"Everyone ready?" said Twilight Sparkle, "I'm really excited about this camping trip, but we're going to have to get moving soon if we want to stay on schedule."

"We have a schedule?" Rainbow Dash, bleary eyed, glared eastward at the rising sun, as if blaming Celestia herself for having woken so early.

"Of course!" Twilight smiled. "There's just so much to do out by Leapfrog Lake, but if we want enough time to relax, we need to budget our time accordingly." She nodded, and looked at her five friends. Each of the ponies had brought along saddlebags, save for Applejack, who just had a large canteen dangling from around her neck. "Remember, we're going to be out there for a few days, so if we need anything, we need to bring it with us."

"Er, Applejack," Rarity said, "aren't you forgetting something?"

"Am I?" Applejack glanced over her shoulder at her saddlebag-wearing friends. "Shoot, reckon I'd better make a rundown...lessee...got my hat."

"And?" Rarity said.

"n' a pocketknife." Applejack rolled her hat off of her head and peered inside.

"And?" Rarity gestured for Applejack to continue.

"n' a rope."

"And?"

"n' some whiskey."

"Yay!" Pinkie Pie threw her hooves up in celebration.

"That's it?" Rarity squinted at Applejack.

"Yep!" Applejack nodded, and put her hat back on. "That's all I need."

"You're sure." Rarity deadpanned.

"'course I am!"

Rarity scratched her head. "That's all you need for several days away from Ponyville?"

"Aw heck, yer right, Rarity! I plum forgot my guitar!" and with that, the cowpony galloped back towards Sweet Apple Acres. "I'll meet y'all at the campsite!"

Rarity tilted her head to the side and watched Applejack depart. "Okay girls," she said, "I'm putting this out there right now- if Applejack finds she's forgotten anything, it's her own fault." she tilted her nose up, and began to trot down the path. "Now then...are you sure you've got everything, Spike?"

"Of course!" A voice from somewhere within a pile of gear said. "There's the sleeping bag, the tent, your other tent, the makeup kit, the mirror, the backup mirror, the backup backup mirror, your curling iron, your curlers, your curling broom, three pounds of combs, hoof wax, horn wax, your sun hat, your rain hat, your umbrella, your sunbrella, sunscreen, sunglasses, a sun dress, a sun lamp, four days worth of gourmet alfalfa, six bars of hoof-made soap, your good badminton set, your favorite chair, and, uh..." Spike poked his head out and looked over at a wheeled contrivance- the sort usually reserved for light freight. "Your...travel wardrobe."

"Good." Rarity fussed with her mane. "I'm trying to travel light."

Applejack caught up with her friends as promised. Between the six ponies (and one baby dragon), it didn't take long to set up a comfortable campsite next to the idyllic shores of Leapfrog Lake.

"It's so nice, getting away from Ponyville," Fluttershy said, smiling. "Well, not away from ponyville, but just closer to nature, you know? There's so many lovely little animals you can make friends with! There's squirrels, and songbirds, and sasquatches..." she sighed, and looked around. "We should be hearing even more of them, now that the sun's going down! That's when all the nocturnal animals come out, like owls and bears and owlbears..."

"Oh! Oh!" Pinkie Pie pulled a bag of marshmallows from her saddlebag. "It's getting dark, that means we can have a campfire! Which means smores!" she zipped over to Spike and pointed him in the direction of a pile of firewood within a ring of rocks. "I've been waiting the whole time for this! Take it away, Spike!"

"Huh?" the baby dragon blinked his eyes open. "Whatcha need me to take now, Rarity?"

"Silly dragon, I'm not Rarity! Just go 'head and light the fire, okay?"

"Wha?" Spike said. Before he could finish, Pinkie Pie clapped him on the back, hard enough to get a belch of green flame out of him, setting the dry firewood alight.

"That's it!" Pinkie grinned, and dropped the exhausted Spike to the ground. "Thanks!"

"Welp," Applejack tilted her hat back and reached for her guitar, "Iffn' it's gettin' dark, and iffin' we're lightin' fires, guess that means it's time for a good ol' fashioned campfire song." She strummed out an experimental chord. Applejack frowned, then leaned up to tune the strings.

"Oh." Rarity said, leaning in. "Uh. Applejack? Darling? If you don't mind my saying so, uh...can I make a request?"

"Whussat?" Applejack tried a second, slightly better-sounding chord.

"Well, ah. I was just curious if you knew any songs that weren't that...ah...rustic," Rarity said as diplomatically as she could.

