//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two - The Battle 
// Story: In Times of War 
// by Th4ack 
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The changelings had stormed the castle early, much earlier than anticipated. The citizens of Canterlot were quickly evacuated right before the fight began, and once the massive shadow of changelings emerged, and made its way to the city, the closer death seemed it would be. 

Fortunately for us, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were already there, prepared to fight them off with us. It was a sight for sore eyes, finally seeing the Elements of Harmony in action. With one huge blast of magic energy, the queen was quickly blasted out of Equestria. With such a strong power on your side, it really does make you feel special. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the queen's army was not as easily driven out.  They attacked the city with so much force, they easily overran many of our barricades. One of those barricades was assigned to the guard we were instructed to protect. The barricades closer to the castle had hardened Royal Guards protecting them, and you could see the experience these guys had. They swatted the changelings away like flies. All except for one: the soldier we needed to protect. He was no where to be seen. Best case scenario, he had deserted us. Worst case scenario, he had been overrun.

Even with the massive amount of soldiers at his command, a few changelings were able to make their way past his troops. They flew as fast as they could away from his barricade when they found most of their friends had perished trying to overwhelm the barrier guards. It looked like they were trying to storm the castle head on. 

They almost made it to the castle door, but our defenses were too strong for them, and we crushed the weakened army with ease. We lost a few brave men, but they lost scores more. The victory was decisive, Canterlot had been successfully defended.

An hour later, once the all clear was given, many ponies returned back to the city. Many were assigned to clean up the dead bodies of fallen changelings, a job I wouldn't wish on anypony. A few of the guards stationed at Berry's husband's barricade decided to investigate where he had left, and if they found him maybe charge him for desertion. I decided against doing that, but went to join their search party. Celestia kept true to her word, and went to Fillydelphia at once to help them rebuild.

I decided to talk to the guard who was supposed to be second in command, but once it was clear his commanding officer had vanished, was promoted. 

"So he just vanished right in front of your face?" I asked him curiously.

"Kind of," was his reply. "He was about to attack a changeling charging at him. One was about to attack me, so I had to look away for a few moments." He paused, looking down at the spot we were at. We were standing right in the middle of the cleaned up barricade. He pointed his hoof at the spot where he was.

"I was standing right there." He confirmed. "Once the changeling attacking me was dealt with, I looked back where he was to see if he was okay. He was gone, and the changeling with him was gone, too".

"Hmm..." I pondered, trying to think.  A guard that was standing near us called out to the guard next to me.

"Hey, Stardust! You have some extra weapons and armor stockpiled over here, should I clean them up?" He asked.

"Extra weapons and armor? We didn't have any laying around before." He said, turning around to face the other guard. "Where is it?"

"Over here, sir." The guard said, pointing down. We walked over to him, and sure enough, three pieces of guard equipment were laying on the ground, perfectly lined up. A spear, dagger, and golden helmet. Not much of a stockpile, if you ask me. However, it was the same exact equipment Berry had given her husband before the battle. 

"Stardust, you said that both him and the changeling vanished, right?" I asked.

"Yep, haven't seen either of them since the battle ended." He replied.

"That changeling must have cast a spell, teleporting them to another location. That explains why we haven't seen them since." I concluded.

"But why would his equipment still be here?" The second guard asked. "He must have fought that changeling with his bare hooves if that was the case". 

"The changeling must have known that he would need it, so the spell would forcibly remove his equipment from him." I assumed.

"Your guess is as good as mine, boss". Stardust replied. "I don't know anything about changeling magic, aside from that it lets them change into any form they want."

"With all due respect, sir." The second guard said to Stardust. "Everypony knows that". 

"Get back to work, Private." Stardust commanded. "We have a city that needs cleaning, and our orders are to clean it. Let's hop to it!"

Stardust and the other guard went back to work, and I needed to inform my wife about this ASAP.