Chapter 5: Newcomers
Spike and Twilight sat in the dining hall eating breakfast when they were interrupted by the sound of commotion outside. There was a rapid knocking at the door. Twilight and Spike hurried to the door to find Rainbow Dash there.
"What's wrong Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked
"Theres… theres these two… Twilight, it'd be better if you saw for yourself."
Dash walked away from the door
"Come On!" She said
Twilight and Spike followed Dash down the stairs and into town square.
The town square was almost completely vacant, most ponies had headed inside and locked their doors and windows.
"So everyone went inside? Big de-"
Dash suddenly turned Twilights head to face to 2 mysterious creatures that had walked into town.
They appeared to almost be a mix of monkeys with a grey-blue crab-like exoskeletal skin, and they wore some type of garment on their chests, and had a large triangular ampendage on their back. One's clothes were a bright orange, and the others a bright red. They also appeared to have some type of device on their face, covering where Twilight assumed their mouths would be.
"Oh…" she finished.
Dash whisked her and Spike away to behind a building
"What do we do?!" Dash asked
"Um… maybe just be nice and treat then like anypony else who comes to town?"
"They look… weird!"
"Zecora looked weird to you too, your point?"
Dash rubbed the back of her head
"Eh, I guess you right. If you really wanna welcome these new… things to tow-"
Suddenly Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere
"New ponies in town?!" She shouted before Dash shoved her hoof in her mouth to shut her up.
"Okay, the 4 of us are going to go up there and greet them." Twilight said
"Uh, no. You 3 can go. Im staying here!" Dash said
"Are you… afraid?" Twilight asked
"No… why would you get that idea? Tha-thats crazy!" She stammered
"Then come along then…"
"Ugh, fine!" Dash groaned
Wulum and Zapaw entered the town, only the the horse-creatures to head inside in a panic as they approched.
"Huh, some welcoming eh?" Wulum said, as he walked the lifeless streets.
Several minutes of them walking silently passed before they heard the sound of voices.
"Wait wait… you hear that?"
"What? The wind?" Zapaw asked
"No you nut! The voices!"
"No… oh yeah, heh..."
Behind a corner a purple unicorn peeped its head out at them, waving before stepping out along with a small purple and green reptile and a pink pony with messy hair.
"This town keeps getting weirder." Zapaw said
The group began to walk towards them, except the pink one who was bouncing as she walked. They came to a stop in front of them.
Wulum and Zapaw kept their hands on their holstered Plasma Pistols, ready to draw them if needed.
"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and I welcome you to Ponyville. What's your name?"
The 2 stood there silently.
"Hello? Can you understand me?" Twilight asked
They nodded before Wulum relaxed a bit.
"Um… greetings! Im Wulum, and this is Zapaw."
"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance" Twilight said
"Uh, yeah. Same to you…" Wulum said, awkwardly pausing
Pinkie Pie bounced forwards
"HI! I know I've never seen you around before because I know everypony!" She blabbered
Wulum and Zapaw both cringed and backed up a few steps.
"She okay?" Zapaw asked
"She fine, she's just excited" Twilight said. "This is my assistant Spike, thats Pinkie Pie and this is Rainbow Dash."
"Oh… okay…"
"Are you two alright? You seem troubled."
"We're just kinda nervous. This place is strange…"
"How? What's it like where you come from? Where do you come from anyways?" Twilight asked
The Unggoy looked at each other for a moment
"I'm sorry" Twilight chuckled "I know I'm asking a lot of questions. It's just I've never seen anything quite like you before! Would you come inside so I can get a better look at you and get to know you?"
Wulum and Zapaw glanced at each other again. Wulum was worried this could be a trap, but they seemed nice. Besides, they had no reason to harm them, right?
"Okay. You lead, we follow." He said
"Perfect. Dash, why don't you go tell Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy about our new friends?"
Dash nodded and flew off quickly.
The group started back for the Castle of Friendship, and ponies began to emerge from their hiding places and resume their day.
Dash flew off, feeling the wind on her face as she accelerated. Dash slowed the flapping of her wings and came to a stop outside of Fluttershy's cottage. She knocked on the door with her hoof and Fluttershy answered, with Angel Bunny tucked under her wing.
"Hi Rainbow Dash, What brings you by today?"
"Some weird creatures walked into Ponyville and Twi thought I should tell you. Maybe you'd know something about them."
"Oh! What do they look like?"
"They're about… this high" she said, raising her hoof above her head a small bit "look kinda like… crabs mixed with… monkeys I guess? And they walk on two legs."
"Ooh! I cant say Ive seen something like that before! I'll be over as soon as I can!"
Dash nodded and darted off to Sweet Appleacres to get Applejack.
Dash looked over the landscape of the farm as she neared. She could see that things were almost in place for this year's Sisterhooves Social. She couldn't wait to participate with Scootaloo again, even though she wasn't actually her sister.
Dash landed and knocked on the door.
The door opened and the smell of apples greeted Dash along with Applebloom, who was standing there.
"Hi Rainbow! What can ah do for yah?"
"Hi, can I speak to Applejack?"
"Sure!"
