"Only a fool thinks that a nation can last a thousand years without turmoil. Where there is Harmony, there is Chaos, and wherever the sun shines there will be shadows. This is a basic fact, and while the foolish sit in their homes, sipping their tea and playing in their parks, thinking that the world is perfect, my soldiers know the truth. We know it for we fight to keep it away from everypony every day of the week. Without the Frontier Watch to hunt demons and rebels, Equestria would have fallen long ago. We are the true guardians. Not the royal guard. Not the Elements of Harmony. Us. And we will stay so long as Celestia reigns."

-General Ji, Commander of the Frontier Watch

In the darkest hour of the night, a unicorn stallion near his seventies stares at the wreckage of the train. Normally such a wreckage would be a faint silhouette because of what little light is offered at this time, but in this case there is aid to see the wreckage clearly. Teams of golden armored pegasi patrol the perimeter, carrying gem powered spotlights, and more of such devices on a larger scale have been set up to illuminate the wreckage of the train better. With the pegasi are more Royal Guardponies patrolling and inspecting the wreckage, and they are greatly immersed in their work, collecting and examining the evidence before them with great professionalism.

The unicorn that is overlooking the site has a red coat and a cropped, fading gold mane, with a cutie mark in the shape of five black dots surrounding a white dot. Underneath his four star General's uniform is a slim build that looks sickly compared to the average stallion, with his height being equal to a mare's. However, his size and thin frame is not a source of ridicule. In fact, he rarely faces any form of taunts for his build unless it is behind his back, and that is something that quickly comes to his attention and is dealt with just as fast.

He stares at the scene with a small frown, watching the soldiers of the poorly trained main fighting force of the Equestrian military scurry about the site. Though, as much as he wants to feel disgust for their lack of training, he cannot help but feel pity for their loss. Even from his distance he can see the twenty white sheets covering the bodies of the fallen, and from the blackened spots on the ground and the destroyed vehicle, he sees they put up some effort.

The old unicorn shakes his head and looks down the tracks, seeing the tiny dots of light for the growing city of San Palomino. He looks down the other end and sees only darkness, save for what little light the crescent moon and little stars give. He turns his focus back to the scene when he hears hooves approaching and sees an earth pony stallion with a pale, sandy coat and a white mane. The stallion is also bearing a dust cloud cutie mark and is wearing an armored vest and limb pads colored brown, like the old unicorn's two escorts.

The stallion stops and brings his hoof up for a crisp salute. “Sir, Lieutenant Fast Track reporting back from errand.”

The old unicorn returns the salute. “At ease. What have you found?”

Fast Track lowers his hoof. “Sir, after conversing with the officer in charge, he has informed me that three modified fire rubies have been recovered from the wreckage of the dune wagon.”

The unicorn's brows furrow. “Take me to him.”

Fast Track verbally acknowledges the order and leads the trio to a dark blue pegasus in his fifties with an orange mane and a cutie mark of a winged shield, wearing a pin of an eagle sitting on the sun on his blue and red cuffed uniform. He is quietly conversing with a group of guardponies that salute and leave as soon as the group arrives.

“Colonel Sentry, I have been informed that you found something interesting,” says the unicorn, taking a casual glance at the dark red blotches and streaks of blood that leads around the destroyed vehicle.

“General Ji, always a pleasure to have you,” says the pegasus, Colonel Sturdy Sentry, his pleasantries sounding forced.

“Indeed,” replies General Sharp Ji duly. “What have you found?”

Colonel Sentry calls one of his unicorns over and orders him to bring the fire rubies, and when the unicorn returns, he is levitating a container holding the red stones covered in gold runes. General Ji's eyes narrow and he levitates one of them, studying the gold markings intently. He can make out a display of a winged unicorn circling a tree with an eye on its bark and a ball of flame where the leaves are. He remembers seeing a larger, similar picture of it in an unholy underground temple many decades ago when he did a raid in Miner's Country regarding disturbing information about the disappearance of a husband and wife traveling from Ponyville. Just remove the flame and replace it with overlapping omegas and it will be completely identical.

