A letter appeared with a pop of magic. More of a scroll, it hovered there patiently before Celestia took it in her magic. Not many could send her letters so directly. "Twilight?" she mused, though it had not arrived via dragon's breath, at least so far she had seen. It was possible it had and she hadn't noticed it.

Was Spike even with her? There was one sure way to dispel the mystery. She unfurled the scroll and began to read.

The scroll dropped from numb magic, only to be grabbed quickly a moment later to resume reading. "That many..." It was a report from the north. Rather than show any amount of hesitance on being counter attacked, they had struck again, harder... so much harder.

She could scarcely believe the report. So many injured, so many just... gone. Some of them weren't even Equestrians, but so many... were... Her little ponies, gone, forever. It was not even some pithy battle someone could claim to be romantic. A great beast had come with a terrible roar and unrivaled speed.

Like a dragon of purest death, it had destroyed all it past, and left so many... so many... Celestia had to put a wing over her face and take a moment, trying to absorb what she had been told.

"Sister?" Luna approached her distraught sister. "Whatever is the matter?"

Celestia folded her wing back, trying to look composed. This did little for the stains on her face, growing worse as she worked through what those cold numbers really meant.

"Sister..." Her magic pulled at the scroll. "What news is this that weighs on you so heavily?" Taking it without much resistance, Luna began to read the letter in swift sweeps of her eyes. "Is... this an error in writing?" She slapped the number of injured with a wing. "That is basically the entire division we sent to the north!"

Celestia took a slow and shuddering breath. "This has grown. We thought we could intimidate them; show them we can use force, but also show we could use it judiciously. This is their response... From a people who wield such deathly power individually, this... We have no choice." She turned away. "They are a crisis, a calamity. They should be treated as Tirek, a changeling invasion, or..." She hesitated, glancing back at Luna.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Or as Nightmare Moon, we can practically hear you thinking it. Throw in a dash of King Sombra while you're in there. Most of those weren't casually murdering ponies." She threw the scroll aside for it to clatter and roll. "Twilight is already there, and reported missing."

Celestia choked a sob, trying to hold it back.

"So what is the second plan?"

Celestia retreated, but it was towards another scroll. "I received this."

Luna snatched it just a moment before Celestia did, yanking it over in her magic and unfurling it. "From the hippogriffs..." Their queen, Novo, specifically. "They report to have met... The same species. Friendly? Agreeable?" Luna rolled her eyes. "They may be the same species, but clearly they are different peoples."

She casually tossed the scroll back where it had come from. "She can't believe we're actually fighting. It seems clear to me that we're not fighting hard enough. Besides, her nation is nowhere near the north. Whatever humans she has met simply can't be the same humans as the ones that did... that." She thrust a hoof at the fallen scroll of the war tolls.

Celestia gathered herself, standing tall. "We must mobilize. Even without Twilight, the other girls were endowed with powers directly from the Tree of Harmony. The Wonderbolts have been training for this day. The warlocks..."

Luna smirked at the hesitation. "They are technically my ponies, so I will oversee them. They will save Equestria when more gentle techniques fail and deliver us from this nightmare."

"Yes, right." Celestia shook her head. "We must win, quickly. This is not an enemy we can afford to assume will play nicely." She thrust a hoof at the discarded scroll. "That many?! This is beyond reason..."

Twilight walked through the halls, bumping lightly against a corner with a soft oof. "Easy," counseled George. "We're almost there."

She was covered, concealed. She was little more than a walking sheet. She was also on two legs, at his request. There was some logic to that, she decided. Walking bipedally, and under a sheet, she would much more likely be confused for a concealed human rather than a concealed pony.

Cold wind pressed through the sheets and the sounds changed. She could hear people moving around them. They were outside, she felt certain. He had been true to his word and taken her out. She heard something open and his hands guide her to sit awkwardly inside something.

There was movement, then the sheet finally drew back. She was seated in one of their automated carriages. He was operating it. "Thank you." What a silly way of escape... "Where are we going?"

"I want to show you something. We have... ranches."

Ranches? "You have ponies doing tricks?"

"Not ponies." At least, he was pretty sure it wouldn't qualify as a pony that Twilight would know of. "I want you to see."

He drove her to the east side of the city, where the ranches were hiding. Out of the city depths, the buildings began to thin out. An equine whinny was the first real hint that they were approaching a ranch.

Twilight's ears perked up and she looked around with confused eyes. "What was that?" Then she saw it. She began to gape at the horses. There were four of them in a field, frolicking and enjoying simple equine lives.

"Do you know what those are?" asked George as he pulled up close to the fence and came to a smooth halt.

"Not exactly..." She willed the door open with a thought, working the handle easily. "Applejack, the human one, mentioned them, but... seeing them... Wow..."

The human one? George climbed out quickly to join her. "These are horses. They have similar structure."

"Similar, but very different." Twilight examined them with critical eyes. "Their arms are clearly limited in motion. Their faces are limited in expression. Their size... I've met a pony or two that could compete, but they are all giants..." She ambled up towards the fence, eyes locked on them. "No cutie marks, the coloration is... limited. I think limited may be the key word here."

