Nopony who beared an Element of Harmony had trouble getting up in the morning. Even Rainbow Dash, who listed napping as a favorite pastime, woke up early for the first of her daily workouts. So there was nopony blurry eyed when the chariots arrived.
The pair of golden chariots would carry the five of them over the Equestrian border and into foreign territory. Rainbow Dash had flown the first leg, but when the first teams of Pegasi passed the duty on to another she sat in the same chariot with Pinkie and Fluttershy.
It was a long eight-hour trip, not made easier by Pinkie, who was courteous enough not to whine out loud but was clearly having trouble staying still. Rainbow Dash flew every other time the chariots switched, but the others had to content themselves with books and simple games.
The sun was well past midday when the chariot landed at the edge of a thick jungle. There was a stone guard barrack here, with a small handful of Royal Guards going about various tasks. There were a few Llamas here as well, working in tandem with the ponies.
The Llamas were in their own armor, a silver that might have shined new but each was dulled with use. Helmets started on the tops of their heads and covered all but the tops of their faces in thick metal plates, with a barred faceplate placed over their eyes and the top of their snouts. The helmets continued down on their long necks, segmented to allow bending. Further plates guarded their chests and legs, with a green emerald in the center of their plates, signifying their rank as a hoof-soldier. Those standing guard carried spears, showing some things were the same regardless of culture.
As they dismounted they were approached by a Unicorn guard flanked by two Pegasi. "Please stand still for a Changeling check."
They had been expecting this and as such stood still as the Unicorn cast his magic over each of them, including the guards that had brought them there. Once they were finished, they spoke again. "Very good. Come, supper is being served in the mess hall."
Calling the room a mess hall seemed generous. It wasn't separated from the kitchen, for one thing, it was merely several long tables with the cooks and stove in full view. A crude gas stove was cooking a kind of stew while others were grinding peppers into hay. These were the only two choices in food, with some water to drink.
Rarity wanted to dig into their supplies, but the others talked her out of it. Best save those for the trip.
"Not the best, but it does well enough," the Unicorn said, taking a bite of his hay.
Rarity put on a smile. "We're grateful, Mr… uh…"
"Sergeant," the Unicorn said.
"Sergeant who?"
"Just Sergeant," the Unicorn said gruffly. "That's all I will say. All information at this base is under strict confidentiality until the Changeling threat is dealt with."
"Even your name?"
"The less that is known about us, the harder it is for a Changeling to impersonate us. We are tight lipped around anyone not a member of this unit."
The five visitors looked at each other. "Even from us?" Pinkie asked.
"The less ponies know a secret, the easier it is to keep," Sergeant said simply. "I trust you, I do, but you could get captured. A few brainwashing spells would get you to spill your secrets. The Llamas agreed to this, they know how dangerous our situation is."
Five sets of eyes looked at each other nervously.
Sergeant shook his head. "But that's hardly the type of conversation we should be having right now. With the trip you'll be heading out on tomorrow morning, you'll want some peace tonight."
"Tomorrow?" Applejack said. "I think we should leave tonight. This is important."
"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash began to counter the argument, but Sergeant beat her to it.
"The jungle is dangerous, especially at night. If it were up to me, you wouldn't have to spend any time camping in it, but it can't be helped. I can't stop you from doing anything once you're in there, but I cannot allow you to travel there at night as long as you're under my command."
The five of them gave curious looks. Celestia had told them it would be dangerous, and that they'd receive further instructions here, but they hadn't quite expected this.
"We've traveled through Everfree at night…"
Applejack's protest was cut off by Sergeant. "Everfree is a small area in an otherwise peaceful land. The jungle is much worse. The Llamas don't regulate nature as we do. As soon as they felt everything Discord did was undone, they requested we move out and cease occupation. None of their animals are as peaceful. Even Everfree beasts are civilized enough not to leave the forest… usually."
The five Equestrians arched eyebrows. Timberwolves and Ursa Minors didn't seem too civil when they were causing trouble.
"Timberwolves come out an' snatch any poor creature that gets too close," Applejack said. "An' we had an Ursa Minor come through once."
"Yes. Once," Sergeant said. "How many before that one? How many of you even knew what an Ursa looked like?"
That produced silence. Ursas were legendary beasts, but they were rarely seen, even as big as they were.
"What you call wild beasts are at least tame enough not to come into pony territory. Timberwolves are considered the worst, and they hardly go more than ten feet out of the thicket, and only then if they think they can get you without alerting others. They fear ponies as a whole, believe it or not. They know how they tamed the world after Discord's reign. Ponies constantly remind them, with their constant control. Here… here the beasts have forgotten. With the ponies gone, they forget what they are capable of. Even here, we only get by through not being worth the trouble."
Four ponies tensed… but only four.
"Really?" Fluttershy said, her pitch reaching that of a squeal. "I've always wanted to see real wild animals. I've read about this one snake that inhabits these jungles that can squeeze the life out of a pony before it eats it whole! And fish that eat meat that can skeletonize a pony in less than two minutes! And colonies of ants that can drag huge prey into their mounds by acting together. Oh this is so exciting! Nature is so fascinating!"
The other ponies gaped.
"We're going out in that?" Rainbow Dash said.
"Relax," Sergeant said, looking at Fluttershy with a bit of shock and what might have been interest. "The stories tend to get exaggerated. Yes, there are snakes that will squeeze and swallow, but ponies are too big for them to bother usually. And no ant here will bother with something so big when there's much easier prey. I still wouldn't recommend being around them, however, as long as you keep moving, and stick together, you should be fine.
