“If I may put it bluntly Agent Rockwell,” Octavia said as the group continued their trotting in the middle of Everfree Forest. “What you did with that Ancient was rather...imbecilic.”

“I know right?” Rockwell agreed. “And all I got as punishment was to be stranded on an island for the rest of my life.”

“So pray tell, how did you get yourself out of there?”

“Oh nothing special really.” Rockwell shrugged. “With the use of my mane as rope and with the help of my bony shelled reptilian friends, I managed to rein myself away from the now rum-less island and back to civilization.”

Octavia looked a little bit confused with Rockwell’s answer, like a filly trying to solve a math problem in her mind. “Bony shelled repti-you mean turtles? Turtles, you used to turtles escape the island?”

“Something like that.” Rockwell replied while looking at the ground they were standing on. It appeared to be a withered flower field.

“Surely you jest.” Octavia said, sounding unconvinced.

“No I’m not.”

“There’s no way you could have gotten away from that island with that method.” Octavia argued, “And I am quite sure you are once again hiding the real ending in that gripping tale of yours. Because there is no way that could have ended in a bizarre convenience.”

Rockwell was about to reply but Octavia shut him up quickly. “And no, I don’t want to hear another ‘that’s a secret’ from you today.”

“Okay, then.” Rockwell gave her a smile. “You want to know the truth?” The mare nodded fiercely, eager to hear his answer.

“I’m afraid that’s classified information.” He said before he started laughing. Octavia made her frustrated groan known to Rockwell by expressing it loudly.

They continued making their own personal noises until it was abruptly halted when the sound of probably a hundred wings flapping together took them by surprise.

Everypony in the group was silent as they sound went on. They stood still, heads raised up as they tried to see the bats responsible for making such noise. The camera panned on the direction they were looking. Unfortunately, the bats flying over them flew above the canopy of the forest, thus making them impossible to see from the onlookers below.

“That’s a lot of bats.” Rockwell commented as they started moving again.

“Well it is night time after all.” Octavia replied.

“Let’s not get close to them after they had dinner.” Rockwell said as he worriedly looked at the direction where the sound was heading. “I don’t want guano raining down on me. My shirt’s white enough as it is.”

“You mean breakfast.” Octavia corrected.

“You guys eat guano for breakfast?” Rockwell said as he smiled at Octavia.

“What!?” Octavia’s tone sounded like she was accused of a crime she didn’t commit. “No! What I mean is-”

“Yeah yeah, I know.” Rockwell chuckled. “I’m just messing with you.”

Octavia could only shake her head in response to the agent’s incessant quipping.

Rockwell suddenly stopped from his trotting. The group followed shortly, wondering what’s keeping him from moving. He looked at the vast patch of empty space in front of them for a moment before looking back at Octavia and the camera mare.

“We’re here.” He announced.

Octavia walked towards Rockwell and stopped when she was standing beside him. She too, looked at the empty space for a brief moment before talking to the agent.

“Well ‘here’ looks really empty, Agent Rockwell.” Her voice sounded too cheeky even for her.

“Empty?” Rockwell looked at Octavia with a face that strongly says ‘you don’t say?’ “It’s probably the invisibility field.”

“Invisibility field?” Octavia was now visibly confused.

Rockwell pulled out his dragonflare and quickly fired it upwards. The stream of fire coming from the flare gun flew straight above the empty space. And instead of flying continuously up the air like it was supposed to, the stream went through into an invisible wall like a drop of water in a small pond. Its entrance created a small rippling effect. But like the stream, it also disappeared a few seconds later.

Octavia rubbed her eyes in a cartoonish way. She looked at the agent for an explanation on what just happened but he just stood there silently, probably letting the things to explain it themselves for a change. When she looked back, the now visible invisible field lowered itself. The field looked a like a half dome that was cut in half as it opened. Its ‘sliced’ parts slid downwards in a sideways manner.

As the field lowered halfway done, it revealed a towering structure that was chrome-like in color. Its design looked nothing alike from Equestria’s contemporary architecture. Its conical shape along with the shiny exterior made it look futuristic to say the least.

As the invisibility field finally lowered itself to the ground, Octavia can’t help but notice two things. The first one was the wide field of Poison Joke flowers surrounding the tower, acting like a moat of some sort. The second one was the two timber wolves growling angrily at the group. The camera could tell that she was more worried about the latter.

“Um, Agent Rockwell?” Octavia called out to the agent beside her. The wolves were now scratching their paws on the ground, gearing for an attack.

And not a second later the beasts charged at them.

“Rockwell!?” Octavia once more called out the agent’s name but now with the volume raised. Despite her cry the agent just stood still as the two beasts rushed towards them. The musician was now shrieking her heart out while holding Rockwell’s right foreleg tightly to her chest.

