Turnip Acres never announced that they had arrived; he merely released his hoof slowly from the propulsion pedal, allowing the hovercraft to gradually grind to a halt. Then, once it had stopped moving, he turned and trotted a path between the ponies who were standing around, mostly still mid-conversation. It was only a light-blue pegasus mare who jerked her head rapidly at the sound of Turnip's hoofsteps, shakily watching him as he trotted over to the exit and, with a hoof, unlatched the door on the railing. It wasn't until the stallion leapt from the hovercraft's surface, landing with a resounding boom on the forest floor, that anypony else turned to look.

"Erm... Turnip?" The reedy-voiced stallion in the back leaned over the edge, inspecting the taller pony who was now below him. "What's up?"

Turnip Acres looked back at the hovercraft full of ponies, all of whom were staring directly at him. "Oh, did I not mention? We're here. C'mon, it's a short walk."

Shrugging, the stallion shuffled through the others to reach the door and hop out, flapping his wings a few times to extend his glide downwards. Then, one by one, the rest of the ponies began to follow, landing softly on the dirt before shifting out of the way.

"How come we're stopping here instead of closer to the hideout?" Even Later asked as she stepped up to the doorway.

"It's not safe to go closer," Turnip replied, keeping his gaze focused on the trees around them. "There are ways that ships like this can be tracked, and they're definitely more easily seen—I'm worried that we might have been seen already."

"Are we really being followed that closely?" Scootaloo asked, looking up to where Turnip Acres stood. "I was kinda under the impression that they didn't know which way we were headed and that we could hang around town a bit."

Turnip shook his head. "No, they definitely know. I'm not exactly sure how they know, but Nerves here," he said, pointing to the light-blue pegasus, "was able to pick up on their comlink signal and get it mostly unscrambled. An officer from down south named Gloss is on his way to join them, to apprehend you. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised they know as much as they do, but I guess that's just how it goes."

Cotton Fluff, who was taking her turn jumping off the hovercraft, felt a chill go down her spine, but she said nothing. She heard Kevin breathe, "Oh, crap," but that was all.

"And no, luckily they don't know exactly where our hideout is," Turnip continued, ignoring Kevin. "They know that there are rebel operatives around here, but we've mainly kept a low profile... until now. Some of us are known to the townsfolk as 'travelling merchants', visiting town every month or so, but this is the first time we've actually had to interfere with something important."

Finally, he turned back to the group and watched as Mochi, the last pony on the ship, jumped down and landed squarely on her hooves. "Alright, that's everyone, then. Clove, can you get a weighted camo tarp over it?"

"Sure thing, boss," the reedy-voiced stallion said as he reached around in his saddlebag and started pulling out a large stretch of fabric. As he got to work, Turnip cleared his throat.

"Great. Now, we're going to walk over to the hideout and there's a real possibility that we could be intercepted on our way there and need to scatter. I'd like for us to partner up in the event of that happening, and you'll keep these partners for the duration of your stay. Alright?"

The rest of the group nodded or grunted or whatever in acknowledgement.

"Good." Turnip Acres looked around through the near darkness, eyes darting from pony to pony. "Later, you're with Flight."

The unicorn mock-frowned at Scootaloo, who she was still standing next to, and shuffled over to greet the yellow pegasus filly.

"Alright... Clove, you're with Kevin. Nerves, you've got Mochi. And Chronicler... Cotton Fluff." Turnip turned to face the red-coated stallion who, up until and including that point, had kept mum. "You can handle that?"

The stallion merely nodded, expression neutral.

"Erm... right." Turnip blinked, turning back to the others. "And Scootaloo, you're with me. Again, I'm hoping we won't even have to use these, but it's good to have a plan just in case. And, of course, my rebel comrades know what to do once we've scattered."

"Run around flailing our legs and screaming," Even Later murmured to Flight, who giggled. Turnip Acres glared in their direction.

"Regardless... at the very least, you can ask your 'buddy' to show you around or if you have any questions. You done, Clove?"

The maroon-coated pegasus nodded as he pulled the last corner of the tarp over the hovercraft, concealing it from view from all but the sharpest of eyes. "Yessir."

"Wonderful. Let's be off, then," Turnip said, immediately turning and beginning to trot briskly into the forest at dusk. The other ponies had little choice but to follow.