As the owner of the voices came around the corner, Xor could only gawk. In hindsight, it made perfect sense. Now he knew why the 'latest' inhabitants were so fixated on the Keifra-like animals. They were the inhabitants.

The two brightly colored beings froze immediately upon seeing the tall Sangheili. Their eyes went so huge that Xor could hardly believe it was possible. Their jaws dropped low enough that Xor briefly wondered if it hurt.

The first one's body was in a light orange color. It had a uniform color throughout its body with a few exceptions in certain places in addition to being covered in some type of clothing. It stood two legs like most of the species he had encountered, the difference being that the feet were replaced with what appeared to be hooves. He guessed it had a tail, though he couldn't know for sure due to the bipedal nature of the creatures blocking a clear shot. It appeared to have head hair just like Humans did. The hair color, which matched its tail, was a light tannish-yellow color. It had deep green eyes, freckles on its face, and an article of clothing on its head.

The other one was much more exotic in color. It's main color was light blue, bright enough that Xor wondered if it dyed it. The color certainly held no use in camouflage. It was almost identical to the orange one in structure except for one addition: two feathered wings sprouted from its back. It had clothing as well, but was different and covered less of its body.

The hair had to be dyed. There was no way that coloration could occur naturally. It was simply a rainbow of colors, also brightly colored that looked out of place in nature. It also wasn't as well kept as the orange one, the blue one simply letting the hair settle wherever it wanted.

Xor also noticed that on both of the upper arms of the blue one was a symbol. It took a moment for Xor to realized that the jagged part represented a lightning bolt, the other was likely a cloud. The lightning bolt was also colored brightly. The orange seemed to have symbols was well, though it was mostly covered by her clothing.

The blue one finally spoke in its alien language, "~~What is~~ that~~?!~~"

The orange one apparently responded, "~~Ah-Ah think it's an animal...maybe...~~"

Xor was now certain he heard this language before, but still couldn't recall where. The blue one's dark pink eyes glanced to the floor, "I~~sn't that onna your apples on the floor?~~"

The orange one also glanced to the floor before frowning, "~~Yeah...it is...~~" The orange looked at him, "~~Did ya steal mah lunch?!~~"

Xor was too busy trying to remember where exactly he heard this language before to notice that the orange one was addressing him. The blue one took to the air, "~~Shoo! Get outta here!~~"

Xor did notice the blue one's arms and hand movement. He didn't know what it was trying to convey though. The orange one copied the blue one's movement, "~~Go on, ya varmit! Leave! Shoo!~~"

Xor didn't respond, something the other lifeforms seemed to get annoyed by. The blue one looked at its companion, "~~Don't think it understands us. Any ideas?~~"

The orange sighed, "~~Other than~~ physically ~~movin' it? Nope.~~"

"~~Well, let's try that~~," the blue one said before starting to fly towards Xor.

The orange one reacted quickly by grabbing the blue one's tail, which proved that they indeed have them, "~~Hold on there, sugarcube. We don't have no idea what this thang is. We need ta think 'bout this fer a minute.~~"

The blue one groaned, "~~So what? We're supposed to~~ wait ~~for it to leave?~~"

And then Xor finally remembered. The aliens were speaking Human English. And luckily, he had a one-way translator on board his suit. The Sangheili moved his hand to the back of his head while the orange one spoke again, "~~Ah'm not sayin' that. Ah'm sayin' we gotta think before we jus' rush headlong at this varmit.~~"

Xor's hand reached the back of his helmet where a switch was locate. That area was the only place where the Sangheili's energy shields didn't cover. He flipped the switch and his energy shields immediately broke. Well, dispersed would be more accurate.