As the wolves’ claws were just inches away from ripping the two ponies to shreds, a sharp whistling sound can be heard coming from the tower, this made the timber wolves stop what they were currently doing and calmly walked back to their posts like nothing happened.

Again, Octavia looked confused as the situation unfolded before them. Her eyes were wandering in all directions while her chest was rising up and down fast. If it weren’t for the chirping sounds of the bugs scurrying in the grass, the camera could probably record the sound of her rapidly beating heart. The agent on the other hoof, still remained stoic as always. He gently gestured for the mare to let go of his foreleg and proceeded to take a step forward.

“Nice try guys!” Rockwell declared in the most sarcastic tone possible. “I almost pissed my pants.”

“What?” Octavia said as she attempted to get rid of a humiliated blush quickly by rubbing her cheeks. “What in Celestia’s name just happened here?” She whispered under her breath.

A loud whirring sound came from the tower. Octavia turned her head to the direction where the sound was coming from. The tower’s door appeared to be a long metallic plank as it partially detached itself from the main body, lowering itself slowly to the ground. Due to its long length it also acted as a drawbridge to help ponies cross the thick moat of Poison Jokes.

Two silhouetted figures can be seen standing at the tower’s doorstep. The light inside the tower shone a bright white shine. The two silhouettes looked like they were standing on a giant letter ‘I.’ Once the door has finally hit the ground and now deemed safe for anypony to cross, the two figures proceeded to move forward, revealing them to be BoS agents, apparently. The one on the left was a pegasus with spiky red mane. And on the right was a unicorn with a well combed cyan mane.

“If it isn’t Rocket and Foxtrot!” Rockwell greeted the two agents. “Now I know why I was craving for spring rolls earlier!”

Rocket flew towards Rockwell and greeted him by bumping his hoof. “Good to see you too, Rockwell.” He gave Rockwell a sly smile. “We got you good, huh?”

Rockwell only laughed in response. “Try harder next time.” He looked at the sleek looking unicorn and bumped hooves with him as well. “Foxtrot, good to see you. So how’s that SaD reassignment coming along?”

“Still marked as indefinite, unfortunately.” Foxtrot replied in a stoic tone, even much more stoic than the ones Rockwell occasionally does.

“That’s sad.” Rockwell said playfully.

“Don’t push it.”

“It’s cold outside. Please, get in.” Rocket said to the group as he hovered back inside the tower.

The group followed the pegasus inside the building. As they entered, they were welcomed with the room’s bright white light. The camera looked around the room as if to examine it like a foreign environment. It’s like a sanitized combination of a waiting room and a living room. There’s nothing inside it except an average sized door that would lead to the tower’s other rooms and a small coffee table at the center and four couches all neatly placed around the table, making a symmetrical corner-less square.

Rockwell sat comfortably on one of the room’s couches. He groaned in satisfaction as he stretched his legs all over the long furniture, making it entirely his own. Octavia gave Rockwell a silent glare, as if to scold him with her eyes for imposing on their hosts.

“Why don’t you take a seat as well, Miss Melody?” Rocket said as he stopped hovering and landed behind her. “Make yourself at home.”

Octavia’s eyes went wide upon hearing her name. “How did you know my name?”

Rocket gave Octavia the same smile Rockwell always gives her when she asked him a question that she regretfully knows the answer to.

“That’s a secret.”

Rocket looked back at the now relaxed Rockwell. “So what are you guys having? Coffee?” He turned to look at the creeped out Octavia. “Or tea?”

“None for us, thank you.” Rockwell politely declined as he got up and decided to sit properly instead. “We’re leaving shortly anyway. So, about that access to the landing site.”

“Oh right.” Rocket recalled. “The message.” He gave a nod to Foxtrot who understood the gesture and trotted towards the door, leaving Rocket and the group.

“Sorry it took us a while to reply to you.” Rocket said as he looked at Rockwell. “Things have gotten really busy at Everfree lately and it’s taken quite a toll on us. We were taking a short nap when we received your message.”

“That explains the long delay.” Rockwell said. “So what is it about you guys and Everfree getting busy? That usually doesn’t happen here.”

“No it’s not.” Foxtrot said as he got out of the door now holding a red key card in his magical grasp. With his magic, he hoofed the key card to Rockwell who in turn nodded silently in thanks. “These issues came up a couple months ago and they’re getting worse as each day passes.”

Foxtrot gave let out a sigh before continuing. “The hydra’s gotten real testy lately. It’s going berserk every time we got close to it, and no matter what we do the wild Poison Jokes growing in the forest still keeps on wilting... ”

“We passed by a dead flower field earlier.” Rockwell said. “Are those the Poison Jokes you were talking about?”

