January 2, Modern Era Year 4

0810 Hours

Southern Whitetail Wood

The fresh snow crunched underneath the hooves of the Marines as they pushed their way through the thicket of bare trees. The cold air stung at their noses and exposed skin, the bitter chill nothing more than a nuisance to the battle-hardened ponies as they advanced, bounding from cover to cover. They maintained near-perfect formation as they weaved through the woods, following behind their leader, watching for his every command.

At the head of the pack, Shining Armor gripped his rifle tight to his chest and threw his body through the snow. Pure adrenaline and raw determination drove him onward through the arctic environment. It had been just over a week since the convoy had been attacked and Cadance had been abducted. It had been just over a week with no results. It was disgustingly unacceptable.

Under his order, the Royal Guard had canvassed and re-canvassed the scene more times than he could count, but each time yielded less and less. The griffons and been meticulous to not leave so much as a single trace of their location. They had no evidence to run with, and no idea where to begin searching for the missing princess and her assailants.

That was until a pegasus scout had spotted griffons outside a lone shack in the middle of Whitetail Woods.

Shining Armor wasted no time. He mounted an immediate counterattack with the only soldiers he trusted with his life. The seasoned Marines at his back had saved the Arabian FOB in the past. If he trusted any ponies to not fail, it was them.

The squad rushed through the snow as fast as their hooves could carry them through the frigid powder. The forest began to thin out up ahead, the trees more sparse and far between, the telltale signs of a clearing. Judging by their location, Shining assumed the cabin couldn’t be too far off.

The soldiers advanced to the edge of the tree line, the bright sunlight streaming down through the gnarled branches overhead. Shining pressed his back up against the trunk of a tree and watched his Marines take up positions behind cover to his right and his left. He peered out around the trunk and stared across the clearing. Nestled at the far end was the cabin. It was small; couldn’t have been more than a couple rooms large. The entire area was silent, save for the soft whistle of the wind through the trees, but the smoke billowing from the chimney betrayed the presence of something living inside.

Shining gave a motion to the Marines at his sides, and the soldiers advanced toward the cabin, skirting the edge of the clearing and using the trees for cover as they moved. With a few of the infantry still with him, Shining bounded up across the snow to the front of the cabin, using the stray rocks and snowbanks along the way to hide their approach. He rushed up to a weathered fence about a hundred meters away from the front of the property and stopped, crouched behind one of the posts while he rested his rifle on the wood for support.

He eyed the windows through his scope, watching for any signs of movement inside. He heard the snow crunch and collapse beside him as the Marines caught up, copying his stance and covering the front of the house. The rest of the Marine squad had worked its way around to the sides of the cabin by now. Pegasi scouts darted from cloud to cloud overhead, keeping an eye out for any aerial contacts. They had the building surrounded.

A silhouette moved by one of the windows then. Shining Armor had his rifle to the window in an instant. They weren’t going to get away this time.

“Remember, we take these guys alive if we can. We need to trace this back to the source.” Beside him, the Marines nodded.

“Royal Guard! We’ve got you surrounded in there!” he shouted at the cabin. “Come out and throw your weapons down and you won’t be harmed!”

Nothing happened. For the longest, most tense of moments, everything was still. Shining eyed the door, waiting for it to open and the occupants to surrender to the might of Equestria’s armed forces. They had the upper hoof. They were in control.

What he hadn’t been prepared for was a gunshot to nip through the air past his right ear. Glass shattered as bullets were fired through the windows towards them. Shining ducked his head beneath the biting bullets while the Marines returned fire. In a flash, the entire cabin was torn apart. Windows were blown inward and wood was chipped from the walls under the ceaseless gunfire. Shining lifted his head back up and watched through his scope as the building was obliterated.

The door began to slide open then, and a barrel of a rifle poked through. Shining brought his rifle to bear and squeezed off a barrage of rounds into the door. He watched each one penetrate through the thin wood, and then the door slammed shut again. The gunfire slowed to a stop, and everything was quiet again.

“Move up,” Shining whispered in a hushed hiss to his soldiers and rushed for the front door. The soldiers bounded up two-by-two, the others covering while the rest were on the move until they had arrived at the front door. Shining lifted his head just enough to peek over a windowsill. He couldn’t see nor hear a thing. He pursed his lips and snorted. He didn’t like going into an unknown situation.

