Chapter 6: We could use your kind of...discretion.

With the wind blowing furiously, sweeping her rainbow mane, a cyan pegasus simply overlooked the railing. Unfazed by the blasting breeze, she sighed and looked upon the blurry green woodlands below. Through woolly clouds, a couple of kilometres below, she saw the plain old boring earth. To her it was mere stokes of dull greens and the occasional brown blots. From the heavens she took a moment to look at the horizon.

The metropolis was a testament to well over 2000 years of equine culture. Canterlot, the very symbol of hope and cultural strive, was to be this azure pegasus' destination. Smooth bleached walls would not reveal that the ancient Capital's history dated past 100. Yet the faded purple décor revealed the true age of the city.

Still the merciless cyclone persisted and threatened the equine with its great speed. She sighed and looked back to the rest of the occupants with her magenta eyes. Ignoring the winds, she looked up to seven other ponies, varying from party pink to ivory white, sitting in the golden chariot. She spied a dove white unicorn attempting to hide her royal purple hairdo from the wind, and a jittery yellow pegasus with a warm pink mane.

There was an orange apple farmer owning the blonde mane and Stetson hat, a vibrating candy pink bundle of joy who was giggling as her mane was windswept. Finally, sitting closest to the bored mare, another purple unicorn; who was only slightly concerned for her darker shaded mane. Stuffed saddle bags lay in the middle of the large chariot.

The group of mares had escorts on this journey to the palace. The two guards, who were on pick up duty for discussing and spreading rumours, stood opposite the ponies at the back. Overlooking the edge and silently scanning for dangers. Not that any were to be expected on this route, hence the reason it was deemed a punishment. Still, what their 'priorities' were discussing was actually the most interesting topic they had heard recently, and highly relevant to why they were punished.

"Can you believe, we're going to actually meet a new INTELLIGENT species?! Apparently they are as curious about us as we are of them." the lilac one announced. She had brought her mentor's letter and had passed it around. Everypony had each read the message, and had each taken a piece of information they were eager to discuss.

"I do say, if these creatures are as brave as Princess Celestia says they are it shall be an interesting cultural exchange Twilight." said the other, more poised, unicorn. With a flick of her head the rest of her curled mane soon followed. “I do hope the courageous stallions are okay."

The look on her face made Twilight giggle and snort as she fantasised about masculine knights and dapper colts.

"Oh...I do hope they're okay too. The Princess said one of them is half blind. The poor dear must be scared and in need of help." the yellow shivering wreck pointed out in a motherly tone. She would occasionally look over the edge before squeaking and hiding behind her rose mane. Now that she was talking however the urge to look over seemed to dissipate, for time being.

"Ahm sure their fine sugar cube. The Princess would have said if any critter was in trouble, and yer know yer the best for lookin' after animals Fluttershy. Ahm sure they're alright." The cowpony reassured her pegasus friend by resting her hoof on her shoulder.

"R-r-really?" she asked, reclaiming her trail of thought from the sudden grasp of vertigo.

"Applejack's right. Celestia would have told me if they were in trouble," she paused as she recalled the written text: 'and nearly died twice ', “since she didn't we can assume that these ponies--Pinkie Pie why are you still doing that?"

All eyes, including the bored blue pegasus, darted to see an energetic pink blur. The mare in question had not stopped shaking since she read the message.

"Is it another doozy?" Twilight asked with a concerned tone.

"What? No silly filly. That's much different. I shake up and down, not down and up, for a doozy." the mare explained. She beamed, teeth chattering, as the group all rolled their eyes.

"Pinkie Pie, You are so random." The sporty one finally spoke flatly, looked back at the rapidly approaching city, and groaned. Whilst flinging her hooves in the air, she turned back the group.

"This is taking forever! I could have made it there and back by now, in ten seconds flat." folding her arms she slumped against the rail.

"Rainbow Dash, be patient dear," the alabaster unicorn spoke slightly annoyed, "We will get there when we get there. Shouldn't you be excited that there are new ponies in Equestria?" she pointed out before imagining a brilliant white colt in a tuxedo. She likes the look of a well-kept beard, given that it didn't look like a random assortment of wires, so he had to have a little stubble.

A lady can have preferences too. she thought, ignoring Dash's rant on why she was not wanting to be patient, she could only recall the something along the lines of 'Fastest flyer in all of Equestria.'

"Rarity did you even read the letter? Creatures, not ponies." the cyan speedster pointed out.

Needless to say the unicorns dream sequence ended like a burst bubble. Shame too, she had reached the kissing scene.

"Why do you guys wanna see these things so badly?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"New technology and ways of thinking, oh and books!" squealed the Librarian.

"I for one am looking forward to the rich cultural exchange. Perhaps even ideas for a new breakthrough in clothing designs." The fashionista's eyes sparkled at the prospect of bringing in a new era of fashion.

"It said new ideas and stories." chirped the vibrating pink mare. She stopped shaking and gasped. "What if they have new ideas for parties, or how to party or...or...even new types of cakes!" squealed the Pinkie pie, returning to her bouncing.

"Oh...I just want to help..." She finished the last part, whatever it was, with a small 'eep'.

"They seem like nice critters RD, if they can save the Princess they're good in mah books." Applejack was quick to defend the strangers.

Rainbow Dash quickly took off, swiping the letter from in front of the cotton candy coloured space hopper. Landing in front of the Orange mare she pointed to one of the sentences.

"Seeking to INVADE our world. INVADE!" she emphasised. "How can you think their good if it says right here that they want to attack us?" She was interrogating the cowpony viscously, but the apple farmer stood her ground.

"If y'all kept on reading, rather than mouthing off, yer would have seen it say that they were scared. It also says right here that she knows that they ain't all evil. If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for you." She was jabbing at her rival’s chest when she caught a glimpse of one of the guards.

