The History of the Great Changeling War

by Fireheart 1945

Chapter 2; The Battle of Appleloosa and the Everfree Offensive

Chrysalis was displeased with the slow pace of her forces, and, three days later, ordered her army to increase the speed of its advance. The central part of her army was soon headed straight for the small frontier town at a breakneck pace, as was the left wing (or right, if one looked on a map from north to south as opposed from south to north).

However, the drone sent to convey the message to the commander of the right (left) wing wound up getting lost in the bog, and by the time he reached the commander, he was two days behind schedule.

What that meant was that the western wing of the army was behind the center and eastern portions of it. A gap emerged between them, one that pegasi on reconnaissance were quick to note.

The Allied commanders realized that they had a chance to launch a flank attack on the center portion of the enemy army before the western piece could save it. If part of the changeling army were cut off and wiped out, it could change the tide of the right then and there.

General Vittorio and Swiftclaw advocated for an immediate attack into the gap. General Al-Amin agreed for the most part, though he preferred that the Allies wait for the enemy to become entangled with their defensive lines in front of the town before engaging. Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor, who had recently been married to Cadence in a hastily-prepared, lackluster wedding and promoted to full general, agreed to this change of plan.

The Battle of Appleloosa began as a defensive action. Chrysalis attempted to send infiltrators to impersonate and kidnap key personnel, but this plan failed due to a decision made by the Allies a few days prior. That decision was to give all units, regardless of nationality, a company of unicorns with the specific job of scanning unknown personnel in order to reveal changelings. This stratagem worked. Almost all of Chrysalis' infiltrators were killed, and the few survivors taken into secure custody in the town jail, to be interrogated.

Not knowing of this failure, the Queen gave orders for an attack only a few hours after her arrival, with all her armies elsewhere on the line to assault the Allies, giving them no chance to send reinforcements from one endangered part of the front to another.

It was now that Chrysalis finally realized that her western wing was two days behind, being informed just after the battle's beginning. She realized her predicament, but by now she was committed. Fuming at the communication failure, she ordered the messenger drone's arrest for a future trial, and set herself to commanding her forces.

As the horde advanced, Allied artillery went into action. Shells of various sizes and quality rained down on the attacking army, which suffered horrible losses as drones were blown apart, their chitin unable to protect them from the metal fragments and explosive power. Nonetheless, the hive was able to absorb these losses, and their lines closed as they got closer.

A massive volley met them as they reached the front line, just a half mile north of the town. Avalonian riflemen cut down changelings by the hundreds, and their machine guns chattered, spewing out death into the oncoming horde. Equestrian arquebusiers and Saddle Arabian riflehorses added to the slaughter, as did the energy from countless unicorns. The horde's response of green energy - such that it filled the air above the trenches - did little to the defenders, as much of it was hastily aimed, if at all, and it was ill-equipped to deal with enemies fighting as low to the ground - and within it - as the Allies were.

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Thorax watched in horror as hivemates fell to the barrage, as they were blown to piece by artillery, as they fell out of the sky, crashing to the desert below. He threw himself into a crater and climbed up it's south side, facing the town. He was unable to look away as the battle continued.

"What are you doing in there, brother?"

Thorax turned around to see his brother, Pharynx.

"I said, what do you think you're doing!?" the more aggressive changeling bellowed.

"D-d-d-d-d-d-do you even s-s-see what's going on ah-h-head?"

"Bah! Just a little rat hunting. We'll break them soon enough. Get out of that hole and come on! Don't choose now to give in to your weakness!"

Thorax would later wonder how on earth he'd managed to get up out of the shell crater, but he did. How he managed to follow his brother, he'd never know. Regardless, both of them galloped ahead, recklessly, into the enemy's gunfire.

"Come on!" Pharynx yelled. "We can take-"

A burst of fire from one of the enemy's fast-firing guns rang out. Three bullets slammed into Pharynx, who fell, crashing to the ground and rolling for several steps before finally halting.

No... not Pharynx... not my brother!

Nothing in the world, save for being shot himself, could have stopped Thorax in the moments after his brother was hit. He rose from the ground, flew forward, and dashed to Pharynx's side.

The more active of the brothers didn't look so good. He was oozing green blood in three different locations, and he moaned in agony as Thorax knelt to lift him onto his back.

"R-really, Thorax?" Pharynx coughed. "I'm... not going out... that... easy."

"I'm not leaving you."

An artillery shell exploded not far away. Thorax almost fell over, but fortunately for both changelings the fragments flew over them.

Thorax galloped away, toward another, larger shell crater. He ducked into it and carefully laid his brother down.

"Hold still. I need to find something to bind you up."

"You're crazy," Pharynx said, coughing up blood. "I'm worth"- here he coughed nastily - "nothing to the hive compared with this victory. Get out of here and leave me."

"You're my brother. I'm not leaving you to die, Pharynx."

Pharynx smiled. "You know..." He coughed again, even worse this time. "You know, for a hive screw up, you're not all that bad." He fell unconscious.

