As Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armor settled into the large table at Sugarcube Corner, the rest of the Element Bearers entered in various states of surprise at seeing Twilight's brother with them.

"Well, hello, Prince Shining Armor." Rarity said. "I didn't know you were stopping by."

"It was a spur of the moment sort of thing." Shining said as the Elements sat down. "And it's nice to see you all again. Cadance couldn't make it, unfortunately, seeing as there needs to be one of us in the Empire at all times."

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Can't you both leave?"

"We can, it's just frowned upon." Shining explained. "Apparently the former ruler, if you get my drift, always left somepony loyal to him in charge at all times if he had to leave. They still honor the tradition, but not because of him, though."

"Oh, you mean...I shouldn't say his name, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah." Shining said. "Every Crystal Pony hates hearing his name. Lots of bad memories. Anyway, onto another topic, Twily. One of my Guards actually volunteered to come with me, instead of being hoof picked like normal.."

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"Lt. Flash Sentry." Shining said, looking over his shoulder at the stalwart-looking pegasus. "He's been commended by a lot of his superiors. I think you might've met when you went through that mysterious portal in the Spire."

"We did." Twilight said, adding "his alternate self" under her breath.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nothing." Twilight said. "So, how is my sister-in-law doing nowadays?"

Shining's response was cut off by a long shadow obscuring the sun for a few moments, followed by the roar of airship engines. As the patrons of the bakery looked at each other and whispered, Spike looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you something was going to happen." he smirked.

"The better statement would be...what was that?" Shining asked, standing up. "You seven stay here, we'll go check it out."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, anxiety in her voice.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Shining assured her. "It's probably nothing, and I'll be back before you know it."

"Form up, on me!" he called to the Crystal Guards, who nodded and followed him towards the Everfree, heading along the path out of town.

====

"Garrett, how much further until we're out of these woods?" Agent Nevada asked as he vaulted over a fallen tree with ease.

"Not too much farther." Garrett replied. "However, I did see a small village or settlement as we landed to our northeast. I would suggest heading there to find out who or what exactly lives here."

"Good plan." Nevada replied, pulling out his Battle Rifle and loading a magazine into the chamber. "And I know exactly what to do if they're hostile."

"Well, I assumed that was a given regarding your past employment with Project Freelancer." Garrett said. "And don't act surprised, I read your personnel file when I was assigned to you."

"I'm not." Nevada said as the dirt and grass crunched beneath his armored feet. "I knew you'd tell me that sooner or later."

"Well, color me impressed." Garrett laughed. "You're quite an enigma to me, Agent Nevada...wait, contacts, up ahead, coming right at us."

Nevada immediately dove to cover and activated his AUG Vision. As his normal eyesight turned blue and an orange filter appeared, Nevada glimpsed about twenty unknown beings approaching his position. From what Nevada could tell, they weren't armed with guns, but lances and swords, plus a few of them held longbows.

"Well, antiquated gear aside, this is fascinating." Garrett said. "They're like horses, only smaller. Ponies, I think. Though why some have a horn and with others have wings is beyond me. Though, they are armed, which does concern me."

"Why?"

"Well, those weapons may be far outdated, but we don't know how well they can use them." Garrett said. "For all we know, those arrows could be capable of piercing your armor, and likewise for the swords and lances. I advise caution, Agent Nevada."

"Any other tactical judgements?" Nevada raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they're in formation around that one there..." Garrett highlighted what was presumably their leader. "And they seem protective of him to a large degree. If we get hostile action, I would recommend taking him out of the fight first."

"Copy." Nevada said, lowering his Battle Rifle. "Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?"

====

As Shining Armor turned to scan the treeline where it met the grassy plain north of Ponyville, his ears suddenly registered rustling coming from his right flank. As he turned and magically conjured his armor and weapons, heavy hoofsteps could now be heard, coming towards them.

