April 12th, 6 PH

7:00 am

Ponyville Library, Ponyville, Equestria

“Hey Twilight! It’s morning! Can we go now? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can we go now?” Pinkie Pie bounded in circles around the library floor, careful to avoid the several mounds of books Twilight hadn’t yet cleaned up. At least she finished sorting all the library’s books into two piles, one that could beneficial in her research of the meteorites and one that could not. Unfortunately, the former dwarfed the later in size nearly tenfold. Twilight was busy sitting on haunches, staring at the enormous mound of assorted parchment that stood before her. She sighed. Neither of the two mares slept for the remainder of that night. Twilight spent it sorting the books and Pinkie Pie did… whatever it is she does.

“Um…” Twilight blinked. “Sure… I guess. I’m going to get ready. Pinkie, can you go wake the girls? I can get Rarity.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony gave a salute.

“Tell them to be here in an hour. We got a lot of area to cover and I’m sure they’ll want to get ready, eat breakfast…”

“Got it!” Pinkie Pie acknowledged as she bounded out the library’s front door, slamming it shut behind her. Twilight winced at the sudden, loud crash that pierced the general quietness of the town. A book toppled off of the giant mountain of tomes and came sailing down, bonking her on her head. Twilight let out an audible groan, as did her stomach. Placing the book back on top of the enormous mountain, she decided to listen to her own words and make something to eat. At eight o’clock they’d be heading out to the Everfree Forest.

\x\x\x\x\

First stop: Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie went into a full gallop across the slowly-waking town. Celestia’s sun was now just above the horizon, basking the sky in a wondrous shade of pink and orange. Just like sherbet ice cream. Oh, how she hasn’t had sherbet in a long time! Pinkie Pie would have to stop by Bon Bon’s parlor to pick some up. Oh! She could bring some for the expedition! Surely everypony would get tired after the long walk searching for the meteors, and what would be better after a long day’s walk than some good old fashion sherbet?

Before she knew it Pinkie Pie soon found herself underneath Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. No doubt the pegasus was asleep this early in the morning, but she needed to get up. Now.

“RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAINNBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW DDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSH!!!”

No reply.

“Rainbow Dash! Come on! Get your flank out of bed!” Pinkie hollered towards the sky, but again got no sort of response. If only she could walk on clouds, oh how she’d…

Pinkie Pie grinned at her wild idea. She needed to get back at Dash after the little fiasco with the noodle incident last week anyhow, and here she could take care of two problems at once. Seemingly out of thin air, the pink party pony withdrew the one thing she never leaves home without. Carefully making adjustments to the pitch and direction, Pinkie Pie aimed the barrel to where the bedroom ought to be.

“Fire in the hole!” Pinkie Pie pulled on the draw string, releasing the air pressure of her party cannon and fired a solid barrage of streamers and confetti into the floating structure. Just as expected, the colorful paper went straight through the cloud floor. A large thump could be head inside followed by muffled curses.

Rainbow Dash, more color in her mane than usual, appeared at her bedroom window. “Alright!! Who’s the wisepony who decided to shoot…” Her angry glare met Pinkie Pie’s ecstatic smile. “…at me. Ugh, nice one Pinkie.”

“Get up!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

“Why? Do you have any idea how early it is!?”

“Sure do!”

“Ugh…” Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “I’m coming…” The cyan pegasus returned to her room and a minute later swooped down in front of Pinkie. “What is it?”

“Some meteors fell into the Everfree Forest last night and we’re going to go look for them!”

“Space rocks? Boring…” Rainbow Dash sighed, ready to go back to bed.

“Oh shush, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie teased. “Come on, it’ll be fun! My Pinkie Sense made a sense that I can’t make sense of! It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Pinkie Pie, you don’t make any sense.”

“Exactly! The only hope of finding out why I don’t make sense is those meteors!”

Rainbow Dash cocked a brow. “Pinkie, if those space rocks will allow you to make logical sense for one moment, then by all means let’s go!”

“That’s the spirit! Now, you go wake up Applejack and I’ll go get Fluttershy! Meet up back at the library!”

\x\x\x\x\

*knock* *knock*

“I’m sorry, but we don’t open until ten. Please come back in a few hours, will you?”

Twilight, irritated, knocked on the door again. “Rarity! It’s me, Twilight!”

