“Hey! You’re okay!” Scootaloo instantly recognized the voice of Rainbow Dash, as did the other two fillies, who looked up in relief. Applejack, Fluttershy, Big Mac, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity came crashing into the clearing shortly afterward. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground.

“APPLE BLOOM, SCOOTALOO AND SWEETIE BELLE!”

All three fillies flinched at the sound of Applejack’s voice.

“Are ya’ll okay?” she asked.

“You’re not mad sis?” Apple Bloom asked, surprise in her voice.

“Heck yes I’m mad,” Applejack responded. “But I’m more concerned with yer wellbeing. Are ya’ll okay?”

“We’re fine,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes not meeting her sister’s.

“Good work with that flare Sweetie Belle,” Twilight said, casting her gaze upwards. “You can stop casting now. We don’t want you suffering from magic exhaustion, right?”

“Oh that wasn’t-”

“Dang Sweetie Belle,” Rainbow Dash said, inspecting one of the piles of Timberwolf. “You could give Twilight a run for her money! Twilight come check it out,” she continued, motioning Twilight over.

“Impressive work Sweetie Belle. Y’know, you might be a great fit for magical study. Have you ever considered Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Twilight asked.

“Well-” Sweetie Belle was cut off.

“Absolutely not!” Rarity exclaimed. “We don’t need another Twilight. No offense dear,” Rarity said turning to Twilight who only rolled her eyes.

“Sweetie Belle didn’ do any of that stuff,” Apple Bloom spoke up.

Twilight’s gaze returned to the flare, scrutinizing it now.

“Huh. So who did?”

“We don’t know. But it was tall! Really tall, and it had no face or eyes or ears. It had these long hooves and long claws!” Scootaloo said, jumping around to emphasize each statement.

“It stood on two long legs,” Sweetie Belle added. That threw Twilight for a loop.

“It? Two legs? But minotaurs are the only bipedal race on Equus and they have faces and eyes and ears. What actually helped you three?”

Twilight grabbed the flare with her magic, as she pulled it towards her, she noticed the smoke trail that billowed behind it.

“This flare is, burning?”

Twilight flared her magic a little, starving the flare of oxygen. The flare brightened in response but did not extinguish.

“What on Equus is this thing?” Twilight asked

“You said it was a flare silly filly!” Pinkie responded with a smile

“Yes it is, but it’s not magical. Griffins have burning flares, but those have to be set up by two to work. And griffins don’t walk on two legs,” Twilight explained. “And their flares can be put out, so why not this one?” The flare in question was still a good distance away. Even being fifty tail-lengths away, compared to the nearly three hundred it was before, it burned almost painfully bright and the heat made everypony present recoil. Twilight summoned a tub of water and dropped the flare in. The water bubbled angrily as smoke was released. The flare while certainly diminished and much easier to approach, still stubbornly burned. Twilight then froze the water. There was a sizzle and a pop, but finally, the flare was out. Twilight melted the ice, and pulled out the flare… which immediately re-ignited.

“Oh for the love of Celestia!” Twilight shouted, almost angry. She dropped the flare back into the water and re-froze it. The flare went out once more.

“I guess we’ll leave it in there for a bit,” Twilight said with a disappointed sigh. She had really wanted to study it.

“So, back to the first question. What saved them?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Right. Let’s take a look at those twigs,” Twilight said, enthusiasm returning to her voice.

Twilight walked over to one of the piles and began shining a light from her horn.

“The twigs that were damaged appear to have been struck with a pinpoint, high-intensity burst of directed energy, which means that…” Twilight trailed off, her face scrunched up in confusion. “...that- but- that’s impossible!”

“But what’s impossible, darling?” Rarity asked.

“There’s no magical residue on any of these,” Twilight exasperated, picking up a stick with a clear burn mark that had a chunk taken out of it.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out sugar cube,” Applejack said. “In the meantime-” she began but was cut off by twilight.

“Wait. Impossible pyrotechnics? Powerful non-magical energies? I think I may have just figured it out,” Twilight said.

“Is it ponies from a future without magic!?” Pinkie gasped.

“Uhhh. No, I don’t think that’s it. But I want to be sure before saying anything,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, do you think any of your animal friends know where that metal object Owlowiscious found is?”

“Oh, for sure,” Fluttershy responded with a nod. She quietly walked over to a nearby tree stump and knocked twice with her hoof. A raccoon poked its head out in response.

“Um, excuse me Mr. Raccoon, but we’re looking for something big and metal that arrived in the forest not too long ago,”

The raccoon chittered something quickly to Fluttershy who nodded.

“Thank you, Mr. Raccoon!” Fluttershy said before turning to the other ponies present. “It’s this way,” she said before trotting to the edge of the clearing. Every pony present followed her closely. Twilight lit a spell light to keep their surroundings illuminated as they traversed the varying levels of underbrush. Twilight and Fluttershy took up the front, while the rest of the group encircled the three fillies that were with them.

