look as natural as possible. It wasn't perfect, it now looked like a bare patch of dirt, but it was the best I could do. It was about mid morning by then, but speaking from experience for late nights, it was time to start resting.

+++At the Ponyville Hospital, a half an hour later+++

"Okay Miss Dash, as you know, we'll have to keep you here for the next few days." said the local pony doctor.

"Yea, okay...I've been meaning to reread Daring Do lately anyway..." said the laying form of Rainbow Dash. She had a stack of Daring Do books on the nightstand, and was already opening the first one. The makeshift stick and long grass were gone, now replaced with a plaster cast. Surrounding Rainbow Dash were her five closest friends, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight. The latter nudged the doctor, silently gesturing for a talk away from everypony else. He obliged, and walked out of the room with her.

"I know what you’re going to ask." he began. "No. I do not know about the contraption Rainbow had on her wing."

"So, you thought it was odd as well?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, it was odd. But whoever did it knew, or at least had a notion, of what they were doing." said the doctor. "If you wish to examine it, I haven't thrown it out yet." he added.

"No, I don't think that would be ness..."

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Twilight was interrupted by a very angry shout. "I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FOR THE PAST 24 HOURS!" Twilight turned to find a very angry baby dragon storming up a flight of stairs, in his claws was clutched a now very wrinkled scroll.

"Oh, I'm sorry Spike, I was at PInkie's helping her make a new special kind of cake." Twilight apoligized.

"You could have at least told me you were at Pinkies!" Spike yelled.

"I thought I left a note..." began Twilight.

"I don't care what you may or may not have left, this came YESTERDAY morning!" the little dragon then threw the scroll on the ground and stormed back down the stairs.

"Yesterday?" stumbled Twilight. She opened the wrinkled scroll and quickly read it. The confused doctor was about to turn back into the room when suddenly Twilight gasped. She dropped the open scroll on the ground and half ran half flew down the stairs.

"SPIKE! START PACKING MY BOOKS!" she yelled frantically. Four confused mares poked their heads out of the room.

"What's goin on?" asked Applejack. The doctor shrugged and said,

"She read that and just ran after that dragon." They looked at the discarded scroll.

"Should we read it?" asked Rarity.

"Ah'm not sure if we should, but it could be important." replied Applejack.

"If it scared Twilight, then I don't want to read it." Fluttershy said timidly.

"I LOVE guessing games! I bet it's about a sinister monster that may or may not try to kill everypony! And now Celestia wants Twilight to help find it!" Pinkie happily yelled.

"Oh, pleeease Pinkie... It surely can't be that..." said Rarity. Reaching a unspoken agreement, they picked up the scroll and read it together.

"Pinkie... Ah swear to Celestia... How the buck do you do that?" asked a mildly depressed Applejack.

"I dunno! It just hits me... CAKE!" Pinkie looked as if she remembered something and ran down the stairs. The three remaining mares looked at each other, until Fluttershy spoke up.

"I...I...I have to...um...look...animals...monster...BYE!" She left in a hurry not associated with Fluttershy.

"Now whut?" Applejack asked after a moment.

"I'm not exactly sure... Celestia only wanted Twilight, so maybe she can handle the monster on her own? Maybe we should stay in Ponyville and see if we can find anything out of the ordinary?" asked Rarity.

"Ah think yer right..." said Applejack, "Maybe whatever it is might show it's face while she's gone..."

"Yes, indeed..." sighed Rarity. She then poked her head into the hospital room and said, "Rainbow! We'll be back tomorrow!" Rarity went unnoticed as Rainbow Dash was nose deep in the very real world of Daring Do. Smiling slightly at the ex-hypocrite, the two went to their respective homes.

+++ At the same moment, outside of Ponyville +++

Silver Star and Nimbus Light had finally stumbled into sight of Ponyville. After going over and over the now deciphered mess had left them both exhausted. They had made their way slowly up the winding road, not finding one trace of the creature leaving it. Meaning, it had found the small town, not a doubt remained. Unfortunately, any further tracks to be found were now trampled by ponies going about their daily lives. So tracking the alien the same way was no longer an option. The two unicorns could no longer do anything until the creature showed itself, or until they thought of some new ideas for finding it. Until then, they had to rest, and regroup. The two exhausted unicorns made their way to a local inn.

"One room please..." asked a worn Silver Star. The mare behind the counter smirked and said.

"Rest and relaxation is right..." the mare winked. Silver glared at her, making it obvious that the two Royal Guardsmen were in no mood to play games.

"One room..." the mare echoed, having gotten the message. They paid with a Royal Business check. We don't have the budget for two rooms... thought Silver Star has the two unicorns helped each other up the stairs.

"In the morning send a report to the Princess..." Nimbus said at the rooms door. Inside, the two beds waiting for them were too tempting for them to take off their armor. They just plopped into the separate beds and began to snore.