I was already sweating when I woke up the next morning. I shouldn't have been surprised- I wasn't exactly an outdoorsman, but I knew that forests were great at trapping humidity, and while the day was still young and the temperature hadn't really risen much, the thick mists showed that the air was saturated.

With a groan, I managed to drag myself out of my uncomfortable sleeping position, open the door and clamber out of the car. I took just a minute to stretch all my sore spots, then grabbed my phone once more- still no signal, unfortunately- and shoved it into my pants pocket. I wanted to get one more overview of the damage to the car before I went to find the highway, so I decided to walk a circle around the vehicle, taking in the various scratches, dents and marks it had taken on its crazy trip. I absentmindedly took in the state of the ground beneath it, and the skidmarks it had left along the way, but what caught my eye next turned my blood to ice.

There was a single pawprint of some kind overlapping one of the skidmarks. It looked like a wolf's, but was so large that the creature that made it had to be nearly as big as me.

“Oh, shit.” With a press of a button on my key fob, the trunk popped open, and as quickly as I could I pulled out three items: My gun case, my holster, and the bag holding the box of loose .40S&W ammunition still left over from the competition. As quickly as I could, I slammed the trunk shut, opened the front passenger door and practically dove in, then pulled the door closed. With fingers trembling from the adrenaline rush, I opened the case and removed the three magazines I owned for my Taurus PT 24/7 handgun, loading each as quickly as I could to their maximum capacity, then slid one magazine into the weapon. I didn't chamber a round yet, not with there only being the possibility of wild animals- I could explain a loaded weapon to a state trooper, but I'd probably get less of a sympathetic ear if it was ready to fire without good cause.

The other two magazines went into the smaller pouch that would hang on my left side. That was easy enough to put on, but the holster was too complex to manage while sitting in my car... but before I got out, I stuck the key into the ignition, turned it one notch forward, and turned the radio up, setting it to scan for any nearby radio stations in hopes that I might hear a weather report. The skies seemed clear enough, at least from what I could see of them through the canopy, but that storm had snuck up on me fast enough to make me paranoid.

I was so caught up in getting myself equipped and watching for anything moving between the trees that it took me three minutes to realize that the radio wasn't picking up anything at all. With a sigh, I turned the key and yanked it out; most likely the crash had damaged the radio or the antenna, which made both pretty much useless.

There were only a few rounds left in the box of ammo, so I tossed it along with the now-empty case back into the trunk, which I made sure was securely closed. With that done, I started following my own skid marks- thankfully left mostly undisturbed by the rain- in an effort to retrace my way back to the Interstate.

snap

One hand immediately went to my weapon as I spun, eyes flicking back and forth, trying to spot whatever had made that noise between the trees. The mist still hung thick in the air, and the canopy that had stopped the rain from wiping out his trail also turned the morning sunlight into a dim, mottled mess that made seeing anything past thirty feet out difficult.

“Hello?” I called out, more quietly than I'd intended.

I caught motion out of the corner of my eye, but whatever it was was gone already. But I knew I'd seen something. “I'm armed,” I said, in as neutral a voice as I could manage. “Come out where I can see you, please.”

Nothing answered. But by now I knew I wasn't alone, and whoever- or whatever- was nearby had a high likelihood of being hostile. So, in one smooth motion, I drew my weapon and chambered a round; the unmistakable click-clack of a handgun being readied was practically a universal warning, but I decided to err on the side of caution. “Last warning, I'm armed and will protect myself,” I said, keeping the weapon pointed towards the ground and my finger off the trigger- but ready to raise and fire at a moment's notice.

The mists in front of me seemed to part, showing me what at first I thought were a pair of leaves lit by a particularly bright sunbeam. But then the “leaves” moved- and my breath caught in my throat as I realized they were eyes, glowing a dull yellow, low to the ground. They slowly grew closer, and a body seemed to materialize behind them; at first I thought it was some trick of the light, but as the... thing came into the clearing, I saw that my guess of a lupine of some sort was only barely correct. Whatever it was bore the general shape of a wolf, if someone had constructed a 2:1 scale model of one completely out of tree detritus.

