The great hall glimmered a shadowless scintillation as sunlight flooded through every which window that surrounded its brilliant interior. Which made little sense to Ray, as the sun was close to its daily term. It's magic. And that will be my answer to any phenomenon yet unexplained by my own knowledge of the universe's laws.

And there stood before him and his pony friends, among two gold-clad Royal Guardsmen, a radiant goddess of a cerapter, so regal and so pure. She was breathtaking.Princess Celestia...

"Welcome!" she called upon her subjects arriving to her presence. "It is lovely to see you all again, and it is a great pleasure to finally meet you in person, Ray."

Ray bowed as the six ponies did. "The honor is mine to be bestowed with the privilege of meeting you in your beautiful kingdom, your highness." He got back up, on cue with the others.

Celestia giggled. "Dear Ray, you need not impress me with bold expressions."

Ray blushed for the first time in his life as he stood at ease. "It comforts me, your highness."

She gave a smile that spread contagiously over the majority of the group. "You may call me Celestia."

Such heart this cerapter has. What an honor these ponies have in serving under her rule. I envy them so much. Time was short, and Ray knew it like a question that ate at the mind, desperate for an answer. We have to act immediately before the Raiders discover this place. "Princess Celestia, I'm afraid time is-..."

"Time," she interrupted, "is in short supply as of late, this I know. Our enemy of the great desert has shadowed your travel to Equestria. The legion of guardsmen I sent to Ponyville will be an adequate stabilization force that should contain the situation while we discuss the details of their stance."

"Their stance is quite clear, Celestia. They are a great enemy to you, me, and everone else in their path."

"I know, but why? What do they seek in this evergrowing drive for destruction?"

"Destruction itself, I'm afraid. They kill simply to cleanse the world of opposition to a long dissolved cause." Not to mention grow their terrible arsenal. Which I should mention... "However, there is a major detail you've not factored before sending your two-hundred soldiers into battle."

"What might that be?"

"Technology." The word made Celestia furrow her brow. "Everywhere I look in your kingdom, I see the most primitive of technology. Swords, crossbows, spears, carriages, and the most thin of armor. If this is the state you have sent your men in, I'm afraid you will have to prepare two-hundred wooden caskets. For you see, the Phantom Raiders are equipped with a devastating arsenal of modern human technology. Explosives, firearms, computer-guided weapons, reactive armor, and vehicles with engines strong enough to pull themselves."

"I've seen it." said Twilight. "I've seen Ray's vehicle in the forest. If we are up against an enemy of this magnitude, we are in great danger."

Celestia looked at the floor, obviously deep in thought about these new details.

"Worse yet." Ray said, glancing through a nearby window. "They have a gunship."

Celestia looked to Ray again, brows furrowed once more.

Ray noticed her confusion. "An armed helicopter, your majesty. A flying machine with powerful weapons, able to hit targets otherwise impossible to reach with ground-based units."

Gasps errupted from everyone in the hall. Celestia herself let out a deep sigh, bowing her head as if she were ashamed of something. "I..." she began, "I have made a terrible mistake."

"What is it?" asked Ray. His friends also looked on with with their adorable curiosity.

She straightened herself once more. "Recently we have fallen victim to a terrible race that has threatened Canterlot. They are clever creatures, on a very similar drive for destruction. When you told me of an enemy of great power, I had made a foolish assumption that you were referring to them." She paused for a moment, walking towards a window overlooking the palace protected by a bright, pink forcefield. "They, too, are dwellers of the desert. Ever since we've expelled them from the country. They want revenge." She turned back to Ray. "You see Ray, I did have minor doubts. That's why I brought you here, not just to welcome a newcomer, but to find out if these were truly our known enemy. And I needed to know from you, personally. It seems our situation has escalated much more than I had anticipated."

"Wait a minute," said Twilight, "what known enemy? You don't mean..."

Celestia nodded.

Ray was lost with panic. You've got to be kidding. Now we have another enemy to worry about? "So who is this enemy you're talking about?"

"They're called changelings." Celestia answered. "A very deceptive species capable of mimicking whatever lifeform they come in contact with, that is the closest to their own biology, of course. They've fooled us once before, even penetrated our thick interior defences. We defeated them eventually, but not in whole. I fear they are regrouping and preparing another invasion as we speak."

