"Just one more hour. Just one more measly hour..."

Midnight Shadow stared listlessly at the clock on her desk. This was the fifth time in just as many minutes that she had looked at it while filling out paperwork. Her job required her to work long hours into the night and early morning. Not something she was unused to at this point, but boring as hell all the same.

The room was dimly lit by a sapphire glow emanating from her horn and the pencil she was currently levitating. The only noise reverberating through the air being the constant tick-tock of the clock on the desk and the little scribbling sound of the pencil on the hundredth piece of paper to litter Midnight's desk. She sighed and leaned back into her chair, her vertebrae popping half a dozen times as she relieved the pressure and tension from her back after sitting behind a desk all night.

"Uhh... I need a break. I hate paperwork," Midnight whispered to no one in particular

Yawning sharply, she released her magic hold on the pencil and turned away from the desk. She rose from her lumbago-inducing prison and dropped to her hooves. Arching her back and stretching like a cat, Midnight felt several more joints pop and crack as more and more tension was released from her body. Stifling another yawn, Midnight started for the door, stealing one more glance at the clock on her desk. The echoing clip-clop of her hooves on the hard floor filled the air as she walked.

"Great, 4 AM... Maybe I should just turn in early. Not sure how much more of this I can take tonight. Why did I take this Night Guard gig?"

Walking out through the door from her office, Midnight swiveled her head to the right. No one. Then to the left. Nopony. The coast was clear, but then again, it was always clear this late, or early, depending on the pony. The only ponies awake at this hour were the thestrals and Princess Luna, and Midnight hardly worked with either. Even so, if any were mulling about, her little game of hooky would not go over well.

Midnight walked back into her private office and quickly filed her paperwork, ensuring the classified material was properly secured before moving onto more trivial paperwork. Once her desk was clear, she moved back to the door and checked one more time to ensure the coast was clear. Midnight willed her horn to glow and her familiar blue aura encapsulated the keys sitting idly on the far end of the desk. She levitated the keys over to her waiting hoof, her magic then grabbing the door and gently pulling it closed. She placed the key in the lock and twisted until there was an audible *click* signifying the door was secured. She walked over to the far side of the main office where her saddlebags, and hers alone, were sitting unattended. They seemed so small compared to the emptiness of the room around them. She opened the pouch and slid her keys inside. She then drew out the only other item in the bag, a thick winter scarf, and wrapped it around her neck. It wasn't particularly freezing yet; winter had yet to hit in full swing, but fall was quickly ending and the outside air was fairly chilly in the late night and early morning.

As she levitated her saddlebags onto her back, Midnight made for the door. She ensured that the office was properly cleaned and empty with one more glance before closing the door behind her and locking it. The brisk chill of early winter hit her immediately and she shivered at the initial feeling. Finding no pleasure in the cold, she couldn't help but consider going back inside the complex. However, knowing full well why she came outside in the first place, she started walking away from the building, quickly scanning left and right for any ponies that would see her ditching work. She was a dedicated mare yes, but even the most dedicated of individuals could play hooky once in a while. Midnight was no exception.

Seeing no ponies nearby, or at all for that matter, she walked down the road into the Canterlot central district. The city was quiet, with all but a few lights flickering in the few stores still manned for any potential Thestral customers or the occasional early riser. Midnight found no reason to stick around in this area, so she turned to follow the road leading into the Canterlot residential district. Midnight found herself walking through the upper class neighborhoods of Canterlot often. It was pretty much the only way she could get to work on time every day. She hated it. Every snob and upperclasspony this side of Equestria crammed into one square mile of arrogance and narcissism.

Wanting to get home as fast as possible, Midnight walked faster, breaking into a trot, trying to create as much distance between her and the snobs as physically possible.

Midnight soon slowed to a normal walking pace, as she exited Canterlot proper and entered the countryside. Waving at the guards stationed at the gate, she continued down the road, finally finding some relaxation in the sound of the soft whistling of the breeze as it gently caressed the mountainside. The forest flanking both sides of the road were scary to most at night, but to Midnight, they were relaxing. As she continued her walk, she checked the watch on her forehoof.

"Awesome! I might just make it home before five for once!" She cheered in her head.

