A Wary Welcome

Eight days until the ascension of Twilight Sparkle.

Golden Oaks Library.

"Thanks, Spike. Could you make sure that the 'E' to 'H' section is properly sorted again?"

"Sure thing, Twilight," the young assistant called out, and went out to do what he had been asked to do. As the small dragon went to do as told, Twilight, herself, sat at her desk, reading one of the books from the stack of them, which rested on the right side of said desk. Although, as she had set her eyes on the next paragraph of the page, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of flames, and burping. And Spike.

"Uh... Twilight? You have a letter!" The draconic assistant shouted, running up the stairs to reach the second floor of the structure, yet he froze as he was about to step onto the second floor itself, as Twilight stared at him with a stern expression that clearly stated, 'What did I tell you about running up the stairs?'

He then sighed, and walked down the flight of stairs, before coming back up, properly, and handing the letter to Twilight. "Thanks for not running up the stairs, again, Spike," she said, opening up the rolled paper, and reading the message written on said paper.

"'Dear Twilight,

After Shining looked into the tracks that led away from that meteor you were obsessing over for the last few days, I decided to look into this, myself. With the help of the librarian down at the Empire's library, we determined that if anything living were to actually survive that crash in the mountains, it will most likely be nearing areas around places like Ponyville by this point, unless it has... Expired.

If you, your friends, or you, or your friends could check out the border of the Everfree Forest, you might find something, unless it's just something ordinary in there, or there isn't anything found at all. But just check, please? For your big sister-in-law?

Anyways, until the next letter or visit, Twilight!

From,

Cadence.'"

'... Huh. So something did make it out of that crater,' Twilight thought to herself, as she put the book she was reading away, and laid the letter out on the table. She stared at it for a few moments before rolling the paper back up, and placing it in the basket where she placed her other letters.

'The Everfree Forest... Alright, then.' "Spike! I'm going to see Fluttershy!" She called to the baby dragon, who simply responded with a "Sure, fantastic." The lavender unicorn then grabbed the letter in her magic, and placed it in her saddlebags, which she then equipped, eventually leaving the library once everything was in order.

Fluttershy's Cottage.

A bowl was flung across the living room of the small cottage, smacking into the wall next to the butter yellow pegasus that occupied it with her animal companions. "Angel! I told you not to do that!" Fluttershy cried at the rebellious and demanding rabbit, who crossed his front legs and tapped his right hind leg impatiently.

"" He retaliated, obviously still aggravated at the fact that he was lacking his lunch. Fluttershy sighed, and picked up her 'friend's' bowl, and placed it in front of Angel, a carrot or two soon finding their way to said bowl, both of which were devoured immediately by the rabbit.

"... Oh, Angel. When will you ever learn to--" Fluttershy began, before the pegasus was then interrupted by the rustling of leaves, followed by a loud metal 'clank,' which was heard through the open windows of the room. In an instinctual rush, she darted underneath her kitchen table, shivering in fear. "Wh-What was tha-at?" She then whispered to herself, her voice cracking.

Outside, the bush that had moved then parted, the shaking form of a grey pegasus stepping into the area. Said pegasus then stumbled forwards, collapsing a moment later, falling onto the grass in front of the house. Fluttershy, having heard the thump of what sounded like rock on grass, tried to compress herself further beneath the table, but to no avail.

Giving up, she crept towards her front door, and opened it, freezing when she spotted the broken, struggling form of the other equine. Said equine turned his head to look at her, before it finally stopped moving, its body failing to support its weight as the pegasus clattered to the ground.

"... Oh... Oh, my..."

Several minutes later.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Fluttershy? Are you home?" Twilight called to nopony in particular, only trying to see if her friend was present within the small shelter. Oddly enough, Fluttershy's animals were all outside, sitting under trees, or directly in the sunlight, rather than inside the small household. When she had received no answer, she tried to peer through the windows, only for the door to open as she began to look.

The door had only opened slightly, though, to the point where all the unicorn could see was the eye of Fluttershy, who was currently peeking through the door to see who had arrived. "T-Twilight? Oh, thank goodness you're here!" She said, much to Twilight's surprise. Fluttershy then pulled her friend in, locking the door behind her.

"Fluttershy, is everything okay?" Twilight questioned,  making Fluttershy pause briefly, until the yellow pegasus moved so that she was no longer blocking the sight of what was laid out on the living room couch. "... Dear Celestia... Is he alive?"

Several hours after the discovery.

Golden Oaks Library.

As the sun set, the orange light shining through the windows of the tree, Twilight waited patiently as Spike wrote the words she was saying for a letter meant for her mentor.

"Dear, Princess Celestia.

Today, Fluttershy discovered something that was likely related to the meteorite that crashed near the Crystal Empire. When I was told that something had made it out of that crater, I didn't expect it to be anything living.

What pulled itself out of that crater looks like a pony. A pegasus stallion, to be specific. He wears some form of clothing, which isn't that different from what we ponies would put on occasionally. The clothing, aside from the piece on his head, won't come off normally, though. I've tried taking it off, but it feels like it's been stapled to the body.

I won't try to look into its mind, as I feel that I'd most likely damage something, and do more harm than good. He's still unconscious, from what Fluttershy last told me, and has suffered, somewhat, but I'll be checking on him tomorrow, myself. I await your response.

From,

Twilight Sparkle."

"'From... Twilight... Sparkle.' Done!" Spike stated as he stopped writing, the quill being set down on the table next to him, whilst rolling up the letter. "Should I be sending this thing, right now? Or should I wait?" He asked.

The lavender unicorn thought for a brief moment, before deciding to go with with the first option available to her.

"Go ahead, Spike. The sooner the Princesses hear of this, the better," Twilight told her assistant, who then sent the parchment on its way with a single breath. He then walked back down the stairs of the library, returning to the main floor, leaving the librarian to herself.

'... Hopefully that pegasus isn't going to be a problem. If Celestia has to intervene for a certain reason, I don't want to see any of it...' She thought, wordlessly staring out the window, towards the Everfree Forest.

Later.

Fluttershy's Cottage.

The pegasus lay still on the mat laid out on the floor, unmoving. The being wasn't breathing, and remained cold, yet warm, oddly enough. Fluttershy sat there, keeping an eye on the supposed equine, tending to her animals as she did so.

"... Still cold... Poor guy..." She whispered to herself, simultaneously scratching a bear behind its ears. She yawned quietly, briefly falling asleep before shaking herself awake. The bear next to her nudged her, gently, gesturing for her to get up.

"... You're... You're right, Mr. Bear... I should be getting some sleep..." She said, weakly, before fully falling asleep, the quadruped holding her up laying her out on the couch, before draping a blanket over her, resting himself at the foot of said couch.

But as he began to slip into unconsciousness, he could've sworn the pegasus on the ground, clearly unmoving, snapped its eyes open, looking at him dead in the eyes before silently getting up. It gave one quick, seemingly thankful yet resentful glance at the butter yellow caretaker on the couch before stumbling through the door, and out into the dark night, shutting the door on its way out.