"They feed on love." Twilight added.

"Love?" A species that feeds on a pure emotion?

"Pure love. It's a long story, but my brother fell victim to their queen during the invasion. They have very powerful control over pony minds when they feed."

"How were they defeated?"

Twilight smiled. "That's the irony of it. The very thing they came for defeated them. The love between Princess Cadance and my brother was so strong, that it literally gave him power to perform his protection spell on a dramatic overdrive, which expelled the changelings from the palace and the land itself."

"However," Celestia stepped in, "the circumstances are different this time. We had been prepared for their arrival since you came here, Ray, but I'm afraid that now your enemy has interfered in this conflict, we will not be able to drive any of them back with traditional methods." She turned and walked away from the group, towards a tall door with brilliant celestial design. Her horn glowed as she inserted it into a small opening at the center. It came alive with magic as it opened to reveal a beautifully-decorated case.

Rarity was obviously awestruck as Celestia levitated it before them, her eyes wide and bright like blue sapphire. "Oh my..." She said, lost in its elegance.

It opened, revealing six items encrusted with shimmering gold, and large gemstones that resembled symbols seen on the ponies' cutie marks. Five were necklaces, but the sixth was a type of crown or tiara. These must be the elements. The physical representations, anyway, according to Twilight.

"You must use the elements once again, my little ponies, and defeat our new enemy, before it's too late." Celestia levetated the elements swiftly to each pony. "The fate of Equestria rests in your hooves. As well as yours, Ray."

My hooves... what now? "What shall I do?"

"Defend the elements. Protect them, and your friends, while they perform their spell."

Ray took a breath to speak, obviously in objection, but Celestia lifted a hoof to silence him.

"You need not warn my further of the power wielded by these people. With the elements by your side, you shall be invincible. You have my word. Now go!"

With that, The group led Ray through the exit of the great hall.

...

...

...

A rumble. It echoed across the horizon, spreading among the dozens of cautious ears. It was distant and low, but worthy of the attention that the guardsmen payed to their surroundings, of which were slowly darkening as the sun went deeper behind the great hillsides that surrounded Ponyville.

"What is that?" Blackburn asked with a whisper, to nopony in particular.

"Sounds like a machine." Dornier answered.

Blackburn looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Where is it coming from?"

Nopony answered. The sound grew closer and closer, heavier, almost like a fast heartbeat that began trembling through the ground.

"Steady everyone! Look sharp!"

Something hissed ahead of them, like a firework launching from a mortar tube. The result, however, was not a pretty burst of light in the sky, but a firey explosion that leveled a small building just behind the trenches. Hot debris rained upon the guardsmen like molten rock and ash from a volcano. Many startled from the blast found themselves panicking, desperately shaking the burning debris away from their coats.

"What was that?!" Dornier yelled.

Blackburn frantically tried to find the source. "I don't know! I don't see anything!"

"Look!" Wulf shouted, pointing to the direction of the supposed source.

Blackburn saw it clear as daylight itself, soaring through the sky like a dragon attacking its poor unfortunate prey on the ground. It was a metal flying machine! It had wings that never flapped, but two extra pairs on its head and rear that seemed to rotate at breathtaking speed. Its force was strong enough to brew a windstorm that kicked dirt and rock all around it.

"What is that thing?!" shouted Wulf, hugging the dirt of the trench.

Before anyone could answer, a puff of smoke popped from a bundle of tubes hung underneath the stationary pair of wings, with the familiar hiss of an airborne projectile. Within a split second, yet another building was reduced to burning rubble.

"I don't know," shouted Blackburn, "but we've got to take it down! It's destroying everything!"

"How?!" asked Dornier.

"Wulf!"

"Yeah?!"

"Archers! Take it down!"

"Yes sir! Archers, take aim and fire on my command!"

The guardsmen awoke from a brief catatonic state, readying their weapons as the flying beast flew over them.

"Ready!" Wulf called. "Aim! F-..."

Something else in the distance made a loud and repetitive popping sound, like Chinese fireworks. Bright yellow objects the size of fireflies passed over them, with a buzz like angry wasps. Many tiny explosions erupted along the dirt of the trenches with what almost sounded like little screams or whistles.

