I stood in the royal hall. Our team had just been called down by Princess Celestia. From what I heard, it was very urgent that we be down there as soon as possible. I headed down from the barracks, only to see that I was late. I cautiously stood by the door, unsure of what I should do. I began to listen in on the heated conversation.
"Princess, there's no way we're going to hold this outpost for longer than an hour! Let alone two days! This is a suicide mission, there's no point!"
I could recognize that voice anywhere, it was of Shining Armor, the captain of my squad. He was a prince, so he actually was two ranks above me. He had just had a foal, so he was constantly stressed nowadays. Also, he was technically my "brother". After my real brother Flash Sentry had married his sister, Twilight Sparkle, we had become brothers.
"Excuse me, this is not an option. There is an HVI in that town, and it is urgent that she is safe."
That was Celestia herself! Shining Armor was literally talking back to a god!
"Celestia, with all due respect, is anyone important enough to send six other ponies in to die for?"
"I think your sister is important enough," Celestia added, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. It was as if a bomb dropped. There was complete and utter silence for about 30 seconds.
"That is all. I will have you transported to Ponyville in an hour. I expect to see all of you this time."
Oh ponyfeathers! Celestia knew that I was not at the urgent meeting. She was going to send me to the moon the next time I saw her. This was just about the worst possible thing. I heard hoofsteps heading in my direction. The massive door I was standing behind swung open, and almost crushed me. I crawled out, low to the ground. If I kept in the shadows, they would never be able to see me. After they all went to their rooms, I quietly crept back to mine.
I was a member of the Royal Equestrian Defense Unit, or REDF for short. We were commissioned to combat changeling offensives at quick notice. Currently we consisted of 6 soldiers. There was Shining Armor, our captain. We had a unicorn engineer named Loose Bolts, who hated changelings with a passion. An earth pony support gunner named Barrel Roll, who was three eighths zebra, and was almost twice as big as me. An emerald green pegasus named Lucky Strike, who preferred to stay back in the distance, and almost never talked. Then there was me, and lastly Smoke Screen, a new recruit to the team. I chose to stick with Smoke, due to his easy going nature, and the fact that we were both assault troops.
After about four hours of nervously racing through my equipment, I received a message. I was supposed to be on the train to ponyville in ten minutes. I nervously walked down all the long halls, before I saw Shining get out of his room. I quickly ducked behind a small column.
"I can see you, Flash," Shining calmly stated with a hint of sarcasm.
"No, you can't," I shouted back to him.
"Hurry up. If you're late again, it's on me."
"Sorry about that. I was just really tired today."
Shining grunted and made a gesture towards the door. I trotted over and swung the heavy door open. Inside, Luna and Celestia were talking to the rest of my squad.
"Alright princess, so all we have to do is step on this panel?" asked Smoke, in a concerned manner.
Luna responded,"Yes, that is all. All of the necessary supplies are there already."
I quietly stepped on the panel, as instructed by Lucky Strike. The small glass podium began to glow dark red, and produce a low buzzing noise.
"Good luck," Celestia announced.
Then, in a bright burst of light, we were gone. It seemed like an hour before I opened my eyes again. The sight that greeted me was one of a small town, bustling with colorful ponies. Some soldiers were ushering the ponies to the same designated platforms that I had came here on. We began to trot towards the supplies, in the center of town. As we arrived, I noticed that there were no ponies left in the town, even the mayor. I felt like a colt on Heart's Warming Eve as I saw the huge pile of guns and ammo. I rushed over, and dug out an M4 carbine with an ACOG sight. Every pony else reached for their weapons, starting with Smoke. He grabbed a Remington R5 RPG, Shining reached for the same, Loose grabbed a Benelli M1014, Lucky dug out a Remington SPS, and Roll found an M249 SAW.
After every pony had all of their supplies ready, we began to search for a base. We found a large library that had been carved out of a tree. It was vertical enough that we could see any movemnt, yet small enough that it would be nearly impossible to spot from the sky. I began to set up a tripwire, a simple but efeective defense. All I needed was to pound a nail in on both sides of the door, connect a copper wire between them, and rig it up to C4. Also, Roll and I mounted a Vulcan Minigun on the staircase. It would burn through ammo in less than 10 minutes, but would ensure that nothing got through the door.
Loose was setting up shotgun shells under the floorboards. He also set up a sentry turret that overlooked the door. I almost felt bad for the changelings, but then I remembered how many civilians they had killed. The war was at its peak, and although we had better troops, the changelings had us outnumbered ten to one. It felt impossible that we hadn't been overrun yet. Our allies, the griffons, and zebras had already been wiped out. Fortunately, now the town was completely cleared. I began to walk around outside, just to get a feel for the land. Suddenly, a shadow darted out between cover.
I hastily began to gallop off towards the stranger, clutching my knife. I swung out over a corner and saw the figure about four yards ahead of me. I unbuckled my helmet and threw it at the figure, eliciting a yelp. The figure tumbled to its forehooves and I dove on its back, choking it. As I raised my knife to slit its throat, I noticed a purple wing. I turned the figure over, and realized that it was Twilight! I apologized and helped her to her feet.
"What the hay was that, Flashburn! You almost killed me!" Spat an angry princess.
"With all do respect princess, I thought you were a spy. I also hope you know that the rest of the civilians evacuated hours ago!" I responded, in a worried manner.
"So did I!"
"How?"
"Simple clothing spell."
"Well Twilight, I'm gonna have to take you back to my officer," I hopefully asked.
"Fine"
I practically dragged her the whole way back to the tree. After precariously evading the traps, I reached the top quarters. Shining was up there, talking with Lucky Strike. Twilight slowly asked, "Shining? Is that you?"
"Twilight! What are you doing here?" Shining frantically responded.
"Oh, just some research."
Shining looked over to Lucky and I, and mouthed, "Stay put."
He walked out the door with Twilight. I heard some muffled yelling, and then a loud ZAP! Shining walked back in, obviously flustered. He slowly said, "That was a changeling, Flash. You almost had us killed." I opened my mouth, but said nothing. I hung my head and began to prepare more traps.
