Under the gentle darkness of her bedroom, a mulberry unicorn with a broken horn peacefully slept the night away. Her soft breaths and the gentle rise and fall of her chest provided the only quiet sounds in that quiet abode. However, as with all things good, it was not destined to last, and long before the sun would make its way into the sky, her alarm clock blared to life.

Tempest's eyes shot open at the sound, and her ears irritably flicked back against her skull. She sighed and rolled over in bed to turn the alarm off. Upon doing so, she saw the time read '5:00AM'. Once the alarm was silenced, she brought her hooves up to her face and rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes as best as she could before throwing the sheets off her barrel and hopping down to the floor.

She flexed her back and stretched her forelegs out, giving her the appearance of a cat for just a moment, and popping several vertebrae in the process. Once she was satisfied, she stood back upright and craned her neck from left to right, popping even more vertebrae. She gave a happy sigh upon the last pop, and made her way over to the nearby dresser.

Tempest opened the top drawer and pulled out one of several black bodysuits. She slipped it on, over her scarred body with practiced ease, and headed for the door. Before making her exit, she grabbed her spare key from the nightstand and headed out, making sure to lock the door behind her.

"Old habits..." She whispered to herself.

Just as she was heading down the hallway in the large crystal castle, a creaky door opened behind and down the hall, making her stop in her tracks and turn around.

"Tempest?" A filly-sized purple dragon groggily asked.

"Yes? What is it, Spike?" Tempest replied, tilting her head to the side.

"What're you doin' up so early?" He asked, suppressing a yawn and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Going for a morning run. I'll be back in an hour or so." She coolly replied.

"It's like... five in the morning... why are you going so early?"

"My shift begins at six thirty and ends at the end of the day. Until Twilight gets more guards, this is my only time to exercise." Tempest explained, matter-of-factly.

Spike looked like he was having trouble processing just what she was saying for a moment, but eventually shook his head and sighed.

"Well, can you at least tell me where you're going? So that if Twilight wants to know I can give her something of an answer." He relented.

"I'm just going for a run through the White-Tail woods. I'll be back in an hour at the latest." She replied.

"Alright, thanks... Have a good run... I guess. I'm going back to sleep."

With that, the purple dragon stepped back into his room and closed the door. Tempest let out a dry chuckle at the teenage dragon's sleepiness before heading down the staircase and towards the front door. Once there, she unlocked the massive golden doors and closed them behind her. She quickly re-locked the door and began stretching her legs. She took her time on each one, making sure that she wouldn't be pulling any muscles on this particular run. Once she was good and stretched out, she started walking towards the edge of town.

Since the Castle was located on the far side of Ponyville, the entrance to the White Tail woods was just a simple five minute walk away. Tempest softly sighed to herself as she approached the edge of town and saw the beginnings of the forest still bathed in pale moonlight. The green leaves shown with a slight reflection of white, turning an otherwise dark forest into a surprisingly well lit path just in front of her hooves.

Tempest glanced over at the moon, "Hmm... The sun should be rising in about... half an hour? I should be able to make it to the tip of the hill before that happens." She said to herself, thoughtfully gazing back at the forest.

With a final nod of confirmation, Tempest broke into a quick gallop and charged into the forest. She blew past trees on either side of her with incredible speed, leaving a thin trail of dust in her wake. She smiled to herself as her hooves pounded against the dirt trail and carried her along the path.

Oh yeah, today's gonna be a good day.

Mike sighed for what could have been the tenth time in the short few hours since the crash. He glanced back at the downed V-45 to see Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca sitting around the wreckage, each doing some small part in salvaging what was left of the aircraft. Rebecca seemed intent on fixing the flight computer while Jason and Eddie made a point to focus on the rotors.

As he turned his attention back to the forest, he noticed the declining land in front of him and a small creek flowing just over to his right, undisturbed by the crash in any way. To his left, there was a large rockface spanning several hundred feet ahead and almost one hundred feet high.

"Good thing we didn't fly right into that..." He muttered under his breath.

The sound of boots on dirt behind him quickly drew his attention, and Mike turned around to find Jason approaching him.

"I got this. Go see if you can't fix anything back over there." He instructed, unslinging his rifle.

