Time passed surprisingly calmly. Eggman didn't attack Equestria, leaving them to prepare. The ponies worked as quickly as possible to have the army to counter the mad scientist helped by Tirek and Discord. The outpost near the Badlands was the first to be finished, now keeping a constant watch for any enemy assault. Dodge City, because of how close it was of the Badlands, remained deserted after what happened to its inhabitants. And Scootaloo continued to train, using Death Egg Replicas to better her skills and the ones of Rainbow Dash and the others.
Everypony was nervous. The war against Eggman could start anytime, and they weren't sure what would be Eggman's first move.
But something unexpected led to the Equestrians doing the first move: the changelings.
If there was something that nopony expected, it was for Queen Chrysalis, followed by some guards, to suddenly come to Canterlot wishing to talk with Celestia. They warned the four princesses of this and they quickly gathered in the throne room with the help of teleportations as the changelings were heavily escorted here.
Almost as soon as they entered the room, Chrysalis said "Let's pass the formalities and the chitchat about how you are surprised to see me here, I will not lose time. Do you know about the Storm Empire? No, I suppose. You're blind to everything that happens outside of your kingdom."
Luna groaned. "Please, don't tell us we have another army to deal with besides the robot army."
"The Storm Empire is a powerful army commanded by one Storm King that has conquered all the lands in the South. My changelings kept watch of it, knowing that I would probably end up fighting it after taking over Equestria." Her frown became deeper. "And now, that Empire is being destroyed by this army of robots you talked about. I know about the robots and Eggman, I had some spies who reported to me everything that happened, so I know how bad news they are, especially after learning that Tirek and Discord of all beings are now working with him."
"And you won't join them?" asked Celestia in confusion.
"Are you kidding? I can already tell that Eggman is planning to keep the world for himself if he wins. Same for Tirek. And Discord being Discord, he will just fool around without caring for the others. We changelings can't transform into robots, so we can't put a trap to backstab them in case of victory. Tirek and Discord would be too powerful, and Eggman would be too well protected. We would be at their mercy. There's no chance for us if we side with them."
"So you will side with us?" asked Celestia.
Chrysalis growled and almost spat. "As much as it sickens me, yes, I will side with you. Trying to fight them by myself would be suicidal. I saw how you improved your armies, I know that my only chances are to help you, or to flee. And I would prefer remain and fight, even if I must side with you, than flee."
The four princesses looked at each other, knowing how risky it was to accept the changelings. They could easily infiltrate their ranks and backstab them once it was over.
Chrysalis understood this. "And don't expect me to backstab you when one of your ponies now possesses the power to bend reality. What would I be able to do against this? I may want to conquer Equestria and to imprison all the ponies for their love, but I'm not stupid. I can't fight this power. Also, it's in your best interest to accept me and my changelings. We may not be able to turn into robots to infiltrate Eggman's army, but we can still turn into animals. As birds, we could watch them from the sky, and in the jungles around the Badlands, we could be anything."
While still unsure, the ponies knew that Chrysalis was right, and Celestia nodded. "Very well. Welcome to the Alliance. We're hoping to make other races join us, such as the griffons."
Chrysalis huffed. “Those greedy birds? Good luck on that. Anyway, I have some info about what's happening.” She signed one of her guards to approach, and the guard gave her a big parchment. “Here's a map that includes Equestria and the lands in the South.” The guard then gave another parchment, smaller. “And here's a map of the lands that include the Dragonlands and the kingdom of Abyssinia, at the other side of Celestial Sea and South of Griffonstone." She displayed the two maps for the princesses to see. “The Storm Empire managed to conquer all those lands in the South, from the Storm King's lair in this island at the extreme end to most of the Bone Dry Desert. Beyond the sea, they conquered all of Abyssinia, at the South-east of the Dragonlands, passing by the Ice Barrier where they probably come from in the first place.