Finding a new bounce in her step, Midnight happily trotted along the path toward her house. Rounding the corner at the bottom of the road, she continued walking along the well beaten path into the countryside. She didn't hate the city, but she found much more solace in the peace and quiet one could only find a fair distance away from anypony else. The soft breeze filled her mane and fur, breathing a feeling of relaxation into her. Memories of when she used to play tag with her dad in the mountains as the breeze washed over her, filled her head.

Midnight followed the road for a few hundred more feet and finally saw her house silhouetted against the countryside. Holding back her excitement, she made her way to the door, thankful that her little game of hooky went unnoticed by any spying eyes that might have still been at work.

Midnight reached into her saddlebags for her keys, but paused when she heard a faint rumbling. Turning around, she couldn't make anything out other than the garden in front of her house and the road leading back into Canterlot. Midnight began to worry as the rumbling only got louder and louder. Looking left and right, she couldn't identify the source of the noise.

"What is that noise, where is it coming...from..."

Midnight barely finished her sentence as her gaze turned skyward and saw a terrific sight. The most beautiful meteorite shower she had ever seen. Thousands upon thousands of lights danced through the sky and brilliant flashes illuminated the dark world. The display was as marvelous as it was bright and... getting... closer... Midnight squinted her eyes to be sure if what she was seeing was real. Most of the specs had flashed brightly, then burned out, but one was getting bigger...

"Why is tha-" Midnight started, but was interrupted by the rumbling turning into a thundering. Her body began to shake as it got louder, and louder. Her eyes went wide and before she could react, it turned into a screeching.

The sound was louder than anything she had ever heard. She pressed her hooves against her ears as they splayed back against her skull. She barely caught sight of the bright, screeching monster that rocketed downwards through the sky into the mountainside. Midnight stared, slack-jawed at the sight as the last of it disappeared behind a cliff. The sound of rocks and trees now being obliterated filled the air.

Midnight dropped her saddlebags and charged into a full gallop towards the mountainside; her scarf blowing in the wind as she moved. Only one thought filled her mind.

"That was more than just a shooting star."

Midnight reached the edge of the cliff to find a sight of pure destruction in front of her. Jagged, twisted metal jutted out of the deformed rock face at odd angles, sending shivers down her spine. Trees were snapped clean in half, the splintered remains all but stumps compared to their untouched brothers. There was a deep trench carved into the side of the mountain. All along the desecrated path were small fires and more twisted metal.

Looking further down the trench, Midnight saw bigger fires and smoke billowing from the bottom of the cliff side. Preparing for the many possible circumstances running through her head, she readied herself for the trip down. Taking a deep breath, she began the slow journey down the cliff to find whatever it was that had smashed into the mountain.

After five minutes of climbing, Midnight finally saw something promising.

"Is that a piece of... glass?"

Midnight approached the damaged piece and inspected it closely. It was attached to some kind of metal, with screws and bolts running through the glass into the unique backing. There seemed to be some kind of wires sticking out of the side. It looked like whatever it was had been ripped clean off the side of whatever had crashed here. Putting it to the side, she continued her descent into the unknown, intending to study the glass later.

The descent was unbelievably long. Midnight descended a full three hundred feet, finding strange new debris and objects of interest, before she was even close to the source of the destruction. She finally found a small cliff to rest on when a glowing blaze below caught her attention and she directed her eyes to the source. With smoke billowing out of the side and front, a giant metallic tube lay at the base of cliff side, looking every bit as guilty of the carnage as a mutilated piece of metal could look.

Midnight stepped closer to the edge of the cliff as she eyed the wreckage more carefully. Something was... off. The side of the tube was billowing smoke, but part of it seemed to be missing. There was a hole in the side of the tube that strangely resembled a large doorway. As she looked more closely, she saw more of the metal laying next to the tube, looking just as burnt as the inside surely was. That was it then, that was a door, and if that thing had a door, then there had to be something inside that door...

"Sweet Luna... is this an alien spaceship?" Midnight gasped.

