//------------------------------// // Chapter 5; The Autumn Offensives // Story: The History of the Great Changeling War // by Fireheart 1945 //------------------------------// The Allies and the changelings were deadlocked across hundreds of miles, staring each other down from their defensive positions. On land, it appeared as though further attacks against the hive's forces would be futile, or even counterproductive. In Manehattan and Baltimare, the changelings were held off by determined militias and by naval support. Although this was encouraging, the enemy was hardly trying their luck on these fronts, as the main effort was in the south. Chrysalis had millions of ponies to use as living food supplies, and her grip on northern Equestria was growing tighter each day. The Allies couldn't just afford to sit and wait. The one area the Allies held total supremacy over was the sea. The Avalonian navy's dreadnoughts, destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers were virtually unassailable by the changeling horde; they carried copies of the same weapons that had torn up changeling air attacks in the Battle of Appleloosa, and their fifteen and sixteen inch guns could shred almost any building or position. Bombardment of changeling defenses at Manehattan gave a boost in morale for the city's defenders; the same effect was achieved at Baltimare, where a local changeling commander had been marshalling his forces all too openly to attack the city. However, it was obvious to the changelings that the ships could not traverse land, and when the Queen heard of these disastrous events, she gave orders for underground bunkers to be built in areas near the sea, and for any movement to take place at night, when Allied observers could not see them so easily or relay their positions accurately. Moreover, it only increased her desire to bring the conflict to an end in the south, where the various navies arraigned against the changeling cause could not go. Other powers, though still neutral, continued to watch the conflict from afar. The coming of the war had shattered the world order, and now those with various designs on it were viewing Equestria with apprehensive - even envious - eyes. The country, so recently the most active and most powerful nation, was now seen as a prize by various aggressors. The dragons were the strongest neutral people watching. Their views remained split, but more and more of the youth among them wanted to go to war. Their reasons were simple; the desire for infamy in destroying cities and armies, and the possibility to gather more riches for their private hoards. The elders, however, still opposed open conflict; though they understood the intentions of the younger generations, they had lived for hundreds, even thousands, of years, and were content with the fame - or infamy - and wealth they had gained, and were wary of sending dragons to their deaths against enemies they had little experience with. ------------------------------------------- The white elder - who had forgone a name for so long, rested opposite a dark-gray dragon. "Greetings, Irontooth." "Greetings, indeed." Both of them reached over the fire between them and shook claws. "I hope you bear good news." "So far, the youths have obeyed the Dragon Lord's orders. They have abstained from overt acts of aggression, and are busy doing the foolish things that our young do; finding and destroying phoenix eggs, wreaking havoc among the animals, burning forests... the usual things." "'So far' and 'overt.' I do not take comfort in these words." "Nor should you. Their obedience is merely on the surface. Many of them want to wreck towns and terrorize populations, and earn names for themselves." "Foolishness." The white elder blew some more flames into the fire, not the wild sort a younger dragon might have, but a controlled stream. "Between us, we've seen the world, and what destructive actions cause. We're hardly a people, and others consider us a potential disease, not a civilization." "Ah, this argument. I doubt that we're a civilization, or ever were. I doubt we can ever settle down to the point we can be." "Maybe not immediately, but I have hopes. I've seen the pain that comes with destruction, and the misery it brings. I have no desire to be the one to bring more of it to this world, only to advise others." "You know, holding a dragon by the neck is not a good way to send that message." The white elder sighed. "I... I'm not perfect. I admit it. We're a fiery race, not just regarding the flames we breath, but in our blood and our brains." Irontooth looked around, clawing the ground a bit. "I think our youth intend to force a war, one way or the other." "Dragon Lord Torch won't accept any open challenge to his rule." "Even this Garble and his lackeys aren't so stupid at that. They want to undermine his decision by trickery or provocation, not by open disobedience. It's not something that the Dragon Lord would be expecting. He is focused upon strength, not cunning. He's not the kind of dragon to expect some kind of skulduggery. I'd honestly be less worried if his daughter were our liege." "He is getting older, and I think by all signs that he will put our youth through the traditional trial for the scepter within a few years. Maybe your wish will come through then, and perhaps the war will be over." "I have my doubts on both. Ember is thoughtful and intelligent, but she is smaller than many, if not most of, the other would-be contestants. I fear for her." "It's those qualities that may prove decisive. I've been around long enough to know that strength and size do not guarantee success." The white elder toyed with a burning stick in his claws for a moment. "What if we have to fight? If Dragon Lord Torch decides to get in on the action?" The white elder looked up. "I do not wish us to do so. It's not the medieval ages anymore, where only good luck and skill could allow a pony or human to kill a dragon. Now there are cannons and guns and giant ships with enormous armaments. And the changelings... I don't envy any who have to fight them. Even in my day, the best of them could mimic anything with ease, and where sneakiness and subterfuge failed them, they had numbers and surprise on their side." "But which side ought we join, or, more to the point, advocate for, if the Dragon Lord leans on entering the contest?" The white dragon stared into the fire for a minute, long enough for Irontooth to consider repeating the question. Just when he was about to do so, the other spoke. "I believe our future, if it rests upon us being part of the war, lies with the Allies. The changelings would be grateful only long enough to set in place a plan to capture us and use us to their advantage and to our misfortune. While the Allies might be wary of us-" "And they should-" "-they will not come after us so long as we extend the same courtesy to them." "And if our youth insist on indiscriminate destruction?" "Then they are fools. That would draw both sides after us. We have to guide them." "Feh. They used to look up to us, the younger generation did. Now, they discard us as outmoded. We're the past, they're the future, according to them. Ungrateful-" "They are the future, and it is for that very reason that we must ensure that a little wisdom gets through their skulls. I desire our race to