He was quick to try and inspect the fascinating speck of dirt on the golden chariot, before realising he was still inviting suspicion. Applejack the Element of Honesty's suspicion, to be exact.

"Ah don't suppose you two know anything about these critters?" she asked, closing the already small gap between the armoured colt and her. Although he kept a stern look, once all eyes were on him he broke out into a sweat.

The other's guard’s ear shot up and faced the colt. Although he didn't need to see him he could tell his partner was not standing in protocol format.

"Well?" pressed Applejack. Not only was the rookie embarrassing himself but also his brother next to him.

"Well, there's..." he was about to continue when he was interrupted.

"No. Don't. You. Dare!" The elder stated fiercely. Now the younger was stuck looking between two different ponies.

"Don't you dare what?" The cyan pegasus was hovering close to the armoured unicorn, whilst the apricot one was looking into the eyes of the other.

"Do y'all know anything 'bout these things that saved the Princess?" she asked leaning towards the younger sibling. He gulped sharply, but remained silent.

"Wait, do you guys know something about these creatures?" Twilight rushed over and began bombarding the defenceless colt with question after question. He could only look at his brother who was trying to convince him to do his duty. Alas, Rainbow dash refused to let him get a word in edgewise. After mere seconds of constant queries he gave in.

"We don't know WHAT they are!" he yelled. He started panting, heart racing after the sudden outburst.

"Then why were y'all actin funny?" Applejack asked.

The guards exchanged a glance. After a silent dispute, known only to the brothers, the elder growled.

"Fine," He turned and looked at the pastel coloured mares and he said, "but you didn't hear it from me." With that he resigned himself to the small corner, where he had been stationed for the trip.

"Hear what dear?" Rarity piped up.

"Look. Three days ago there was a huge explosion from the Princess' room. We were all tempted to rush in but were under strict orders to not enter Celestia's wing. That entire part of the castle was cut off. Whatever had happened...it was big." The group backed up and sat down around the storyteller. Twilight was slowly growing more worried for her teacher's sake. Once everypony was listening intently he continued.

"For three days nopony saw anything of Celestia. Only Princess Luna attended to her needs. She would collect her food for her, handle the courts and so on. We were beginning to think that she might be...you know," he rolled his hoof around whilst the ponies looked confused, "turning back into Nightmare moon." The group gasped in shock. Before they could protest he pressed on.

"Well yesterday, we saw Celestia looking as cheerful as ever. Heck I'd say she was as happy as when Princess Luna had returned." The Elements of Harmony were immediately relieved.

"Now here's the weird thing. Her room was destroyed. Just obliterated, a whole wall removed, her bed had a rock sleeping in it, and debris was everywhere. We were asked to watch over the construction workers. There's a lot of interesting things up for grabs in her room."

Twilight remembered such things; there was the recipe to her unique shampoo, the crown jewels, and a few spells Twilight remembers being called 'forbidden'.

"So why was she gone?" Rainbow dash quizzed.

"Nopony knows. Although we think it has something to do with what the builders found." As he leant forward, so did the others including his brother.

"They found a dagger."

The group looked at each other with slight confusion.

"A dagger?" Twilight asked, she knew that was not amongst her mentor’s possessions. Truth be told she couldn’t imagine why the Princess would need a weapon, being the most powerful being in Equestria.

"Yeah. It was not a pony dagger or a griffin's or even a diamond dogs. No weapon design matched it and the handle was about the size of one hoof but too thin for it to be used by us. I tried, it didn’t feel right. Whatever made it, it was not from Equestria." As he stated his conclusion the group looked even more bewildered, except Rainbow Dash who made the connection.

"You think it belong to the things Celestia wants us to meet, don't you?" Twilight was about to argue that the weapon didn't belong to these things, but she could see no alternative. If nopony was meant to use the weapon they who could? After giving it some thought she reluctantly agreed with that hypothesis.

"Yes. But there was something else too. The dagger had teeth on one side, patterned like dragon fangs, and the other was sharper than any sword known to our kind. It didn't reflect the light, I brought it to the guy working in the armoury and he said it was the way the metal was manufactured."

Rarity gasped and so did Twilight, the others didn't understand. After explaining that it meant that there were more knives on a much larger scale they all looked mortified.

"Anyway it gets weirder. It was black and on one side it had an inscription." The wind seemed to die down. It was the final run before they would land and meet these 'friendly beings' who the serrated blade belonged to.

"It said ‘Snake’, but on the other side the word 'fang' was scratched in. Then there was a small tally chart at the top of the handle. And blood, dried blood. That wasn't WASHED away. Whatever drew blood, did not want it to be known." The key word meaning that these things choose to wash away some creature’s life force. Needless to say it did not settle well; especially for the already petrified canary yellow pony, and the suspicious pegasus.

The group looked at each other after the grisly story. Never had they ever been more fearful of Celestia’s friends. That's counting some of the rich ponies of Canterlot and the celebrities such as 'the Wonder Bolts'. Compared to fighting Discord this seemed almost like a suicide mission, or an execution given who invited them.

"I told you!" Of course the sky blue wonder would point that out. As much as they wanted to side with the Princess, this story seemed almost believable.

"Now look here RD. They SAVED-THE-PRINCESS!" Applejack stressed out each word by not only yelling, but by also pressing her head against her friend’s floating close by.

“How do we know it hurt anypony? Maybe it's a cuttin' knife, and it cut itself bah accident and didn't want to leave...blood on it." The word sounded, and tasted, vile. "Besides that's just a rumour." she added, the rest seemed to follow that logic.

"You're right Applejack. Rainbow Dash there is no reason to scare." Twilight was cut off, when Rainbow Dash darted over to the story teller.