Applebloom called her older sister over
"Howdy."
"Twi told me to tell you about these weird creatures that came into town earlier, and said you should come over to see them."
Applejack looked over to the kitchen and rubbed her chin.
"Ah guess ah can. Granny, can yah handle the rest of the bakin' yourself?"
Granny Smith nodded
"Alright, ah'll be right over."
Dash nodded and took off for Carousel Boutique, Rarity's house.
Dash pushed open the door and the bell jingled to alert Rarity of a potential customer.
Rarity pranced around the corner
"Oh! Rainbow Dash, a pleasure to see you darling, what can I do for you?" She asked
"Well, it's more like what can you do for Twilight."
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Well, these two weird creatures wandered into Ponyville and Twilight thought I should gather everyone at the Castle to meet them or something."
Rarity paused for a moment. She could finish the dress she was making later, she had a whole week to finish it before it was due for pickup.
"I don't see why not, are they friendly?"
Dash shrugged
"They seem like it, they do seem a bit shy though and uneasy. But I think you should be there if anything happens to help."
Rarity paused, continuing to think
"Alright darling, I'll be there as soon as I can."
Dash took off and headed back to the Castle of Friendship…
Inside the Castle of Friendship in its library, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Wulum and Zapaw all gathered around. Wulum and Zapaw sat on the floor, waiting to be interviewed.
"There are chairs over there if you want to sit down" Twilight offered.
The chairs didn't seem to be shaped right to offer room for their methane tanks, but the Unggoy didn't want to be rude, so they scooted the chairs over and sat in them as best as they could.
"So" Twilight said, sitting down at the table with a piece of parchment and a quill "lets begin. What should I ask you first?"
Wulum and Zapaw shrugged
"It don't matter." Zapaw simply stated.
Twilight nodded.
"So… I guess let's start with some information on your kind. I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly are you?"
"Its okay" Wulum said "were called Unggoy, but a lot of different people call is Grunts."
"Why Grunts? Sounds kinda like an insulting term."
"I dunno, maybe it's because we aren't that big." Wulum grumbled
"What do you mean? You seem to be a decent size to me." Twilight said smiling.
"No compared to other things. We're pretty small in comparison to other things."
Twilight nodded
"Can you tell me a bit about your culture and where you come from? You said this place was strange outside."
"Well, we come from an icey swampy planet called Balaho. It's cold and food is scarce there. On Balaho, we live in little tribal societies, but then Covenant come and we join them."
"Covenant?"
Wulum nodded
"It's a big group of other creatures, we all work together to start the Great Journey to become like gods!"
"Fascinating! So your aliens? As in, from beyond the stars?"
"Yep!"
"Wow!" Twilight beamed "that's amazing!"
"I guess. It's actually pretty dull."
"So how did you get here?"
Wulum shrugged, remembering he wasn't supposed to mention his new boss or their mission. He probably shouldn't have mentioned the Covenant.
The sound of the Castle door opening was heard down the hall and and shortly after Fluttershy walked into the library. Her jaw dropped upon seeing the two strange aliens. Rainbow's description was fitting, but rather vague. They looked kind of tough, and seemed to have barbed arms and legs, along with various plates of hard skin covering their body, and they had a strange device covering their faces.
Fluttershy covered her face with her hair, nervous about meeting the creatures.
"Its okay Fluttershy, they won't hurt you, right?"
The Unggoy nodded, and Fluttershy say down beside Twilight.
"So, continuing on, how did you get here?"
Wulum rubbed his head, thinking of an answer, before shrugging
"I don't know. We… just kinda woke up in that forest."
"You don't remember?" Twilight asked
"No, it's all… fuzzy."
"Oh. Do you want to take a break from the questions until the rest of my friends get here?"
"Um, sure. They're nice right?"
"Of course! They're the nicest ponies you'll ever meet!"
Several minutes passed, as Rainbow Dash, Rarity and lastly Applejack arrived and introduced themselves.
"Perfect, now that everyone is here, we can continue to interview." Twilight said
"So it really is true that your aliens from outer space?" Rainbow Dash asked
"I guess, yeah." Wulum replied.
Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof.
"What is history of your species like?"
"Oh…" Wulum rubbed his head "I wouldn't really know much about that."
"Oh, well… how about… hmm…" Twilight continued to think. "What about yours clothes? Why do you cover your faces and wear that triangle attachment?"
Rarity interjected
"Speaking of your clothes, I like your bright colors, but I feel like they need a bit of spicing up, if you'd like, I could give the 2 of you fine gentlecolts-er, gentle-aliens makeovers!"
"I don't know…" Wulum said
"I wouldn't charge you! Not one bit! Just to see if you'd like it! And for fashion inspiration!"
Wulum shook his head
"No thanks, we're good." Wulum said
Rarity looked mildly disappointed.
"What about your clothing though?" Twilight restated "it almost looks like some sort of hazard gear."
The Unggoy nodded
"Well, I suppose it's because it is… well, sort of. It lets us breathe!"
