I was sitting on the couch, shifting and churning my body as I continued to become immersed into the game I was playing. My eyes darted across the screen, checking many other peripherals as I moved my character across the map. The sounds of my grunting and screaming resonated throughout the house as I frustratingly snap the sticks on my Xbox controller. My eyes were glued to the TV screen as I watched myself run through a battle-worn building in the middle of a city complex. With each doorway I passed, I made sure to look by either way so that I could avoid any unexpected surprises.

Claymores planted by every door, knife-wielding players assisted with the infamous 'commando' perk, my UAV running a scan of the entire map, and my look sensitivity set on the highest level possible. I held onto my AK47, complete with a suppressor and red-dot sight, scanning through the rooms I walked by in hopes of gaining another kill towards my AC-130.

And with that AC-130, I could mount up the kills necessary to gain the coveted Tactical Nuke.

The Tactical Nuke was the holy grail of the game. If one should achieve a streak of twenty-five kills without a single death, or twenty four provided that you were equipped with the Hardline-Pro perk, that gift would be granted unto you, giving you the very key to winning the game, regardless of the score. The nuke would countdown, killing everyone on both teams and ending the game in favor of the individual who launched it.

Of course, it wasn't exactly easy to get.

I carried on my relentless grunts and murmurings, trying to focus in on achieving that hallmark. But it wouldn't take me very long to get my AC-130. All I needed was maybe three kills. Though I wasn't sure. Instinctively, I pressed the back button on my controller to check the scoreboards. I was fourteen and six, rolling on an eight-man killstreak. Thankfully, three kills on this map wasn't that hard to come by.

"Are you done playing that nonsense!?" My grandfather asked as he walked into the den. "Law and Order is on NBC tonight and I don't wanna miss it."

"It's already being recorded on the DVR, you can watch it when I'm done." I stated, trying to keep my eyes on the screen.

I wasn't paying him no attention as he calmly walked beside me, looking at my screen. "What the hell is this shit?"

"Modern Warfare 2." I answered nonchalantly, trying to run through the building and outside to catch another person camped out beside the stairwell leading into the street. When I had found him, I immediately pressed my stick in, dropping to the ground and firing my weapon at the camping player. As his body dropped lifelessly to the ground, I could hear a preteen kid on the other end, screaming at me while I moved onward to collect another kill.

"JESUS CHRIST!!! DUDE, STOP FUCKING KILLING ME!"

I giggled to myself while my grandpa just stared at the television with amazement. He proceeded to shake his head while I carried on with my hunt for kill number ten. "No wonder our country's going under. You got damn kids playing this senseless shit instead of going outside!"

"Times have changed, gramps. Outside is more dangerous than it is inside of the house."

My grandfather walked up to the Xbox, threatening to unplug it from the TV. I stood off of the couch, reaching out for him. "No! Grandpa, what are you doing!?"

Suddenly out of nowhere, my remote vibrated and halted. I looked back onto the screen to find my dead body lying on the ground while another player crouches over me repeatedly. I became furious. "NOOOO!!! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK!?! HOW DID I DIE!?"

My grandfather scoffed at me, finally pulling the cord from the TV. "Game over. Now go do something else useful."

I instantly vented my frustration out at him rather than the game itself, mainly because of his interference getting me killed. "I was doing something useful!"

"Yeah, like what?" He asked.

"I was... getting my AC-130 so that I could get my nuke! I was so close!"

He stared back at me as if I had gone crazy. Immediately, he completely unhooked the Xbox from the wall. After he collected it, he started to walk off with it. I chased after him. "No. NO! What are you doing!?"

"Kid, you need to get your mind out of this pre-programmed bullshit. The world isn't like what you see in that game."

"I know that! But what you taking my Xbox for!?" I snapped back.

"Because you, and a generation of young individuals your age and younger, are constantly being programmed into this 'shoot and kill' mess. I swear, since they took prayer out of schools, our fucking country started going to shit."

"Wha... who... What does 'prayer in schools' have to do with you taking my Xbox?"

My grandfather took it outside and started to place it in the back of his Ford pickup. Meanwhile, I was steady screaming at him to give it back. And unfortunately for me, he had one of the newer trucks that had a hood to the trunk bed that could be locked. After dumping my Xbox inside and locking the trunk, he turned back to me. "There, now go do something with your life aside for staying locked inside of this damn house. Go drive somewhere, walk down the street, get a job... Go play some goddamn football. Live your life rather than living on that damn machine."

"And be like everyone else, right? That sounds nice and all, but I don't have a life out there!" I angrily spat back at him.

"Then make one! Life is too damn short for you to sit on your ass all day, playing shoot-em-ups."

I rolled my eyes, kissing my teeth as I argued with him. "That sounds really easy to you, don't it!? To just walk into a school and make some friends? Life isn't that easy, grandpa!"

He quickly walked up to me, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt as he stared at me intently. "Apparently, you're not understanding what I'm trying to convey to you, son. You got it a helluva lot easier than I ever did. You get to sit on your ass all day. What do I get to do? Back in high school, I got drafted to Nam!"

"Okay grandpa, you seen some people die. Yes, that's hard. But that was back in your day." I answered callously.

"Well back in my day, we didn't have attacks on American soil. And no, Pearl Harbor doesn't count... Let me ask you something, do you know what burning flesh smells like? Do ya know what it looks like when it cooks? Do you remember the screams of your next-door neighbors while they bleed out next to you in the mud? Do you know what color brains are?"

I remained silent, horrified from the tone my grandpa spoke with. He talked to me in a low tone, slowly inching out the details of his affairs as he tightens his grip on my shirt. I didn't dare to speak, let alone interrupt him.

"You don't. And chances are is that you won't have to. I've seen what it looks like from the perspective of a soldier on the front line. I played that same game you were playing on just earlier. The only difference between you and me is that I had only one shot. You keep popping back to life as if nothing had happened on that stupid-ass machine. Those games, they don't look like what you'd see in real life, where your fellow soldier is literally bawling his eyes out from getting a little... dirty, for lack of a better word."

He unhooked from my shirt, shoving me back and away from his truck. He politely walked past me and made his way back into the house. "Now get your ass in here. Your mom should be coming home with dinner soon."

As I followed behind him, he continued to mutter on about how our generation 'didn't quite get it'. Personally, I didn't care. I just wanted my Xbox back. And I wasn't willing to do anything else until I had gotten it back. While my grandpa took his seat on the couch and changed the channel to watch his program. I called back from the other side of the room.

"Can I get my Xbox back, please?"

He turned to me, staring for a moment before shaking his head in pity. "You're gonna learn one day. And by God's grace, it won't be soon."

He tossed his keys over to me so that I could unlock the trunk. Before I had left the doorway, he hollered out to me. "Don't get so caught up in that bullshit. You'll be programmed for it, but you won't be ready. Not up here." He warned me, tapping against his skull.

I dismissively nodded and made my way back to the front door. As I opened the door, the light of the setting sun started to blind me a bit as I walked outside.

---

Present Day...

---

When I walked through the door, my jaw haplessly fell to the ground. We arrived in the town square, or what used to be it outside of the mess of green muck and pods filled with ponies. Some of the other ponies that were still free ran from hordes of changelings pursuing them. The insect-like creatures flew around the town, capturing whoever they could get their hole-riddled hooves on. Some had even started to feed on the pods that contained the captured citizens. Screeches and cries could be heard throughout the town.

The four of us stared in absolute shock that they actually did attack the town. And for me and Twilight, we were mortified to see the ponies we shared our daily lives being assaulted in front of our very eyes. Cadance and Shining looked like they were ready to kill something.

Deep inside, my mind tried to process all of what was going on. To my left were changelings flying after a filly, still holding her books from school. To my right was a changeling feasting on another pony wrapped inside of a green, sticky cocoon. Behind me was nothing more than more changeling circling through the air. In front of me, the three other ponies I accompanied readied themselves to pounce on whoever would come at us first.

They didn't have to wait long, as a small group of changelings, I counted five, barreling towards us. By the time they were within striking distance, Twilight launched magic bolts at three of them, knocking all of them out. The other two flew for us, transforming into exact replicas of Twilight and Shining. I froze from the sight of the two impostors taking form of two of my allies.