And as whatever it was exited the treeline and entered full view, nearly every Guard there flinched, gasped under their breath, or both.

The being that stood before them was tall, probably taller than Princess Celestia. It was covered in brown skin with green markings and highlights, and its face was a single visor-like eye made from a metallic gold. Displayed on its shoulder was the image of a wolf on a green circular background. As it approached them, it lowered a long metallic object and placed it on its back.

"Who are you?" Shining Armor demanded, slowly reaching for his sword.

There was silence, before the being responded in Equish, speaking in a masculine tone.

"That's classified." the being replied. "And I could ask you the same question, though."

Shining lowered his eyebrows. Whatever it was, it certainly was evasive...and he didn't like it.

"Come with us." Shining commanded, as two guards came forward. "So we can work things out."

"No." the being replied.

"What was that?" Shining asked again, shocked. "Why?"

"Because I don't trust you." the being replied. "We just meet and you're ordering me to come wut you? Heh, not gonna happen. In fact, I should be the one ordering you."

Shining bristled as he stepped forward, nearly ready for a fight.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked calmly, trying one final attempt at diplomacy.

"No." the being said. "And you should know that I'm not one you should mess around with, seeing as you probably want to fight me. Or is that sword on your holster just for show?"

Shining motioned to his Guards, and they proceeded to surround the being to prevent escape. The being tilted his head in surprise and slight amusement at the demonstration.

"You're trying to surround me? How quaint." it said, taking a fighting stance. "You want a fight? I'll give you one."

"Take it!" Shining ordered two of his Guards. As they approached, the being stepped back...then it moved so fast, Shining could barely register what was happening. Before he knew it, the two Guards skidded to his hooves, each beaten into a pulp. As the guards recoiled, the being once again took a fighting stance.

"Okay, now I'm mad." he said. "Brace yourselves. This is gonna hurt."

====

As the beings charged as one, Nevada leaped to the side and grabbed one of them before throwing him into a crowd of three more. As they toppled like bowling pins, he spun around and pinned the hooves of another into the ground with his foot before launching an uppercut.

As the being flew backwards, his chin bloody, Nevada easily sidestepped a tackle and launched his arm out, causing the assailant to fly directly into it. As soon as it hit, Nevada slammed the being into the ground.

As the others charged again, Nevada then engaged in close quarters combat, landing punches, throws, and the occasional knee-strike with flawless precision and blinding speed. As each of the Guards fell, Nevada stared down the remaining seven who were uninjured and defending their leader.

"Come on, show me what you got!" Nevada laughed. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Take it down!" he roared as his six protectors charged...and were promptly sent flying back or face-first into the dirt. Soon, Shining and the being were the only ones left standing. Shining drew his sword and growled angrily.

"Oh, is that a sword?" the being asked. "It's nice. Let me show you mine."

As Nevada whipped out a small hilt from his belt, he swung it a few times as a thin blade extended, completing the image of the UNSC Hayabusa-class Katana. As he took a defensive stance and readied his blade, the leader roared again and leaped into the air before diving to the ground, in an attempt to catch the being off-guard.

However, this attempt did not succeed. The strike was easily countered by a sidestep, a catch, a throw to the side. As he leapt back to his hooves and growled again, Nevada easily rushed and disarmed him before pinning him against a tree.

"I'm impressed." Nevada smirked. "There isn't a lot of ppeople out there who can last a few seconds in the ring with me, let alone a few minutes. So, you are pretty good."

As he left Shining fall to the ground, he began to walk off.

"Thing is, I'm better. Far better." Nevada said. "And by the way, I'm Agent Nevada, of the UNSC, formerly of Project Freelancer. Come find me if you want a rematch."

As Shining watched the being called "Agent Nevada" fade back into the treelines, the last thing he heard before passing out was his sister calling his name.

Author's Note

Update!

Next time - The Main 6 meet Nevada, and things go from there. Also, did I mention someone's going to get their ass kicked again?