"Hey Applejack, hold up," Ray said, jogging to keep up with the strong-legged pony as she began trotting to Sweet Apple Acres. "Do you think we should duck through town a bit? You know, until this situation is actually explained a little bit more?"

"Good point," she grimaced as she thought of how to go about not raising suspicion. She smiled and nodded at the boys. "Ya'll wait here. Ah'll run up ahead and wave you over when Ah'm sure the coast is clear. And, uh, Michael?"

"What?" he asked.

"Try not t' yell again," Applejack smirked before trotting ahead.

Michael swore under his breath and looked at the others while Ray watched for Applejack's signal. Jack and Geoff were now more relaxed.  While they still shifted around uncomfortably, they had their bearings and no longer thought they were insane, or at least felt no need to acknowledge it out loud. Gavin was looking at the clouds drifting by, smiling at them as they moved by slowly.

"Come on," Ray said, snapping the others back to whatever small reality they were now in.

The others quickly jogged towards Applejack, who was peaking around the corner of one of the buildings in Ponyville. She turned back to them and nodded, telling them to stay put. After a few seconds, Applejack waved them up again. The guys looked around and ran up to her, only this time she didn't nod.

"There are some ponies 'round th' corner, just gimme a minute t' distract 'em," Applejack said in a hushed voice.

"But you're the Element of Honesty right? I mean, you aren't exactly the best at lying..." Ray said quietly.

"How'd ya know that?"

"Celestia told us about the Elements, remember?"

"Ah know that. Ah mean how do ya know Ah'm no good at lyin'?"

"Uh, Celestia told me," he said quietly, remembering the sun princess's request not to tell them the truth.

"Ah, right. Ah guess Ah shoulda figured she'd want t' give ya a little knowledge about us," she said, accepting his lie. Besides the fact she was an alien, he was nice. She had no reason to doubt him. She then nodded at them and turned around and looked at the building across the dirt road. Sugar Cube Corner. "Y'see that store up there?"

"You mean Su-" Michael coughed, trying not to let anything besides their names slip. "-that bakery?"

"Yeah. Ah need ya t' listen closely. When Ah talk to th' ponies over there, ya'll will need to run behind there."

"Got it," Ray said and Applejack instantly vanished, and they listened closely for Applejack to speak.

They heard the quiet sound of Applejack greeting the ponies and they sprinted across the road, slamming their backs against Sugar Cube Corner.

"Gives me an idea for a game," Geoff chuckled. "Splinter Cell: Ponytown."

"Ponyville," Michael said in annoyance.

"It's my idea, I'll call it what I want."

"Your idea is wrong."

"Your face is wrong," Geoff muttered.

"Guys, shut up or you'll blow our cover," Ray whispered.

"Pft, you're not the boss of me," Geoff grunted, then smiled. "Actually, I'm the boss of you."

"I know," he rolled his eyes. "I was just saying..."

Geoff sighed and nodded, falling quiet. Applejack ran around the corner and checked behind her to make sure she wasn't followed. With a revived sigh she turned around and smiled at them. Jack rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Sorry 'bout the wait," Applejack said quietly, walking ahead of them. "The rest of th' way should be clear, so we should be able t' get there without sneakin' around like a couple of snakes in the grass."

"Where's the fun in that?" Gavin asked.

"Shut up," Micheal moaned.

"Do ya mind tryin' t' be a lil nicer?" she asked coldly, glaring darts at Michael.

"Mind your own business," he smiled thinly.

"Play nice," Ray said, hitting Michael lightly on the back of the head. He smiled at Applejack. "So the rest of the way should be clear?" Applejack nodded. "Great, lead the way. We'll keep up."

Applejack nodded again and began trotting down one of the smaller paths. They looked at each other, shrugged again, then set off after her. Applejack kept a light trot, not wanting to push the guys to their limits since she does not know their limits. Within ten minutes of jogging they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and went through the front gate.

"Hold up," Jack panted, putting his hand on one of the poles of the gate to catch a breath.

"Y'alright?" Applejack asked sincerely, trotting up to Jack.

"Don't worry about him, he's alright, he's used to sneaking around towns in broad daylight filled with multicolored ponies," Gavin laughed as he began walking briskly towards the Apple family's home.

"I'm good," Jack said when Applejack kept watching him. He straightened up and rubbed the small of his back, before tilting his head to the side. "We should probably catch up with him before he breaks something in your house."

"Sounds good," she chuckled, before squinting at Geoff who was holding something in his hand. "What's that?"

"It's my wallet," he said unenthusiastically. With a reluctant sigh, he flipped the wallet shut and placed it back in his pocket. "Do you have any beer here?"

"What's a beer?" she asked seriously.

"As if this couldn't get any worse," Geoff groaned, before shrugging at the mare. "Just as well, pretty sure this place doesn't take mastercard."

"What's a-"

"Just forget about it or we'll be at this all night," Ray said calmly as they reached the door to the farm house.

"That's probably true. Wait out here. Ah need t' go..." she trailed off, trying to find a nice way to say it.

"Warn them?" he asked with a small laugh.

"Yeah," she said, meeting Ray's chuckle. "No offense of course..."

"Yeah, I assume five to six and a half foot tall almost hairless apes isn't a natural thing to see around here," Jack said, leaning up against the farmhouse.

"It certainly ain't," she laughed nervously before vanishing through the door. "Be right back."

The guys glanced at each other and sighed, each either sitting down or leaning against something while they waited for her to return.