"I know, I know, I haven't practiced in awhile, but I still ain't rusty when it comes to a good ol' country song."

"That's it, I'm afraid." Rarity said. "I was just wondering if you knew something besides country. Not that you aren't a lovely singer, it's just, well...sometimes it just seems that all the country songs you know are about drinking. Or murder."

"Hey!" Applejack looked up and glared at Rarity. "That ain't fair! Some of the songs I know are about drinkin' and murder! Them's the best ones."

"Oh, please don't get mad, Applejack! I'm just trying to make this a pleasant trip for everypony, you know. It's just that some of us have...delicate sensibilities." She glanced over towards Fluttershy, who was already flitting about with a handful of sparrows.

"Hnf. Fine. I'll sing somethin' purty, then. Just to show ya I can." Applejack took a pull of her whiskey, and began to play in earnest.

"Early one mornin', while makin' the rounds. I took a shot a-"

Applejack trailed off. "Er, hold on, I got this."

"I hear the train' a comin. It's comin' 'round the bend. And I ain't seen the sunshine-"

"Aw shoot." Applejack sighed, "That don't work either. Lemme try 'gain!" She strummed her guitar again, and tried a slower, more mournful song.

"A young colt named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm-"

Applejack stopped abruptly and shook her head. "Wait, nope."

"Is that one about drunken rampages too?" Pinkie Pie said with her characteristic eagerness.

"Sorta. But in a sad way." the orange pony sighed, and looked at Rarity, pleadingly. "You sure I can't go back to the first two songs? They're more fun."

"Uh, maybe we should try singing later?" Twilight chimed in. "Besides, take a look!" she smiled, and took a step to the side. "I got my portable telescope set up, and the light's just perfect for astronomical observation. I even brought logbooks for everyone!"

"Uh. Yay?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh wow, that was really nice of you to set up a telescope, Twilight! But you didn't even need to, I mean, we can see that comet right there!" Pinkie Pie pointed to the sky, where, sure enough, a streak of white flame could be seen burning through the atmosphere.

"What?" Twilight swung her telescope around to bear on the rapidly-growing comet. "That doesn't make any sense! There aren't any comets scheduled! How could something so big and so close just show up in the atmosphere without anyone noticing?" Twilight looked up from the telescope with a look of horror on her face. "I...I must of missed something! Agh, I knew I should have brought my notes!"

"Calm down, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, "I mean, so you forgot to write something down in your logbook. Big deal! We all make mistakes, right?"

"This isn't just a mathematical error, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, "The only way something like that could have appeared so suddenly would be through the use of orbital teleportation, which is only theoretical! It's so magically advanced that even Princess Celestia can't do it! At least, that's what she told me when I asked her." Twilight squinted into her telescope again. "And now, to judge by the corona around it, whatever it is, it's burning through our atmosphere! Quick, Spike, get me pen and paper, I need to do some calculations."

"Already ahead of you!" Spike ran over with a writing kit clutched in his claws.

"Perfect! Now, Fluttershy, you've got good eyes." The unicorn shoved her shy friend over towards the telescope, "Watch that comet! I've got to do some quick calculations..." Twilight's pen slashed its way across the paper, hashing out unpolished formulas. "Now, this may just be guesswork, but I think that meteorite's going to land someplace nearby! Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be of big enough mass to do any major damage..."

"Really? Cool!" Rainbow Dash said. "D'ya think I could race it or something? Outpacing a comet would be SURE to get me into the Wonderbolts!" she beat her wings and began to stretch in anticipation of such a feat of awesomeness.

"Um," Fluttershy said.

"Any ideas on the...composition of this meteorite, Twilight?" Rarity said, very innocently, "as I am positive I could design something absolutely breathtaking, given access to some sort of one-of-a-kind space-gem..."

"Girls?" Fluttershy said.

"They don't have gems in space, silly!" Pinkie Pie said, "Didn't you hear that the moon was made of cheese? But, um, wait- I'm not so sure about that, because if it was, I would think Princess Luna would smell kinda funny. Maybe it's more like a sugar cookie! I mean, it's white, and it's round, and sometimes it looks like someone took a bite out of it..."

"Anypony?" Fluttershy squeaked, and bit at her lower lip.

"What is it, sugarcube?" Applejack said.

"Now, uh. I'm not an expert or anything, but...are meteors supposed to have windows?"

