Report from the Front by Vivid Headline
I looked out past the defensive line, small holes that can hold two ponies, called fox holes, out to vast desert. Out towards where the changelings are. Standing next to me was Major General Daniel Kroger. He was gazing out across the line was as well. Without looking at me he uttered five words we all could agree with.
"God, I despise this place." I couldn't blame him, it was ninety five in the shade. There were no tree to provide shade and the only other natural object out here are rocks and maybe a small oasis. Behind us was the town of Appleloosa, a few miles back.
I met General Kroger, or Dan as he goes by, at his base, about to leave for the front. I was requested by my editor to report on the conflict. I asked if I could join and report and I was expecting to be laughed at and told to go home. Instead he asked if I knew the dangers and allowed me to join. Dan sticks out, he is not a pony or even native to the planet. I was in Canterlot and reported on his arrival. He is the only non-pony general and is the youngest by twenty years. He is only twenty four years old and has seen more combat than most likely all generals combined. Almost a year's worth. Stories of what he's done run rampant through the camp and most seem fake or exaggerated.
So far, I have been in the general loop of events going on. I have free range of where I could go. I even braved going past the front lines, even if it was by a few feet for a few moments. Although I'm not allowed to report on battle plans for security reasons. For now, that will change soon, if the rumors are to be trusted.
This much I can say, there are nearly sixty thousand soldiers out here and only one reporter: me. I was initially concerned that few that talk to me, since I was an outsider entering their brotherhood. Instead they welcomed me quickly, so long as I can mail letters for them.
It's quiet here, often the only noise is the wind. I wait to hear the shouts of an attack and the sound of battle. I do have an order on what to do if that happens. Get in a tent and hide. I've come to realize that if this is the average week for a soldier, I doubt I could last five years. Doing nothing would make me crazy.
"Oh no, we train. Next we train come on down and we'll give you some gear." One soldier said when I mentioned it. "Try on my pack and gun. I'll even let you take my shift on the line.
The following morning
I glanced out, the sun was ready to rise. At first light we were to leave, the whole line moving out. To make sure we were heard by the changelings, I prepped a music playlist to play heavy metal while we drove. Luckily, we had a psychological unit with us, a truck with two big speakers mounted on the back used to spread propaganda. Instead of propaganda, it was music.
I glanced to my left, I was on the far left of the line. I saw hundred of men from the Tenth were also ready to march. I did a quick check of all my equipment, guns were fully loaded and ready to go. My own gun and rifles for the crew were loaded on the back and strapped down. A small gas can also strapped down. The desert sky in front of us turned from a deep pink to orange as the sun crested the horizon.
"Driver!" I barked, "Forward!" I turned around and channeled my inner officer, "Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" To the right and behind me, trucks were also driving forward and to my left men were walking. I quickly covered my mouth with my shirt and put my goggles on.
A few hundred years past the line the trucks begin to spread out, making as extremely visible as we make our own sandstorm. We roared across the desert, pushing thirty miles an hour, we'd arrive in about two hours. A check behind me showed we were go to start playing music.
"Begin music." I ordered over the radio and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird started to play. I banged on the roof in time with the drums. Hopefully, we'd deliver an early wake-up call.
An hour in and we had to slow down to twenty miles since a few trucks overheated and had to stop. We kept going without them and they'll catch up eventually. More often than not more than one would fall back, safety in numbers.
Off to our left, I saw a black mass taking off and flying towards us. Changelings. I quickly made a rough guess of where we were and where they were, no doubt their hive.
"Look alive, boys. Here comes trouble." I swung my seat around and cocked the fifty. I heard someone taking a few shots at them. A quick glance behind me showed James was shooting. I was about to wave him off, they were too far out, when I saw a few fall from the sky. David joined in, but he took it up a notch. He had the turret swing around. The changeling swarm hit a few hundred feet off the ground. A few moments later, a fire ball and a cloud of smoke came from the barrel.
I've heard a few claims about what happens when a rocket or high explosive high velocity item makes direct contact with a body. I didn't see the shell fly, but I did see the explosion and body parts fly away.
Another shell was fired, I didn't know who shot, but it missed. I didn't join in, the main battle would be later.
Suddenly, the changelings swerved away from us and started heading in the same direction we were: west. They were making for the hive, I decided to join in the shooting and a fourth machine gun joined; Michael. I focused on accuracy over shooting. Another cannon roared. Changeling bodies started falling out of the sky rapidly. Any attempt to fly higher or lower or randomly wasn't even attempted. It was quickly turning into a turkey shoot. The few hundred were reduced to a few dozen.
