Crimson

Twilight peeked her head out of the bushes and scanned the riverbank clearing for Five and the other alien, and found the Spartan dragging the opposing one to the edge of the water. Without so much as a pause, Five spun on his heels and threw the limp form of the alien into the river, dropping it below the reflective surface like a rock.

The alicorn rushed out of cover to try and save the possibly drowning alien before Five spoke.

"Don't bother with it," he deadpanned.

Twilight stopped mid-stride to look between Five and the water.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"We've got more important things to deal with."

"But what about-"

"Dead," Five interrupted. "I made sure of it."

Twilight slowly backpedaled away from the form of the Spartan.

"Wha..." she breathed out.

"Do you remember everything I told you? About the war I left?"

The alicorn nodded reluctantly.

"That, was one of them. They hold no mercy for my kind, and want nothing but to see us all die."

"But... it, gave you one of those swords!" Twilight protested.

"How much did you see?" Five asked cautiously.

"I... stopped watching before you ran towards each other."

"It wanted to prove that it was better. It wanted to even the odds so that it would make me afraid to falter."

"Then... why..."

Twilight was at a loss for words as she stared at the flowing river, where the defeated alien lay, likely dead. She then thought back to what Five had told her the previous night. The war. Destruction of planets. Loosing everything he had ever known in the blink of an eye. To her, this was simply an act of murder, unjustified in her own view. To Five, however, it was clear that there was a mix of fear and hatred when he spoke of the "Covenant," and she feared whatever may get in his way now.

"I..." Twilight tried to speak, unable to find a position in this conflict of interests.

"Let's just go," Five stated before walking behind Twilight's field of view.

The alicorn turned around to watch as the Spartan opened the bag and pulled out the yellow-striped weapon that she had seen when she had first found him, a small slide that he placed on his hip (which stuck to his armor magically), and a thin black weapon that had a grip that looked as though it would slide down the underside of the weapon. The black one stuck to his back, again, likely with magic, as Five brought out the smaller weapon, and pushed a small button. A thin strip of metal slid out of it and hit the ground with a clink as Five loaded another strip into the empty slot. It clicked once before he placed it on the side of his leg, and pulled back a lever on the yellow-striped one.

"Fang!" Five called into the woods.

The bushes rustled to their right to reveal two Changelings, one being Fang and another even smaller than him, looking like a Changeling foal. The smaller one rested on Fang's back, crying onto the back of the older Changeling.

It was that image that would haunt Twilight.

A Changeling foal.

Crying.

Before Twilight could think about how world-shattering this seemed, it spoke in a weak, raspy voice.

"I-is," the smaller one sobbed, "the m-monster... gone?"

"It's gone," Five confirmed.

The Spartan slowly approached the two. As he did, the smaller Changeling seemed to shrink into the chitin of Fang, trying to hide from his advance.

"Calm down," Five spoke slowly as he began to lower his weapon.

Before anyone else could speak, a blue blur slammed into Fang's side, sending the younger one flying into the air. Five turned and jumped to catch the younger Changeling before slamming into the ground, the nymph secured in the shade of Five's titanic form. The Spartan rolled over and got into a kneeling stance before aiming at whatever had assaulted Fang.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted.

The pegasus in question had Fang in a choke-hold, cutting off air from the Changeling's lungs as he flailed his forelegs backwards in a vain attempt to ward his attacker off.

"I've got this, Twi!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she brought both herself and Fang to the ground in the struggle.

Five kept the younger Changeling cradled in his left arm as he got up and jogged to the prismatic mare. The Spartan reached down and picked up Rainbow Dash by one of her forelegs and began to shake her.

"Let, go!" he grunted.

With one swift motion, Dash's grip broke as Fang flew past Five and tumbled to the dirt. The Changeling began to breathe erratically as he steadied his stance.

"Get off of me!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she bucked Five.

Dash screamed again as she recoiled her hind legs from the ineffective strike, attempting to hold them with one hoof. Five unceremoniously dropped Rainbow Dash onto the ground before turning towards Fang and kneeling down to his level.

Twilight didn't hear their conversation as she rushed over to Rainbow Dash's side, prepping her magic as she inspected her friend's legs. With a brief moment of concentration, Twilight brought up her x-ray scanning spell, and dispelled it when she gasped in shock. Underneath the muscle, Dash's legs were broken with several distinct hairline fractures, while three of her joints were misaligned.

"Rainbow, are you alright?" Twilight asked the squirming mare.

"Bucking, no, I'm not alright!" the pegasus screamed in agony.

"What were you thinking!?" Twilight chastised.

"I was trying to stop that Changeling from attacking y- AGH!" she cried when her right knee impacted a rock in the dirt.

"Just... hold on," Twilight said before rushing over to Five.

The Changelings were both holding each other while Fang was trying to stand back up as Twilight approached. The Spartan turned and raised his weapon to Twilight before speaking.

"AT!" he shouted.

Twilight froze in her tracks as Five stomped towards her.

"The actual Hell was that, just now!?" he demanded.

"I- I didn't know that she'd just... attack!" Twilight tried to retaliate.

"Just turn back. This doesn't concern you," Five stated harshly before turning back to the Changelings.

Twilight winced as he knelt down next to Fang again, helping him up as the smaller one spoke to him. She rushed back to Dash's side as the bushes began to rustle yet again.

"For pony's sake, what now!?" she yelled at the thicket.

Applejack burst through with vigor and kicked up a small dust cloud as she landed. Her eyes fell on the form of Rainbow Dash and widened before hurrying to her side.