be able to make something out of itself other than simply destructive, greedy vandals." "I doubt you'll get the results you're looking for. Dragons are fans of doing what they want, when they want." "Which is the whole point. We don't have the societal structure to build a civilization, not when nest-mates are kicked out of the family during molting season." "Could you stand the smell, old friend?" "It's been so long that I've forgotten the smell of a molting dragon," the white elder replied, to which Irontooth chuckled. "It's quite unbearable, to tell the truth. Needless to say, in a society with minimal structure, and that which is available being the Dragon Lord, we are much too independent to do things like build cities and nations and stick to borders. And we are far too greedy for things that are of no value. Gems can be eaten, I suppose, but what does all the gold and silver do a dragon? No wonder explorers of other species were willing to risk their lives battling dragons in ancient times. To be fair, though most of the world is poorer materially than we are, they are much happier." "Or were." "Yes, excepting recent events." "What chance do you give either side?" "The Allies have the technological advantage, the changelings that of espionage, vast numbers, and willingness to be ruthless with them. It's too early to tell. I hope and pray for an Allied victory, I will tell you that." "As do I. But back to the matter at our claws. How do we stop the younger generation from forcing us into war?" "...It's quite possible we don't. The world has been stable for so long, and a balance of power established. Now that balance is gone, and dragons want to exploit it, for fame or for more riches that are no more than nice looking baubles." "You ought to give over your hoard, then." "Maybe I will, someday. When I know it can be put to use. We do what we can, advise the Dragon Lord to keep the youth in check, do our best to set a good example, and then... we shall see." ------------------------------------------------- The front was, until September, quite stable. The changelings and the Allies continued to build up their armies throughout the rest of August up to the middle of the month. At this point, the war had been going on since April, and since the Everfree Offensive and the Badlands Operation, there had been no general engagement, aside from skirmishes at Baltimare and Manehattan, and some occasional raids by either side on the main front. These, however, were nothing but pinpricks, probing attacks to test the enemy and try to ascertain where they were strong and where they were weak. By now, the ponies of the Equestrian cities in the south, as well as the hippogriffs of Mount Aris and the griffon population back in Griffonstone, were understandably upset with the lack of progress. Pressure, especially in southern Equestria, was made by the civilian population, urging their armies to attack now that they had sufficiently built up. Celestia was constantly being mailed requests by ponies of all classes and backgrounds to reconquer the north, and Queen Novo had personally sent General Swiftclaw a missive that encouraged him to badger the other commanders into offensive action. The longer the war lasted, the more would die, after all. The Avalonians, though technologically superior to the enemy (and, indeed, to their allies), were not pleased when Swiftclaw urged an early attack. Neither were the Equestrians, who were simply not prepared, though they were managing to build up their armies and industry. The Saddle Arabians were still building up as well, and their army wasn't ready for the kind of large scale assault that would be needed to breach the enemy lines. As a result, the mood among the commanders of the various armies was charged with annoyance and impatience. ------------------------------------ "Why are we sitting here doing nothing?" Swiftclaw demanded. "We should have won this war a long time ago." "Yes, because everyone expected the changeling attack and the rapid conquest of northern Equestria," Luna sarcastically quipped. "I must also protest the idea that we need to attack," Vittorio said, raising a glass of wine briefly to his lips. "At least here. The enemy has been stopped for the time being. Our defense are adequate to hold them. We continue to build up and bring more troops and equipment to the front lines." "So do they!" the hippogriff commander yelled. "Everything that we're doing, the enemy is too. By your argument, we'll never be ready because the more the bugs bring south, the more we'll need to bring to counter them." "Our enemy does not possess advanced weaponry or industry," Celestia pointed out. "I must remind you that Equestria is operating at a highly reduced capacity at the moment, due to the occupation of half our land." "Saddle Arabia is still gathering troops." Adil Al-Amin noted. "We need more time to bring our full strength to bear." "And how long will that take?" Swiftclaw said in an annoyed voice. "We have better tech and weapons, which make up for our fewer numbers. The changelings don't even possess artillery, for sea's sake!" "We've been periodically bombarding them," Celestia mentioned. "They rebuild anything we destroy during the night, when our visibility is poor." "You pony Princesses control the sun and moon; can't you just use them for the betterment of the war? Lengthen the days, or extend nights so our raids can do more?" "That is out of the question," Luna said flatly. "The ecosystem of the entire planet relies on the sun and moon orbiting our world at precise distances and angles. We cannot use them for long periods in the manner that you would speak of." "Not to mention that it would be selfish for us to deny the rest of the world sunlight, which is needed for crops and plants worldwide," Vittorio stated. "Meanwhile, you would have us attack them irrespective of the odds. Attack is the most obvious thing either side can do on a front like this." He drained his glass. "If we are to attack at all, I would suggest trying to expand the front at that eastern city of yours," he said to Celestia. "Which one, Baltimare or Manehatten?" "The southern one. We might be able to decisively outflank the easternmost part of the enemy defensive lines if we do so, and we can utilize our navy to boot, the one thing the enemy has no counter to, and we can initiate an offensive from the swamp lands to link up with that Baltimare or Manehatten place, whichever it is that is closest to us."" "That would be Baltimare," Luna stated. "Yes. That, or we recapture a western city and use it to outflank their western defenses. Again, our navy is the biggest, as well as the most underused, asset we have, and we can support our troops." "For a while, yes, until they start going inland. This is a half measure, dividing our resources and preventing us from delivering a knockout blow." "It will divide those of the enemy as well, and maybe give us a chance to bring them to ruin." "Maybe," Swiftclaw sneered. "Why do that when our forces are already here? Besides, if we take troops off the front line, we'll weaken it and give the enemy a chance to ruin us. No more Equestria if that happens. No, if we do anything, we do it here." 