“One among several, yes.”

“And there’s also the strange case of timber wolves running around on their own in the forest.” Rocket added. “It’s like they suddenly agreed that they won’t be travelling in packs anymore.”

Rockwell gave Octavia a knowing look. “So that explains the lone timber wolf we saw earlier.”

“Wait,” Rocket joined in, his voice surprised. “You’ve actually seen one? What happened to it? Ever since they scattered it’s really hard to spot one nowadays, especially if you’re looking for them from the skies.”

Octavia cringed upon hearing Rocket’s words, given the fact that she knew what actually happened to the wolf. She looked at Rockwell curiously to see what kind of reply he was going to give.

“I see.” Rockwell said. His voice hid any hints of emotion well. “I scared it off. It was approaching us at our campfire and I chased it away with a burning branch.”

Octavia gave Rockwell a strange look, as if she can’t believe that he just lied to his fellow agents. She then looked at the camera; the same strange look still remained on her face.

Rocket let out a contemplative hum. He was now hovering back in the air, with a foreleg caressing his chin. “Weird. These days, those wolves would just straight up attack anypony they see violently, without remorse.”

“Really?” Rockwell said in faux disbelief. He pointed both forelegs at himself and slid them down as if he was presenting himself like a product. “Attack? Us?”

All three agents laughed in unison from Rockwell’s statement. Octavia can only roll her eyes at the size of the giant circlejerk she was currently witnessing.

“Which reminds me.” Rockwell said as he realized something when he started touching his bare white shirt. “Do you guys have a spare jacket that I could borrow? I lost mine in a fight today.” He looked back at Octavia with his knowing again.

Foxtrot ceased his laughing and began to scan at Rockwell’s clothing, particularly his tattered pants. “Long day, huh?” He said as he looked back to Rockwell’s face. “You can have one of mine. I think we have the same size.” He trotted away from the group and headed to the door to the other rooms once more.

“Thanks.” Rockwell replied. “I owe you one.” He turned to look at Rocket again. “So when did these things start happening again? Specifically, I mean.”

“About two and a half months ago.” Rocket replied. “And the weird part about this is that they all happened at once.”

“That really is weird.” Rockwell agreed. “Did you tell the Bureau about it?”

“That’s the first thing we did of course. But considering how ginormous our requests are, you know,” Rocket said as he twirled his hooves casually. “With the canisters of nitrous oxide, some seed boxes, and additional assistance from some bureau approved wrangling services, it’s going to take a while for them to fully process everything. And since we’re amongst the bottom part of the priority list, it’s just going to take a bit longer.”

“That’s the bureau for you.” Rockwell said as he blinked while raising both brows.

Rocket gently landed himself on an empty couch. He gave a sigh when his flank fully hit the cushion. “It’s not called a bureau if it moves fast.”

“If it does, it’s called blur-reau.” Rockwell said in mechanical fashion, as if he had already rehearsed the line.

Both agents chuckled softly at their exchange. Foxtrot can now be heard trotting back to the group. The camera panned over to him. He was carrying a black jacket attached to a coat hanger with his magic. He slowly levitated the clothing towards Rockwell.

“I took the extra effort of ironing it for you.” Foxtrot said as his magic faded when the jacket landed on Rockwell’s hooves. “I apologize for the mothball smell.”

“No worries.” Rockwell replied as he put it on. “Ooh, still warm.” He remarked while touching his shoulders with both his forelegs. He let out a sigh of comfort before looking back to the agents. “So how many ships are currently docked in the landing site?”

“Just one. It’s the Sapiens, I believe.” Foxtrot answered.

“Sapiens, huh.” Rockwell hummed in contemplation.

“Sapiens?” Octavia whispered to Rockwell.

“Yep. Sapiens, short for Homo Sapiens.” Rockwell answered her question with a smile. “We sometimes call them “Homos” just to get a rise out of them. They seem to really hate that nickname.”

“What do they look like?” Octavia asked again, with her voice raised a bit this time.

“Nothing special really.” Rockwell shrugged. “They look like a mutated offspring of a minotaur and a monkey.”

Octavia looked down to the floor to probably imagine what the aliens looked like. Her forehead wrinkled in doing so.

Rockwell got up from his seat. “Well, I believe we already have everything we needed here. Rocket, Fox,” he nodded to them while calling their names. “Thanks for the key card and jacket. We’ll be taking our leave now. Here’s to hoping the bureau responds to your requests soon. Have a good night.”

“You too.” The tower agents said unison.