"On it. Just so you're tracking, there's a creek just over there to the right. Not sure how drinkable that water is, but if worse comes to worse, we can just boil it." Mike explained.

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind." Jason replied.

With that, Mike headed back over to the downed V-45 while Jason got comfortable in his post. He glanced over to the creek and gave it a curious look before turning back and looking into the forest.

After quite some time of staring into the woods, Jason struggled to keep his head up. Exhaustion from the previous night's lack of sleep and the sheer number of hours spent awake at this point made his eyelids droop, despite the sun having been up for quite some time now. His head grew heavy, and the helmet just seemed to weigh him down more and more by the second.

Immediately after the crash, the adrenaline had kept him fueled and full of energy. However, now, about three hours after the crash, he was quickly finding just how tired he really was.

Ugh... I need to walk around a bit... Wake myself up. He thought to himself.

Jason stood up and stretched before turning around and calling the rest of the group.

"Hey guys! I'm gonna walk around the perimeter for a bit. If anything happens while I'm gone, just shoot some rounds off. I'll find my way back to you."

"Alright! Want some company?!" Eddie called back.

"I'll be alright! Just going about a hundred meters out, or so!"

"Alright. We'll be here."

With that, Jason turned on his feet and headed off into the forest. His boots dug into the mossy ground somewhat, but even so, he effortlessly stepped through the sparsely packed woods with no trouble. After reaching his desired estimate of one hundred meters, he turned right, and made his way around the crash site in a clover leaf pattern, never losing sight of at least a small portion of the aircraft the whole time. As his walk took him towards a large boulder, he considered the possibility of getting a better vantage point.

Well, I'm at a decline from the crash site, but we could only see treetops from up there... Maybe up here I'll find something useful. He reasoned in his head.

With his mind made up, Jason promptly slung his rifle and scampered onto the boulder. It took a minute, and more than a few slips along the way, but eventually, he made it to the top. Once he was sat down and comfortable, he took to perusing the nearby foliage for any signs of trouble, or hopefully, help. Scanning right to left, Jason began a long sigh as his efforts seemed to be fruitless, until something caught his eye.

"Is that..." He began, before quickly climbing back down the boulder and briskly running towards the object of his interest.

He had to push through some major brush, but soon enough, he arrived at what appeared to be a dirt road. His boots skid to a halt just as he arrived on the path, and he hastily looked to his right to see if his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"No way..." He breathed.

Tempest trotted along the dirt path to the top of the White Tail Wood's largest hill with a heavy step. She panted for breath with each passing second, and as she looked up toward the end of the road, a feeling of utter contempt welled up in her heart.

"Okay... I guess... I'm not... in as good shape... as I remember..." She wheezed through heavy breaths, "Guess that's... what I get... for not exercising for the last year..."

Tempest slowed her trot down until she was walking at a snail's pace. She tried her best to catch her breath, and after a few moments, her heart finally settled back down to a more acceptable level.

"Whew... I can't believe how out of shape I got... I used to be able to run hills like this in my sleep." She complained to herself, wiping the sweat from her brow in the process.

With her breathing finally back to acceptable levels, Tempest focused instead on her goal, and looked forward to find the end of the hill just a few hundred feet ahead. She sighed to herself while gazing up at the sky and seeing the sun climbing higher with each passing second.

"Well... Hopefully downhill will be easier... I really don't want to be late on my first day of actual guard duty." She thought aloud.

A few minutes passed before the mulberry unicorn arrived at the turn in the road she was aiming for. Upon reaching said turn, she spun around and gave a happy little sigh.

"Alright. Now for the fun part..." She said, losing her motivation with every word.

Tempest sighed harshly one more time and began a slow trot forward down the road. Just as she began to pick up speed, a sound startled her into a complete stop. Her hooves skidded on the dirt, and she swiveled her head to the side toward the sound of rustling leaves in the brush. She instinctively lowered her body into a fighting posture, and her muscles tensed, preparing for whatever could be coming through that bush.

Her heart rate quickly steadied while she slowed her breathing down. Each second passed by slower and slower as the adrenaline flooded her system, and her eyes gazed through the bush like a piercing laser, ready to annihilate the threat without mercy.

Yet, when the creature finally did come through the bush, it didn't even notice her. It stumbled through the brush, just a scant few feet in front of her and immediately turned away to face the road leading toward Ponyville. A moment later, it spoke.

