War in Equestria

by FlamingSamurai

Chapter 8

Applejack couldn’t sleep all all on the train ride to Appleoosa. After the train left Ponyville, she spent time meeting the guards that had been assigned under her and they spent a great amount of time setting up defense and evacuation strategies for Appleoosa. Knowing how close the town was to the Badlands, however, Applejack had a feeling that the Changelings would already be attacking by the time they arrived. As such, by the time the planning was over, the moon was out and most of the guards were asleep. Applejack just tossed and turned for hours, worrying over the safety of Braeburn and the other citizens.

When she finally did manage to get some sleep, Applejack dreamed about the experiences she shared with her friends. She remembered when Twilight first arrived in Ponyville and how she helped in defeating Nightmare Moon, how she tried to tend to the family’s entire apple orchard by herself, how she stood her ground against the Flim-Flam brothers (multiple times), and even how her Apple Bloom finally received her Cutie Mark.

“Oh, sugar cube. If Mom and Dad were here, they’d be so proud of you!”

This made Applejack cry softly in her sleep. But deep down, she knew that Apple Bloom was strong. Applejack made a promise to herself that she would make it through this no matter what. Apples have never given up that easily and she wasn’t about to let herself be the first.

Her dreams then changed again, this time to when she and the rest of her friends defeated Discord and the ceremony they had afterwards.

To when she and Rainbow Dash tried outdo one another by spending the night in the Castle of the Two Sisters.

To when Spike saved her from a group of Timberwolves.

To everything Apple Bloom had done to grow and every moment they had spent together…

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BANG!

“General Applejack!”

Applejack was suddenly startled from her sleep by a guard barging into her room. Falling out of bed, she quickly pulled herself to her hooves and reached for her hat. As she put it on, the train shook and rocked about, nearly throwing her off-balance.

“What’s going on?! What time is it?” Applejack shouted, trying to get her bearings together.

“We’ve almost reached Appleoosa, ma’am”, the guard said. “But several Changelings are attacking the outside of the train! We’ll never reach the town in this condition.”

“Then let’s get out there!” Applejack ordered. “If these Changelings are attacking us here, Appleoosa’s probably already been taken over. Chrysalis might have sent them as a way of softening us up for her.”

“Can you be sure about that, General?” the guard asked.

“It’s the only real thing I can think of right now”, Applejack admitted. “But we’ll have to hold out until the train gets there to really be sure. Now, let’s move!”

The guard saluted her. “Yes, ma’am!”

Applejack and the guard ran from her quarters and down the aisles of the train cars. Glancing out of the windows, some intact, some cracked, and some smashed in, Applejack saw the Changelings swarming the train, some wearing mocking grins on their faces. Once they reached the front of the train, they saw one Changeling attacking the conductor. Applejack grabbed her lasso and swung it around the Changeling, then pulled tight. It came flying across the room and smashed into the wall next to the door. Once Applejack took the lasso off, the Changeling stumbled around like a young filly who had spun around too much and collapsed.

“Guard, keep an eye on the conductor. I’m gonna head up top and see what I can do about the others”, Applejack said.

“But ma’am”, the guard protested, “the rest of the platoon is stretched out across the train! If something happens to you-“

“Then keep fighting, solider!” Applejack barked. “I may have just lost a few relatives and if that’s the case, I ain’t going down without a fight!”

Before the guard could protest further, Applejack burst out of the conductor’s section and found a ladder attached to the wall of the next train car leading to the roof. Climbing it, Applejack hauled herself upwards onto the edge and was immediately attacked by four Changelings in dark colored war armor. In response, Applejack flipped herself up and kicked two of the Changelings away in a fast motion, letting the other two Changelings hit each other. Landing on her back, she then quickly jumped to her hooves to see the rest of the battle. All around the roof of the train, several of the guards were trying desperately to fend off the attacking Changelings.

Applejack did not hesitate to help her troops. She roped her lasso around one Changeling that was chasing a pegasus in the space above the train and throwing him into a group of Changelings trying to get in between two of the six train cars. She then ordered two earth pony soldiers to go down into the train cars and keep them secure. As they obeyed, Applejack ran towards the caboose, engaging and defeating every Changeling that came in her way. Once she reached the caboose, she found an unusually tall and muscular Changeling with two ordinary Changelings at either side of him.

