Guardian

Today was the day of the mission to the Everfree Forest. I can't lie if I say I wasn't excited; the Everfree was always a mystery to me. What was in there, why was everyone in the show so afraid of it, yet they always made it out alive?

Time to find out.

Rainbow, the leader of our squad, flew in front of us.

"Alright! We all know what to do. We scout for any sign of danger from these Changelings, and report back to the Organization. You all ready for this? You know what we're doing?!"

"YES, MA'AM!" We all called out.

"WE ALL READY?!" Rainbow screamed.

"YES, MA'AM!" We called again.

"THEN LET'S DO THIS!"

We started jogging to our armory. Some people grabbed normal spears or pistols, and I grabbed my Spear Musket.

"Good choice, man. Heavy as hell, but effective as hell." One of the soldiers said.

I read his dog tags-- Edward.

"Thanks." I said.

"Sure." Edward said.

We then made our way to the portals that would transport us to the borders of Ponyville.

We were finally inside the Everfree Forest, where Nana would meet us to report the Changeling camp's inner workings.

"What makes you think that she's coming?" Another soldier asked.

"She'll be here. Just hold on." I said.

As if on que, we heard Nana's signature hissing, and we saw her come out in her human form.

"Status?" Rainbow asked.

"They won't know what hit them. It looks like a small Outpost, but in a matter of weeks, we might be dealing with a Hive worthy of Queen Bitch herself." Nana said.

Chrysalis.

"How do we stop that?" I asked.

"They're only about 7 of them now, but you know Changelings. And with the breeding cycle coming up..." Nana said.

"Then we split up, set up some fire circle. Take them out from there." Edward said.

"No. We need to find a stealthy way to do it, make a few accidents or something. We take out the majority, and we head in for the rest." I said.

"Look, not that I don't agree with James, but I think we should just barge in and shoot them up. I mean, 10 to 7? We'll win, no doubt." The soldier said.

"Rainbow, it's your call." Edward said.

Rainbow was clearly thinking about this decision. She started hovering slightly, and then she rose her head.

"Franklin. You wanted to charge in? Do you want to die?" Rainbow cruelly asked.

"Uh, um... no." He said.

"Then think of another plan or shut it. Edward... your plan sounds good. A firing circle would be good, but we don't have any rifles. Most of us only have spears or pistols. James has his Spear-- Wait, you two gave me an idea. James, you're our sniper. Let me see your musket." Rainbow said.

I handed it to her, and she grabbed what appeared to be a scope from her pack, pushed a button on it, and faint laser beamed out. It lined up with the musket, Rainbow let go, and the scope slammed down to my musket, locking it in place.

"Can you climb any of the trees?" Rainbow asked.

"Uh... no, not real-- whoa!" I was stopped by Rainbow grabbing my arms and carrying me to the highest, sturdiest branch in the area.

"Can you see them from up here?" She asked me.

All I could do was nod.

"Good." Rainbow flew back down.

"The rest of us will start to line up out the gates. James will take out the guards and attempt to create a few fatalities. Then we move in and take out the rest." Rainbow planned.

After the orders were given and everyone fell into position, I took my aim. I saw one of the guards who was alone near the entrance. I waited until he was alone, turned my safety off, and took the shot. Green ooze excreted from the bullet wound, and the Changeling collapsed dead.

"Nice shot." Rainbow said over comlink.

I can't say I was frozen in shock of ending a life, but I was honestly in between. I accepted the fact that it was it or me, and I didn't really have a choice. But at the same time, it felt... wrong.

I was stopped from all thoughts when I saw that a drone came to the corpse, and I acted quickly, I shot him dead in the eye.

"You okay up there?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, just a witness, that's all." I said.

"I got it." Nana said.

"Nana!" Rainbow called.

Nana turned back into a changeling, scaled the rock walls, and tossed the bodies over.

"Don't break-- Nice job, Nana." Rainbow said.

"Thanks." Nana said as she changed back to human form.

"Any more guards?" Rainbow asked me.

"No, you're clear." I said.

"Alright, we move in. James, hang on."

Rainbow flew up, grabbed me, and flew me back to the ground.

"Let me take the sniper scope off." Rainbow offered.

I handed her my musket, saw her removed the scope, and hand it back to me.

We started heading into the base, we noticed that it was nearly empty.

Until we saw a bright green glow from the ground.

"Eggs, tons by the looks of it." Nana said.

"What now?" I asked.

Rainbow grabbed what seemed like a match from her pack.

"Nana, you is there anything flammable in the area?" She asked.

"Yeah, I see some gas." Nana flew to a gas can and poured it into the hole.

I was only able to watch as Rainbow lit the match, dropped it, and the green glow was replaced with a red, hot glow.

"This is Rainbow, call us back in." She said into her com-link back to my dad.

Everything went white.

Mission completed...