'What say you, General Werner?" Luna asked, turning to the Griffon commander, who was sitting in the corner. "I have no objection to either plan, so long as Griffonstone is compensated for its part in the war," the griffon replied, drinking a long draft of Avalonian wine. "Murtaziq," Al-Amin muttered. Werner snapped his claws. "I don't care if you call us mercenaries. Our people need the money. Our civilization, such as it is, has been in ruins since..." He went back to staring at his glass. "Please be careful how much of that you consume. Now, back to the point at hand," Vittorio said. "What is our course?" "Attack," Swiftclaw said, almost before Vittorio stopped talking. "Could you expand on that?" Al-Amin said. "It becomes rather boring to hear the same thing over and over again, like some parrot trained to endlessly repeat something." Swiftclaw pointed at the line just north of Appleloosa. "Here. We smash their center, roll them up, and take Canterlot." "That plan was unlikely before and it remains so now," Luna said. "That is where they've built up the most. If we attack, we should hit from two locations, on either side of the place you indicated." "Again, needlessly dividing our resources. If we focus most of our forces on one sector, we can crush anything." "You say 'needlessly,' like we're children," Vittorio said. "Please stop it." "Well, what do I have to say to get through to all of you? You're all in favor of just standing around and doing nothing!" "We're not doing nothing," Celestia interrupted. "We're going through a necessary period of development. Infrastructure, recruitment, industry; we're still transitioning our economies to a war footing. We'll need every soldier we can get to defeat the changelings." "And again, the enemy is being given time to do the same, however they do it." Vittorio said something that sounded incendiary in Avalonian. "We might be able to pull off a secondary front," Luna said, thinking out loud. "We could also raid areas of enemy-held coastline for intelligence, and to keep them off balance. We don't even have to hold the landing sites; we can just go in, do whatever damage we can, and then re-embark. We wouldn't need more than a brigade or a couple of regiments to do that. We should have enough units at the front to allow five such raiding forces at once, and maybe more later on. I agree with Generals Vittorio and Al-Amin; our navy is the greatest weapon we have in our arsenal, and we've been under-utilizing it." Swiftclaw snorted. "Look, you're outnumbered and outvoted," Luna said, losing her patience. "In this way, we'd be doing something instead of 'nothing,' as you accuse us of. Our forces can gain combat experience, we can gain intelligence, and we can hurt the enemy's infrastructure all at the same time. The changelings have the majority of their military down south; they can't be strong everywhere we try to land. Finally, I support a limited offensive up the coast in order to link up with Baltimare. We have the initiative there, we should use it. Our troops in that sector have crushed enemy resistance, so they have the highest morale. We should use that, and relieve one of our largest remaining cities from the siege it is under. It will let us bring Baltimare's economy and resources fully into the war." "I support that plan," Vittorio said. "As do I," Al-Amin added. "It sounds reasonable," Celestia put in. "I'll go for it," Werner said quickly. Swiftclaw crossed his forelegs. "I'll have to report this half-measure to Queen Novo, you know. She'll be displeased that this war will be lasting much longer than it has to." "Go ahead and play your last card if you want," Luna said, shrugging in response. "It won't change our decision." "I will go and visit my old friend in person if I must," Celestia said with determination. "This war won't end today, and we must be prepared for the long haul." "...Fine. Hmph." ------------------------------------------------ While the Allies had decided upon a course of action, the war had been stationary in the south for some time, and outside powers were not impressed. In the Dragon Lands, many dragons began to tip in favor of attacking Equestria in its moment of weakness, and the yaks, dispirited by their initial defeat, wondered whether it was worth it to continue supporting the Allied cause. Queen Chrysalis, of course, had infiltrators in the Dragon Lands, and began sneaking drones down to Klugetown to spy on the desert city. She also began operations in Griffonstone in an effort to weaken their support for the war. The changelings had accomplished much in a matter of months; the conquest of northern Equestria, the taking of multiple cities, the centralization of power in Canterlot, the defeat of the yaks, and keeping the Allies from advancing north. The hive itself had been lost, true, but all useful things within it had either been retrieved or destroyed, and the Changeling Empire, as Chrysalis had taken to calling her domain, was putting all their assets to use constructing new hives and nurseries. Nevertheless, the changeling hold over Equestria wasn't total. Especially in areas near Baltimare and Manehatten, which remained independent of changeling rule, small but persistent revolts had begun, and rebels fought on from whatever forests and hideouts as they could find. This could not be allowed to continue, as even small amounts of hope for the pony population would undermine the image of the invincible Changeling Empire. While changeling propaganda in the captured cities was going at full tilt - including the practice of forcing the population to gather at noon to listen to tales of changeling victory, glory, and the hopelessness of rebellion - it could not completely quash rumors of insurrection. -------------------------------------------- "Another supply convoy ambushed near Baltimare," a drone said, reading the report. "Twenty captive ponies freed from the pupae that held them, five warriors dead and four injured and left to die. They would have died if we hadn't found them, those ponies did a number on them." "Unacceptable. I thought the Retaliation Brigade in that sector knew their duty; capture those ponies, kill them if necessary, and punish any act of defiance, no matter how slight." Chrysalis allowed the rage to show on her face. "Y-your Majesty, I'm only giving you the report I was told to bring to you." The Queen sighed. That was true. "Well, I want the brigade commander brought before me for court-martial. His replacement will do better. So help me, hive, I will kill anyone who lets a rebel force capture a nursery or brood chamber." "M-my Lady-" "Have the brigade commander brought here. Now. Dismissed." The drone practically fell over himself in fleeing from the throne room. Chrysalis looked around the throne room. Various black and green growths now spanned the walls, and about twenty ponies in cocoons were fixed onto the ceiling. The entire city was going through a similar "redecorating." It's inhabitants hated it, but anypony who was caught complaining was drained of love then and there, and then given a small beating to add to the force of the message. It wasn't as if they were strong enough to stop it. And anypony caught damaging the refurbishment was put in a pupae right away. "Rather harsh, to execute a commander for a single failure," General Aphid said from the right side of her throne. "No. It's well deserved. I told him to absolutely