The aliens reaction was immediate. They both jumped a step back, eyes wide open in surprise at the noise and a flash of light. The blue one spoke in a frantic tone, "~~What the hay was~~ that~~?!~~"

The two shifted their stances, recovering from their shock quickly enough that Xor was almost impressed. The orange looked at Xor as he took off his helmet, "~~Ah don't rightly know...but it's certainly doin'~~ somethin'~~.~~"

Xor quickly turned on the translator program and put his helmet back on. He reactivated his shields, though wasn't particularly worried they could do anything to harm him and live. The orange one spoke, its words now translated to Sangheili, "But somethin' tells meh that this ain't a normal animal..."

Xor immedately growled at being called an animal. The two aliens took another step back, the blue one speaking this time, "Woah, okay! It's angry...Uh...AJ? Got any ideas?"

Xor soon found out another problem. While he could understand them now, he had no way of communicating back. Properly, at least. He wasn't that keen on learning Human English, and only knew one phrase. The orange one, now known as 'AJ', shook her head, "Nope. But we can't leave it. We don't know whut it wants."

"So we're stuck?" said the blue one.

Xor decided to at least attempt communicate. Not really wanting to use English, he first attempted to speak in his own tongue on the off change they might actually know what he said, 'What are you?'

If Xor thought the creatures' eyes couldn't get any larger, he was proven wrong. They gaped at him like he was some sort of freak, which annoyed Xor. The winged one spoke, "What the buck was that?!"

AJ spoke quietly, almost too much to be heard by the translator, "Ah don't think this is an animal, RD..."

'RD' shot a glance at her, "What do you mean? What else could it be?"

Xor didn't say or do anything as AJ replied, "Ah don't think it's from around here..."

RD's brow came together in confusion, "What...like, not from this forest? 'Cause you're kinda implying that it's..."

AJ just simply nodded. RD's head whipped around to face Xor, "No way..."

AJ ran a hand through her hair, "Land's sakes, Ah honestly have no idea whut ta do anymore. We've never dealt wit' an alien befer!"

Xor concluded that they did not speak his language, and was forced to use the one phrase he knew, "Where is the bathroom?"

Awkward silence filled the space between them. RD was the first one to speak, "Did it just ask where's the bathroom is?"

Xor narrowed his eyes. He was growing tired of being referred to as an 'it'. AJ spoke, "Y'wanna know where th' restroom is?"

Xor shook his head, "Where is the bathroom?"

"Do you wanna go to the bathroom or not?" said RD, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Xor took a deep breath and focused, trying to twist his only known English phrase that would suit him, "Where...is the...bath..."

AJ tilted her head, "Y'wanna know where th' shower is? Ah thought y'needed to go to the bathroom?"

Xor clenched his fists and tried again, "Where. Is."

"Where is whut?" asked AJ, "Th' shower or the restroom? We're kinda getting mixed signals here."

"Where is?!" exclaimed Xor.

RD leaned to her compatriot, "Think this thing has a few screws loose..."

AJ ignored her as Xor repeated again. Her eyes suddenly widened and gave a light gasp, "Ohhh...Now Ah understand. Y'wanna know where are you."

RD blinked before slapping her face with one of her hands, something Xor didn't understand why, "Wow. Probably shoulda seen that sooner."

Xor nodded his head vigorously, "Where is?"

"Uh, yer in th' Everfree Forest," said AJ, hoping to clarify, "In ~~Equestria~~."

The translator couldn't make sense of that last word, so it just gave a beep. It did, however, tell Xor what he had been dreading since the two other lifeforms showed up. He was on a different planet entirely. Xor sighed, and started to walk forward.

AJ mirrored his moves, "Woah there, partner. Where're ya goin'?"

Xor was about to respond in his own tongue before realized what the Keifra-alien had said. Where was he going? He had no provisions. He couldn't speak their language. He had absolutely no idea where in the galaxy he was. He couldn't think of anyway that could get him out of this mess.

The orange Keifra-alien apparently noticed his sudden slump in demeanor, "Uh...y'can come home wit' us. We'll give ya a bed and feed ya. We can probably figure out how to get ya ta speak, too."

"Uh, AJ?" said RD, "Hate to burst your bubble, but you remember what happened to ~~Zecora~~ the first time we met her? Don't think bringing it into town is a good idea."