Scanning the area for more details, her eyes fell on a trail of a very familiar looking fluid leading away from the ship. Even in the low light, tainted by the harsh titian glow emanating from the craft and surrounding fires, Midnight could identify it as blood. Following the trail with her eyes, she couldn't help but feel her heart pound in her chest as they neared the end. 5 feet. 10 feet. 15 feet... Midnight felt her breath catch in her throat. Her jaw dropped and goosebumps rose all over her body. Sitting there, not twenty feet from the craft, she saw the alien laying against a small tree with a puddle of blood forming around its body. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw that the creature was staring straight at her. She made eye contact with it. A pit formed in her stomach, immediately making her feel sick.

"I knew that was more than just a shooting star..." Midnight whispered

The creature's head slowly tilted to the side as it appeared to lose consciousness, and fall over onto its side leaving Midnight to stare at the dying alien life form now on her planet. She cautiously trotted down the last bit of the cliff to the crash site and the strange creature. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to run and get the royal guard. There was no telling what this thing was capable of. It could explode. It could eat her. It could abduct her and experiment on her. There was no telling, but Midnight couldn't just let it die. She had never been able to sit idly by and watch something die. She cautiously walked forward; the billowing smoke obscuring the doorway of the ship and filling the air with a strange musk somewhere between a bonfire and a funeral pyre.

Making her way past the ship, she found herself slowing to a crawl. There it was. The alien that crashed here not twenty minutes ago. The only sign that it was still alive was the slow and weak breaths coming from its barely moving chest. Each step forward felt like it took ages to complete. Fear screamed at Midnight to abandon the creature and get the Night guard, only the creature looked far too wounded. Going to get the guard would take too much time. The Night Guard was too small and limited to send anypony out of Canterlot and the Royal Guard was off duty for at least another hour. By the time they got here this thing could be long dead. No, she had to help it. There was no way she could let it die. Who knows what information it could know. Obviously it had the technology to fly through space, it could know so much more.

"Maybe it knows a way to reverse aging? It could have some kind of force field that doesn't require constant magical effort from a unicorn to maintain. Perhaps it could know a way for those not gifted with wings to fly? I have to save it... No matter the risk."

Despite her brave intentions, Midnight couldn't help but look at both sides of the possibilities.

"What if it eats ponies? What if it's just a decoy and the real alien is invisible and waiting to claim an easy meal?"

Even so, Midnight forced those thoughts to the back of her head.

"No, this creature is hurt and needs help. I have to help it."

She was less than ten feet away from it now. Close enough to see all of the small details she couldn't see before. Firstly, it was wearing clothes, so maybe it wasn't so different from ponies after all. It's legs were longer than a ponies, and it had strange, elongated hooves that seemed to be flattened and stuck out past the ankle. Black, working boots adorned its hooves while its pants were a deep navy blue. A black belt with some accessory mounts wrapped itself around the creatures waist. Clearly there was meant to be some additional apparel there. Further up, its shirt was jet black, with a logo that read "Nebula" in bright blue, fancy lettering. It's sleeves covered most of its... fur? Apparently, it didn't have much. Just enough hair on its forearms to maybe keep warm in mild cold, but nothing frigid like the equestrian winters. What caught her attention here was the strange, spider-like appendages attached to its forearms. They were covered in a thin black material with all the tears and blood the rest of its body was covered with. Finally reaching the creatures head, its face was decidedly flat, with smaller eyes than a pony, ears on the side of its head, a small nose that could not possible supply a creature that big with enough air, and a decent amount of fur on the top of its head.

Getting even closer, Midnight started to see the sure signs that this creature had in fact, endured the devastation behind them both. It's pants were torn on the left side, and a jagged piece of metal stuck out through both sides of the lower part of its leg. Blood was oozing out of the torn clothing, creating the small puddle now surrounding the offending impalement. It's right leg had terrible burns running all along it, with only a few burnt and melted pieces of cloth clinging to the charred skin. Its chest was mostly unscathed, save for a few tears in the shirt fabric and a few small burns. There seemed to be only minor burns and cuts on the creatures arms and spider-hooves. Finally, the creatures head had a deep gash on the left side, running from just above the eye to just above the ear. Blood had been dripping down the left side of its head for quiet a while, as its shoulder and neck were drenched in the crimson liquid.

Eyes wide and goosebumps covering her entire body, Midnight closed the last few meters until she was standing directly in front of the strange alien. Fear and curiosity battled each other in a relentless hailstorm of emotions raging in her head. At any moment, the creature could wake up and devour her, or abduct her and take her back to its world to be experimented on.