break the ponies in arms against us, and to keep the rabble subjugated. That was my direct order. When twenty freed ponies and their 'rescuers' spread news of this heist, more will take up arms against us, creating a self-replicating problem." "Perhaps. Or perhaps this was one instance. I've gotten reports as well, and half the time, the ponies fail because we ambush them or infiltrate them. Sounds to me like this one convoy got complacent and didn't set up a second group to shadow them in order to ambush the rebels." "Maybe, but the rebels shouldn't have been rebels by that point. They should have been caught and punished." The Queen turned toward the doors. "Send in the other generals." The doors were opened by a pair of drones. Four other changelings, all wearing helmets, stepped into the room. "What are your orders, My Lady?" Chinensis, one of the generals, asked. "There happens to be a table with a map in front of you. It is my will that you all, Aphid included, gather around it." All of them proceeded to do so. Chrysalis flew down from her throne and onto a seat slightly more decorative than the ones the others were using. "Feel free to take whatever energy you require from the prisoners," Chrysalis said, pointing a hoof at the ceiling. Canicularis, Stenolemus, and Agrius, the other three changeling commanders, flew up and sucked love out of three prisoners, who winced even in their induced sleep. "Now," the Queen said, as the others came back and sat down, "we begin. Aphid, you may speak." "We must make a push through the Hayseed Swamps," the changeling commander said. "It's where our ability to change is least affected. We can infiltrate there, and we can come closer to recovering our hive. We also push their front lines away from Baltimare, and prevent them from relieving the city by land, which would add around a hundred thousand ponies in the front line. Not to mention, such a disaster would increase the resistance, both high and low level, that we are facing within the territory that we control." "That's wasteful, not to mention time wasting," Chinensis interrupted. "We should just bring our force to bear against Appleloosa and crush it, capture the Princesses, and end them and break the ponies' spirits all in one go." Chrysalis didn't move. Her face was stony, and she simply looked on. "I'd support that plan," Aphid responded, dripping sarcasm, "if it wasn't for the fact that our technologically superior enemies didn't have the majority of their ground forces between Ghastly Gorge and Dodge City. And they're ready for such a move; our scouts have told us that." "Doesn't matter. Our enemies, no matter what junk they may use to hide their weakness, are internally weak. The fact that they rely on machines is proof of that." "Doesn't matter," Aphid echoed mockingly. "Those machines and guns - not always exclusive - help them, and they've inflicted more losses on us than we on them, if we're talking purely of battles and not of smashing helpless civilians and their cities. My plan is to hit them where we are strongest, at least in our abilities, and where they are weak, or at least, not so strong." "Swamps. You'd be conquering useless swamps," Chinensis replied, his smug grin full of contempt. "And pushing the enemy away from Baltimare, which is even more important. They can bring stuff in by ship, but it's not the same as having some kind of linkage by land." "Hmmm," Chrysalis said. "To be continued. Stenolemus, you seem rather eager at the moment." The third changeling general was indeed excited; the fact that he was still in his seat was a surprise to Aphid. "We should attack Las Pegasus," he said at once. "Since it's mostly in the sky, it eliminates the Avalonians, unicorns, earth ponies, and zebras as a threat; only pegasi, griffons, and hippogriffs can get up there to defend it in any appreciable numbers. We can gain more food and slaves almost effortlessly, and show them that their cause is hopeless." "Not the worst plan in the world," Aphid confessed. "But..." "But what?" "It's just something scouts there have said to have seen..." "Spit it out," Chrysalis barked. "Some of our lookouts gave me a report about a week ago that they saw something in the distance near there," Aphid said, his voice carefully neutral. "According to them, it was flying, but the objects' wings weren't flapping, nor were there any visible gas-filled bags, which is how the ponies usually make things fly, and there was a distinct buzzing sound, entirely separate from the sound of our own wings." "And the significance of that is...?" Chinensis demanded disdainfully. "I don't know yet. We need more time to find out what it is. And I've been getting more recent reports of similar sightings and sounds on other areas of the front." Chinensis waved a hoof dismissively. "It's nothing we can't handle. We're changelings; we're destined to rule these inferior specimens. They're weak peoples, soon to be ruled by the strong." "Which is totally why Celestia and Luna are in one of the pods above us," Aphid retorted, dripping sarcasm. "Which is totally why we have rebels, which is why we took Appleloosa, which is why the entire continent is at our hooves. You idiot, they may not have undergone the lives we have, but they have the technological advantage on us. And I wish you'd said that after seeing their eyes in the middle of a battle. They have the determination to win, whether or not they have the numbers we do. We have to come up with a more complex plan than 'let's just throw everything we've got at them' in order to beat them. It was with such a complex and thought-out plan that we conquered Canterlot, after all," Aphid said, looking to the Queen for emphasis. "Indeed," Chrysalis said, though still not budging her expression an inch. "We have to apply that to this war," Aphid continued. "Las Pegasus could be an option, but we could also hit the Swamps and be able to use some of our natural gifts to their fullest potential." "My Queen," Canicularis said. "You may speak." "We cannot mobilize our full forces on the front until we eliminate - no, eradicate - the rebels and crush the spirits of the ponies in the territory we currently hold. I must point out at this time that a zebra named Zecora has freed a number of ponies and has been staging successful hit and runs on us from the relative safety of the Everfree Forest, and those outrages will only grow in number until we resolve the internal conflict. We cannot focus on battle with external foes until we get our act together, and that means that the necessary infrastructure needs to be in place, the population punished or cowed into abject submission, and until our nurseries and brood chambers are free of any threat of being attacked." "I was just discussing that with Aphid," the Queen replied. "I fully intend to break the resistance, both physically and internally, of the ponies in our current borders. However, I intend to give the war our primary focus. These rebellions are but pinpricks as of now, and yes, I will be adding new units to the Retaliation Brigades, but these "Allies" to the south are the biggest threat, and therefore the front will receive the majority of the recruits." She spoke as if that settled the matter, and effectively, it did. "Agrius," she said, without any further ado. "We should eliminate