The tent was filled with all kinds of conversation. A group of earth guards were having a contest to see who was the strongest. Another group of guards, mostly pegasus, shared stories about how they first got into the guards. And lastly, what little unicorns there were, we taught each other different spells. Despite that we were all doing our own thing, we were all having a good time. Some pegasus guards would flap their wings and freak out, claiming on of the unicorns were levitating them. That got a few snickers from everypony, but that changed to full laughter when one of us would actually levitate an unassuming pegasus.
The little party we had going on quickly stopped when our commanding officer entered the tent. We all quickly stood at attention. The blue mare eyed each of us with an intense stare. She turned to the tent door, then motioned for somepony outside to come in. An earth pony guard came in with a large crate, then slammed it onto the table. When he did that, it shook the world around us. We looked at each other. When our officer came into our tent, it was something big. Otherwise, she stayed in her tent and only saw ponies when she urgently needed to.
"At ease." She finally spoke. We all dropped our hands, but stayed standing.
"Some of you know this, so I'll keep it frank. We are about an hours walk to where I lived for a long time." I noticed her hand move to her necklace. "Also, we are less than a day from Canterlot." When she said that, we all started cheering. It was, honestly, a boring journey that we were happy to get over with. Breaking her "tough officer" persona for a second, she couldn't help but smile until we finally calmed down enough for her to finish her speech.
"As I was saying, we are less than a day from Canterlot. In celebration, I called a close friend of mine to deliver a package." She pulled a sword from its sheath from a nearby guard, then used it as a crowbar to pull the lid of the crate off. After giving the sword back to its respectful guard, she reached in and pulled out a bottle.
"Sweet Apple Cider for the best guard in the royal army!" She shouted. We all yelled in excitement. Bottles were passed in every direction. We all hit our bottles as we toasted to whatever came to mind. From the loved ones at home to our next assignment, the sound of bottle clanking together filled the room. We started going around the room, discussing what we would do when we got home.
"I have a train ride ready for Baltimare."
"What are you doing there?"
"There's a play I want to see."
"One of the strongest guards, going see a play."
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I plan on being a guard at the festival in Manehatten."
"What kind of festival?"
"Orchestra music festival."
"Wow, never knew my group was so into the arts." Our officer's voice was the only one I noticed.
"What about you, Woodstock?"
I took a large sip of cider before pondering for a moment. "I think I'm going to Manehatten as well."
"Oh no, not another music lover."
"I do play piano."
"Why are you headed there?"
"There's a mare I've fancied for a while, I figured I'd go see her."
The room filled with some "awe's" and some exaggerated groans.
"If you're going down that path, take some advice from me."
"What would that be?"
"Never talk about her when on duty."
We all shared another laugh. Even though we've all broken the rule at least once, we still tell all of the recruits the same thing: As soon as you talk about your special somepony, you're done for.
"What about you, Rainbow?"
"Twilight hired me to oversee some project she has going on. I figured I'll have that to do for a while." It was no secret that the commanding officer and the princess were close. Any time we were off duty, it was a safe bet you can find one with the other. After an hour or two wasted away talking about whatever came to mind, one of the earth guards slammed their empty bottle on the table. We all became quiet and looked at them.
"I don't know about you guys, but the past three weeks without any kind of action is boring." We all lifted our bottled and agreed. "So, I say we go out and see who is the best." A smirk grew on everypony's face, even on our officer's. "If that's what you guys want." Our officer got from her chair, then brushed her rainbow mane from her face. "I want you all geared up and outside in ten seconds!" We all stood at attention. "Yes ma'am!" With that, she left the tent as we all gathered our armor and weapons.
It did not take long for us to go outside. We stood in a circle. Rainbow Dash was at the center of the circle, she quickly made a head count. No one was safe when we sparred. After looking satisfied from the amount of us there, she spoke out, "There is one thing that will remain true in my guard. No matter what, we will help each other become better." She looked around the crowd. "I remember when we first started fighting each other, it was nothing more than a beat down to see who was stronger. I'm proud to see that you guys make an effort to better each other every time we fight." She eyed a few key people, then took her place in the circle.
"Coco, Valve, you're up!"
Two ponies entered the circle. CoCo was a unicorn with a bow, while Valve was a pegasus with a large claymore sword. Any normal pony would put all their bits on Valve. However, normal ponies never saw CoCo in action.
"Ready?" Rainbow called out. Both guards in the circle nodded their heads. "Go!"