As the group walked outside the tower, Octavia can’t help but get scared by the timber wolf sentries following their every move, and growling angrily in each step they take. Probably for safety, she stayed close to Rockwell as they moved outside the invisibility field, which was now closing itself up. Octavia looked from behind her. The futuristic looking tower surrounded by a lush field of Poison Jokes and angry timber wolves was no longer there. A vast empty space replaced it now.

As she turned around to follow the agent, another loud sound of probably a hundred wings flapping together took them by surprise, again. Rockwell was so startled that he suddenly hopped back from where he was standing while holding his chest tight like he’s about to have a heart attack.

“Sweet Celestia, it’s those darned bats again!” Rockwell rattled out. “Must they really be that loud? It’s starting to annoy me.”

“I don’t think they can help it themselves, Agent Rockwell.” Octavia said in defense for the bats. “They’re just the way they are.”

“And I am the way I am as well.” Rockwell shot back, attempting to restore his cool. “So the next time those things flap their wings way too close to me, I will also can’t help but do something about it.”

Octavia gently shook her head. “If you say so.”

“Remember when I said that nothing’s changed here in Everfree?” Rockwell said as turned to look at Octavia.

“Ah yes, I believe you did.”

Rockwell donned a sour look on his face. “I take it back.”

The group started moving once again. For a brief moment, all the camera could hear was the sound of stepping hooves and crushed dry leaves as the ponies walked over them.

“For a second there,” Octavia giggled shyly before continuing. “I really thought that was the landing site. But it was still very impressive if I do say so myself.”

“That was just the tower. The landing site’s just a stone’s throw from there.”

Octavia tilted her head slightly. “But why are the structures built separately and at a distance from each other?”

“Just think of the tower as a light house of some sort for the ships flying here.” Rockwell explained. “And you do notice that a lot of lighthouses are built a couple distances away from the port, right?”

“I guess so.” Octavia replied, her tone uncertain.

“Yeah that’s the best explanation I can give you about that.” Rockwell snickered at his own answer.

“Oh.” Octavia’s ears perked up. “And what of the agents at the tower talking about Everfree’s anomalies like they’re the ones controlling them?”

“Managing, actually.” Rockwell corrected her. “All the weird stuff happening in Everfree is under bureau management. We’re not doing this to harm ponies, mind you. All of it is done for the sake of keeping them from finding out about BoS property in the forest.”

“Very resourceful of you.” Octavia said, not hiding the sarcasm in her voice.

“It’s a necessity, believe me. Everfree would be thrice as dangerous if it wasn’t for the bureau constantly monitoring it.”

“Thrice?”

Rockwell shot her a grin. “You heard right.”

As the agent ceased his trotting, Octavia and the camera followed. The camera panned its shot away from the ponies and towards their surroundings. They were now standing in another vast patch of empty space. If the camera would do a side by side comparison of this and the space before, it may lead to one concluding that they look eerily identical. The only difference this space has over the other was that it’s much wider in size.

Rockwell turned around to look at both mares before announcing. “And here we are.”

“I’m assuming this vast patch of nothingness is under the veil of an invisibility field again?” Octavia said.

“You betcha.” Rockwell as he scanned the nearby area for something. He trotted towards a tree not far from them and banged a hoof against its trunk. Octavia’s ears perked up when the tree made a hollow clanking sound as Rockwell continued hitting it. Satisfied that this was what he’s looking for, Rockwell searched the fake tree’s fake trunk for something once more. It only took a moment to find it when Rockwell opened a small door from the tree’s seemingly real body. It revealed to be a small compartment that contained a control panel. And beside it was a slider for inserting cards into.

Rockwell pulled out the key card Foxtrot gave him and slid it down the compartment. Octavia and the camera mare thought that the thing must be busted when it did nothing. But Rockwell directed their eyes back to the empty space only to see another reality bending sight. Unlike the tower’s invisibility field which lowered itself fully when it wanted to reveal what it’s hiding inside, this one only lowered a large door like shape downwards to reveal what’s inside of it.

It appeared to be a large concrete wall that towered over them, not letting outsiders have a glimpse inside its perimeters. Located at the middle was a mechanical gate that would supposedly slide up or down when activated. And beside it was a lever attached to the wall and was accompanied by a red glowing bulb above it. The bulb glowed green once part of the invisibility field fully lowered itself for ponies to pass.

Rockwell approached the lever and pulled it down. It brought the mechanical gate to life and started making whirring sounds. The gate was raised upwards, slowly revealing its interior. Octavia can’t help but take a small peak of what’s inside.

“Funny.” She said, sounding unimpressed. “This is not what I’ve imagined at all.”

Rockwell raised a brow. “Meaning?”

“I was expecting a burning wreckage, and with the spaceship’s body half-buried under the ground.”