the yaks and their puny nation. We outnumbered them at Galloping Gorge, even after Formicidae played the fool. We take them out, it's one less threat to the Empire." "You're not considering the nightmare that would be," Aphid responded, after a few seconds of silence. "Our bodies aren't designed to take the freezing cold of that land." "Hence the name, 'changeling,'" Agrius said, as if to a nymph. "Our external structure changes, yes, but the internal organs remain the same, even when we transform; they're best equipped for withstanding the dry desert than the frost of the north. We can deal with the yaks, yes, but it's going to take a lot more logistics than we have available there. I'd love to knock them out of the war, but that's... difficult, to say the least. Furthermore, it wouldn't have the same effect on the Allies and the rest of the world that a battlefield victory and capture of more Equestrian cities would. In addition, the yaks aren't the most numerous of species; there aren't much more of them in existence than buffalo, maybe thirty to forty thousand total. The southern piece of Equestria that we have yet to conquer, on the other hoof, contains some millions of individuals; far from the population that we've taken, but still, if mobilized, a significant threat." "I must agree," Chrysalis said. "I would love to take revenge on the yaks for backstabbing us, but that will have to wait." Agrius' head drooped. "I have decided," the Queen said. "Aphid and Stenolemus have made good points. The enemy has heavily fortified Appleloosa, and it seems it's out of our reach... for now. However, Las Pegasus and the Hayseed Swamps can provide us with with victories and captives. I intend to go after both. We will give them two objectives to defend, and our incoming reserves can be directed toward those locations, while our foes are stuck having to protect the Princesses." "I would strongly advise choosing one or the other,"Aphid replied. Before Chrysalis could make a response, a drone flew into the room from the doorway. "This had better be good," she said irritably. "Speak up, what is it?" "Y-your Majesty, the enemy have attacked us again. In the Swamps." There was silence for about ten seconds. "Explain," Chrysalis demanded, voice full of quiet rage. "The Avalonians, ponies, some hippogriffs, and griffons have staged an attack in that area," the drone went on, wildly nervous, but managing at the very least to not stutter. "They bombarded us for a couple hours, then began a ground offensive. They're advancing." "Hmmm. Very well. We'll take some drones off the lines facing Baltimare and use them to stop the linkup," Chrysalis said. "In the meantime, standing back and doing nothing would make us look weak. I intend for our forces to assault Las Pegasus immediately. Aphid, Stenolemus, you will go and make sure that city falls; Aphid will have overall command. Chinensis, Agrius, and Canicularis, you'll go to the east, with Canicularis in overall command there, and halt the enemy. I don't care how you do it; I don't care if you have to burn the trees and forests there, just do it. Take some ponies captured from Baltimare with you," she added, in a vengeful tone, "along with some captured rebels. Suck whatever love you need to to give our warriors the energy for battle. You also have my permission to execute some in the latter group if you think it will demoralize the enemy. But you will stop them." Five choruses of "My Queen," were heard. -------------------------------------------------------- The Allied offensive in the Hayseed Swamps initially went well; of all the places the Allies could have attacked, this was the least likely one. Although the preparatory bombardment did not work as intended, given the intense growth and the difficulty of knowing just where the changeling lines were, the changelings were unprepared for the attack. ---------------------------------------------------- Lorenzo Capello advanced through the muck and trees, accompanied not just by his brother Avalonians, but by ponies and griffons, with a few hippogriff units attacking along with them. Wet vines and watery, mushy plants seemed to be everywhere, and the smell was almost overpowering. "Ugh, I don't think even mama's best elbow grease will ever make me clean, or wash this stink out," another Avalonian soldier said, looking in disgust at the sticky mud that clung to his trousers. "I don't think I'll ever hear you shut up about it," someone else muttered. "Giovanni รจ il ragazzo di una mamma," another soldier said, which met general laughter, even from Giovanni. "Quiet," Sergeant Pietro Russi said, in the calm, but forceful, tone he usually used. "The enemy doesn't appreciate humor. Keep your eyes and ears focused on what's ahead." A hippogriff captain had watched the exchange. He looked confused, but did not complain. Most of the other Allies were getting used to the fact that their allies largely did not use the Equestrian language. Another hippogriff muttered something, but was told off by his own superior. A black shape up ahead moved. Lorenzo aimed his rifle at it, but by then three others, including a hippogriff, had already trained their weapons on it and fired. With a scream, the target fell, a feeble green beam sent into the sky instead of at the advancing armies. That triggered more gunfire as the Allies began firing at anything that looked suspicious. There were several green flashes, each accompanied by a screech and a fallen changeling. At least three fell out of the trees they had taken shelter in; one hung on the large branch that he had been shot on, looking for all the while like a sheet that had been left out to dry. After about ten seconds of sustained gunfire, the changelings began to fire back; green beams flew back toward the Allies. Numerous soldiers were hit and screamed as they were burned. The uniforms of two soldiers, an Avalonian and that of a griffon, caught fire; both desperately tried to put out the fire, which only went out when they jumped into the swampy, mucky water. An Avalonian machine gun began to fire into the woods. The water-cooled weapon made the enemy keep their heads down, and as the crew were lying down, they were less susceptible to being hit by enemy fire, even though the changelings who were not being directly fired upon by the weapon desperately tried to put it out of action. It wasn't just the machine gunners who went to ground; soldiers began to lie prove or else take cover behind trees and rocks and fire back. Lorenzo crawled behind a large tree and peered out from behind it, looking for a target. More machine guns came into play. A few artillery batteries began to fire upon the enemy position as well, adding explosions to the mix. A changeling came into Lorenzo's rifle sights. He pulled the trigger, and the enemy warrior fell. A bolt of green energy seared past Lorenzo, close enough that he would swear that he had smelled it. A series of blasts rocked the trees just behind the changeling he had shot. Flying wood and rubble were mixed with more vulgar things, including green blood. What was left when the smoke cleared was a trio of craters, with numerous trees destroyed and rocks blown apart... and changeling bodies lying all around the scene of destruction. Gradually, as artillery shells began falling all around the