And it was moving.

No, strike that... it was charging.

I hadn't consciously thought to raise my handgun in the state of shock I was in, but I realized that its sights were lined up right between the creature's glowing eyes, which were approaching at a speed far too quick for my comfort. Reflex kicked in, and I fired three rounds at my target.

The first clipped it in the shoulder, blasting off a small chunk of wood; the second shot went wide. But the third one scored a direct hit, hitting the creature right in the center of its snout- and going straight on through. The thing practically disintegrated from the impact, showering me with all sorts of debris and making me duck instinctively and shield my face.

Once the dust and pieces had settled, it was all I could do to look down at the remnants of the... the whatever-it-was I'd just shot. I'd just seen a mobile, solid-seeming creature literally shatter from the force of a single bullet. My mind was running around in circles trying to somehow apply logic and rationality to what had just happened to me.

That state of shock was the biggest reason why the second creature ambushed me so easily.

My weapon went flying as I hit the dirt shoulder-first, instinctively rolling onto my back, slamming my elbow into the thing's wooden snout before it could manage a bite. My left hand went to its throat, pushing its face away from mine, while my right hand desperately felt around for anything I could use as a weapon against the snarling, slavering beast. At first I was just barely able to keep the thing from chewing my face off, but it seemed to weaken after just a moment, its expression somehow becoming confused as I managed to push it further back.

My hand found a fist-sized rock, grabbed it, and slammed it into the side of the creature's head. The first blow was just glancing, but the second practically shattered everything above the jawline; taking advantage of this, I pushed the creature up with both hands, got my feet underneath its chest and kicked for everything I was worth.

The creature disintegrated almost as readily as the first, and I was once more showered with branches and leaves as I lay there. Not that I did that for long- I had no idea how many more of these things were around, and laying on my back unarmed was as sure an invitation to come chow down on my flesh as I could hope to give. It was a stroke of luck that my handgun was easy to find, and as I picked it up and gave it a quick check- no damage, only a smear of mud on one side of the slide- I spotted two more of the creatures slinking between a pair of trees. Desperate not to let them flank me, I took two quick, barely-aimed shots at them, going wide but serving to send the creatures yelping and running off into the woods where I quickly lost sight of them.

Finally alone again, I lowered my weapon and tried to catch my breath. My first impulse was to get back in my car and drive towards any place that wasn't here, but that was out of the question. I decided instead to resume my original path along the trail the wheels had left-

snarrrrrrl

-and then very quickly changed my mind as the deep-throated growl of something large echoed from that direction. What the fuck is happening? I wondered, even as I began backing away; I couldn't judge the distance due to the echoing amongst the trees, but I didn't want to wait around to see what might eventually show up.

But running off in a random direction might get me in trouble as well. I spared a quick glance upwards; I could just now see the sun through the leaves, so I turned to face it with the most accurate reckoning of “east” I could manage- which put the tire tracks, and that loud growl, off to my 4 o'clock position- and started a brisk run. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to use my phone's camera to capture images of anything that could serve as landmarks along the way, just in case I couldn't find any signs of civilization in this directions.

But seriously, I told myself, even as I looked from side to side to watch for anything hostile, these woods can't possibly be all that thick. Right?

(-)

My dearest Princess Twilight,

Your observational skills and attention to detail are once again to be commended. The magical phenomenon you spoke of was felt by ponies and others hundreds of miles away, myself and Princess Luna included- but none of us was aware of its source, and those few ponies watching the Everfree Forest did not make the connection between the storm activity and the event. Your precise notation of the potential source has been given to the Royal Guard, and a squadron of pegasi will be sent on sorties for aerial reconnaissance.

However, I will leave the actual investigation to you and your friends, with one notification: The pegasi guards will be alerted to your presence within the Everfree Forest, so should you require their help, simply fire a flare- magical or mundane- into the air above the forest canopy, and they will converge upon your position as soon as they can.