“Only drunk drivers do that.” Rockwell said, which earned him another confused look from the mare. “Seriously, don’t let them give you the impression that they represent the entire E.T. demographic.”

Once the gate finally reached full stop, Rockwell deemed it okay to enter and headed straight right in. The camera followed, until it realized that Octavia wasn’t going with them. It panned to the mare as she looked hesitant upon entering the place. But nevertheless, she went in anyway. Once everypony was inside, Rockwell approached another lever that was located inside the site. He pulled the lever upwards, causing the gate and the field in front of it to slowly close. He let out an annoyed muttering once the sound of flapping bat wings can be heard outside the site.

As with the other spots they’ve explored, the camera took no time roaming its shot around the place.

Unlike the outer wall which was made of concrete, the site’s interior was entirely covered with the same chrome-like material that they saw with the Everfree Tower. Its metallic floors shone beautifully under the light of Luna’s moon. It may not be as clear as a mirror, but the floor did show a reflection of the group. Their features can’t be properly seen due to the blurriness of it though.

It appeared that they were surrounded by ten giant, flat rectangles, probably the pad in where the ships would land themselves on. They were placed in parallel with each other, having five pads on each side. And every one of them had a futuristic looking lamp post that would provide light to the temporary settlers at night.

Nine of those lampposts were off, save for one on the far left corner of the landing site. There stood a lamppost giving a clear white light on a strange looking object below it. Rockwell casually trotted towards the lone ship.

“I was really hoping there’d be more aliens and agents trotting around here.” Octavia commented as she looked around the place.

“The Everfree is for ‘repeat customers’ only. If you want to see what the real deal actually looks like, you should go visit the Manehatten Branch.”

Octavia stopped looking around and stared at the agent with a look of disbelief. “Really? Is a place like that accessible for public viewing?”

“Oh yes.” Rockwell made his sarcasm apparent. “Because that’s what secret underground shadow organizations usually do.”

Octavia only gave an annoyed huff in reply.

The camera centered its shot on the spaceship as the group approached it. The thing actually looked a lot bigger once they got close. The metal it was made out of looked sophisticated. It’s not as shiny as the one the Everfree tower and landing site uses but its appearance of looking sleek and durable made it a good fit for its space faring use.

The ship is divided into three layers. The top part was not covered with metal but instead was topped with a large glass bubble; it was of reflective variety that it was impossible to see what’s inside it. The middle part was the biggest out of the three, and it was painted white and took the shape of an open umbrella, two objects located at its side that seemed to look like vents were constantly shooting white smoke that disappeared quickly. The bottom part was covered in grey paint and looked just like the middle but with smaller size and lesser edges. Four landing gears were protruding out of its corners, making it look like an idle beast.

A lowered ramp can be seen at its middle; at the end of it was a closed hatch that leads to the inside of the ship. Following the animal analogy, the ramp could easily be identified as the beast’s peni-

“What are you doing!?” Octavia whispered loudly when Rockwell began walking up the ramp and into the closed hatch.

Rockwell looked at Octavia as if what he was doing was nothing wrong. “Knocking on their door?” He replied matter-of-factly.

“What!?” Octavia raised her voice, sounding alarmed. “Don’t do that! It could be covered with a flesh eating bacteria of some sort!”

Rockwell could only smile at the mare’s naiveté when it came to things like this. “Reading a lot of pulp magazines are we, Miss Melody?” He raised a hoof to tap on the hatch. “I assure you, nothing bad’s going to happe-” He suddenly screamed in seemingly genuine agonizing pain as his hoof touched the hatch’s surface. He gripped the seemingly infected hoof with a free one and rolled down the ramp, screaming as he did so. The camera perfectly followed Rockwell’s descent from the ship’s hatch down to the site’s reflective floor.

Octavia has been shrieking throughout the entire time this happened. She warily approached the now writhing agent and was about to pick him up but decided against it as she probably doesn’t want to get what he’s having. This left her to only do one thing, to look at him in panic.

Rockwell let out a seemingly pained cry. “It...burns!”

Octavia turned to look at the camera mare, she now looked pale as a ghost. “Water!” She screamed while gripping the camera with both hooves. “We need water immediately!”

“I don’t think water can wash down flesh eating microbes, Miss Melody.” Rockwell calmly said as he got up from his seemingly real writhing fit.

All of Octavia’s panicking went down a notch or two. She looked back at the agent who was apparently fine. “Wait, you’re not hurt?”

Rockwell only gave her a small smile in response.

“Is this another one of your stupid jokes again!?” Octavia literally growled.

“Got ya.” Rockwell said as he pulled out a cigarette stick from his pocket.

“Oh you...” Octavia charged at the agent and repeatedly jabbed his shoulder with her fury filled hooves. Rockwell laughed wholeheartedly as he took every punch the furious mare threw at him, while lighting his cigarette stick as well.