I tried to convince myself that they were fake, but my conscious still prevented me from taking action. I wanted to fight, but seeing Twilight's face... How was I going to attack her? Thankfully, Cadance was my solution. She ran up to the one that mimicked Twilight and gave him a powerful blast of magic, knocking him down to the ground, even undoing it's transformation. Shining easily put his faux self to rest, a hoof was all he needed to clobber the creature out of his form. The five that charged for us were then considered as a neutralized threat for the time being. We had much more ground to cover.

"It seems that they're getting their magic back." Cadance pointed out.

"Wait, those things have magic?" I asked curiously, still surprised from the transformations that occurred before my very eyes. "And since when were they able to morph into other ponies?"

"They've always been able to do that." Shining clarified. "It's just that they didn't have enough magic to do it when we were in Canterlot. But now that they're feasting on love even as we speak-"

"They're getting stronger." I didn't like the conclusion I came to, but it was all the more obvious with each passing moment.

"That's probably why they were resorting to guerrilla tactics." Cadance added.

Discord stared towards another direction, wearing the most unusual scowl on his face. I don't think I've ever seen him become serious like this. Then again, when everything you know and cherish, your way of live, is being threatened by an outside force, you'd probably be shaking with a vengeful fury too. "You all can take care of things here. As for now, I have to take my leave."

Before he disappeared off to realms unknown, Twilight stopped him cold. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"Well, Fluttershy wouldn't dare get into conflict with others, unless her animal friends were in serious peril. And in this case, her place is flooded with her love for them. You honestly didn't think that the changelings only fed off of ponies, did you?"

I was disturbed by that statement. Deeply disturbed. "What will they do to them? How would they feed off of them?"

Discord turned back to me. "They're too small to place in pods. So how else?"

I cringed at the implication of Fluttershy losing her animal companions in such a violent manner. Discord turned back around and faced the direction where her cottage was located. "Fluttershy can become quite violent when it comes to her friends. I'm merely going over there to look after her."

"You mean protect?" I corrected.

"To the last breath, of course." He said quietly before disappearing.

As of now, there were only four of us left. As far as where we needed to go, there were plenty of ideas. But for now, we needed to neutralize the threat before freeing the citizens. And going by numbers of changelings, I can clearly assume that we're far from getting started.

Suddenly, a white flash appeared before us, indicating that Discord had reappeared. Only this time, he wore a set of white and gold armor while holding a rose in his lion paw. "How was that? I've been working on that since I started looking for you guys. I consider it my best performance yet, award-winning at the very least."

Twilight facehoofed as Cadance and Shining groaned in disgust. I just simply stared back at him as he continued to waste time.

"What? You didn't think that I would say something so cliche and not give a proper delivery. If anything, I should be-"

"Discord," I interrupted. "Isn't Fluttershy back at the cottage in need of some help?"

Immediately he froze in place, quite literally. As he started to cover himself in icicles, he turned his attention back to the cottage on the other side of town. "Oh... I suppose that she would be in need of some reinforcements. Ta-ta!"

A final flash of light shone brightly and extinguished itself, taking the draconequuis with it. I could assume that he was long gone, but it's best not to be sure. He can appear out of thin air. But luckily he's on our side. I couldn't imagine how difficult life would be if he wasn't. At least he managed to get us here so quickly.

"Come on!" Shining turned his attention towards the Town Hall, which was littered with changelings. "We can't afford to play around anymore!"

---

The four of us battled our way towards the town hall. Cadance and Twilight took point, blasting changelings left and right. Shining and I covered the rear, whenever we were attacked from behind, Shining would blast the ones that flew out of the sky. I would take on all the ones that were on the ground and finish off those that were still conscious from the fall. I know that it would be a while before we'd clear all of them out, but we could at least start off with the one place that could serve as a viable command post. And Town Hall would be such a place.

As we carried on, it seemed that we were encountering less and less changelings. The lines thinned on the ground and in the air. But of course this was a battle, that meant that there were going to either be more ahead or more coming in from behind. Shining and I were well-aware of that fact and tightened our grip on our weapons. We looked around to see what was going on in the surrounding area. It seemed that we had cleared out the place. That just made us all the more suspicious, but we still had a command post to establish. Warily, we ran onward towards the besieged building.

By the time we had arrived, we had started to encounter some changeling bodies. Some were dead, others were knocked unconscious. We looked over to see a small company of ponies standing in front of the building, lined behind a wall of downed wagons and stacks of hay. It looks like they had already done what we had came here to do, with notable success.

"Hey, what the hay are you guys doing out there!?" I heard a familiar scratchy voice call out. "Get over here, quick!"

The four of us took the order into consideration and quickly made our way behind cover. When we had crossed the border, we had met up with a few other stallions and mares, many of whom were clad in armor, others not as much. It seemed that they had borrowed the hooves of a few able-bodied citizens to help fight alongside them. Meanwhile, Applejack and Big Mac had started reinforcing the barriers while Rainbow Dash kept a keen eye out for any signs of danger.

"What's the situation?" Twilight asked the cyan pegasus, who flew in midair.

"We got changelings running all over the place! Where did they even come from!?"

"Canterlot." Twilight answered. "They attacked the city just yesterday."

"I get that. It was all over the newspapers this morning. But what I'm talking about is where they came from before that."

"Southern Badlands." Shining verified. "They were hiding out there a few months back. It's best to assume that they were holding out until they saw an opportunity to hit us hard."

"But why now?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." He answered. "But we can't bring any guards from Canterlot to reinforce us here."

"INCOMING!!!"

When Rainbow shouted, we all immediately ducked for cover. By the time we did, a green bolt of energy barreled overhead and blasted the side of the building, leaving a light scorch mark. Several more bolts flew in and kept us pinned down behind the makeshift wall. Applejack started to ease her head out to see how many had gathered on our position, but a green blast of energy did more than dissuade her from going any further. She gave out an angry grunt and turned her attention back to us. "What do ya mean y'all can't get nopony from Canterlot over here!? Don't they have guards there!?"

"Bad idea. Not only the bridge to the city is out, but there's also the rebuilding effort and the threat of a second attack. If we were to spread our forces between here and Canterlot, they'd attack the city again." Shining answered as he started to put up a shield. But as he did, his horn flickered with jolts of energy that resembled sparks of electricity. Cadance placed a hoof on his shoulder and urged him to stop.

"And Shining is in no condition to put up protection spell over a certain area, let alone a city. It's one thing to levitate light objects and releasing bolts of energy, but dispersing your magic over a large area is too much stress on the mind. Shining had to fight with terrible migraines when he protected the city two years ago. Imagine the repercussions of trying it again with a cracked horn." Cadance added.

While another blast landed against an area of our wall not too far from me, hay started to rain down from above. I shielded my eyes from any incoming debris. "So, just how bad are we talking? Re-injury? Loss of consciousness?"

"Death." Twilight grimly summed up in a single word.

Shining gritted his teeth, bearing the shame of being unable to perform his duties to the best of his abilities. And I wasn't feeling any better, provided that I was the one who caused his injury not even a week ago. That nice little demon with the pitchfork, wearing a sign saying 'hindsight' is currently stabbing me in the ass with reckless abandon. Not a pretty feeling to have.

Rainbow Dash shielded herself from a blast of hay that exploded in her face. Applejack and Big Mac started to plan countermeasures by gathering every loose rock that had a decent size. Rainbow started to reach out to help, but a stray bolt of green shot from above, halting her advance. We all looked up to see at least six changelings with green auras surrounding their horns.

"THESE FUCKERS GOT MAGIC TOO!?" I asked out of shock and anger.

"Of course they do! How do you think they can shift forms?" Cadance wasted no time in clearing the air. It seemed that we were well on our way to being outgunned and outmatched, we were already outnumbered like hell so that went without saying.

"They weren't doing this shit back in Canterlot!" I stated, recalling my scuffle on the train just yesterday.

"They're feeding off of the ponies they captured!" Shining explained. "Yesterday, they had only enough strength to hail in, fight, and fly off. This time they got a source of energy backing them up. If they absorb any more than what they do now..."

"We're fucked." I answered bluntly.

"That's the generous way of putting it." Cadance answered as she cleared a small hole for Applejack and her older brother to buck rocks through.

"I'd head off to Cloudsdale and get some reinforcements, but we're kinda pinned in." Rainbow said as she offered to clear another hole for some of the other ponies that wanted to help out Big Mac and Applejack.

"That's it!" Twilight shouted out loud, coming up with an idea. "Rainbow Dash, I need you to go to Cloudsdale and get all the guards you can. Cadance will go with you and protect you along the way. She has a shield spell that she can use to cover you both."