I wish you good luck and safety, my student. Report back with your findings as swiftly as possible.

Your friend,
Princess Celestia

Rarity carefully rolled up the scroll and levitated it back to Twilight. “I admit to being somewhat... discomfited that this strange event was felt by so many others at such a distance,” she said. “Canterlot is several hundred miles away from where this happened, is it not, Twilight?”

“That's right.” The alicorn was hovering just overhead; Rarity could swear she could see her friend's legs moving just slightly with each flap, likely caused by the walking impulse of a pony who'd spent all but the last few months groundbound. “What gets me is that it was felt by so many- not just unicorns or alicorns, but pegasi and earth ponies as well... even non-ponies.”

“I can tell ya it weren't pleasant,” Applejack responded. “Granny couldn't walk fer an hour after, just from th' shock; Big Mac felt like he'd been knocked fer a loop... even Winona yelped an' howled. Fer a bit I felt like I did back when I hadn't slept fer three days straight.”

“Felt to me like AJ had kicked me right in the barrel,” Dash said. “Couldn't move my wings for a few seconds. For once I'm glad I wasn't flying.”

“I felt as though I'd taken one of Twilight's attack spells directly to the horn,” Rarity said quietly. “Twilight, dear, do you have any ideas on what could have caused that?”

“Nothing solid, I'm afraid. I must have read through or at least skimmed more than a hundred books regarding the Everfree, but anything that even remotely resembled whatever happened last night seldom had anything more than a blurb or summary attached. But I have a checklist of things to look for once we arrive.” Her horn flared, and a clipboard popped into existence for a moment, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. “I'm hoping we'll find leads once we get where we're going.”

“Well, I'm just glad we have you with us, Zecora,” Fluttershy murmured. “I feel a lot safer walking through the Everfree with you guiding us.”

The zebra gave the pegasus a smile. “I am always willing to help should the need arise, friend Fluttershy. I, too, felt that strange disturbance... though I am just as lost as to the 'why'.”

Dash chuckled. “Well, big Z, once we get Twi's fantastic brain to where this whole thing happened, I bet we'll get-”

pop pop pop

All of them froze at the strange, unfamiliar sounds echoing through the trees. “What the hay was that?” Applejack half-whispered.

“It... sounded rather like the corks of champagne bottles,” Rarity volunteered. “Only much louder.”

“Or like one of my party cannons!” Pinkie added. “Except... not so much.”

Twilight frowned. “Judging by general direction, that might have come from where we're headed. Zecora, we need to get there as quickly as safety allows.”

Zecora nodded, immediately picking up her pace, and the ponies fell in right behind her. Despite their greater speed, their path was unimpeded by hazards, and they made good time into the forest... at least until two more of the strange sounds rang out, closer than before. “That way,” Twilight said, pointing with a hoof; the group changed their heading, plunging through the underbrush and swerving around trees.

snarrrrrrl

Zecora skidded to a stop, her eyes wide in surprise, before gesturing off to her right for the others to take cover underneath the thick leaves of a fern, joining them after a moment. “Manticore,” the zebra whispered. “Though it knows not that we are here. It has not yet seen us... but it hunts something else, I fear.”

They waited for what seemed like an eternity to Rarity before Zecora finally signaled for them to leave their hiding spot. Carefully they advanced into what seemed like a long clearing covered in morning mist, near the center of which was what looked to be signs of a fight of some sort, covered with scattered branches and foliage. “Spread out, girls,” Twilight said, “and keep your eyes open and your ears up. Look for anything out of the ordinary.”

Rarity did as asked, treading daintily across the still-wet forest floor. Ordinarily she would disdain having mud collect on her precious hooves, but with the scale of the situation they were investigating, she'd forgo the concern about her appearance, at least for the time being... and besides, this would give her the perfect excuse for a poni-pedi later on. It had been a week since her last one, after all.

