This is from the view of the ponies, Twilight Sparkle in particular. Don't get mad if I make some mistakes about the pony world; that's more of my sister's area of expertise.

Twilight sparkle woke up just as she would any other day: by a rapid and obnoxious pounding on her door. Knowing what was about to happen, she walked downstairs and opened the door.

"TWILIGHT GUESS WHAT?" shouted Pinkypie from a distance of about two inches away. "GUESS WHAT? SERIOUSLY IT'S SO EXITING!"

"Calm down!" Twilight screeched back, waiting for the ringing in her ears to go away. "What is it? If this is another one of Rainbowdash's pranks, it's going to get ugly."

"NOPE GUESS-"

"OKAY! Now, is it that you found some… candy?" she asked hopefully. When Pinkypie shook her head, she tried again. "It's someone's birthday and they're having a party?"

Pinkypie couldn't take it anymore. "THERE'S SOMETHING WEIRD AND MAGICAL GOING ON OVER THE HILL COME QUICK!" She then ran away faster than she had ever run before, bowling over many other ponies that were headed in the same direction.

"What could that be?" Twilight wondered to herself. "I'll bring a few books just in case." She grabbed three volumes, Odd Happenings in History, Paranormal Events, and The Magic of Space and Time. As a final thought, she mentally slapped Spike into consciousness and led him off.

When they got there, all of Ponyville was standing in a wide circle around a bright light. She pushed her way to the center of the ring, where she saw all her friends admiring its multicolored appearance and gentle waves of heat. "Where is Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, not seeing the gentlest of her friends.

"Hiding," Rainbowdash replied simply. "She was afraid it would eat her pets."

"What on Earth could it be?" Rarity asked, prodding a hoof into the swirling pattern. "It feels so… fuzzy!"

"Don't touch it!" warned Twilight, before opening one of her books and searching the contents. Seeing nothing similar to what she was looking at in real life, she tossed Paranormal Events to the side and began searching The Magic of Space and Time. "There has to be something… Ah-hah!" She cheered, before looking at the very first entry in the book. "It's a rip in time!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Applejack replied. "You're the smart one, now explain the darn thing!"

"Well, this is the result when somebody tries to use teleportation before their magic isn't fully charged. Instead of just going through space, whoever is going through will jump vast numbers of years into the future or past! We might meet the ponies of the future!"

"What if it's the Wonderbolts?" Rainbowdash jumped with joy. "Or their parents? Or THEIR parents? Or even-"

"You are starting to sound like Pinkypie when she eats sugar!" Twilight silenced the Pegasus. "Chances are, we don't even know who it is, or when they will be here. But…" She began browsing the history book. "This could be one of Discord's ploys to bring chaos, so I'll look to see if there have been any similar incidents in the past."

"WHAT IF THEY HAVE CUPCAKES?" Pinkypie thought out loud.

After everyone recovered from the shock wave, Rarity said, quite calmly and plainly, "Shut up."

Normally, this would have begun one of the friends' rougher days, but just then the vortex in front of them got brighter. "Get back!" Twilight ordered, still flipping furiously (And, let's face it, hopelessly) through the gigantic encyclopedia. "I need to find-"

The mass of energy exploded violently outward as it was simultaneously thrown across the ground. The ponies picked themselves back up off of the ground and stared at the portal, which was now clear and far enough for them to tell that it was, indeed, a portal. Many of them ran for their homes or to the Everfree Forest to get Zechorah to heal their bruises and wounds. Twilight remained, using her magic to zoom in on the scene across the hill.

She couldn't exactly explain what she was seeing, but it appeared as if a lone figure skipped out of the portal in what seemed like a happy prance, heading away from her. Then, just as she was about to follow it, eight more stepped out, looked around somewhat dazedly, and then took off towards the first. She was about to try following them again when the portal exploded in a great green blast.

Somewhat skeptical now, she waited for any more interruptions to pass by, but none did. Of course, until the second she started moving.

That's when a bird used her head as target practice.

"FINE!" She shouted at the world in general, and left to her house to read up on her mystical creatures. Specifically the ones that walk on two legs.

We'll see some action in the next chapter, which will go back to the mercs' point of view.