position, the enemy fire began to slacken. The changelings began to - grudgingly - withdraw, some still attempting to zap Allied soldiers as they fell back. A loud cheer arose from the Avalonians, ponies, hippogriffs, and griffons, who rushed forward, those with ranged weapons firing them as they advanced. "Hurrah for Equestria!" a unicorn captain yelled, sword held in his magical grasp and pointing it at the enemy as he galloped ahead. "Hurr-uch!" A rock on the ground had transformed into a changeling, who had proceeded to stab the captain through the neck with his horn. The changeling died seconds later, blown to pieces by bullets and magic beams, but the captain was already on the ground, trying in vain to stem the flow of blood with his hooves. A medic galloped up to him, but held little hope in his gaze as he went to work. Even as that happened, more rocks and other seemingly harmless objects transformed into changelings. A human fell, along with a hippogriff and a griffon. The changelings had no time to do more than that; the attacking troops overcame their shock quickly, and shot the changelings until all of those involved in the ambush were dead. "Curse them," an Avalonian soldier said, shaking head head in dismay. "How can we beat an enemy who can make themselves look like... like... anything!?! "Shoot anything that doesn't look like us or our allies," Sergeant Russi replied. "We aren't beaten, and we won't be beaten. If you doubt something's what it looks like, shoot it, and right away." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- While other Allied soldiers suffered similar shocks, they continued their offensive. Within a week, they had succeeded in pushing almost to the edge of the swamp, but by then, changeling reinforcements had arrived, along with their three generals. Although the changelings were again suffering worse than their enemies, they were more numerous. Despite the superior technology of the Allies, the only troops who managed to push their way out of the Hayseed Swamps were those who had been close to the sea, and only managed that feat with massive naval support. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Incoming!" Nezara ducked as two massive shells landed some fifty feet away; the roar from the explosions was so loud, she wondered for a long, terrible moment that she had lost her hearing. When the smoke and dust cleared away - and she had, incidentally and gratefully noticed, retained her hearing - she could see a big crater, much bigger than any other type of shell in the war had made in her experience. The remains of the changelings caught in the blast were scattered everywhere. She was abruptly and unapologetically sick all over the ground in front of her. She had done so a number of times already. "Ugh," another changeling next to her groaned. "How many of these things do they pack on board those stinking ships?" "Too many," she replied. "Way too many. One would be too many." "Well, ya got that right." Nezara heard more rifle shots to the front. She was here as a worker, and had helped to construct a defensive line and bunkers. Some of her work, and that of her co-workers, had already been destroyed. But the warriors at the front line were catching it really bad. More and more of them kept coming forward. She wanted to yell to them to stop, to go back, to save themselves. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Now they were - probably - dead. And still more flew or marched by. "How many of them do you think have,.. passed beyond?" she asked, unable to bring herself to say the word "died." "I... don't know. Most of my other broodmates were warriors. I don't know if any of them are here, but I hope to Hive they aren't." The other worker drone shook his head. "I got the job of worker because I wasn't as fit as a warrior. I wish my brothers and sisters had all gotten the same job. They were proud to be warriors, but I can't see any... glory, I guess, in this. In our conquests of the pony cities, maybe, but not this... bloodbath. And our generals keep sending them here? I thought they would know better than this!" Nez would have argued with that, if only she could. No more shells came at the worker drones, who continued building, but plenty more fell on the warriors who were doing the fighting. A smaller vessel came in closer to the shore and began firing some sort of fireballs at those warriors who were flying; they dropped like flies from the explosions. A few minutes later, more changelings, maybe a hundred or so, flew out of the swamp and toward the enemy ship, with several hundred more following them. The anti-air guns on the ship ceased firing at the warriors on the front lines and began firing at the incoming swarm. Dozens of changelings fell into the sea as their bodies were shattered and broken by the shells.The rest began firing at it, but their beams seemed to be doing little damage. Somehow, some changelings - maybe half the group - made it to the enemy vessel. Nezara could tell that there was fighting going on aboard the ship, as rifle and pistol fire and the screams of the wounded and dying reached her ears from that direction. More small ships, of the same class as the first, sailed up and began pounding members of the swarm that were still flying about. Two of them closed with their beleaguered comrade; more yells and screams. "I hoped they might actually capture that thing," the same worker drone as before spoke up, disappointed. "It was too much to hope for," Nezara murmured mournfully. A few minutes later, the ships parted from one another, and as one unit began to fire upon changelings engaged in the battle on the shore. The other worker sighed. Then he looked at Nezara. "I'm Dolomedes." "Nezara," she answered, taking his hoof and shaking it. "Hopefully, we might live through this." Dolomedes squinted his eyes as he peered back at the front line. "Looks like the enemy are slowing down, even with all their fancy stuff." Nez sighed. "Good. Too many of our brothers and sisters died doing so." -------------------------------------------------- The Allied offensive just managed to make a land bridge connecting Baltimare and the Hayseed Swamps, but was finally halted just a few miles beyond the shoreline. Within the swamps themselves, the Allied gains had been smaller. The changelings had suffered terribly, but had managed to finally inflict enough losses to convince the Allied generals to call off the attack. The Allies' supply lines weren't the best in such a land, and some Equestrian and Saddle Arabian units were halted for lack of such items as horseshoe nails. The good news was that Baltimare was linked to the rest of Equestria. The bad news was that that strip of land was literally just that; it was barely more than a few miles wide. If the changelings countered strongly enough, they might break that strip. The Allies had suffered losses during this offensive, serious enough for even Swiftclaw to acknowledge that further offensives would be futile without further intelligence. In particular, the knowledge that the changelings could transform themselves into just about anything, even mimicking the texture of the objects they pretended to be, was shocking. This news was met with dismay by the front line forces. If the changelings could disguise themselves as