Everypony but Rainbow Dash and Appljack was in General Hooves' office. They were three minutes late. They burst into the office, huffing and puffing.

" Sorry we're late! We overslept! " Rainbow Dash explained.

" Yeah, I bet. " Twilight muttered to herself. She was overly suspicious of Rainbow's and Applejack's closeness lately. But, for the moment, she didn't care, as long as it didn't interfere with their mission performance.

" Anyway, I received news this morning. I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first? " The general asked.

"...Let's take the bad news first " Suggested Pinkie Pie.

" Alrighty then. Bad news first. Four of our guards were found dead outside Ponyville this morning. They were all killed by a single bolt to the heart. From close or short range, we can't tell, and there are no signs of a struggle, on any of the bodies. " The general explained. The team was distressed by this news. The enemy encampment was so far away. How could they have gotten here?

The general continued. " Anyway, onto the good news. Fluttershy has recovered and she is now able to see visitors. " The general finished. He barely dismissed them before they were all out in the hallway running towards the infirmary.

The team had all squeezed into the room just as Fluttershy awoke. Everyone broke into tears. They were so relieved to see that she was okay, and she was pleased to see they cared for her so much. She was happy, especially when she ate the treats that Pinkie Pie and Derpy left, and she enjoyed the card Rainbow Dash had made her. " Thank you so much everypony. Especially you Rainbow Dash. I'll keep your card somewhere safe. "

Everypony smiled. They were glad to see their friend and teammate back up to full speed. Now, the rough part. They told her about the guards. She teared up, but a group hug made it alright for now.

" Come on Fluttershy, Let's get back to General Hooves. He'll want to see how you've recovered. " Twilight said.

As they entered General Hooves' office, they noticed he was reading a slip of paper. " Ah, team. I'm glad you came. This was just found this note on the body. " He explained, holding out the piece of paper. " It's a note. "

Rainbow Dash snatched it from him. " What does it say? "

She read it out loud:

Ponies of Ponyville,

We don't know where you are, but we know you'll find this, and your guards. Do not trifle with us. You can see how close we got to you. We know you were spying on us a few days ago. We are quite busy at the moment, enslaving the people of Whinneysota, and other things. However, if you continue to antagonize us, we will drop all other endeavors and come after you. You have been warned. This was just a warning shot.

The general, and the team, were stunned. " How could they know? " The general stammered. " Whinneysota is such a large place. If they can take that large of a city, then how can we stand a chance? "

" Hey! Pull it together you numb skull! Yer a general! Yer supposed to lead us and be brave! Lead us! " Applejack shouted.

The general panted, looking over the note. " Okay, look, get your gear ready. You're going in. "

" Fer what?! We don't know anything about 'em! " Applejack argued.

" That tent I saw in Vinyl's recording. You're going to infiltrate it and either capture a high ranking authoritive figure, or retrieve information. Documents, whatever you can find. Anything you think might be important. Now, go suit up. Yes, even you Fluttershy."

" Yes sir! " The team answered, after a moments hesitation. Would Fluttershy be able to handle it? They were all thinking it.

As if she could hear their thoughts, Fluttershy piped up, " Don't worry about me guys! I can do it! "

It was good enough for the rest of the team. In fact, it was about as good as it was going to get.

Next Chapter: Chapter 9: Tragedy Estimated time remaining: 36 Minutes