'KRACK-POW'

"You!" Pearl Flow shouted, "The chamber isn't cleared pink one! Get that chamber cleared!" She charged over to PFC Crimson, showing her how to clear the rifle chamber. Many hours of shooting, and the accuracy had steadily been increasing the entire show.

'She's kind bossy...' I thought to myself, pacing behind the firing line. 'She's kinda hot.' I considered. I cleared my throat. 'She's kinda a horse.' As if on cue, she turned around, meeting my gaze. 'She's really a horse.'

Something scrubbed my leg, I reached down and swatted it off.

"Fantastic shooting, comrades!" I laughed. Boulders of rock exploded at the collision of each impact ahead. A large crater had formed, and now, the rifles were poppling to a halt.

Again, something scraped my leg.

"Fucking shit!" I complained, swatting and looking angrily at my pants leg.

Twilight's leg sucked back into her body, her hoof dangling below a startled expression.

"Oh, it's you. Sorry!" I apologized earnestly. "Thought, you know, a bug or something."

She blinked, "It's fine. I just wanted to talk about tomorrow. Are you going to be all ready?" She turned her head and returned to her neutral, little smile.

"Oh, tomorrow? I've never had it easier. I get to shoot my rifle. Not only that, but at the pigs that took Elliot from us. And, to top the cake, the only thing they've got to stop us is sticks and stones. This should be a walk in the park. Regardless on whether or not my troops can shoot like a marksman." The thoughts in my head being read aloud gave me confidence, I felt more powerful than I had before, this was truly happening, I was going to lead a charge that would potentially end a race. The briefings, the night at the hospital, everything seemed to be snapping down to this moment, the moment I would annihilate the changelings. Only, there was one domino that struck too far left, apart from the others. One last thought that itched the back of my mind.

"Twilight?" I asked, looking her in the eyes.

"Yeah?" She looked back, confused.

"Aren't you supposed to be the princess of unison? Of peace?" I asked.

"Friendship, actually." She corrected.

"That sounds corny, I like unison. But why are you, of all people, making me, a newcomer, the leader of this assault? And, of all things, why do you seem so eager and excited to bring them to an end? Isn't that a little off your rails?"

She clicked her tongue, looking over me at the rifle range, and the troops forming behind it, through with their training ammunition. "That's a long one, I trust you enough to know the story, however. In short, I have personal reasons to look forward to their removal." She looked back to me, suddenly, her eyes sent signals of seriousness, a complete lack of hesitation I hadn't before witnessed. "These are monsters, capable of speech only because it's necessary to drain from their food source, us. That's what they feed upon, you know. They use ancient spells, almost as old as Princess Celestia herself. Physically, they do not change at all, but, instead, they manipulate the minds of those who look at them into believing that the hideous truth is somepony close and familiar to them. Higher level changelings have been known to even use mind-reading spells. Disguising as ponies that a pony hadn't even known they had deep feelings for. Then, they feed upon the physical energy love creates, draining the victim entirely, into a long-lasting gloomy state. Depression that sudden can become dangerous to a pony's health, and leave them with long-term damage. Their queen, Chrysalis, used this ability against Shining Armor, by brother in Canterlot. She's the one you'll have to eliminate. Without a brain, the beast cannot coordinate. If you want to know more about the changelings, I can tell you when we get back. But it looks like you're about to get your hooves full, again." She gestured to the formation behind me, at attention, prepared to march back to barracks for their last night of sleep before the invasion.

I nodded slowly, these creatures sounded like a nuisance, but something kicked in the back of my head, violently thrashing to bubble to the surface. I pushed it down and nodded, turning around to my formation.

"THIRD PLATOON, left, FACE!"

"When you guys and girls get back to your bunks, I want you all to polish those swords, clean your rifles, oil any moving parts, every single second of time you spend in there will leave you safer on the field. If you need me, knock on my door. Don't worry, the yelling's over, you've all learned the comradery and respect of an American soldier, now it's your job to put that training to good use, and obey my orders, and the orders of your senior commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers. Good luck tomorrow, I'll see you all at 0500." I explained, stepping aside from the barracks door.

"3rd Platoon! Column of files, to the right-" The platoon CO stared.

"Forward!" PFC Greyhooves shouted.

"Stand fast!" Three other low-ranking troops shouted.

"March!" The CO finished, as the elements marched through the door one by one, females heading upstairs, the males to the left and right wings of the barracks hallway.

Suddenly, inside, noise. Cheering, shouting and the sounds of things moving. I looked at the windows, confused. The blinds were shut and I could not see inside. As more troops entered, the noises became louder. As the last troop entered the building, I followed in.

Lights. Smokey air, the smell of alcohol flowed into my nose and brought a warm smile to my face. Streamers above doorways, decorations on the walls, many things had changed since I had left in the morning.

"Like it?" A voice from behind.

I spun around sharply, a small violet pony at my feet.

"Ah, Twilight! I should've known." I grinned.

"Actually, all of this was Pinkie's doing. All that I had to do was stay with her when she was inside the guard buildings." She explained.

"Really? I guess I could see her being the party-loving type." I rubbed my chin.

"That's an understatement, it's how she got her cutie mark, parties are her favorite way to spend her time." She smiled. "She's unbelievably fast at setting them up, as well."

I nodded, "I smell drinks, is that wine?" I tilted my head.

"it is, but the Majors are handing them out, that way they can regulate it, of course." She started to walk to my side, I moved away and let her in, following her.

Everyone was on the first floor enjoying themselves, drinks were already in the hands of many, and a variety of foods not offered by the 2nd culinary (a peculiar division that literally delivers the food to the barracks without a mess hall), such as chips, cake, and what appeared to be cheese pizza. But two of those were certainly not on a vegan diet plan, I questioned their origins.