“1-2, you see anything around back?” he spoke into his radio while he took up position beside the front door.

“Negative. No rear exits to the building.”

He nodded his head. So this was the only way in or out. That meant they were going to be fighting in a bottleneck if there were any hostiles left alive. Perfect… he thought with chagrin. One more thing to worry about.

Swallowing back his nerves, Shining rose up and pushed on the bullet-riddled door. Something was pressed up against it, keeping it from swinging inward. Shining grunted and threw his shoulder against the door, forcing it open. He felt the weight pinning it slide out of the way as he pushed his way inside. Standing in the doorway, Shining got a good look at the cabin. The object that had been blocking the door was the body of a griffon, the one he had shot through the door. In his talons he held tight to an Equestrian rifle.

The front door opened up to a modest common space, and was unexpectedly empty. A fire burned bright in the hearth. The shabby furniture strewn about the cabin was in various states of disarray and damage. It looked like the cabin had been occupied rather than lived in.

Shining stepped past the threshold and over the corpse at his hooves. The Marines followed in close behind him, sweeping the room with their weapons. A single door sat to the left, closed tight. Two Marines took position beside it and kicked it in. The soldiers rushed in and swept the room. Nothing happened.

“Clear.”

Clear? Shining was baffled. How could it be clear? Walking with hurried steps, he made his way into the adjacent room. Glass shards crunched beneath his boots like the snow outside. The room was a small bedroom, the floor littered with glass from the broken windows. A second griffon lay dead beside the windows, bleeding from multiple wounds across his body. The Marines had got him good.

But what perturbed Shining Armor the most was the absence of Princess Cadance.

The Marines had broken into the closet at the far side of the room and were looking through the empty space. There was absolutely nothing in the cabin. All traces of griffon occupation or Alaric’s involvement were gone. If Cadance had ever been here, there wasn’t a single sign left.

“These are definitely Dawnbreaker griffons, sir,” a Marine said, producing a letter bearing the Dawnbreaker coat of arms. “They have the map and orders of when to attack the convoy.”

“This doesn’t make sense. Where else could they have gone?” Shining paced back and forth in the room. “Why would they leave their own behind if they moved her?”

The Marine shrugged and stood up. “Dunno. Maybe—”

A snap ended the Marine’s sentence and his life in the blink of an eye. Shining recoiled as the Marine’s head hit the floor, blood already pooling beneath him. “Contact, front!”

Gunfire erupted from the woods before he could finish speaking. Shining threw himself to the floor with the rest of the Marine outfit. All of a sudden, the situations had been reversed. They were the ones ambushed and trapped inside the poorly defended cabin. Bullets chewed away at the walls around them, ripping through the air like a swarm of angry hornets. The cries of the wounded were barely heard above the snapping bullets. It was all Shining could do to watch as his soldiers fell to the floor, either desperate to save their lives or already lost.

“1-2, we have heavy enemy fire to the north! Do you have eyes on targets?” Shining shouted into his radio.

“Negative. Do not have eyes on target—”

“In the trees! They’re in the trees!”

The radio became a flurry of indistinct shouts amidst the firefight. Shining Armor risked a glance up over the windowsill. Silhouettes moved between the gnarled branches of the bare trees, muzzle flashes popping up in between them. The griffons had been waiting for them all along and they had walked right into the trap. Shining cursed under his breath for being so short-sighted. He propped himself up against the wall, resting his rifle on the window and returning fire.

Another Marine shouted out as he was hit and fell to the floor, leaving Shining with just one other soldier with him. He grit his teeth, peering down his scope and squeezing round after round into the treetops. The branches provided the griffons with minimal cover, but no matter how many bullets Shining sent at them, none seemed to make contact.

A bullet snapped past his ear, nicking the skin and making the stallion yelp and drop his head. He could feel the wet blood dampening the fur down the side of his neck. That had been too close.

The Marines behind the cabin joined the fray, lighting up the griffon ambushers with everything they could. Despite their luck, the branches failed to hold up against the onslaught of accurate fire. One by one, the griffons fell from the trees to the powdery ground with squawks and squeals. Gaining the momentum again, Shining sat up and trained his sights on an enemy. He steadied his breath and pulled the trigger three times. The rifle kicked against his shoulder, and he was rewarded with the sight of his target plummeting to the earth with a spasm.

