Everyone had a goodnight's sleep, and after a nice oatmeal breakfast, the group got going. Even though the castle was close to Ponyville, many of the local ponies had never seen these strange humans. Their reactions were mixed. Three ponies who ran a flower shop looked on in horror as these massive beings moved through the streets, fainting and screaming "The horror! The horror!" There was a grey mare with googly eyes who was eating muffins at a local restaurant when she turned and saw the creatures. She waved at them, and they waved back. Then there was Lyra who, upon seeing the humans at the train station, got extremely excited.
"Ohmigosh! Real humans! Where are you going?", she enthusiastically inquired.
"Hello. We're going to Canterlot to see the princesses.", Summers replied.
"Oh! When will you be back?", Lyra questioned.
"Sorry Lyra, to be honest we don't know, but we'll let you see them when we come back to Ponyville." Twilight stated.
"Oh ok! I look forward to meeting you guys!" Lyra enthusiastically waved goodbye as the group boarded the train toward Canterlot.
Canterlot Castle
After all the awkward stares from the ponies on the train and the wealthy Canterlot unicorns, the group headed for Celestia's throne room, where both princesses were waiting. Twilight ran up and hugged Princess Celestia again.
"Hello Sergeant, how are you and your team doing?", the princess inquired.
"We're doing fine, thank you. You've taught Twilight well", Ramirez replied, leaving blushes on both princess' faces.
"Now mares and gentlemen, you are probably wondering why we decided to call you here", Luna stated, with the audience nodding positively in response.
"Well, since we have no idea how you got here nor any idea on how to send you back, and after seeing the skills you possessed in warfare, we believe that you would be great helpers to the Equestrian Nation if you would become our own 'spec ops' team." The guys looked at each other with surprise. "Why would you need warriors like us? From what Twilight has told us, Equestria has been at peace for a millennium." Parker replied.
"That is true, but we believe that that peace is in grave danger. The changelings have always been a thorn in the side of Equestrian foreign relations, and their hostile actions are very frequent." Celestia stated with concern.
"The ascension of King Thorax and the reforming the main changeling hive has done much to improve relations between our species, but the attack on us yesterday has shown us that Queen Chrysalis still has an army of loyalists out there, and we have no idea on how to find them." At that moment, a white unicorn with purple armor and a blue mane trotted in. Twilight immediately ran over to hug him.
"BBBFF!"
"Twily!"
"Gentlemen, may we present Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, and also our own Captain of the Guard." Luna stated. Shining Armor trotted up to Sgt. Ramirez and looked up at his impressive height and stature. Ramirez crouched and extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you Sergeant", Shining said as shook his hand with his hoof. "Thank you for protecting my little sister and her friends yesterday, how did you do it?"
"With these", Ramirez said, pulling out his Strongarm to show to the Captain. The Lunar Nightwatch had left their primary weapons back in Ponyville, yet they still wore their revolvers on holsters. Shining Armor looked at the piece with fascination, and pondered to himself how the Equestrian military would become stronger if they could be adapted for pony use.
"Shining Armor is here to fill you in on how Equestria's military currently works, and he will also command a squad of his best guards to help you should the need arise." Celestia stated.
The room behind the throne room
The two changeling survivors had successfully snuck through the Canterlot defenses and were disguised as royal guards. Queen Chrysalis had basically punished the two by sending them out on a suicide mission: to kill as many of the important ponies (princesses, Mane Six) as possible and if necessary to kill the humans that were with them. Each changeling had brought a sword and was ready to unleash powerful magical blasts if they found the humans. If they had the anti-magic stone, killing the ponies would be no problem, but Queen Chrysalis kept it so that it wouldn't fall into Equestrian hooves. Soon, the changelings burst into the throne room and drew their swords.
"You two! What do you think you're doing?!" Shining yelled as one of them slashed at Princess Celestia's foreleg, which started bleeding.
"Sister!", Luna yelled as she formed a magical barrier around the two. Shining saw the second one charge straight at Fluttershy and so he tackled him to the ground. The changeling soon kicked him off, however, and both of them revealed their true form. The first changeling soon charged at Shining, who was lying on his back, when a dart went though his leg (not through one of the holes). The Lunar Nightwatch had evacuated the Mane Six and had their pistols drawn. The wounded changeling used his magic and levitated Shining Armor up in front of him as a meat shield while he and the other changeling began firing energy bursts from their horns. Smith was hit and fell back stunned. "Man down!" Parker yelled as he ran over and picked up Smith in a fireman's carry and put him behind a pillar nearby. The changelings kept firing magical blasts at the humans, but they had the aim of stormtroopers. Soon, Summers scored a headshot on the exposed changeling. "Tango down!", he yelled as his Cycloneshock sent a mega dart through the changeling's head and out the other side. At this point the other one levitated his sword to Shining Armor's neck. "Nobody make a move! Or his throat gets cut!" he yelled at the humans. At that point, the humans lowered their weapons. Suddenly, the changeling slashed the sword down Shining Armor's exposed chest and made a run for it. By this time Smith had recovered from the stun blast and chased after him. "Smith wait!" Ramirez yelled as he and Parker and Summers followed after him. McLaughn stayed to help take care of Celestia and Shining Armor.
Streets of Canterlot
'Gotta get out of here!!', the changeling thought to itself as he pushed Canterlot nobles and tourists out of the way, with the humans following close behind. The populace of Canterlot was stunned at the chase between some strange aliens and a wounded changeling. Soon however, the changeling was stopped dead in it's tracks when his face smacked straight into a frying pan that Summers held out in front of him since he got ahead and found a shop selling pans. Smith walked up to the barely conscious bug horse and picked it up by the horn. His enraged eyes soon met the changeling's fearful compound eyes.
"You are going to pay for that shot to my chest you little bug!" Smith spoke more venomously than a Texas diamondback, as he punched the creature in the stomach. He dropped the bug on the ground and was about to push his boot into the creature's wounded leg.
"Smith! Stop! We can use this one." Ramirez interjected before Smith could begin to torture it. When Smith looked away to see Ramirez, the changeling tried to run again, only to find Parker and Summers blocking his path. "Take him." Ramirez said. Parker picked up the changeling and carried it over his shoulder as they returned to the palace.