Author's Note

The following trio of episodes contain somnophilia. Viewer discretion is advised.

Episode Forty-Three: Species Unknown, Part One

This video starts off with speech in some unknown language, in an unknown location, but at a known time; it is night. Looking through the window, stars cover the night sky; far more than usual. Many that are often seen as dim are much brighter in this shot. As the camera turns, the first thing to come into view is the metal framework, indicating that the starry view was through a window. A sideways-facing window...

As the camera turns and moves down a hallway with a grated floor, more garbled speech comes through, and the sound of something rigid clacking against the grates with every step. Occasionally, a hand flashes across the bottom-right corner of the screen, and something definitely looks wrong about it, but it passes too quickly to say what it is.

The camera turns toward a door, and the hand comes into view again. It only has two fingers and a thumb, and is covered in tiny plates. It's unclear whether or not this is a glove, but from the structure of the joints as it presses a button, this is not a deformed hand. That's just how it's supposed to be shaped.

The door opens, and the camera moves into the room. Inside are a great many creatures, none of which have been seen on Equestria, locked in big glass boxes, like cells in a prison. None, except for the one that the camera stops and turns to face, rather than walking right past it.

The creature in this cell is either the same one that Fluttershy had encountered during the previous filming; the one that ate the farmer's porch, or just something ridiculously similar. It's not hard to imagine that it's the same species, and quite frankly, it's not even that hard to imagine that it's one of the very creatures that had laid eggs inside of her.

The creature behind the lens garbles its speech at the creature in the box, and the creature in the box clicks and growls back. This carries on for a good five minutes, with the creature in the box growing very heated and trying to scratch at the barrier between them. All the while, the creature behind the camera stays calm and still, neither swinging its hands nor raising its voice.

After their conversation, there's something familiar brought forth: a clipboard with a piece of paper attached. The text is entirely illegible, though that tracks with the lack of clear language. It's entirely possible that the printed text, as well as the hastily-scrawled stuff being added as the camera turns and walks away, is in whatever alphabet is being used by the creature speaking.

The button to open the door takes several seconds to work this time, as the camera looks up at another camera mounted to the wall. Once the door opens, the view returns to the window, and a quick turn shows a view of Equestria from space.

There's a garbled call from behind, and the camera turns to see a very odd-looking creature. Starting with the head, it's triangular, with two points at the top and one at the bottom, with five eyes. One in the center, two beneath it, and one in the middle of either bottom edge. The bottom tip is covered in several tentacles that vibrate as it speaks.

Its arms are very similar to humanoid arms, with an extra appendage starting at the elbow. currently, it's folded up along the biceps, so its exact purpose is unclear. However, it does have a wrinkly fold of skin trailing down from there to another set of appendages starting at its knees. Its legs are digitigrade, and like its hands, have two main digits, as well as an accessory dewclaw in the back. Behind that, a long, slender tail coils around, tapering down to the tip like a whip.

The clipboard is handed over and inspected, then placed in a hanging box on the wall. The two talk for a bit, and then begin making their way to a different room, where a screen with a map indicates a beacon right where Ponyville would be, if the towns were marked. The discussion continues, with the one not holding the camera pointing at the beacon and waving their hand, as if discussing a plan of action. The holder of the camera is given a small box with a screen and a bunch of buttons, another small box which, upon pushing a small button on the side, folds out into a pistol, and then back again, and a cartridge that slides up into the pistol.

Now fully armed, the camera operator steps into a small pod. The doors close, and the pod just starts falling. As the pod enters Equus's atmosphere, St. Elmo's Fire forms across the window to the pod, starting strong, but diminishing as the descent slows over the Everfree forest, until the pod comes to an almost gentle stop at ground level.

The darkness that covers the window, paired with the dim lights inside the pod, combine to form a mirror image of the creature holding the camera. It's almost exactly the same as the creature that took the clipboard, but it's wearing something on its head with elastic straps. It's revealed to be the camera as it applies a set of protective goggles, as well as a mask over the tentacles that make up its mouth, presumably to respire whatever it breathes that isn't oxygen.

Finally, the pod opens with a hiss, then closes as the creature steps out. It puts its hands out in front of itself, interlocks its fingers with its palms facing away, and pushes out. A little more than a dozen small pops are heard as the joints click into place before it takes off at a light jog.

It takes a few minutes, but soon, it reaches the edge of the forest and peers out into Ponyville. It looks at the town for a few minutes, then checks the box with the screen. The image is updated with a satellite view. A small blue arrow stands at the edge of the forest, and not too far away, a blue circle blinks over a cottage. Turning towards the cottage until the arrow is pointing at the dot, the camera looks up, and there sits Fluttershy's home.