Philosopher of Earth

+++ The next morning, the Apple family orchard +++

I got up early, not because I was well rested, in fact I was still tired. But because I had been worrying about the trap, did it fail? Had it fallen over? My stomach growled each time the answer rose above "maybe". I needed something to be in that cage, my long term survival depended on it. Desperate for some protein, I made my way to the trap. It had triggered, yes... I looked inside. There was a frightened rabbit huddled on the far side away from me. I couldn't help but feel sorry for it. I had killed wild animals before, but each time it was out of necessity, and each time I felt kind of sad for the victim in the end. Fortunately I was always able to end an animal's suffering quickly. I laid on the ground, using my body to prevent the rabbit from escaping, and grabbed the luckless creature. It struggled in my grasp, unfortunately for it I have spent much of my life grasping a video game controller.

"I'm sorry, truly I am. But my survival comes before a rabbit." I whispered. "I'll try to make it quick." I quickly grabbed its neck and snapped it. The rabbit struggled briefly and went limp, the pulse underneath my fingers stopped. I tried not to think about the potentially hostile reactions of anything that saw the deed as I skinned and gutted the rabbit with my pocket knife. I had essentially done the same thing on deer, and it wasn't that much different. I soon had a four limbed chunk of meat that could be roasted. I left the skin, head, and organs in a pile, hidden behind a bush, any predators in the area would clean them up. I wiped the blade of the knife on the grass, folded it, and put it back into my pocket. I had to eat it soon before it spoiled, so I built a fire nearby, and soon had a roasted rabbit ready to eat. Without seasoning, it was bland and somewhat tasteless, but I didn't complain, my stomach now had the nutrients it needed and was content. I made sure to waste as little meat as possible as I ate off the bone. I didn't want the poor rabbit think it was being wasted on a whim.

Finally all I had were a pile of bones that had been picked clean, I tossed those with the other left overs behind the bush as well. It was about late mid morning now, and I couldn't think of anything more I had to do, so I went back to the shack, taking the stick cage with me. When I got there, I sat inside and started to think about what to do next.

+++ That same morning, Fluttershy's cottage +++

Since the reading of Princess Celestia's letter, Fluttershy and started fortifying her cottage, and making sure all of the animals she cared for were present and accounted for. There was no way in Tartarus that she would have even one of them get eaten by a monster. Some of them however and spread out far and wide, and had still yet to come back to the general safety of her yard. Fluttershy poked her head over the makeshift wall around her yard that she and her animals had built in the last two days. On her head was one of the helmets that Twilight had given her friends so they could watch the dragon migration with her. She never went of course, because, well, dragons... But she kept the helmet for reasons she couldn't quite fathom. Animals were still coming to her yard every few minutes, but it wasn't until a frantic rabbit had come pounding on her leg until she realized something was wrong.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked the excited creature. The rabbit started making wild gestures that could've meant anything.

"Slow down... You'll get sick if you move too much..." said the shy pegasus. After taking a few deep breathes, the rabbit began it's tale again, slower.

"You and a friend were coming here..." Fluttershy translated out loud. "But then your friend saw a carrot laying on the ground... And when he moved it, a..... A cage trapped your friend?!? He needs help?! Well why didn't you say so..." asked a now even more worried Fluttershy. "Show me where your friend is!" she told the rabbit. The rabbit did a kind of salute and dashed off, Fluttershy zoomed after it, flying at a speed only the emergency Fluttershy was capable of.

The rabbit lead Fluttershy to a remote area outside of the Apple families orchard. It suddenly stopped, still wanting to go forward, but unable to do so.

"Is this the place?" asked Fluttershy. The rabbit shook its head no, then pointed ahead towards a group of trees. "Is that where your friend is?" asked Fluttershy, the rabbit nodded. "Go on then..." encouraged the pegasus, she gently pushed the rabbit forward, the rabbit shook its head wildly and darted behind some invisible line. "What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked the scared rabbit. The rabbit then pointed at its nose, and took a huge breath through it. "Smell?" asked a confused Fluttershy. The rabbits head nodded up and down. "Okay..." said the timid pony. She sniffed. She had never smelt anything like that before, but every fiber of her being told her to run away... What was near those trees? She thought to herself. She started to fly forwards a little, then backed away when the smell got too strong. "Come on Fluttershy! You've out stared a cockatrice, intimidated a dragon, and helped save Equestria who knows how many times!" she cried. "You can't be scared of some trees? Right?" she looked back at the nearby trees that told her to run far away. "Yes I am..." she whimpered. She took a large breath, through her mouth, and pulled together what little courage she had. "You can do this... You can do this..." she repeated to herself as she strode forwards. The urge to run away got stronger and stronger, but she fought it off, reminding herself that a helpless rabbit was stuck in this horror. She finally pulled back a bush when she saw the pile of bones and organs. Her little courage broke and she ran screaming past the confused rabbit. "Twilight, gotta tell Twilight, gotta tell Twilight..." she whispered to herself as she ran back to Ponyville.