"And what about you guys?" Cadance asked as she blasted yet another changeling out of the sky.

"Shining, Nondis, and I will stay here. I can place a shield spell over us and the Town Hall Building. We'll try to buy you some time until you get back."

"But what 'bout the ponies cross town? Pinkie's with Cherilee and the Cakes back at Sugarcube Corner! Ah'm pretty sure they got some ponies in need of protection!" Big Mac asked, surprising me that he'd break out of his usual silence and one-worded responses.

"Shining and I can go out and check them out. If they need help, we'll be there to chill things out a bit." I suggested.

Twilight's neck nearly snapped from how quickly she turned to me. "Oh no. And let you endanger yourself-"

"For fuck's sake! Do you trust me or not!?" I shouted, hoping to diffuse the argument before it even started.

"I do-"

I wouldn't give her a chance to finish. "Then we're off! Protect the town hall, princess! We need to go do our job!"

Twilight grew furious with my insistence to carry out the plan. But she knew that she had much more on the line than just me and her parents. There were ponies behind these barriers that needed her guidance and possibly more hiding inside of Town Hall. She had no other choice but to comply. She cut her eyes back to me as she raised a barrier over the building and our position, even reaching as far as the no-man's land that stood between us and the changelings. "You. Owe. Me."

"Got it!" I confirmed as I started to make my way out through the back.

Shining followed closely behind, making sure that we weren't going to be ambushed from any other direction as I took point. Swords brandished, we navigated our way around the building and left the safety of the barrier from the rear. Thankfully, the changelings congregated towards the front door, which was where Twilight and Applejack were stationed. As we left, we could see Cadance and Rainbow streaking across the sky towards the northwest.

"I'm actually surprised you managed to talk Twily into letting you go." Shining said quietly as we made our way towards Sugarcube Corner.

I scoffed as I kept my eyes peeled for any scouts or stragglers. "Well, we didn't have the time for an argument this go around. Don't you think this was a much better way to diffuse the situation?"

"Very." He answered in deadpan.

After our brief exchange, we decided it was best to keep quiet. We didn't need to draw anymore attention to ourselves, especially on the way there. If we fought every changeling we saw on the way to Sugarcube Corner, we'd be too tired to fight anymore. Also, fighting all of those changelings would take time. I can say that with confidence that we'd be worn out before we'd save anyone, and it would be a waste of precious time.

In this case, time was of the essence.

---

By the time we had arrived, we saw nothing but changeling bodies and emptied pods surrounding the area. Shining noticed that the pods were cut open by something sharp as opposed to opening themselves up to release the captives. That meant that whoever was inside had to have been rescued.

"Psst!"

Shining and I flinched from the sound, turning back to the source and readying ourselves to strike. But when we had turned around, we saw nothing but a half-open door leading into the bakery.

"Psst! Over here! Quick!" The voice called to us, this time accompanied by a pink hoof.

Recognizing that it was Pinkie Pie, we rushed to the door and entered into the bakery. When we walked in, we could see a few ponies laid out across a few tables, all of them with teeth-marks on whatever part of the body. The fortunate others were all busy boarding up the windows and barricading the back door in the kitchen. Some of the ponies were covered in a strange, sticky goo. Obviously, that same goo had covered Pinkie to a certain degree.

"Shining, Non-non, so glad you're here. We need help."

"We've noticed." I said, looking towards a pony with a blank expression on his face. When I went in to look closer, I could see that it was Carrot Cake that was wearing that same, lifeless expression, covered in green goo and slightly bloodied from where he was bitten. I think I had started to grind my teeth at the sight of him being a victim.

"He got bit while protecting the twins. Mrs. Cake is doing fine. She's in the back trying to push the stove against the back door." Pinkie explained.

Shining walked up to Carrot and scowled fiercely. He placed a hoof on the paralyzed stallion and whispered to him. "You're gonna be fine. Just wait a bit for the venom to wear down and you'll be back to your normal self."

Carrot groaned lazily in a low voice, indicating that he didn't even have much strength to speak. But he did manage to look towards Shining.

"Don't venomous bites usually kill?" I asked curiously.

"Not in the case of a changeling. They like to keep their victims alive for harvesting. If anything, lethal dosages would have to be numerous bites, a lot more than two or three. Besides, you can't milk something from a dead prey." Shining answered, turning his attention to Pinkie. "Now what's the situation?"

"Well, they tried to come at us, but it was a small group to check out about the pods being empty."

"So what happened to them?" I questioned.

"Well, I showed them what happens when they mess with the twins. You mess with the pink, you get the party cannon!"

I started to scratch my head, my mind trying to process two things. The first one was the absurdity of that statement, and the second one was how cheesy it was. Either way, the enemy is down and they're safe. The only problem is that we might have to fight off a few more changelings, which would be a lot harder considering that they were magically recharged.

Then again, I do have a gun. Point goes to me.

It wouldn't be that hard to fight a changeling when you could just aim and shoot, I learned that much yesterday. But still, I have to keep my eyes open. A gun can only go so far when you gotta deal with a bunch of love-stealing, ferocious, parasitic insectoids with magic.

In speaking of ferocious... "Hey, you guys the others?"

Pinkie's ears folded flat against her head as her eyes widened with uncertainty. "I'm not sure. We were separated when the changelings came swarming in. And it didn't help that they were going after the school."

"Where's Miss Cherilee?" I questioned, thinking back on just earlier. "Big Mac told me that she'd be here. And considering that they attacked the school, I can assume she must've brought the foals here."

"...Most of them are here."

"WHAT!?" Shining and I erupted, shocked at Pinkie's response.

"Rarity, Fluttershy and Discord were with us. When we were running away from the school, a group of changelings attacked us. We tried to fight them off, but we didn't have a chance once more of them came in. It's one thing to fight thirty changelings with six, it's another when you have to fight sixty with just three."

"Three? There was you, Fluttershy, Discord, Rarity and Cherilee. If anything, Cherilee would be trying to lead the foals to a safe place, leaving you with just four to fight. If there were only three of you fighting, then what happened to number four?" Shining asked urgently.

"Discord disappeared. Even now, we still don't know where he went."

"Discord was the one that brought us here. If I can take a guess, he's back at the cottage with Fluttershy and the others." I answered, appreciating the fact that he did come get us when he did.

"But that leaves only two of them against I don't know how many changelings." Pinkie stated as she raised her hooves to count.

I sighed heavily and dropped my head. "So that means that we need to head out to the cottage to assist them as well. I swear this day couldn't get any worse."

Shining opened the top half of the front door and looked in every direction for any incoming changelings. After surveying the immediate area, he found nothing and looked back to me. "Then you'd have to go."

"Why me?"

"Because... as much as I hate to admit it, you're the one who can still fight at full strength. I could probably dish out a few bolts and a smaller shield over this place. It's not nearly as big as the town hall and it's a lot easier than doing one over Canterlot. I should be able to pull it off."

That's sounds like a good idea, but things on paper tend not to pan out as easily as written. "Now you know Twilight would have a fit, right? If you tried to launch a shield over the bakery, you'd be nearly killing yourself."

"Well I have to do something. And it's my job as capt-" He froze for a moment to think about something. But after the brief pause, he steeled his resolve once more. "Brigadier General, excuse me... Just let me be useful, and you can go and help out the others."

"But-"

"Your new objective is to head towards that cottage and protect all civilians until the reinforcements arrive. If you are unable to locate them there, then search the area for any hints of where they might have ran off to. Their safety is top priority. Nothing else, do I make myself clear?"

I continued to object to his raising a shield and endangering his health. "Sir-"

"That's an order, captain. Follow it." He commanded harshly, stepping towards me.

With hesitation, I finally conceded the argument to him. "Sir, orders acknowledged."

"Good, now move out." He said as he started to make his way towards the kitchen to help Cup Cake move the stove to the back door and raise the shield over the bakery.

I didn't plan to waste any time on taking my leave, but Pinkie's voice did hold me for a brief second. "Nonnie!"

I looked back to her, wondering what she had to say. For the most part, she looked away and frowned a bit. I did manage to catch her looking at me for a bit, but she promptly looked away. She turned around completely, facing the kitchen as she spoke. "Don't get hurt. Pinkie promise?"

"Sure." I didn't have time to pull off the entire swear, so I just nodded my head and walked off.