The front door of the Carousel Boutique slowly slid open. Rarity stuck her head out into the morning air, eyes squinting.

“Oh Twilight, darling, do you have any idea how early it is?” Rarity groaned, still half-asleep.

“Of course I do! Didn’t you hear or see those meteors fall last night?”

“Meteors!? As in a rock from space fell to Equestria!? I’ll be right out in a moment!” Rarity swiftly slammed the door shut in Twilight’s face. Half a second later it swung open, almost knocking the unicorn over. Rarity hastily stepped out with her saddlebags on and started trotting in impatient circles around Twilight.

“Where did they fall?” Rarity grinned wide. “Come on, I want to get my hooves on one before something awful happens to it!”

“Wow, Rarity.” Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "I didn’t take you as one who’d be interested in astronomy!”

“Astrono-what now? Oh nonono, I just want to harvest the valuable rocks! Could you imagine an exclusive line of dresses the likes that ponydom has never seen before!”

“Right…” There’s the Rarity Twilight knew and loved. “Well, depending on how many samples I’m able to collect, you can take your pick from what’s left!”

“Deal! Now let’s go!” Rarity started to trot away, only to return a few seconds later. “Er… where did they fall?”

“If I tell you, you’re just going to run off by yourself.” Twilight rolled her eyes and walked away with Rarity following close behind. “Pinkie Pie is getting the rest of the girls. We’re going to go together.”

\x\x\x\x\

Rainbow Dash hovered impatiently in front of Applejack’s bedroom window, pounding on the glass. Inside, the orange earth pony stirred awake in bed. She sighed at the sight of a cyan blur floating right outside.

“What is it now, Rainbow?” She asked while lifting up the window.

“Pinkie Pie wants us to meet up at the library. It’s something about her Pinkie Sense and meteors.” She answered.

“Wait… Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense wants us to meet at ta’ library?” Applejack asked, slightly concerned.

“…I guess? I don’t know. Just meet up at the library soon.” Rainbow Dash turned and flew away to get there herself. Things went faster than she expected.

\x\x\x\x\

“FLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTEERRSSHHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

Pinkie Pie knocked feverishly on the cottage’s door. “WAKE UP FLUTTERSHY!”

Right then and there Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense went off, sending another cold chill down her spine. She stopped to think about what it could mean, but the door swiftly opened and a very restless and ticked off pegasus emerged. “Pinkie! Keep it down!”

“Whoa, sorry… Come on, Twilight wants us to go to the library!”

“I can’t, Pinkie Pie. Tell Twilight that I can’t come… for whatever reason she wants me to be there. I’m a bit caught up at the moment.”

“Well, that’s obviously obvious! You’re so tired!” Pinkie Pie playfully ruffled Fluttershy’s mane in an attempt to make her more awake. It wasn’t working. “Hrmph. What is it that’s got you so preoccupied?”

“Well… I found some sort of animal in the Everfree Forest last night…” Fluttershy mused, deciding not to rat out the crusaders.

“What sort of animal?”

“Well… I…”

Before she could react Pinkie Pie already nudged open the door revealing something covered in blankets and laying in a heap on the living room floor. There was no use hiding it, so Fluttershy stepped aside and let her in. As Pinkie Pie approached it, her poofy mane began to ‘deflate’ at the gruesome work Fluttershy must have put into keeping the animal alive. Lifting the blankets off revealed some unrecognizable animal, and what wasn’t covered in bandages showed off terrible scars and disgusting bruises. Fluttershy had wrapped a very large bandage around its abdomen and another around the top of its head, both seeping red. Several bloodied rags littered the floor, and another cloth rested over its hips. It was asleep, but she could still tell its eyes were abnormally small for an animal its size. What’s more is that it looked like it couldn’t even walk with the way its four legs were arranged.

“Did you shave it?” Pinkie asked, prodding the pink, soft flesh of one of its legs.

“No, that’s one of the stranger things about it! It does have hair all over most of its body, more in… some places than others… but the hair is cut so small... My guess is that whoever stuck it in that tree was very cruel to it.”

“What? It climbs trees?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know. I found it strapped into a chair or at least something like a chair, and it was hanging from a tree. If I wasn’t there to save it, it would have fallen and probably died!”