"How big was the knife?"

"The metal part of the dagger? About...7 inches. Again, too big for a normal pony or even a stallion. It could be classed as a small short sword." Rainbow didn't care. She was, repeatedly, pointing both of her fore hooves at the guard; as she did this she gave them all an expectant look. Applejack only sighed and walked past. The rest soon trotted, flew, and hopped to catch up to her.

"Hey miss." Rainbow turned to face, not the younger, but the elder sibling. "You should keep your guard up. Don't let them see it, at least if it does go south you'll be ready."

She looked at her friends. A fire burned in her eyes, he noticed this and backed away slowly. To her these ponies were more than her friends. They were her chosen family. A bond she would defend, fight for, die for even.

If these things even tried to hurt a hair on Fluttershy's head there will be Tartarus to pay.

The morning did not go to Snake's liking. It wasn't the early rise; he had hundreds in and out the field. The 20 minute wait for the bathroom? It was a minor inconvenience for someone who was used to withholding release, inside an enemy compound, for four hours. It wasn't the vegan oriented food restriction; he was fine, as long as he got enough protein supplements. It wasn't that he wasn't allowed to hunt any meat, although it took time to get over that one. No, it was that until the doctor or Celestia deemed it worthy, he had nothing to do. Soon he would have to meet these ‘Elements of Harmony’ and the least he could do was look his best.

"Hurry up Specks! I want to trim this rat's nest on my chin!" Snake pounded on a door leading to the only bathroom in the infirmary. "What are you doing in there?" He was genuinely curious.

"I'm shaving, piss off!" he replied politely.

"You haven't even hit puberty yet, what you doing? Shaving your legs?" He mocked. He was starting to get annoyed, as were the girls. Whilst Amber looked more tidied and cleaned up, Abbiegale looked like death. Her bed hair loosely framed her agitated expression. Ursa didn't seem bothered by that fact about her appearance, until she glared at him.

"Very funny smart guy, I swear that's the last time I get bladdered with you." The voice of the 28 year old engineer seemed to be drowned out by a running tap.

"Not my fault you didn't start till you were 15." Snake remarked to himself, caught up in the memory of the last time him and Specks got wasted. Snake departed with a woman dressed in scarlet and left Specks to get a tattoo. Prior to this, they had been discussing football scores, then started rating the female company, before long they were talking about regrets when that secret popped up.

This was two weeks before the mission. Specks still has '100% British beef’ permanently labelled on his left cheek

Finally it was Snake’s turn, after 36 minutes of 'it’s my turn' and 'I claimed it' he finally got it. The last one to use it was Deadeye; he used the insult 'age before beauty' to worm his way past Snake, who had barely put his foot in the door. He had enough and the only other person left was Ursa. They had met eyes and agreed to a showdown.

They camped out on the beds by sitting beside the door. They merely stared at each other, challenging each other. Both were forging a tension ready to snap. It almost did when Snake removed his crimson stained vest top. He wanted no distractions, but he was more than happy to give Ursa one.

A soon as Deadeye began to whistle a merry tune, they readied themselves. Still silent, and holding a rival's grin, they waited for the locks to shift.

There was the merry tune again.

3

The sharp slide of a lock.

2

A slow twist of the door knob.

1

Snake shot up; he had a fairly strong build but was well balanced, as opposed to the behemoth before him. Ursa was built for support and frontal assaults, not agile movement. He rose slightly slower, giving Snake time to reach for the handle. The medic received a blood stained vest top to the face. Irritated and disgusted, he ripped off the space invading cloth.

Too late, a freshly cleaned Deadeye stood bewildered. No one could tell if he had washed his face, due to the mask, but his arms and shoulders seemed to be a polished colour of flesh. No bruising or dirt, only a pair of confused blue eyes.

"What just happened?" He asked the Russian, who was seething.

"Nothing, lost to slippery Snake."

After a couple of minutes washing his body, scrubbing dried blood splatters and grit from the building, Snake eventually came to wet shaving. Dragging his finger along the elongated bristles, he had chosen his desired style of beard. Running his 7 inch blade under hot water, he dabbed the cleansing liquid onto his cheeks then he got to work. With smooth practised strokes, the occasional quick flick, no punctures or slits, he looked back at the newly crafted facial fur.

Grabbing a towel to brush up remaining hairs, he looked back to his injured form. He wasn't a bodybuilder, but he gave signs of a precise training regime. The bandage around his chest, although he tried to avoid that area, was soaked with the water.

After resting his hand on his wounded shoulder, he focused on the bandage eye. Ursa had removed the head bandage, but had left a smaller strip across the eye to hold a small padded cloth. The scarred line was making an appearance, running from top of his eyebrow to the tip of his cheek.

He sighed consulted with his thoughts.

See what happens when you get complacent. If Captain Mickey saw this he would blow a gasket. You didn't become Captain by being over emotional. Stupid fool! You nearly killed your team, your best friend and Celestia. The mission was nearly compromised because you couldn't control yourself properly. No more emotions. Do not bond to this world. You might just fuck up again, you idiot.

Shortly after grilling himself, he began to breathe harder as his rage built up. To him he was right. He did nearly kill everybody, and he nearly robbed another world of its ruler. He had almost succeeded in what his enemies had tried to do. Regardless he knew the scar would forever remind him to stay on track. He normally would grieve later at the loss of a soldier, but Jacob was a special case. This time, it was like he had killed him. This time it was like he killed a brother, but worse. He witnessed it.

He shook the thought away and studied the groomed stubble. He heard voices outside, as he caressed the crafted 5 O'clock shadow. Lightly shaded and not to heavily bristly, exactly the way he liked it. He began to recognise the voice now. It was no longer an inaudible noise when the tap wasn't running.