"Couldn't you just breathe regular air? Like… everypony else?" Dash asked, waving a hoof
They shook their heads
"Oxygen is bad! We can't breathe it, we need a different kind of gas." Wulum explained
Pinkie took in a deep breath, and her head inflated, and she began to rise off the ground, as if she were a balloon.
"Like helium?" She asked in an even more high pitched voice
Wulum and Zapaw stared at her in total confusion for a moment as to how she was accomplishing this before answering with a simple "no".
Pinkie's head deflated, making sounds like a balloon letting off air before she landed on the ground again.
"So… what kind of gas is it?" Twilight asked
"We need methane to live, we store it in our packs! Actually, that's what's in these little canisters on our waists too!" Wulum said
Twilight stopped writing for a moment
"Methane? Isn't that highly explosive?!"
"Only if it burns, otherwise we fine." Wulum replied
Spike stepped back a few feet.
"So… Dragon fire would… make you explode?" He asked
The Unggoy looked at each other
"Probably…"
Twilight scribbled this down on the parchment with her quill.
"This is all very fascinating information! So what do you eat?"
"Mostly whatever we can, plants or meat. But mostly we eat from food nipple."
The Mane 6 all shared looks of confusion, with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie giggling.
"Girls! Be mature!" Twilight scolded "now, what were you saying, what about these… food nipples?" She asked, blushing slightly from embarrassment.
"I don't get what's so funny, but its like a hose with a thing on the end you bite on, and you suck food out of it!" Wulum said
"Sounds like a straw almost, interesting. I'll just write down omnivorous. So can you eat any other way?"
Wulum nodded
"If we take our mask off we can eat and put it back on between bites."
Spike coughed and placed a hand to his stomach.
"He okay?" Zapaw asked
Spike's cheeks bulged suddenly and he burped out green fire, which materialized into a letter.
"Ew! Gross!" Wulum and Zapaw both said in unison.
"Don't worry, it's just a letter from the Princess." Twilight said, lifting the letter over to her with her magic.
"Princess? Aren't you the Princess?"
Twilight chuckled
"One of them, we have 4, and we all have our duties. Im
The Princess of Friendship, my sister-in-law Princess Cadance is the Princess of Love, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who are both my aunt-in-law, and control the Sun and Moon respectively."
"Those all seem like strange roles. What about military command and religion and stuff?" Wulum asked
"Well, Equestria isn't organized like that." Twilight explained "The closest thing we have to an army is the Royal Guard, but further protection isn't really needed, we haven't been to war in thousands of years."
"Oh. But why do you need Princesses for your sun and moon?"
"Well, someone has to raise the sun in the morning and the moon at night!" She said "who does it for you?"
Wulum and Zapaw scratched their heads with their stubby fingers before shrugging.
"I don't know. They just… do it themselves."
"A Heliocentric system? But that's only theoroetical!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Nah, it pretty normal" Zapaw said in the typical broken english many Unggoy spoke in.
"Really? This is an interesting discovery!" She said, growing more excited before Spike came over and shook her, calming her down and reminding her of the letter.
"Sorry" she laughed "I really love learning about new things"
"It okay" Zapaw said.
she unwrapped the letter and read it.
"Dearest Princess Twilight,
The large earthquake you mentioned in Ponyville was felt here at Canterlot, and throughout Equestria as well. Settlements along the west coast of Equestria felt it the most, and cities such as Van Hoover, Las Pegasus and Applewood felt it the worst. Reports of damage from shattered windows and building collapses were reported, and the sea level apparently rose. A few ponies perished, but most survived. Luna and I have dispatched various research teams throughout Equestria to try and locate the origin and cause of this event.
Your friend,
Princess Celestia"
Twilight let go in shock and the letter fell onto the nearby table. The Unggoy looked around the room, and everyone else shared expressions of shock. Wulum and Zapaw both cringed under their masks, knowing that this was undoubtedly caused by High Charity's crash landing.
The clock in the room rang, causing the 2 Unggoy to jump in alarm and snapping everyone back to their senses.
"Oh, it's dinner time!" Twilight said, looking out the window at the setting sun.
"Where we go?" Yapaw asked Wulum
"Don't know. It probably cold outside. I hate cold." Wulum replied.
"You can stay here, with us! We have a guest room that I'm sure you will be quite comfortable in." Twilight offered.
"Thank you." Wulum said as they walked downstairs.
Jik listened carefully through the communication system the Unggoy were wearing as he sat perched hidden in a tree, watching over the town through the scope of his beam rifle and recording the audio with an audio log. Jik climbed higher up in the tree, and entered a prone position on a cluster of branches. Jik grew bored of his task, he was an assassin, not some data logger. That was a task for Unggoy, as worthless as they were in his eyes.
He heard a chattering noise to his left, and hid head sharply turned to face the source.
A small squirrel sat nearby on a tree branch with an acorn in its grasp. Jik stared at it for a moment before grabbing it in his claw and snapping the poor creatures neck within seconds.
"Fine meal for later…" he hissed, returning to his sniper scope. The squirrel wouldn't have much meat, but he would be able to get by on it until he found better prey.
Jik wished he could be facing some action. This waste of time was only bearable because he was getting paid for it.
He hoped for action soon…