I must find the town leader. Every community like this had one, and Ray hoped that this one would be a more reasonable type, as apposed to the occasional fascist with a narcissistic superiority complex. Ray had to remind himself he was no longer in that world.They will listen. They have to listen, for I fear this populace may suffer the same fate as many others in the pathway of the beast's drive for destruction.

Several curious eyes met his as he ran wearily through Ponyville's town square, towards the library. Dirt and wood splinters stuck to his skin and clothing, giving the impression of having been through a terrible conflict. Unknowst to the ponyfolk, it was far worse than any "conflict."

There was a crowd gathered around the library. Ray tried to locate a familiar face... Where is that purple unicorn? Twilight Sparkle... And there she was, just in the open doorway of the building, appearing to desperately maintain order in the disorganized gathering.

Ray stopped just where the chaos began, trying to catch his breath.

Twilight saw him through the crowd. "Ray!" She shouted, running through the crowd like an agglomeration of shrubs. "What happened to you?"

"The rogues." Ray replied, panting. "there here... they're coming..." Come on, control your breathing! You sound like a madman.

"The who? Who'se coming?"

"The rogues!" He gulped so much oxygen he was forced to cough a portion of it up. Get to the point. There's no time. "I have to speak with your town leader. It's important."

"You mean the mayor?"

Mayor... yes. A town mayor, of course! "Yeah, where is he?"

"I'll take you to her."

Ray mustered enough energy to follow Twilight as she abandoned the group. However, five of them also broke away, following as well. Among them were the familiar rainbow one, the shy one, and the southern one.

"Wait for us!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

The other two ponies he did not recognise: an entirely pink pony with a fluffy mane and an unusual method of bouncing to her destination instead of walking or running, and a breathtakingly white unicorn with a beautifully-styled purple mane and tail. Now's not the time to make anymore friends.

...

...

...

"Mayor... Mare." Spike said aloud, signing a piece of parchment. "There. All set."

"Very good." replied the mayor. "Now send it, please."

Spike rolled the letter and held it in front of the nearest open window. With a big, deep breath, he blew the letter into a dissolving green plume of magical matter that swirled from his claws to its destination through the window.

The mayor's office was clean and bright with color tones that hurt Ray's eyes, especially when the sunlight beamed through the open window, concentrating on purely-white surfaces. Squinting helped, but it made him appear even more intimidating, already standing at attention like a soldier. It seemed the appropriate thing to do when confronting a higher authority, even one of a seemingly peaceful community such as this.

Spike was also a very distracting presence. A baby dragon... this just gets better and better. Ray hoped the adult stage was as equally friendly as this younger one before him, in contrast to what he has heard from fantasy stories as a child. He was a chubby little fella, standing short on his stubby feet. His head was so large it amazed Ray how he was able to keep his balance. His scales were a light purple, with bright-green spines standing short but straight along his back and the top of his head. He spoke in an obviously young voice, shadowed by a tone and vocabulary of at least an eleven-year-old.

The message that Spike "sent" was a letter to Princess Celestia, the ruler of this "country" and apparently the mentor of the purple unicorn that stood with the rest of her friends behind Ray. The subject was regarding his visit to Equestria, as well as the opposing faction that followed him. He stressed that immediate action must be taken against them, or they would suffer a terrible fate.

Ray stood impatient and could no longer hold himself back. "Is it nessessary we stand and wait here?"

"Trust me," the mayor said, "with a message like this, expect a reply within the next thirty seconds."

Ray gave up trying to figure their "system" of things. If messages could be magically sent to their recipient in a matter of seconds, then an insanely quick reply shouldn't be much of a surprise.

And sure enough, a familiar plume of green magical matter swirled through the window, forming into a similar roll of parchment to the one they had sent to the Princess. It seemed to hover at just the right moment for Spike to catch it as it began to plummet to the ground. He unrolled it and cleared his throat to read it out loud.