“We’re...now...standing...” Octavia grunted angrily as she continued her onslaught on the agent. “In...front...of extraterrestrials...beings from another planet...and still you’re not taking this seriously!?” Rockwell continued his hearty laugh but now with blue smoke coming out from his mouth.

They all snapped back to normalcy when the ship’s hatch made a loud clicking sound. It let out an equally loud hiss not a second after. The hatch door opened inwards, all eyes were now laid at the ramp, with silence the only music playing.

A leg that appeared to be wrapped in a metal looking fabric carefully lowered itself on the metal platform, the rest of its body followed after. The camera panned its shot to Octavia whose mouth was now gaping wide and then back to the mysterious creature. Its full body was now centered to the screen.

The figure stood on only two legs. And it looked like it was wearing a suit, and it appeared rather bulky. The head was covered in a glass globe similar to the ones aliens use in science fiction. Its surface was reflective, just like their ship uses. And at its chest strapped a small mechanical box filled with different glowing lights and buttons. It was carrying another box behind it, but larger. It was also covered in the same fabric the suit has. As it walked down the ramp, one might observe that its movements were pretty slow. It could be due to its bulky suit or it could be from the weight it’s carrying, nopony actually knows until somepony would be brave enough to ask.

As the creature approached the group, they could hear it breathing heavily. Octavia slowly backed away, her body poised in a position that could immediately flee once things go south. Rockwell on the other hoof, just stood there and still smoked his cigarette. As the creature’s body got really close to the camera, its shot focused on a small tag neatly stitched on its left chest with the words: CPT. SAMSON.

Rockwell blew another stream of smoke from his mouth. “Homos.” He said in a greeting manner.

The creature probably named Captain Samson let out a heavy sigh before replying. “For the last time, Agent Rockwell.” Its words sounded like it’s coming from a radio with its grainy tone. But despite that, one could easily identify that the voice sounded masculine. “It’s just human!” It sounded really irate. Rockwell looked at the camera and gave a small grin as if to confirm what he said earlier was true.

“And what’s up with all the commotion!” The human continued. “It’s the middle of the night and we’re sleeping here!”

“Sorry about that.” Rockwell said as he threw his cigarette stick to the ground, crushing its soft glowing ember with a hoof. “My colleague and I were just enjoying the pleasures of a good practical joke.”

Octavia, whose fear has slowly dissipated once the alien started speaking shot Rockwell with an angry glare.

“And speaking of practical jokes, there’s something important I’d like to discuss with you guys.” Rockwell looked briefly at the opened hatch behind Samson before continuing. “May we come in?”

“Uh, sure.” The human replied. “Just let me wake the others up first.” He began his slow march back to the ship’s hatch.

Rockwell watched the human climb up to the inside of the ship. He then turned to look at Octavia and the camera mare with a serious look. “Don’t touch anything.”

“Can’t I stay here and wait for you when you’re done?” Octavia said, a bit of fear coming to back to her voice.

“Come on.” Rockwell insisted. “They don’t bite anyway.”

“That is not the point!” Octavia responded sharply.

Octavia (although hesitantly) followed Rockwell as they climbed up to the inside of the ship. Considering that the ramp is a bit narrow, they trotted upwards in a single file with the camera at the tail following them.

As the ponies poked their heads on the ship’s interior, they were greeted with a softly lit room that was filled to the brim with large screens, dozens of glowing buttons, and other advanced gizmos that their pony minds couldn’t comprehend. Three seats can be spotted in the room. One is located at the center, probably for the captain and two seats were placed at side for the crew members. When all of them got out of the hatch and into the room, the captain was already standing there waiting for them along with the rest of his crew.

The other two members were also wearing the same suit as the captain. It would be really hard to tell them apart from each other if it wasn’t for the tags attached on their suits. The one on the captain’s left side has its tag saying: LT. ONG while the one on the right has its tag with the words: ENS. STARR.

The human captain went to his seat and pressed a button on its armrest. Three seats suddenly materialized behind Rockwell’s group, startling Octavia and the camera mare.

The captain gestured towards the seats. “Please, have a seat.” The three ponies complied. “So what do you want to discuss with us, Agent Rockwell?”

“Hang on, hang on,” Rockwell said as he raised a hoof in an attempt to put Samson’s question on hold. “So you guys are also wearing your environmental suits inside now, huh?” His voice made him sound like he’s slightly offended.

“Everfree’s become uninhabitable for humans lately.” The captain said flatly.

“Yo, what’s up with the camera?” The human named Starr suddenly asked. His voice shared the radio-like grainy quality as the captain’s.

