//------------------------------//
// Angie 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 16: A Country at War 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4: Angie


Equestrian Camp, South of Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Three, loud rings of a bronze bell were what signalled the commencment of dinner. The Doctor and Twilight watched as a majority of the soldiers made their way over to the dining tent. The sun had set and now the sky was dark and full of stars with a half moon just pulling itself over the horizon. Torches had been lit and now everything in the camp was illuminated in a mix of orange and white-blue light. The Doctor stood up and beckoned Twilight to follow him back to Celestia's tent for supper.
"I'm not hungry," Twilight stated.
"I'm not that hungry either but I figure that the two of us need our share of strength," the Doctor stated back. Twilight sighed before standing up and following the Doctor back to Celestia's tent.
A large buffet and a table of generals was waiting for them. Celestia sat at the head of the table with an empty seat to her right and an empty seat to her left.
"Doctor. Twilight. Please, join us," Celestia said as she pointed towards the seats. The Doctor and Twilight quickly made their way towards the head of the table and took their respective seats. There wasn't much talking at the table. There was mostly just eating and the occasional comment about changelings, injuries, the current statis of the war, and the plans for reconstruction. As Celestia began to consume a plate of quiches, a question popped into Twilight's mind.
"Your majesty," Twilight uttered.
"Yes?" Celestia responded.
"Just out of curiosity, how do you prevent changelings from sneaking into the camp by shapeshifting?"
"That's quite simple, Twilight. You see, I've placed a magical barrier around the camp and removes all magical disguises. If a disguised changeling were to pass through the barrier then they'd revert to their original form and be captured."
"Of course. I should have realized."
"So, your majesty, what can you tell us of the changelings' leader?" asked the Doctor.
"They have a queen. Her name's Esmeralda. Don't let the pretty name fool you, she's a complete psychopath. I've seen what she can do," Celestia replied. "Back when they first arrived in Equestria, she kidnapped two of my guards. When I went to discuss negotiations, she ripped their heads off with her bare hooves and ate their hearts right in front of me. I would have taken care of her right then and there but she proved to be quite quick."
"Do you or your generals have any plans to effectively defeat the changelings?"
"Yes," stated a general sitting a few seats down. "We're going to starve the beasts out of Equestria."
"Starve them?" Twilight asked.
"Changelings feed on love, for the most part. Regular food can keep them alive but a changeling can only go for so long without a bit of love. These changelings have been fighting us constantly for the past two years. There's definitely no love to be stolen here. Eventually, they'll be forced to leave due to simply being starved of their primary food source," Celestia explained. "Hopefully, it shouldn't take much longer to run them back to their empire."
"I have a feeling that this may be a bit harder than it sounds," said the Doctor.
"Unfortunately, it is." Twilight suddenly stood up. "Going somewhere?"
"Outside. I'd like to have some fresh air," Twilight replied. The Doctor watched with concern as Twilight made her way out of the tent.

The cool night air felt good against Twilight's coat. She needed to be alone. She needed to think. Everything felt so wrong: a cold Celestia, Derpy and Donna captured, changelings invading Equestria. Everything felt so alien. Twilight began making her way towards the edge of the camp. Everypony was still busy eating dinner so Twilight was mostly alone. As she curved her way through a series of soldier tents, she heard voices from nearby.
"Hello, Angie," chuckled a gruff voice.
"I don't have time for you right now," snapped a female voice. Twilight lowered the sound of her breathing and froze. She then began to quickly sneak her way in the direction of the voices. She had a bad feeling about this.
"Come on, Angie. We'll give you as many bits as you want. We all know how much you want to start that farm of yours," chuckled a second gruff voice.
"I ain't that kind of pony. Now move!" Twilight held her breath as she heard the sound of somepony getting punched followed by a yelp.
"Now, just be a good mare and let us soldiers do all the work," stated the first gruff voice. Twilight looked around the corner to see three soldiers ganging up on a mare with an orange coat and a blonde mane. One of the stallions was lying on top of the mare. It didn't take Twilight that long to realize what was happening.
"Get off me!" cried the mare.
"I will once you've satisfied me," said the stallion lying on top of the mare. Twilight aimed her horn at the stallion. A second later, the stallion was surprised to find himself flying through the air and smashing into a nearby tent.
"Hey!" snapped another one of the stallions as he noticed Twilight's presence. Twilight stepped out from behind the tent and fired a few blasts of magic at the stallions. One of the stallions found himself frozen in a block of ice while the other found his head trapped in a pumpkin. The other stallion, who had crashed into the tent, had lost consciousness. Twilight ran over to the mare and helped her up.
"This way!" Twilight hissed as she led the mare away from the stallions and back into the maze of tents that made up the Equestrian camp. They came to a stop once they were well away from the soldiers.
"Thank you," said the mare. 
"Don't mention it," said Twilight. It was at this moment that Twilight got a closer look at the mare. Along with her orange coat and blonde mane, she had freckles; a pair of friendly, green eyes; and a cutie mark that consisted of a green apple and a red apple. Twilight tilted her head as she examined the mare.
"What is it?"
"Oh...nothing. You just look like somepony I know. Anyway, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." The mare shuffled her hooves uncomfortably.
"Has this happened before?"
"You don't need to worry yourself about me. I'm just a farmmare."
"I will worry myself about you. I'm not going to let a bunch of brutes torment anypony. I'm friends...well...er...maybe...I'm acquainted with the Princess. I can make sure that they don't try to hurt you again."
"You're really kind. Who are you?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. Name's Angie."
"Nice to meet you. So, if it isn't too personal, may I ask why a farmmare is here at an army camp?"
"I help grow the food that the chef cooks for the soldiers. I have a spot of land on the other side of the camp, towards the forest."
"At least you're not fighting."
"Thank the heavens. I think it's good for everypony that I'm not fighting. I wouldn't be of use anyway. I don't even amount up to much as a simple farmmare."
"Don't say that. I bet you're brilliant!"
"Thank you for your kind words, Twilight Sparkle, but you're wrong. I'm dispensable. Probably even more so than the brutes that work for this army." Angie then began to walk away. "I best be off. Chef will be wanting my help with clean up duty." Before Twilight could say anything else, the farmmare had disappeared into the cluster of tents and torches. 
That mare, Angie, looked almost exactly like Applejack! Twilight thought. I mean, a few changes in the facial structure and she could pass as a clone of her! Hopefully she'd be a better clone than the ones in 2002. Anyway, I better tell the Princess about the soldiers. Twilight then began to quickly make her way back to Celestia's tent.