"Ah know it's not ideal, but it's th' best we got. We jus' need ta get ta Twilight, and she can cast a magic ~~doohickey~~ thang on it so it can talk ta us-"

Xor growled. He had enough of being called it, 'I am not an it! I am Xor 'Vozamai, a proud Sangheili warrior! And you will treat me with respect!"

The two aliens backed away when they heard the anger in Xor's voice, "Woah Nelly!" exclaimed the orange one.

"What's it doing now?!" said RD.

Xor unclipped his energy sword and ignited it, 'I AM NOT AN IT!'

The two shied away from the sizzling blade. AJ gulped, "A-All right now...l-let's all jus' calm down. We didn't mean ta upset ya. Ah know we probably didn't start on th' best of terms...but if we can all jus' calm down and talk..."

"Maybe we should tell it our names. We haven't introduced ourselves," started RD, "I-I'm Rainbow Dash."

AJ went after Rainbow Dash, "Ah'm ~~Applejack~~. Whut's you're name?"

Xor snorted but replied in his tongue, 'Xor 'Vozamai.'

Rainbow Dash's eyes crossed as she and AJ tried to make sense of the gibberish. AJ spoke, "Ah...don't know how to pronounce that...Are ya a ~~mare~~ or a ~~stallion~~?"

Xor tilted his head, "Where?"

"Uh...a male or a female? Blink once fer male an' twice fer female..."

Xor stared at her before blinking once. AJ nodded, still keeping an eye on Xor's sword, "A-Alright...An' ya probably didn't like it when we called ya an 'it'."

Xor forcefully nodded, causing AJ to wince, "R-right. We're mighty sorry 'bout that. We jus didn't know...uh...what yer were equipped with, if ya catch mah meaning...We're both females, by th' way."

Xor then noticed that they had the chest protrusions that human females tended to have. Xor took a calming breath in and out, before nodding. He deactivated his sword and stared expectantly at her. AJ's eyes shifted behind the Sangheili, "Ah'm gonna get mah bag an' then we'll go ta ~~Ponyville~~. Sound good?"

Xor clicked his mandibles together, earning him a confused look from AJ before she shrugged and started to move. As she got closer, she suddenly realized just how big the alien was. She was three feet and six inches tall, slightly above the average height of a Pony. She must have guessed that the alien was over eight feet tall.

Likewise, Xor realized how tiny they were compared to him. They were smaller than an Unggoy runt, the bottom of the average. AJ's head barely reached Xor's lower pelvis. She was eye-level to his crotch, but Xor, like any self-respecting Sangheili, learned to quell his libido. This wasn't including the fact he had no interest in courting an alien.

AJ reached her bag, picking up the fruit cores. She whistled, "Y'sure did a number on mah lunch. Don't know how ya could eat 'em, on th' account ya don't have a jaw. Err, no offense..."

Xor simply huffed and looked away. He noticed Rainbow Dash was staring at his sword with interest. She in turn noticed Xor staring at her. She looked away, face suddenly turning red. Xor couldn't think of any purpose the change of tint in her face could serve, "S-sorry."

Xor huffed again. These aliens were far too apologetic. From the brief time he'd dealt with them, he had yet to see anything that he considered honorable.

Rainbow Dash spoke again, "So...uh....was that, like, a weapon or something?"

Xor merely nodded, which seemed to make Rainbow Dash uncomfortable. AJ's voice came from behind him, "Ah sure hope ya don't plan on usin' that thang. We don't take kindly ta killin' if there's no need fer it."

Xor's disposition on these aliens dropped more at that sentence as AJ started to come back. The orange female continued, "All right, let's go."

The two started to walk back they came, Xor briefly hesitating before trudging along. He had no idea what to expect by following the two female aliens. Only the Gods could know that. For better, or for worse.

Author's Note

A rewritten chapter that used to be simply 'Negotiations". Unlike last time, most of the changes and additions are at the beginning while the latter part of the chapter remained the same.