Valve lifted his sword and ran straight for CoCo. He brought his sword down, and cut through the blue smoke that took the place of the unicorn. Valve heard wood creaking behind him, and quickly hit the dirt. After hearing the reassuring sound of something flying over his head, he quickly got up and rushed CoCo again. Not having enough time to draw another arrow, she dropped her bow and pulled her dagger. Valve brought his sword down, and CoCo dove to the side. CoCo tried to connect his dagger to Valve's side, but was blocked by Valve's wrist guards. While dazed from the sudden guard, CoCo took a step back. Valve abandoned his sword and punched CoCo in the stomach. She dropped her dagger in shock, and tried to regain balance. Valve continued connecting punches, and pushed CoCo back until she hit the edge of the ring. Just one step away from the edge, CoCo leaned forward to avoid falling out. As she propelled herself forward, Valve brought back his fist for the final blow. Connecting it to her face, Valve watched as CoCo fall back and hit the dirt. We all cheered as Valve extended his hand to CoCo. It took a second, but CoCo took his hand and he helped her up. They shook hands, grabbed their gear, and returned to their places in the circle of guards
"Next up, Woodstock and ShoeStomp."
I grabbed my staff and took my spot in the center of the circle. I swung the staff around for a second, trying to get a feel for the weight after it has not been used for a few weeks.
"ShoeStomp, get in the ring!" Rainbow called again. Everypony looked over to one of the pegasus guards, who had a clueless look on his face. After taking a second to register the situation, he hastily entered the ring with me.
"Ready?" Rainbow called. I took my staff into my hands and got into a ready position. ShoeStomp unsheathed his sword and shield, and got into...a position. I've never seen him in combat, but the position he got into was one I've never seen.
"Go!" Without wasting any time, I was rushed by ShoeStomp. He swung his sword at me. The hardest part about his attack was ensuring that his metal sword did not hit my wooden staff at a bad angle. Other than that, his attacks were sloppy and uncoordinated. It really astonished me, how that kind of fighting got into Rainbow's group was beyond me. I even heard a few comments pass back and forth from the group around his. As I guided each of his swings away from me, ShoeStomp started to get more desperate. He even started to use his shield.
"ShoeStomp, if you don't start fighting like a solider, I'll see you out of my group!" Rainbow shouted above the sound of our weapons hitting each other.
ShowStomp was getting more desperate to land a hit. His swings got stronger, but slower. He raised his sword over his head, and I took the opportunity, I kicked him in the chest, throwing him off balance. Before he could bring his shield up to defend himself, I swung my staff around and hit him in the right side of the face. He knelt known and used his shield to stay balanced. I brought my staff back and swung it up, making contact with his jaw. ShoeStomp flew back, and hit the dirt.
Before I could do anything, Rainbow Dash pushed past me from behind and pulled ShoeStomp up by the chestpiece. "What the hell was that?" She yelled at him. ShoeStomp's only response was heavy breathing. "I swear, when we get back to Canterlot, I will put you through Basic!" She let go of his chestpiece and he hit the dirt once again. She walked my way, talking to herself. I saw something behind her. I couldn't make out what it was, but something in me told me what to do.
"Look out!" I grabbed Rainbow's wrist and pulled her to the side. A large green bolt flew by us, and hit two unfortunate guards in its way. I drew my staff and Rainbow drew her sword. We looked at ShoeStomp, except it wasn't him. Instead of the familiar red stallion, a black creature filled with holes was there.
"Changeling!" Rainbow called out, rushing toward the creature. Before she reached it, she was tackled by one of her guards that was standing from the side. Rainbow didn't hesitate to bring her sword through the exposed piece of armor of the guard on her. Like ShoeStomp, the guard on Rainbow shifted to a black figure. Rainbow kicked off the body and looked over to where ShoeStomp was lying. He was pointing his horn and charging up some spell. I quickly ran to it. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough. It cast a green bolt to the sky, which then lit up the night sky.
"Somepony get to the V.I.Ps!" Rainbow drew her sword and defended herself against two guards that rushed her. After realizing that the guards were fighting each other, I looked over to the tent that the V.I.Ps were being set. There were three ponies headed that way. After assuring myself they were not those ... things, I went to assist Rainbow in the onslaught of guards attacking her.
I placed my hand on her shoulder. She took the sign and ducked down, just in time for my staff to pass over her head and make contact with a rushing guard. Rainbow stood back up, and stood at my side.
"What are these things?" I asked.
"Changelings."
"Fitting." I heard a guard behind us, I held my staff up, making sure to hit my elbow against Rainbow's back.
The pegasus guards grew black horns from their heads. "At least I know they are those things now." I thought to myself. Their horns glowed green, similar to what ShoeStomp did earlier. I tightened my grip on my staff. "Celestia be with us." I whispered to myself.
The changelings started firing green bolts from their horns. I swing my staff around, trying to have a balance of dodging and blocking the bombardment of bolts headed my way. I thought I was lucky when I saw more bolts go off to the sides rather than them actually making contact. If changelings were anything like unicorns, they would run out of energy in a matter of seconds. I'm not sure if my assumption was right or I just lucked out, but there was a second of breathing time. My horn glowed as I extended my hand towards the changelings, and blew them all back with a powerful air spell.