Changeling Camp, South of the Silent Forest, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

"How can you do that?" Derpy asked Flarewing. "Last time I checked, changelings couldn't control fire."
"It's called magic. I'm sure unicorns can do the same thing," Flarewing chuckled.
"But changelings have a different kind of magic than that of unicorns! Trust me, I'm friends with a smart unicorn and she knows about stuff like this! And...how can you touch fire without being scathed?!" Flarewing turned to look at Derpy.
"You really want to learn my secret?"
"Yes!" Flarewing nodded his head at Donna.
"Tell me about humans and maybe I'll tell you about my gift." Donna let out a sigh as she turned towards the unique changeling.
"Fine," Donna said. "I'm from another dimension. That's where humans come from."
"I see. So, how did you come to be in this dimension?"
"A friend brought me."
"Who's this friend of yours?"
"He calls himself the Doctor. Don't bother asking what his real name is because not a single living soul knows. He travels around through time and space in a ship."
"Ah. Is this Doctor here?"
"We got separated when the changelings captured us. We don't know where he or Twilight are."
"Twilight? Another friend of yours?"
"She's the unicorn I mentioned," Derpy replied.
"And, I'm guessing that you and Twilight are from another time or something," Flarewing guessed.
"You're good!"
"Doesn't take much to work that out. Well, for me anyway."
"Okay. So, what about you?" Donna asked. "And not just about the fire. Why do you not have holes or a jagged horn like the others? The only other changeling like that is Esmeralda."
"Every so often, a changeling with...unique abilities is born. They're random and are impossible to predict. The changeling with said abilities will almost always have a high intellect and you can tell them apart from the rest due to them having no holes and perfect horns."
"That's it? You were just born with your abilities?"
"Pretty much. My parents knew that I was special due to the no holes bit. I didn't discover what powers I actually had until I nearly burned my uncle's wings off. He wasn't happy about that."
"So, your abilities revolve around fire," Derpy said.
"Pretty much. I can bend fire to my will and can't be harmed by it. However, I'm still learning to hone in my abilities. I haven't become a full expert at them yet. If I were an expert then I would use all of these torches to burn Esmeralda alive."
"Well you clearly have some control over it. Why not use it to escape?" Donna asked.
"Esmeralda is the reason. She's special like me. However...her abilities are more...dark."
"How so?" Flarewing shuttered a bit as if he were remembering something terrible.
"I...trust me. You really don't want to find out." Just then, a horn rang out through the tunnel and the sound of shouts and cheers could be heard.
"What's going on?" Derpy asked.
"They're beginning their attack," Flarewing replied.
"Attack?" Donna asked.
"On the Equestrian camp. I heard the soldiers talking about it earlier. Esmeralda and her soldiers are tired of waiting. They're nearly at their breaking points. You see, changelings can only go so long without absorbing love. Push them far enough and they'll crack."
"What about you?"
"Another one of my abilities allows me to feed off other feelings rather than love. Strong emotions, mostly. And, as you can tell, they're plenty of strong emotions to feed off of here."
"Can Esmeralda do that?"
"To an extent, I think, but I think she requires love as much as the next changeling."
"So, what's going to happen?"
"A full siege on the camp. A surprise in the night. They've tried raids like this before but this time they're sending the entire army. The Equestrians will be caught totally off guard." Flarewing's face then fell dark. "If the changelings are lucky, Esmeralda's going to face your Princess one-on-one. Celestia doesn't stand a chance."
"I wouldn't underestimate the Princess," said Derpy.
"I don't doubt her power...but...Esmeralda has a trump card on her side. A terrible, bloody trump card," said Flarewing gravely.