I don't know if Eggman is planning to try to conquer Abyssinia too, but right now, he spread his robotic empire all the way from the swamps at the East to the old territory of Arimaspi, conquering all the jungles there. And yes, this includes the small piece of jungle between Dodge City and Horseshoe Bay. Eggman certainly knows about the outpost you built there, so he built a base in this part of the jungle from which he's planning to attack the outpost from behind at the first occasion, once he's finished with the Storm Empire. Last I heard, both Eggman and Tirek are busy directly fighting the Storm King's troops in the desert, so my advice would be to attack this base first, and to spread the guards from all the Macintosh Hills to San Palomino Desert that is also very vulnerable, without forgetting the South of Rockville's territory. You should also send a part of your army to Baltimare. This city is also very vulnerable against an attack from the jungle and could become an important place from which to send troops to the lands beyond the Celestial Sea if Eggman decides to invade them. Las Pegasus could have a similar role if he decides to invade the lands beyond the South Luna Ocean.”
The princesses looked at the maps, following Chrysalis' words. Once she had finished, Celestia pointed at a mountain at the far South. "Mount Aris... What happened to the hippogriffs? Were they invaded by the Storm Kind?"
Chrysalis nodded. "Yes, but they disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to them. You can try to find them, but since it's in the territory of the Storm King, it will be extremely dangerous."
Celestia rubbed her chin. "I think that I may know what happened to them. Queen Novo possessed this Pearl and..." She smiled. "Your changelings can transform into anything, right? Does this include fishes?"
"Of course."
"Then, you should send some of your changelings as fishes to travel to Mount Aris, but instead of exploring the mountain, you will send them exploring the depths."
"The depths? What would they found there?" asked the queen.
Celestia smirked. "The hippogriffs."
"Last I knew, hippogriffs aren't fishes. But you seem to know something. Very well, if they can be found there, they could be useful to attack from the South. You can also try to convince the griffons to join you, but I don't believe this will work unless you propose millions of bits to them. You should rather try to convince the people of the West, you will have more luck. This is where you will find the zebras, the minotaurs, and Saddle Arabia. There's also the Yaks that you should easily convince, these brainless mountains of muscles can't refuse to be part of a war."
"And then, there are the dragons..."
"Unless you have a death wish, you should leave them alone. They don't like anyone entering their territory, and they can perfectly well defend themselves against any invasion. They won't need us to curb Eggman's progress over there for many months, which should leave us, hopefully, enough time to defeat him. And if we can find the Hippogriffs like you think we will, we could try to outdo Eggman and join Abyssinia from the South to recruit it. We would first need to kick out any storm troops still there, unless we can convince them to stop following the Storm King and to join us instead. This way, with us at the North, the zebras, minotaurs, and Saddle Arabians at the West, and the dragons and Abyssinians at the East, Eggman will only be able to spread his empire to the South where the Ice Barrier will give him a hard time."
"I just hope we won't have to go to the Ice Barrier to fight him there," said Luna.
"I can try to go and convince the Yaks. The Crystal Empire is just at their door," said Cadance.
Celestia nodded. "And I will send emissaries to talk to the Zebras, Minotaurs, and Saddle Arabians. And I can still believe that we can convince the griffons without having to pay them. The fate of the world must matter more than some gold coins."
"Believe it if you want," said Chrysalis. "Meanwhile, I will send my changelings to Mount Aris to search for the Hippogriffs."
"I will send guards to watch from the Macintosh Hills to San Palomino Desert," said Luna. "Maybe build another outpost at the South of Rockville, in front of the jungle there."
"As for me, I will prepare an assault of Eggman's base in the jungle between Dodge City and Horseshoe Bay," said Twilight. "Me and my friends will be going, as well as Zero to distract Discord if he comes. We have been training for this."
"So we have our plan of action," said Celestia. "I will send Shining Armor to help you. We must destroy that base," she said to Twilight.
"Or make it ours," said Chrysalis. "A base in the jungle between Dodge City and Horseshoe Bay will ensure that Eggman won't try again without us knowing, and it would be our spearhead to assault Eggman's bases in the jungles surrounding the Badlands without having to pass by the hills."
"Good idea," said Celestia with a nod.
"So, I go first, spread havoc, and once Discord appears, I distract him until you're done with the base," resumed Scootaloo with a nod. "Alright. Count on me. Oh and count on me to make sure that the changelings don't try anything funny behind our back."
All the other ponies in Twilight's library nodded.
"We will take a train to Dodge City and go to the outpost from here. Once in the outpost, we will launch our assault on Eggman's base. Five minutes before we reach it, you will start attacking it. Don't forget your headset to warn us of anything that may be important for us to know, like if Eggman is actually here, or if there's some secret weapon," said Twilight.