"No way..." It said.

Tempest's jaw dropped immediately and she quickly rose out of her fighting stance. The completely alien looking creature, standing almost twice her height on two legs and clad in some kind of camouflaged armor just spoke, and it still hadn't even noticed her. In its hands were a long, metal looking stick of some sort. Presumably, it was some form of a weapon, if the rest of the creature's attire was anything to go off of. She tried to speak, but just as her jaw moved, the creature turned around and looked right at her, immediately freezing the blood in her veins.

The creature was startled, to say the least, but quickly regained its composure and gave a small wave with its gloved, minotaur-like hand. With its helmet on, she couldn't quite see its face, but she could just barely make out the contours of its features. It appeared to be smiling at her.

"Well, hey there little guy. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" It said in a definitively masculine voice.

Tempest's jaw dropped once more, and she froze in shock.

Did... It... Cute? Me? I just... what!? Her thoughts raged back and forth through her head.

Before she could even react to the complete absurdity of the situation, the creature leaned forward and brought its hand toward her head. She instinctively leaned back, causing the creature to tilt its head to the side.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." It said in the friendliest voice Tempest ever heard.

Again it leaned forward, and although her instincts told her to lean back once more, she hesitated for just a moment while her brow furrowed slightly. That moment was all it took for its hand to gently caress her cheek, ending in a light scratch at the base of her ear. It's fingers softly parted her fur and scratched at the skin underneath, causing an involuntary shudder to run through the mulberry unicorn's body. Even with armor on seemingly every part of the strange alien creature, the material of its gloved hand just felt soft, and comforting.

"Hehe, wow. You've got such pretty eyes," He said, before noticing her scar, "Oh damn, that must have hurt. And it looks like your horn broke off too... But hey, you're still here, ain'tcha?"

Tempest tried to reply, but found that while her mouth could move, no sound came out. So, she simply blinked owlishly at the alien creature still gently scratching her ear. If she weren't so frozen in place, she might have even admitted that it felt particularly good.

"Huh? That's neat." He said, looking down at her black bodysuit, "Cool little suit you got yourself there. Hmm... If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone made that for you... Which means... Somebody lives here!" He cheered, nearly jumping for joy, "Oh thank God! We can't be too far from rescue after all."

Tempest could literally hear the relief washing over the alien as it made that proclamation. It quickly wheeled back around and pet her head, flattening her mane back in the process.

"Thanks for coming by, little buddy. I gotta go let the guys know that there's some kind of civilization nearby. You may have just saved our lives." It said with what appeared to be a grateful smile, although, it was hard to tell through its darkened helmet visor.

With that, the alien turned on its feet and jumped back into the brush, not leaving any room for a rebuttal. Tempest stared at the bush for several moments before her mind fully processed exactly what had just transpired, and she finally found her voice.

"What... Just... Happened?" She asked nobody in particular.

Another few moments passed while she just stared after the alien, the sound of it chugging along through the brush growing ever distant, before the reality of the situation finally dawned on her.

"Oh my stars..." She whispered before breaking into a gallop toward Ponyville, "I need to tell Twilight!"

Jason hastily found his way back through the dense vegetation and to the crash site. Once the rest of the group was within earshot, he called out to them.

"Hey guys!"

"Yo!" Eddie replied.

"I found something!" Jason called back as he broke into a light jog to cover the rest of the distance between them as fast as possible.

Upon hearing his excitement, Rebecca, Mike, and Eddie all dropped what they were doing to meet him halfway. Once they were all within comfortable conversation range, Jason spoke again.

"Alright, so I went down the hill a little ways over there," He began, pointing back to where he'd just come from, "And I found a road."

"Seriously?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, but that's not the best part. I ran into what looked like a little horse over there." Jason excitedly replied.

"Huh?" The rest of the group simultaneously replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It sounds crazy, but I promise I'm not hallucinating or anything. I still have a few days of oxygen left, so I'm not going crazy from oxygen deprivation or anything. It was literally a little horse. Maybe around... three, three and a half feet tall... It was so weird... It's face didn't really look like a horse face at all. It was way flatter, and it had such gorgeous blue-green eyes. Poor guy had a nasty scar over its right eye, and it's horn was broken off, but that wasn't even the crazy part-" Jason explained.