The glint of metal caught the corner of her eye, and she turned to look. Something half-buried under a piece of wood was reflecting the sunlight, and she carefully moved away the debris with her magic, then levitated the object up.

The first thing that caught her notice was the pungent smell that came from one end of the thing. That end was blackened, as though somepony had tried to light it on fire, and the hollow inside of it was similarly scorched. Yet beneath the blackened parts, it seemed to be a perfectly smooth cylinder of some fairly hard metal- not gold, she was certain; perhaps brass?- when she turned the back end of the object towards her. “Oh my goodness,” she breathed, staring at what she'd found.

The center of the thing was a small circle in which was a tiny dimple, probably caused by being struck by something else. But around that, arranged in a neat circle, were what were obviously letters in a language she'd never seen before.

“Twilight!” She called out. “You should have a look at this!”

The alicorn was there within a half a minute, and Rarity let her take it from her magical grasp. “This is interesting,” Twilight murmured, looking it over. “...ohmygosh, is this writing?”

“It certainly looks like it to me. Do you recognize it?”

“Not at all! This is completely unlike any of the fourteen different languages or dialects I've studied.” She took a whiff of the blackened end and made a face. “Whooo, that's pungent. And yet... it's got a strange chemical scent to it, vaguely familiar....” She looked around. "Are there any more of these?”

A quick search of the area turned up four more of the objects- two not far from where the first was, two more a short distance away. Twilight frowned as she levitated all five before her. “This is strange,” she murmured.

“What is, dear?”

“These things, whatever they are, are virtually identical. There are very few ponies who could hoof-craft anything this smooth and perfectly round without them having some sort of imperfection. And the letters on here... I think they've been stamped.”

“Meaning... what, precisely?”

“Meaning they've been manufactured. Somepony- or something- used some exceptionally precise machinery to craft them.”

“But whom? And what purpose do they serve?”

Twilight's answer was interrupted by a shout. “Twi! Zecora!” Applejack hollered. “Tracks over yonder! Y' oughta take a look!”

Rarity followed Twilight over to where Applejack waited, with Zecora arriving a moment later. The cowpony gestured down at a number of impressions that had made in the drying mud. “Whadda y'all make of this?” she asked.

“These tracks here come from timberwolves; this is part of their hunting range,” Zecora murmured, tracing the more recognizable of the tracks with a hoof; she shifted her attention to another set, which were far more unusual. “But as for these others, I must admit... I find them very strange.”

“I'll say.” Rainbow Dash peered down at the bizarre outline stamped in the mud. It didn't look anything like a hoofprint or pawprint; it was more of a bizarre mishmash of geometric shapes, with a small swoop in the middle, all within the general outline of something that resembled a kidney bean.

“Wait a moment,” Rarity said quietly, her eyes moving from one of the shapes to another. “Look... look here.” She traced one shape with a hoof, than the other. “These two are perfect mirror-opposites of each other. The pattern is completely symmetrical.”

“Only you'd pick up on that, Rare,” Dash chortled.

“Yeah, but she's got a point.” Applejack bent down to take a closer look. “Ain't nothin' natural 'bout these. Zecora, you got any idea what coulda made this?”

Zecora shook her head. “None, I am afraid. What caused this mark is unknown to me. Perhaps we might find other clues, were we to search more widely.”

“Guys! Guys!” Pinkie's voice came from somewhere off towards the west. “Over here! You've all really got to see this!”

“Oh, goodness.” Rarity sighed, even as she turned to walk towards the voice of her friend along with the others. “I wonder what she's gotten into?”

“Oh, you know Pinkie,” Fluttershy answered. “She's a sweetheart, but sometimes she just gets distracted by the... silliest... things....” The pegasus's already-quiet voice went even more so. “...oh my.”

Rarity felt her jaw drop. The thing Pinkie had been distracted by wasn't silly in the least- it was large, metallic and vaguely intimidating. It was also unlike anything she'd ever seen in her life. “What... the... hay...?” she muttered beneath her breath.