As I walked outside, I looked in either direction, including the sky, to see if there were any changelings in the area. I didn't need to get caught on my way there, so I had to be extra careful, especially since I was without the extra set of eyes. Finally verifying that the area was clear, I quickly moved across the street and hugged the shadows of the nearest building. While I hurried in silence, my mind was focused on multiple things. But the main thing that was on my mind as I moved was getting to that cottage and neutralizing any threat along the way.

However, a fleeting though ran through my head, making me hold off for a brief second. Shining mistakenly called me 'captain'. I guess he might've let it slip as he was talking about how he...

Since when did he get promoted?

I can understand that there's been a change in the rankings, a drastic one at that. But I didn't think he'd be ranked so high now. If I can recall, he mumbled something about being a brigadier general... In which case, that would mean he was no longer held the title of 'captain of the royal guard'. So if he gets promoted, then that would enable anyone under him to replace him. In other words, me or any other individual in the royal guard division were placed under him.

Not only that, but I was trained personally him... and defeated him in a spar... and currently dating his sister... who is also a princess of Equestria.

Wait... Did he just give me a battlefield promotion!?

---

I kept my noise low and my eyes peeled for the small squad of changeling that stood in the middle of the path that lead to the Everfree Forest. It seemed that they were talking about something that ambushed them from within. From what their reports are saying, they don't seem to know who or what it is.

I knew that the forest wasn't exactly a place where you could just stroll through without consequence, or so I've been told. Could it be a monster of some sort? Perhaps a ravenous manticore on the prowl for it's next meal. Or maybe they pissed off an ursa minor, or worse... I've heard something from Applejack pertaining to timberwolves, perhaps that could be their issue?

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

"I don't care if it's a dragon in there! It's killing our fellow changelings, and we need to neutralize it now before this gets any worse!"

The group of changelings looked to their leader and stammered at the thought of fighting what was inside of the forest. I looked around to make sure that I was still undiscovered, and to my good fortune I wasn't found out just yet.

The changelings and I heard a bloodcurdling scream emanate from deep within the forest. The small group wavered for a short period of time, including that of their leader. But eventually, he shook it off and found some courage to walk forward. Meanwhile, his lackeys were too busy shaking at the though of running into one of the beasts I mentioned earlier.

"Forge ahead! We mustn't let ourselves cower before this creature. In the name of the hive, our beloved queen, and our sacred maiden, we must save our own! NOW ONWARD, TOWARDS DANGER!"

The squad leader blindly galloped into the unknown, leaving his lackeys behind him. The six other changelings stopped shaking and charged in after their leader. It seemed that the guys speech, a bit on the theatrical side, was more than enough to cheer them on. I gotta give these guys credit, they were at least willing to die for their fellow changeling.

I knew that there was a hive and a queen, but who the hell was this 'sacred maiden'? I guess it's not my place to know, nor will I ever find out. I'm just gonna run to this cottage and meet up with Fluttershy.

After hiding in some nearby shrubbery, I crept along to the entrance and knocked on the door. When I knocked the first time, I wasn't met with any sort of response. I knocked a second time, the result was the same. The third time, I spoke. "Fluttershy, it me. Open up."

Again, no response.

"Dammit. They probably don't even think it's me." I muttered to myself. I looked around once more to see if there were anymore changelings. "Oh shit!" I whispered. Jumping down off the walkway and running to hide under the small bridge that lead off her property, I could see some changelings in the far distance, but they were too focused on whatever in the center of the town to notice me in return. I guess I was lucky this go-round.

Climbing back out, I turned my attention to the cottage, who's windows were unboarded and unprotected. I found the sight somewhat unusual, being that there was an attack on the town and what-not. So I quietly snuck up to the window and saw nothing but the furniture within. It didn't seem like anyone was home. Perhaps Fluttershy and the others might've ran somewhere else.

But then something in my mind clicked. Perhaps it wasn't just a lion, tiger or a bear that attacked the changelings. Perhaps it was a strange amalgamation of the three, plus several other animals... mixed into one chaotic entity.

I guess my next trail of clues might be within that forest.

Taking a deep breath, readying my mind for whatever I might have to encounter, I strove forward to seek the separated party of schoolchildren and their guardians.

I didn't have time to fuck around.

---

Walking through the forest, I encountered nothing but more shrubs and greenery. I did manage to avoid a patch of blue flowers, more commonly known to the town populace as poison joke. But as I went deeper, I started to encounter changelings.

None of them were moving at all. I saw one or two mauled next to a tree. I saw another three knocked clean out. A few others were wandering around aimlessly, foaming at the mouth and suffering from what I could deduce to be some sort of an acid trip. I even saw one or two turned into stone.

Apparently, I was getting myself into some pretty deep shit.

I quickly turned my head to the left, pulling out my sword to fight. But before I could, I was blindsided from my right. Not even a second later, I was lying on the ground, looking at a very testy yellow pegasus who stared at me with a ferocity that I didn't even know she was capable of. After snapping out of her adrenaline-induced state, she quickly hopped off of me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I did that to you!" Fluttershy whimpered quietly. "We thought you were something else."

I looked at her with shock pressed onto my face. For a few seconds, I couldn't think of any response but one. "...Okay?"

"You're not hurt, are you? Please don't be hurt! I don't want you to be hurt, especially because of me!"

"Fluttershy dear, he's doing quite fine." I heard the all-too familiar voice of Discord ring from my left. I turned over there to see him hanging off of a hammock in a tree. Not only was he swinging away without a care in the world, he had the nerve to drink from a coconut like he was vacationing in Honolulu.

"And fine, he is. For that, I'm glad. Just think of the injury he could have had!"

A third voice spoke out in rhyme. I got back onto my feet and turned around to see a zebra with blue eyes and golden neck rings walk up to me. A while back, she used to provide me with medicine for my headaches after a certain stallion beat my ass in a dark corner. Many of the ponies in the town came to know her as Zecora. "You're safe and sound, that's good to see. Though I've sat here and questioned why you have yet to visit me!"

"Well... It's kind of a long story." Fuck, where do I even begin? No, nevermind that. I have to complete my assignment. "I'm gonna have to elaborate on it later. I know it seems rude to just walk all this way and meet you again, in a time like this, and show concern for someone else. And I apologize for that."

"Oh, what are you here for?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "Not many of the changelings come this way. But when they do, we and my animal friends are more than willing to take them on."

Really? Fluttershy being brave? Who would've thought? "Animal friends?"

"Oh, it's no problem." She said as she looked past me. "He's one of us."

A chill ran down my spine as I thought about what her 'animal friends' had done to the changelings I walked past just moments earlier. I turned around slowly and met up with a chicken-lizard creature known as a cockatrice, a lion with horns and a scorpion tail known as a manticore, and a large brown bear she lovingly named Harry. "H... h-hi." I stuttered.

The three animals waived back in their own ways and walked beside a cheerful Fluttershy. Now add Discord, Fluttershy, and a shaman who was skilled enough to mix up some potions that could easily send them reeling into la-la land... Good lord, these changelings didn't stand a chance!

But I'm getting distracted. "Well it's nice to meet with all of you, but I'm afraid that I'm here on business. Is Rarity and the others with you?"

Fluttershy looked down to the ground in what appears to be shame. It's quite hard to tell with her mane blocking more than half of her face. "I'm sorry. But they're not with us."

I sighed out of frustration, completely baffled by the news of them not being here. "Oh come on!" I hollered out in frustration. "What happened? I thought that Pinkie said that you and Rarity were with the rest of the foals!"

"We were together at one point." Fluttershy explained as she walked towards the way I just came from. "But then a large group of changelings threatened us when we were just coming over to the cottage. Not only that, but they dared to threaten to eat Angel Bunny and his friends."

That thing has friends? "So what happened next?"

"I decided to stay behind and drive them off. They weren't going to feed on those poor little fillies and colts, not while I could do something about it!"

"Then later, as they wore her down, those three creatures had come around. And I offered to her a soothing potion, so that she could be back on her hooves and in full-motion." Zecora concluded.

"And of course, you know my reason for being here." Discord added as he teleported beside me. "Now the question is where do you think Rarity would take those poor, defenseless foals to? Naturally it would be City Hall, but as you already know-"

"That place is a changeling magnet." I finished. "Then how about the Carousel Boutique? That's the next-best place for her to go. She'd fight anyone who'd even come close to damaging that place."

"Oh, but I'm not even sure that she went over in that direction. She could be anywhere!" Fluttershy stated as she started to feel some concern.

"Then I'm gonna start there." I announced as I started to look towards the chaotic entity beside me. "Where do you think Rarity would go at a time like this?"