"Wait, hold on," Rebecca interrupted, "It had a horn? Like a unicorn?"

"What's a unicorn?" Jason asked.

"You don't? Wa- Wait, you don't know what a unicorn is?" Rebecca asked, incredulously.

"Never heard of it before. I mean, this thing didn't look like an ordinary horse at all though. It was a purple-redish color, and I swear it's mane was done up in a red mohawk. But anyways, the most important part! It was wearing a black bodysuit. Now, obviously, a horse can't make that kind of shit by itself, so that means that someone else had to make it." Jason replied.

"So you're saying..." Eddie began.

"That there's alien life on this planet and we might have just found a way to get out of here." Jason finished.

"Holy shit." Mike whispered.

"I still can't believe you've never heard of a unicorn. Everyone knows about unicorns." Rebecca said, shaking her head.

"Well sorry, but I just never heard of them before. Besides, don't you think you're kinda missing the point here?" Jason replied, somewhat annoyed.

Rebecca sighed, "I guess."

"Either way, we should probably get ready to head out and look for that unicorn. If we find it again, it just might lead us to some people that can actually help us." Jason reasoned.

"Sarge, are you sure it's a good idea to leave though? I mean, I'm down to find some civilization too, but we've got supplies in the V-45 that we'd be leaving behind if we just went off on a wild goose chase for some tiny horse thing that might not even lead us anywhere." Mike asserted.

"I know it sounds a little irrational, but I don't think we really have many other options. We've only got a few days worth of oxygen each, save for Chief over here, and only enough food and water for a little over a week. If we follow this thing, we might be able to at least deal with the food and water issue." Jason explained.

"And as for the air?" Rebecca deadpanned.

"Well I'm not gonna assume that whoever lives here can help us with that. We just have to hope that they can help us get back in communication with the frigate and get out of here before we run out of air."

"So... essentially, we're fucked." Mike shrugged.

"We're not fucked. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but if there's even a one percent chance that there's civilization nearby, then isn't that worth looking into? Otherwise we're just stuck here hoping that someone flies by and sees us." Jason said, frowning slightly.

"And that's not even considering the possibility of them getting shot down in the lightning storm like we were." Eddie added.

"Yeah, speaking of that, how the fuck did we get struck by lightning? There were no clouds at all last night." Rebecca questioned.

"We don't know. Look, we can worry about the clouds later. It's probably just something to do with this planet's atmosphere or something. Right now, we need to focus on looking for help." Jason pressed.

"It's your call, Sarge. You're in charge right now." Mike replied.

Jason paused for a moment and sighed, "I know that... But this is a unique situation. I want to get us all home safe and sound, but I don't know what the best course of action is right now. I want your input. All of you. Sitting here and waiting could be just as suicidal as heading off into God-knows-where and just hoping that we can convince whatever lives here to help us." He explained.

"I'm with you," Eddie said, "I think we should go for it."

"You serious?" Mike asked.

"It's either stay here and hope we don't die, or go out there and maybe have a fighting chance. I don't know about you man, but I like to have my destiny in my own hands. I'd rather find my way out of here than just stand around and pray that someone else comes and saves me." Eddie reasoned.

"Well... When you put it like that..." Rebecca chimed in.

"Oh come on, you too?" Mike questioned.

"I mean, he has a good point." Rebecca shrugged.

"Well shouldn't we at least salvage what we can from the bird before we go off on a suicide mission?" Mike asked, exasperated.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to take some components with us. Just remember that the more shit you bring, the more weight you're gonna be carrying." Rebecca replied.

"Alright, then we're decided. Everybody grab your gear and pack what you can. Once we clear everything out of the V-45 that we're taking with us, we've got a trail to follow." Jason declared, ending the conversation with the finality of his tone.

"Got it." Eddie replied.

The group quickly began to load their gear and packs in the most efficient way possible. Despite his protests, Mike followed his orders to the letter, and packed his gear as quickly as he could, albeit it with some minor grumbling on his part.

Within a matter of minutes, the team was packed with all of their equipment and ready to go.

"So, are we sure Chief is gonna be alright with that head wound?" Mike asked, eyeing Rebecca curiously.