“Of course,” said Scootaloo as she took the headset made for her Zero persona with a combination of Eggman's technology and of magic.
Eggman's base was a classic one, with some factories, storehouses, some defenses, buildings where the robots were gathered in wait of being sent to action, a building where there were some airships, and power plants. A simple assault outpost.
Nothing prepared it to receive an assault from the Phantom Ruby. In just a few seconds after Scootaloo activated its power, hundreds of robot replicas appeared among the buildings and attacked everything, many enemy robots were destroyed, the majority of the defenses as well as all the airships were gone, and some of the buildings were damaged, especially the factories.
Then, all the robot replicas were turned into gingerbread robots, and Discord appeared.
"Typical. We turn our back five seconds and the mice start dancing. Couldn't you ponies remain peaceful a few more weeks? We're kinda busy."
"Exactly. We discovered this base, we found out that you were busy against the Storm King, so I decided to destroy this base before it could unleash its robots."
Discord raised an eyebrow. "How did you find out about the Storm King?" He noted something on some paper. "Note: there may be a spy, somehow. Could you tell me?"
Scootaloo gave him the middle finger.
"Ouch! No need to be vulgar! Who is the irresponsible adult who made you learn about it?"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Infinite, who else? Have a bad guy stuck in your head, and you eventually learn some stuff... very bad. Don't ask me the number of insults I learned since I merged with the ruby."
"Of course, with the Edgelord himself in your head, it was stupid to ask."
Infinite growled.
"So, how about we stop chatting for nothing and we directly go to the point where I turn you into a garden ornament for birds to poop on?" proposed Scootaloo.
"Ooh? You think you can do it?" asked Discord smugly, arms crossed and eyes closed.
He was suddenly hit by a wave of Phantom Energy, and the next instant, gravity multiplied by one hundred, and Discord found himself against the ground like a pancake. The ground was then turned into a quicksand that sucked Discord in before solidifying. With a stomp of her feet, Scootaloo then caused a big block of stone to come out of the ground, and she punched it, destroying most of it, leaving only a stone statue of Discord.
Scootaloo gave a couple of taps on the statue to get rid of some dust. "Perfect."
Discord stepped out of the statue as if he was a ghost and looked at the result. "I must admit, I look good. Too bad for you, this isn't like with the Elements of Harmony."
Scootaloo shrugged. "Yeah, I thought so. I still had to try. Now..."
The statue suddenly gave Discord an uppercut, sending the draconequus flying to the sky. Scootaloo flew after him and tackled him, sending the both of them away from the base just as the equestrian army reached it.
Since Scootaloo already destroyed a good part of its defenses, they didn't have much to worry about. A lot of robots remained however, and attacks were rapidly exchanged a little everywhere among the building and the trees. But the equestrians came prepared, and with Twilight among them, they rapidly got the upper hand.
But then, a blue hedgehog robot, exactly like the robot fought back in the Badlands, came out of one of the buildings and started to rapidly fly around, spreading destruction in its path among the equestrian ranks.
"A Metal Sonic spotted! I repeat, a Metal Sonic spotted!" shouted a soldier.
"Darn. Eggman built another one?" asked another.
"Nothing stopped him, so... yeah, of course he built another one," said Applejack.
"Metal Sonic is that robot built after that Sonic guy that Scootaloo told us about, right?" asked Rainbow Dash. "So it's all speed! Then leave it to me! Where is it?" she asked just before she saw a blue thing fly not far in front of her. "Forget it, I saw it!" she shouted as she started chasing it.
The robot spotted her as she caught up to it; the mare smiling smugly at it. "Hey, ugly!"
Metal Sonic accelerated through the trees, and Rainbow Dash followed it, only for the robot to strike some of the trees, causing them to topple on the pegasus who had to move up or down while accelerating or slowing down to avoid them. The robot then turned around and charged energy in the intake in its stomach before it fired a big plasma laser.
"Woah!"
Rainbow Dash aileron rolled to the side, avoiding the laser, then quickly rolled to the other side to avoid a tree before she accelerated again to catch up to the robot. Metal Sonic's arm then turned into a gatling gun and it fired countless of bullets at her, but Rainbow accelerated again while maneuvering around to avoid them, and soon reached the robot. So Metal Sonic tried to claw her, only for Rainbow to suddenly rise before she dropped back on it, smashing her hooves on its head.