A troop approached me, an hour into the party. Asked about if I played sports, I told him football. It turns out, hoofball here is a sport, but not popularized nearly as much as it should be. He asked about my origins, I told him a lot about home on Earth, music, radio, television. Most of it was clearly nonsense to "Silver Spade", but the chatter relaxed me, I felt as though I was remembering my end goal, and thinking of the reward. I missed Earth, it hurt, but it empowered me.

Next, several more ponies, male and female, came and listened in, joining the conversation. These were a funny bunch, and it felt shameful that I had never seen this side of them. They seemed surprisingly eager to speak with me, interested to see the real side of me. I wouldn't doubt they would be curious. Pinkie tagged alongside later, listening to the conversations relating to Earth, she asked how everypony (still not used to the peculiar terminology) was doing, and asked if we needed anything. She seemed to like listening to this conversation in particular more than actually delve into it. She acted as though she didn't have opinions on sports, personalities, or anything. She just liked to observe, it seemed. Controversial to how she acted our last encounter.

About an hour and a half into the party, nearing sundown, Twilight was at my side. She asked me to head outside, to talk. I followed her, saying goodbye to the few guards that were still in on my chatter.

"What is it?" I asked, following her out the hallway and outside.

"I was going to surprise you, but I can't keep it any longer. They were delayed, but the rest of my friends are coming down here. They wanted to greet you before you go." She turned around and smiled, looking back ahead.

"Rarity and them? That reminds me, your friend Fluttershy, how is she? Are they getting her to talk again?" I asked.

"Oh, her." She scratched her leg. "She's going to be here, so you can see for yourself how she's doing. She can talk again, but according to Rainbow she isn't doing well. I hope that by seeing you it'll chin her up again." She seemed to talk more quietly, now.

"Oh? How is she not doing well? She did get shot a few days ago, I'd assume that's not exactly peak medical performance, but it sounds like you don't mean the wing."

"Well, Rainbow only told me so much before she said I'd have to see for myself. What I do know is that she slurs her speech, and she gets dizzy and confused very easily. And she's become very jumpy. She's probably just shaken up." Twilight brushed it off, humming quickly to mute any further conversation.

I knew well enough to know that you don't start slurring for a week just because you get 'shaken up', but I had hope, I'd leave that to determine on my own.

The sky faded, an orange color splitting the sky in half, the ground slowly fading to a deep blue, then to black. The sun setting to the West, right, as we walked down the long tunnel that led to the carriage landing strip. There was already one there, and colorful blobs shuffled out from it.

"Twilight?"

"Hm?" She didn't look back.

"Why are you bringing her to a party if she's shaken up?" I asked.

"Parties cheer up anypony. Especially when Pinkie does them!" She nodded confidently as we walked.

'I don't know what the logic infringement is here, but if I had a bullet tear up my insides, I wouldn't think of wine and bright lights as my first choice of treatment.'

"Twilight!" Rarity waved.

"Hey girls!" She called back, speeding up to meet up with them.

As I closed the last 50 feet, she emerged. Her hair was not its normal, curled form. It seemed straightened, with tangled hair frolicking about. As expected, her midsection was deeply wrapped in bandages, and metal emerged from them, implying some form of straightening rods. Her posture had shrunk down to the ground since last time, however, despite her appearance, she was looking about, and moving on her own. She seemed capable of thoughts, once again.

To my surprise, she didn't seem to walk slow as expected. The moment she saw me, she hobbled up to me, a bounce in her step. As I approached, she slowed down rapidly, nearly stopping an entire 10 feet away. She looked up at me with an exaggerated curve, I realized what she was on about.

Stooping lower, she took several steps closer.

"Good to see you again." I grinned.

She nodded, this close, even in the dark, I could get the close look at her eyes I needed. She certainly had the stare, the one I feared she would. She seemed to be looking through me, to something millions of miles away. Her eyes wide, her pupils small, her gaze seemingly directionless.

"In one piece?" I asked, smiling as confidently as I could. It wasn't the first time I had seen that stare.

She nodded again. Nothing more.

"You feel hungry? Thirsty?" I asked, turning my head.

She shook her head.

"Jeez, I'm going inside, she's too talkative tonight." I looked to the others, then back to Fluttershy. "Well, at least you're holding together here. Want to go inside? They've got wine!" I grinned, realizing I had only had one glass, and some ponies were getting off with three from the Major if they help their composure. I assume, as long as it isn't hangover-worthy, they could care less.

Her ears perked up, she moved a step closer, her good wing moved apart from her body several inches.

"I could do with some wine." Rarity tapped her chin.

"They've got a tank full of the stuff. Come on!" I gestured as I moved back towards the tunnel.

The guards took off in the carriage, I turned to watch them. It just felt so, cruel. My thoughts bubbled away as I whistled happily to the thought of my first drink in what felt like years, the notes fueled by my optimism that somehow, despite all previous experiences, Fluttershy's case was 'curable' with peaceful surroundings.

Author's Note

Was going to leave you guys on a cliffhanger right at the carriage part, but I figured since I've been all lazy then an extra 2,000+ words wouldn't hurt. I've also been learning to draw cartoon-y eyes. I'm working on drawings of Fluttershy's eyes so that you can get a visual, but it'll take some time. I can't draw ponies, so the eyes will be isolated on a Fluttershy background. On that note, I learned how to sort of do pony eyes in MS paint or paint.net a few weeks ago ^_^

As always, I love comments, and try to respond to my feedback. If I make a mistake, PLEASE tell me!