"Dear Ray," he began, "First I would like to welcome you to our land of Equestria, and sincerely hope that your stay in the lovely town of Ponyville has brought you much enjoyment and support. Regarding the undesirables you spoke of, I would like to thank you for bringing this urgent matter to my attention. I have sent a legion of two-hundred of my finest soldiers to Ponyville to counter this terrible menace." Spike trailed off with obvious worry in is bright, innocent eyes. He looked up at everyone and spoke with a tremble in his voice. "Is there going to be fighting? Here? In Ponyville?!"

"Spike!" Twilight shouted, hinting for her little assistant to focus on continuing the letter.

"Sorry." He looked back down at the disturbing text and continued on. "From what I have heard about your travels among the outside territories, you appear to be an excellent warrior and potential keeper of peace, however, I do not wish for you to participate in any possible violence before I have spoken to you about this situation personally.

I want you, Twilight Sparkle, her friends, and her assistant, Spike, to come to the palace immediately. I look forward to meeting you, dear Ray. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Peculiar. Almost reckless decision, especially since they don't know who they are fighting. I hope for their sake that her men have the right tools for this kind of warfare, or she could be marching two-hundred souls to their death. Not factoring collateral damage... the innocent lives of Ponyville, even Equestria itself.

The mayor interrupted his thoughts. "The Friendship Express arrives in twenty-five minutes, everypony."

"Don't worry," Twilight said, "we'll be ready. Good luck."

Indeed. You'll need it.

...

...

...

The mess tent was loud. Trays clanged, voices errupted from wherever one turned, and vehicles rumbled everywhere outside the tent. It smelled like a mixture of rotting meat soaked in gasoline and rolled in a giant ashtray. People smoked while they ate roadkill and bread, and while drinking the dirtiest of "filtered" water. The liquid-purification devices on the HMMWVs were damaged for the moment, forcing them to consume water stored in broken Brita filtration and storage containers.

Tolwin, Marchetti, and the young co-pilot Riggs were seated at the far corner of the rowdy mess. They were able to speak about the situation freely without having to worry about anyone eavesdropping and causing a panic.

"This just doesn't make sense." Tolwin thought outloud. "We've backtracked at least twice but there was never any sign of the road."

Riggs rolled his eyes yet again. "To be fair, sir, we didn't go very far. What, maybe about a mile down the riverside, tops?"

Marchetti looked at Tolwin in the eyes with perfect understanding. "The driver."

Tolwin nodded. "I can't help it." He picked up the filthy water, about to drink it, but upon quick inspection he decided otherwise and set his cup back down. "Something about this man seems so unusual. The first encounter on the road, him leading us to this... well, here..."

"Has anyone found the wreckage yet?" Riggs asked.

"Nope." Marchetti replied. "No reports since Faust's unit called in about the car junk. But I suppose it won't be long before they eventually uncover it." He glanced over to Tolwin, who was obviously lost in his thoughts as he stared into the abyss of his filthy cup of water. "You think he's still alive, don't you?"

Tolwin sighed. "I don't know what to think. All I know is that I have a gut feeling we've fallen into some kind of trap."

Everyone froze at the thought. The driver's actions that led them here made it no surprise to them, but having actually fallen into such a situation was a frightening thought. Especially since they have yet to find their escape. Which is, of course, thanks to their commander's reckless curiosity. Tolwin realized his mistake, but he also felt prepared either way.

Special tecnician Jones entered the tent, running towards the three men in haste.

"Jonesy." Tolwin called. "What do you got for me?"

"Sir," he started, "we've lost contact with the second scout team."

All three stood to their feet in surprise.

"What?" Riggs asked curiously.

"First Team also reported hearing gunfire on their way back to basecamp. Sir, I think..."

Tolwin put his hand up to silence Jones, as he watched the traffic coming in and going out of the mess tent. Within the mix of faces he spotted a distinguishably familiar one.

"What?" Jones asked, turning the direction Tolwin was looking.

"Faust!" Tolwin shouted, leaving the table.

Faust turned to his commander and stood at attention. "Sir!"

"What the hell happened? Why aren't you prepping the second transponder?"

He slowly stood at ease. "Sir, we need to talk. It's extremely important."