Metal Sonic lost speed as a result and crashed through some trees before it recovered. Rainbow Dash could now feel the robot's glare at her back, and the pegasus saw it turn into a ball before it suddenly accelerated, its metallic spikes ready to turn her to shreds. Rainbow Dash flew to the side and punched the ball as it passed, sending it crashing into more trees. Metal Sonic quickly came back, and the two of them were now flying side by side.
Again, Metal Sonic fired a plasma laser that Rainbow easily dodged by flying around it before she tried to stomp it again, only for Metal Sonic to form an octahedral energy shield around itself that stopped her. It then lowered the shield and tried to claw her again, succeeding only in hurting one of her hooves. In return, Rainbow punched it on the face, and it counterattacked by turning its arm into a gatling again. As it fired, however, Rainbow Dash punched hard the jet on its back, causing it to lose control of its flight for a few seconds.
Metal Sonic recovered and flew up beyond the trees, toward the sky, quickly followed by Rainbow Dash. It then accelerated to the point of creating a sonic boom, going supersonic, and Rainbow Dash followed its example with a Sonic Rainboom. To her disbelief, Metal Sonic remained faster than her, and so, it remained in front of her as it got surrounded by a pulsating electrical field. Then, a huge and powerful electrical field was unleashed around Metal Sonic as it suddenly slowed down, and before Rainbow knew it, she flew right in it, getting herself badly electrified.
But the mare was used to electricity and quickly recovered. However, the robot was now terribly slowed down, and she used the occasion to ram it and to send it to crash into the ground, badly damaging it. It wasn't enough to destroy it however, and Metal Sonic returned above the trees, returning to its previous speed, causing another sonic boom, followed by Rainbow. But then, Metal Sonic decelerated enough to get behind Rainbow, and it fired a few more plasma lasers at her, only for her to dodge all of them while she decelerated too, eventually stomping on Metal Sonic, only for it to reform its shield before accelerating.
Then, it faced her while flying backward, turned both arms into gatling guns, and fired at her with both of them while also firing more plasma lasers. This forced Rainbow to return under the trees, leaving Metal Sonic to blinding fire through the leaves. It returned under the trees too to spot the mare, only for her to come from the side and to slam it through many trees before she returned above the jungle, followed by Metal Sonic, the robot now sparking electricity.
"You're a tough one, but I'm still the best!" yelled the mare with a smirk.
This infuriated Metal Sonic even more, and suddenly, an electrical field appeared around it as it started spinning and its speed became so much that Rainbow barely had time to roll out of the way before the robot passed her, and in just a few seconds, it was miles in front of her. But she saw the robot charging back at her, and she decelerated below sound speed before accelerating again, remaining at the limit, with the cone of air surrounding her. Then, just as the robot was about to hit her, she performed the Sonic Rainboom, suddenly accelerating. The electrical field hit her, but she still hit Metal Sonic with the full power of the Sonic Rainboom backing her. As the electrical field disappeared, leaving Metal Sonic seemingly worn down, Rainbow Dash then flew high into the sky, decelerating again with the robot in her hooves. Then, she dropped back toward the ground, gaining speed more and more, and just before she hit the ground, she performed another Sonic Rainboom, and they both hit the ground in a huge explosion leaving behind a rainbow cloud.
All that remained of Metal Sonic after that were broken pieces littered around Rainbow Dash in the crater they formed.
Rainbow Dash recuperated her breath, exhausted by the fight. "Huff... Huff... Eheheh... Told you. I'm the best. But now, I want to face this Sonic in a race. If you're based on him, he must be really fast."
Back at the base, all of Eggman's robots were destroyed.
It was a victory.
Scootaloo was told so through her headgear, and she smiled smugly at Discord.
"Why this smile?" he asked.
"I won. We took the base."
Discord opened his mouth, then closed it, understanding. "You were just a distraction."
"Yup!"
"The ponies came after you to finish what you started."
"Yup!"
"You were there mainly to stop me from stopping them."
"Yup!"
"Clever girl."
"Yup!" she said a last time before she disappeared, leaving behind Discord.
"Eggman won't like it..."
"THEY WHAAAAT?!!"
The war was on!