Midnight stood there for what felt like hours before she finally managed to move her hoof. Slowly, but surely, her right hoof came up towards the creature and she gently poked its chest. Nothing. She nudged it a little harder this time, still nothing. Feeling much more at ease, she checked over its injuries to see what needed to be addressed first. Having spent quite some time as a medic, Midnight knew how to treat injuries such as these, but there was one problem: She didn't have her aid-bag. She realized that she didn't have anything except her scarf on her. Cursing under her breath for her lack of foresight, she quickly thought through her options. There wasn't much she could do for the burns now, but with her scarf, she could deal with at least two of the creatures injuries. Removing the garment with her magic, she teared it in half lengthwise, making two strips, one almost double the width of the other.

"I really hope this works. You don't look like a pony, but everything is kinda in the right place still... I think..."

She made her way back down to its leg and raised it slightly with magic. If it was anything like ponies at all, there would be veins and arteries running down its legs. She wrapped the thinner strip of scarf around its thigh, a couple of inches above the knee. Wrapping extra tight to create a makeshift tourniquet, she breathed a sigh of relief as the bleeding seemed to slow. She used more magic to gently raise the creatures head and wrapped the larger of the two strips around its head, covering the gash and slowing the bleeding. Gently lowering its head, she checked over its body once more for serious bleeding. Happy that she found nothing life threatening, she moved on to her next step.

"Ok, hemorrhaging, check, airways are next, then breathing, and then circulation..."

She brought her ear close to the creatures face, listening for any indication that its airway might be obstructed. Hearing only slightly raspy breaths, she decided its airway was clear enough to move to the next step: breathing. Rolling the creature onto its back as gently as physically possible, she checked its chest as it rose and fell, making sure to note if one side of the chest wasn't rising as much as the other. Luckily nothing seemed to be wrong there. For the last step, she had to check for a pulse and blood circulation. Pressing her hoof against the aliens neck, she waited for the beat of its heart. It was weak, but it was there. Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. She may not have saved the creatures life just yet, but she had bought it precious time. Now it was time for her to move it to somewhere where she could treat it properly. She looked for a way to move the alien without causing it more harm, but found nothing of any use. Midnight sighed.

"Guess I'll just have to levitate you up the mountain. This is gonna be a workout..."

Summoning her magic once more, she wrapped the alien in her sapphire aura and gingerly lifted if off of the ground. It was heavy. At least the weight of a full grown stallion. Maybe even a little heavier. Grunting with the effort to lift such a large creature, Midnight slowly lifted until it was levitating just a few feet off of the ground. Turning around, Midnight's heart sank as she realized just how far she had to climb back up the mountain with the heavy alien on her back, so to speak. She turned to the creature now hovering close behind her as she started to walk and spoke.

"I hope that was enough to keep you alive for bit. This is gonna be a long hike."

Every step was agony. Midnight's hooves hurt and her legs burned. Her magic was getting weaker and weaker from the constant strain. More than once, she had slipped and nearly fell off the cliff side. She almost dropped the creature during one of those slips. The rough, jagged rocks hurt her hooves but provided just enough grip for her to climb, albeit just barely. It was a good thing she was a unicorn. Any other pony species wouldn't be able to carry the alien up a cliff without potentially injuring it even more. As she climbed and climbed, her legs grew tired and weary. Exhaustion forced her to stop and catch her breath time and time again.

"I need to hit the gym more often," Midnight groaned.

As she looked up the cliff, she couldn't help the dread that worked its way into her heart.

"Still got a long way to go..."

2 hours of heavy lifting and climbing had taken its toll on the dark unicorn mare. Her mane was disheveled and messy. Her coat was damp with sweat and covered in dirt and dust. More than once she had stumbled and nearly fell, nearly dragging the unconscious alien with her. She had to set him down every so often so as to save her strength, causing the trek to last well into Celestia's early morning sunrise. Even now, with her current situation, she couldn't help but admire the beauty through her tired eyes. Rest would come soon enough, but not before she tended to the creatures wounds.