"I'll be fine. At worst it's a concussion, and I just won't take a nap for a bit." Rebecca cheerily replied.

"She's right. Besides, if it is something worse, there's nothing we can do until we get back to the frigate. Besides, the air situation is a bit more important right now than the head issue." Eddie chimed in.

"Alright... If you guys are sure." Mike responded, shaking his head while slinging his pack onto his back, "But if this gets me killed, I'm haunting the shit out of all of you."

"Duly noted," Jason interrupted, "Now, let's get what we need from the bird and go."

Tempest galloped as fast as her legs could carry her. Even with the exhaustion of her morning run burning in her legs, she pushed harder than she thought possible and reached the edge of the forest in record time. She broke out through the entrance to the White Tail Woods and cantered into Ponyville.

The ponies in town were all out and about now, as the morning sun was quickly rising towards its apex. Even with the School of Friendship closed for summer break, there was an abnormally high amount of ponies out enjoying the Monday morning sunshine. A healthy amount of them were heading to Sugarcube corner for breakfast, and the rest seemed to be starting their work days off. Everything seemed to be in perfect order.

Therefore, it came as quite a shock to most of the ponies in town to see Tempest barreling past them, dripping in sweat and looking like a mad-mare. Plenty of eyes followed her as she came to a screeching halt at the front door of Twilight's Castle and fumble with the lock for a moment, before unlocking the door and forcing her way inside.

Slamming the door shut behind her, Tempest bolted for the stairs and quickly found her way up to Twilight's room. Once there, she pounded on the door, loud enough for the sound to echo down the halls.

"Twilight... I need to talk to you... Now!" She shouted between heavy breaths.

The sound of grumbling and a long, drawn out yawn played out through the door, and after a few moments, she heard the lock click, and the handle turned. Twilight cracked the door open and peered through the crack, giving a curious look to Tempest.

"Ugh... Tempest? Wha- What is it? It's like... six in the morning. I don't need to be up until seven today," She pouted slightly, before taking in Tempest's physical state properly, "Are you alright? Why are you so sweaty... and panting so hard? Did you just go for a run or something?"

"Twilight... Weird, alien looking creature... White Tail Woods... Right now..." Tempest tried to explain while catching her breath.

Twilight did a double take, "Wait, what? What do you mean 'alien'?" She questioned, opening the door fully.

"It... looked... I've never seen anything... Like it before... Could talk... Spoke Equish and everything... Said something about looking for civilization.... I think they're headed this way." Tempest explained, finally catching her breath.

Twilight's eyes widened with every word Tempest spoke.

"What did they look like?" She asked.

"I only saw one of them. Uh, it walked on two legs, but I couldn't really see its fur or anything. It was wearing some kind of suit, covered in camouflaged armor and it had this weird metal looking stick in its hands. I could just barely make out some of its face through its helmet, but I'm not too sure how to describe it." Tempest explained, biting her lip in thought.

"Tempest, are you sure? It's very important that you be as specific as possible." Twilight pressed.

"I am! All I could make out were some pouches on its torso and that its hands looked something like a minotaur's before it started... scratching... my ear..." Tempest trailed off, a small blush forming on her cheeks.

"It just went straight to scratching your ears?" Twilight gasped, surprising Tempest that she could even hear that last bit.

"Uh... yeah... I don't think it knew I can talk. It was talking to me like I was a stray dog or something." Tempest replied, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, that 'hey there little buddy' kind of way you talk to your pets. It even raised its voice a few octaves..." Tempest explained, her already dark blush becoming even more evident.

"So you just stood there and let it talk to you like a stray dog and didn't say anything?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know what to do! I've never been in a situation like that before!" Tempest exclaimed, pointedly trying to hide her now extremely obvious blush from Twilight's eyes.

"Okay, okay, relax," Twilight said, holding her hoof up to calm the mulberry unicorn in front of her, "You said that this creature was over in the White-Tail woods?" She questioned.

"Yes. It kept using terms like 'us' and 'our', so I think there are at least a few of them further in the forest." Tempest replied, regaining her composure somewhat.

"Hmm... This... could very well be exactly what Celestia and Luna were worried about when he landed here all those years ago." Twilight muttered, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

"What? Who?" Tempest questioned.

"Sky."