"Everyone cease fire." I said before switching from our frequency to the overall communication. "Sandman Actual to all, a large swarm of changeling came from our north about two miles from our position, probable hive. Over."
"Oak Base copies you Sandman. Let us know if you see the other hive, it should be to your south west. Over and out."
Another half hour passed, the halfway mark, and no other swarm came. The few changelings off to our side eventually disappeared, no doubt to land and trying not to tire themselves. Maybe they expected us to shoot at them again.
I was inside the tank, cooling off. The ride so far has been smooth, the occasional small dune along the way. Inside all but Match were asleep. I couldn't blame them, sleep last night eluded many and who knows when the next chance to sleep will be.
"Hey Match. Where are you from?"
"Small town near Vanhoover called Springfield. You?
"Oakland, California."
"Can't say I ever heard of it, sir."
"Probably because it's a few light years away."
"Sound about right. Dan, during the fight, what will I be doing? We won't be driving around the whole time."
"I expect to sent up a headquarters inside the city somewhere. Maybe the palace, maybe not. Hell, I might not even sight up a headquarters. Just sit in here and talk on the radio." I mused and rubbed my chin. "But that's getting away from the point. You will end up using the machine gun on the roof."
"Alright."
"Hey, I got a question. What's up with cutie marks?"
"You're going have to make it a little more specific."
"First off, did a six year old name them? Like really? Fucking cutie marks, that's the best you can do? Talent mark or talent spot sounds better. Also, if they reveal a ponies special talent, does that mean out there is someone with a trash can mark? What if they're a prostitute? Is that a penis cutie mark? Also, where do you guys get these names from? Half of them are a noun and adjective slapped together. Match Box is a toy car company back home! Flash Sentry? What does he do? Flash when someone is out after curfew?" I ranted about, we had plenty of time to kill.
"First off, I agree with you on the name of them. Feels weird to be calling them that as a stallion. Also, they aren't only for a pony's talent. It might be based off their personality, say somepony who's lazy at work or maybe a good leader has a scroll. Maybe somepony does have a garbage bag cutie mark, maybe there's a toilet cutie mark out there. And names are names."
"I find it weird. I don't know my special talent, it's definitely not art though. I never do considered what I'd do after I got out. Maybe go to trade school and be a welder. Do something physical still. You, you know you can drive."
"Yeah, maybe I could fly an airship well too. I also never really have done anything else, maybe I can be half decent actor in plays. But I wouldn't know, someone with an acting cutie mark will get the job. If not them, then someone who is has one that's closer than driving."
"That too. I know I can't paint or draw so I'm not going to bother with it. I could end up being a good mason and build mansions. I could work doing whatever, this is all you can do, technically. You could learn to paint, it you won't sell something for millions."
"I'll just sell it under a fake artsy name, like you said. Something like Paint Brush." We shared a laugh at that. A check of the small clock I taped to the turret told me we have hit the two hour mark. I watched as the second hand tick away, the minute hand slowly moving.
A voice came over the radio, "This is Oak One Two, we have reached the changeling hive and made contact with friendly changelings. Over and out." I nodded at the news, responding to it would be pointless. Steel Stud woke up.
"Morning." He grunted. "Where are we at?"
"Somewhere in the desert still." I cracked.
"Gee thanks."
"I think we're about an hour out." Match said. "Hey, what exactly should we look for to tell when we hit the hive?"
"An oasis in the shape of a heart. That's the water source for them, someone will meet us there and show us the ways in."
"And just how exactly will we know where this thing is?"
"I got the coordinates right here, it's a straight shot west, by some miracle. We arrive and go to work. Reminder that hazard pay is twice the regular pay, so let's spend a day here and make some good stories."
"The only story I'll have after twenty years. Seeing combat for a day, if that." Steel grumbled.
"Story's a story. Besides, I got stories from being stateside. Not every story has to be dark and brooding. Honestly, just being here is a story."
Match added on, "Yeah, plus with those griffons still fighting each other, it'll take a few years before anything with them happens."
"What's the latest with them?" I asked, "I've been on focused on all this I haven't heard much about them."
"The Remot clan pushed back one of the coastal clans, can't remember who. One other clan got defeated and surrender by the Falke clan. There was something about them that was important, maybe they grew a lot of food or had a lot of metal. Definitely a game changer."
"Alright." I looked at the clock again, "Twenty more minutes. Wake them up." I said. Match called Sentry's name and Steel shook Spies awake.
"This is Cloud Two Two, we have arrived at friendly changeling hive and have made contact with friendly changelings. Over and out."