Thorax looked around for anything he could use to patch his brother up. There wasn't much other than some tumbleweed, broken cacti, and some wildflowers. It wasn't much to work with, but it was better than nothing.

As he retrieved some, he noticed a strange noise noise above the rifle fire. Looking up, he was surprised to see balls of fire flying into the numbers of flying changelings. He witnessed them burst into blackened smoke and fragments... and was shocked to see scores of changelings falling from the sky. Large numbers, sometimes six or more, were being felled by each shell burst.

What did we get ourselves into?

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Celestia looked through her binoculars as the battle raged. The changeling forces were suffering terribly under the barrage of fire. However, they were also present in such numbers that she was more than a little unnerved.

The Avalonians had had a surprise that even she had not expected; an anti aircraft gun, something they called the "Fuoco-rapido 1-libbre," which translated into "Quick-firing 1-pounder."

The Avalonians had set up six of them behind their lines here, and they were firing as fast as they could. Almost every shell they fired was bringing down at least one changeling, and usually more.

"A terrible sight to behold," Luna said from her right side.

"Indeed, sister. I only wish we could have stopped this invasion at Canterlot."

"Perhaps we could have, but that belongs to the world of might-have-beens. We must focus on the battle at hoof."

Celestia didn't immediately reply to that. She simply continued to watch.

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Having brought no advanced weaponry with them, the changelings nevertheless managed to make it into the first Allied trench, where they battled the defenders in close combat. Little mercy was expected or shown - both changelings and Allied soldiers fought, bled, burned, hacked, shot, bashed, and stabbed; in some cases, there was literally no room for the dead to fall over. It was was a brutal fight.

As the fighting continued, the Allied commander decided to send in their reserves. They were aided by patriotic and determined ponies from the town itself, who drove carriages for the Allies, bringing their soldiers to the front faster.

Gradually, the reserves stemmed the tide of the attackers. It became clear that the changelings were exhausted; their rapid conquest, and the fast pace both in the air and on the ground that Chrysalis had demanded, had sapped their strength. Furthermore, supplies of love, including captured and cocooned ponies, had been outstripped by the speed of the offensive, and many of the changelings were not only tired, but hungry.

Chrysalis realized that her attacks were failing against the Allied defenses, and began to consider pulling back and trying to outflank the defending army, when she received the worst news possible in this situation; the Allies were counterattacking to the west of Appleloosa.

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Shining Armor looked at his watch. It was five minutes before the offensive was to begin, and divisions from each Allied force were about to engage in a battle that could - no, would - decide the fate of Equestria, and perhaps, the world.

Needless to say, he was anxious.

General Vittorio was standing nearby, patiently chewing on another piece of gum. "Ci muoviamo velocemente, prendiamo il divario tra i loro eserciti e li arrotoliamo."

Shining turned his head. "Um, what?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, amico. I'd almost forgotten you were here." The human's jaw clenched. "If we destroy the army menacing your town to the east, we make the rest of this war significantly easier."

"And if we fail, we make Equestria easier to conquer."

"Sadly, that's the kind of risk we have to take. Otherwise, their western armies will link up with the eastern ones, and then we'll have the entire weight of their people baring down on us. It will get much harder."

"What if we get outflanked by their western armies? That's my biggest worry. They're still coming south."

"We'll have some divisions delay them. Not too difficult. Just have to make sure we keep going forward, like an arrow into the enemy's heart. If we're able to bag this army, we'll be on our way to victory."

"And if we don't?"

"If we don't, we fall back with what we have left and try something elsewhere." The human general took out a pack of gum and started chewing it.

"You think we can do this?"

Vittorio glanced at him. "I do. We can win, provided we don't mess up the plan."

A whistle blew from somewhere in front of them. Allied soldiers raised themselves out of their trenches and began their advance.

"A little late to worry about the plan now, eh?" Vittorio pulled out a pistol, checking the magazine. "I hope this thing doesn't jam again."

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The "Everfree Offensive," with it's goal being to eventually reach the forest of the same name, got underway, catching the changeling army by surprise. The attacking army pushed into the undefended western side of the central arm of the changeling invaders, making steady progress.

Chrysalis received first received the news two hours after the assault began, by which time the Allies had gain significant ground. At that time, the Allies at Appleloosa, having waited and held off the invaders' attacks, threw in all of their reserve units all at once, intending to join the offensive themselves in order to squeeze the changelings.

With the Allies thrusting into the side of her army, and with the Allies in front of her now pushing ahead, Chrysalis knew that her attempt to crush Equestria quickly was over, and she needed to reorganize. With her army in danger, a withdrawal was the only sensible option.

With a heart full of anger, she gave the order to fall back. However, the news was simply spread from the units closest the Queen on outward, with the front line getting the news last. Because of this, many changelings who could have pulled back were left to fend for themselves against the might of the Allies.

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Thorax watched with terror as the Allies began to actually overwhelm the changeling front line; human soldiers with bayonets and pistols, and hippogriffs with swords and claws, and ponies with hooves, hoof blades, swords, and spears. Changeling chitin could not stop the storm of steel.