"You mean... that's what he used to look like?" Tempest asked, astonished.

"Well, I'm not sure. You said it was wearing a helmet and you couldn't make out the features of its face, so I'm not entirely certain. There could be dozens of bi-pedal alien races for all we know. I'd have to see them in person before I could say for sure." Twilight reasoned.

"Wha- What, are you planning on going and just popping by to say 'hi' to those things?" Tempest pressed,

"Actually, yes." Twilight replied, not even batting an eye.

Tempest facehoofed, "Do I really have to explain to you the thousands of reasons as to why that's a horrible idea?" She deadpanned.

"Well, from what you've told me, they seem to be very friendly and want to pet ponies or scratch our ears. That's exactly what Sky did when he first got here. Seriously, he would pet every pony he saw for almost a month." Twilight shrugged.

"Okay, yes but that was ONE of them. We have no idea how the rest of them are going to react if you just pop in there and start talking to them." Tempest defensively rebutted.

"Tempest, if I'm right, then this could be Sky's people. We owe it to him to at least try to communicate with them. For all we know, they could be here to rescue him." Twilight offered.

"I don't think he needs any 'rescuing', Twilight," Tempest replied, using air quotes, "He's the happiest stallion I've ever met. Midnight makes sure of that."

"I agree, but if these other 'possible humans' came all the way out here for him, don't you think we should at least let him talk to them? I'm sure he'd tell them that he's happy here, but who knows how hard it was for them to get here. Some of them could have even died along the way. Don't you think they at least deserve a chance to speak with him, assuming they are here for him?" Twilight reasoned.

"That's just the thing, though! How do you even know that they're here for him!? They could be a completely different species for all you know! They could be extremely dangerous!" Tempest nearly shouted.

"Well, if we don't go and see, we'll never find out, now will we?" Twilight said, giving Tempest a coy grin.

"What? Did you seriously not hear anything I just said!?"

"I did, and I'm making an informed decision to go anyways. As my guard, you should come with me... but I would understand if you just wanted to stay here." Twilight explained, making an exaggerated shrug in the process.

Tempest deflated immediately. Her withers sagged as her eyes fell to the floor and she deeply sighed.

"Ugh... You're really going to pull rank on me right now?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am. You're job is to keep me safe. My job is to help other ponies, and unfortunately, sometimes my job puts me in harm's way. I can't just change that now that you're going to be protecting me." Twilight reasoned, comforting Tempest as best as she could with a gentle pat on the wither.

Tempest groaned, "Ugh... Just... Let me shower and get my armor before you go and get yourself killed."

"Just don't take too long." Twilight cheerily replied.

With that, Tempest turned on her hooves and headed to her bedroom. She sluggishly unlocked the door and made her way inside, heading straight for the shower.

I take it back... This is going to be a horrible day...

Jason, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca walked through the heavy brush toward the road. As their boots dug into the mossy ground below, they all kept their heads on a swivel, constantly watching for any signs of life around them.

"It should be just... through... here!" Jason announced as he tore through the last of the bush and found his way onto the road.

"Well no shit. It really is a road." Mike said, shaking his head.

"Now the only question is, where is this 'little horse' you talked about?" Rebecca mentioned.

"Well the little guy probably took off back home... but it looks like there's still some tracks in the dirt here." Jason replied, kneeling down to observe the ground below.

"Yep, those are definitely horseshoe-shaped." Eddie observed.

"And it looks like they're heading down that way." Jason replied, pointing down the road.

"Hey, what is that?" Rebecca asked, pointing down toward the edge of the forest.

"It... looks like a big rock formation made out of... really, really shiny rocks... Think that's where your little horse friend went, Sarge?" Mike commented.

"Maybe. The hoof-prints lead in that direction, so we might as well go find out."

With that, the group set about on the trail and headed toward the edge of the forest. For almost twenty minutes they walked in a somewhat tense silence, with their eyes constantly scanning for any possible threats that could pop out of the forest at a moment's notice. Jason absentmindedly gazed upwards to find the sun trailing high in the sky, and gentle clouds floating by. He squinted for a moment as what appeared to be a rainbow trail followed one cloud in particular, but after blinking a few times, it was gone, and the cloud just glided away.

"Huh? Must be pretty heavy winds up there." He mentioned, pointing at the cloud.

