Vance glared at the map unfolded on the table before him, right next to the partially-assembled pistol. The number of blank O’s had dwindled to almost nothing, while the number of X’s had skyrocketed. “Where are you, boy? Why can’t I bring you home?” He wondered aloud.

“Captain?” Parker asked from behind him, “We’ve got news.”

Vance turned grimly. He knew from Parker’s tone of voice that they still hadn’t found the pilot. And if they hadn’t found the pilot, the only other news he could possibly have was…

“It’s the enemy, sir. They’ve landed. We’re spotting parachute drops all over.”

Vance nodded. When he spoke again, it was with the almost machine-like authority of a true commander, his voice reeking with authority: “Send runners out to get the search teams back. Have everybody still in-camp prepare for an assault. We are going to meet the enemy wherever he lands.”

“Yes sir, but there’s something else.”

“Oh?”

“The enemy dropped a bit far from where we expected. A good ten, twenty miles off from where intel said they would.”

“Trip through the portal must’ve thrown ‘em off; good to know they’re as new to jumping between worlds as we are,” Vance mumbled.

“What was that, sir?”

“Nothing, Lieutenant, just thinking out loud. Now, are we still emplaced to intercept any sort of assault on Grid Alpha?”

“Yes sir, this is still the only real opening in the area. The enemy knows they need this clearing to marshal their strength. But this new area they dropped into…” he sighed, “Those maps we got show a small village in the area. It’s local name is ‘Coltton’. Population of Two, maybe three-hundred pon…natives.”

Vance scowled, “Damn, there’s no way we can be mobile before the enemy overruns that village.”

“No, sir.”

“Where is it, anyway?”

“Um…” Parker walked over to the map on the desk, scanned it for a quick second, and swiftly jammed a finger down on one spot. “Right here, sir.”

Vance looked over the map, and almost immediately his scowl turned into a grin. “Oh, really?”
He said knowingly.

“Sir?”

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that village, Lieutenant. You see, intel was worried the enemy might detect our forces and use that area as a launching point for a flanking maneuver, so they made sure there’d be a little surprise waiting in case they did.”

“What surprise, sir?”

“That’s on a need to know basis, Lieutenant,” Vance replied. “Just trust me when I say the little ponies in that village have nothing to worry about.”

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Shining Armor had never been more terrified in his life. I don’t understand, he thought, This can’t be happening. I’m on my honeymoon, for pity’s sake!

The tiny village of Colton had seemed like the perfect choice for a week away from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot. Just him and his new wife, Cadence, in a quaint little village nestled in the Everfree Forest for a week. Sure, she had been somewhat iffy about heading off to such a small, isolated town, especially after the battle with the changelings, but just one whiff of that fresh country air had changed her mind, and together they had enjoyed a week together in their small but cozy inn room.

Then these strange bipeds appeared with their exotic weapons which spat fire every time they moved one of the fleshy growths at the ends of their arms. The attack had come so suddenly that the town guard hadn’t even awakened to counter it, not that there was much they could have done. The attackers rounded up everypony so quickly that some were still rubbing sleep from their eyes as they marched, having been dragged from their warm, soft beds to join the long train of ponies being forced through town. Eventually, they passed the squat log cabin which served as the town hall, now a flaming ruin which served to illuminate the frightened ponies and the strange bipeds that watched over them with squinty little eyes and dark, ugly weapons. Shining slowed his pace for a second to get a better look, managing to catch a glimpse of the equine bodies lying here and there by the building’s collapsed façade, the mayor among them. Then a biped ran up and shoved his weapon in Shining’s face, screaming in that guttural language they’d been using and prompting him to keep moving.

I shouldn’t have opened the door, he thought mournfully, bowing his head and trying very hard to remain unnoticed. He should have just stayed in his room and ignored the whistling sounds and the explosions reducing town hall to rubble. But he’d been curious, in a morbid sort of way, and concerned for the safety of anypony near the hall, so he’d gone dashing outside and straight into the arms of the half-dozen or so bipeds rounding up everypony at the inn. Now, here he was, in the middle of what was supposed to be his week to relax, being marched off like a common farm animal to Celestia-knows-where!

As they trundled along, an older pony strayed off the path, wandering just a bit out of line with his fellow ponies. With a cold efficiency, a biped strode up to the older stallion and cracked him on the back of the head with the heavy stock of his weapon. Mortified, Shining Armor could only watch as the biped dragged the stallion into a darkened alleyway, and a moment later a single crack of one of the biped’s weapons being discharged sounded off into the night, the alleyway illuminated for the quickest instant. One of the younger fillies screamed, but thankfully her parents kept her in the line, shuffling along with their heads bowed low. The message had been received loud and clear.

At the very least, Shining could take comfort in the fact that his dearest Cadence was safe, hiding beneath the couch in their room. Oh, but how long would that last? How long before the bipeds did a more thorough search of the village? And even if it didn’t come to that, would he ever see her again? Pushing these thoughts down, he looked up just as the long train left the village proper and entered the wilderness around them. At least now the darkness of the forest would make it harder for his captors to see him. For all their might, these bipeds didn’t appear to have any sort of night vision worth mentioning. “Or even have much brawn to look at, for that matter,” he added under his breath. It was amazing that a bunch of bipeds wrapped in soft, pink tissue (like you’d find on a naked mole rat) could be so intimidating! But the gray uniforms and sinister, dark green helmets they all wore made everypony avert their gaze as they systematically scanned the column leaving town. Where these bipeds had come from was anypony’s guess. Where they were going was everypony’s concern.

The column was forced to stop along a large drainage ditch at the edge of town, and a sudden burst of fear threatened to overwhelm Shining Armor’s mind. He didn’t know why, but something seemed very wrong with this setup: the way so many ponies were being lined up right in front of the ditch, the way the bipeds watched them while forming their own line with a grim determination in their eyes. This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this, he realized in horror, They’ve done it before. Celestia help us all, they’re experienced!

