A Secret in Shining Armour

Equestria is enveloped in flames. Invader dragons surround the capital, and residents rush to hide in their homes. The princesses are hidden in the bunker while the royal guards and any capable ponies are sent into battle. At the forefront, Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guard, fights bravely alongside his comrades. He watched as they were killed one by one leaving only a few ponies left. Suddenly a dragon notices him and heads toward him, ready to kill but his comrade, Steel Hunk, jumps in front of him and slays the dragon, saving his life. The war was short and although the ponies fought well, their efforts were pointless.

Under the new draconian regime, ponies worked day and night in the gulags, mining and farming, dreaming of meeting their families again. Shining Armor is no exception. He was desperate to return to the palace, patrol the area at night, and spend his free time with his comrades. He worked many sleepless nights with no hope of freedom. He managed to find some people to talk to when he could, but he did not have frequent breaks and often slept during that time. There was little to do but work.

Many died from the bad conditions of the Gulag. His friends were some of many who died of starvation and lack of sleep. He was alone again. The population of the Gulag declined, and of the thousands of ponies originally there, only about 800 remained. Some of the other gulags had better conditions so it was decided to move a group from one of them here.

The truck arrived at the gulag. From it, many ponies were brought out one by one and sent to work. Shining Armour watched the ponies exit the vehicle and a certain pony caught his eye. Something seemed so familiar about him but everypony looked so different now that nopony was recognisable. After they had all started work he went back to the mines.

That night the face haunted his dreams. The familiar face evoked memories from before the gulag. He felt so close to remembering the pony but the memories were gone. He continued to see the same scene in his dreams night after night until one night. After the end of the dream he jumped out of bed and ran out to the fields. He saw the pony working and remembered something.

"Steel Hunk!"