Crimson

Twilight gasped when the pony revealed itself to be a Changeling, and almost charged in horn ablaze to save Five, before remembering the "encounter" he had with Princess Celestia. If it tried any kind of assault at this point, she'd almost feel sorry for it. However, if it attack his mind, like how the Queen had tried to control Shining Armor... she simply waited to see what kind of reaction the Spartan would give.

\\\//////

Five examined the true form of Fang, trying to read his body language. Clearly this was a young one, if size and inexperience were any factors in age, as Fang kept on shifting from one leg to the next, trying to stay calm under the gaze of the Spartan. While he did, not once had he checked to see if they were still being followed, which Five knew the answer to, seeing a certain spot of purple within the darker pallet of the forest.

"You can explain yourself while you help me search," was all Five said before locking the Assault Rifle to his back.

Fang blinked in disbelief while Five clicked the safety off on the Magnum.

"W-what?"

"I said you can talk while you help me, alright? Look for anything that's not just burned metal."

Silence came down upon them as Five began to shift aside ash piles in an attempt to search through the remainder of his Pelican.

"... Why?" Fang asked to break the silence.

"Because protocol states that nothing can be salvaged from my ship if I can't carry it, and I don't know if those were enough explosives to-"

"I mean," Fang interrupted, "why would you give me a chance to talk?"

\\\//////

Twilight found herself, oddly enough, agreeing with the Changeling! Why was Five giving it a chance? Why was he asking it for help?

"Because, so far, you haven't tried to take my weapons," Five started.

Already, Twilight cringed as she thought about the only path this would go down.

"... you haven't tried to kill me," Five continued, "not even once, might I add. You didn't try to make me out as some sort of monster that can't see reason, and you haven't desecrated the only remains I have of my best friends."

Twilight was appalled at the sentence. Never once had she tried, nor even thought about... she had that itching feeling in the back of her neck, yet again, as her developing sixth sense caused her rage to boil.

'Discord, you arrogant nutjob!' she scolded in her mind.

\\\//////

"Mmm... not now, daddy's working!" Discord shouted as he scrolled through several boxes of text and pictures, trying to find one soul that understood his plight.

It was for naught, however, as not one mind within had found what he had been praying for. With a teary rage, he shouted to the abyss above, making his blight known to Everything.

"Why didn't anyone see the obvious Half-Life 3 joke!?"

\\\//////

Fang stood stiff as a board as Five continued to rummage through the ash piles of the blast, not caring for any stares the wildlife provided. However, it was a certain purple pony that was keeping the Spartan from focusing on the actual work that needed to be done. With a sigh, Five raised himself from his knees and spoke.

"Twilight, would you stop hiding and help, since you decided to follow us all the way here?"

\\\//////

Creak kept up a slow pace through the hallways of the saving grace of Changeling kind, the alien ship known as Pale Horse. As he did, the nymph took in its surroundings and was in awe of the brilliance every inch of the place gave off. Ahead of him was a locked door, yet its shining barrier and seeming defiance kept him in such a trance that he didn't even mind being cut-off from his walk. As he slowed to a stop, the nymph heard the rushing of hooves on the metallic floor behind him, and turned to see another Changeling approaching.

"There you are," she panted. "We've been worried, young one."

"I'm sorry, Sputter," Creak said while flicking his front hoof across the floor. "I just... wanted to look around."

She gave a chuckle as they both looked up.

"I know, this place is pretty big, isn't it?"

Creak nodded as he came closer to the other Changeling.

Before he could reach to her, however, the massive doors behind him clanged in protest of a mighty force. Both Changelings turned on the spot, startled by not only the noise, but by the sizable dent in its center. Angered sounds came from the other side as another impact rang out through the hall, bending the mighty barrier even further. It began to crack under the amount of force as the two observers began to speed away from the roars from the other side.

Creak heard a hissing sound as blue light filled the hallway before a deafening boom rang through the metallic chamber, along with an intense wave of heat that threatened to singe their chitin without contact. The nymph took a look behind him and gasped in shock.

Where the door once stood, eight creatures poured out in pursuit of the two. All of them stood on two legs that bent in a similar fashion to their own hind legs, had two arms that ended in four long, thin, flexible claws, and as opposed to jaws, had four mandibles that bared rows of flesh-ripping teeth. Three of them wore identical, white armor that gave an air of authority that matched their massive helmets, while the other four wore blue armor that failed to cover their arms. The last one was too fast to examine, as it began to charge after them.

"Hop on!"  Sputter commanded.

Without hesitation, Creak jumped onto the barrel of the elder Changeling and held on tight as they heard the beast roar.

"NISHUM!"