literally anything, how could infiltration be completely detected and stopped? They didn't have much time to think about it, as the changelings began their own attack on Las Pegasus less than a week after the Hayseed Offensive petered out. A vast army flew toward the city, with the changelings flying well above the Allied trenches before the city; while some were shot down by Avalonian anti-aircraft guns, the losses from this were not enough to halt the attack in and of itself. The humans, unicorns, earth ponies, and Saddle Arabians could only watch as the enemy closed on the town. Naturally, the pegasi, hippogriffs, and griffons flew up to defend the settlement, as did the pegasus militia within the city itself. Still, their numbers weren't as great as those of their enemy... ------------------------------------------------------------ The skies were chaotic as the flying elements of the defense forces struggled to hold back the vast number of changelings, all fighting ferociously. The local militia was putting up a determined fight as well, but their inexperience and lack of discipline was leading to heavy casualties among their numbers. Captain Sky Fire lashed out with his sword, decapitating one of the attackers. Six others had already begun their downward journey at his steel-shod hooves, and an eight followed a moment later when he sliced off its wing. He wiped his forehead. Although the enemy had been held back so far, more and more changelings were joining the fight; their losses hadn't deterred them in the slightest. Right now, they were gunning for the city, and it looked like they might actually take it, too. Already, some of the fighting was taking place within and on the buildings of the city, with some on fire and others crumbling due to damage sustained during the battle; some changelings had remained back and were shooting through whatever gaps in their forces that existed, and their combined fire was doing damage, and hitting many Allied combatants and, sadly, more than a few civilians. Anger built up within him as a random shot by a changeling struck a pink mare on the ground. The mare screamed as the beam burned her left wing and body; other non-combatants scattered, with a pair of them doing their best to drag the agonized mare with them. "Death to the murderers!" he yelled, and charged the enemy with his squad of pegasi, slicing through a small swarm of the changelings, who, without shields or armor, they couldn't stop the sharp spears and swords from piercing their chitin, apart from some few who managed to dodge the attacks. A large contingent of hippogriffs and griffons joined in, increasing the number of falling chitin bodies. Sky Fire and his troops managed to kill several of the shooters, but could by no means get them all. Worse, more changelings flew in, taking the place of those who had died, and they began to inflict real damage on the pegasi, who began to fall, one by one, to the superior numbers of the hive. More of their warriors died, of course, but they could afford it, whereas he could not. A full company of pegasi joined the battle, but all they were able to do was ensure a line of retreat through the horde's forces. All around him, more and more of the airborne allies were dropping. Sky Fire's heart sank. It felt like the Sacking of Cloudsdale all over again; his sister had not managed to escape with him, and neither had his parents. Now, without some major change in the balance of power, the same would happen to the families of Las Pegasus. A buzzing began to rise over the sounds of battle. At first, Sky Fire ignored it; how was it relevant to keeping the city from burning, and its citizens from being stuffed into cocoons to be drained at the evil invaders' will? He angrily cut down another changeling, then kicked another with his steel-shod hooves. Most pegasi tried to avoid wearing horseshoes when possible; their weight, and the fact that they were nailed on, prevented the flying ponies from going to the farrier's until they were either in pain or otherwise forced to do so. He was thankful to have them here, as the horseshoes proved to be efficient weapons, capable of cracking the enemy's natural armor. The sound of machine gun fire coming from behind surprised him; at last he turned around. He was greeted by the sight of several incoming aircraft, which stunned him even in the midst of battle. Each one was kept moving by what he could only see as a rapidly spinning circle. More to the point, a human head was sticking out of each one. Each was firing its two machine guns into the swarm, cutting large swaths through the enemy ranks. Most importantly, they were on the side of the Allies. All across the battlefield, as more and more of the Avalonian machines appeared, a cheer arose that, had it not taken place on an aerial battlefield, would surely have been deafening. As it was, the Allies fought back with even greater determination than before. ---------------------------------------------------- Andreas Nicola pressed the firing button on the stick. The machine guns shook the entire aircraft, and after a few seconds he stopped shooting and pulled away. He looked around. The rest of his squadron were not having any problems as of yet. The fighter craft, known among the pilots as "Sparrowhawks," had been tested in Avalon, but as many men who operated machines did, he didn't trust mechanics unless the machines they built and designed actually worked. So far, these were holding together, and the interrupter device was working. A few planes had crashed during tests because the interrupter had failed. Not this time. The changelings began to scatter. Andreas smiled in a predatory way. "You can't escape me," he said, even though no one else could hear him and the wind blew his words away. He took after after one changeling, who scrambled in a desperate - and futile - effort to evade him. Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at! The changeling began to plummet toward the earth, shot through and through. More of the enemy were forming up in the distance. Andreas and his squadron began to dive toward them, firing their machine guns. Those changelings not killed again scattered. "Too easy." --------------------------------------------------- Aphid watched quietly as the new Avalonian machines cut through his army. He maintained a confident posture on the outside; few changelings, and few if any outsiders, would have realized that he was in a moment of quiet despair from the look on his face. These Avalonians are flat out insane! They make machines for everything! How do we beat that without getting some of it for ourselves?! Stenolemus was quiet, but Aphid could tell that he was concerned. Better compose my mind as well as my face. "We need our warriors to remain as far apart as possible, and to fire upon these things from a distance. They cannot be invincible." "I hope not. These... machines, these... monstrosities the ponies and humans create... The Queen will have our heads if we fail here." "We just need to keep our heads. We can still win. We still outnumber them. We can use that." I hope. -------------------------------------------------------- Andreas continued to pursue and shoot down individual changelings, most of whom, disappointingly, tried to escape his gun instead of fighting him. Only