"The weather on this planet is weird. There was no wind of any kind last night, and now the clouds are moving all over the place. Speaking of which, we still haven't discussed how the hell we got hit by lighting when there weren't any clouds at all last night... Not like I can see any of them right now anyways..." Rebecca commented.

"It might have something to do with the planet's magnetosphere. I know on Horizon V, we saw some weird weather but the locals all swore up and down that it was normal." Mike offered.

"Yeah, but lightning with no clouds to speak of? I mean, where did it come from? The ground?" Rebecca questioned.

"It's possible. Jay, remember that one asteroid we had to cover those Raiders on when they found that resistance mining op?" Eddie chimed in.

"That was the one where Johnny got shot in the ass, right?" Jason asked.

"Yeah! Haha, he milked that for months." Eddie laughed.

"Heh, I would too. Poor kid couldn't even sit down for the first month." Jason reminisced.

"Yeah... Miss that kid." Eddie trailed off.

"We all do, Ed. We all do." Jason replied.

"A-anyways, yeah. That asteroid has some wicked lightning on it. It was coming out of the ground and everything. If I remember the briefing right, they said it had something to do with the core of the asteroid and the fusion reactors in our F-99's." Eddie explained.

"Well my V-45 doesn't exactly have a fusion engine, so..." Rebecca said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just saying. There might have been some material in the V-45 that attracted the lightning, and for all we know, on this planet, you don't need clouds to have lightning." Eddie reasoned.

Rebecca shrugged, bringing an end to the conversation at hand. Once he was sure that she had nothing more to say, Eddie turned back to Jason.

"So, uh... This little horse you found... Did it look... you know..." Eddie trailed off.

"Look... what?" Jason questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You know... Edible?"

"It was purple, dude. I'd bet my entire life savings on it being poisonous." Jason deadpanned.

"Well, I mean, we can't know that for sure, can we?" Eddie pressed.

"Are you really suggesting we find the little horse that could very well lead us to a way out of here and just... eat it?" Jason asked, raising both eyebrows.

"I'm just saying," Eddie replied, defensively raising his hands, "If we run out of food, it might not be a bad idea."

"You know there's like, a million reasons as to why that's a terrible idea, right?" Jason sighed.

"Again, last resort. Only if we run out of food."

"Jesus... Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?" Jason relented.

"Alright, deal."

"Hey guys, look." Mike said, pointing straight ahead.

Jason and Eddie looked forward again to find what appeared to be the end of the trail leading out of the forest.

"Damn. That was what, just a few miles?" Eddie guessed.

"Couldn't have been more than four or five miles. Hey, hold up... You guys see that?" Jason said, squinting his eyes.

The rest of the group quickly followed suit, and collectively gasped at what they saw. Just beyond the forest, through a large break in the trees, and maybe just a few hundred meters further, was a small town. Just beyond that, was the rock like structure they saw from before, only now, they could clearly see it was made of some kind of reflective crystal. Purples and pinks shown off its reflective surface as brightly as the sun, and each member of the group looked back and forth between each other before all finding their eyes drifting over to Jason.

"So, uh... Guess you were right after all." Mike surmised.

"Let's just hope that they're friendly, whoever they are." He replied, taking the first step forward.

The rest of the group quickly followed, and within a matter of minutes, they were at the end of the forest and walking into the town. As they approached, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca's jaws all dropped upon seeing the locals.

"Uh... Sarge? You said you saw one tiny horse... right?" Mike hesitantly asked.

"Y-yeah..."

"This looks like a lot more than just one..."

There were hundreds of tiny pastel horses running about, and doing what appeared to be normal human hobbies. There was even a market place filled to the brim with the creatures doing what appeared to be buying and selling goods. The smallest of the horses ran and galloped around, playing what the group could only assume was a game of tag.

With each step further into the town, more and more eyes turned their way, and the alien equines dropped their tasks one by one to look at the newcomers to their quaint little village with an interested eye. Mike nervously gulped as an entire classroom's worth of tiny horses stopped following their large, apparent leader to stare at him and his machine gun. Rebecca glanced over and did a double take as she saw several unicorns drop what they were doing, turn to each other, and appear to whisper into each other's ear before heading toward the group of humans. Jason looked up to the sky to find, much to his surprise, that there were even tiny flying horses as well.

