Philosopher of Earth

+++That evening, in Canterlot.+++

A slightly ruffled Twilight Sparkle burst into Celestia's throne room, dragging an unconscious Spike on the floor behind her.

"I'm here princess!" she wheezed. "I didn't get your message until a few hours ago..."

"Twilight!" yelled a surprised Princess Celestia. She then saw the blacked out baby dragon. "What's wrong with Spike?" she inquired.

"I had to knock him out because he didn't want to come." said Twilight. "And I will need my assistant for your task." she continued

"Oh..." said a somewhat surprised and disturbed Princess Celestia. "You might want to get him to the infirmary just in case... But you on the other hoof need to get to the Royal Guard Headquarters so you can maximize their results."

"Yes of course Princess!" said an excited Twilight, with that she promptly left the throne room, dragging the still sleeping Spike with her. Celestia sat in her throne for a moment.

"Why are you making Twilight search for this mysterious being?" came a question from the shadows. Celestia looked up to see her dark blue sister leaning on a pillar.

"Ah, Luna, I was not expecting you here."

"Most ponies get up one to two hours early before they are required, yes?" Luna stated.

"Y..." began Celestia, but was interrupted by Luna.

"I could find this monster easily, using my abilities to see dreams, so I'll ask again. Why is Twilight Sparkle looking for this unknown monster?"

"Very well. While I don't doubt your abilities Luna, far from it, I hope to test Twilight's ability to command troops, she is a princess now, and it could be an important skill to know." Celestia answered calmly. Luna looked like she was about to interrupt again, but Celestia held up a hoof. "I also hope that she can identify and learn from the monster. It has proven to be quite intelligent, learning from, or harnessing its abilities could be useful." continued Celestia.

"Harness? Dear sister, are you planning on capturing a alien that Void summoned? He has proven to be, puzzling, in the past, mayhaps this is one of his schemes?" asked Luna, looking a little worried.

"Perhaps... But when I, quote, TALKED ,unquote, to him he seemed, extremely afraid of it. In fact he seemed to be willing to be captured by us than face it again. And need I remind you, sister, no sane mind would try to break out of Tartarus. And before it slips my mind, "mayhaps" isn't used any more." corrected Celestia.

"Blast, I will never get used to this millennia... But Tartarus isn't impossible to escape, Lord Tirek proved that. And with as much tenacity, I'm certain that the monster could help Void Spark escape as well." continued Luna.

"While you do raise valid concerns, I am certain Twilight will succeed long before that happens." said Celestia. "But, if you feel the need to investigate yourself, I will not stop you. But I ask you only intervene if things go wrong." she continued.

"Yes sister..." Luna conceded. "I will think of what you said before I must raise the moon." At that, she left the throne room, leaving her sister sitting on the throne. Celestia smiled. While it is good that Luna is worried, if she goes too far it may hinder the overall search, she thought. Celestia looked at the time piece cleverly concealed on the ceiling, about one more hour until Luna would return to guard the night.

+++ One and a half hour later+++

Luna had thought about what her sister said, Yes, educating the young princess was important. But why commanding troops? There was so much else for Twilight to learn, was Celestia expecting a war soon? Surely her sister would warn Luna if she did suspect such a thing... Regardless, Luna was now soaring high above Ponyville, searching for the sleeping mind of the creature. She could see all of the ponies dreams down below.

Several ponies were still awake of course, with important jobs to do, or just too hyper to sleep. But one awake mind did catch her gaze... It looked like a normal ponies mind, until you looked at it's erratic thoughts. Another strange thing was were it was located, right in the middle of a Ponyville street. She couldn't see exactly what the thoughts were about, but it was the movement of the thoughts that was odd. They jumped, shuffled, and jerked around like a magicians set of cards... Most ponies she saw had smooth, elegant thoughts. It wasn't right, it just wasn't natural in the world of Equestria... She used her powers of the night to hide herself. Celestia had given her consent, and now Luna would investigate at her leisure... She swooped down as fast and silent as a shadow, nothing could see her, for she was, guardian of the night. Luna landed in a dark ally way. She could see a figure huddling behind a box. The only resemblance to a pony were four limbs and a head. Other than that the alien was very different. Most of it was covered in a cloak of some kind, with a strange fabric covering it's hind legs. It's skin was a deathly pale tone of peach, so pale it hardly resembled the original color at all. It's snout, was so small as to be nonexistent. It's mane, or at least where a mane would be, was a dark brown, and was ruffled. Before Luna could make any more details the creature ran across the street. By her sister, she was right there and didn't hear a whisper of sound,... She silently followed.

The tall figure crouched in front of the bakery, and pulled something out of a hidden pocket. She leaned in closer to see what it was. Two small metal rods? She was even more confused when it put the rods in the keyhole. What was this idiot of a monster doing? Her thoughts were instantly and abruptly silenced when the lock clicked open. It slide into the door, quiet as she, only a murmur of air. It slipped into the kitchen, she followed suit. It started rummaging through some cabinets and drawers. It bumped a pot and it said some words she could only presume were curse words. It then seemed to find what it was looking for. Luna wondered what it was looking for, food? Treasure? Some alien technology that it had lost? A... pot? It had pulled out a pot. The same pot it had bumped against. It seemed satisfied with it and exited. What, in her sisters name, was it thinking? There was money laying out on the counter, there was food to steal, but it had choose, a pot. She suddenly realized it was near the door, and if it closed it then she would be trapped, a door opening itself would be VERY  obvious.