Dornier's hoof suddenly blasted away from his forearm, flying into the trench behind him. He let out a terrible cry of pain as blood sprayed from the stump. Blackburn shouted a curse as he tried to support him, trying to figure out how to help. A soldier on the east side somehow lost his head. His body tumbled to the bottom of the trench, with his head rolling past many shocked guardsmen desperately taking cover from the chaos. Many screamed with panic, running out of the trench and away from the battle.

"No!" Blackburn yelled. "Get back over here! Take cover!"

"Oh sweet Celestia, what the hay are these things?!" Cried Wulf as he watched ahead.

Blackburn saw them too. They were like carriages, but they weren't pulled by anything they could see. They were of metal construction, with tracks like a steam tractor or crane. They had long tubes projecting from the tops, pointing straight at them. They rolled closer, crushing rocks and plant life beneath them. An explosion erupted from the front of one of the land beasts, causing another one that sent a shockwave through the west-side of the furthest trench outward to the command line.

Many of the fleeing guardsmen were quickly mowed down by the smaller popping weapons that were apparently launching micro projectiles everywhere.

Blackburn looked back down to Dornier, who lay cradled in his arms, eyes wide in motionless horror towards the sky. His cries of pain, his breathing, his heartbeat, all ceased to be, due to his apparent blood-loss. He was dead. No, this can't be. Dornier, my old friend, fight it! You're not dead yet! "No, Dornier, stay alive! Don't you die on me!" He shook his friend with desperate franticity. "Don't die on me, Dornier! Fight it! Dornier!" It was no use, for Dornier lay a lifeless and bloody corpse in his arms. Blackburn was in shock as he stared into his empty eyes. Tears fought to run while his stomach lurched in a way that he had never felt before. This is real... no, this is a nightmare. It's just a nightmare! Order Mav to fall back. Wait, what? Mav? Oh, Maveric... fall back, why? Blackburn looked beside him. Wulf was hugging the dirt as he yelled to him over the explosions and screaming.

"We have to get Mav's unit back!" Wulf crawled closer, grabbing Blackburn's left foreleg. "Blackburn, snap out of it! We have to go! Now!"

Oh, yes! Maveric's unit is emergency support for Gulfstream! "Right, order Mav's unit to fall back and regroup with Gulfstream's unit! Go!"

Wulf turned to Maveric's direction in the trenches. "Mav! Mav! Fall back! Fall back, now! Regroup with Gulfstream!" He turned back to Blackburn as he made his way out of the trench. "Come with me, sir!"

"No, you have your orders! Now go!"

"I'm not leaving you behind, sir! Let Dornier go!"

Blackburn took a breath to respond, but found that he would be communicating with cloud of red mud and rock, as an explosion engulfed his very existance before his eyes. He felt a slight sting on his face and rubbed a hoof on the irritated region. He felt a large, gaping wound, possibly fragmentation from the explosion. His mind struggled to expel all realization of the events that unfolded. No, keep it together. You have units to command. Wake up! Leave Dornier and get out of the trench bef-...

Darkness. A sudden black hole of nothingness.

But behold! There was light again. Dirt... rocks... grass... I'm on the ground? Where am I again? Blackburn came to realize he was laying on his side, on the ground no less. He could hear almost nothing but a loud ring in his ears, and eventually muffled thumps and bangs, as if someone were punching a pillow behind him. Get up. Nothing moved but his blinking eyes looking at the ground. Get up and look where you are. Still nothing. He was completely paralyzed, feeling absolutely nothing below his neck.

A trail of blood crept across the ground just under his snout, from the direction of his unfelt body. In a matter of seconds the trail became a puddle that kept expanding. Is that from... me?!

He shifted his eyes towards the horizon. There something massive approached him, like a tractor with a head sprouting four tubes with repetitive bursts of fire coming out the ends. Behind the head looked like a giant cereal bowl attached to a short pole, with a needle-shaped protrusion at the center.

Three guardsmen leapt from nearby trenches, onto the metal beast, banging and prying at separations along the hull. A small hatch opened underneath, with what appeared to be a hand emerging from within, throwing gray soup cans onto the ground below. Yellow smoke burst from the cans, expanding in a dense cloud around the machine. The guardsmen atop coughed and choked, tumbling to the ground in agony as they grasped their throats.

The machine kept coming closer to Blackburn. Closer and closer it rolled, its tracks merely feet away from his face. His fate would be near in seconds. But... I'm not ready...