+++ At the train station in Ponyville, a few minutes later +++

Twilight was over seeing the unpacking of the Royal Guards equipment off the train when she heard a cry from behind her.

"Twilight! Twilight!" it was Fluttershy, she must've already heard that Twilight had come back to Ponyville. Then Twilight saw that Fluttershy wasn't happy, she was scared... Not unusual for Fluttershy but something told Twilight that something was seriously wrong.

"Fluttershy what's wrong?" asked Twilight. Fluttershy took a huge breath and began to babble incoherently. "Whoa whoa, slow down Fluttershy, I can't understand what you’re saying!" Twilight said. Fluttershy took a few deep breathes, by this time several Guards had taken an interest in the conversation and were listening in.

"I...I...I was l...looking f...for a t...trapped ra...rabbit," Fluttershy started breathing deeply again. "A...and... OH just follow me!" she grabbed Twilight and began to drag her towards the Apple family farm. Several Guards came along, just in case Twilight needed to send orders or something, Fluttershy ignored them.

Fluttershy dragged Twilight to the remote area outside the Apple orchard, when she suddenly stopped.

"There's nothing here Fluttershy!" exclaimed a little irritated Twilight, until she noticed Fluttershy pointing towards a copse of trees.

"Fluttershy... What's in the trees?" asked Twilight. All Fluttershy did was shake her head, looking like she was trying not to vomit. "Fluttershy..." began Twilight, but was interrupted by a whispering Fluttershy,

"S...smell..." was all she said. The guards and Twilight simultaneously sniffed the air. None of them had smelt something like that before... And their reaction to it was the same as Fluttershys, the overwhelming urge to run away. None of them did. Cautiously, Twilight slowly walked to the bunch of trees that Fluttershy had pointed at. It didn't take her long to find what had scared Fluttershy and come back.

"Somepony go get a box, preferably an airtight one..." she gagged. One of the guards saluted and rushed to fulfill the order. "Fluttershy, go home, we'll talk about this later..." Fluttershy nodded and zipped off, not wanting to spend another moment nearby.

"Your highness? What is it?" asked one of the guards.

"We'll soon find out..." answered Twilight. They all waited behind the invisible barrier as the guard returned with an airtight wooden box.

"Perfect." said Twilight after inspecting it, not complaining that it was a little large. "Somepony bring that and hold the lid open." ordered Twilight. Two guards picked up the box and followed Twilight back into the trees. They held the box and lid for Twilight as she lifted the remains with her magic. Both of them gagged visibly, but remained standing where they were. Twilight gently laid the remains in the box and the guards eagerly closed and nailed the lid shut. With the source of the smell gone, the overwhelming feeling of dread was replaced with only an urge to avoid the place, which all three of them willingly obliged. Thankfully the box kept the smell inside.

"Take that to the castle and lock it in a dungeon." Twilight ordered, knowing that not many ponies, if any, go there. Was this, desecration, the work of the alien they were hunting? Twilight feared that it was. And if it was... What could it do to a pony?

+++ That evening, Canterlot. +++

Luna sat in her study. The report from Twilight this afternoon was very disturbing. Not the fact that the creature was in Ponyville, Luna didn't tell Twilight any of her discoveries as she thought it counted as intervening, but the fact that it had killed and desecrated an animal. Twilight didn't start to examine the body yet however. She had claimed that she needed something to cover her nose and mouth to begin. Celestia had commissioned a device almost on the spot. But Luna had other concerns. Was the creature hostile? After that night when she had followed it, she had almost completely forgotten the creature. But the report today had raised more questions... She needed to look into the dreams of the alien. Its intentions needed to be known. And it's mind was the only place where those answers lay. It was now almost time to relieve her sister. She already knew what she was going to do that night, all she needed now was to wait for the time to bring the moon over the horizon. When it was finally time to relieve her sister she got up and mad her her way to the watch tower.

The sun was beginning to fall as Celestia's strength waned again for the day.

"I know what you’re going to do Luna." said Celestia with a yawn when Luna entered the room. "But keep in mind that it is not at all like a pony, and its dreams may have strange effects."

"I already am aware of this sister... But it is our duty to protect Equestria, no matter the personal cost." replied Luna, "And every minute we are unaware of its purpose, is another minute that could bring us closer to the end of our land."