"Dash, what happened!?" she asked.

"That bucking alien is what happened!" Rainbow groaned through her teeth.

The earth pony mare picked up the pegasus and began to walk back towards the thicket before calling back to Twilight.

"Come on, Twi, let's get outta 'ere."

"I can't, Applejack," Twilight responded.

Applejack froze as she glared back at the alicorn.

"What? The hay's wrong with ya, Twilight? We gotta get away from that-"

"This is literally the only chance I have to keep any kind of relation between Equestria and whatever Five's from. If it means I have to take this risk for the benefit of Ponykind, then I'll do it. And for the record, Dash attacked first."

Twilight turned and made her way over to Five and the Changelings as Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched their friend betray them for an alien.

\\\//////

Five bent his knees as he knelt down to help Fang back up.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm... I'm fine," he huffed out.

The Spartan looked to the smaller one with a glance and saw that it was staring at him in both awe and fear.

"Who's this?"

Fang winced as he tried to look back to the smaller Changeling.

"Y-young, one?"

The smaller one took in a breath before it spoke to Five.

"I-I'm Creak."

"He's a nymph, very young," Fang explained.

Five nodded.

"You alright to move?"

"I should be fine," Fang said before shakily standing up fully.

"Where did you come from, Creak?" Five asked the nymph.

"I... I ran from the monster, but  Sputter," Creak gasped, "oh no, Sputter! We have to help her!"

"Where?" Five asked.

"We ran out of the Haven through an open door that sunk into the dirt."

Five nodded before bolting in the direction the nymph ran from.

"Wait for us!" Fang called out before stumbling after Five.

"Let me help," Twilight called before picking up both Changelings in her magic and carrying them with her over the trees.

As they soared through the air, Creak began to panic inside, and held on to Fang for dear life. Below them, Five charged through trees and bushes, breaking through them at 60 kilometers per hour as nothing but a blur of red death. The Spartan looked through the parting trees and bushes to gaze upon a Strident-Class Heavy Frigate buried into a gorge.

\\\//////

Gal Ratuun bolted around another corner and raised his Storm Rifle to the end of the hallway to find it empty. The Sangheili Minor called back to his comrades so they could advance before bolting down another corridor. The Ultra behind him was preparing the information-gathering device as they neared the Human command room. They had torn through small pockets of black creatures that were unfamiliar to any of the Covenant with him, determined to not let the insects stop their mission.

As he turned one more corner, a wave of force smacked against the Minor as he flew onto the grey floor of the Human vessel, his shields exploding from the impact. Gal could hear his comrades shouting at something behind him, and the Sangheili struggled to turn over to see what had assaulted him. When he looked up, his eyes widened at what he saw.

It was like the other insects in its shape and color, but that was where similarities ended. This one was wider and bulkier, with the holes in its legs concentrated near its hooves. Across its back was a hardened shell that resembled that of a Mgalekgolo shield, except purple and split down the middle. Where others had a single, small horn, this one had two much larger ones, resembling that of an old Sangheili war-device, except bent at angles that resembled creatures that he had seen infiltrating Human strongholds. Its eyes were wider and shorter, and while the rest had bland, single-color eyes, this one had eyes that had several reflective plates that resembles Specialist visors.

Tral, another Minor, unloaded his Carbine in its direction. When the shots connected, they bounced off its robust exoskeleton as it raised its two front legs. Its twin horns glowed green before its legs slammed into the ground before a green sphere of energy burst around it. Tral kept firing at the shield, only for the Carbine to click empty while the shield held no signs of breaking. Just as the Minor was about to reload, another one of the insects bound onto his back, and caused Tral to drop his rifle.

This one was also different, with blue armor that hung on its large frame. Where others had small fangs, this one had a set of jaws that were obviously meant for ripping apart its prey. Gal had a decent look at its jaws before it sunk its fangs into the neck of his comrade. As Tral screamed, Gal scrambled to his hooves before raising a Plasma Pistol towards the offending creature. Before he could pull the trigger, a scaled tail swept across his field of vision, coming from the backside of the insect. A cold feeling spread through Gal's arm before a damp thud came from below him.

The Sangheili looked down to find his own severed arm twitching on the deck as his voice had been lost. A cold feeling shot through his body as his knees gave out beneath him, sending the Minor to the ground, his body refusing to respond. Unable to move his head, he watched as the insect tore out a majority of Tral's neck, spraying blue blood over the walls of the Human ship. Without hesitation, Tral dropped to his knees and fell upon the floor, dead.

An impact to Gal's right drew his attention. He tried to move his eyes and found the Ultra looking at him, his head turned completely in the opposite direction. Above the Ultra, another new insect was fiddling with the information-gathering device as it levitated before it in a blue-green glow. Other insects had fins on the backs of their heads, as well as ears, but this one had neither. Instead, twelve large antennae ran across the top of its head and down to its flanks, where a tail was absent. Four of them curled forward and hummed with a similar blue-green aura as electricity cracked between them, running down its thin frame, into the few holes decorated its tall legs. This ones eyes were smaller than the others, but were changing color between yellow, green, and light blue.

"Interesting," it spoke in the Human's language.

"Got 'em all, Sickle?" the largest one spoke.

"Just waiting for this one to die," the one in armor spoke while pointing to Gal.

If Gal could move his mandibles, he would have tried to snap the insect's limbs off.

"Allow me," the one with antennae spoke.

Three of its antennae extended and placed themselves on Gal's helmet before a surge of searing pain erupted through his cranium, and the Sangheili was no more.