Before he could celebrate his kill, another bullet struck his rifle dead center in his scope, shattering both lenses and tearing across the side of his neck as it ricocheted out the other end. Shining screamed out as shards of glass flew into his eyes. Warm blood ran down his chest, and he fell to his back behind cover, pressing his hoof against the shallow wound while trying to blink the blurriness out of his vision.

“Pony down! The captain’s down!” the Marine shouted into his radio and dropped beside his officer, hurrying to press a cloth to his neck. “Stay still, sir. Where are you hit?”

“My neck. My fucking neck… Fuck! I can’t see!” Shining wiped at his eyes with his free hoof, feeling his pulse fast and strong against the hoof holding his injured neck. He prayed that his carotid hadn’t been nicked, or he was a goner. The thought of bleeding out in the cold made him tremble.

“Hang on, sir. They’re almost down.”

The firefight continued for only a few minutes more, and then the clearing fell into an eerie silence. Shining Armor could hear the wind whistling around outside the cabin above his labored breathing. His breath hung in a heavy cloud before his snout. His vision out of his right eye was hazy and unfocused, and his left was nonexistent. The collar of his uniform had been stained a dark red with his own blood.

“Hostiles down. Area clear.”

It was the best news Shining could have hoped for. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling with distant eyes. How had he fallen for that? He was the Captain of the Guard. He was better than that. Wasn’t he…? His head rolled to the side, and his eyes were met with the grim sight of his dead soldiers. They lay broken on the dirty floor in pools of their own blood. He had led them straight into the ambush because of his haste. Now he understood why Fleethoof had been so beaten up. To think he had berated him over not being better, and now here he lay… A twinge of regret twisted his guts into small knots.

Hurried hoofsteps rushed into the cabin as the Marines surged inside, rushing to care for the injured ponies. Shining Armor was hoisted up carefully to the bed and settled down as a corpsman inspected his neck and eye. His vision continued to shift in and out of focus while he listened to the Marines methodically sweep the cabin, scooping up anything and everything that looked even remotely useful.

“Oh shit… Hold still. Your eye is messed up pretty bad, but it’s only a shallow laceration on your neck, Captain,” the corpsman said with a chuckle and placed patches over the seeping wounds. “You’re lucky. A little deeper and we’d be bagging you.”

Shining Armor gave a breathless, sarcastic chuckle. “Lucky me.”

“Sir, there’s nothing here about where the griffons went, or where the princess might be.”

Shining sighed. That was exactly what he had feared. Cadance’s trail had gone stone cold. “Just bag everything. We’ll let the RIS sort it out.”

“And the dead, sir?”

“Get them on stretchers. We’re moving them out too.”

“Are you sure you want to move out, sir? I mean, are you all right to?”

“I’m fine,” grunted Shining as he slid off the bed and onto his hooves, making sure the bandage on his neck held firm. “But the less time I have to spend here, the better. Just… somepony else take point. I’ll follow.”

“Aye, sir. You heard him, colts. Bag it and tag it. Let’s move!”

Shining Armor moved out of the cabin amongst the frenzy of Marines and stepped out into the cold. The chilly air whisked the sweat from his brow and stung at his lungs from the inside. He stared out at the trees, at the blurred and shifting trunks and branches. He blinked a few times in rapid succession to clear the itching in his eyeballs. How could he have been so careless? When did Alaric get this resourceful?

All of these questions passed through his head as he watched the dead Marines get carried out past him one at a time. They had nothing. They had lost several good ponies and they had nothing to show for it. Cadance was still missing. Only this time, they didn’t even have a scrap of a lead to follow next. They had hit a dead end.

He owed Fleethoof an apology.

1130 Hours

Canterlot, Equestria

The days following Skyfall’s removal from service had all passed in a slow blur to Fleethoof. He stared out at the bustling traffic of Canterlot’s streets from the small table inside his favorite café. A cup of untouched coffee sat wrapped in his good hoof, still steaming, despite how long it had been sitting there. Fleethoof’s nose was almost pressed to the glass, he was staring so intently out at the ponies. Perhaps if he looked hard enough, he’d see her emerge from somewhere within the crowd, as if she had never been taken at all.

“Fleet…?”

