“Hold your fire," I yelled into the mike. "Wait till the shield drops, we have to give them time to get to the elements!” I then rolled over onto my back, placing the butt of the rifle against my right shoulder, aiming through the scope at one of the multiple targets surrounding the sphere shaped force field around Canterlot. The force field ended on the rock ledge about thirty meters behind me cutting me off from the outside, also making it so we had time to get ready. My silenced AS50 ready to fire as soon as the shield dropped.

“Stones are you nuts; we should attack them now before they get into the city and put the girls in jeopardy.” I heard through the radio.

“Tyrock if you fire now your shots won’t go through. They’ll just help them break through faster. Now hold your fire until I say so,” I yelled. “Jane, what’s the shields integrity?”

“The shield is at 50% and falling fast, if they continue at this pace it’ll reach zero in about twenty seconds.” Jane said through my radio.

On that note I quickly looked through the scope and lined the crosshairs up on the head of my first target. These looked like they were a smaller version of the ones we have seen before. Those were extremely hard to kill.

“Shield at 20% “ Jane said. I quickly took aim at my first target. Then I heard the changeling queen.

“You can run but you can’t hide.” The sound of it sent a chill up my spine. Just the way she said it sounded like she wasn’t talking to the girls but me instead.

“Shield failure in 4… 3… 2… 1.” Jane said. Then the shield shattered. When it did, it placed Tyrock and me as the last line of defense for Canterlot. As soon as the shield disappeared, the air filled with a sound which could only be described as a massive swarm of bees. Following it, was the sound of two rifle safety switches clicking off.

“Weapons free!” I yelled pulling the trigger taking out the first changeling with a quiet crack from the rifle and a direct shot to the head. Soon the gun was ejecting empty casings and cycling in a new round as fast as it could go, each one symbolizing the death of a changeling. As soon as the magazine was empty I dumped it and slammed in a new one and continued the ongoing battle. Then I heard my cousin yelling into the radio.

“Stones the girls are on the move to your side of the castle,” then in the background I heard the sound of something snarling, followed by the sound of a knife digging into flesh. “Get out of my face you piece of shit bugger!”

“Tyrock you okay?” I yelled dumping another empty mag and slamming in the next one.

“I’m fine, protect the girls, a large swarm is heading their way.” He said followed by the sound of him removing the knife. I quickly rolled over onto my stomach and laid out the bi-pods. After I spotted the girls, I knew they were in way over their heads. The girls were surrounded by about a hundred Changelings and some of them were changing their appearance making themselves just like the elements.

“Shit, Jane put marks on my HUD for the real elements before we lose them in the swarm.” I yelled, hoping it was in time. Thanks to the changeling magic in the air the implanted trackers were doing next to nothing, along with the magic sensors.

“How they started fighting and I can’t use the sensors to pinpoint them.” She said. As I looked I could tell she wasn’t kidding, the changeling could successfully camouflage themselves as the girls, I couldn’t tell them apart no matter how hard I tried. Then I realized something, the changelings have a hard outer shell. A shell like that can absorb the impact of dive bombing into the ground and our shot if we weren’t using armor piercing rounds, and with armor that strong, it has to show cold on thermals. I quickly reached up on the scope and flipped the small switch on the side of it, changing the view of the scope, and what I saw, was a nice warm signature in the outline of Rainbow Dash surrounded by a bunch of cold changelings. "So now that I know which ones are which let's get down to business." I thought as I took aim at the first target.

“Tyrock use thermals, it shows changelings as cold signatures.” I said turning my attention back to the girls. I then started dropping changelings, one after another, making sure that the girls didn’t see it but cause enough confusion among the changeling that the girls had a chance to get out of there alive.

As the fight went on I saw other civilians were in trouble along with some of the royal guards. I quickly took the changelings out around them, but before I could turn my sight back to the girls a changeling hit the ground in front of me.

The sudden appearance of the changeling surprised me enough that I couldn’t take a shot, and then it fired a magic blast before I could react. The shot wasn’t aimed at me but at my rifle. When the shot connected I could feel the heat coming off it and when it made contact, the force of it knocked the gun out of my hand and throwing us both at the mountain side forty feet behind me. I didn’t even feel the impact but when my right side slammed on the ledge my right arm gave a small pop. I gasped in pain, I could feel that it wasn’t broken just dislocated at the shoulder. As I laid there on the ground in pain, the thought of the girls in trouble made me get back up and prepared to fight the changeling. When I stood up the changeling snarled at me and charged.

When the changeling charged I reached for the pistol attached to the magnetic plating on my right thigh with my one good arm. The only problem was the gun was it was facing the wrong way for me to grab it with my left hand. As I reached over the changeling was almost to me, ready to drive its horn into my chest. I ripped the gun from its place by the barrel. I used the grip of the gun to hit the changeling in the head with an upward swing, connecting with its skull just below its crooked horn. When the gun made contact, the changeling stumbled back, giving me just enough room to spin the gun around and flip the safety switch and take aim. When the changeling saw the gun it charged up its horn again hoping to repeat its attack from before. Then I pulled the trigger, ending the creature’s life with a spray of red and pink mist out the back of its skull. The discharge of the weapon was loud, loud enough to be heard by any nearby changelings. I didn’t have a suppressor for it so I hoped it could be put off as a changeling dive bombing the ground, or something. Lucky for me all of the changelings had their focus on either civilians or the girls. Oh crap the girls!

