A scroll fell from the air. It hadn't been there a moment before. Rainbow blinked at it before another soldier grabbed it up. "Orders, from Shining Armor." He unfurled it, eyes scanning over it quickly. "Abort the mission."

Rainbow's wings sagged. "Really?"

The soldier flipped the scroll so Rainbow could see it. There it was, clear as day. Abort the mission, withdraw to the capital and take no further action.

Rainbow threw a hoof at the settlement. "But we're right here!"

The soldier shrugged. "Orders are orders, Ma'am." The others muttered agreement. Orders were orders, and Shining Armor was their commander, not Rainbow Dash.

The entire attack force began to withdraw as word spread rapidly from one to the next. The mission was called off and it was time to go home.

Rainbow huffed softly. "Fine..." Even she wasn't willing to launch the attack on her own. Her bravado did have limits.

The sounds of a human car made them all duck at about the same time. It was coming closer. There was the car, zooming towards them. Behind the wheel, a highway patrolman that had decided to fight.

The man had spotted the many ponies, even camouflaged. He had read the reports and accepted them. There was an entirely unreasonable number of deadly animals far too close to a real city, not the boonies where they had been. People would die, period.

Or he could act. He had radioed in, but waiting was the command that came back.

He had not followed it. Just imagining allowing them to roam into the suburbs, hurting or killing people at their leisure until the response came, and knowing he could have done something, but hadn't? He couldn't live with it.

He had his rifle clutched in one hand, and his steering wheel in the other. His front window become a maze of cracks. They had shot him. It hadn't been a lie. They had guns. He was likely going to die. He could take them down with him.

The ponies scattered. The pegasi took flight away from the city like a bunch of startled pigeons, safe from the incoming vehicle. The unicorns and earth ponies did not have the same luxury. One soldier took the shot. The front window didn't break, it just shattered in place. It was still coming, and accelerating, not slowing.

The forces met. Pony flesh did not fare well against steel. Gunshots rang out, filling the vehicle with new holes. The attack was so short, the vehicle skidding and swerving wildly as it began to slow at last, coming to a deceptively peaceful stop, its driver no longer pressing on the gas.

The pony force was not as camouflaged as it once had been. Several soldiers had been run down by the thing before it had been stopped and crimson stained the white snow to accompany pained groans when the pony that had been hit was capable of the sound. It had only managed to strike one pony head on, the rest being clips. Not that being clipped by a car couldn't shatter bones.

Rainbow came back around and landed with the other pegasi. "What the hey? Is everything a cannon with these humans?"

"We have injured," barked out the pony who actually was the local commander. "Get them stable and get them up. We are moving out, now. No delays. You. You. Get to work getting the stretchers ready. We are not waiting!"

Rainbow softly sighed. That had been far from how she imagined things would go. She trotted towards the stopped car with a scowl. "Who's this jerk?" The car had rolled a considerable distance, with only the impacts on good soldiers to slow it down before friction had to facilitate the rest of its slowing.

Fortunately, this was Rainbow Danger Dash, and she closed the distance in a streak of rainbow speed. "Alright, Pal, you have--" She pulled the door open to find the entire world went still.

She was facing a mini cannon. It was pointed at her face. The gravely injured human wielding it barely held onto it, but it was there, pointed at her. His finger was already on the trigger. She twisted in place, trying to swerve away. Why was everything moving so slowly?!

There was a roar of gunfire. Pain exploded through Rainbow. Her planned graceful turn became an awkward flop as she crashed into the snowy ground, still spinning in place, which became an artless roll.

The gun fell to the snow from fingers that couldn't hold onto it. The patrolman had done all he could do. He would be remembered well, he hoped. It as all he could ask for as he expired.

Rainbow tried to stand, but her stupid legs refused to do what she told them to. Everything was kind of dark, but it didn't hurt. Why couldn't she stand up? She managed a weak kick, but she seemed stuck for reasons she couldn't entirely understand. It didn't hurt, so it missed, right?

"G-guys?" She managed to raise a hoof into view and her pupils contracted tight. Her hoof had been blood-covered. Not like a bucket of paint, more like someone had taken a cup and splashed it towards her without good aim. She had been hit. "W... what?" This wasn't how it was supposed to go, not at all.

"Stay down!" barked a pony rushing towards her. "We have you!"

The medical ponies had arrived. That was good... Rainbow suddenly flopped, going limp. Sleep seemed like the best idea right then. But she had been hit. She should have been panicking. But sleep... She weakly thrashed, but the struggle was fruitless.

Twilight skipped from building to building, trying to survey the city from the skyline. "What looks like an important place..." They all did, in their different ways...

She had grown tired of flying invisibly. Teleporting from roof to roof was less draining. With a burst of sparkles, she appeared on the next one.

"(Oh god!)" A human scrambled back from where they had been standing far too close to the edge.

Twilight perked an ear at the human. Male, she quickly determined by fat distribution. Was he in charge? Unlikely... still... "Hello," she spoke gently. "Could you help me?"