He tore his eyes away from the sea of ponies. He knew she wouldn’t appear by magic. She was gone, and it was all his fault. He glanced across the table at Midnight Dasher, doing his best to avoid looking into her worried eyes. He didn’t mean to keep worrying her over him. He was fine—fine being relative to his hoof still in a sling. The bandages had come off his head, and his other wounds had healed. Almost every trace of the incident had vanished with time.

“Hmm?”

“You okay?” she asked.

Fleethoof dipped his head in a slow nod. “Never better.”

“Are you really gonna try to lie to a professional liar?” She snickered. It must have been a hope to break the tension. “You’re still thinking about what happened?”

“How could I not?”

“Easy. Just don’t think about it!”

If looks could kill, the glare Fleethoof shot across the table would have hit Midnight with the force of a .45. “You’re hilarious,” he deadpanned.

“I’m just trying to help, Fleety.”

“I know you are, and I’m grateful, but…” He heaved a sigh and gazed with sullen eyes down into the dark pool of caffeine in his cup. “You couldn’t understand…”

“Why can’t I?” Midnight asked. “What’s so difficult?”

Fleethoof pursed his lips together and tensed up in his seat. His hoof left his cup and moved to rest against the crystal heart hanging around his neck. He caught Midnight’s eyes follow his hoof, noting how her ears drooped a little and her eyes seemed to darken ever so slightly.

“Sooo… what’s the story with the necklace?”

“Cadance gave it to me right before we were attacked…” he explained, speaking in a slow, neutral tone to keep the quiver out of his voice. “It was a thank you gift for all the times I saved her before, and then I follow that up by letting her get kidnapped and several ponies killed…”

Midnight raised her hoof as if she were in class, offering a rebuttal to a wrong answer. “But that wasn’t your fault.”

“It could have been prevented. It wasn’t.”

“But it wasn’t in your control to prevent. You didn’t see it coming. Nopony did.”

Fleethoof snorted under his breath and narrowed his eyes. “Somepony has to take the blame for it.”

“But that isn’t you,” Midnight replied. “That’s Alaric’s cross.”

Unable to come up with a response that made him feel any better, Fleethoof just hung his head and stared into his coffee again. His hoof continued to twirl the necklace. Midnight averted her gaze for a few moments, staring sideways at something else in the café that must’ve been enrapturing to keep her attention in such a way.

“Who is the princess to you?” she asked softly.

Her question caught Fleethoof off guard. His hoof stopped the necklace and he looked back up at her. “She’s the princess.”

“No, I mean, who is she to you that you’re like this?” She was unable to look up at him still as she spoke.

“Cadance has been a friend for a long time. She means a lot to me.”

Midnight’s ears lowered a touch more. Finally, her eyes lifted to meet his again, a seeking look in them. “How much is ‘a lot’?”

Fleethoof’s brow knitted together, trying to decipher just what she was hunting for.

“Do you love her?”

That struck him in the heart. Fleethoof opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could feel his jaw hanging open, his eyes wide. Midnight flicked her mane back behind her ear and shook her head.

“I’m not trying to pry. I’m just trying to figure out the whole broken and upset thing you’re going through. I mean, if you did, it would make sense…”

“I’m upset because I failed, Midnight,” Fleethoof sighed. “I haven’t failed like this before… I failed Cadance, I failed Shining, I failed you—all of you… That’s why I’m upset.”

Midnight’s eyes went wide. She leaned across the table and rested a hoof over his as it went for his drink again. He glanced up at her, holding her gaze while she offered him a tiny smile.

“You’re only one pony, Fleet. Nopony needs you to be a superhero.”

Fleethoof tightened his mouth into a line and glanced out the window again. “Cadance did. And now she’s gone, and I can’t do a thing about it…”

“Just take it easy for a bit,” said Midnight with hope. “You’ll be all better soon, and then you’ll be good to go. Then we’ll go get her back.”

Fleethoof scowled at his own reflection in the glass. He hated waiting. He hated being useless. Nothing made him feel worse than knowing there was more he could do and being unable to do so. But he had no choice. All he could do was pray and wait. Maybe if he was really lucky, Shining Armor would have already captured the bad guys and rescued Cadance.

But when am I ever that lucky? he thought and continued to watch the city, and the world, pass him by.