"My guess is as good as yours right now. But I can transfer you back into town so that you don't have to walk all the way back." He disappeared and reappeared in the tree he rested in earlier. "All of that walking can get a little boring after a while."

And the boutique was all the way across town. That's a lot of creeping around that I don't have the time for. "Better yet, just get me to the Boutique. I'll take care of the rest."

Discord stretched his arms and cracked his neck as his tail raised up and formed a set of fingers at the very end. "Well, I suppose that shouldn't be too difficult to do. In that case, I wish you the best."

"Many a folk, they will cry, if you were to go out and die. Stay safe and keep yourself low, for those changelings cannot track you if you're within the shadow." Zecora advised. I guess it's to my advantage that I stay in every dark area from here forth.

Fluttershy gave me a quick nuzzle. "You be careful! And let Rarity know that everypony else is okay."

"Got it!"

Discord appeared from seemingly nowhere to give me a slap on the back. I guess he doesn't like sharing the nuzzles. "Auf Wiedersehen, mein little soldier boy! Be sure to come marching back home in one piece!"

Somehow, that phrase made my departure all the more unsettling.

---

In a mere blink, I found myself standing in the middle of an open square just a few blocks away from the boutique. It seems that Discord's aim was a little off, but I guess I can't complain too much. I had a visual on the small, extravagant home. That was all I needed at the moment.

Or maybe I needed a big-ass flyswatter.

Seven changelings hovered just above me, hissing and circling me as they tried their best to intimidate me. And for a split second I was, thanks to them changing into some of the ponies that I was familiar with. One changed into a teenage pegasus mare with glasses, another into a smokey-gray pegasus colt with a silver Mohawk, and a few more landed on the ground. Three of them changed into the familiar faces of a red, bulky stallion wearing a yoke, a cream-colored mare with a purple and pink mane, as well as a carbon-copy of Pinkie Pie. The final two landed on the rooftop of a nearby home and transformed into two unicorn guards.

On second thought, they intimidated me quite a bit. It was a bit uncomfortable to raise my sword at familiar faces with the intent to maim or kill. But I clenched my jaw and kept a good grip on my sword. I let one factor ring aloud in my mind that would continue to motivate me throughout this fight: they were not who they portrayed themselves to be.

For a short while, they looked at me with odd expressions, unsure about what I was and why I was here. But that didn't matter to me, the first thing I needed to do was to take out the ones that were the closest.

I took my first step forward, breaking into a sprint. With sword in hand, I charged for the three ponies standing in front of me. The first one to stand in my way was the cream-colored mare. I wasted no time in trying to cut the impostor down. The mare bolted for me, causing me to veer left and leave a sharpened blade for her to run into. In trying to dodge it, I then switched the grip of my sword to a backhand form and cut deep into her side. Running past her, I dealt more damage as the blade ran across her body, hitting her vitals and crushing some of her ribs.

As the first changeling dropped their facade and fell to the ground lifeless, one of the pegasi fell from the air and tried to dive-kick me. Instead of taking the blow, I stopped myself and jumped back. As soon as the smoke-gray stallion landed, I ran forward with my blade gliding against his neck. In the fraction of a second, I could feel the droplets of his life essence splatter across the side of my face. I didn't bother to look back at the grisly scene, as my mind was more focused on the five that remained.

Both of the unicorns on the rooftop started to use their magic to levitate stuff at me and break off my attacks. I offered to use my gun, but I decided against it. If I was going to use it, it would have to be for a tactical emergency. Bullets aren't exactly a hot commodity here in Equestria.

Dodging a barrel and a bale of hay, I saw another changeling running up to me. This time it was the Big Mac replication that tried to catch me off guard and bite me. But I continued to avoid him as well as a well-timed wooden barrel that knocked him out of the way. I'd have to thank one of those rooftop changelings for their incompetence, as it has helped me tremendously. The next changeling came flying in from the air, eager to subdue me. But I decided to calmly take a step forward in a gambit to avoid the charge it made. Unwittingly, the poor creature landed against the ground with a powerful impact. However, it rose back up as if it hadn't taken any damage whatsoever.

"What the..." I mumbled to myself, uncertain as to what had happened. But I wasn't going to sit around and think about it. I needed to dispatch these bugs before I'm thrown into some ugly, gooey contraption used to harvest my love from me. The pegasi that assaulted me flew at me once more, dashing towards me. Instead, I gave myself enough room and let my sword take my place. By the time my blade made contact with it's third victim, the pegasus fell to the ground, this time permanently.

The changeling that pretended to be Big Mac then changed it's form to a body that was younger and faster. Disguising itself as Applejack, the creature snarled and kicked a wooden barrel at me. I fell to the ground, trying to somersault out of it's way. But as I did, the one that imitated Pinkie knocked me over. When I gathered myself, I rolled back over to my back and held my sword upward as the pink impostor came crashing down on my sword.

I knew if I was going to watch the life fade from her eyes, I was going to lose my mental edge. Even as a fake, the image of Pinkie dying would be a very disturbing one. With that in mind, I immediately kicked the dying changeling off of me and turned my attention to the final grounded changeling. Suddenly, a green blast of energy landed beside me. I turned back to the two changelings on the rooftop and grimaced in anger. The final ground-based changeling charged towards me. I pulled back my sword and went for a slice.

Dodging it, the changeling tried to snap it's jaws at me. But my agility and maneuverability proved too much for the changeling as I backed off, regrouping and driving my blade home, deep within the creature's chest. The fake Applejack cringed in pain as I pulled my weapon from within and gave it a final left-hook to the face. As soon as it hit the ground, the fake display faltered and all that remained was a bloodied husk of a hostile enemy.

Finally frustrated, the two unicorns fell to the ground and blasted their energy at me at will. The barrage was so much that I had to initially seek shelter from them. Running to a nearby fruit cart, I kept my head low. As I rested for a brief second, I could feel bits and chunks of fruit land all over me. Though the smell was rather pleasant, I knew that my aromatherapy session would have to wait. Sneaking an orange off of the fruit cart, I threw it high into the air to distract the two changelings. As soon as that fruit became airborne, I got on my feet and ran for the first one I could sink my sword into. By the time they had even noticed what was going on, I had plunged my sword into one of their necks and used it's body as a makeshift shield to protect me from the bolts of the other insectoid. When I was in range, I threw the lifeless body to the faux guard, making him catch it as I thrusted my blade into his mandable.

For a quick second, I thought the blade was to be stuck inside, but I had to place the lifeless carcass on the ground and my foot onto it's head as I separated my sword from his skull. After pulling it out, the body gave a quick jolt before remaining lifeless again.

When I had finished, I stood over the corpse, wondering what would've happened if their entire army came to attack us, at full-strength no less. This would've been a complete disaster. I wiped my face off from the blood and fruit pulp from earlier. I knew that Rarity was going to throw a fit for me getting this shirt dirty like this, bit she would have to deal with it. I'm not dying over keeping my shirt clean.

My ears led me ahead to a building a few blocks down. I looked back around to the Carousel Boutique, which was an arm's reach away and shook my head. I needed to take care of whoever cried for help rather than looking for Rarity and the others. They could be holed-in and in a safer position than whoever called for help.

Running forward, I encountered three more changelings. All three seemed to be circled around a certain area by another cart. It looked as if they were trying to capture another victim for their feeding. And as many ponies they have victimized today, I refuse to let another suffer. I didn't let out a cry, instead swinging my sword into the back of one's neck. The first one to the right fell with a yelp. The two others looked back over to see me rushing for them as well. Before the next closest one could get some separation, I grabbed it's horn and sank my sword into it's neck. It's eyes rolled back as it's hooves grasped at my arm to separate itself from me, but the effort, similar to it's breath, diminished to nothing. The third changeling screeched as it threatened to fire a bolt of magic at me. Instead, I threw the body back at the insectoid pony. The changeling, after receiving the lifeless body of it's comrade backed away in a panic. I quickly walked up to it and prevented what could've been a bad scouting report.

After catching my breath for a quick second, I turned around to see two faces staring at me with a mix of shock and horror. A young, white unicorn filly with a pink and purple mane as well as a purple baby dragon with green scales looked at me, almost scared to death. At that moment, I had remembered what I had done in order to save them both. Immediately, I felt shame.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that." I whispered, wiping more blood off of my face. "Are you two okay? Did they do anything to you?"

"I... w... y..." Spike continued to stammer through his mind for a response.