Her tail slipped out just before the door clicked shut. It started making it's way down the street, clearly still trying to be careful. It suddenly stopped,mid stride in front of a store as if it had seen something. It then doubled back a short step and looked at the stores sign. Could it, read...Equestrian? Luna also read the sign. "Bags and Ink" it read. What ever interested the creature in the sign, Luna could only guess. It crouched down in front of the door again and opened the lock in the same manner. And it slipped in again, as silent as a ghost. Luna remained outside this time, in fear of getting her tail caught, and being discovered. The creature appeared soon with a bag that had a single strap, it had also lost the pot it had stolen. It rushed past her, as it passed she could've sworn it murmured something along the lines of

"Only stock two kinds of items and one of them is out..." Ink, the creature wanted ink, and the creature came out with a bag, Twilight had to have bought out all of the towns ink... Again. She almost giggled, but then realized where she was and what she was doing, that stopped her urge to giggle instantly. The creature suddenly stopped, and turned around, looking exactly where she was. Could it have heard her trying to suppress laughing? It stood there for a moment or two, then presumably deciding something, it started sneaking towards the edge of town again. When it finally reached the edge of town, it was near the Everfree Forest. The figure dashed into the treeline and left the town behind. Luna could not follow, brushing against leaves would give her away, and the trees made it too thick to follow from the air. Deciding, that it might be best to leave the creature alone for the rest of the night, Luna started flying towards Canterlot, to document her discoveries.

+++ 45 minutes earlier +++

I had already been awake for three hours, preparing myself for my endeavor into the potentially hostile town. Night had just fallen as I started from the tool shed. The moon wasn't full, but it was bright, I could see most details clearly. So as I passed the barn, something caught my eye. Something glittered in the moonlight on a bench. Wary of any one still in the barn, I took a closer look. Two unusually thin nails that had their heads broken off. I thought for a moment. Any doors could be locked, while I had never picked a lock before, it couldn't be that hard right? So I took both nails. One never knew when something could be handy, especially when you think ahead... I then traveled through the darkness to the edge of the town. It was completely deserted, some lights were on, but so few as to be nothing to worry about. I crouched behind a shipping box. Then I felt as if someone were watching me, I looked around, no one. That was very strange, usually that feeling is ALWAYS right, unless in a paranormaly active area but that's another story. I choose to ignore it. I dashed across the abandoned street to hide behind another box. I still had the feeling. What. The. Hell.

I continued like this until I found a bakery. There had to be a pot in there. I checked if it was locked. Sure enough. Time to test those two nails I found. I had some idea of what I was doing, but I was far from adequate. I wiggled the two pieces of metal in the lock randomly. Click. Well fuck me. It worked. I opened the door slowly, and rushed in, quiet as a specter. I went behind the counter, presuming the door to the kitchens was there. I guessed correctly. I rummaged in the drawers and pantries. In one I accidentally caused a pan to hit a pot. I cursed under my breath, someone could have heard that. As I thought this, I realized that feeling still hadn't gone away. I grabbed the pot and closed the door I was searching in. Everything in the kitchen seemed to be as it was, minus the pot that was now in my hand. I quickly made my way out, closing the door behind me. I now had what I needed, time to get the hell out of town. So, I started my way back towards the way I came.

Half way down the street something caught my eye that made me stop in my tracks however. I looked back at what had my attention. A sign that said "Bags and Ink." Ink, I thought. Ink came in black, black was a stealthy color, it would help cover my glowing white shoes and blue jeans, although I would despise ruining them. But wasting pants and a pair of shoes would beat me dying, so I knelt in front of the door and began to pick the lock. Click. Twice in a row? What sick, sadistic, dice god did I please this time? I went inside. Looking for ink. Annnd... they were out. Every color, every bottle, yes gone. I looked around, the only products in the store were bags that hung on a rack. A bag would be nice, if I gathered enough supplies to need to fill one, and my hoodies front pocket would be awkward to walk around with stuff inside. I sorted through the bags until I found one of decent size and could be carried by a human, with some minor adjustments. I stuffed the pot in the bag and started on my way out when I realized something. I didn't have that someone-is-watching-me feeling anymore. Something was up. Someone had to have been watching me before. Maybe waiting outside for me. I peered outside. No one. Ooookay... My mind was playing tricks on itself. I went outside and closed the door carefully behind me. I walked a little ways.

"Only stock two kinds of items and one of them is out..." I complained to myself. Suddenly I was certain, someone was watching me. I, feeling like going straight to the shack would've been foolish, decided to head back towards the Everfree forest and loop around to the orchard. Suddenly I heard something behind me. The beginnings of a giggle that was suddenly muted. I turned around. No one. But now I knew I wasn't crazy, about being watched that is, someone was there with me. My eyes were lying, but my more sensitive ears told the blatant truth. I rushed down the street, careful to keep acting as if I didn't know someone was there, still hiding here and there. With the final stretch between the woods and the treeline, I made a mad dash into the brush.