“Tyrock can you see the girls!?” I asked grabbing my dislocated arm and forcing it back into place. After a flash of pain, I moved it around testing it for any more damage. Once I was satisfied it was usable I put the pistol back in its place. “Good thing they taught us how to relocate a shoulder properly back at the academy.”

“Stones the girls are surrounded and the changelings are charging up some kind of spell.” He said as I picked up my rifle. But when I did the weight was off. Then I saw the suppressor, or rather what was left of it. The end was completely melted shut and what was left of the thing was bent at a ninety-degree angle pointing up. Without the silencer, the rifle was ten times louder than anything else I had. Good thing I keep a backup.

“I’m on it?” I said removing the damaged silencer from the rifle and reaching for the spare I have on my vest, but all I felt was an empty pouch.

“Good, I don’t have enough ammo to take out that many, even I if did they are on the other side of the castle, you’re the only one that can take the shot.” He said. It’s like what they say bad luck comes in threes. I knew that no matter what I did the royal guard would hear me and investigate, finding me and then my cousin and kill us both if not that then taking us to Celestia, allowing her to finish our life. Unless there only one of us in the city.

“Tyrock get out of here.” I said

“What are you talking about?” he asked, a tone of worry in his voice.

“It's like you said I’m the only one that can get a shot, but my silencer is busted and my other one is gone, that means they will hear me and investigate and when they find me, they’ll find you too, but only if you’re in the city.”

“But Stones…?”

“No buts get out of here that’s an order.” I said giving my strongest authority behind it.

“Copy that, you better make it out alive, if you don't I'll come back and kill you myself.” He said after a short pause.

“Deal, now get out of here, Sarah copy yourself over, I might need you."

"Copying..... transfer complete, let us get to work." she said as a small image of her appeared on my HUD.

"See you at dinner cuz, Stones out.” I said shutting off the radio. I then dropped the mag out of the rifle checking for ammo, when I saw it was empty I threw it away and reaching for another one. But again all I felt was an empty pouch.

“Must have lost them and the spare silencer when the changeling launched me.” I thought to myself. I then pulled the slide back on the rifle seeing if there was a round in it. When I did, it accidentally ejected the one shot I had left. Lucky for me I grabbed it before it fell off the ledge. As I reloaded it into an empty mag I picked up off the ground, I could see a bright green glow coming from the courtyard. After I slammed the single round mag back into place and pulling back on the slide to load the last round I had. I then lied down and rested the bi-pods near the edge and looked through the scope.

What I saw, was a guardian's worst nightmare. The girls were surrounded by about fifty changelings but instead of taking a different form and attacking in hand to hand, they were putting all of their magic into a spell that I could only describe as a spirit bomb. All of their magic combined was enough to create a small sun above the girls, and I guessed with the combined force strong enough to level a large house, making them capable of taking out the girls and themselves, Along with a good chunk of the ground. These changelings were on a suicide mission. As I watched them working on the spell, I saw Twilight putting up a massive shield over her and the girls, trying to compensate for the ball of destruction over them.

“That’s not enough!” I said searching the massive hoard of changeling trying to find some way to save them. The chance of them surviving this was like finding a needle in a mile long haystack. Even if Twilight was at full capacity she will have to put every drop of magic into the shield to save them. She was just barely able to stand let alone stop the ball of destruction above their heads.

"Stones there." Sarah said a small arrow appear on my HUD. I aimed the scope at it finding the needle I was looking for.

There was one changeling standing near the back of the group that didn’t have his magic transferring into the sphere. He was the one creating and controlling the sphere. I quickly lined up the shot not on his head but on his horn.

As soon as I was lined up, I pulled the trigger. The sound of the rifle was loud enough to me, I guarantee you could have heard it outside the city, but I could tell the shot was dead on. When the tip of the changeling’s horn shattered, I knew the girls were saved. As soon as the changeling in charge lost control of the spell, the sphere disappeared. Releasing the magic to go back where it came from but with a more shocking effect. When the changelings drop from the spell and start shaking from the magic discharge in their brain, I sighed in relief. When the changelings died the girls looked around in confusion and fear, either from the surprising changelings' death or from the sound of the rifle, I do not know which but I knew I had to get out of here before the royal guard came. When I stood up to try and leave, I heard the sound of changeling reinforcements, but they weren’t heading for me they were heading for the girls. I guess that fate can be a bit of a bitch.

Now shit has hit the fan, with me sending Tyrock out of the city and since I was out of rifle ammo, there was nothing I could do to help them, all I have is my pistol, along with an assault shotgun. Wait a minute. I have weapons, but that means in order to use it I have to get closer, but if I get closer, that means I will be found and killed a soon as Celestia or Luna sees me. If I show myself to the girls there is no chance to get out of here alive. Then I looked down at the girls as the changelings again surrounded them. Twilight was drained of energy lying on the ground near unconscious and the rest of them looked like they might drop at any second.

"What are we going to do now?" Sarah asked. her voice filled with worry and desperation, but under it all, I could sense a bit of hope. I looked down at them then to Ponyville in the distance.

“I guess we do what we have always done. Protect them at all cost,” I said quoting Jane from the day we first arrived here. The one rule we lived by since that day. I then turned and tighten my grip on the rifle and ran for the edge of the rock ledge.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this if you like it leave a comment. By the way, this chapter happens near the middle of the story hence the title. I wrote this in hopes of getting you interested and want to find out what brought these chain of events. If you don't understand I'm sorry I will try to fix that in future chapters.