They had little in the way of police. When you had a bit over a hundred people, did you need them? The small native american population simply lived, or tried. Their day was interrupted on that relatively warm morning by a strange sight.

The strange animals that their distant neighbors had complained about had arrived. They were marching in force. They had guns and dour expressions. The people were scared they were the target of that anger, but the ponies, yaks, and other things just marched past the village, ignoring it entirely.

There was no easy or natural way to explain why such creatures in all their varied colors and armaments should exist. But that was less important than that they would be spared whatever supernatural wrath was coming.

Arctic Village did not lose people that day.

Fort Yukon had long ago lost most of what could call it a proper fort. It had once had an airforce radar base, vital during the cold war. It had been demolished and even remediated to return it to a natural state. It was still larger than Arctic Village. It was larger and there were people to receive the march.

It wasn't that much larger, with a population of about five hundred. It was large enough for at least one person to try their luck. When the colorful army began to march in sight, the locals reacted by phoning the police. The police, in turn, reacted.

When the first car arrived, its lights strobing, the strange army immediately reacted in turn. They scattered and partially vanished, fading into the snowy reaches as if they had been a colorful illusion. The policeman stepped out of his car, adjusting his hat. He grabbed out his gun as he pressed the radio at his chest. "Definitely saw... something, a lot of something, but they panicked when they heard or saw my car. Hardly surprising."

"Roger that. Come on back."

A shot rang out, striking his car just beside where he had been resting his hand. "Shots fired!" He abandoned his radio. There was no time for that. He didn't have time for much more. As he finished turning, other Equestrian soldiers had been prompted by the first shot. He hit the ground perforated and bleeding from far too many wounds.

"I'm on the way," came the voice over the radio, unaware of the demise of the policeman that held it. "Hang tight."

In what would be called the massacre of Yukon, All two officers and any brave civilian that took up arms against the invading force was killed. The town was not taken. The homes were not burned. Nothing was looted or pillaged, save for the weapons of those who dared to fight them.

Not every person in the town had tried to engage them. The story was brought home, and radioed out. The animals were armed, and angry. Winter was over, but the icy grip of fear had come to the people of Alaska.

Shining Armor patted the shoulder of a soldier as they marched past him. "Good job."

"Yes, Sir!"

Rainbow Dash landed next to Shining. "Yeah! We kicked every tail there, which wasn't that hard, seeing as they don't have any. You know what I mean."

"Rainbow, good to see you're in one piece. Did you see if there were any injuries?" Shining cast his gaze out over the returning columns of soldiers.

"Pfft, as if. They had no idea what they were walking into." She rusted her wing lightly. "It wasn't even a fight. They know we're serious now."

Shining frowned at that. "I'm not certain that was the goal..."

A soldier rushed up to Shining. "Hello, Sir! Reporting. 5 injuries, one severe. They've been taken to the infirmary. Quartermaster has supply information. Operation: Successful, Sir."

"Thank you, Soldier." He saluted, which was returned sharply with a wing. "Rejoin the others and relax. You've done good."

The soldier faded back into the line of others.

Rainbow shrugged softly. "Eh, I wasn't paying much attention to that, I'll admit. You shoulda seen it! We had total command of the field."

Shining hiked a brow. "How many were there?"

"Oh, hmmm..." She tapped at her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a dozen? Two of 'em were dressed like guards, the rest weren't. The not-guards were just as eager to fight though, except one."

Shining leaned forward a little. "Except one?"

"Yup, human was just running away the moment they saw it was on. I didn't even have the heart to go after him, looked so scared." She snorted out a half-laugh. "So he got away."

She flew off with a triumphant cry, only to be replaced by Twilight. "Was that Rainbow? You can barely tell with the full-body outfit she has going on."

"Yeah..." He shook his head slowly, eyes on his soldiers as they marched past. "You should talk to her. I think she's a little too into this."

"That's at least partially a historic cultural artifact." When Shining looked confused, Twilight gladly continued, "The pegasi were a militaristic culture for quite some time. She's even a member of a quasi-military fighting unit, the Wonder Bolts. I should note, they aren't even upset at her absence. The moment she explained she was doing this, they understood and wished her well."

"Still, keep an eye on her... No soldier should be quite... that happy about the field of battle."

They shared a soft nod and went off to their different duties.

For Twilight, that meant checking in with the brothers. "I hear they brought back more weapons?"

"Oh, yes."

"Indeed."

"Fascinating." A smaller gun was lifted into the air in their magic. "How they managed such miniaturization, we're eager to find out!"

"We've already tested, it's less damaging than the larger ones and accuracy is lower, but it can hurt someone just about as easily."

"Wicked." The two shared a nod in agreement. "Still, not ideal for our purposes."

