The Day of Shopping that Never Was
Invaders From the Horsehead Nebula
Chapter one: The Day of Shopping that Never Was
Caballia, home planet of the Caballians. An advanced society lives there, creators of quantum teleporters, spy gadgets, and ships created to send a message to its viewers, "Hey, man you're being invaded. No, you don't have a say. DON'T GIMME THAT CRAP, MISTER." And the like. One might argue that they are quite the belligerent species. The Caballians would then proceed to refute you, saying thet it's all for the best that they have control over you. But hey, opinions can be bull-headed. Or in this case, horse-headed.
"Twilight!" sang an energetic Pinkie Pie, hopping down the dusty road down to Twilight Sparkle's librairy. She laid a pink hoof on the door and gave a push, revealing Rainbow Dash squeeing as Twilight handed her a book, Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Crystal Bull.
"Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie. What's up?" asked Twilight Sparkle
"Twilight! Rainbow Dash! You've just gotta see this incredibly fantastical FANTASTIC new cake! Come with me to Sugarcube Corner!"
"Allright, Pinkie, but hurry up. I can't wait much longer to read this Daring Do book." said Rainbow in a rushed tone.
Upon arriving at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie scrambled inside and reappeared with a brightly colored cake. Atop the third tier sat a sugar decoration, something of a fountain or a firework.
"Well, that sure is blinding, Pinkie." said Rainbow Dash.
"But wait, there's more!" Pinkie Pie chanted, in a voice which implies that something random is about to happen. In other words, Pinkie's usual voice.
She tapped a button, and after the "click," a tube emerged from the fountain, spurting out curly confetti with colors that harmonized with that of the cake.
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHH...." rang Pinkie's voice from an unknown location. "It's your birthday. YOUR BIRTHDAY! A happy day to you! Eat lots of cake and celebrate, there's tons of stuff to do! YEAH!" The pink pony popped up out of bushels of apples and random places in the sky, held up by an unknown force. Pinkie Pie emerged from behind a flowerpot after cheerily belting the last note of the song and skipped towards her friends, almost tripping over the dispaced apples. "What do you guys think? Did you like it?"
Rainbow sighed and gave an amused smile."Pinkie Pie, you are so random!"
"So you DO like it!"
"We ought to put that randomness to use, Pinkie." sighed Rainbow. "Maybe we could use it as some source of renewable energy or something." Rainbow Dash chuckled and took a few steps before flying off towars her house, presumably to start on her new Daring Do novel. Renewable energy. Though meant as a light-hearted joke, Rainbow Dash's comment intrugued Twilight. She wasn't sure about renewable energy(though Pinkie Pie's energy never seemed to run out), but there had to be something to the pink pony's unplanned tendencies. "No, maybe I'm overthinking this. Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie." she thought.
Pinkie and Twilight bounded along the avenue towards the market, saddle bags handy, ready to meet their friends for an afternoon of shopping. Pinkie was in need of some sugar for the use of making cupcakes, frosting, sugar decorations, sugar candies, cakes, brownies, and other things sugar could be found in. She also needed some hot sauce.
"Hey, y'all!" Applejack greeted them in front of a rather lively fruit stand. Beside her, Fluttershy waved a friendly hoof. The sights and smells and sounds of the market endured as Rarity and Rainbow Dash later showed up. The market was bustling, the sound of ponies using charm or trickery in order to haggle a lower price blended into the static of the everyday sounds. the sky was clear except for a few pure white clouds. And also the hostile black-colored standout rotating and descending almost soundlessly through the air.
"Ready to-" Rarity's sentence was chopped short by the screams of several ponies in the distance, joined later by her own as the light of the sun was eclipsed by an enormous, threatening, ominous contraption. Descending through the air, the airship extended its bone-like landing gear from inside the interior. Dust from the road flew, from under the hooves of fleeing ponies as well as from the fan blades aboard the black metal airship.
Enveloped in a flurry of displaced dust, the ship landed whilst efficiently crushing a few market stands as the terrorized ponies retreated. The wooden poles of the stands released cracking sounds that market stands tend to make when being terribly and utterly pulverized. Some ponies froze and watched the destruction with eyes wide and mouths gaping, others ran. The thing, appearing to them to be an airship or flying saucer(which it was, if that is what you would like to call it), was black and gray, with spiky protrusions of sheets and scraps of metal. The saucer sent them a clear message. "Hey, man, you're being invaded."
The creature that emerged from the sliding door of the saucer, the Caballian, looked suprisingly like a pony. Only taller, with longer, skinnier legs and a longer face. Its head, remarkably, took an unprecise shape of the nebula from which it hailed from. Its body was clad in gray metal, with an emblem picturing the outline of the creature's head in red.
"Equestrians" it bellowed. "We are the Caballians of the Horsehead Nebula. We have come to strengthen your civilization using our knowledge, and to strenghten our civilization using yours. It is best that you hand over all power to us and submit immediately. Opponents will be crushed. No exceptions."
The Caballian swiveled its head around and surveyed its audience. "Oh, good" he thought to himself. "this species looks fairly easy to conquer. Considerably smaller than me." The Caballian spoke; "I am sure you are all perplexed, but we will explain later." He paused to ensure dramatic effect. "Yes, there will be more of us arriving, more uf us to establish new rule over this planet!" He wanted this planet. He wanted it bad.
Questions and confusion bounced through every pony's head similar to the way a rubber ball would dart around a tiny, claustrophobia inducing room after being thrown by the Incredible Hulk. Ponies stared, and only gasps, frightened breathing, and the thud of a fainting pony hitting the ground broke the stunned silence.