I nodded at the news. Shit was about to hit the fan and the hives couldn't send help, granted they wouldn't but now they really couldn't. The fourth hive, the other one with unknown loyalties, was a no show for now.
"This is Cloud Two Two, we have arrived at friendly changeling hive and have made contact with friendly changelings. Over and out." We immediately began getting ready, checking ammo and guns were set. We had only high explosive shells at the ready since there would be no hard targets, hopefully
I opened my hatch and looked around. It was certainly hotter out than I last poked out. The oasis was not in sight yet.
"I won't lie fellas, I'm a little nervous. I haven't seen major combat in years and not this weapons this old. To me at least. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning most of the fighting will be done. If not, supplies will come and the rest of the hospital battalion."
"Hey," Flash called out. "Let's say we get pushed back from changelings from that other hive. Where would we go?"
"We'll duck into the tunnels and fall back to the hive and make them funnel in. We'll have to leave the trucks behind as well. Hopefully they'll be fine if we have to leave them. We dig in and make them bleed."
"Okay. Hey what's that up ahead?"
"We made it. Look at that, get ready." I grabbed the radio. "Sandman Actual, we have reached the main hive. Godspeed on your arrival." I switched over to the divisional frequency, "We're here. Eyes open." Just ahead was a tree line, "All units stop."
I dismounted and moved towards the trees line, signaling for a truck to dismount and follow me. We ran for cover in the trees, I could already see inside them. I held up a fist for them to stay there and I went in. Past the trees was an oasis, bushes and more trees. In the middle was a small lake in the rough shape of a heart. A dozen changelings were also inside.
"Welcome." A changeling said "I am Hone." He offered me his hand. As I shook it, I looked him in his eyes, except they looked like bug eyes and were kinda freaky to look at.
"General Kroger."
"Welcome General. We are all are to help you with your mission."
"I hope there will be more than just you twelve." I joked.
Hone smiled, "There are, most in the hive are neutral. They don't know about what happens in other hives and despite what most ponies think, not all of us fought in Canterlot. We still had to maintain buildings and care for our young. Where each changeling stands is a tunnel, I'd tell you how big they are, but we use differently ways to measure. But they're about four changelings wide and all they drop on the outskirts of the hive." Hone said. I looked at where they were, seven scattered over several hundred yards. That's twenty eight soldiers a second, except they'd have all their gear so it might be three wide and twenty one a second. In twenty minutes a brigade would be inside, roughly. Hopefully we can stay hidden for five minutes. I was iffy about trusting them, but they were our only option.
"Very well. I'll tell my men to enter." Unfortunately, there was no way that the trucks could be parked in here. It was too small and too many trucks. Maybe parking them in behind the oasis will work. Just as long as they won't be destroyed. "Colonels to me." I ordered, when they arrive I explained. "They have tunnel to get in. First and Second Brigades will go in to kill or capture the queen. Expect her to put up a fight but try and knock her out.
"What does she look like?"
"She looks like all changelings. Black."
"Hey!" James said.
"Shut up. You know what I fucking meant. Dark blue hair, green eyes and should be wearing a crown. Height is unknown."
"If we encounter any ponies, what should we do?"
I paused for a moment, I never gave it thought. Intel said that ponies will be in the hive. "Detain them maybe. Ask a question that only a pony would know. Ask them to name a famous movie or website. If the average changeling doesn't leave the hive, much less be in society, they won't know. Let's get those trucks behind the oasis and Third can dig in. David, Michael pass this all on to your men. You're going in, let's say, half an hour."
The soldiers dismounted and began doing a final check of their gear. The trucks also moved out of the way, supplies were unloaded and spread out. I watched James order his men on where to dig in. This was definitely a large step up for him, granted I was still here to give him a hand. This was a massive baptism by fire: me as a commander, along with my colonels, the whole division and David and James seeing actual combat.
"Hey Dan, I got an idea on how to defend this position. A semi-circle right here. Another behind it. Machine guns scattered throughout and more in the tree line." Michael said as he walked up to me.
"What's your plan for them to use for cover?" I asked.
"Trench won't work, sand will keep filling in and I don't think we'll have time for foxholes. I'm thinking just shallow hole they can lay down in. They can do more if they want. Too damn hot."'
"Oh yeah. Let's have them get to work. Honestly, I'm starting to doubt we'll see any action. We haven't seen a thing from that other hive. Maybe we could send half of your Brigade down in. Come on, let's go see them off."
