The Girl and the Horse (and the Martian)

"Using the Stargate
ended up on Jupiter's Moon
occupied by Martians
saved by a horse with no name."

When she looked it over, written in such a way, Emily realized nobody entirely sane would believe her story. But that wasn't such a problem - she would tell Jess. Jess was most certainly not entirely sane. The craziest of Emily's friends, she would believe anything Emily said, unless it was something she found out of character. Still, though, only one person believing her wasn't much. It had most definitely happened. There she had been, looking through her telescope - a special gift she had received for her sixteenth birthday - and she had been looking at one of Jupiter's moons, Callisto. "Stargate telescope," it read on the side; that was the brand. Suddenely, something - a wormhole perhaps, or maybe aliens, or something else entirely - caused her to fall unconscious, and then there she was, standing on the moon.

Some strange creatures were all over the place, with small gray bodies and heads and small ears like hamster ears. Some soft white fur seemed to cover them, and they had glistening black eyes.
"He - hello?" Emily called. One looked over at her and its eyes widened. It made some noises, and all the other creatures looked around. One particular creature ran towards a large rock. Emily waited patiently until the creature returned, another creature behind it.
"Hello," the creature said. "You are the earth child, yes?"
"Not a child!" Emily objected. "I'm nearly seventeen."
"Earth child!"
"Fine, I'm an earth child!"
"Good. Now that that has been established, I will explain why you are here, and why I bothered to learn your awful language."
"Awful?"
"Quiet. Now. We are from Mars, but left a few years ago to colonize this moon."
"Why not colonize one of your moons?"
"Already done. We branched out. Anyway, a strange creature has been attacking our people here. We were informed by some of our researchers that this creature is from Earth. So we decided that we would bring an earthling in to save us."
"So you summoned me here? Why me? So many astronauts, and soldiers... why me?" Emily found it nearly impossible to believe that these Martians wanted her, boring old Emily Maine, the chubby girl with no mother and almost no friends who got bad grades in school and wasn't even cool, or even pretty, with her boring ruler-straight brown hair and her crooked teeth and her dull gray eyes, who couldn't even beat her older brother in a fight; what could she do against some violent creature?
"You, Emily Maine, have a fascination with stars and planets other than Earth. Most humans don't. You were the only one we trusted would believe our story, and the only one we trusted to help us. You are a good person, as kind as you are curious. Will you help us with this creature?"
"Alright, but, I'm not good at fighting," Emily warned.
"Fighting?"
"Well -"
"We only fight if absolutely necessary. Anyway, follow me, I will bring you to the area the creature has been terrorizing."

Emily followed the Martian woman, who had said that Emily should call her Lily; it was apparanetly her favorite earth flower. They walked over to an area where what looked like houses were, but they were deserted. They stood around for a few minutes while Lily looked around.
"It is that way."
Emily followed her. "So, how did an earth creature even get here?"
"A wormhole, we think."
"Ah."
They kept on walking, until they reached an area, and Emily saw the creature. It was a large horse, a chestnut stallion, standing majestically, with a saddle and tack already on it. It had a white streak down its nose. "A horse," said Emily. "It's a horse."
"Is that what it's called? Interesting. Can you reason with it?"
"No, it doesn't speak my language. I'll just ride it."
"Ride it?"
"People on Earth ride horses," Emily explained. She had had only one lesson, when she was ten, and wasn't very good, but she would try anyway. She ran up to the horse and she put one leg over it, pulling herself up. She pressed her legs into its sides, grabbed the reigns, and rode him slowly over to Lily. "See?"
"Incredible." Lily's small black eyes were wide. "Will you take him back to Earth with you?"
"Um... sure."
She dismounted from the horse and began to walk him back the way she had come when she heard a screech. A small black bug-looking thing - although for a bug it would be monstrous - was walking towards Lily, who was slowly backing away from it.
"What's that?" Emily asked.
"Native. Poisonous. Run!!!"
They ran, Emily pulling the horse with her, but before long it was clear that they could not outrun it. Before she could ask Lily what to do, the horse lifted up his hoof and stomped on the bug-like creature.
"It saved us!" Lily exclaimed.
"Well self-preservation is its instinct, it was in danger too."
"Fascinating. Well, let's get you back, then."
They walked back to where Emily had first arrived, greeted with cheers by the other Martians. Lily pulled out a small device and pressed a button, opening a wormhole. "Goodbye, Emily Maine, our savior. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Emily replied. Savior. She liked the sound of that. Taking the horse with her, she stepped into the wormhole.

Yes, she'd be telling Jess, and Talia and Brandon. They might not believe her, but she had to. It was too important. She was a savior... sort of. The Martians thought she was, anyway. For the first time in her life, she was somebody. She looked out in the backyard at the horse she would have to explain to her father tomorrow and smiled. That nameless horse had made her a hero. For that, he deserved a name, she decided. And, in honor of their meeting on Callisto, she decided to name him Cal.