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack seemed just as taken aback as she was. “Ya... y' wanna tell us jes what we're lookin' at?”

“Pinkie, get down off of that thing!” Twilight shouted.

“Oops! Sorry.” Pinkie bounced down along the object, her hooves making deep metallic thunks against it. “This thing is so neat! What is it, Twi? Huh? Huh? What is it?”

“I don't-”

“What is it?”

“I'm trying to say-”

“What is it?!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight gave the pink earth pony a stern glare. “Please! This is serious!”

“Oh! Okay. Sorry.” Pinkie plopped herself down in the mud, making a soft sklorsh sound under her rump; Rarity couldn't help but grimace at how badly her coat would end up stained.

Twilight let out a long-suffering sigh. “Okay. Let me examine this thing....” She slowly trotted along the side of the object, gazing at it intently, and reaching out to gingerly touch various parts of it with her hoof. “Obviously the outer body is made of metal. Some parts sounded hollow.... There are what appear to be wheels of some kind, very strangely constructed, with... rubber coverings? Very thick. What appear to be glass panes... wait!” She took to the air, hovering a meter or so off the ground. “Windows! There's some kind of open space inside! Recognizable seats... girls, this is a carriage of some kind!”

“Ain't like no kinda carriage I've ever seen,” Applejack replied. “Ain't even a hitch here in th' front for ponies to latch onto... whoa. Wow, lookit this.”

Rarity passed by Twilight to have a look at what AJ saw, and let out a soft gasp. Part of the strange conveyance had been smashed in, most likely by an impact with the sizable tree it rested next to; unlike the other three wheels, the one on this side had lost its rubber covering- which lay in shredded pieces- and was bent at an angle that probably rendered it inoperable. The solid color of the thing's body, revealed to be paint of some kind, had been scraped away to show the metal beneath, and small pieces of some clear, hard material lay scattered around the impact area. “This must've been a considerable collision to do this sort of damage to solid metal,” Rarity noted.

“Yeah, you ain't kiddin. How fast could somethin' this big have been goin'? This thing's gotta weigh a ton.”

“About twenty-two hundred pounds, actually, give or take a hundred,” Twilight stated absently, still peering through the windows.

“Whoa.” Applejack shook her head. “No wonder there ain't no hitches- you'd need half a dozen ponies t' drag this thing anywhere.”

“Which naturally begs the question....” Rarity looked over the strange object. “How did it get here?”

“How it arrived here is a true mystery... but the path that it took is easy to see.” Zecora was gingerly pacing alongside several long gouges in the soil, obviously made by the strange carriage's wheels as it had moved.

“Hey, look at this!” Dash called out. “Are these handles of some kind?”

“They appear to be! Could these sections actually be doors? Look how well they conform to the overall body shape! The tolerances of these panels are amazing.” Twilight landed again; her horn glowed dimly, and one of the strange handles moved without any appreciable result. “Oh, foo,” she grumbled. “It must be locked. Let me see if I can remember my 'Open Sesame' spell....”

She stared intently at the light-grey panel, her eyes taking on just the slightest bit of a glow, the same color as her magical field. “This is amazing,” she murmured to nopony in particular. “The complexity of these mechanisms....”

After a moment, something let off a soft click within the vehicle; Twilight tried the handle once more, and this time the door popped open, swinging out smoothly to let the assembled equines look inside.

“This... is astounding,” Rarity breathed. She recognized individual seats in the front, of course, but everything else about this thing seemed utterly alien.

“Hey, look at that!” Pinkie pointed down at the floor of the vehicle, in front of the seat closest to them. There, on a mat made of some beige material, was a muddy mark- smudged but still recognizable as a match to the strange prints in the mud outside.

“So whatever was out here... was inside this thing at one point?” Dash asked.

Twilight nodded, taking to the air again. “It seems so. I'm going to look inside a little.”

“Oh, do be careful, darling,” Rarity warned. “We've no idea if this monstrosity holds some sort of trap or danger that could just be waiting to be set off!”