A horse trotted over curiously, eyeing George and the little equine friend. The mare leaned in and sniffed at Twilight through the fence with little twitches of her great nostrils.

"Nice to meet you too... Is this how Fluttershy feels at times? I can... almost guess what she is thinking..."

She was using many words he didn't know, but many words he did know too. He struggled to keep up. "So there are no horses where you come from then?"

Twilight pointed at herself. "There are larger varieties of me. None of them are this." She turned the hoof to the horse.

The horse responded by leaning over the fence easily and nipping at Twilight right on her mane, grooming her suddenly in an equine attempt to welcome Twilight into their social circle.

Twilight squeaked softly but it turned into soft laughter. "It's nice to meet you," she repeated with a soft smile, accepting the grooming as it was given. "I should point out that mutual grooming is not an inherent habit of ponies. Most ponies tend to their own grooming. Do humans practice mutual grooming?"

George had to smile. Watching the big horse lip at Twilight was kind of adorable... "Only really close people work with each other like that. Maybe a parent will work on their kids. Married people? About it usually."

"Exactly the same." Twilight looked pleased at that. "You don't have a ranch without ranchers. Where is the owner?"

George looked up and across the field, to where a few humans were watching them. "Pretty sure one of them is the one we're looking for..." They hadn't started shouting, so that was good...

He decided to be the start of things, raising a hand to wave. "(Hey!)"

"(Howdy,)" called back one of them. "(Why's your pony all painted?)

With permission given, apparently, the group of three men started to circle the fence towards George and his small horse.

Twilight looked up at them curiously. Her new horse friend broke away and approached them with a soft happy noise.

"(We don't have any treats for you today.)" The human pat the horse gently along the neck. "(Maybe next time.)" One of the others knelt down to be closer to Twilight's level. "(I can't place the breed... Nice grooming.)" Getting manes to hang like that was no easy task, though it was not the first time he'd seen such care put in to get a horse's hair looking fancy.

George gestured at Twilight. "(I need you to not freak out, but this is one of those 'armed' horses they've been talking about.)"

The man beside Twilight fell back in surprise. "(She dosn't look armed!)" he noted, eyeing her with suspicion.

"Hello." Twilight nodded at them gently. "I am Twilight Sparkle."

"(God in heaven...)" The first man, who had pet the horse, approached slowly. "(Is she... talking?)"

"(She is, and she says hello, and her name is) Twilight Sparkle." George reached for Twilight, patting her right on the head. He had no permission to do so, but he wanted to show Twilight was not a dangerous creature. Thankfully, Twilight did not react poorly to the attention.

"(If it was anyone other than you, Smith...)" The first man laughed, slapping a knee. "(You get your hands on an alien horse and you bring it to me?! Of course you would. Will she get antsy if I inspect her?)"

One way to find out... "Twilight, he wants to inspect you. I trust him, ridden his horses before, and he is a good person. May he?"

Twilight's ears twitched softly. "Who am I to stand in the way of scientific progress? Hey may proceed." She turned to the side, presenting more of herself with a light smile.

"(Never had a horse give me permission, or smile like that.)" He crouched down and began patting her down, inspecting curiously different muscles and joints. "(Huh...)"

"(You know that ain't true,)" argued one of the others. "(Horse that ain't give permission can make an inspection a real nightmare.)"

"(Gotta point there...)"

A new noise suddenly rang out from George's pockets. He dug out his phone quickly. "(George speaking.)"

"(George, where are you? Where's the alien? They're looking for both of you.)"

"(Who?)" He turned away from Twilight, trusting his ranching friend to not make a fool of himself. "(She's fine, and with me. I'm also just fine.)"

"(They're with the military,)" hissed the voice on the line. "(And they're really not happy you're both missing.)"

George winced. His choices suddenly narrowed dangerously. Either he went right back to the office and turned Twilight over, or his entire life would be effectively ended. He'd be a criminal. "(Christ...)"

Twilight tried to be patient as fingers pulled her lips back and he peered right into her mouth. Human scientists sure were thorough...

"(If it wasn't in a horse's mouth, you could swear they were human...)" Uncannily straight and brilliantly white. There was a gap where a bit could fit, though he doubted the small horse would want to have one placed there. "(Say, can you have her do some stretches?)"

Stretches? George covered his phone with a hand. "Twilight, they're asking if you could stretch a little." He turned back to his phone. "(Tell them I'm not running off anywhere.)"

"(I'll do my best... Please don't, you know, actually run off anywhere? Alright?)"

"(I'll do my best,)" he echoed with a faint smile. "(I'm not a criminal and I don't want to become one.)"

Twilight began to reach one hoof out at a time, moving each limb in ways that a horse would need to be shattered to imitate. The way the humans reacted only encouraged her curiosity, making her see exactly what made their reactions grow stronger.

When she stood up and put her forehooves behind her head, that seemed to be a breaking point.

Author's Notes:

The celestial sisters touch bases as Twilight gets to see a small sliver of the human world in far better conditions than the first time.

Surely rainbows are around the corner? Wait, are these friendly rainbows?