"(What was I thinking?)" He put a hand to his head. His eyes were haunted and he was breathing hard. "(I...)"

Twilight wasn't sure what he was saying, but he looked distressed, and not at her. He was barely looking at her. He had barely seemed to register she was here. "Are you alright? Can I help?" She inclined her head a little and dared a little smile. She was harmless and friendly! Or so she hoped she gave the impression of.

"(Hello, magic horse... I'm talking to magic horses.)" He gave a distressed little laugh, sinking down to his butt in a crash, snow displaced. "(Hey, why not end it all? Nope! Magic horses won't let you be that stupid. God damn... what was I thinking?)"

Twilight dared a timid step forward. "You... look like you might be in trouble..."

"(Yeah, I'm pretty messed up,)" confessed the human without either understanding the other. "(Come here, magic horse.)" He gestured for her to come closer, patting the snow. "(I don't see any weapons.)" He had heard the news, most had. Still, the magic horse in front of him sure didn't look armed, or dangerous, outside of being a magic horse.

Twilight smiled a little more hopefully. She approached as she was bidden, the human's body language quite clear to her. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She pointed to herself, then she pointed at him. "What's your name?"

"Kopa Tremor?" he tried, mangling her name beyond all recognition. "(Hello), Kopa."

"Twilight," she repeated, pointing at herself.

"Twilight," he managed. When she was close enough, he reached for her, gently patting her head. "(At least magic horses are soft. So...)"

"What's your name?" she dared, pointing at him. She didn't dissuade his patting. If it made him relaxed, it was a small price to pay. She pointed at herself again. "Twilight Sparkle."

"(Chris.)" He pointed at himself. "Twilight Trelis." He was mangling her last name as he pointed at her.

"Sparkle, but that's not important. It's nice to meet you." She nodded at him gently. "Can you direct me towards your leader?"

"(I don't speak magic horse.)" He rubbed behind his head, looking at her curiously. "(Are you hungry?)" He dug out a chocolate bar. He unwrapped it with shaking hands and offered the exposed portion of it towards Twilight. "(Oh, shit. Can horses eat chocolate? Eh, it's just a little...)"

Twilight eyed the candy. She had seen the foil that wrapped candy in Equestria high. They liked putting foil on everything. It was a human thing. The human was offering her a gift! How exciting! "Thank you, that's very kind." She reached with her magic, gently taking the entire candy, foil and all, from the human's numb fingers.

He was gawking at the floating magic bar with its soft purple glow. It was one thing to say 'magic', and another to watch the magic horse casually perform the act. "(Dear god...)"

Twilight dropped it. "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to startle you."

He saw her react and put up his hands quickly. "(No no, good magic horse. You keep on... being magic.)" It was a real magic horse. Really magic!!

Twilight eyed him, but he was looking at her expectantly, smiling even. She gently picked up the dropped bar in her magic, brushing away the snow. Suddenly she felt fingers on her horn. The human was inspecting her glowing horn. "O-oh, hello?" She looked up as best she could to see what he was doing. He wasn't hurting her, but that was still her horn.

Now, horns did not have a great abundance of nerves along the outside, it was bone! That didn't stop unicorns from reacting very strongly to things touching or harming it. That was only natural, considering how important a horn was to a unicorn. Twilight had to fight the urge to get away or push the human. She was an ambassador. This was... just part of the job. "Yes, that is my horn. I need that." She dared a little laugh.

"(Magic horses can laugh like people do,)" he noted out loud. He drew his fingers away and sat back down. "(You are the best thing that's happened today.)"

Twilight smiled at his tone of voice. He sounded happy. "Found what you were looking for? I'm afraid humans don't get to have horns. That would look funny on you anyway." She dared to raise a hoof and slowly tap the human on the forehead where a horn would be.

"(No horn if you're looking for one. I left it at home. Say, do you have a spare?)"

Twilight heard a question in there, but has no hope of discerning what the question was. Ah ha! She reached with her magic into a pocket and pulled out her tiara. She pointed at it meaningfully. "Where is your leader?"

He gazed at the tiara. "(Are you a magic horse... queen?)"

Twilight pointed at the tiara, then pointed down into the rest of the city, then pointed back at the tiara. "Where is someone who could wear something like this? Where is your leader?"

"(We don't have any queens...)" He glanced down at the city. "(Closest we have is the governor.)" He pointed to the city hall. "(And he doesn't even live here. We humans managed to put our capital in the middle of nowhere, just because. Silly humans, right?)"

Twilight hopped up to her hooves, tucking her tiara away. The human had pointed out a building. That had to be the target! "Thank you!" She floated the bar back towards him.

He pushed it back towards her. "(That's for you.)"

She tilted her head at the bar before taking a big bite out of it. Sweet! But tasty. She tucked the rest away. "Thank you again. Have a good day." She vanished, only sparkles left behind.

He didn't really want to go stepping off the roof, he decided.