...

...

...

The Shilka rocked violently, as if driving over dense boulders in the dirt.

"Driver!" Marchetti shouted. "Watch the terrain, man! The radio almost fell on the floor!"

"Sorry," he responded, "I think I just ran over one of those things."

Marchetti sighed and grabbed a roll of duct tape from a cubby next to Virus, ripping long strands away and sloppily securing the radio setup.

"Why don't you just bolt it down?" Virus asked.

Marchetti paused to look at him, unsure of his partner's seriousness towards the painfully obvious. "Does it look like I have the tools? Does it? No, so I'm temporarily slapping this crap on it until we secure this place."

Virus shied away.

The radio crackled on the command line. "Shilka! Do you have any RPGs?" It was Tolwin this time, instead of Jones.

Marchetti hit the transmit button. "Yeah, but no rockets. Why?"

"I'll have John drop some off then. Listen, hold your position."

"Driver! This is good, park it right here."

The driver did as he was ordered and stopped the vehicle.

Tolwin continued. "Problem is, there's snipers in the clocktower just northwest and they're taking out a couple of softskins behind the Metalheads. I'd take care of it myself but we're engaging some hostiles near the town center."

"Why not have the Metalheads take care of it then?"

"Too high. Structure below is too sturdy for a quick demo too."

"Alright, Shilka out."

Knocking was heard on the other side of the turret hatch right above them. Marchetti got out of his seat and opened it to see who it was. "John boy! Wow, that was fast!"

"Got some rockets for you, sir. Plus a bunch of other goodies."

"Sweet! We'll be right out." Marchetti turned to the rest of the Shilka crew. "Alright, I'm staying behind. The rest of you go take care of it."

Virus was first out of his seat, reaching for two RPG-7s secured behind Faust. He handed one to Faust, gesturing for him to follow him out the hatchway. He followed, first taking in his surroundings as his head emerged from within, before taking a step further out of the vehicle. He was surprised to see how far the unit had pushed through the town in such a short time. Many buildings were piles of rubble engulfed in massive flames. Smoke and ash plagued the air he breathed. Not to mention the slight lingering scent of yellow tear gas.

Tolwin's Chinook could be seen in the distance, reducing even more structures to rubble with the assistance of the armored units on the ground.

"Faust!" Virus shouted, returning back to the Shilka with two RPG-7 rockets slung in a munitions pack behind his back. "Come on out, I got the goods!"

Faust inched his way out, jumping onto the ground next to Virus. He followed him to a safe distance away from the vehicle, watching as John emerged from his own vehicle, an FAV built from a buggy chassis, with an old M2 flamethrower setup. With it, he set ablaze the doorway and windows to a nearby house. A terrifying scream of pain erupted from inside, with a four-legged creature emerging from inside, onto the ground in a burning heap.

"Hey Faust, load me up."

Faust grabbed a rocket out of the pack and handed it to him. Virus loaded the rocket into the launcher, then casually aimed it at his target somewhere in the air. Faust looked in the direction and saw the aforementioned clocktower full of equine snipers.

"Anyone behind me?"

Faust looked around. Only John at a safe distance, still setting fire to the houses. "No, you're good."

Virus fired the rocket. The entire top section of the tower broke apart from the shattering impact of the explosion and crumbled to the ground. Virus lowered the smoking weapon and turned to Faust with a shy grin.

"I think I'm getting a little rusty with this thing." He walked back to the Shilka with a chuckle.

Faust managed a plastic grin back, but payed closer attention to the chaos that plowed deep through the town. He slung the RPG to his back and pulled out a blank piece of paper from inside his jacket, and a pen from one of the front pockets. He began writing another letter:

This is growing out of hand. I'm having second thoughts about this plan. They've destroyed nearly half the town in a matter of minutes. The Royal Guard were merely a speed-bump in their path! I had anticipated a brief firefight between us, but they didn't even have a chance to defend themselves. We are all poorly-armed fools to even think of going up against this menace! Again I stress, I have a bad feeling about this plan. I hope you got my last message, and have your men prepared by time you receive this one. Prepared not for engagement, but to defend yourselves in retrograde. Fall back. You are in far more danger than you think. You must trust me on this. Fall back before it's too late!

Signed, Operative 29.