Fluttershy strolled through the market with her checklist in her hooves, looking for special ingredients for Angel's birthday cake. As she approached the first of many stands, she heard galloping from behind her, as well as a familiar barking. She turned her head to see Dogmeat sprint into the marketplace with an army of foals chasing him.

A smile found itself on her face as the pegasus watched Dogmeat roll on his back as foals continued to laugh and chase him through the streets of the small town. Every now and again, he would stop and wait for the little ponies to catch up and pretend to wrestle with him. They would say nice things about him, continue to pet his rugged coat, and when he would lick them, a few would playfully lick him back.

The mare smiled as the canine carried one or two of the foals at a time, occasionally barking happily at them. As this continued, she noticed a pair of small ponies that she recognized from time to time: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They began to approach the group with looks of disgust. Some foals took notice of the two and ceased their enjoyment. Eventually, all of the foals stopped to watch as the rich fillies began to address them.

"What are you all even doing with this mangy mutt?" she asked in a critical voice.

Another familiar shape came out from the small group of foals to reveal Pipsqueak.

"We were just havin' a good time playin' with the dog," he defended.

Diamond Tiara scoffed as Dogmeat stood up and looked down at the two.

"Don't you see how dirty it is!?" she wailed. "Seriously, like, it needs a bath."

Dogmeat barked at the remark, at which the group of children smiled, the fillies flinched, and Fluttershy gasped, understanding fully what he had said.

"Ugh, I don't speak mutt, you dumb animal!"

The canine growled for a bit before jumping at the pink filly. Diamond Tiara screamed and ducked under the charge as her friend rolled to the side to avoid the animal. Dogmeat opened his jaw, swooped down towards the filly's head, and grabbed the tiara right off of her mane before circling around and being praised by the group of foals. The rich fillies rose from the ground, where Silver Spoon gasped and pointed at Diamond Tiara's head.

"Oh my gosh! It took your tiara!"

Diamond gasped and felt around her mane with her hooves to find it, and froze when she saw it in the canine's jaws. Her eyes narrowed as she hissed out a sentence.

"Don't. You. Dare."

Dogmeat responded by crouching to the ground and digging as quickly as he could. Once a properly sized hole was made, he dropped it in and covered it back up. The two rich fillies were stunned by the display as the rest of the children cheered Dogmeat on. The canine approached the two slowly and lowered his head down as well. Diamond widened her eyes as he came closer to her, and when Dogmeat was close enough, he licked the side of her face, bringing her fur up and matting it with saliva. She began to wave at her face with her hooves, chanting something along the lines of "ew" as Dogmeat went back to the foals.

Fluttershy was slightly surprised at what she had heard the canine say, wondering where he had learned such cruel words. A cough behind her reminded the mare of where she was standing, and when she turned around, the vendor had raised an eyebrow at her with a slight hint of a smile on his face.

"Are you going to buy something, ma'am?"

The pegasus nodded as she put her focus back on her shopping, dismissing the small occurrence as simply another interesting perk of Ponyville.

\\\\\\//////

"And... that's about it," Star Buck said as the final item was written on the paper.

Jason sighed as the news of his completion of the paperwork reached his ears.

"Thank God. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to patrol around the town a little."

When he turned around, however, he almost bumped into what felt like a living wall. As Jason reeled back, he looked towards whatever he collided with and examined another new face. This pony was a massive pegasus, easily more than six inches taller than Jason. His face was stern and scarred lightly, with a long one trailing across his left cheek. The coat of the pegasus was a drab green, and his harsh yellow mane and tail were cut incredibly short. The one thing that also stood out about this pony was that he too, was wearing what looked like a duster, only made out of an alternative fabric to leather, as it was more wrinkled in some areas.

"You supposed to be the newest Regulator?" he asked in a deep voice that resembled a dying Vertibird.

"Yes, can I help you?" Jason replied.

The pegasus scoffed at Jason's question and looked down on him.

"I came here because I heard that there's a new Regulator in this town, issued by the Princess herself. I thought I'd get to see somepony that actually deserves the spot, not just some piece of flank that 'her majesty' wants to lay with."

The sound of several metallic boots walking behind them grew louder as Jason narrowed his gaze at the "Regulator".

"Think you can scare me? I've killed ants scarier than you."

"Really? Really? Scary ants!?"

"Three-meter tall ants, armored like castles, and breathe fire. Yes."

"You're bucking crazy. You don't deserve a spot in our ranks, you little colt."

"That's not for you to decide, now is it?"

"Not only that," one of the earlier Guards spoke from behind them, "but you're talking bad about the Princess right in front of her Royal Guard. You think that's a wise move?"

The Regulator turned his head to see the two Guards that had gotten out of the showers, and were now glaring daggers at him. He snickered a bit before speaking again.