“Don’t mind my crew. They’re here for documentation, we’re going digital now.” Rockwell answered quickly. He turned his attention back to the captain, narrowing his eyes in the process. “What do you mean Everfree’s becoming un-livable for you guys?”

“Our scanners posted readings about the forest’s ‘magical presence’ being in a state of disarray.” The human named Ong answered Rockwell’s question. “And prolonged exposure to this sudden surge of concentrated magic may prove to be detrimental to our health.”

“Think of it like this.” The captain added. “It’s like radiation but with two hundred percent more magic.”

Rockwell scratched his chin with a hoof. “When did this happen?”

“We don’t really know. It’s been like this since we landed. And that was two months ago.”

“Have you tried reporting this to the tower agents?”

“Of course we did. But they said they said they had their ‘hooves’ full at the moment.”

Rockwell let out a long hum before replying. “Well, try again and say that your problem and theirs might be connected in some way, I’m sure of it. Wait, didn’t you guys land here two months ago? Why didn’t you leave after realizing that the forest doubled its hostility factor against you?”

“It’s not the fact that we didn’t but more like we couldn’t.” Ong replied. “Look, our shuttle’s engine’s been fried for a while so we’re stranded here momentarily.”

“So what’s the problem?” Rockwell turned his head at the other human. “Did your quantum carburettor blow up a fuse or something?”

“Very funny.” The captain replied. Despite being featureless, his voice expressed his annoyance on Rockwell’s quipping. “Here, let me show you.” He pressed another button on his seat’s armrest. A vacant wall at the left side of the captain carved a rectangular outline on itself. The cut shape quickly slid down to the ship’s floor, creating a path to another room. All three humans walked towards the newly formed entrance. Rockwell and company followed after.

The group now found themselves in a small, darkly lit room. The only thing that gave the small space light was a small glowing blue orb that was covered in various wires, tubes, and other contraptions. The humans surrounded the orb while fiddling with its mechanisms.

“See this stuff right here?” The captain pointed at a gooey white substance that was lathered all over the ship’s engine. “This thing’s been keeping us grounded for months now.”

“At first I thought it was just a byproduct of the sudden magical surge.” Ong said. “But the scanners stated otherwise. Despite our limited information regarding the properties of magic, I can safely say that the slimy substance sabotaging our engine appears to be ethereal in nature.”

“It looks like Equestrian spirit jizz to me.” The human named Starr added.

Rockwell touched the slimy liquid with his bare hoof, causing everyone even the humans to cringe audibly. He brought the liquid closer to his face, inspecting it thoroughly. “You’re right on the ethereal part.” He said while flicking the liquid off his hoof. He wiped the rest with a black handkerchief of which he pulled from his back pocket.

“This is ectoplasm.” Rockwell said as he looked at the human named Ong. “And a real potent one at that.”

“That’s impossible.” Ong argued. “Even for such a whimsical world like yours, there’s no way that you can extract a material like that without the assistance of a...spiritual medium.”

“Spiritual medium.” Rockwell pondered for a moment. “You mean like ghosts?”

“(Beep!)” The human known as Starr cursed in surprise. “You mean to tell us ghosts have kept on blowing their load inside us every night? No way man.” He shook his head slowly as he walked aimlessly within close proximity to his crew. “No way.”

Rockwell turned to look at the captain, as if he wanted something clarified for him. “Every night?”

“Yes.” The captain confirmed. “That’s why we didn’t bother sending spare parts down from orbit. The slime just mucks up the engine every night anyway.”

“From orbit?” Octavia whispered to Rockwell. He ignored her question.

“Hang on, hang on.” Rockwell raised a hoof again. “If you guys are down here grounded, then who’s the one responsible for dropping cows at the abandoned mansion near the outskirts?”

“Dropping cows!?” The captain exclaimed. “What are we?” He looked at his crew then looked back at the agent. “Aliens from science fiction or something? Of course not! That act would violate E.P.I.C’s Section B of the Legal Alien Short-Term Settlement Regulations!”

Rockwell made a soft whistling sound with his mouth, probably impressed that the alien captain remembers the rules.

“Also,” Ong said. “That would be a very stupid way of getting blacklisted from this planet. And besides, there’s no way we’d be wasting our energy cores in using our tractor beams like that. We’re just here to conduct regular probing sessions with Miss Heartstrings and to Miss Heartstrings only.”

The two aliens muttered in agreement with what Ong said.

“Is he talking about Lyra?” Octavia whispered again.

“I’ll explain later.” Rockwell whispered back. He turned to the aliens again. “So you guys are not responsible for any of the bovine droppings in the outskirts, not at all?”

All three aliens shook their heads in unison.