"Did they do anything to hurt you two?" I asked once more.

"N-no... They tried... to take us..." Sweetie Belle answered, still in a bit of a panic.

Great, now I've scarred these two for life. I guess I'm gonna have more than an earful from Rarity when I get these two over to the boutique. In speaking of Rarity... "How did you two get separated from the group?"

"The changelings attacked us when we were running towards the boutique. Rarity saved most of them, but some of the others were carried off. Spike and I are the lucky ones."

Great, as if this day couldn't get any worse. "Who did they carry off?"

"They carried off Twist and Rumble. They tried to cart off with Spike, but I managed to throw a rock at the one that carried him. When I hit it, they dropped Spike somewhere in town. So I went to look for where he fell, found him hiding in a bush and now we're here trying to make it down the street."

I quickly scanned the sky for any signs of hostile activity, nothing yet. "Well you two are in the clear for now. I think I've pretty much taken care of anything else we'd might run into."

"E-except... for one thing..." Spike stuttered.

I turned back to him, concerned for what he might have to say. "What?"

"That screech from that last changeling... that was a call for back-up."

Uh-oh. "Wait, you mean that there are more coming this way?"

Sweetie gulped and started to back herself against the wall again. "More like... they're already here!"

I quickly turned around to see a few flying in the sky, four or five tops. "Well that doesn't look too-" But another screech from one of them summoned up yet even more of their friends to show up. At this moment, we were looking at about fifteen changelings in the air and nine more on the ground. "...Bad."

That's twenty-four going against three... Correction, twenty-four to one considering I was the only one who could really fight. That means that I'd have to get these two away from here. And if they were going to make it to that boutique, then I needed to play decoy as long as it would take for them to get there.

I guess I didn't have much of a choice. "Sweetie, Spike, when I run at them, you run behind me."

"We're not gonna fight those things, are we!?" The young dragon said as he started to shake a bit.

"I am. You two need to get to that boutique. I'll distract them for as long as you need."

Sweetie started to whimper. "But you could get hurt! And you could... you could-"

I looked back to the young filly and gave her my best smile. "I could save you two and be on my way over when I finish. How does that sound?"

Spike didn't say anything or did much but clench his jaw tightly. Sweetie Belle hid behind my leg and pulled against me, terrified of the situation. "You're gonna come back, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay. Now let's get you two off and running."

"But that plan will never work!" Spike argued defiantly. "They can fly and you can't."

"Look, do you wanna see Rarity again or not?"

"..." My question seemed to have hit home as he quickly became silent and cooperative.

Sweetie leaned against me, whimpering and sniffling as I raised my weapon and readied myself to charge at the gathering before me. The changelings hissed and screeched as they all looked at the three of us. A final changeling appeared, donning armor that seemed completely different from ours. It seemed that this one would be a low-ranking officer of some sort. The changeling in charge pointed at me and screamed loudly.

"He has slain our fellow members of the hive! Capture him and drain him where he stands!"

You know, I never did get a chance to ask this. "Hey Spike, what happens if they, quote-unquote, drain you dry?"

"Well, love is considered as a valuable life-force here in Equestria and it's also tied into your magic. So if they suck all of it out, then it's more than likely that you'll die."

"Well thank goodness I don't have any magic for them to suck dry then."

Without further hesitation, I lifted my sword and ran towards the growing squad of Changelings. Sweetie and Spike followed closely behind me. This time, I hollered at the group, letting my voice ring loudly throughout the area. I was already caught upon my being brought here, so it didn't matter what would happen if I went all-out. I wish I could say that my cry caused them to shudder where they stood, but they charged back at me without a single shred fear.

The first changeling I ran into didn't last long at all, my sword hacked into the changeling's hide and knocked it over. Another two came at me at once. I took a step back to avoid one changeling and another to my left to avoid the next. Spike and Sweetie still trailed close behind. Reaching for my waist, I pulled out my secondary weapon as I leaned in to slice another changeling out of my way. The struck changeling still continued to show resistance by pulling at my leg, so I sliced my sword for the hoof that held me down. Upon our separation, the changeling cried out in pain over it's missing limb.

Mentally, I'm regretting that Sweetie Belle and Spike has to see all of this. I pray that Luna eases their dreams tonight as she did with mine.

But that would only happen if I can manage to get them to safety. Another three changelings fell from the sky in an attempt to ram into me. Trying my best to avoid, I ducked and dodged many of the incoming creatures that launched themselves like artillery fire. As for the ones that tried to stop us on the ground, they were met with swift ends. The first ran at me, receiving a slash to the crown of their skull. The second's met with my hilt crashing into it's muzzle, with my sword coming back down to perform a leg sweep. While the changeling cried out in pain, I hacked into it's side to make sure that it wouldn't grasp at me like it's maimed comrade.

Reaching behind the throng of hostiles, I commanded the two young individuals to make a break for the boutique. They gave me a nod and dashed for safety as quick as they could. But their escape attempt didn't go unnoticed. Three changelings that hovered in mid-air turned their attention to them, giving chase to the filly and the young drake. But before they could even get within a few feet of them, my gun sounded three times. The first hit one of the changelings in it's side, causing it to fall like a dead weight. The second and third shots landed on another one of the changelings, the first hitting one of it's wings and the other the back of it's neck. After the first two fell, I fired one more round, but my aim was slightly off as I hit the final one in the back of it's leg. But despite my shot not doing what I had intended for it to do, the changeling still dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.

Spike and Sweetie Belle had long made their exit from the area and now there was only me and a group of pissed-off insects that could try to suck the love out of me. But I wasn't planning on fighting every single one of them. I needed to make my way to the boutique for safety. At least there I can catch my breath and prepare for the next onslaught.

But that wasn't going to happen. I turned around to take a swipe at a changeling that was a few feet away from me. As I did, the changeling backed off and dodged my sword. Though what I lacked in my sword, my gun would pick up the slack. One more report sounded, sending the changeling that dodged me earlier to the ground in silence. The other changelings looked at me with bewilderment as their comrade lied dead next to me. But I had to aim carefully on my next few shots and use them only when absolutely necessary. I had a clip in my pocket, but that would only service me with nine more rounds. I had already used five out of the nine in my current clip.

But then I had thought about what would happen if I had deprived this squadron of it's leadership. One could assume that the chain of command would fall apart. So if I killed the commanding officer, that would have to spook them off a little bit. Not only spook them, but throw them into disarray. Orders would be mixed and there wouldn't be a strong command.

Scratch that, new objective is to kill the enemy commander.

I tried to look around for the changeling in armor, but the majority of changelings I saw were nothing more than lackeys. If anything, the one that would be calling the shots would more than likely be sitting somewhere in the back. And I'd have to cut my way through every single one that stood in my way.

I'll have to make this quick.

Raising my gun, I fired the remaining five shots, killing one instantly and seriously wounding three others. That left me with thirteen more to cut through, including their leader. While the changelings stared back at me with fear growing in their eyes, I took the opportunity to reload my gun. At this point, it seemed that they were being cautious rather than using their usual blitzkrieg tactics. And I wouldn't blame them, twelve of their own have been effectively neutralized in the matter of seconds and only half of their numbers remain. And I think they know exactly what I was capable of now.

I ran towards the group of changelings, screaming as my sword pointed towards the ground, ready to strike at the first changeling to come at me. At first they stumbled, but then they charged at me with everything they had. I was met with a forceful opposition, three changelings raining from above as another four fired energy blasts at me. Meanwhile five rushed at me to take me down.

The first victim of my sword was a changeling that landed beside me a second earlier and tried to flank me from behind. When I heard it's high-pitched screech, my sword raised high into the air and made contact with the crown of it's skull. Pulling off of it, I looked around to see another changeling coming directly at me. I offered myself a simple solution, firing a round at the changeling. While my shot hit my target, it still ran at me. Firing another, I finally got it to fall.

"Seven left." I mumbled to myself while I started to run again.

As I tried to dodge more of the aerial assaults and green blasts of magic, I continued to push myself towards the one changeling that mattered the most. Finally getting a clear view of him, I raised my gun to eliminate him at will. While I aimed, I tried to avoid may of the incoming bolts of their magic.

There was one thing for certain, this was a lot harder than it looked when I was playing Call of Duty. For one thing, this was real. I couldn't afford to take any shots, whereas on the game, I could take a few and the screen turn red. And if my screen turned red, I could hide for a while until my screen was back to normal. I could afford to run blindly into a pack of enemies and pull off multiple kills, call up a killstreak reward and be on my way to the next one. This time, I had to avoid ALL of the shots barreling towards me, there was no immediate healing factor, and if I die here, there's no such thing as a respawn. Plus there was plenty of cover in the game, where here there's just me and changelings in the middle of an open area.

