"So, these Crystal Sabres… Sipes asked Shining Armor as the two of them walked towards a separate barracks near the palace. "What's their origin? Are they your guards?"

"Not all of them." Shining replied. "Most of them are Solar or Lunar Guards who managed to escape Canterlot during or after the city's fall. All of them were combat veterans with lots of acquired skills and had learned some unique strategies.”

"I realized they were too valuable to waste, so these Guards became the Sabres when they arrived here in the Empire. Those Guards then took charge of recruiting or rescuing others that we could use, and so on.”

"A force multiplying operation." Sipes nodded. "That's impressive work. How many are there?"

"Well, there's only about 27 of them currently." Shining said with a slight sigh as they stopped for a moment. "We have an additional 33 in training, but I'd say until you Ghosts came along, they were our best bet at getting through to Canterlot…and my sister back home safe."

"We'll get her back." Sipes replied. "You can count on it."

Shining gave a grateful nod, and as they resumed walking, there was silence for a while. Then, they reached a more spacious barracks building marked with a heart, sword, and crown. Shining opened the door and inside, about three Equestrian and four Crystal Ponies snapped to salute. Mounted on storage racks scattered along the wall were sets of heavily modified armor and weapons made from an ice-blue metal.

"At ease." Shining ordered. "Sabres, you can all take a seat. I'll explain what's going on once you do."

The Sabres nodded and did so, and once everyone was comfortable, he cleared his throat.

"I'm sure you've all heard that the United States of America has joined us against the Eqaharians, and are providing us with additional forces, supplies, and weaponry," he said. "I'm not too proud to admit that their help came just in time."

There were nods throughout the room as Shining continued.

"Because of this, I've asked one of the sixteen elite soldiers they've sent, or one of the Ghosts, to give us a weapons demonstration. Would you care to introduce yourself?”

"Sure?" Sipes replied. "I'm Second Lieutenant Thomas Sipes, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, Fifth Special Forces Group, Though we prefer to be known as Ghost Recon, or simply the Ghosts. From what I've heard, you are the best the Crystal Empire has to offer in terms of special forces."

“Well, I don’t doubt that in this world’s terms, but in ours, it’s a different story.” He continued. “But let’s get to what I came here for. Do you have an archery or firing range here?”

“This way, and over here, sir.” A Sabre replied. As they all headed out, Sipes was greeted by a large, expansive archery range with multiple distance-incremented targets. A rack of bows and arrows, tipped with the same ice-blue metal as their armor, lay nearby.

“Alright, let’s get to it.” Sipes said. “Take a seat in a single file line. We’ll start small.”

As the Sabres did so, Shining stepped aside to watch carefully from the observation area.

Sipes then took out his P226 sidearm, and showed it. To humans, it was a reliable pistol, used by multiple special forces units on Earth such as the British SAS.

To the Sabres, it was curious to see, as they didn’t know how a weapon so small could be considered useful.

“This here is my sidearm, a Sig Sauer model P226.” He spoke. “It fires 9mm bullets from a 10-round magazine, at 830 feet per second. It’s a solid weapon, and though it seems small, looks and size can be deceiving.”

Sipes took a weaver stance, called “Check range!”, and fired three shots at a target down range. The archery target, designed to break and fall over if hit by a force or projectile at a speed considered lethal, shattered upon impact.

The guards dropped their jaws as Sipes reloaded, called “Clear range!”, and holstered the gun.

“Any questions?” He asked.

“How exactly did these come to be?” A mare Sabre asked.

“Good question. Primitive firearms have been around for over 100 years, and as time passed and technology’s pace accelerated, the design and use of guns went with it. It’s kind of easy to see why a sword or lance wouldn’t be useful, when your opponent can just pull out a gun and shoot before you get into melee range.”

“Then how do they work?” Another asked.

“Simple.” Sipes said, taking out a sole cartridge. “The tip here is what actually goes out of the gun. It works by encasing a variable amount of propellant, the bullet, and a primer cap in this casing…”

Sipes held up a casing for reference.

“And striking the primer with a firing pin when the trigger is pulled. The pin ignites the primer, which ignites the propellant, creating an explosion that fires the bullet out of the barrel. Spiraling grooves, called rifling, carved inside the barrel make the round spin when fired, increasing its accuracy, and the spent case is ejected automatically.”

“After that, a loading slide mechanism readies another round for firing. Semi-auto firing means you get one shot per trigger pull, full-auto means you fire for as long as you pull. There are burst weapons that fire typically 3 shots with each pull, giving a balance between the other two.”

‘Semi-auto is more accurate and less intensive on the weapon, but full-auto can be useful if you need as many rounds down range as you can. It’s not exactly needed in most scenarios, but it’s good to have.”

“So it’s not the size of the weapon but how big and fast it fires?” A stallion noted.

“And how much it weighs, works, and handles.” Sipes nodded, pulling up pictures of the US Military and the Ghosts’ standard weapons, such as the M4A1, M40A5, and others, explaining each weapons’ use and design.

After about an hour and 45 minutes, Sipes concluded his work by taking out a target with his Remington M870 MCS. Then, Shining dismissed the Sabres to their barracks, before the two of them headed back to the palace.

“What did you think?” Sipes asked.

“I think you did your part well.” Shining replied. “Let’s go and meet up with the others. See what we’ve missed.”

“After you.”

====

“Glad you made it back in time.” Aegis Lead called to Sipes and Shining Armor as they entered the Crystal Empire’s command area. “We’ve got some good news.”

“Hit me with it.” Shining replied, joining the others, who were set up and looking at a sprawling map of Equestria.

“The President has given authorization to the US Navy to bring the Ticonderoga and its task force to neutral waters off Manehattan.” Nomad reported. “We’re sending an official diplomatic ultimatum to them as we speak.”

“And these are the terms of that ultimatum?” Cadance asked, looking over a copy of the message in question, which was emblazoned with the seal of the Presidency, the flag of the USA, and the combined logos of the US Military.

“Yep.” Kozak replied. “Do you think they’ll go for it?”

“We’ll see.” Cyclone shrugged. “From what I’ve seen, king Diomedas and Eqaharion won’t go down without a fight.”

“And if they do…we’ll take that fight straight to them.”

Update!

Next chapter - The Eqaharian forces receive the USA Ultimatum, and King Diomedas must meet with the POTUS.

At the same time, Hector moves to attack the Crystal Empire.