Finally pulling herself over the last ledge with the creature shakily floating up behind her, Midnight rolled onto her back, making sure to gently set the alien down before releasing her magic hold on it. Panting, she stared straight up into the sky, thankful that she had made it. Taking a minute to catch her breath, she turned to the creature now illuminated by the early morning sunlight. She couldn't help but notice how cute it was. Sure, there was blood all over its face, and a torn up, blood soaked scarf wrapped around its head, but something about its face screamed "friendly." Maybe it was just how helpless it was. It was badly injured and unconscious, completely at her mercy. Midnight was no sadist though. She loved all creatures, small and large.

Summoning her last bit of strength to her weary legs, Midnight rose to her hooves. Her horn glowed with magical energy once more and the creature followed suit not a moment later. With a quick grunt, the alien was hoisted into the air, trailing closely behind Midnight as she began the quick trot back to her house. Luckily, no ponies were out and about yet. It was still a little early for anypony to be outside doing anything, save for Princess Celestia and the royal guards assuming duty from the Night Guard.

Thankful for her luck, Midnight carried the creature the rest of the way to her house. Not a soul traveled along the route to intercept them and before long, they arrived at her house. Finding her saddlebags still lying where she dropped them, Midnight quickly fished for her keys and upon finding them, unlocked the door and pulled the creature inside.

She walked through the main entrance into the living room, careful to not bump the aliens head on any of her furniture or decorations. Hooking a right, she brought it to her guest room and opened the door. The room smelled fresh and clean, not a soul having been there for months... ok years. Stepping out of the way, Midnight levitated the creature through the doorway and onto the bed.

"These sheets are definitely going to have to be changed out after today... Definitely."

Under any other circumstance, she would have gone and reported to the Guard about her findings, but the aliens skin had changed since she first saw it. It was much paler now than before. It looked like it would be dead within a few hours.

"I don't think you'd even make it to the hospital now..."

Quickly making her way back out of the room, Midnight walked down the hall to a closet with three locks. She unlocked all three in a quick, practiced order and opened the door. She found the large crate she was looking for in the middle of the closet, and opened it. On top of the supplies was her old uniform. It was still neatly folded and clean. Taking care not to wrinkle or dirty it, she levitated it to the side and began digging through the medical equipment. Supplies went missing all the time, and it was easy to grab a bag of morphine without anypony noticing.

Grabbing an IV bag, and IV pole, a needle, and alcohol wipes, Midnight walked back to the unconscious alien in her guest room. Once inside, she began setting her equipment up. At best, it would keep the creature alive long enough to give her time to think about what to do with it. She hooked the IV bag up to the pole and, after wiping the aliens arm with the alcohol wipes, inserted the needle in a large vein on its forearm. She was relieved to see the IV bag begin to drip, a smile even forming on her lips. Unfortunately, her smile quickly disappeared upon looking down at the form in front of her, she saw the bloody leg, jagged steal breaching both sides of the fleshy muscle. Midnight sighed. She knew she would have to remove it, but there was no telling if adding drugs to the mix to keep the creature sedated would work or possibly kill it.

Midnight sat there, head in hooves, debating what to do. If she went ahead and tried to fix the alien herself, she could end up killing it. The first extra terrestrial to visit Equestria and she kills it by injecting it with too many drugs. Not how she wanted to go down in history. On the other side of the coin though, if she did nothing, it would surely bleed out. It was close to death as it was already, and taking it to a hospital was out of the question as well. By the time it even got there, it would be long dead. Teleportation had several risks, firstly that the creatures body might not be able to take that kind of dematerialization and rematerialization, and second that its wounds might be worsened by the journey, also killing it. Lastly, she wasn't sure she even could teleport both the alien and herself that far. She had the knowledge, and the equipment to do the work, but doing surgery on an alien creature she knew nothing about with no help would be tough. Especially with the weight of possible future relations with its species resting squarely on her shoulders should she fail.

Midnight took one last glance over the creature before leaving the room and walking down the hallway. She walked up the stairs and took the first door to her right, leading into the bathroom. Finding the shower just as clean and relaxing as when she last left it, she stepped inside and turned the water on, adjusting the water nearly as hot as it could get.

"If I'm going to save that things life, I'm gonna need to get the dirt off my hooves first."

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: A Rude Awakening Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 11 Minutes