"Sir we got ten minutes. Make a move or something." Specks suggested, knocking on the door. In the background he could hear Russian spout curse words and a lot of references to being slow, along with Snake's cheating ability. Calmly approaching the door, the Captain told the youngest to calm down and get ready.

Once he opened it he found Luna yawning before gawking at him. He let her study his naked upper body and regarded it as a brief lesson in male human physiology. He was searching for his vest as she took notice into the strange markings on his back.

She was about to interview him about it until he glanced at Ursa and began an interrogation of his own.

"Hey what did you do with the vest?" he questioned the giant. He replied by saying he threw it at Specks, who passed it to Amber who passed it to Deadeye. He claimed to chuck it on the bed behind him. There was no bed behind him.

Only the window.

Massaging the bridge of his scrubbed nose, he told Deadeye to check the 'bed' behind him. Spinning around, he took note of the lack of said bed and instead peered out of the window. Looking down, he couldn't even see the ground under the thick shrubbery; if there was no bushes or trees, they were still hundreds of feet above the ground. He had hoped that it was blown onto a neighbouring platform, roughly a few hundred feet to the right, alas that was not the case.

"Oh." was the only thing he could say. The Captain assumed the veteran was only half as sorry as he was trying to be, given that he seemed completely unfazed at losing the item of clothing. Truth be told Snake was not particularly attached to the vest, and simply shrugged the incident off.

"I suppose I'll be fine, just close the window I can feel a draft. Besides, I assume it would be interesting for these ponies to see what I truly look like, given that Luna has still not taken her eyes of my chest." He turned to face a slightly startled Princess. She had rosy cheeks burning through that indigo coat. She was attempting to explain her reason for the observation but found it difficult under his smug look. Abbiegale had to rescue the poor alicorn as she was stuttering up a storm.

"Didn't you get a good look at Celestia when you found her? Heck, I didn't understand why a hor-pony was in gold chains. We normally wear clothes, I am sure she is just interested in what we look like." The Mistress of the night nodded vigorously after this.  

Still arching an eyebrow he looked away, as he did this Luna mouthed ‘thank you’ to the woman. Snake was tempted to look back as the twins giggled.

"Ahem, Snake I must inform you that the Elements will be arriving shortly. Perhaps you should cover yourself?" Luna suggested looking around for anything to cover him with. He was confused; it was not as if his manhood was out for the world to see. Furthermore, they don't exactly cover themselves in the right places either.

"Hang on a sec, you don't even wear proper clothing. I am not wearing the rest of the suit; I need the vest or something to stop the little pointy bits from digging into my wounds. I think they will be fine, I don't see what the problem is not wearing clothing."

"You are naked." she pointed out.

"Half naked." he gestured to the exposed area before pointing to his pants. After reading the book, and the section about human taboos, she thought that being any form of naked would be considered inappropriate.  After altering the mental note she asked why they wear clothing.

Specks stated it could be for survival purposes, to stay warm and dry, after using Snake's body as tool to point out where he had little hair. Immediately snake lifted his arms and spun around to display the little patches of hair on his upper body. He explained that there are certain levels of nakedness and contexts that are appropriate.

He made it clear that the crotch area could never be exposed and she stared towards the spot. The lecturer did not indicate to do so, so Snake snapped his fingers and she looked up with another burning blush on her face.

He chuckled at her expense and queried into how long they had to wait. She said not long but Ursa wanted to shave quickly. Having the sharpest knife, Snake passed his blade to Ursa and he went onto his male grooming.

Specks was now in his bed, and was aligning his gadgets up for show and tell, whilst Deadeye was storing the weapons away under Snake's direct orders. The Captain had given Amber and Abbiegale a mission to see if they could retrieve Luna's crown.

Once completed, they passed it over to Snake as he casually walked by, and Luna continued to talk about the fascinating subject of how to move the stars. The topic actually put the mission on hold for a while as the twins put forward the idea of star signs. Luna was excited to finally hear more about these constellations in greater detail. So much so, that she did not notice her tiara vanish.

The women and man smiled innocently as she left the room, not aware of the stolen symbol of authority hiding behind Snake. She stated she would return half way through meeting between the humans and her subjects, if not it would be after dealing with the last of her duties.

After finally navigating the ancient halls, Twilight and the gang had reached the corridor where Celestia waited to greet them. Trotting along the cardinal carpet, Twilight reached her mentor and greeted her with an affectionate nuzzle. The rest of the group smiled and the display when the Princess returned the sweet embrace.

"Princess it's really good to see you again! How have you been?" Twilight asked happily to the ruler, as she retracted from the friendly act. Once the group gave a bow they followed Celestia to the meeting point.

"I have been fine my dear, thank you for asking. How are you girls?" The soothing voice was a welcomed sound for the group. The ruler of the sun was walking towards the end of the corridor before turning to face another corner.

The group all chirped their joyful responses as Celestia waited for them. Twilight said she was ecstatic to meet new beings, and asked about the one she would take a liking to. She was genuinely curious about why she would have a favourite already. Celestia smiled and said “You'll see.” This became the answer to most of the group’s questions. Such as; "what do they look like?", "Do they have clothes?”, "Should we throw a big party, or a surprise one?" Pinkie's question activated the automated response as they were walking down the final corridor.

One last question stopped them dead in her dead in her tracks, merely meters away from the door.

"Princess, are they dangerous?" The cyan mare asked. That question had been in her head for the past couple of minutes, burning its way deep into her mind. The thoughts of something potentially evil behind those doors were voiced, and confirmed, when the journey came to a halt.