"Okay... They can fly... That's a thing that's happening right now..." Jason commented, his eyes still glued to the sky.

Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca all hesitantly looked up to the sky to find that Jason was in fact, telling the truth.

"Holy shit... Pegasi... Unicorns... And they're all... so... adorable... I mean, I can only see out a third of my visor but what I can see is cute as fuck." Rebecca gushed.

"Where in the fuck are we?" Eddie asked.

"Uh, guys... They're staring at us..." Mike spoke up, breaking the rest of the group from their trance.

Indeed, the entire populace had dropped their day to day tasks, and instead took to observing the humans as they stood, unmoved at the entrance to the town. Eerie silence flooded the streets, and the four otherworlders glanced back and forth between each other for a few moments before Jason made a move.

"Alright... Keep your cool... The one in the forest was super docile, but they might attack if we provoke them too much... Keep your weapons ready..." He whispered just loud enough for the group to hear him. He slowly unslung his rifle and shouldered it, keeping the muzzle down but ready in case of an attack.

"What? They're little mythical creatures!? They're not gonna hurt us!" Rebecca whisper-shouted.

"Chief, we don't know that. I'm not trying to take on two hundred of these things with just the four of us so unless you have a better idea, shut the fuck up and shoulder your rifle.." Jason quietly ordered, the severity of his tone drying up any resistance Rebecca had to offer.

The rest of the group quickly shouldered their rifles, and prepared for what could potentially turn into a bloodbath.

"What's the plan?" Eddie whispered.

"Back up slowly, and get back into the forest. There's a lot more of them than I expected." Jason ordered.

One by one, the group stepped back, each keeping their rifles pointed toward the ever increasing crowd of small horses staring at them with mixed expressions on their muzzles. Much to Jason's despair, for each step he took back, the crowd seemed to take a step forward. Whether it was simply pure curiosity or mounting hostility, he couldn't be sure, but one thing was clear; he wasn't making any distance on the ever increasing numbers of small horses.

Just as they reached the edge of town, movement caught Jason's eye, and he squinted slightly to see the front door of the castle open. He couldn't quite identify who stepped out, as the pegasi flying in blocked his view, but one thing became clear very quickly, the crowd was dispersing for them.

"They're flying in behind us now." Eddie quietly warned.

"Spread out. Form a wedge on me." Jason instructed, eyeing the pegasi circling behind him.

The team quickly formed a wedge shape pointing toward the forest, and continued to reverse while the alien horses continued to close in. Faster than he imagined possible, Jason was quickly finding that they were surrounded. The approaching crowd was closing in on one hundred feet, and what almost sounded like hushed whispering filled the air.

"Alright, guys. Unless they're surrounding in a good way, we need to get out of here. I'll pop smoke, then break contact. Disperse into the forest and regroup two hundred meters up the road." Jason instructed.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Eddie asked.

"Nope, but I'm fresh out." Jason replied.

He quickly grabbed the smoke grenade from its pouch on the left side of his vest, under his armpit and slung his rifle with the other hand. He brought his now free hand to the pin and grabbed it, cautiously eyeing the crowd for any outward signs of aggression. Just as he was about to pull the pin, he heard something that made him freeze in place.

"Hello there!" A feminine voice called from the crowd.

All members of the group similarly froze in place. They quickly scanned around to find the source of the voice, but found no sign of any other humans. Even the crowd of alien horses seemed to turn in on itself to see the source of that particular voice.

"Chief, please tell me that was you..." Jason whispered.

"I don't sound anything like that." She replied.

Just a few moments later, a lavender horse stepped out of the crowd and took its place at the front. Jason, Mike, Eddie, and Rebecca immediately noticed the pair of wings on its barrel and the horn jutting out of its head, just above what appeared to be a golden crown with a purple starburst at the center.

"Don't tell me..." Jason began.

"Hi! I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's good to meet you." She said.

"Aw hell..."

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWQh0bc8Dw4

Hey everyone. So I'm sorry for the wait, but we're finally here and now the humans have found the ponies :D

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the way everyone reacted to each other. It was a lot of fun to write. Next week, we'll see some really interesting interaction between a certain unicorn and a certain human ;)