Aliens in Equestria

Aliens in Equestria is a science fiction novella written by Knightcommander. It takes place over the course of two days and details mysterious events in the town of Ponyville which leads to a peaceful encounter with beings from another planet. The primary theme of the story is learning to overcome the natural fear of things that one does not understand.

Style
The story is told from multiple perspectvies, focusing mainly on the perspective of the mane six, in the third-person narrative and in the past tense. The story is divided in multiple scenes separated by asterisks, each describing different events within the story.

Summary
The story starts off at nighttime over Ponyville, where Pinkie Pie is looking out the window of her room at Sugarcube Corner and admiring the night sky. As she is about turn in for the night, her Pinkie Sense suddenly alerts her that a "doozy woozy" is on the way, and she immediately rushes out to investigate. She finds nothing out of the ordinary at first, but soon hears a mysterious noise coming from the direction of the Everfree Forest. She rushes over to spot a mysterious craft hovering over the forest in a searching pattern, unlike anything she has ever seen. Frightened, she runs back to Sugarcube Corner and hides under her bed.

The next morning, Rainbow Dash receives a call from Fluttershy, who is worried because Pinkie Pie, who promised to help her with some chores, has not shown up. Rainbow assures her that Pinkie probably just slept in, but agrees to go check on her. At Sugarcube Corner, she finds Pinkie asleep under her bed. After waking her up, she has Pinkie recount the events of the previous night. She assures the frightened mare that what she was probably nothing out of the ordinary, and promises the hang out with her later. However, while practicing, she is overcome with concern that Pinkie did see something out of the ordinary, but resolves not to let it bother her too much, in case it is in fact nothing to be worried about.

The story shifts to Twilight and Spike at the library, preparing a get well message for Princess Celestia, who is ill. Rainbow Dash arrives and requests a book on planes, which Twilight provides. Dash explains Pinkie's sighting to her, and Twilight shares Rainbow's estimate that it was nothing out of the ordinary; most likely, just an aircraft.

That night, Applejack is awoken from her sleep early in the morning by Apple Bloom, who says that she saw something strange outside her window. Applejack gets up and takes her outside to investigate, and upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, tells her kindly that it was probably just an animal. However, she spots something moving in the orchard and goes off to investigate after telling Apple Bloom to stay put. She eventually finds a large, bipedal creature in the orchard examining some of her apples. Thinking the being is attempting to steal from the farm, she confronts it, leading to a chase through the orchard. Applejack nearly catches the creature before it suddenly activates a device which temporarily disrupts her vision, allowing it to escape. Fluttershy likewise has an encounter with a mysterious creature at her cottage while taking care of her morning chores, sending her running into the cottage. The creature, unlike with Applejack, approaches the cottage and knocks on the door, further frightening the pegasus.

Twilight and her friends, along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who insist on coming along, begin investigating this and the events at Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight's search reveals physical evidence of strange beings that appear to be coming from the Everfree Forest. After dispatching Rainbow Dash to deliver a message to the Princesses, they go into the forest and find a strange encampment with advanced technology. They speak with Zecora, who reveals that she had seen mysterious lights and heard voices in the forest singing in an unknown language, precisely where the encampment is. The conclusion is clear; there are aliens in Equestria!

The ponies soon are frightened away from the camp by an appearance of one of the beings, and run all the way from the camp to the library, where they hide along with a crowd which had gathered because of their mysterious behavior. They soon realize one is missing; Scootaloo. Everyone fears the worst, until they hear something approach the library... and hear Scootaloo's voice. Fluttershy bravely ventures outside, and after a tense wait, announces that there isn't anything be afraid of, and beckons the rest outside. They finally get their first look at the aliens; a race of fox-like beings. Scootaloo, in a flashback, recounts how she fell into a ravine and was injured while fleeing, only to be rescued and healed by the creatures using their technology. The aliens call themselves the Altarians, officers of their species' spaceborne military force on a mission of exploration. They discovered Equestria while doing a survey of an asteroid belt and decided to land and investigate, insitgating the events of the story. Finally shown that their visitors mean no harm and in fact came in peace, the citizens of Ponyville decided to throw their visitors a celebration. A brief exchange of culture occurs between the species before they have to leave to return to their ship, in awe of the positive reception they received and hopeful for a future, long lasting friendship between them and Equestria.

Later, Twilight sends a frienship report to the relieved Princesses, discussing the importance of being able and willing to overcome one's fear of the unkown and go out and explore and learn.

Reception
The story was well received on FIMFiction, where it was first posted, garnering a 4.5 star rating and receiving many positive reviews from readers. Many who read the story found the use of non-human aliens to be the story's standout feature. The story's theme of peaceful contact between differing cultures was also very well received.

Sequels
A sequel, Aliens in Equestria, Part II, was published on FIMFiction and is currently ongoing. The story introduces human characters and revolves around the ponies and aliens uncovering a conspiracy between hostile aliens and Equestrian traitors to overthrow the Princesses.

A third sequel has also been hinted at. Information from Knightcommander's FIMFiction blog reveals that the third sequel will have a military theme, involving an Altarian terrorist and a cooperative effort between Equestria and Altarian military special forces to capture the terrorist.