One of the bipeds, wearing a lavish coat covered in medals, stood at the end of the line with his fist raised. The others raised their weapons and leveled them on the line of ponies just across from them. Most of the ponies gasped, some cried. Shining Armor didn’t move. On some level, he’d been expecting this.

“ONE!” The leader screamed, and a series of clicks resounded from all the biped’s weapons. The crying intensified. A hoof brushed by Shining’s own, and he looked over to see the little, pink barmare from his inn, still wearing her apron. Her hoof had accidentally brushed past his, her whole body quivering in fear.

“TWO!” The other bipeds steadied their aim. Shining seized the hoof and squeezed for all he was worth. The barmare yelped in fright and looked at him, but quickly returned the squeeze. Nodding to one another, their eyes slid shut in anticipation.

Then, the strangest thing happened. An unusually large stallion appeared just outside the line of trees nearby, near the farms. Silhouetted by the full moon above, the stallion walked in a strange, lopsided fashion right out into the open. All eyes turned to the newcomer, including the bipeds’. Shining Armor didn’t even look, simply grateful for the few extra moments of life the newcomer had just bought him.

One of the bipeds stepped out of line and started screaming at the stallion, waving his weapon in the air. The stallion’s only response was to rear up on his hind legs and point his front hooves at them, in much the same manner they held some of their weapons. Taking this as some act of defiance, a few other bipeds walked up beside the first and began advancing on the stallion, most with their weapons at their side or just held at the ready for a serious clubbing. The rest of the bipeds hanging back joked amongst themselves, believing this to be a small oversight which would soon be corrected as yet another example for the town’s populace. Certainly, this could only end with one more dead stallion and a bit more fear instilled in the rest.

Suddenly, a loud series of cracks sounded out, not too unlike the sounds the bipeds’ weapons made. A pair of brilliant little flares appeared out of the stallion’s hooves. The three bipeds advancing on it dropped with telltale wounds all over their chests and necks, one of them still screaming, the others staring blankly up at the night sky. At that the other bipeds leapt into action, yelling in their language and spraying in the direction of the stallion, who simply back-flipped right into the cover of the trees behind him. Then, with the bipeds distracted with the stallion on their side, another series of cracks and pops and little flares appeared from the forest on the opposite end, slicing them down before they even had a chance to turn.

It was all over in less than a minute. The bipeds, once so proud and intimidating, now all lay in a massive pile, most of them dead, some moaning and screaming as blood colored their once-intimidating uniforms a crimson red. The ponies watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as yet another group of bipeds appeared from the forest (‘appeared’ being the exact word Shining Armor would have used if he were to write about his experiences this night) as the bipeds seemed to materialize just within the line of trees, covered in pink camo netting. They all approached the line of ponies with their weapons raised, but pointed at the fallen group of bipeds. Some of the newcomers swiftly broke off to check on the fallen, while one of them raised his hand and let out a short, loud whistle. At the sound, the stallion appeared from the forest again, walking on his hind legs, shedding the hooves and horse-like head to reveal a smaller, helmeted head as he approached.

He’s one of them, Shining Armor realized as the newcomer approached, grinning like a madman. Most ponies immediately took a few pre-emptive steps back, and the biped stopped, the grin fading to a more neutral expression. Laying his weapon on the ground, the biped advanced more slowly, with his hands outstretched. “My name is Lieutenant Miller with the Equestrian Expeditionary Force, part of the United States Armed Forces,” he said unexpectedly. “We are here to help.”

Immediately, everypony in sight bolted for the wilderness, becoming just a hundred streaks of color rushing off into the darkness. All, of course, except for Shining Armor. “Eh, that’s kinda what I expected,” the biped mumbled before looking down at Shining. “Well? What about you?”

Shining stood his ground and glared right into the biped’s eyes. “You’re fighting those other pink-skins, aren’t you?”

“That is horrifically insensitive from a racial standpoint,” the biped replied automatically, motioning over his shoulder to a dark-skinned biped gearing up with the others. “But yeah, we are.”

“And you’re going to take that little town over there,” Shining shrugged over his own shoulder at the village behind him. “Right?”

“It’s the only thing worth having in this sector.”

“And what are you going to do when you get up there?”

“Uh…” as if to answer for him, one of the gray-uniformed bipeds started moaning, and out of reflex, the newcomer closest to him whipped out a small weapon and put a hole in its head, the shot echoing off into the distance as the moaning came to an abrupt stop. “Pretty much that, yeah.”

Without another word, Shining Armor trotted over to join the bipeds, most of them immediately pausing in what they were doing to stare, some still halfway through reassembling their weapons. After a few moments of awkward silence, Shining took a deep breath and announced: “My name is Shining Armor of the Royal Canterlot guard. I specialize in shields and magical defense, and I want you to help me save my wife.”

The leader studied him, analyzing every little thing he could see about Shining, from the way he carried himself to the look he had in his eyes. After a few minutes, Shining apparently passed some mental test and the leader spoke: “Your wife’s in there?”

Shining nodded, “We’re on our honeymoon.”

“You said you had training?”

“Royal Canterlot guard, the best there is.”

“And you’re willing to lay down your life for this woman?”

Shining Armor took a few minutes to compose just the right response: “I was trained for most of my adult years to lay down my life for the Royal Court, sliding into the mindset of somebody willing to die for a couple of mares he barely even knew. Compared to that, I figure I shouldn’t have any trouble sacrificing myself for Cadence.”

The leader, along with half the bipeds around him, grinned. “Welcome to Seal Team Six, Mr. Armor.”