"You know, you don't have to hold your hands out like that." A familiar voice came from the side. I looked over to see a fellow unicorn guard, with the V.I.Ps in tow.
"Makes me feel good about myself." I said.
"Take the V.I.Ps and go to the backup area!" Rainbow shouted above the sound of her sword hitting other metals. Me and the other unicorn guard made a run for the mountain path. We had to slow down our pace for the civilians with us, but we all made it to the path.
We ran until the sounds of fighting were no longer heard. We didn't stop though, we kept walking down the path. Unfortunately, the path led us away from Canterlot, but that was the least of our worries.
"I saw one of them stab Astral." The unicorn broke the silence
"..."
"Astral thought it was her brother."
"..."
"Her own brother."
"Please, just keep walking."
I would glance over to him and see him talking to himself. His lips moved, but no words came out. I knew I had to get his mind off of what happened.
"Tell me about her." I said.
"What?"
"Whoever you're going see at that art festival."
"What makes you think I'm going see somepony?"
"You hate art."
"Fair point. Well, if you must know, she is a painter. We've seen each other a few times. She was actually the one that requested I guard the festival."
"That sounds nice." One of the civilians spoke up.
"What about you? You mentioned you wanted to see somepony."
"Yes, well, that's all I know about her. She is some-pony. All I know is that she plays in the orchestra."
"Well, best of luck to you, if we make it."
"When we make it."
"What?"
"You don't say 'if' you say 'when'. Because when we make it back, it won't be chance that did it."
"Yea, yea, you're right."
We slowed our pace, since the civilians started to fall behind. The path brought us up one of the mountains, which just slowed our pace more. The sky occasionally flashed green from what I assumed was more magic from those things. Every time it did, I caught the unicorn guard looking back, with a discouraging look on his face. "You can't go back." I found myself telling him every few minutes. Every time he looked back, he was that much closer to breaking down. I could see it in his eyes.
After an hour, we reached the top of the mountain, and the end of the path. The sky stopped lighting up with the green tint moments ago. The civilians, along with the unicorn guard, took a seat at the peak of the mountain. I decided to keep guard, as much as the other unicorn guard was nervous, I knew that I would not be able to sit still for long at all. The guard called my name every time he looked over, catching me in my bad habit of pacing.
"Hey guys." A familiar voice called out as a blue mare fell from the sky.
"Rainbow! Ma'am!" The unicorn guard jumped to his feet at attention.
"They...killed them all." Rainbow said, a torn look on her face.
"We still have the civilians though, and we escaped. We will make way for Canterlot in the morning." The unicorn tried to be reassuring to Rainbow.
"I just. I don't know what to do." Rainbow let a tear roll down her face before embracing the unicorn guard. He looked over at me with a very confused expression, and I did the same. This was very odd way of Rainbow to act.
"Get away from him!" I shouted as I ran towards them.
The unicorn locked eyes with me, his mouth fell open, like he wanted to say something. Instead of words though, blood came out. Rainbow stepped back from him, leaving her dagger in his jaw. As he fell to the ground, I waited for it. I waited for his light blue coat to change to black. I waited for holes to form in his body. I waited to see him grow transparent wings. None of those things happened. I looked up to see Rainbow approach me, sword in hand.
"Run!" I told the civilians, however, they did the opposite. They each pulled out daggers hidden under their clothes and approached me. I went through each possible scenario I could do. I could fight them, they were not much of a challenge at the camp. I could run back down the path, but I didn't know if there were more changelings headed from the camp. I darted my head around, trying to decide what to do. I finally came to a decision though. As soon as I felt a cold object make its way through my stomach, I fell to the ground.
The only part of my body that I could move were my eyes. They darted from person to person. I got a good look as their familiar coats changed to black, and holes formed on their body. They either thought I was dead, or that I wasn't worth the effort to finish off. Either way, they left me there. I tried to focus my magic, but it was no use. Each time I tried, each second that went by, my eyes got heavier. Eventually, I gave in and shut my eyes. I was still somewhat conscious though. I could hear footsteps, followed by clashing metal.
"Oh, thank Celestia." I thought myself, confident that reinforcements arrived. I closed and opened my hand, trying to stay conscious. Over time, the motions became slower and harder to do, but I still heard the sounds of battle, so I kept on.
"Found one!" A distorted voice shouted a few feet away.
Changeling?
"That's Woodstock." I couldn't place the voice, but I know I've heard it before.
"Stab wound to the chest, he's lost a lot of blood."
"Take him to camp, I'll notify the family."
Notify about what? I'm still alive! I'm just in shock.
"Time of death?"
"I'd say about two hours ago."
It hasn't been that long....
"Inform Officer Dash that we found him."
"We'll look for a replacement in a few weeks time."
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know, but if one of those....things...made it into our ranks, we need to be more observant."