“Don't worry, I'm using all due caution.” Carefully, the alicorn stuck her head inside, being sure to keep her wings free of the body of the carriage so that she could hover- not that she really needed to, Rarity knew; Twilight was capable of holding herself up with her own arcanokinesis, a nifty trick Rarity wished she could duplicate herself. “Oh, wow,” Twilight gasped after a moment. “Hang on, I want to open the other door and look at something.”

It only took her a moment to unlock what appeared to be the front of two doors on the opposite side- what would something need four doors for? Rarity wondered- and poke her head inside, staring past what looked like a bizarre ridged wheel sticking out of the front of the vehicle's cabin. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “These are gauges! But what do they measure?!” In a flash of light, a notepad, quill and inkpot appeared by her head. “I'm going to get a quick sketch of these.”

“Twi, I dun wanna hurry ya, but I think we oughta be headin' out soon. I gotta funny feelin' here.” Applejack glanced around nervously.

“Me too!” Pinkie chirped. “Something's tickling my hoofsies! Hee hee hee... whoa!” The earth pony practically flew into the air as something pulled the leaves she was standing on out from under her. Rarity let out a gasp and instinctively stepped back as various piles of branches and foliage began to slide across the ground seemingly under its own power.

“What's going on out-” Twilight landed beside the vehicle. “...uh oh. Form up, girls, I know what's happening!”

“Timberwolves!” Applejack warned, lowering her head and pawing a hoof at the ground.

Rarity watched in horror as all the discarded foliage in the area seemed to coalesce on itself, gradually rearranging into the forms of a pair of arboreal lupines. But rather than attack, both timberwolves slowly limped away, one of them pausing a moment to cough weakly a couple of times before hacking up a small copper-colored object. Still, the ponies and zebra didn't relax until the predators were well out of sight.

Dash's expression was a mix of confusion and relief. “...uh, so what the hay just happened?” she wondered.

“I'm... really not sure....” Twilight stared off in the direction the wolves had run, then trotted forward. “I mean, we've been here for a little while. Timberwolves don't typically take that long to re-form themselves, do they, Zecora?”

“Not unless some rest they sought, after a fierce battle fought.”

“Hmm.” Rarity would readily confess that she'd never be a detective, but things were falling into place. “Twilight... could whomever- or whatever- owns this strange carriage have gotten into a fight with those timberwolves?”

“Summa these imprints do look like they coulda been from a scuffle,” Applejack said. “No blood, though, so if'n our friend got wounded- and if'n it's got blood, itself- it didn't get too hurt.”

“...so it actually fought off two of them?” Fluttershy did not at all seem comfortable with that idea.

“Yeah, and I guess did a real number on 'em too.” Dash looked back at Twilight. “Hey, what've you got there, Twi?”

“Whatever it was that the timberwolf coughed up.” A simple metal slug hovered in the air in front of the Princess; part of the more narrow end was flattened slightly at a strange angle, and the blunt end was blackened just as the cylinders had been. And just like the cylinders, it was packed carefully in Twilight's saddlebags. “Okay, girls,” she said. “I want to get back to Ponyville, catalogue what it is we've found so far, and then get a security detail out here to isolate the site. Whatever that is-” she spared the carriage another glance- “needs to be protected from tampering until we can go over the whole thing with a fine-toothed comb, and I'd like plaster casts of all of these tracks as well. Let me just re-lock those doors before we go....” Her horn glowed for a moment; Rarity could just barely hear the same sounds from the doors as before. “Okay. Gather up, everypony. We'll take the quick way back.”

“Twi?” Applejack spoke up. “What if whatever put that thing there comes back?”

“Then hopefully we can have a nice conversation.” Twilight's smile wasn't entirely convincing. “Ready, girls?”

Rarity nodded, already anticipating that poni-pedi waiting for her back in Ponyville, and shut her eyes as Twilight's teleport sphere closed around them all.