"Just remember a few things. First off, do not let each other out of your sight. I mean it. You're even going to do your business in pairs. Wild animals may not eat ponies, but they can still be dangerous if they catch you alone. Second, no traveling at night. As soon as the sun sets, you set up camps. I'll be giving you some wards that will keep the beasts off you. Finally, you avoid any animal like the plague. I don't care how cute or majestic it looks, don't go near it."
Four of the five ponies looked at each other. This was definitely starting to sound like a trip the Princess should have assigned to somepony else.
Fluttershy gave a sigh. "The Creator made such interesting animals."
Rarity spoke up. "I don't suppose the Princesses have authorized any of you to accompany us, has she?"
"Weren't you listening?" Sergeant said. "Secrecy is the key here. I don't know what you're doing here other than you're going to the ruins, and I don't want to know. I only know that the Princess sent you here on something important, and until the Changelings are defeated that's all that's safe to know."
Rarity sighed. "Of course."
At that point, a Llama came up and whispered something in the Sergeant's ear. After listening a few moments, the burly pony nodded. "Excuse me, something needs my attention."
After watching him go, Applejack spoke up. "I don't like this… the Princess sendin' us in here with next to no idea what to do."
"Like with NightMare Moon? Or Discord?" Pinkie said. "Oh! There was the Changelings… but not even she knew about those, huh?"
There was a moment of silence. The ponies looked at each other.
"Well, we are the ones the Elements chose," Applejack said, forcing confidence into her voice. "We have to be qualified to handle everything, right? And we always have. Even without Twilight here, we can do just fine. She never did everything."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "We've done a great job. We stopped Trixie, and we can stop these guys too."
"We got hurt…" Fluttershy started to say, but her friend spoke over her.
"So did Twilight when she went up against those idiots a few months ago. And remember when we fought those dragons? Twilight only fought one, we fought the rest."
"And you know," Rarity said, "Twilight doesn't know everything. Sometimes we have to keep her in line."
Pinkie giggled. "Remember her first Winter Wrap-Up?"
"So you think we're really safe from those animals?" Rarity asked.
"Who cares what's in there?" Rainbow Dash said, waving a hoof. "We'll be in and out no problem. It's just a quick hike and back."
"Uh-huh, and what if we run into the Changelings while we're there? They ain't that tough, but it'll be a bunch of them against us."
"Not all of them. Remember? Celestia said they couldn't move themselves all here without attracting attention. And we took out a lot of them just fine. As long as we watch our backs and avoid the animals like Sergeant said, we'll be fine."
"Yeah. We can do this without Twi. Sure, she'd be a help, but she'd never be doin' all the work." Applejack smiled. "So let's cheer up, huh?"
The ponies all smiled. But only for a few seconds. Then, worry started overcoming logic once more.
"Uh… quick question," Rainbow Dash said. "What's stopping any animals from entering the ruins? How do we know we won't come across something big hiding in there?"
"You won't," a voice answered.
The group gave a start and turned. Sergeant was back, and this time a Llama was with them. The stone in his chest was red, so it was clear he wasn't a mere soldier.
"The ruins are warded. Have been since before Discord, continues to be to this day. We make sure of it."
It was no surprise that the Llama spoke Equestrian, the pony's work to repair the world after Discord's antics had ensued the language had spread, but given that every other pony and Llama had ignored them since they arrived, it was still a surprise to hear one speak.
"Um, is that so, Mister… uh…" Applejack spoke.
"Captain," the Llama said simply. "Just call me Captain. No names, remember? Now then, we cannot destroy those ruins. It's one of the few pieces of architecture that survived the Reign of Discord, and afterward the ponies sent to calm the weather and tame the wilderness couldn't do anything to get rid of it. It's forbidden to travel there any further, but it's preserved anyhow."
Rainbow Dash's brow furrowed. "Wait, if you treasure it so much, why do you forbid it?"
Captain bit his lip. "Before the breaking, we used the temples to worship the Creator. But then, Discord came. While he tore the rest of the world apart, he came upon us. He said that if we were to rework our temples to worship him, he wouldn't 'flatten our village'. In desperation, we complied and began working to appease Discord. We turned our back on the Creator. When we were finished, he made entire villages lift to the stars, then let them fall, claiming that it didn't count as flattening them.
"When the Sisters banished Discord, we were too ashamed of our actions to go back to the temples, but at the same time we couldn't destroy them, Discord had made sure of that. So we left."
Rainbow Dash spoke next. "So… why would you leave the S…"
"…Anything the Changelings would want there," Applejack broke in. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but bit her tongue. The less anyone knew, the better.
"Discord left a lot of things there," Captain said. "Whatever you've been sent to get it's likely something of his. We don't like anything having to do with him, but if Princess Celestia says so, we'll be fine."
"Hey, how come you all know about Discord?" Pinkie asked. "We had never heard of them before he escaped."
Captain sighed. "Everyone likes to forget. After Discord's defeat everyone came together to rebuild. Celestia and Luna led the world into an era of peace, if only because no one wanted anything but peace after the chaos. But soon they forgot. Sure, they remember ponies fixing the weather and fauna, even countries that no longer have it regulated, and no country will dare go to war with Equestria, but they no longer have the respect they had. But we remember."
The five Bearers were silent. Celestia was practically worshiped in Equestria, but they weren't aware of any worship here.
"You best eat up," Captain said. "Once you go in tomorrow, there's no going back."