"They mean us no harm, and are my friends, so long as we keep peace with them. To answer your question Rainbow Dash it is both yes and no. Do not worry," she said dismissively, waving a hoof as if to bat away concerns for safety, "they are friendly and even if they do retaliate they will not cause great harm. If such an event occurs I will intervene, however it is highly unlikely. I think you will all enjoy their company." For some this brought back the cheerful mood, for one this enforced her preconceived notions.

Opening the doors, a cool breeze glided through the infirmary window. The girls, except the butterscotch pegasus, eagerly stepped in and looked for these creatures. As soon as they stepped in, all of them spied what they were looking for.

There were five of these things. Each one was facing the group, as the mares studied them. Three were sitting patiently on the beds, two of which looked exactly alike. They had long fore and back hooves, but the upper pair appeared to end with blunt claws. The one sitting by the window seemed to have a mask covering his face, allowing only his sky blue eyes to inspect the girls. There was another one with large goggles, standing on its back hooves. She could see the lenses move like irises and whir as they focused solely on Twilight.

Finally there was the one she assumed was injured and nearly died twice. The folded  arms and the way he sat in his seat seemed to irradiate authority. Despite the bandaged eye and wrapped up arms and chest, he still seemed threatening.

“Hello Celestia. Please do come in, you’re always welcome into our humble abode my good friend.” He joked at the fact that she could kick him out in a moment’s notice. Also days ago, to him, they had met so it brought a warm smile to her face.

“Thank you. Girls, there is no need to fear them. They wish to talk and to get to know our world, since they will be staying.”

Yeah about that Sunny. We need to talk. Which reminds me, I gotta get Specks to check on that flower. I’ll get him to do it tomorrow. he was tempted to ask her if they could leave once they were fully healed, but something purple was bouncing in front of him.

“Hello I am Twilight Sparkle. Oh this is amazing. Let me get my notes.” Immediately her saddle bags glowed with a purple hue and opened up. Shortly after, scrolls and a quill were hovering before her and she still had that painful smile on her face. “This is going to be incredible.  Ahem.” she cleared her throat,

Snake was looking at Celestia with an arched eyebrow. She smiled back happily as the rest of the group gingerly tip toed in, meanwhile the nervous pegasus tried to remain in the middle of her friends.

Snake still remained quiet with an amused look on his face; he turned to the rest of the squad, minus Ursa, who looked back grinning. Well, he imagined even Deadeye was at least taken by the cute bouncing pink blur.

“Question one: What are you?

Question two: Where did you come from?

Question three: How did you get here?

Question four: What are your intentions here?

Questi…” The interviewer/ interrogator stopped her bombardment when Snake raised his hand and answered each question.

“Classified, classified, classified and fun.” He replied earning a chuckle from the rest of the humans and the Princess. Meanwhile the ponies looked at each other, with the exception Fluttershy, with a bamboozled expression.

“Err…okay?” Twilight didn’t understand but noted down each answer anyway. Snake had to stop her there and then. He stated that he was joking and began to introduce himself properly this time.

“Sorry my pretty purple pony,” she blushed as he continued to talk, “but I was expecting introductions before we began this cultural get together.” She snapped out of the state he had left her in and smiled sheepishly before chuckling.

“Hehe, yeah sorry about that. I guess I got carried away; I was just so excited to meet a new intelligent life form.”

“I know how you feel. Now then let me introduce my team. ATTENTION!” he swiftly shifted from a warm inviting voice to a more commanding tone. The girls were all shocked, Fluttershy squeaked before hiding under her mane. The soldiers and spies moved to their beds and assumed a straightened stance. Except Ursa who was still in the bathroom.

Twilight was startled and edged back, Rainbow looked ready to fly in a take out his other eye but he reassured them it was what happens in the military life.

“Lieutenant Deadeye; best sniper in seal team six, can stop a target over a mile and a half away from here.” He walked past the eldest human as he greeted the ponies with a nod.

Moving on to the twins he introduced them by the code names they were given at the beginning of the mission.

“This is Widow,” he pointed to Amber, “and this is Vixen.” he pointed to Abbiegale. They looked at him with an unimpressed expression.  Unlike the men, they didn’t care for these call signs. They corrected this and reintroduced themselves as Amber and Abbiegale, much to Snakes annoyance.

“Moving on.” He did exactly that and arrived to Specks who was sitting on the edge of his bed, goggles whirring and clicking. “This is Private Specks, mobile trooper of her Royal Majesty's secret air service; S.A.S for short.” The Elements of Harmony looked to the Princess who shook her head, and stated that he was on about the queen on his world.

“Now we come to…Where is Ursa?” Snake asked Specks who pointed to the bathroom. Twilight looked terrified when she assumed he was on about an Ursa Minor, similar to one she had fought when Trixie showed up.

“U-U-Ursa?” Twilight muttered. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were preparing to attack an actual Ursa, not what appeared next.

The door to the bathroom opened and out stepped a man of incredible size. The mare’s eyes narrowed as he cast a shadow over them. The light of the bathroom silhouetted his form. Whilst the ponies were shaking and hugging each other he took the time to voice his confusion.

“Vwat is going on? Did I miss something?” The Russian asked, the girls were still worried by the behemoth. Shortly after, Celestia explained what was happening to Ursa. Terror still gripped the Elements until a new name was mentioned. A familiar title.

“Oh okay, erm…Snake?” The group immediately looked at who he was addressing, recognising the name. Now they were searching for one thing: the dagger. It was the weapon that Rainbow Dash was hoping to find and prove their hidden danger, and yet hoped not to be on the receiving end of.

“Yeah? What is it? Get in line soldier.” Instantly the lower ranking soldier stepped by the foot of his bed. He held out the item everypony was searching for, the black blade. They could only stare at it as its tip was covered in a small speck of blood.