"I see there is no changing your mind. Just be careful." Celestia hugged her younger sister and went to her chambers. The sun had just set. With the unwavering strength of the night, Luna raised the moon. It's glow illuminated Equestria in its deathly pale light. Luna always enjoyed the moons light shining on the land. But she had other duties tonight and couldn't afford to stare at the beautiful moon. She rose from the balcony on silent wings, and veered towards Ponyville.

Ponyville, Twilights' castle was a multitude of window lights as the guards assigned to her rushed to perform their new duties to find the monster. Luna cast her mind out, searching for the strange thought patterns of the creature. There it was, somewhere in the apple orchard. It was sleeping, so it wasn't completely nocturnal after all. With a dive, she descended into it's dreams.

She landed on hard white marble. It was impossibly smooth, so smooth it looked soft. The area around her was shrouded in darkness, the only light seemed to appear from the air around her. All she could see were two parallel edges on either side of where she was standing. Luna looked over one, and saw nothing but a straight drop into a crushing abyss. She looked towards where the marble seemed to lead into the darkness.

"Hello?" she called. All that answered her was her own echo. Swallowing, she started to walk forwards. The light seemed to follow her as she walked. That was alright, it would be easy to fall off in the darkness. Luna thought, forgetting she had wings. She was walking for several minutes when the darkness vanished and she could see the room she was in. Well, not a room, more like a cavernous hallway.

The platform she was standing on appeared to be a bridge over a vast expanse, that lead a very long way to a pair of titanic double doors. The walls that she couldn't see before, were made of geometric shapes that repeated in patterns, light shone out of spots like search lights and illuminated the entire hall. The ceiling, was high and arched like an old cathedral. Everything seemed to be made of the same white marble that the bridge was made of. Luna was blown away at the sheer size of it. The entirety of Canterlot could've fit comfortably between the two walls... Luna continued walking for what seemed like half an hour, until she reached the titanic door. On it were carvings that she couldn't read or make out. She knocked on a door. It wouldn't be nice if she just barged through, if she even could open the miracle of engineering... Nothing answered. After a few minutes she got frustrated and pulled on one of the double doors. It moved easier than moving a piece of parchment. The entire stone door, taller and wider than Canterlot, moved at her slightest touch. She cautiously walked through and closed the amazingly quiet door behind her. What she saw next, even to this day, astounded her. The bridge continued to a circular platform, also surrounded by an even wider sea of the abyss. The huge room was supported by massive marble columns that made the walls, with geometric shapes in between, the ceiling was arched and domed, like the hallway. In what she assumed were the other three cardinal directions, were more doors exactly like the one just behind her. What was over the center platform however was what grabbed her attention. There was a massive glowing sphere that floated, rotated, shrunk, and grew in size. She walked on, absorbing all of the intricate details, until she reached the platform. The sphere was directly over head, and she now realized they were made of pictures and emotions. Memories... Luna thought. She almost missed the the figure sitting in a dark chair underneath the sphere of complex thoughts.

"Hello?" she called. The chair somehow turned towards her, she gasped. There it was, the creature whose dreams she was intruding on. It looked small compared to the vast architecture around it.

"Hello." it replied in a male voice. "This is the first time someone has come here." it said as the chair turned back to what it was looking at.

"First time?" she called, confused that it cared little for her alicorn appearance.

"Yes, this is the first time someone has thought to view my thoughts." it replied.

"Others of your kind can see dreams as well?" Luna called.

"No, only a few of my kind cares for the inner workings of a persons mind, and none of them can see dreams as you do." it replied. She thought about this for a moment.

"What are you?" she asked. The being in the chair sighed, and answered,

"Good question."

"Wh..." began Luna.

"That is a good question as I am unlike the majority of my species, who care little beyond their greedy lives. While they sit and roll in their own personal filth that is their daily lives, I sit by and contemplate the various futures of myself, and species. I am unlike them, and they are unlike me, so I don't know what I am." Several memories enlarged themselves in front of the sitting figure and began to play. A larger alien pushing a smaller specimen, whispers of gossiping voices, dreams crushed by a hammer blow from a greedy economy . "Granted, I know I am not alone when I see these things... But society out numbers the few who do think this way, several hundred thousand to one." The creature seemed very calm as it stated these views. Luna thought about what it said.

"How can you remain so calm? It is obvious that you despise the culture that raised you, but how do you not feel anger towards it?" Luna asked, thinking of her own experiences before her banishment to the moon.

"A mystery that we both have no answer to." said the creature. "Forgive me, but I am tired and I... I just need to think..." Luna was surprised at this statement, as the creature hadn't, until now, shown any emotion.

"Very well... I'll let you... get some rest..." she said.

"Yes... thank you..." the creature said. Luna began walking towards the door she entered from, but she looked back. The creature had made no attempt to begin resting, instead it watched the same memories over and over again... She opened the door and exited the dream.