“Didn’t I see you when I went to rescue my sister and her friends?”, Applejack thought, remembering the CMC’s kidnapping. She didn’t stop when she saw the trio, as they were expecting her to do. Instead, she kept running and jumped over them as easy as a hurdle in the annual Appleoosa rodeo. She then swiftly extended her back legs and bucked the muscular Changeling right in the flank, knocking him flat on his face. The other two Changelings lunged, but Applejack jumped high into the air and let them fall over the edge and off the train.

From her spot on the train, Applejack saw them on either side of the train tracks, but instead of looking angry at being defeated, they were smiling. Applejack didn’t want to know why and she didn’t have time to think about it as seconds later, the muscular Changeling grabbed her, lifting her off of her hooves. Suddenly, two pegasi guards came up behind him and literally swept him off his feet, causing him to let go of Applejack. One of the pegasi caught her and brought her down onto the caboose’s deck.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” he asked.

“Don’t worry; I’m fine”, Applejack said, dusting herself off. “How close are we to Appleoosa?”

“We’re almost there. But it looks like the Changelings have completely taken over. They’ve covered the whole town in some green goop and we can’t see any trace of any free civilians. What should we do?”

The news held Applejack in place. They were too late. She should have left the moment Princess Celestia told her about the sighting. She might have been able to save her relatives. She might have been able to save Braeburn…

“General?”

Applejack shook her head. “I want you to rally any remaining guards and get them to the front of the train. Changelings or not, we’re going in. If there are any civilians left, we need to evacuate them.”

“But General… that’s insane! There’s no way we’ll make it out of there!”

“There’s no other way we can do this”, Applejack protested. “I understand the risks that we’re in right now and I know it may not be something you’re ready to do. But I’m counting on you to do your part, soldier. Understand me?”

The guard paused, staring at his commanding officer. Then, he let out an exhausted sigh and replied, “I’ll… do what I can.”

“That’s all I’m asking of you, soldier”, Applejack said. “Now, get moving!”

The guard saluted and headed through the door of the caboose, leaving Applejack alone. She then paused again to rethink what was happening to the civilians in Appleoosa. Her many cousins living there, Braeburn included, Sheriff Silver star, and even Trouble Shoes, former “outlaw” that the CMC had befriended. She shuddered to think what Chrysalis was doing to them right this second. Then again, that was all the reason she needed to keep on fighting.

Climbing back to the roof, she saw that very few of the guards were left, the Changelings having dispatched of most of them. Some of them were probably even disguised Changelings to try and lead her and any other remaining guards into a trap. Nevertheless, Applejack knew it was risk that she would have to take. Running through the onslaught of Changelings, Applejack took her lasso out once more and roped another Changeling, swinging him around and using him as a makeshift flail to knock his comrades away. Then, she freed him from the rope’s grip and watched him fly away into the distance.

Applejack didn’t give herself time to enjoy the triumph, turning towards the front of the train as she felt it slow and grind to a halt. All around her, she saw buildings covered in a green, slimy substance, ponies trapped in large, green cocoons, and even more Changelings swarming them. In that moment, Applejack knew that they had arrived at their destination, even if it didn’t look like Appleoosa anymore. Suddenly, she heard a noise to her right and turned to see what remained of her guard climbing to the top of the train. As Changelings hovered around them, ready to strike, Applejack cautiously went over to help them up and counted them.

She was shocked at how many were left. Celestia had assigned at least fifty guards to help protect Appleoosa. Now there were only fifteen.

“Private”, she said, turning to the guard at the forefront. “Where are all the others?”

“Unsure”, the private replied, looking out of breath as he made his report. “Some of them may been forcefully abducted from the train during the assault, some may have even been knocked off. Either way, we’re the only ones left.”

“Is everyone alright?” Applejack asked.

“The question is…”

Applejack and the private turned to see one of the guards stepping forward, a sly grin on his face.

“Will you be?”