The ruler of the land caught sight of this, but before she could inquire about the sanguine tipped blade the Element of loyalty bolted straight for the giant. Instinctively the blade slid into his grasp and the giant prepared to puncture her ribcage with it. He managed to restrain the urge to take a jab and allowed her to get at eye level with him.

“Why does that knife have blood on it? Huh? Did you hurt a pony!?” As tempted as it was defend himself, either by throwing her through the floor or by talking back, he was still bound by the previous order of his superior.

“Ursa Major, you better explain yourself. Otherwise that pony’s going to kick your arse.” Once Snake said this, the giant couldn’t help but laugh; right in the face of the azure pegasus, who was flustered with rage as steam escaped with every snort.

“Little pony does not need to worry,” he turned his face to show a leaking slit of crimson, “an accident. Did not have razor so used knife.” He put the dagger on display. The description the guard gave was very accurate, jagged teeth on one side and a finer side on the other. The inscription of 'Snake' was imprinted into the darkened metal.

“You mean you cut yourself shaving?” she asked, feeling slightly guilty.

“Da, not used to sharp knife.” Applejack held a smug look, and directed it at the rest of the Elements. They all recalled what she said after listening to the rumour. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t dare face her rival knowing she was actually right. As much as Equestria’s fastest flyer would gloat about anything and everything, the speedster couldn’t handle being proved wrong.

“Give it ‘ere then. You could have washed it.” Snake complained as he sheathed the blade in its home around his leg. Given that his vest was gone, he moved the leather strap to his shin. When it was time for the group to be introduced to the Captain, Fluttershy finally chose to at least peek at him.

“I am Captain Snake of the S.A.S. Air trooper and leader of this band of international misfits. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, now may we ask who are you?”

“I am Twilight Sparkle and--”  was interrupted by a voice nopony expected to hear.

“Fluttershy!” blurted the butter coated pony. The socially awkward mare was not one to shout without a good reason, or ever yell in general. “Oh sorry was I too loud? It’s just your eye…erm…eep!” she squeaked, hiding behind her mane.

“No, it’s okay.  Do you want to speak? You can if you want to.” She was all too familiar with that sentence and looked back at the smiling man. She edged forward and was more concerned about him than her own safety. Not that he could harm anything with those turquoise eyes. Floating to his head level, he and Celestia watched as Fluttershy made her analysis.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere, oh you poor thing. Can you see?” her soothing voice was almost hypnotic.  Fluttering around his head she looked into the small functioning eye. His chocolate iris followed her as she brought his head closer for inspection.

“Yes, I do have minor pains but I’m a big guy. No need to worry love,” he leant out of her grasp and looked at Twilight, “I am human.” She quickly took note of this by scribbling it down frantically on a floating scroll, whilst he leant back into Fluttershy’s soft grasp.

“Unfortunately I will never see out of that eye again. Then again I only need one. I’ll survive my dear, we humans can take quite a punishment.” He said, raising his arms to give the girls a full display of his bare chest.  

The ponies, including Celestia, were shocked by wounds. The old fading scars and the new wounds almost caused Rarity to faint. Before he didn’t seem to have many wounds, but as he pointed this out it became apparent that he had been through Tartarus.

“What in tarnation happened to you?” The tangerine coloured one asked slightly disgusted. The sight was not appalling, but she was trying to imagine what had happened to him.

Lowering his arms, he pointed to the old scars and simply said ‘Classified’ until he reached the new wounds. Nonchalantly he pointed to his wounded eye and stated he took a spike to the face and lived.

Moving on to the left arm he said that another spike punctured through his arm. Despite the reassurance of an incredibly rapid recover due to magic, the girls were still grimacing at how he earned that wound. The group could only wince, and then he highlighted his shoulder. Circling his around the wound, he said a small shard of metal burrowed into his shoulder.

“How did this happen?” Twilight asked feeling sorry for his ordeal. The squad members looked at their feet; he had suffered the most and they had little to show for the last mission, other than, a few cuts and bruises, the nettle stings on Specks arm, and Ursa's reattached ear.

“Saving Sunny.” He said, smiling happily at the solar Diarch. She was tempted to roll her eyes at the use of that name but gave a warm hearted smile back. He saw the slight ping of guilt in her pained eyes and he regretted bringing the topic up.  He looked back at everyone; they all felt sorry for him.

“Hey, ain’t we supposed to be having a meet and greet? My lovely lady in white what is your name?” Swiftly bringing the purpose of the meeting back on track, and causing Rarity to beam at the compliment.

After Rarity introduced herself the group eventually followed suit. Learning each of the Elements by name led to friendlier conversations. Rarity enjoyed Snake’s gentleman’s approach and offered to give him some casual attire whilst he stayed. He said how her beauty must relate to her work, to keep in her good books, and accepted.

He realised he had forgotten the order he gave the other soldiers and spies, and released them. Soon the room was full of in depth discussions.

The exchange in culture left Twilight burning through scrolls as she chatted with Specks. He couldn’t help but laugh when he gave her a pen to write with. She was so in awe at such a simple and yet greatly beneficial tool. Her eyes lit up due to the amazing device Specks took for granted every day. He was considering revealing his other gadgets he had built, but instead confided to her a private showing of his technology at another time. She took the offer up in a heartbeat.

Pinkie was discussing parties with Amber and Abbiegale. The twins were occupied with talking about the type of parties there were. After listing the different types of get social events they have been to, from the classic birthday parties all the way up to the upper-class charity events. That idea left Ponyville’s premium party hostess feeling upbeat and with a new idea: a party to help others.

Ursa was talking to Fluttershy about his pet dog, Dusha. She was amazed to find out he was looking after a wolf. She rarely treated wolves, given that timber wolves keep to themselves. He talked about how they were the best of friends and how she learnt this cute trick of raising a paw to give him a high five. She mentioned that she cared for the animals around Ponyville, and how many she looked after. He was impressed by how well the caretaker could manage all of those creatures.