"What?" Twilight Sparkle gasped. "You can't be serious! It's got to be a trick of the light! Here, let me-"

But before Twilight could shove Fluttershy away from the telescope's eyepiece, the meteorite exploded. It flashed blindingly white for just a moment, and then a bone-rattling *KABOOM!* echoed from the skies above. Where there'd once been a blazing comet, tiny streamers of space-matter trickled down to the ground like the remnants of a fireworks display.

"Oooo. Pretty." Pinkie Pie watched the twinkling display with wide eyes.

"Oh no!" Twilight's jaw dropped in dismay. "It must have burst in the atmosphere. But..." Twilight frowned, and sighted in on one streamer in particular. "It looks like one of the fragments is going to land on the other side of the lake! Why, if we hurry, we might even be able to get there before anyone else does!" Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Quick, Spike- get my geology kit and a lantern! We're going meteorite hunting!"

"That's the weirdest meteorite I've ever seen," said Rainbow Dash.

The six ponies (and one baby dragon) stood at the treeline, staring at what they'd found at the edge of the Everfree forest. It had taken them several hours to get around Leapfrog Lake, and soon after that, they found the crater.

"Have you ever seen any meteorites before?" Pinkie Pie said.

"Well, uh, no. But I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to look...like that." Rainbow Dash climbed up a little further in the air to get a better look at the so-called meteorite. The extra-Equestrian object was huge, easily the size of Cupcake Corner. Its ruddy metallic orange color made it look vaguely like an enormous piece of stale cornbread, half buried in the ground.

"That's strange," Twilight said, and took a tentative step closer. "Something that big should have produced a cataclysmic impact- hard enough to flatten the whole Everfree forest, at least."

"Hey wait!" Rainbow Dash said as she circled around the strange orange construct, "It's got wings! Or, uh, what's left of 'em." She pointed to a mangled fin jutting out from the far side of the orange object. "It must have had a way to slow down before it hit the ground. Y'know, like when you splay your wings out for extra drag at the last minute and it feels like it's gonna rip out your pinions?"

"We'll take your word for it, Dash," Applejack said, and looked over her shoulder, "'cuz, y'know. No wings."

"You might be right, Rainbow Dash." Twilight slowly began to walk around the edge of the crater. "But if it slowed down suddenly before hitting the ground, that means there's something controlling it...and this doesn't look like any Equestrian technology I've ever seen...which means..." Twilight's eyes went wide again in shock. "Hub theory might not just be a theory anymore!"

"And just what is 'Hub theory,' pray tell?" Rarity asked.

"It's complicated, that's what." Twilight Sparkle frowned, and took a few steps into the crater. "I'll explain later, once we figure out what this thing is..."

"Whaddya think's inside?" Pinkie Pie began to bounce forward towards the strange object. "Maybe it's aliens! Do you think it's aliens? I've never met an alien before! But I hope they're nice aliens, though, because I'd hate to meet one of those probey aliens. I mean, I like to have a good time, but there are some things you just don't do on a first date! Even if they're really cute. Do you think the aliens are gonna be cute, Fluttershy? I hope so! Maybe they're like, green space bunnies, or fuzzy orange pig-things, or maybe little wrinkly brown midget dudes with spindly necks, or-"

"Or some sort of enormous, three-clawed biped with a fifteen foot stride?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Or one of those, sure!" Pinkie Pie said, "you really have a great imagination, Fluttershy."

"Oh, I wish I was imagining this," the pegasus murmured and splayed her ears back, "because, um, look. Footprints." She pointed obligingly. "They're not like anything I've ever seen before!"

The ponies crowded around, squinting in the dim dawn light to get a better look at Fluttershy's find. Sure enough, a trail of blocky, clawed footprints started by an open hatch in the side of the crashed spaceship, wound out of the crater and led deeper into the Everfree forest.

"Some kinda dragon?" Applejack said as she stared down at the bathtub-sized footprint.

"Why would a dragon need a spaceship?" Pinkie Pie said, "They have wings!"

"I don't," Spike said, if a little sulkily.

"Oh yeah. Sorry!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "But you don't have a spaceship either!"

"Besides, look at Spike's toes," Twilight said.

Obligingly, Spike raised one of his feet and wiggled the claws at the end.

"I suppose he could use a pedicure," said Rarity, "then again, after all this hiking, we all are going to need some spa-time."