We walked into the oasis and past the thousand of men getting ready. In the center was Hone, Michael and David talking and pointing at the tunnels.
Hone greeted me, "Welcome back, General."
I nodded. "Gentlemen, what is the plan?"
"I'll come through these holes, end up all across the east side and David will go through over there and be on the west. The palace is on the northern edge so we'll secure the town and push together on the palace." Michael answered. "If thing are really bad, we'll just book it up to the palace and make them surrender."
"Wouldn't it just be better to go for the palace straight ahead?" James asked, "Cut off the head and go for the commanders first."
"Usually. But they'll all be ordered to head for the palace." I explained, referring to the telepathic ability for changelings to talk, before turning to Hone. "How much help could the average changeling be?"
"Quite little, honestly. Chrysalis will be overconfident in her ability to win and won't want to lose too many changelings."
"Alright. Gentlemen, I hereby declare that Operation, um, Cooper. Yeah, that'll do."
Canterlot
Princess Luna and her sister were sitting the War a Room next to a radio. They were eagerly awaiting any updates from the front. Across the room was a powerful radio with a Major sitting at it, talking to those at the front.
"Hive One is secured. Queen Pollux is back in full control. Tenth Division is moving onto Hive Four. Over and out." The radio said.
"Copy that Tenth." The major replied.
"Sandman Actual here, we have arrived at target structure and met green changelings. First and Second are going in soon, we are dug in and prepared. HVT is confirmed to be inside."
"Copy that Sandman. Good luck."
"HVT?" Celestia asked her sister. "Also green changelings? Did they paint themselves to stick out as allies?"
"High Value Target. The minotaurs used it first, but Dan used it back on his planet as well." Luna explained, "Chrysalis is in the hive. As for the green part, I'm not sure, they very well may have put some sort of mark to stick out. Some paint on the head or back."
"There's no going back now." Celestia quietly said, "Peace with the changelings, I never would seen this coming within a generation much less a few years. I'm off to work on a speech to tell everypony that we have started. Let me know if something major happens."
Michael POV
We were inside the hive and began to spilt up. It was a simple plan, a company would take a road and book it for the edge. A battalion would stay behind and watch our backs and flank. I personally gave us a minute before we were found.
"How many blocks until we hit the wall?" I asked one of the changelings, Meek, attached to my unit, a battalion I joined for now. "Also, what's either an unassuming or important building around here?"
"We have a far walk and of the storage units we use for emotions is around here. Why?"
"I need a place to set up a command center. I say we hit that center. Isn't that shit what you use for just about everything?"
"Yes. Beside being most of our food, it also is what makes our building so strong and our magic. Even the lights, different emotions give off different levels of lighting. Don't ask me how."
I nodded. "Let's hit that first, cut off supplies for the rest. Where is it?"
"A couple blocks this way. Follow me. I'm not sure how many will be there, but there shouldn't be too many and shouldn't put up too big of a fight."
"Yeah and France was supposed to beat Senegal in oh-two. It didn't go that way."
"Yes, but most changelings do not know attack spells. All they will know is the most basic of spells, just releasing their magic and a larva could done that. They will struggle to aim."
"Oh goodie, it'll be like flying all over again."
We went five blocks over, actually going away from the edge. But for a good reason. It was a massive building, occupying several blocks. Faint light glowed from the window, or rather the holes in the wall.
"How many should be in there? It's massive." I asked.
"No more than twenty. This is more for food and materials on this side of the hive. The main emotion store is in the middle and easily three times bigger. This is the only way in."
"Alright. I want seventy of you to stay here, keep an eye for any other changelings and stay out of sight. The rest of us will head in and secure it. Let's move." We ran across the street and leaned up against the wall. "Go in. Don't forget your ROE."
We quickly pushed in and spread out looking for changelings. Most just looked at us as Meek talked to them in their language. They nodded at whatever he was saying, probably that we were helping and shouldn't mind us. In the middle on the building was a massive glass-like sphere, glowing pink. It was easily thirty meters tall. Smaller tanks, but still easily ten meters tall were off to the sides. In them were orange and yellow liquids.
"Hey Meek." I said, "What's in these things?"
"Emotions. Pink is love and is the most powerful emotion. It's the strongest and most filling. These other tanks are happiness and laughter." He explained
"Where," one soldier began to ask, "where do you get these emotions from?"
Meek took a moment to answer, "We, um, have ponies in the lower levels."
"You mean you kidnapped ponies?!"
"Not me personally! This is why I'm helping you guys."
"We can talk about the moral ambiguity about kidnapping people to live later. Let's focus on this mission."