Applejack and Rarity questioned the masked man. Things like ‘why do you wear such a tasteless mask?’ and ‘how do yer manage to catch a pony from a mile and half away?’ were met with ‘classified information.’ Eventually they got talking when he mentioned home.

After describing his wife, Amy, and how he felt about her; he showed them the ring. Underneath his glove was a solid gold ring, inscribed with when two became one. After explaining it meant they lived for each other the girls’ d’aawwed’ at this, causing his cheeks to burn.

Rainbow was talking to Snake about what the mark on in his back, at which point Celestia also stepped in. Inspecting the mark, she asked if it was a cutie mark. Refusing to let her call it that, ever, he corrected her by saying it was a tattoo. He explained what one was, and what this one meant, and why he got one.

It was the S.A.S badge, he and Specks had one. It was an Excalibur sword with fire shooting out in a wing like fashion. Celestia asked what the foreign symbols were in the banner beneath the blade. He translated the Latin inscription as ‘who dares wins.’ The cyan pegasus admitted it was a pretty cool motto to go by. He looked at Celestia and said it was one he lives by.

Again she felt the ping of guilt and sympathy for him.

As the evening sun died down, the group all settled down for dinner. A delicious meal, courtesy of the finest chefs in Canterlot became the topic for the ambassadors. Specks also suggested a new recipe based on the ingredients he had found on his plate. He scribbled it down on a scroll, an act which caught everypony’s attention, and passed it over to Celestia. He twirled the spare pen around, across his index finger, before deciding to let Twilight keep it.

Unfortunately, they had to part ways for the night. Although the promise of their return did heighten spirits, their departure seemed to leave the room empty.

“You got some good ponies there Sunny. I can see you’re as wise as you are cute.” Every time he called her Sunny, she remembered Hard Hoof. Every time he complimented her, although he did lift her mood, she would soon feel guilty for not saving him sooner.

How could I believe he was the monster?

“Yes, Twilight is a powerful mage and good friend. My star pupil too, did you know she turned her parents into potted plants as a filly?” He stopped walking towards the window and faced her. She looked back with merry smile. He shook his head and pulled out the half empty flask of gin. He marvelled at how he had managed to make it last for so long. He sniggered and offered Celestia a drink. She was about to accept, anticipating the heat filled taste of the alcohol, only to have it taken away.

“Actually we don’t want you to get sunny side up again.” He laughed at her expense and she soon followed. The sun was starting to set as the two said their goodbyes.

He extended the flask again and offered a drink. She eyed him up before accepting the genuine offer. Levitating her glass from the serving table she made the vessel hover in front of him. He filled it half way then warned her not to drink it too fast.

She grinned at him, before mentioning the last of the guests who should be arriving soon; Her General and Captain of her guards. They had apparently wished to see the humans and talk about the security of Equestria, despite the Princess' promise that the humans mean no harm. Rather than waste one more breath on the matter, she allowed them to visit.

“Goodnight Snake.” She said before drinking from the cup.

“I think if you keep that up you will have a good night too. See you tomorrow Princess.” He jested, again she tittered and slowed down the drinking pace. The group was lounging around waiting for the second meeting of the day, Celestia had left moments ago, and they were once again off duty.

Climbing into his bed, Snake sighed. Moments before drinking from the container he heard Ursa ask everyone a question.

“Who is favourite pony?” There was a moment of silence as everybody thought about the unusual question. Assuming he was being ignored he turned over.

“Applejack. She seems honest enough and a hard worker. She said she would try to bring an apple pie or some cider next time. Rainbow didn’t seem so bad, suspicious, but she had her reasons. Especially after the whole knife thing. ” Deadeye replied.

“I thought Twilight was good to talk to. She had a level head about physics and maths. I could actually talk to her about some theorems.” Specks said, already missing the intelligent conversations.

“I think Pinkie Pie is my kinda girl. She knows how to party.” Abbiegale added. She was also hiding a secret from the group. A party she and Pinkie were plotting.

“Fluttershy is nice, reminds me of me in high school. Always shy.” Abbiegale squee’d at this thought of the timid Russian. “She is also good caretaker. Did you know she has hawks and mice in same area? They do not attack each other. Amazing.” he finished.

“I liked Rarity. She was really interested in fashion. We talked about different styles and she offered to give me a dress, free of charge.” The group all replied with ‘same here.’ They paused before laughing at the once special offer. “She has nice taste in music too. She can listen to party music and appreciates the finer symphonies.“ Amber had finished picking her favourite.

“I think don’t think I have a favourite.” Snake added to the conversation.

Sniggering, Specks barely managed to say, “Oh we know who your favourite pony is. Kinda aiming high huh Snake?” before he suddenly erupted into a fit of laughter. The others soon joined in. Snake frowned and pulled the curtain shut. He spent the time waiting by drinking from the flask with a scowl on his face.

“Have you read Celestia’s report on these things Captain?” The elder Pegasus questioned the young Captain of the Celestia’s guards. Everypony on duty straightened up as they proceeded towards the no go zone; the infirmary. The stone corridors became thinner and thinner in terms of guards on duty, until there was one posted in ever corridor.

“Yeah, hard to believe that only six of them stormed in and rescue the Princess from over a hundred more.” Shining Armour then recalled her sister and her friends defeating the spirit of chaos. “Then again, Twi has saved the world twice.”

“True, but your sister had the Elements of Harmony and magic, these creatures do not. Celestia stated they also managed to almost sneak her out, if not for a minor hiccup, they would have escaped over a hundred guards. No magic or greater powers, only their normal selves.”