Suddenly, he and seven other guards morphed into the appearance of eight grinning and battle-ready Changelings. The rest of the guard yelled out in shock as the Changelings above dove straight down at them.

“Private, move!” Applejack shouted as she threw him and herself off the train at an angle. The two landed on the platform below, rolling towards the steps that led off the train station. As the two rose, Applejack pushed herself forward and struck two Changelings that were coming after her. The private, a white-coated unicorn, was not so lucky, as his attempt to use a teleportation spell failed when a Changeling blasted him with a green bolt of magic. He tried to resist, but collapsed instead, and the Changelings capture him.

Spotting what she could make out as the sheriff’s office, Applejack frantically ran in it’s direction, furiously dodging the Changelings that were throwing themselves at her. She didn’t get very far before a blast of magic hit her in the side and knocked her down. As Applejack attempted to get back up, a group of Changelings surrounded her from all sides, blocking her off. They watched as the earth pony weakly tried to get back up, only managing to get to her front hooves. Then, one section of the swarm parted was as Applejack saw a familiar figure walking towards her.

“How easy it is for the mighty to fall, isn’t it Applejack?” the figure asked in a voice all too familiar.

“Chrysalis… you yellow-bellied coward…” was all that Applejack could make out before she fell over in front of Chrysalis’ hooves. The Changeling queen used her magic to pick the earth pony general up and smirked as she hovered in the air before her, wrapped in a sickly green aura. Applejack got a good look at her then, recognizing her ugly face behind that green war armor.

“A coward, am I?” Chrysalis asked, a taunting look on her face. “I’m just doing what I was meant to do: supply love for my subjects. My children, you could say…”

Unable to move anything except her neck while caught in Chrysalis’ magic, Applejack just coughed. “Of all the places in the entire world… why Equestria? Why Equestria after all the times we’ve beaten you?”

“It’s like I said at the Royal Wedding, Equestria has more love than any place than I have encountered. It’s true that I’ve suffered a few… setbacks”, Chrysalis said, remembering her defeats at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and the return of King Sombra. “But now that I have proven that I am better than your precious Twilight and the umbrum are no longer a threat, I believe now is the time to take Equestria and the love it contains that so rightfully belongs to us!”

Applejack scoffed. “The only reason you got Twilight that time was because of King Sombra, not you, ya egomaniac. And besides, we’ve beaten you plenty of times before. Twilight and the others are more than willing to do it again.”

“Oh, I don’t need to worry about that, little pony”, Chrysalis replied. “I have a new friend to deal with them.” She then turned away from Applejack and raised a hoof to the side of her mouth. “Ultra Magnus! You may come out, now!” she called.

“Ultra what-now?” Applejack asked.

Suddenly, Applejack heard a low rumbling noise as something big burst out of the green goop in between two of the buildings next to the sheriff’s office. It looked like some large metal vehicle, about the size of a typical train, maybe even slightly larger. It was blue, red, and white in color and there appeared to be a window at the front. Seconds later, something unexpected happened.

It changed.

Whatever the thing was, it changed shaped, parts shifting in and outwards, some folding on another. The thing soon had parts that Applejack figured to be arms and legs and it rose to the sun. Lastly, the metal creature sprouted a head with sickly green eyes. Applejack’s face went pale with shock.

“What in Celestia’s name… is that?!” Applejack managed to shout.

Chrysalis turned to Applejack and smiled. “The instrument of Celestia’s destruction and the key to my domination!” With a terrible laugh, she dropped Applejack and opened her mouth. A lighter aura of green surrounded Applejack as the magic generated by the love for her family and friends within her went straight into the Changeling Queen.

“They’ll… stop you… Chrysalis”, Applejack said as her strength left her. “You’ll… never… win…”

The aura surrounding Applejack disappeared as Chrysalis licked her lips in satisfaction and that familiar smile returned. “Oh, I think the outcome is going to be much different than that”, she said.

And with that, Applejack’s world went black.

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Optimus awoke from his stasis nap, a still-unconscious Jazz lying next to him. They had finally made it to the land called Equestria, lying in a mountain range in the country’s northern sector. Optimus had found a small cave at the edge of the range that was big enough for them to fit inside, though Optimus had to get in using his vehicle mode. He had managed to start a small fire to keep them warm; the mountain range’s cold temperatures were a danger to Jazz’s current state.