Aiming down the sights, I tried to line a shot for their commander. As I did, another bolt landed just inches away from my feet, blowing dirt high into the air and into my face. Shielding my eyes, I tried to avoid being blinded by the blast. But in doing so I found that my vision was still obstructed by the dust that managed to get past my arms and into my eyes. For a moment my eyes watered, disabling me from getting a clear shot.

Suddenly, I felt a powerful blow knock me back. A powerful jolt of energy rushed through my body, nearly shutting me down completely. I took immediate notice that my feet were far from touching the ground. And as I tried to figure out what was going on, I felt a painful impact on my back as I crashed through a vendor stand and into a wall. As I landed, I heard nothing. I felt nothing. I saw nothing but pitch black. I became desolate and quiet, still and unaware. I blacked out for a short while.

That one command was the only thing my body seemed to respond to. My heart pounded into my ears while the sounds of the changelings around me seemed to be drowning in water. My vision slowly came into focus, starting from dark blurs of gray to lighter, more vibrant colors. My head moved on it's own, checking if my hands were still operational.

My hands bent, my fingers curling back and forth into my palm. Strangely, it felt slightly, yet unusually painful when my fingers dug into the paleness of my palms. My knuckles cracked loudly as my fist clenched shut. I turned my head to the other hand, the same happened. My head moved between both hands, my arms moving on their own accord. My eyes widened as the world around be started to come into complete focus. The sound of water drowning in my ears then transitioned into high-pitched ringing. The voices around me became much clearer.

It was almost as if I had taken a back seat to what was going on around me. My body slowly raised up to it's own feet. My hand grasping onto the ground as I anchored myself for support. I took slow and immensely deep breaths while I looked ahead to see the changelings before me. A few more showed up, some even landing next to me and immediately before me. I was completely surrounded with a wall behind me. I was cornered.

I looked around me, looking for my weapons. I found my sword lying next to me, but my gun was crushed by a changeling that shot in from midair. Grabbing my sword from off of the ground, I stared back at the changeling commander.

I'm not sure what made me run forward, but the only thing I knew was that I had to run forward. The majority of my world became much akin to a strange blur, everything save the changelings around me was nothing but a hazy outline of shapes and figures.

I turned to my left, ambushing three changelings that dared to take a step towards me. In a single strike I sliced through two of them, cutting clean past them and grabbing one by the horn. Without thinking, I pulled my sword back and thrusted into the creature, not caring where the blow had landed. I didn't care that it's blood spurted forth like a miniature fountain. I only cared about the one thing that mattered to me right now; I needed to live.

I turned around to meet face to face with a changeling. As it grabbed me it chomped down on my right shoulder, sinking it's fangs in as far as my collarbone would allow. I felt pain, but not nearly as much as I thought I would feel under normal circumstances. I switched the grip on my sword to a backhand grip so that I could still combat the changeling. Driving the hilt of my sword into it's head, I repeatedly struck the creature until it released me. Upon my freedom, I wasted no time in separating it's head from it's shoulders. With a grunt I sliced through the insect's neck and turned my attention to the commander.

I continued to follow the commands as if I was some sort of automated device made to completely destroy all means of a threat. I ran at the armored changeling, blindly cutting down five more that charged at me. When the commander saw that I was heading directly for it, the creature took to the air for safety. It's cowardice only served to make me even more infuriated, so much that I would take it out on every other one of the changelings that came at me.

Voices and commands filled my body, each muscle moving and reacting in tandem to the ones I'd use on the norm. Chemicals released throughout my body, enhancing every sense I possessed. I could hear the breaths of every changeling around me. I could smell the gunpowder from my gun and the strong scent of copper from the blood being spilled. I could see everything that threatened to take my life. I could taste the air I breathed in. I could feel the slightest movements in the air.

My feet pivoted and moved me back towards the congregation of changelings that stood to oppose me. I switched my sword back into it's normal grip and ran for the nearest changeling on the ground. The changeling stepped back in fear, but I pounced on it in time enough to make sure that it didn't become scared enough to run away.

I twisted myself to the right, quickly taking on another two changelings that looked at me with that same expression of regret and terror. I didn't think I gave them much of a chance to scream, swiping my blade against one's neck and the other's upper torso.

Turning back to my original direction, I gave yet another changeling a left hook and a strong swipe of my sword against it's head.

The changeling tried to snap it's jaws at me, but only received a snack in the form of my sword through the back of it's throat.

I swung my sword towards myself, placing it between my upper waist and my left arm. As I stepped back, I stabbed another changeling. I gave the blade a quick twist to loosen myself from the dying changeling and parted ways from it.

I took a step to my left to let another changeling land on the ground. But as it raised it's head, my sword gave greeting to it's brain.

I just kept going.

I kept killing one...

After another...

After another... Until I looked up to the commander that mocked me. Every single muscle in my body flexed as I tightened the grip on my sword. I screamed loudly, as if I was a savage animal, rattling my weapon at the commander that continued to hover high above me. Finally in a fit of frustration I threw my sword at the armored changeling. He moved quick enough to avoid a deadly blow, but at the sacrifice of one of it's wings.

When it landed, I rushed over to meet with the wounded commander to finish the job. But I found myself trying to fend off another changeling that pressed itself on me from my left side. As it drove me next to a damage building, it tried to bury it's teeth into me. I threw up my left arm to take the blow and started to look around for anything I could use as a weapon. To my immediate left I did see a brick lying on the ground, but I couldn't grab it unless my left arm was freed. Trying my best to shove the creature off, I dug my right hand into it's skull and firmly pressed my thumb against it's eye. Pressing harshly, I didn't stop until I started to draw blood.

The changeling released me, screaming out in pain as I quickly grabbed the brick and changed it to my more capable hand. The changeling writhed on the ground, crying out in discomfort as I climbed on top of it. I shoved the brick against it's head, relentlessly bashing and bashing until I could see nothing but pink. I didn't mind the blood on my face at this point. The only thing I cared about was living... and for good reason.

My right arm fell lifelessly to the ground. And soon after, I felt myself follow suit. My body damn near fell apart as I leaned myself against the wall I was backed into. My chest rose and fell at a rapid pace as I tried to fill my body with enough oxygen. My eyes turned to another changeling that stared at me out of fright. It didn't think about anything else but running away. But the changeling behind it blindly charged at me out of trepidation, but became redirected by another blast of magic. We all looked over to see what had attacked the other changeling.

My eyes instantly grew as I saw Rarity making a stand directly in front of me.

"Now, dearies... if you don't mind, I would rather you to stand down and make yourselves scarce. I don't like fighting, as it leads to a huge mess." She stated as she looked at the actual mess I made. "Again, fighting's not really my thing. I'm more into fashion. But if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me!" She screamed forcefully.

Wow, you go Rarity.

When the changeling commander stepped forward to face her, it wore a large grin as it sniffed her out. As soon as it had gotten a good whiff of her, the armored changeling had another idea in mind. "I smell an immense amount of love coming from you."

Rarity didn't budge as the creature walked closer to her. But before the changeling could get any closer, a large blur of pink swooped in from the air and knocked it into the ground with enough strength to crack it's skull open. When Rarity and I looked over we saw Cadance standing directly before us, wearing a smirk as well as a set of sliver armor. When another one of the changelings hissed at her, Rainbow Dash dove in and punched the creature onto the ground. The changelings started to back away as they saw the two standing in front of us. Rainbow Dash looked back at me with concern.

"You doing okay, rookie?" She asked as she stood tall against the changeling threat.

Rarity nodded as she answered for me. "He's going to be fine. I'm sure he's just a little winded is all."

"That's good to know." Cadance said as she waived her hoof in the air, signaling a large contingent of pegasi to rush into the town. Many of them were armed with spears and swords as they all rushed to battle. The changelings that still lived retreated to another part of the town. But for now, at least Ponyville would live to see another day without being held by changelings.

Rainbow walked over to me and extended her hoof. "Can you stand?"

I tried to lift my arm to meet with her, but my body had grown entirely too heavy for me to move. I did manage to lift it a little before my entire body slouched over. "I...can't...move."