The site in the abandoned basement had been disturbing, and the warped creatures there had been anything but pony, especially in the center in its pool of dried blood with its bark like skin and tendrils that were more like rotten vines than anything else. He still remembers how its pool of milky white eyes stared at him, peering deep into his soul, like a hopelessly sick patient begging his doctor to kill him. With such a terrible memory resurfacing of the day surrounding the discovery, Ji would have shuddered if he did not have years of discipline with him.

“It took you all night to find this?” asks the General critically.

“We found them earlier, but our arcane specialist was studying them for hours on end. I didn't want to disturb you until we figured out what they were,” claims the Colonel.

“And what was found?” says the General, more out of curiosity about their intellect on the subject than anything else.

Colonel Sentry swallows nervously. “That is the thing, we are not entirely sure. Our specialist says that the symbol is of black magic origins, possibly dating back to the Age of Roaman Occupation. We also know that it enhances the rubies capabilities as seen by the wreckage, but we had multiple shield specialists on that train. No projectile, magic or otherwise, should have been able to penetrate their barriers.”

The General casually returns the ruby back to the unicorn that brought it over. “It is a good thing that I arrived, then. For the safety of your troops and the security of this region, I hereby remove you and the Royal Guard from command and place the Frontier Watch in control until further notice, are we clear?”

“What!” yells Colonel Sentry, adding with a stomp of his hoof: “General, that is absurd! You have no jurisdiction in inner Equestrian conflicts! This is a prison break, therefore a Royal Guard matter! No rank will change that!”

General Ji frowns and waves his hoof around the carnage, stopping specifically at the laid out bodies, his patience wearing thin by the pegasus's outburst.

“Colonel Sentry, this was no prison break. This was an act of war by an enemy who has advanced knowledge in a forbidden class of magic,” says General Ji sternly, continuing when he points at the Colonel. “Your soldiers are not prepared to face whoever orchestrated the attack, whereas my forces specialize in this. Princess Celestia will agree with me without a doubt, which is why when I send a letter informing her of what has happened she will send you a letter ordering you to stand down and let me resolve this situation. Time is of great importance and it is better we move ahead of the formalities and remove these rebels while their strength and numbers are manageable.”

Colonel Sentry ruffles his feathers, staring challengingly at the unicorn, and the old unicorn steps forward and tilts his head up to look at the taller pegasus. Even though he is smaller by size, he still sees the pegasus flinch uncomfortably from his focused gaze. Within seconds, Colonel Sentry's defiant stature relents and his demeanor droops while General Ji remains steadfast.

“Defiance of any nature is unacceptable, Colonel, and the only reason why I am not invoking any form of discipline against you is due to the loss you suffered tonight,” says General Ji.

The old unicorn motions the Colonel to follow him, and the both of them, as well as the three ponies the General arrived with, start walking along the lines of bodies. General Ji looks at the covered bodies, reminding him of an all too familiar sight that the vast majority of Equestrians, both in the military and civilian life, are not accustomed to. In all his years in the service, fighting in the shadows with his brothers and sisters in arms to keep Equestria safe from the unholy forces of dark magic users and other abominations, he has hoped that his nation would remain whole. But he knows his history, and he knows the patterns, and that is why his pity and sorrow for the loss of good ponies has manifested itself into a force that demands blood.

“I have no doubt that we will catch the ones responsible for this travesty, but it will have to be done by our hooves, our way, not yours,” says General Ji when he turns to face the Colonel after they reach the end of the line. “Also, we will need to coordinate with the EIB to make sure that word does not get out about what has happened here. We cannot afford the populace to inherent fear or a sense of rebellion because of this. Control is key, Colonel, and we cannot let it falter any more than it has already.”

Colonel Sentry frowns. “And how do you plan on regaining control of the situation in this case, General?”

General Ji stares at another row of covered bodies that rest away from the fallen guards, and his gaze hardens and his muscles tightens as he begins formulating his plan of retribution. “The same way the Frontier Watch has always taken care of attempted insurrections after the Lunar Rebellion. Quickly and quietly.”