It had been a long journey for the both of them. After parting ways with Gilda and Gretta, Optimus had driven Jazz north until they hit what seemed to be some sort of train station. Not wanting to make their presence known to the locals, Optimus manage to conceal his and Jazz’s presence using stealth camouflage technology that Ratchet had given him during the war. Following the next train that left the station, Optimus discovered that the tracks lead into Equestria, but because of the weight he shared with his first officer, he did not wish to cause the bridge to collapse. So, he chose to swim across the liquid substance between the griffon homeland and Equestria and eventually came to the base of a mountain range.

It was here that Optimus found the cave he and Jazz would spend the next night in, though the last Prime wanted to rest for only the next few hours before continuing on. But before long, he drifted off into sleep mode, Jazz lying a few feet away from him. Now that it was morning, Optimus went to check on him. Inspecting his body, he soon found himself cradling him in his arms.

“Hold on, Jazz”, Optimus whispered. “I’ve almost found the others. Just please… hold on…”

Optimus dipped his head for a moment. He and Jazz had been through far too much for him to go offline right now. Before the war, Jazz travelled Cybertron learning about all the different cultures the planet had to offer. He always told Optimus his dreams about finding new planets to explore, new people to meet and new cultures to learn from. To perish here before he could find out more about this planet would be a great loss for not just Optimus, but for the rest of the team.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Optimus suddenly heard coughing and looked down to see Jazz’s body twitching as he came too. He quickly relaxed, letting his head fall backwards.

“I hear ya... Prime”, he said weakly. “But… uh-oh…”

“What’s wrong?” Prime asked him.

“I… I can’t see anything, OP”, Jazz said. “Where are we?”

“The planet’s name is unknown”, Prime explained, “but what I do know is that the continent we are on is called ‘Equestria’. I believe the rest of the Autobots to be here.”

“And… the Decepticons?” Jazz asked.

“I believe they may be here, too. I was hoping you could pinpoint the Ark’s location using your visor, but it appears to have been damaged.”

“If my optics weren’t damaged, I’d be able to tell”, Jazz said, giving a small chuckle which made him cough. Optimus quickly noticed a small trail of energon coming out of the corner of his mouth.

“Our best bet is to keep heading south”, Optimus said, hauling Jazz onto his back. “And to keep out of sight. I don’t want any locals getting involved.”

“They’re going to get involved eventually”, Jazz pointed out. “Remember Earth?”

Optimus winced. “I do, Jazz. Exactly the reason no one is allowed to know of our mission. They will find out eventually and when we do, we will leave this planet and spare them the pain of our war.”

At first, Optimus heard nothing. He started to walk out of the cave before he heard Jazz sigh and say, “Alright. Whatever you say, Prime.”

Optimus nodded. “Thank you for understanding, old friend.”

Once he reached the mouth of the cave, he set Jazz down, transformed into his truck mode, drove outside, and transformed into robot mode again. Then, he reached inside the cave and carefully dragged Jazz out. Putting him back onto his back, Optimus explained what would happen next.

“I will use my sensors to pick up any traces of our friends and/or the Decepticons near our location. Hopefully, some of the Autobots survived the Ark’s crashing. I will use my stealth camo to conceal our presence. This was, we don’t have to worry about anyone seeing or hearing us.”

“Sounds like a plan, OP”, Jazz said groggily.

“And Jazz? Try and stay awake. Given the nature of your injuries, I am not sure you will wake up again the next time you go to power down.”

“Duly noted, boss-bot.”

With that, Optimus began to drive down the mountain with Jazz on his back. Neither of them had any idea that a city built on clouds was hovering over them, nor did any of them notice the cyan-colored flying creature with a rainbow-colored mane that just managed to catch a glimpse of them before they vanished out of sight.

Author's Note:

I'm back from va-cay! Also, sorry Applejack fans.

Next chapter: Chrysalis sends a message to Princess Luna while Celestia and Sunset find an Autobot. Who will it be?