"What!?" Rarity exclaimed as she jumped over to me, trying to inspect my wounds. Cadance was the first to notice the teeth marks in my arm.

"He's been bit!" She pointed out.

"Nnngh... Twice...shoulder..." I struggled to speak as my muscles became unresponsive.

Cadance and Rainbow looked at one another before trying to see if there were any more wounds on me. As soon as they placed their hoof on my shoulder, I winced in pain. My obvious contorted facial expressions showed them that I was hurt where Rainbow had touched me. Rarity gritted her teeth as she ripped the shirt apart at my shoulders to reveal another set of teeth marks. The three of them gasped in unison as they had realized that I had been bitten twice.

"Oh no." Rarity whispered behind her hooves.

"Augh! Rookie, what the hell were you doing!?" Rainbow screamed at me.

"He saved Spike and Sweetie Belle! If there's anypony you should be yelling at, it's me, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity defended as she glared back at the cyan pegasus.

"Nevermind cause-and-effect, ladies! We need to get Nondis to a medical center now!" Cadance commanded. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, I need you two to get him on my back!"

"Ma'am!" The two sounded off unanimously. While the two ponies did what they could to straighten me out and prep me for Cadance, the pink princess tried her best to comfort me.

"You're gonna be okay."

---

After the next three hours Rarity stood by my side while Cadance and Rainbow continued to make their way across town, clearing out every changeling they encountered. It didn't take long for the army of bug-ponies to make their inevitable retreat from the town, especially after Twilight had gotten word of my condition. She stepped on the field and blasted every changeling from here to Sweet Apple Acres, driving them back. As far as their commander was concerned, they were never caught. The changelings didn't seem to mind leaving everyone they kept in their feeding pods here either. And on top of that, there seemed to be a lack of casualties as well. Many were wounded and taken in for feeding, but no one died from any of it. I guess that's more than enough good news for today.

The venom that was injected into my body had started to wear off. I wasn't exactly sure-footed but I was hobbling out of the hospital. That didn't stop Rarity from trying to help me every single time I nearly fell over. Unfortunately, the hospital didn't have any canes for anyone my size. Can't be helped. I was the last one they had in mind whenever it came to being crippled, albeit for a short while. And it hasn't really occurred to me that I might break a leg or something that might leave me to hobble around a bit. Though I have a distinct feeling that Twilight might change that around.

Twilight and the others, after finishing around town, finally met up with me at the palace. When we had arrived, we saw nothing but a multitude of downed changelings around the castle grounds. And after a certain point, the bodies just stopped. Twilight did make a statement on how this castle was enchanted by something called the Tree of Harmony, but that still didn't make any sense to me. The only think I could think of is that there was some sort of barrier erected over the castle that acted as some sort of bug-zapper.

No pun intended.

Either way, Shining finally met up with me and explained to the others that I would be taking more of an active role come tomorrow in the cleanup. He also had to explain to Rainbow Dash why I now outrank her. But my being a captain, I'm still trying to process that, still didn't stop her from calling me rookie. I thought that this would be a temporary promotion, but instead Shining is pushing paperwork come tomorrow to get me updated on the perks of my new rank. He also explained to me in private that being an officer would help convince any dignitaries of foreign lands that Equestria's youngest princess was getting married to a high-ranking official rather than a low-ranking grunt. So not only did my recent list of accolades earn me that position, but it was a means to pad my resume for the approval process.

It was a total power play, but then again I wasn't complaining all that much. Twilight even showed her approval, as the situation would let me and her, in her own words, spend more quality time together while she was on the job.

With all of that mess aside I asked to retire to my room for the evening. Both Rarity and Twilight assisted me down the hall, giving me abundant praises that I could do nothing but blush at. When we had gotten to Twilight's room, Rarity expressed her shock upon finding out that the one morning Twilight and I spent together wasn't just a special occurrence, but a daily ritual. She seemed a bit baffled at the news but she smiled and ushered us inside, bidding farewell and leaving us alone.

...Something tells me that she not too fond of me sleeping with Twilight on the nightly. I hope that this doesn't become an ugly issue later on.

---

Later that evening...

---

Rarity entered into the Carousel Boutique and stared at the mess made from the earlier commotion. As she walked through the room, she saw Sweetie Belle sitting at the table with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They were discussing her earlier encounter with the changelings and the human that risked his life to save her. Despite her story being somewhat dark and gritty, it appeared that she had nothing but praise for him. The fashionista leaned against the wall, listening in for what her younger sister had to say to her friends.

"So what yer tellin' us is that Nondis saved both you n' Spike, from a pack of love-suckin' changelin's?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"Of course he did!" Squeaked Sweetie. "He actually sacrificed himself to save both me and Spike!"

"Wow, you really don't hear much of it from Spike." Scootaloo pointed out.

"That's because he was a bit shaken up from it all."

"What about you?" Apple Bloom asked.

"What about me?"

Rarity crept around to sneak a peak at the three fillies at the dinner table as Scootaloo answered Sweetie's question. "Well, if your story went anything like how you said it did, then I bet it must've been really scary to see Nondis like that."

The white filly's ears folded back as her head dropped. "Yeah, but it was a lot scarier to find out that he got bit. Rarity said that he got bitten, twice!"

"Is he doin' okay?" The yellow filly questioned.

"From what I heard from Rainbow Dash, he's supposed to be back on his feet by now." The orange pegasus recalled.

Sweetie raised herself as she spoke. "But I have to admit, it wasn't as nearly as bad as when we were foalnapped by Queen Chrysalis. She actually threatened to kill us!"

Apple Bloom cringed slightly as she hummed to herself. "That was a bit scary, especially since she killed that cat!"

"Not to mention how she captured Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity. She almost beat Twilight too." Scootaloo stated.

"Yeah, but that was when Twilight wasn't a princess. At the very least, she has wings now." Sweetie said with a bit of confidence.

"And her own set of guards." Scootaloo added.

"And her own castle!" Apple Bloom finished.

The three giggled happily as Rarity continued to watch on. She seemed relieved that her younger sister was now in safe company. Finally feeling content with that knowledge, she started to walk off. But she halted her movements as a single question reached her ears.

"So, are ya gonna tell 'em now?"

"Tell him what!?" Sweetie answered, sounding a bit flustered.

"Duh, that you have a you-know-what on him." Scootaloo answered.

"...Do I have to?"

"You gotta tell him! Spike's gonna be running around doing stuff for Rarity forever if you don't come clean to him."

"And plus, you saved his scaly tail too! He owes it to ya this time!" The apple filly exclaimed loudly.

"...I can't."

"Why not!?" The two other fillies asked simultaneously.

"Because... well... you know."

"We toldja once, we toldja a million times! Spike. Is-"

"Not my crush..." Sweetie confessed quietly. "He's never been."

"...But you told us that he-"

"That was a lie."

"So he didn't dump a bucket of goat milk over Diamond Tiara 'n Silver Spoon?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"No... That was just a cover-up."

"So, is your crush anypony in our class." Scootaloo asked.

"...I already said that he wasn't a pony."

The two sat in silence as it all finally came together. "...No." They both said in a low tone, expressing their disbelief.

"..." Sweetie remained silent.

"You can't mean that... he's your crush!?" Scootaloo asked.

"...I know it's wrong, but..." Sweetie sighed as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. "How do you deal with a crush, when you know they like somepony else?"

Rarity clenched her eyes shut as she found herself asking the same question to Spike every now and then. Usually, he'd give her a half-baked answer and continue to swoon her until she felt better. But those temporary solutions did nothing for her now. She continued to listen in over their conversation, turning a keen ear to the door. The other two fillies sat in silence as both Sweetie and Rarity awaited their response.

"So... How do I deal with liking someone, knowing that they promised their life to another?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom took in a deep breath as she gave Sweetie her honest answer.

"You don't."

Rarity's eyes grew as she heard the young foal's answer. The answer to her dilemma, the one problem that's been a thorn in her side since the beginning of this whole affair was that she constantly had to deal with being the second mare in line, perpetually caught in between her own happiness and that of her friends. Taking satisfaction of the answer she overheard, she marched upstairs to her bedroom.

"If I don't have to deal with it... then I won't."

She looked in the mirror, staring at the picture of her and all of her friends, including the one whom she loved immensely. As she focused in on the human that was circled, she found a new source of life within her. A wave of determination and bravery swept her as she came to her final conclusion.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but it's decided. He will be mine..."

Next Chapter: Chapter XXVI Estimated time remaining: 132 Hours, 41 Minutes