"Pegasus. Thirty degrees to your right"
I shifted my rifle over to the side and aimed down the scope. I saw him. A pegasus male donned in a standard solar military uniform. A service rifle slung over his shoulder. I closed my left eye and held my breath. I squeezed the trigger and the gun did its job.
The gun roared out a deafening blast. The bullet whizzed through the air and finally struck its target. The pony fell like a sack of potatoes and hit the earth hard. Any other pony nearby quickly scattered to look for cover. Two others look around wildly, looking for the sniper. It only made my job easier and they one by one fell.
"Sniper. Fifty degrees to the left"
I moved and aimed down the sights. There was a little pony head poking out of a window of a brick building. The pony was clearly waiting for my next shot so he could track where it would come from. Sadly, there was nothing he could do to stop a .308 mm bullet. The bullet pierced his eye and out the other side. As he fell, his sniper rifle fell from its mount and to the dirt.
Nopony was able to find me yet. I took my chance and aimed at anypony cocky enough to leave his head out in the open. There were a few but they had their helmets on. Unlucky for them, I had armor piercing loaded in my gun. I aimed for another pony and fired but it went click. Sighing, I reloaded my rifle.
My sniper rifle was the best of the best. Only few have been ever manufactured in the hive. It was the Lust & Hatred CRS. A bolt action rifle. It was only given to the best sharpshooters in the hive. I was not one of them until I fought in my first skirmish in the battle of Appleloosa. I ditched the standard rifle that I initially carried so I could carry a fallen ling. We were outnumbered five to one and the defensive line that the remaining changelings were holding was slowly being decimated.
I still remember that day. I grabbed a semi-automatic sniper rifle from the dead hooves of a changeling and it's ammunition then I blasted a hole with my magic to the wooden roof. Then I flew through it to take position from above. I had thirty confirmed kills after the battle and I with a few other surviving lings were promoted. Then after that there was another skirmish. The battle for Whitetail Woods.
I climbed up a tree to get a good position so I could shoot the ponies hiding in their bunkers. I was issued my own semi-automatic sniper in that mission. We lost but not before crippling them with our firepower. We were able to capture ponies of our own. The higher ups told us that they will be sent to POW camps to decrease our work load.
To be honest (and that's huge coming from a changeling), our work load never decreased one bit. In fact I think it increased.
There was one thing changelings have and that is being able to work for days before getting exhausted. Queen Chrysalis exploited it and made up a routine.
The army is separated into two and they will switch roles everyday. The first role is to defend, attack, and sabotage while the second was to manufacture guns, ammo, and get some sleep. It made us formidable to look at seeing as how the changeling army seems to never sleep. It was like we had no weaknesses, only strength and it was growing in each passing day.
While we had the power of infantry, the ponies had vehicles. Tanks that would ravage and destroy defenses like paper. Jeeps that carry ponies from one point to another in fast speeds. Helicopters that act as sniper points or support for their comrades below.
While we did have plans for our own vehicles, it did not end well on their first attempt in battle. Until now we haven't deployed any vehicles on the battlefield.
"Carapace! Focus on the mission! Earth Pony. On that water tower"
I jolted from the sudden voice of the Captain next to me and settled back on the ground. I spotted the pony on the water tower. He held a sniper rifle with him and I took the shot. He slumped down the tower and with a sickening splat when he fell on the ground.
Everyday on the battlefield felt like hours but every death that I made felt like an eternity has passed. Here's the thing: We changelings can sense emotions. Whether it be happy or sad. Angry or afraid. We would sense it. Every second I spent on the battlefield made me wish I was living somewhere peaceful. Somewhere I could walk around knowing that I wouldn't get shot. All I could sense was guilt, anger, and fear.
Over the years, the pony population has been reduced from five million to its last ten thousand and the changeling army shows no signs of stopping their slaughter. The number of casualties were too high and the changeling army was only getting stronger.
Then one day, the higher ups forced us to shoot fleeing ponies. I didn't want to. I didn't want to fight anymore but I had orders to obey or else I'd be executed for treason. It was like a nightmare for all drones. We didn't want to disappoint our officers at all.
"Move, Carapace! If we finish late I'm demoting you from Lieutenant to Corporal. Now, forty degrees to the right"
I moved the rifle and aimed down the scope. My target was inside a brick building through a glass window. It was not a soldier but a mare tending the wounded. I zoomed in to get a better view of her. She had a purple coat and a blue mane. She was wrapping bandages around a stallion.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot her!"
I don't think I could take this anymore but I had orders. I just had to squeeze the trigger.
But I couldn't.
"Why aren't you shooting? She's right there, in the open. She's practically begging to be shot"
I already had problems shooting a soldier but shooting an innocent? He just crossed a line.
"Oh, give me that rifle, Lieutenant. If you're not going to shoot her then I'll shoot her myself"
My partner tried to grab the rifle from my hooves but I struggled to keep it in my possession. Before long, I grabbed my combat knife and plunged it deep in the throat of my partner. He gurgled in his own blood before dropping to the dirt. I killed him. I killed him and I didn't feel anything from it.
Is this what it feels like to be free? Before I could ponder more about it, a loud beep rang from my partner's right foreleg. It was a radio device to communicate to other changelings in a short amount of time. I heard static then a voice.
"Chameleon? This is Beetle. We are sending our troops now. Do you copy?"
I stood there, not sure what to do. The voice repeated then static. I decided to answer it.
"This is Chameleon, We read you loud and clear Beetle"
"Beetle here, did you take out the snipers?"
"Yes we did, but some of them found us out and killed the Captain. I'm wounded and bleeding out. Don't bother getting me, sir"
"You did good, soldier. We'll take it from here"
Then static. I replaced the radio back into the hooves of my former comrade and looked back to the battlefield. Only a small amount of ponies are left to defend the town from a hundred of changelings. I took one look at my CRS308 then back to the town. Then I came up with a plan.
I disguised myself into a silver pegasus with a black mane. A cross hair on a bug was my cutiemark. I aimed down the sights of my sniper rifle other end of the valley where the army will pass through. The very race that I lived with, fought with, will be down in my sights ready to be taken down one by one. I didn't want to do this but the lives of the ponies was on my shoulders.
I had a decision and made my choice. I will desert my people and help the pony race. I will be damned if I shoot one more innocent again.
I saw the changelings march through the valley. In the front of the army was a buff changeling with a recognizable beret on him. I aimed at the changeling captain and squeezed the trigger.
BANG