The pink pony’s mane slowly started to the resemble cotton candy again, but she still had a curious look of disgust. The poor animal must have been through a lot to end up the way it did now. Pinkie Pie got in for a closer look; inspecting some of its wounds, feeling its smooth pink skin, running a hoof through its mane…

“Um, Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy tried to get her attention. “That’s there to cover its…”

Pinkie Pie blushed and lowered the cloth back over the animal’s hips.

“Oh. Ehehehe… I see why you have that there…” Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches and shook the image out of her head. “Um, Twilight asked me to bring you to the library but…”

“This is more important,” Fluttershy finished for her friend. “Somepony needs to watch after it.”

“I wish I could help in some way,” Pinkie Pie sighed. “Do you have any idea what it eats? I could bring over some cupcakes for it if it wakes up!”

“Actually, about that…” Fluttershy walked around the animal to its head and pried open its lips with a hoof. Pinkie Pie got a glimpse of its canines and winced.

“I see…”

“Yes, it’s a predator. But it also eats plants.” Fluttershy opened the mouth more and exposed a full set of molars. “And that’s another confusing part. Its teeth are the only indication it eats meat, but its body is in now shape or form capable of being an adequate hunter.”

“Does…” Pinkie frowned. “Does it eat ponies?”

“I hope not.” Fluttershy tilted her head at the animal and chuckled slightly. “And even if it did, it’s in no condition to attack.”

“It doesn’t look like it could even eat, either.” Pinkie Pie poked its nose and playfully smiled. “Why don’t I go to Sugarcube Corner and make a nutrient-shake incase in wakes up so it doesn’t have to eat any of us?”

Fluttershy smiled. “I think that’d be a great idea.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Twilight we won’t be going with her.” Pinkie Pie got up and trotted over to the doorway. “I’ll be back in about… thirty minutes. Be safe.”

Fluttershy waved goodbye as her friend left. Turning her attention to the animal, she started to get curious about the things it had with it. Fluttershy walked over to corner of the room where she stashed its belongings and pulled out its clunky, blood-stained clothes. The stitching alone was enough to tip her off that the creature must be intelligent. Other items included a strange metallic L-shaped thing, some small metal plates strung on a chain, and the animal’s helmet she found it wearing. All these objects just screamed intelligence, but how could such an animal go undocumented in the Everfree Forest? And if there was one, there had to be more. Maybe it was a pet? That might explain why it was wearing clothes; somepony could have made them for it. She’d have to show them to Rarity some time. Maybe the seamstress could identify where they could have been made.

\x\x\x\x\

“Heya girls!” Pinkie Pie bounded towards the library where the rest of her friends were waiting more or less patiently.

“There you are Pinkie Pie!” Twilight smiled. “Um, where’s Fluttershy?”

“About that…” Pinkie rubbed the back of her head. “Fluttershy found some strange animal, and it’s hurt pretty badly. I’m going to stay behind and help her take care of it.”

“But… I thought you were the one who wanted to go search for the space rock?” Rainbow Dash pondered.

“Well, yeah…” Pinkie Pie admitted. “But the poor animal is hurt really badly. Somepony’s got to be there to cheer it up!”

“Well that’s a mighty kind thing for ya to do sugarcube, but isn’t part of this whole adventure about dealin’ with ya Pinkie Sense?”

Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Yeah, spine chills… which is weird because I’ve never had them before so they could mean anything. What’s weirder though is that I got them again when I was at Fluttershy’s home. Maybe it has something to do with the animal? It’s the best lead I got!”

“Alright darling, go right on ahead.” Rarity waved a hoof as if to turn her away. “We won’t stop you. Now why don’t we get a move on girls! Let’s go find me… I mean find us some meteorites!” Rarity declared and galloped away into town.

Applejack watched as Rarity disappeared behind a corner. “Um, does she even know where…”

Twilight hung her head. “No. No she does not.”

“WELL… I’m off! Hope you have fun! Save a space rock for me, okay?” Pinkie Pie waved goodbye as she bounded off to Sugarcube Corner. Rarity reappeared moments after slightly embarrassed, and sat down without so much as another word. Twilight let out in audible sigh. She had just lost the one pony who could maneuver them through the Everfree Forest in a heartbeat, and now with only a party of four it wouldn’t be practical to split into groups of two. Unfortunately, they’d have to stick to finding just one of the two meteorites.

“Come on girls.” Twilight tugged on her saddlebags. “Let’s get going!”