Twilight walked with Fluttershy until she almost ran into a metal plate that dimly reflected light. Twilight modified the light and sent it up above to illuminate the clearing in its entirety. What sat before them, no pony present could identify. It was large and angular. It rested on three distinct plates that were connected to the object on metal cylinders. It had four distinct metal plates on each corner with shiny oval rings of metal sticking out from underneath each segment. Each ring sheltered a pair of warm holes and the object had a reflective bulbous end and a non-reflective flat end with a single hole, that was also warm. The object was mainly grey and black, with a mixture of white and maroon markings.

“No way this thing was what went supersonic overhead,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Do you have proof that it didn’t?” Twilight asked.

“Do you have proof that it did?” Rainbow Dashed challenged. “Besides, I don’t need proof. Just look at it!”

“Rainbow Dash, you of all ponies should know that anything can move as fast as you want it to if you get enough power behind it,” Twilight explained. “Besides, look at it. Those three plates on the cylinders? They didn’t leave any impact furrow despite the speed this thing was going, but whatever method of energy it uses to achieve flight is still being dissipated,”

“But what is it, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I think there’s only one thing it can be. An alien spaceship,” Twilight said with finality.

For everypony else present, the trees at the edge of the clearing got a little darker.

“OHMYGOSHALIENSAREGONNAEATOURBRAINS!”

“PINKIE!” Twilight shouted. “I seriously doubt the alien is here to eat our brains based on its interaction with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle,” Twilight explained, calming everypony a little.

“So, should we-” Fluttershy said, preparing to suggest they leave until Twilight cut her off.

“Of course we should study it!” Twilight was already on top of the craft, scrutinizing every nook and cranny.

Everypony just watched Twilight begin muttering to herself.

“Aha!” She exclaimed. “This is a viewport,” she said while leaning over the reflective bulbous end. “I think I see a hallway, maybe if I can just…” She trailed off as her horn powered up.

“Twilight, I doubt that this is a good-” Rarity began

POP

FZZZT

With a flash of purple, Twilight was sent careening back, crashing through the brush. A blue glow enveloped the entire craft.

“...idea,”

“Oh goodness! Twilight, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, landing beside her friend.

“But… how?” Twilight asked herself in disbelief. “There’s no magic. I would have felt it,” she insisted, getting up and shaking herself off.

“I hate to interrupt you sugar cube, but these three need to get to bed. Heck, we all do,” Applejack said, putting a hoof over Twilight’s withers.

“All right,” Twilight said with a sigh. Her horn sprang to life and with a loud pop, everypony found themselves back in the Golden Oaks library.

“All right everypony, good work tonight! I’ll get started on a letter to the princesses,” Twilight said.

“Maybe get started on a stern talking to for his flying too,” Rarity suggested.

“That too. But how to go about that? Hmmm.” Twilight pondered.

After a multitude of good night wishes, Twilight and Spike were left in alone in Golden Oaks.

“Spike, take a letter. No, two letters” Twilight said. “Dear Alien,

-”

“Alien!?”

“Don’t worry Spike, the alien isn’t here to eat your brains or foalnap anypony,” Twilight said.

“Are you sure, Twilight?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It even saved Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle from timberwolves,” Twilight said. “Now, back to the letter, right?”

“Right,” Spike said, picking his quill back up.

“Dear Alien. While I’m very excited to meet you and learn from you, your flying caused quite a stir throughout Ponyville. I implore you to come to town and meet me at the Golden Oaks library so we can discuss your apology to the townspoinies. I’m quite sure that everything was an accident, and I don’t see Mayor Mare issuing any kind of formal punishment. But a proper apology would go a long way. Afterward, we can spend time together discussing both your world and mine! Yours, Twilight Sparkle. Princess of friendship,”

Spike handed Twilight the leader who grasped it in her magic before teleporting it away with a pop and a flash of purple light.

“Great! Now onto the next letter. Dear Princess Celestia…”

Twilight had Spike take down a summary of events, expanding on details when Spike asked. After about twenty minutes of dictating, Spike sent the letter via Dragonfire.

“I guess we should call it a night. I’m beat,” Twilight said.

“Right there with you,” Spike responded with a yawn

Matt walked through the brush, uncaring of the sounds he made. He had already explored this area thoroughly and collected every sample he could. As he came up to his ship he noticed a piece of paper on the ground, just ahead of the forward landing strut. He picked it up to inspect it closer and realized it was an envelope, sealed with purple wax that had a stylized six-pointed star on it. To whom it was addressed he didn’t know. There was one word on the back of the envelope, written in a script he didn’t understand. But he decided to place it into sample storage once inside, just to be safe.

Author's Note

INCOMING TRANSMISSION
ORIGIN: SOL SYSTEM
DECODING
This chapter was a bit on the shorter side, but I promise we're getting to the main event. Please leave any feedback you have, as I'm always looking to improve.
Until next time!
Strangest Things
END TRANSMISSION