"She seems nice," Jack said quietly after a minute of sitting in silence.

"Under the circumstances, yeah." Geoff agreed, then laid his back on the grass as he began rubbing his face. "I can't believe this shit is happening. This defies all laws of physics."

"What do you know about physics?" Jack laughed.

"Good point," Geoff shrugged.

"Why is it so hot?" Gavin asked, fanning his head with his hand.

"Because Celestia hates you the most, right Ray?" Michael asked. Ray didn't answer, so Michael turned around to look at him.

Ray was staring out into the orchard, smiling brightly at the trees, taking in the atmosphere. He liked it hear. The smell of the clean air made him feel light on his feet. The door to the house swung open and Applejack walked out and nodded at them.

"So, did you explain to the others?" Ray asked.

"Yeah. Ah think they think ah'm crazy, though," she sighed, turning her head back to face the open door. "C'mon out."

A large, red stallion stepped out the door, and instantly his jaw dropped. He lowered himself, not out of fear, but in defense.

"Easy there, BM. They may look strange, but-"

"You look strange," Gavin huffed.

"-but they're not that bad," she said, unimpressed by Gavin's small outburst. "They won't hurt us, and they need our help gettin' home by helpin' us at ours. Ah told ya that the Elements did this, so this is their only way."

Big Mac nodded slowly and eased up, but continued eyeing the giants warily. He then turned to face the inside and whistled sharply. A woof came from the inside and a small dog sprinted outside, barking nervously at the strangers, while a small, yellow filly with a bow tie in her hair slowly came outside, before freezing in the doorway in fear.

"Oh my god, she is adorable!" Ray yelled. He ran up to her and picked her up, smiling brightly. "Look how badass the big bow is!"

"L-let go of me!" the filly shrieked, thinking the monster was going to eat her. "Big Macintosh, sis, help!"

"Oh sh- sorry," he said hastily, quickly putting the filly on the ground. Applebloom galloped away and hid behind Big Mac, trembling as she watched Ray, making sure he didn't chase after her.

"Well that was a good first impression," Gavin chuckled.

"Dude, even I found that a little weird," Michael laughed, patting a saddened Ray on the back.

"It's alright. These are the guys Ah was tellin' ya'll about," Applejack said slowly, but smiling while she said it, calming Applebloom down. She turned to Ray and raised her brow.

"Didn't mean to scare you like that," Ray muttered honestly. "I just, uh... sorry."

"T-they're taller than ya said," Applebloom squeaked in a small, distant voice.

"I know, just..." Applejack trailed off. She'll have to talk to her more, so she looked to her brother for help. "Big Mac, show 'em where they'll be sleepin' while Ah talk t' Applebloom."

Big Mac nodded and motioned his head towards the barn, telling the guys to follow him. The guys looked at him, sighed, then got up to follow him. Having to do real work soured their mood a bit.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Jack asked, looking at Big Mac's blank expression.

Big Mac shook his head and began walking toward the barn.

"Yeah, we'll get along just fine," he sighed, walking after the large stallion.

Jack and the others stayed quiet as Big Mac lead them to the barn. Big Mac pulled open the large, red door and walked inside, leaving the guys outside on their own.

"Seems a tad poxy, doesn't it?" Gavin asked when he saw how the paint was peeling off the barn door.

"Does that mean run down piece of shit?" Michael asked calmly. Gavin nodded. "Then yes."

"Hey, we're guests here," Ray said in an angry tone. "You don't disrespect someone when they're letting you stay at their place."

"You do when the place you're sleeping is a dump,," Michael chortled.

"Let's just go inside, because this is as good as it's going to get," Geoff muttered, bumping Michael out of the way to go inside.

"Sure thing boss," Ray smirked, following him inside.

"Come on you two, as long as the thing doesn't fall down on us we should be fine," Jack sighed, pushing Gavin and Michael ahead of him.

Big Mac was standing in the middle of the barn as the guys walked inside, so they gathered around him and waited for him to talk. After two minutes, Jack coughed into his fist and elbowed Ray in the side.

"Where are we sleeping?" Ray asked, looking around the barn for anything they could sleep on. There were no beds and no cots. All there was were multiple piles of hay. Ray sighed. "We're sleeping on hay, aren't we?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac smiled falteringly.

"Could be worse," Michael said as he jumped on one of the larger piles of hay. "Dibs on this one."

"I wanted that one," Gavin said sadly.

"Too bad. You know the rules of dibs," he chuckled as he laid down in the hay.

"No time for restin' now," Big Mac said, voice strained. "Ya'll are here t' work, right?"

"Right," they said hesitantly.

"Then let's get goin'," Big Mac muttered, walking back outside.

Michael sighed and got off the hay and followed the others outside. Ray looked out at the orchard, but this time he really stared at the orchard, and his smile vanished in an instant when he saw Big Mac walking towards the trees.

"Fuck," Ray muttered.

"What's wrong?" Gavin asked, looking around nervously.

"Guys, I think we're in over our heads," he said quietly, face washed over with a look of nervousness.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, looking at Ray curiously. "What can these small ponies do that we can't do?"

"Fly and use magic," Michael said.

"Besides that." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, the Apple family aren't exactly the richest, and they don't really have any electrical technology around here for us to help them with."

"And?" Geoff asked.

"And that means we're going to have to do physical labor."

The five men fell silent for several minutes, feeling nothing but despair as they stared at the ground.

"Fuck," they muttered in unison.