“I know. I can’t imagine anyone of our guards doing that. I'm more worried about what they did afterwards.” The ivory pony faced the General, his navy blue and cyan hair parted past the horn.

“They destroyed the entire compound and escaped without a trace. I think we’re dealing with more than any normal soldiers. These guys…go beyond what I know.” The Captain sighed and straightened his uniform.

“That’s exactly why we need them. We can learn so much, especially those weapons. One of them can kill a target almost two miles away with his. Another can remove others without being heard and another can wipe out entire platoons before they can get close enough. How they managed to sneak in is a mystery to me.” The veteran General dusted his green jacket and shined his medals. Finally they made it to restricted area, void of all other pony guards. They took a deep breath before opening the doors.

It was dark, Luna had raised her moon and the window was shut. No light was here to welcome them, only a hidden voice.

“Evening gentlemen, my you pick you timings.” The male voice welcomed them in. They edged in and went into high alert. To their best abilities, they tried to scan the room for anything.

They saw nothing.

Vague shadows that blended into everything else. It wasn’t until the door shut, and they were plunged into complete darkness, that they began to feel the dread that came with expecting an ambush.  A candle was lit and a pair of hands was seen.

“Now what did you want to see us about?” Snakes face fell out of the shadow and rested on his knuckles. The ponies took note of the bandaged eye and the wounded chest. Gingerly they took a seat, but kept a brave face.

“We have come to discuss the security of Equestria with you. We would like to know if you are a threat.” Shining Armour replied. The General nodded, as Snake eyed them both up.

“No. No you haven’t,” he leant back and smiled at them, “you’ve come to offer us a job.” The pair looked at each other and looked back, before they could ask Snake answered them.

“How do I know? You don’t ask a superior officer about the attack and go check out the damage yourself. In this case, you knew us humans meant no harm to this land because Celestia told you so. You believed her, what you want to know is can we aid you in safeguarding Equestria.”

The military officials were stunned. He had sussed them out in minutes of seeing them. Although Shining Armour was creeped out, the General was impressed.

“I see you are very observant. I would also like to say thank you for saving Celestia, we read the report. Fascinating work. No evidence left behind. Care to explain the details?” he was testing him for something.

“That is classified, if I tell you I would have to kill you.” That was what he was looking for, sort of. The General took in the threat with a nod of his head whilst the Captain scowled at Snake.

“I thought there were more of you…humans.” The Captain of the guards was quick to point out.  Snake grinned menacingly. They were focusing on his incisors when he snapped his fingers.

Catching the General's attention, Specks stepped in from the shadows, and stood next to Snake holding his silenced pistol. Deadeye crept into view by opening the window and brandishing his sniper. The twins stood by either side of the ponies, holding their silenced weapons. Next to make his appearance was Ursa standing behind them and cracking his knuckles.

Never have these two soldiers ever felt so intimidated.

“We can be everywhere, gentlemen, if you want someone gone or rescued,” he snuffed the light out. There was a faint sound of scuttling, “you get a human to do it.” The ponies jumped as he reappeared between them, face illuminated by a match. Everyone else was hidden.

“Now our skills vary, but know this. We will never hurt a civilian or innocent bystander intentionally. That is not what we do, or why we fight. We perform search and rescue, prevent attacks, and acquire intelligence. We are formidable in direct assaults and can always defend a position.” He returned to the seat. After relighting the candle they stared into his dark eye.

“We work in secret, we exist in shadow, we would walk among our people and be ghosts, and we could end empires with a single strike. Now, what do you want from us gentlemen?”

Soon the room was filled with light emanating from the five other candles. The humans held a candle each and, rather than have the face of predator, wore natural smiles to calm the military officials. The one with the mask still seemed a mystery.

“Don’t worry; we wanted to show off a few skills and this was the perfect time to practise. You don’t get to be lazy in the military life, right?”

The two ponies smiled and nodded. The veil of fear the humans wore was starting to wear off slightly. Snake outstretched a hand and the blue maned equine had no idea what to do with it. The General rolled his eyes and shook hands with the human. After realising his intention the unicorn copied his superior.

“Name’s Shining Armour. Captain Shining Armour of Princess Celestia’s royal guards.” He smiled back after having his hoof released from the firm grip of the man.

“Snake. Captain Snake. Air trooper of her Royal Majesty's secret air service, or S.A.S for short.”

There was a strong sense of measuring each other’s worth. It always happened when equal ranked soldiers met; given the damage Snake had sustained Shining Armour gave him his respect.

“General Storm Twist, good to hear you’re willing to work with us. But what do you mean secret air service?” Snake was glad he had asked. Looking over at the withered old prune he began to explain concept of areal drops and landings. They were amazed by how such a system worked. The squad members were now turning in for the night as the conversation carried on.

He pulled out his blade and tossed it up and down, casually, by his side. They couldn’t help but eye the large knife.

“So I am called in to fall into enemy territory,” he dangled the blade by the handle above the table, “and have to continue my mission from wherever I land. I sometimes have to make my own way back.” He grabbed the firmly this time by the metal tip.

“More often or not it is to eliminate a target.” He launched the knife at the table, startling the pair. The side with ‘Fang’ scratched on faced them, as it stood up and slanted towards it origin.

“Nobody knows where we are, but more often than not we are rescuing someone or preventing an attack. We leave no trace of our existence.” He stated, the General was pleased with his code of conduct; this creature seemed to already be capable of becoming a valuable asset.

“I think you and your squad have put on a fantastic display of your abilities, back to the matter at hoof." He leant forward, resting both hooves on the table. Snake rested his chin on his hand, a habit he had during any briefing from those assigning him a mission.

"Now we have a problem and we could use your kind of...discretion.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: A new threat(s) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes