In Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, a young mare with a pink saddlebag halted before the door to one of the large lecture halls. On the door was a note, and two Centurion guards watched her closely as she read it.
“Ugh, I took a train here for nothing?” she groaned, and rolled her eyes before sauntering back down the hall.
She looked back at one of the guards, and winked coyly, “looks like I’ve got a free day. 56th street, room 205, Ponyville.”
The guards looked at each other, and shrugged.
Inside, things were not quite as humorous. First Class had the stage, and behind her was a well-prepared map of the Changeling Hive, drawn using the information Malgavian had collected earlier. He was in attendance, sitting near the rear, as were the rest of the military. Celestia was notably absent- busy tending to civilian affairs- but Queen Luna, Field Martial Shining Armour, Colonel Flash Sentry (Recently promoted following the retirement of Brigadier Sunshine), Air Martial Spitfire, and of course Director Wildcard; were all taking part. The operation to rescue Odo, and destroy Chrysalis military force, would involve all of them.
First Class outlined it, pointing with a long stick to outlined parts of the diagram. The central hive fortress stood at the end of a large courtyard, on each side of which three large buildings were positioned. Newly added since the conflict a few months back was a high stone wall around all this, and four giant towers on the corners. On these towers massive anti-air emplacements watched the sky, and smaller guns pointed in all directions. The threat posed by these defence installations had forced Shining Armour to reconsider how easy it would be to raze the place. There was also, still, the matter of the Baltimare Refugees still in the Hive. Only a hundred or so remained, but that was a hundred hostages for Chrysalis.
She pointed out one of the towers, and started speaking to those gathered.
“These towers pose an extreme threat to any Wonderbolt support, as well as being capable of inflicting massive Legion casualties. Our first strategic priority is removing the threat posed by them. With them gone, the Wonderbolts can bomb un-harassed, and the Legion can take whatever time it needs to breach the walls themselves,” she said, and pointed to Malgavian with her stick, “Night Guard Commander Malgavian has volunteered a solution to this mission, I think it best he explain it himself.”
Malgavian stood and bowed, putting his hooves up on the desk to speak to the rest.
“I will lead a strike-force at night, and plant explosive charges within the towers. The charges will be set on a delay, which will be worked out with the forces of the Wonderbolts and Legion for maximal effect. In order to guarantee success, a squad of infiltrators will attempt a direct assault on the fortress, ensuring the changelings are distracted. The rest will get in, and get out, and Chrysalis will be none the wiser,” he bellowed, his strong voice echoing through the chamber.
Queen Luna turned in her seat, “Not only is that a suicide mission, but you know full well the Night Guard has been dis-armed. As much as I would like to, I can’t officially authorize this, you will have no support, and there will be no rescue if you fail,” she warned.
Malgavian was not put off, “I will not fail, even if we all fall, I can assure you that those charges will be planted. There is a dead-mares switch on each, and we will die to carry our mission out if need be. As for your support, so be it. This is a volunteer mission, entirely off the record, and I will stand trial for treason if need be,” he said.
Luna applauded him, “Very noble of you. Even in success there will be no glory, and none will even know your role in the events to come. I commend you, Malgavian, and I know I was right to let you lead your people. I only hope you come back, they still need you,” she said.
Malgavian bowed again, and sat back down.
“Very well,” First Class said, “That takes care of one problem. That still leaves us with several more, the first of which is the refugees still within the Hive. We cannot attack knowing they are there, one hostage becomes a hundred and one, and the potential for innocent loses is catastrophic. They must be safely returned home before anything can be done,” she said.
Wildcard stood this time.
“I’ll get them home. Silver Shield left me a lot of talented changelings, and they are loyal to myself and Equestria. We’ll slip in as merchants, and their workers, and send the refugees home the way we came. To the other changelings it will look simply like an odd amount of merchant traffic- but at the end of the day the tables will balance,” he said.
“Are you serious?” Luna questioned, standing herself, “the border is closed, nobody goes into or out of the hive unless Chrysalis allows it. How do you plan on getting past the border guards?”
Wildcard looked back at her, “Well it’s simple isn’t it? We kill them, and replace them with our own. The guards at the Hive itself will assume we were cleared- and it’s not like they’ll have much time to figure it out.”
Luna rolled the idea around in her head, “Very well, but if you fail, there will be no support for you either. Your roll becomes the most important, since we cannot launch any offensive knowing the refugees are still there. I have to ask you, are you willing to die for this mission?” she asked.
Wildcard nearly snarled at her, but managed to quell himself. “Queen Luna, they have my daughter. They stole her from her crib, and the bitch queen Chrysalis seeks to make her her own. I will die, and I will lead every changeling that follows me to their death, to free her from the slavery that our race has known for centuries. I would give my life ten times over to end Chrysalis’, and I will see her dead if it’s the last thing I do,” he boomed at her.
The room was silent, and then Luna simply nodded, “Good, because it might just come to that,” she said.
Wildcard and Luna both sat, and First Class continued.
"Now, Air Martial Spitfire, stand and be seen," First Class commanded.
Spitfire, after a moment of surprised hesitation at the directness of the order, stood with a military straightness, and snapped her hooves to attention, as old training took over. "Air Martial Spitfire, reporting ma'am."
First Class nodded, and paced the platform while she spoke, "Good. I called you here, along with the 1st Airborne and your finest Wonderbolt wing, to provide some element of air support during the coming engagement. You, the 1st, and your chosen wing; will use the Ace in the Hole for staging and fire support. The ship will be under your flag during the mission."
"Understood, I already read your briefing. Dash Wing is taking some time off today, they'll be ready to fly tomorrow," Spitfire said, "is that all?"
First Class nodded, and Spitfire regained her seat. She shook her head as if coming out of a daze, and seemed confused. She hadn't taken orders from anypony in a long time, and from a mare that failed the academy too.
It felt odd to be second, and she didn't like it. Taking orders from Luna or Celestia was different- they were almost like gods, and the orders of gods were unquestionable. To be spoken to by this mare though, a mare she had failed personally, as if she was only second class.
It was weird, and she did not like it one bit.
“Now then, with the refugees returned home, and the emplacements destroyed, that still leaves the matter of the changelings conventional forces, and the fortress itself. Chrysalis has been arming her horde the past few months, and despite their lack of experience, they will still put up quite a fight. They have an underground farming system as well, so if this ends up turning into a siege, we’ll have already lost. The Legion and Wonderbolts will need to strike fast, and hard, and break though immediately. Chrysalis cannot be allowed to entrench herself in the fortress,” she said, and turned to Shining Armour, Flash Sentry, and Spitfire; who were sitting together.
Shining Armour stood, and clacked his hooves together, “A lightning advance is just what I was hoping for. We’ve been exploring a few ideas based on what we’ve seen in the south, and I’ve been waiting to attack the hive for a long time. You can rest assured that I can break through that wall, and destroy any resistance. The only problem will be breaching the fortress itself…” he said, and turned to Spitfire.
She shook her head, “I can’t help with that. The Magnificent is busy blocking reinforcement into the south, and the fleet is fighting a dozen battles over the ocean. I won’t lose the south, or our gains over the ocean, to kill one changeling queen. ” she said.
Shining Armour tensed up, “If you have nothing to offer, then why the hell are you here!?” he snapped.
Spitfire stood and faced him, “I’m offering you the support of the first airborne, and that’s all I can!”
First Class slapped her pointer against the lectern, and got the attention of the two furious warriors.
“Cut it out, blue on blue!” She yelled, “Spitfire, can you not give us even a single frigate, or one of those missile ships?”
Spitfire, again, shook her head, “It wouldn’t do any good. Nothing except the Magnificent herself has enough firepower to breach those walls, and I’m not going to ram it- I need all the ships I have. Besides, you already have the Ace in the Hole, take a shot with that for all the good it will do.”
First Class sighed, “Well, what then? There must surely be some solution here, we just aren’t seeing it.”
Flash Sentry stood, and adjusted his uniform, “Who says we need to breach the fortress walls? Couldn’t we simply knock down the door, or perhaps have some of the loyal changelings open it for us?”
Wildcard stood, and gave his piece on that, “No. The fortress is designed for that, any frontal assault will be directed down a deep maze of fortifications, and will not survive to the end. If we breach the fortress we’ll be able to bypass that, and we would be able to flank the defenders, and secure the inner sanctum. The changelings in there will be alert for us as well, Chrysalis knows them all by name. This fortress is much larger than you think, Colonel Sentry, and we’ve thought of this for a long time.”
Flash nodded, and added the information to his suggestion, “Okay, fine. So we surround the thing, and start digging. It might take a while, but we should be able to get to those caves you mentioned, right?”
Wildcard nodded, “It could work.”
“So there we have it,” First Class said, “Rout the changelings, push them back, and while they cower in their “impregnable” fortress, we’ll dig under them. Don’t forget what this is about however, gentlecolts. My daughter is in there, and I want her back. I will lead the first assault personally,” she said.
Luna stood, looked at First Class, and then swallowed her argument. First Class might not have any formal training, but from the looks of her she could kill Chrysalis by sight alone.
“I will have Chrysalis’ head, and if any of you fail…”
Wildcard glowed slightly with love at that threat, it was simultaneously terrifying to see First Class so dark, and intensely attractive.
Luna cleared her throat, “Very well, we have a plan, and we have the tools to carry it out. Let’s get started with all due haste, and rescue this child. If we succeed, we will have done a great deed, and removed an equally great evil from this world. Equestria is behind you, First Class, and we will stop at nothing to set right this injustice. I will come with you, and we will show the world the power of a mother scorned,” she said.
First Class grinned, and imagined the hive on fire in her mind. She would destroy it, and anyone that opposed her. She would turn the entire thing into a ruin, and rescue her child from the clutches of Chrysalis. Then, she would kill her. She ran through her mind the different ways she might do it. A gunshot was too quick, a public hanging would have too many legal concerns.
Regardless of how, she knew for certain she would. By this time the day after tomorrow, she would stand on the ruins of the once mighty Changeling Hive, and revel in the glory of that victory. They had picked a fight with the wrong mare, and she was going to bring hell down on them all. All of them, every single one of those bastards that remained loyal to Chrysalis, they would all die. Anyone that could be loyal to a queen that did such a thing wasn’t worth the breath they drew, and First Class would fix that, soon enough.
The others had departed while she daydreamed, and Wildcard had come to her side. She kissed him, which surprised the changeling and made him blush.
“I’m glad you’re here with me, Wildcard. I remember a long time ago you told me that killing somebody changes you, but I think it might… change you for the better. I’m going to kill Chrysalis, and I want you by my side when I do,” she said.
Wildcard was unsure how to reply, simultaneously aroused and frightened by his wife’s dark speech. First Class sensed that, and grinned mischievously.
“It’s been a long few months, hasn’t it?”
Wildcard nodded, “It certainly has,” he said.
First Class picked up his hoof, and led him into room behind the stage. Apparently it was a professors office, and his name was labelled on the door. Neither cared, and soon whatever was on that professors desk was cleared off.
It had been a long few months.