"No," agreed the other. "A curiosity at best. Of more interest is this." A shotgun raised into view. "Its ammunition is different. Instead of propelling a single cannon ball--"

"--It fires a great collection of small shards."

"Enough to rip someone apart. It caused the one real injury we received."

"Terrible." He took off his hat to hold it over his chest. "I hear the human snuck up on our lines and got off a shot. This weapon does not have the range of the first model, or the petite size of the second, but it makes up for both with being simply terrifically damaging."

The other brother winced. "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this."

"No way."

Twilight looked between the two guns, teeth set. "Why do they have so many ways to hurt people?!" She put a hoof to her face. "I agree with you. It sounds like the small one is fairly useless for us. I'm not sure why anycreature ever would need it. As if hurting someone needed to come in a 'bite sized' serving size."

One of them pointed at the larger of the two. "We should reverse engineer this one, of course."

"Of course," agreed the other, nodding. "For defensive purposes."

"Indeed."

"I'm not sure I follow." Twilight raised a brow at them. "These aren't... defensive."

"You're not thinking--"

"--of an army." He gestured out at the soldiers dispersing from the battle. "If an enemy gets too close, you will want to get them away quickly. A small number of soldiers equipped with these--"

"--would be quite effective at keeping the line clear--"

"--and safe." They shared a nod of understanding.

Twilight shook her head slowly. "Well, you do that... I'll keep the one I have." She shook her head a little harder. "Not that I want to use it." She stuck out her tongue in distaste as she took to the air. "I have to go. Keep me informed." She made as if to fly away, but vanished instead of going into the air, sparkles left behind.

"Mr. President."

The president looked up from the bill he had been reviewing. The man looking at him had a serious expression, more than just 'I am talking to the president' serious. "What's wrong?"

"Communication from Alaska. The animals are back, and it gets worse."

It had been growing warmer. They had predicted the trouble would resume. "There's more of them?"

"And they're armed."

The president let his pen drop to the table. "Armed? They picked up rocks or they have knives attached to their feet?"

"No, Sir." He presented a folder of intel for the president. "Reports indicate long guns."

He snatched the folder up and unfolded it to reveal the terrible news. Several towns had been hit, their defensive forces, such as they were, dashed and scattered. As if tiny police forces had a chance against organized mobs of armed animals.

Alaska was under siege by a people with four legs. Were they people? Animals did not use guns. Animals did not march in file. Animals did not... do any of this. "Get Queen Novo on the line. We have things to discuss, now." She had four legs, and was a native. If anyone would know what was going on, it would be her. "Mobilize the army. I don't need a congressional action to defend our country!"

"It will take quite some time for any armed forces in the mainland to reach Alaska, Sir."

He waved that away. "Mobilize what we have in Alaska. We have bases there, use them. It's time they start earning their paychecks and stop people from being killed by invaders in their own backyard." As the man saluted and marched off, the president put a hand to his head, rubbing where a forming headache was developing against his will. "She better have answers..."

It was a matter of when, not if, the general public became aware of what was going on over there. The communication channels they were using were far from secure, and people had time and resources. They'd find out, and things would just get more complicated.

He picked up the phone on the oval office desk and hammered a few buttons.

"Mr. President?"

"Matt, tell me our new guests have been trouble free."

"As trouble free as any other tourists can be. They've broken a few misdemeanors, as often due to misunderstanding as anything else. A stern talking to or a night in a cell is more than enough to set them straight, and they usually tell their friends when it happens, so we don't often get repeat infractions."

He let out a slow sigh of relief. "Good, good... Tell me, have any of them been armed?"

"Armed, Sir?" There was a sound of rustling paper. "The only thing I have close to that is one coming ashore with a spear. They were questioned about it. It was for fishing."

A fishing spear? Let that be the worst that their aquatic friends would ever bring on American soil. "Alright. Thank you."

"A pleasure."

They both hung up.

He picked the receiver right back up again, dialing a new number. "General."

"Mr. President."

"I need the numbers for our soldiers in Alaska, yesterday. We're under attack."

"Sir? You're... You're serious." He could hear a hand slapping a desk. "Who is it? Did some other nation come to this world with us? Give me numbers and--"

"--Calm down, General. I'll let you do what you're good at. The enemy is not human."

"Not human, Sir? What are they?"

"Horses, mostly."

"Horses, sir?" he asked with shock in his tone.

"Small ones, with long guns. They should be taken as seriously as any other foreign invader. They've already wiped out several police forces. Now, these were small forces, sometimes just a person or two, but there are other casualties to go with them. They are deadly and armed."

"If this was anyone else--"

"--I'd call them crazy too." The president smiled a little into the receiver. "But this is serious. Defend our country."

Author's Notes:

The war is on, though can you call it a war when neither nation knows the other side actually exists?