"Is it against the law to speak my mind about her, now? 'Cause if it is, you still can't arrest me. Regulator privilege, fillies."

"Everypony stop this, right now!" A voice yelled from the end of the room.

All heads turned to see a mare with a white coat, blue mane, and golden armor standing opposite the group around the Regulator. She stomped towards them as she spoke.

"We are all upholders of the law, whether you want to follow them or not, alright? You can talk about the Princesses as if they're whatever you believe in, but don't go starting fights with one another, got it!?"

The ferocity at which she unleashed her rage-filled voice caused the other Guards to back away from her and nod as the large Regulator widened his eyes and slowly stepped away. He turned back to Jason before glaring and speaking once more.

"You watch yourself, colt. World's not all about friendship and happiness, got it?"

"Thanks," Jason said with a sarcastic tone. "I'll be sure to remember that."

The Regulator huffed at him once before turning around and meeting the gaze of the Royal Guard mare, who was now on the edge of growling at him. He jumped back slightly in surprise before walking around her and out of the building. The mare sighed and turned to Jason before speaking in a hushed tone.

"I'm sorry about that. I, went to a seminar a few months ago, about asserting myself, and I've had troubles controlling myself. My name's Thorn Handle, Solar Guard. Nice to meet you," she finished with a raised hoof and a smile.

Jason looked down to it before smiling himself and holding his hoof up to hers.

"The Wanderer. Resident Regulator."

She nodded as the two stallions from before came up to him and spoke.

"So we realized that we never formally introduced ourselves to you. I'm Broadsword, and this is Spear Buck."

Spear Buck came up to Jason and nodded to Star.

"Star's my sister, in case you were wondering about the name thing. It's a long story."

Jason nodded as he was introduced to the Guards of the small town, and tried to remember the names and traits of the individuals around him. As they began to settle, another door opened to reveal Dusk Wind in a full suit of purple armor, blushing lightly through her coat.

'Wait, how the fuck is she blushing through a coat of fur?' Jason thought to himself.

"Hey guys," she spoke up, "maybe we could all head out to the bar for some lunch? First round's on me!"

They all looked to her and began to agree before Star spoke up.

"What about you, 'Wanderer'? Wanna get a buzz with the force?"

Jason took on a serious look before he replied.

"I'm not in the mood to get drunk."

As Dusk Wind frowned, he smirked before speaking again.

"I'm in the mood to forget the difference between red and South."

The group around him cheered and gave him several playful nudges as he felt a warm feeling in his gut.

'Maybe this will work out for me,' he thought to himself.

\\\\\\//////

Marrow adjusted the security harness on the quarantine suit as she stepped into the makeshift sanitation chamber.

"Are you sure we need all of this?" she asked over the short-range magic transmitter in her helmet.

"Absolutely. Nopony has any idea what this is supposed to be, and it's been tampering with the magic sensors since the forensics team picked it up," a static voice responded to her.

All around, plastic covers and tubes were strewn over what used to be a living room in the small town of Marenor. Since the Jaw raid a few days ago, the town was suddenly abandoned by the mercenary group and has been occupied since by the Royal Guard, both Solar and Lunar wings occupying the wreckage of the town. Marrow had been brought in because, apparently, they needed top-notch forensic teams to determine the capabilities of the weapons that the gang was using. Strange types of magical residue were found on multiple corpses, and some were found by piles of ashes and strange goop. Tests for DNA and magical signatures were being conducted as well, but for some reason, they needed her expertise with an autopsy on a pony found in one of the abandoned caves. She had heard that they found a crate of unidentifiable materials by the corpse, and that it was sent to Canterlot Science for studying from some of the Guards she had been escorted by.

As she neared the magical quarantine bubble, two Guards stood on either side of the doorway in full quarantine gear. Their horns ignited as the bubble extended towards her. Marrow stepped towards the extension of the pink glow and became engulfed in the field. She widened her eyes when she saw a team of ponies in similar gear working around a white table that had... something on it.

Whatever was on the table looked almost like a Changeling, with its black exoskeleton shell, except the body didn't have a horn, holes in the legs, or a mouth. Its eyes were glazed over with a sickly yellow, and on the sides of the head were tubes that ran from where the mouth should be. Marrow slowly approached the table as others in the proper equipment began to gather around it as well.

"Professor Marrow, how nice of you to join us for this," one of the operators spoke to her.

"What is this? Some kind of Changeling?" she asked.

"That's what we're going to find out, ma'am."

Marrow stepped up to the table and closely examined the creature's shell, and waited as the other specialists in the room began to work as well.

\\\\\\//////

Smooth Breeze shifted in place a bit while waiting for his partner in the patrol to finish his "business" behind a tree.

"Could you hurry up? I don't like the looks of this forest," he called into the treeline.

"It's the middle of the day, moron. Besides, there haven't been any attacks in days, why worry?" Chill Wind responded.

"But still, our shift's almost over, and I'd like to be back in camp as soon as we can."

"Jeez, you Rooks are all just a bunch of panzies, you know that?"

"Weren't you in the Academy once?"

"Yeah," the reply came from Breeze's side, "but I had the strength to overcome my disability."

Breeze glared at the officer before they began to march back to the camp in the outskirts of Marenor. Before they could leave the area around the forest, however, a rustling noise came from one of the bushes. Chill stepped towards the sound with a spear in his wings, ready to strike at whatever may come out.

"Hear that?" he asked Breeze.

The younger pegasus nodded before pointing his own weapon at the source of the noise as well. The two stepped closer to the bush as the noise subsided. Before they could say anything, a paw shot out of the ground beneath Chill and grabbed his muzzle. The Guard swung the spear towards the arm, but was pulled directly onto a small knife that had also been produced from the ground. The small blade ripped through the flesh of his neck, and sent the pegasus into a choking fit, breathing in his own blood as he thrashed about on the ground, the paw still planted firmly on his muzzle. Breeze thought about trying to save the Guard, but when he moved to help, Chill swung a hoof in the direction of the camp. Without saying anything, he lept into the air and began to put all of his power into the motions of his wings. As the wind began to whistle past him, a strange sound came from the forest, and seconds later, he felt a burning sensation through his entire left wing. Breeze screamed in agony as he plummeted to the ground, landing on his functional wing before feeling a sickening crunch as his armor crushed his own appendage.

"I shoot good, boss? I shoot good?" a scratchy voice spoke.

Breeze struggled to open a single eye to see what was approaching, and widened his eyes at what he saw. Two Diamond Dogs were standing fully upright in strange black armor that had several glowing bits on the outside that made them look like lightning catchers. In their paws were strange clubs that had tubes and glowing green front-ends. What really surprised the Guard, though, was who was between them. It was a unicorn stallion with an olive-green coat, a brown-grey mane, green eyes, and a tan trench coat. The look on his face was one of absolute disgust, and as his horn ignited a green similar to his eyes, a box-like grey object floated forth. The unicorn pressed it onto Breeze's forehead and spoke in a commanding tone.

"You didn't take wind into account. Clearly you need more training."

The last thing the pegasus felt was pure fear before a burning sensation ran through his skull, and the world became nothing but blackness.

\\\\\\//////

"I think I found something," one of the operators said.

Marrow looked up from the stretched out hoof of the pony-like creature and watched as some of the other pathologists began to crowd towards him.

"It's like a locking mechanism, right here, by the base of the neck," he explained while bringing out a prodding device. "If I can just pick it open-"

"Are you saying that this is a suit of armor?" Marrow interrupted.

The professor looked up to her and hesitated a bit.

"Perhaps," came the answer. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Almost as soon as the professor had started, the "helmet" unlocked and began to hiss as the metallic skull began to shift. As it did, a sickening sound akin to wet skin was heard coming from the cadaver. A pair of operators moved towards it and slowly began to pull away the "helmet". When they did, a crackling sound filled the air, and when the first bits of flesh underneath were visible, strings of gooey substance were connecting the head to the interior of the helmet. After the pair managed to fully expose the head, Marrow tasted a bile rise in the back of her throat.

The body was now easily recognizable as having been pony at one point, only absolutely mutilated. The skin around the pony's head was discolored and filled with craters, strings of flesh going up into the helmet. Its jaw was propped open as if to show the horrified scream that they had during their death, and the eyes...

"Dear Celestia..." Marrow breathed out.

One of the scientists ran over to the side of the room and began to empty the contents of their stomach into a disposal bin as the rest recoiled from the sight. Marrow closely examined the face of the cadaver, trying to determine what kind of pony they were, earth or pegasus. She got in too close, however, and pushed the extended arm too fast, and with a wet snapping sound, the appendage broke off at the joint. When it fell off the table, a stream of greenish liquid began to pour from the opening, creating a pool of vile liquid.

The operators screamed at the display, as did Marrow, who backed away too fast and slipped on the substance. As she fell to the floor, she heard screams over the magical P.A. system, as a pounding sound began to come from the walls. The quarantine bubble faded around them as two heavily armored Diamond Dogs burst in and sent the Guards to the floor. While they were screaming, she could hear the speakers in the room blare to life as a new voice boomed in.

"Attention staff: as of now, you are officially working for the Enclave Jaws. You will obey orders given to you by my associates or will be executed on sight, and used as a warning for other fuck-wits that will inevitably try to take this land back. You will pledge your allegiance to the Enclave, to the greater good, and above all, to your new leader. You, and soon many more, will kneel before your new, and greatest leader, me. And once we take this pathetic country, you will all remember the name of the great man that led you all into a new golden age: Colonel Augustus Autumn."