They Came from the Everfree

With our magazines out of reach, I adjust the sling on my M24 and begin following the group, motioning for Elliot to follow close. The footsteps behind me indicate his ability to follow basic directions.

I start thinking of something, anything funny. Something to make us seem less hostile as we walk through town.

Wow, the one time I need something funny to pop in my noggin, I'm out of ideas.

Well, some casual talk might do the trick to some extent.

"So, are you the dominant species around here? Or are there other species that compete? I'm sort of going off of like, every relatable story to our situation right now." I ask, hoping to avoid being ignored again.

"Well, there are other species, but we are the largest. There are Diamond Dogs, and Griffons, but those territories are much smaller than Equestria."

"So are the wars frequent, or are these nations all allies with one another?" Elliot asks.

"Wars? We almost never have wars. Equestria hasn't been at war for about one thousand years, until the recent Changeling invasion. It's very peaceful here."

Life and peace don't go together well. Especially when the life is multiplied as so.

"Peaceful?" Elliot asks. "I don't think Earth has had an era of peace. Ever. It's shocking that you all get along so well. Makes us look guilty though, doesn't it?" He finishes his sentence by tapping at his side, just above where his sidearm was holstered.

"Ever? I find that hard to imagine. You certainly aren't that violent, are you?" Twilight asks, turning slightly.

"We-" Elliot begins.

"Since earliest human record, we killed each other with rocks so that we could take other humans' food without worry of getting attacked. Our weapons and fighting skills evolved faster than we did ourselves. Today, our weapons are the most advanced human technology. It is decades ahead of any other technology field we've invested in. It's also the most funded." I answer, accidentally cutting Elliot off. I give him an apologetic look.

Looking around we've made it into the center of the courtyard, and there isn't another soul anywhere near us. There was a mixture of locals bowing, or standing in fear or awe. Some were familiar from earlier. It was quite a crowd, but they were so short it didn't bother me much. I could still see every single local there. None seemed armed, none looked hostile. The guards seemed to tighten around us a little more than before, which made me a little bit claustrophobic. Nothing more than I could handle.

Elliot decides to keep up the conversation, which distracts him from keeping his head on a swivel.

"So, what is it that you all-"

"ooook ooooOOOOOOUUUUUT!" A voice shouts, approaching from the rear left impossibly fast.

*CRACK*

Before I could even look at the source, a large object pounds into Elliot's back, knocking him away from my right, and sending him soaring at a building nearby, at which he gets pinned to.

I quickly dart my head, and draw my sidearm out of reflex, aiming it at the source of commotion. There is a collection of gasps in the crowd, which are hard to notice with my heart rate picking up so quickly.

Looking at the damage, I glance at a large, bright Blue object pinning Elliot to the building. The wings spread out at the sides indicate it being one of the locals. It quickly lifts itself up and away from Elliot, appearing fearful of him. I don't have time to think further before Elliot panics.

"It's got me, Grayson! It got me! Tell my wife I love her! Can you do that!?" He shouts.

"You aren't married, you dope!" I respond.

"I have dreams!" He calls back.

The Blue local quickly hops off and stammers backwards, tripping over itself a little, shrinking down as it speaks.

"W-wha, what is THAT?" It shouts, a little frantically. The voice reveals it to be female, yet it has a somewhat deeper voice than the few I've heard since the last trip near here.

Elliot takes a deep breath, relaxing as it backs off.

The guards do the opposite, angling weapons at the new local, and quietly approaching. Twilight, seems a little more than surprised at the sudden commotion. Considering she was just staring, wide-eyed.

"Phew, good to meet you too, uh... Rainbow! Right." Elliot answers, using our call-sign designation. It actually wasn't until that moment that I realized it was the same one that we saw in the woods.

"A-again? I don't know you! I've never even seen you before!" She takes a few steps back, stopping several meters away from him. She didn't realize she backed somewhat close to me.

The guard was almost on top of Rainbow, when Twilight called out.

"Guard, at ease, stand fast. She's fine." Twilight says, making her friend sound anything but 'fine'. There was a little bit of venom in the way she called that order.

Her friend quickly spun around, but instead of facing her friend, she came face to chest with me. It's ears drooped down and it slowly looked to the sidearm I was aiming, which it quickly backed away from.

"TWI! What are these things!?" She demanded.

"They are... Humans. We just found them in the forest. I WAS on my way to go somewhere safer to talk to them, before you assaulted one of them." She speaks, clearly forcing her anger down.

"Uh... Sorry..." Rainbow's words trailed off as she eyeballed every piece of gear we had attached to our backpacks and utility vests.

"Anyway, since you clearly like being around them so much that you decided to smash one, you're coming with me." She says, in an almost parenting voice.

I could never stand people being condescending, something about her tone plucks a little something upstairs. A quick peek to the side reveals Elliot cringing as he got to his feet, casting a dirty glance this Rainbow character before she turned to him.

"Aaaawww, but I was just about to get this trick down!" She complains, still staring between me and Elliot, but not nearly as nervous at her distance.

"You were about to kill someone with it, too." Twilight reminds Rainbow.

"I'm fine, really. She just knocked the wind out-" Elliot starts.

"Don't even try that, she's coming with me." Twilight interrupts.

Rainbow sighs, drooping a little. "Alright fine, I'll come. But don't expect me to help you research another species again!" She protests.

"I didn't forget last time. Guard, fall in, back to normal." Twilight says, looking around the courtyard.

Rainbow follows her gaze, quickly realizing the countless eyes plastered on her. She quickly turned a shade of Pink and covered her face with her wings, following us as we begin walking down the path again.

After about a minute of walking, I feel something gently poke at my leg. I look behind me as I walk, to find that Rainbow character just as she stopped slowing herself down, pretending to be interested in the surrounding buildings and stares we were getting.

'That was weird', I think to myself.

She repeats this process several times to both of us, we each pretend to not notice. Until about the fourth time, that is. Elliot leans close to my ear, whispering.

"Isn't the guard back there gonna... Do something? She's probably watched the chick do it at least twice." He says.

"Maybe it's not his orders? Or he doesn't care enough. Maybe he's sort of new? They don't have insignia." I respond.

Elliot simply nods and resumes his position at arm dress' length to my right.

"Ah, there it is." Twilight speaks up.

I look up ahead, nothing looks big or royal, or even seems to draw attention to it.

"Where is it, exactly?" I ask.

"The treehouse, it's right there." Twilight points.

A treehouse? I can already hear Elliot squealing inside like a schoolgirl.