Three Little Fillies from Mars

There were many other things Apple Bloom would rather do than help drive the spaceship through the streets. Her legs moved so much that she was worried they were going to fall off. The sweat from her forehead melted the makeup. She couldn’t believe what was happening. All of this effort and the ship is moving five miles per hour. When it got dark enough Scootaloo turned the lights on the ship on. The multicolored Hearth’s Warming lights flickered and blinked. Although the ship was moving at such a slow rate, they still had to keep their eyes open for the little ones roaming the streets in their costumes. Some of them had been distracted by the brightly colored seasonal lights, mistaking it for the sleigh of Old Saint Kringle.

“Faster!” Scootaloo yelled.

Apple Bloom glanced at Sweetie, who was pedaling next to her. The poor child was panting heavily in her blue dress. Under her breath she lamented how she couldn’t go on anymore and how she was ruining her costume. Apple Bloom wish Scootaloo would just turn around and see what was happening.

They hit a bump on the road, and everything was at a standstill. Scootaloo fell off her chair, as did Apple Bloom and Sweetie.

“Hey! What gives?” The world looked as though somepony had slightly tilted it sideways when she gazed out the front view window. She crawled toward the door, opened it and jumped outside. She cursed with gritted teeth when she saw that one of the wheels had connected to a pothole, making the ship immobile. “No, no! How could this happen? All our work, ruined!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie joined her, both of them examining the ship. Scootaloo slumped on the ground with her arms holding her head. Her chances for sweet revenge were slim as of the night. It took a while for everypony to notice that Sweetie was missing. When they found her, she was with a group of children whom a kindly couple was giving candy. She went to a few more house with the children.

“Sweetie don’t waste time, doesn’t she?” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle rushed back to her friends with a bag filled with candy and a grin on her face. Her smile disappeared when Scootaloo glared at her.

“... Want some?” she asked, presenting a chocolate bar.

“There’s no time for candy!” Scootaloo said. “We have to find Diamond Tiara before it’s too late, and in case you haven’t noticed, our ship is down!”

Scootaloo looked down at her watch. It was 6:47 pm. She mumbled something unpleasant under her breath, and paced back and forth shaking her head. Then she leaned on the fallen spaceship to cool herself down.

“Now what do we do?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo was silent. Their ship was down, and they have no way of knowing where Diamond Tiara was. In fact, it could be possible that she wasn’t even in this part of town tonight. What a great way to spend the night, she thought. The week-long effort, all for nothing. No, it couldn’t be. She shook the thought from her mind. Scootaloo faced her friends with a look of determination.

“I guess we have to walk.”

“Walk where?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Anywhere. With any luck, we’ll find Diamond and Silver on the street and scare them to death.” She smiled at them, then said in a light-hearted tone, “Don’t worry, it’s only a minor setback.”

“Scootaloo, you do know that there are a million kids outside tonight, right?” Apple Bloom said. “The odds of finding Diamond Tiara out here are against us.”

“You worry too much.” Scootaloo rushed back into the fallen ship to grab the essentials; the toy guns, flashlights, silly string. She also climbed to the top and swiped the megaphone and the tape recorder. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “Let’s get going.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched her happily trot into the darkness with worried looks on their faces. Sweetie took a bite of a bar of Chocoblast, chewing it slowly and with caution. Apple Bloom asked herself if she wanted to go through with Scootaloo’s plans, all while hearing Scootaloo call their names.

“Come on Sweetie, let’s get this over with.”

“Don’t you want to get some candy first?” Sweetie asked. “Who knows how long we’ll be out here.”

It is Nightmare Night, Apple Bloom figured, and it wouldn’t be a proper Nightmare Night without having treats and sweets. Before they joined Scootaloo on the road, Apple Bloom and Sweetie visited a couple of houses to fill their bags full of candy. Then they ran off into the night, an alien and a princess, with a pegasus out for revenge.

****

Klaatu and Nikto couldn’t be more disappointed in the Earthling they kidnapped. They couldn’t find any useful information about the planet. Instead, Cob’s brain presented images of corn, cornfields, cornflakes, popcorn. Sometimes his brain projected these dance parties called hootenannies, much to their confusion, then it was back to more corn. Klaatu decided they’ve had enough of looking at the yellow vegetable, turned the screen off, and removed the helmet from Cob’s head.

“... Please, let me go,” Cob said weakly. He was on the verge of tears. Klaatu only frowned at him, then went back to chat with Nikto with their translators off, so the farmer couldn’t understand what they were saying. After a short while they turned their attention on him again. Much to Cob’s misfortune, they weren’t finish with him yet.

Klaatu advanced slowly to the teary-eyed farmer while pressing the buttons on his green chest plate. “Your corn-infested mind has failed in giving us the information we need on this planet,” he said. “By default, we should destroy you, but we won’t. Instead we have another use for you.”

Klaatu looked how pathetic Farmer Cob was; lying on his back on the metal table, sobbing like a newborn Martian larva after the birthing process. He was pitiful, but in a strangely amusing sort of way. He couldn’t dwell on the thought for long. He pointed to Nikto. “Take the Earthling to the Transformation Chamber!” he commanded.

Farmer Cob’s limbs were released from the table, only for Nikto to drag him to a giant tube in the back on the ship. He was screaming for help on the way there. Nikto couldn’t figure out why, since no living organism can hear him. Klaatu stripped down from his green suit, revealing his pencil-like body, then removed his helmet. Nikto locked Cob inside the glass tube, pointing and laughing as the stallion banged on the impenetrable glass and pleaded for his freedom. Klaatu stepped inside the other glass tube that stood next to Cob’s, then locked himself in.

“Ack ack ack!” Klaatu shouted.

At the control panel, Nikto pressed a series a button before pulling a lever. Thick green liquid poured inside the tubes, and Farmer Cob was in a frenzy. Both Klaatu and Nikto agreed on how annoying and childish the Earthling was behaving. He screamed so much that they didn’t noticed the farmer was silent until they saw he was suspended inside the green liquid. Nikto watched as the green slime was filled in Klaatu’s tube.

A few minutes later, the transformation process was completed. Nikto pressed buttons, then pressed a green button on the center, and Klaatu’s tube opened, releasing green slime on the floor and into a drain. Out of the tube Klaatu stepped out, but not in his Martian body. He came out as an elderly, tan-coated stallion with a white mane. Initially he tried to walk on his two legs, but he was forced on his four legs. Nikto inspected Klaatu’s new body. He went to the suspended farmer, and noticed that he was wearing glasses.

Klaatu opened his mouth to speak, but he had difficulty with his voice box. However, it was no matter to him. He has been through the transformation process with different species throughout his life, and the Earthling was no different. Finally, Klaatu opened his mouth to speak to Nikto.

“... The transformation is a success!” he said. Although he was in the Earthling’s body, Klaatu retained his original voice. “Nikto, is their any sign of civilization nearest us?”

Nikto rushed to a holographic map and ran his fingers through some buttons. According to the ship’s holographic map there was a small town twenty-five miles away from the farmer’s house, which will only be a short flight for them.

The town’s name was Ponyville.

“Then to Ponyville we shall go!” Klaatu said.

The two Martians strapped themselves in their seats. Klaatu pressed buttons to start the ship, then stopped when he realized that he had no fingers, but hooves instead. Strange, he thought, the other species usually have at least some kind of appendage on their arms. Nikto helped by finishing the startup for him. Klaatu was relieved that he can still use the steering wheel. Their flying saucer was lifted off the ground and into the dark sky. Aliens were coming to Ponyville.