three had tried to directly confront him; one had tried to fire from a few hundred feet away and had missed before being down by another member of the squadron, the second had tried to rush the plane and had been ripped apart for his trouble, and the third had foolishly stood his ground and had been eviscerated by the propeller blades, which had almost resulted in the aircraft being knocked out of the sky. Almost, but not quite. Looking at the fight overall, he could see the rest of the flying Allies, especially the pegasi, rallying and surging forward, fighting even harder than they had when the aeroplanes had arrived, which was saying something, as it had looked like they had been firing on all four cylinders before. Returning his attention to his own flight, he noticed that the changelings facing his squadron were scattering again, but not in the near-panic they had been. This looked all too... organized. That thought had barely gone through his head when green beams began to lace the sky. He dove and turned the craft to the left. At the same time, a changeling somehow - he couldn't figure out for the life of him where it had come from - began firing at him from the rear, with three beams from behind him narrowly missing his head. Andreas smiled again. "A challenger, at last." Putting the craft into a spin, he dove down, then turned to the left again, trying to get around the changeling. Unfortunately, while the plane was faster, the changeling had the ability to hover, and was more maneuverable. He remained on Andreas' tail, and soon it became clear that not only would it be almost impossible to circle around this enemy, it was going to be difficult just to get the thing off his tail. More green beams flew by; the changeling wasn't giving up. As he turned, he saw another flash of green, but it wasn't the flash of light; it was a burst of green blood as a hippogriff speared the changeling, which began falling to the earth so far below. Andreas gave a salute to the hippogriff, who returned it with a grin. Unfortunately, that happy moment was not to last; another member of the squadron was beset by changeling warriors, and even as Andreas pivoted to aid him, the beams from numerous changelings, better shots than the one that had tried to do in Andreas, tore into the aircraft. The fighters, fragile at best, and constructed from a combination of wood, metal, and canvas, weren't meant to take heavy hits like that. This was not to be an exception. The wires tying the right wings together snapped, and the upper wing fell away all together. The plane took a sudden dive for the ground, its pilot either dead or no longer in control of the aircraft. Andreas looked away, instead choosing to aim at one of the changelings who were responsible. He shot that one out of the sky, and his squadron-mates, furious, knocked most of the rest out of the air. The last of the group, desperate, fired wildly in the last few seconds of his life, hitting another fighter before being shot by multiple planes. The damaged fighter wobbled, and badly, but kept flying. Andreas signaled for him to withdraw; the pilot did, either having seen his signal or having decided that withdrawal was the sensible choice. Andreas wasn't going to question him when they got back to base. A pegasus from the city militia flew parallel to his plane. The wind and the noise of the engine blew away his words, just as they had done with Andreas' own, but the intent was obvious. Andreas smiled, saluted, then pointed at the remaining enemies. The pegasus nodded, and they, along with the hippogriff from before, dived on yet another group of changelings. -------------------------------------------------------- The machine guns of the fighters, which often tore through multiple changelings, wreaked mass havoc among the unprepared attackers, who, despite regrouping, could not recover fast enough. With pegasi, hippogriffs, and griffons from the front rising to attack the swarm from the side and rear, the attack was unsustainable. The changelings reluctantly withdrew, suffering severe casualties. Chrysalis, as Stenolemus expected, was not pleased. However, she did not sack the two generals and admitted that Aphid's concerns had been legitimate. The Allies had won two victories in a row, but their armies had taken heavy losses, though not to the extent of those of the changelings, and they could not take advantage of their win at Las Pegasus by engaging in offensive activity. A midnight raid by a few units on the ground near the city led to a disappointing failure. While they had endured much, the changelings were - gradually - learning. No chitin, however healthy, could withstand bullets, and no changeling could fire as rapidly as a machine gun. Furthermore, the Allied naval units, while useful at sea and on the coast, were not able to impact inland operations, or stop a mass airborne assault like the one on Las Pegasus. They were, however, devastating where they could be deployed. And, while immensely destructive against large groups of flying changelings, the individual human fighter craft were vulnerable to swarm attacks made from above, below, or behind. Even so, the news was rather grim. Chrysalis hadn't expected the conflict to last this long, and the recent defeats had given her a noticeable negative mood. She became more willing to yell, and to punish drones for minor failings. And, as before, the Allied victory had lead to increased rebel activity. Something needed to change. And, by the end of the first week of October, Chrysalis believed she had something of an answer. Or, at least, the drones she had assigned to biological research did. The researchers had made a discovery. Several initial tests on altered royal jelly had failed, but one test had proved promising. An egg had been saturated with jelly altered to speed growth and increase aggression. The drone that had been birthed was much larger and was very easy to anger. Even at only a few days old, it had grown to about a third of the size of a normal drone, managed to blast a hole in the side of the nursery, and had lifted a nurse drone and thrown it several feet. While it was difficult to control this nymph, it looked as though it might be a terrifying weapon in the future. One other result, one that really opened the eyes of the Queen, was that a changeling nymph had been born with fins over each hoof, along with a fin-like tail and mane and a larger than normal horn, as well as gills. The latter could only provide temporary breathing while underwater - the changeling species was, after all, designed to breathe above water - but it was notable, and a possible prototype to counter the Allied navy. There was a downside for both of the new drones; neither had shown signs of being able to fly or change form, and it was warned that this might be a permanent effect. They were also highly specialized (or at least the second drone was), and would have limited fortune outside their respective fields. Chrysalis accepted this. She needed more weapons and drones on the front, and if they weren't perfect, she was willing to put them to use regardless. Further experimentation like this would not be necessary once the war was won, after all, and if these new changeling drones could provide victory, the Queen believed that the sacrifice would be worth it.