Rockwell clicked his tongue and bit on the inside of his cheek. “Guess I’ll have another talk with ghosts back at the mansion, then.”

The aliens turned looked at each other. Even though their reflective glasses concealed any hint of facial expression, their body movements clearly stated that they were indeed surprised at what Rockwell just said.

“So ghosts actually exist here in Equestria?” The captain asked.

“And you can talk to them?” The human named Starr joined in. “Holy (beep).”

A flat yes was Rockwell’s answer to both their questions. “And they said that you guys were the ones responsible for ruining their home by dropping a couple of cows on it.”

“Where do they get the balls to say that after wrecking up my shuttle non-stop!?” The captain exploded in a flamboyant urban accent all of a sudden. It sounded similar to the ones city ponies use in Manehatten. “You tell them.” He pointed a digit threateningly at Rockwell. “That if they choose to continue (beeping) up our engine with their magic ghost stuff, I will personally send them straight to hell.”

“Personally send them straight to hell.” Rockwell replied, mimicking what the alien captain said as if to engrave the words in his memory. “Okay, got it. Thank you for having us, gentle...uh, men. I’ll put the info you provided me to good use, and hopefully resolve this issue in no time.”

Rockwell trotted out of the engine and back to the hatch. Octavia and the camera quickly followed. The seats that were summoned to them now shrunk back to the floor. The hatch made a clicking sound accompanied with a loud hiss as it opened when the captain pressed another button from his seat.

Once Rockwell set hoof on the ramp, he stopped to look at the aliens one last time before leaving. “Have a good night now. But seriously report your magical presence issue again to the tower agents. There’s a great chance that those problems of yours and theirs are connected. And once again, good night.” And with that, the group finally exited the ship.

“So we’re going back to the mansion?” Octavia asked. The group were now at the site’s entrance and Rockwell just closed gate and the field with his key card.

“Yes.” Rockwell yawned.

“So who do you think did it?”

A frown formed on Rockwell’s face before replying to the mare’s question. “I’m sorry but I’m not really used to using my brain for critical thinking this late at night.”

“At least humor me with this.” Octavia said. They were back in the forest now, slowly trotting under the moonlit night. “What were those aliens doing with Lyra? I heard they mentioned probing her.”

“’Probing,’ Rockwell began. “Is just a slang term for interview that’s used by aliens nowadays. Abducting or dissecting the locals especially by otherworldly means is strongly prohibited here in Equis. But talking with them is not. Because you know, friendship is magic and is universal and all that jazz.” He said the last line in the most feminine tone he could muster. “Or so Celestia and the Elements would say. But talking with the locals is not the hard part, making them approach you and convince them that you mean no harm is. But fortunately for the Sapiens, your friend Miss Heartstrings here is very fond of them.”

Rockwell shrugged before continuing. “It’s probably the hands that drew her to them, I dunno. But what I can confirm is that they’re always having regular chats with each other, maybe talking about their world and ours.”

Octavia gave out a hum that sounded somewhere in the middle between satisfied and dissatisfied. “That was anti-climactic.” Her reply made the agent raise a brow. “No, I don’t mean it like that. Of course I was relieved that Lyra is actually safe with the aliens, but like before, I was just expecting for more out of this world brutality, unspeakable horrors that only the cruelty of space is capable of doing.”

“Whoa, girl.” Rockwell playfully backed away from Octavia. “I didn’t know you were that metal.”

Octavia was about to retort when another loud sound of probably a hundred wings flapping together took them by surprise for the third time tonight.

The camera quickly panned towards Rockwell’s direction. He wasn’t startled by the noise this time. But his face darkened a little bit.

Rockwell gave out a long sigh. “Alright, I’ve had enough of this.” He looked down to the ground and picked an adequately sized rock.

“What are you doing?” Octavia asked.

The agent didn’t bother answering her question and instead threw the rock at the direction of the loud noise with all his might. “Fore!” He called to the leather winged animals as the rock flew swiftly upwards, punching a small hole through the canopy of the forest.

Some alarmed screeching sounds came from the bats as the rock propelled itself into the sky. Rockwell smiled darkly upon hearing the sound of the distressed animals.

“That’ll surely break that swarm off.” Rockwell said as he started moving again. “Boy are they loud!” He ceased his moving again when he heard the sound of twigs and branches breaking from above.

He looked at the camera with a proud face. “Looks like I’ve got one.” He looked back up the sky again. “Serves you right you loud flapping, leather skinned...”

A thestral hit the ground with a loud thud. It laid there unconscious with a giant bump on its forehead.

“...rodents.”

Author's Note

This is the longest chapter I've ever written so far. Wrote 2k one day and 5k the other. I feel like having a fever after. Thank you for reading this big ass wall of text.