The Lunar Nightwatch team: Ramirez, Smith, McLaughn, Parker, and Summers. Five college students who were dedicated to watching MLP and being the best nerf soldiers around, were now trekking through the sunny Everfree Forest, looking for Ponyville. Along the way, the men shot a cockatrice when it tried to turn Summers into stone, and Ramirez got bored so he decided to pull out his phone and play some music:
"Dude, that song is so old, like, 1960's old", Parker told him.
"Come on man, this forest and our gear has a very Vietnam-War vibe goin here." Ramirez replied.
"I kinda like it, it's better than those modern pop stars!" McLaughn interjected.
"Well I guess that's true Yankee". Parker replied.
Suddenly, they came across a tree with a bunch of strange objects hanging from it. It also looked like it was inhabited.
"Looks like we found Zecora's house!" Smith noticed. They decided to knock on the door. No answer.
"Seems like nopony's home. I guess it's for the best. She may freak out if she saw giant bipedal monkeys with alien weaponry" McLaughn stated. The rest agreed and kept moving.
Princess Twilight's Castle
"What is happening darling? Is it a new Friendship mission?" Rarity asked. Twilight had gathered the Mane Six in the map room after she got a letter from Princess Celestia that the Elements of Harmony may be needed.
"I'm not sure, but Princess Celestia sent me a letter this morning saying that Equestria may need the Elements again. I wonder if it has anything to do with those popping sounds last night", Twilight replied.
"If it's another bad guy or monster, we'll just pound him into dust!" Rainbow Dash interjected. Rainbow was never afraid to get into a fight. She was a very brave pony.
"Oh, I hope it's not really dangerous, maybe it's just a false alarm." Fluttershy really did not want to deal with any monsters or bad guys. They scared her.
"I'm sure everything will be fine sugarcube, we've dealt with worse before!" Applejack calmed Fluttershy so that she wouldn't get scared.
"Maybe it could be a new friend! A new friend means a new friend party!!!!" Pinkie Pie was excited at the possibility that it may just be something non threatening and fun. At that moment, the Royal Sisters and Discord arrived.
"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed. She always saw Celestia as another mother, even after she became an alicorn. She hugged Celestia, who gladly returned it.
"Well if you two are done with all your fru fru stuff, I am still curious as to what interrupted my beauty sleep last night!" Discord rudely interjected. Everypony looked at him annoyed.
"I am afraid Discord is right. The reason we came here is because last night, we sensed a strong magical pulse ripple throughout Equestria, and if it's something so powerful that Discord cannot identify it, we must find out what it is", Luna explained.
"Magical outbursts? Too powerful for the Lord of Chaos?" Twilight replied in an almost sarcastic tone. She had a smug grin on her face as she looked at Discord, who was slightly flustered at not knowing what the magical source was. Twilight had been trolled by Discord plenty, and she just returned the favor.
"Twilight, I am afraid this is no joke, we have no idea what it is or where it came from, but maybe your map does." Celestia explained. However, the map had nothing peculiar to show. The ponies and draconequus were still stumped.
"Wait, last night Spike and I were awakened by some popping noises coming from the Everfree Forest, we thought it was fireworks but there are no holidays and no Trixie, and who would pop them in the Everfree anyway?" Twilight realized. The ponies and draconequus seemed to think that this was something worth looking into.
"Well then, it seems like we will get to go exploring the dark and scary forest for strange magic!" Discord excitedly replied, now wearing a pith helmet and clothes like Daring Do. Rainbow Dash had a hard time not fangirling over it.
"Then it's settled, we will search the forest at once!" Celestia stated, and soon the group left the castle and headed for the Everfree Forest.
"I'll guard the castle incase anypony stops by!" Spike yelled from a window, having slept in.
Everfree Forest
The Lunar Nightwatch was still trekking through the Everfree Forest. They had just drank through their entire water supply, and discovered after shooting a second cockatrice that even though their darts were now lethal, they could still be reused like normal nerf darts. Also, Ramirez was still jamming to his Vietnam war-era music:
"Man, you and my grandpa would get along really well Steelhooves", Summers stated, commenting on Ramirez's taste in music.
"Thanks, I always respect the classics", Ramirez replied.
"Man I am thirsty, could go for a Dr. Pepper right about now", Smith stated. The rest of the team agreed. Suddenly Ramirez held up his fist, indicating that the team stop. There were hoofprints in the ground, meaning that ponies were close by.
"What is that music?" Rainbow Dash questioned, as Twilight shushed her and told her to whisper.
"I think that we may have found our disturbance", Twilight pointed out, as they peeked through some bushes and saw the strange bipedal creatures suddenly stop and investigate the ground. The ponies had split into groups of three with Discord, Celestia, and Luna in one group, AppleJack, Rarity, and Fluttershy in another, and Twilight, Rainbow, and Pinkie in the third.
"Hey, where's Pinkie?" Dash whispered to Twilight. Pinkie seemed to have disappeared.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang somewhere in the forest, and the bipedal creatures suddenly dropped to the ground and began pointing their strange sticks in various directions. "There!", one yelled, and the others pointed their sticks right at the bush where Twilight and Rainbow were hiding behind.