"Not that, Rarity," Twilight said, "look- Spike has three forward facing claws, as do most dragons. These footprints only have two, with the third one pointing backwards. It's an unusual configuration, at the very least. But what's more interesting is this..." She leaned in closer and cast a weak illumination spell, so as to get a better look at the footprint. "The edges here are too sharp, too regular. You don't see right angles very often in nature...my guess is, these footprints were made by shoes or boots of some kind."

"Terribly unfashionable," Rarity said by reflex.

"When ya get that big, I think ya don't need ta worry 'bout whatcha look like, Rarity." Applejack nudged the unicorn. "'Sides, just standin' around here ain't answerin any questions! I say we go in there," she pointed to the orange spaceship, "'n get some answers!"

"Good idea." Twilight said. "But we should keep a lookout, in case whatever left those footprints comes back."

"Eep," Fluttershy said.

"On it!" Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy up into the air. "We'll be your eyes in the sky! And if the alien thing starts making trouble, I'm totally gonna clobber it in the FACE."

"Don't fight it unless you have to." Twilight said, already climbing up the side of the orange ship to get into the open hatch. "After all, whatever the thing is, it's probably just scared and lonely."

"I'm scared," murmured Fluttershy.

"Yeah, but you're not alone, so we're already ahead!" Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight just shook her head, and carefully made her way into the ship. She turned her illumination spell a little higher, revealing more expanses of dull orange metal. A window took up much of one end of the interior, holding back bunches of dirt. Twilight squinted at what appeared to be controls in front of the window, along with an enormous chair, though the writing on the panels was indecipherable. "I knew I should've brought a camera," she grumbled. Twilight turned around, and helped her friends inside. Applejack, Rarity, and Spike all gaped at the enormous alien surroundings. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, wasted little time in bouncing from one corner to another with little cries of, "What's this?"

"Okay, it looks clear," Twilight said, "just be careful, everypony, and don't touch anything."

"Too late!" Pinkie Pie said. Somehow, she'd made it up to a wall-mounted console, the button beneath her hooves compressed downward, going green with a 'click'.

"Take cover!" Twilight said, and threw herself over Spike, who had thrown himself over Rarity, who had stumbled onto Applejack, who was unlucky enough to be at the bottom of the little pile.

Thankfully, nothing exploded.

Instead, a segment of the wall hissed open, revealing a closet full of glowing pink bricks, each the size of a small haycart.

"Hey, neat!" Pinkie Pie immediately bounced over. "They're the same color as me! Oh, maybe the big alien guy knew I was coming, so he brought them along! Oh, I bet there's purple ones, and white ones, and orange ones too!" Pinkie Pie looked around. "Maybe I should press some more buttons so everypony can get theirs!"

"Pinkie, no!" Twilight said, "don't push any more buttons! You don't know what you could set off!"

"Oh, fine." Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches, next to the pile of pink cubes. She waited for a few seconds. "But I wonder..." and she leaned over and licked the side of one of them, experimentally.

"Pinkie, no!" The other ponies cried, struggling to untangle themselves from each other. But it was too late. There was a 'FFZT' sound, and Pinkie Pie toppled to the ground, her mane sticking up at random angles (moreso than usual). Twilight rushed over as fast as her four hooves could carry her. "Pinkie Pie, are you alright?"

"Tasth like batterieth!" Pinkie Pie giggled, still smoking.

"Whoa, what happened?!" A multicolored bolt shot in through the open hatch. Rainbow Dash braked to a halt and hovered above Pinkie Pie. She took one look at the situation...and immediately burst into laughter. "Wha'd you do, Pinkie Pie? Stick your hoof in an outlet?"

"No, I listht one!" Pinkie Pie popped back to her four hooves, none worse for the wear. This, of course, made Rainbow Dash start laughing harder.

"Hey," Applejack said, "ain't you s'posed to be playin' lookout?"

"I am! Or, uh, was," said the pegasus, "but then I heard you guys all yelling, so I came in to help! Would you rather me let you get eaten by the giant alien monster? Besides, Fluttershy's still outside. We'll be fine with just one pony on lookout. Did you see the size of those footprints? Whatever's out there, it's so big that we could never miss it!"

"Um. Are you sure about that?" Spike said, very carefully.

"Yeah. Why?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Maybe you guys aught to turn around. Slowly."

"Now's not the time for games, Spi-" Twilight Sparkle found herself at a loss for words as soon as she saw the long, grey face peering curiously through the open hatch. It opened its terrible, fanged jaws...and began to speak.

"What you doing on me Grimlock's spaceship!?"