The Allies were suffering losses as well; one human soldier was hit in the face with a bolt. He fell back, already dead, as his face literally melted away. A pony was gutted by a changeling's horn, which was charged with green magic, causing even further damage.

But they weren't suffering losses in proportion to their enemies. The majority of the casualties were changelings. And they were being driven back.

Thorax had managed to find enough material to slow down Pharynx's bleeding, but had been unable to stop it entirely, and he was struggling to keep his brother alive. He looked around. To his horror, the changelings in the rear were running or flying to the north, abandoning the front line.

"Come back!" he yelled, for all the good he knew it would do. Turning back to the front line, he could see that it was coming closer and closer to him, and he had to make a decision.

"Sorry, bro," he said, lifting Pharynx up onto his back again. "Don't die on me!"

He got out of the crater, and looked back. There was nothing for it. He'd either have to trust the Allies to allow his surrender - and they didn't appear to be in a mood to, as he witnessed an Avalonian soldier bayonet a changeling that he'd knocked to the ground - or flee and try to make it to friendly territory, which lay to the north.

Thorax galloped northward. It was the only choice he felt he could make.

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Although Chrysalis and the bulk of the center army escaped encirclement, a great number had been killed or wounded, with the latter being captured against their will, and the Allies succeeded in pocketing the western-most piece of the army, trapping around ten thousand changelings who were unable to escape in time. Leaving some troops to keep them surrounded, Allied forces continued northward, pursuing Chrysalis.

The Allied armies, especially the Equestrian forces, witnessed a massive rise in morale. The changeling army had been beaten back, and Chrysalis herself was in retreat. It appeared as though liberation of the rest of their country was underway.

It would prove to be a premature assumption. Chrysalis had been forced back, with losses in the tens of thousands, but her army had not been destroyed, and the Queen knew that she had the resources of the north to bring to her aid, in particular hundreds of thousands of cocooned ponies that she could use for their love in order to strengthen her armies. She gave orders for changeling nurseries to be set up throughout the new empire, across northern Equestria, and for all excess drones in the north (with the exception of the Retaliation Brigades) to come southward. Worker drones were to build a defensive line, south of Froggy Bottom Bog, out of the same black material used to construct the inside of the changeling hive.

The Allies had underestimated the changeling ability to build, but perhaps that was a forgivable offense, given that they had only witnessed their enemy tearing down the established society in Equestria without constructing anything to replace it.

Furthermore, as Chrysalis withdrew, her armies were finally able to receive love to not only sustain, but strengthen them, as the changelings were falling back on their lines of supply.

Alongside all this, warriors coming down from the north were ordered to help in the rapid construction of the defenses. While Chrysalis was rather downhearted that she was unable to gather a sufficient supply of the same rock she used to build her throne, which rendered all magic except that of changelings ineffective, she was satisfied with what her drones accomplished in such a short amount of time.

Her armies on all fronts withdrew some distance, but not particularly far. Everywhere, they followed the orders of their Queen, building defenses to stop the Allies. While their defenses were strong, the changelings intended it to be purely temporary as they got their act together and moved their forces to the south to the real fight.

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"He's in bad condition, but he'll live," a changeling medic said.

Thorax sighed with relief. "Glad to hear it."

"With a lot more love to go around, I think he's going to be fine. I think we all will. Those "Allies" have no idea what we've got in store for them."

Another wounded changeling who had escaped the slaughter nodded. "We'll give them the beating they deserve, and then, after we take Equestria, we'll go after their countries. Should have stayed out of a private affair, shouldn't they?"

"No arguments there," a second injured changeling said. "The hive is stronger than all of them."

How can they be so sure of winning the war, after what we all saw happen? Thorax thought in private despair, taking pains for his face to remain steadfastly neutral. They've got the edge on us. I've never seen weapons like the ones they used a couple days ago, and they're still coming north!

"I was surprised they were able to do what they did," a third casualty noted. "Almost gutted us. I'd admire it more if we'd been the ones to pull it off."

"Bah, a mere setback," a second medic said, bandaging a fourth wounded changeling. "Their little tools aren't going to stop us. I tell you, we would have won if Commander Camila had kept up with the rest of us. We only lost because we weren't able to attack them everywhere at once."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. We were getting absolutely hammered."

The second medic turned. "Maybe I tied those bandages too tight. Are you saying-"

"I'm just saying not to underestimate them. Even the ponies fought us pretty hard, and those foreigners with them rolled us up. We can win, but it's going to take more than just covering the land in drones."

"Are you saying positive things about our enemy?"

"No! I'm saying it's going to take more than just physical strength. We'll need brains."

"And our Queen's got plenty. Don't worry about this little skirmish. It's hardly going to be remembered as a war once all those reinforcements arrive from the north and from home, in the Badlands."

The dissenting drone didn't argue, but Thorax could hear him whisper, "I hope you're right."

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The Allies' advance first came up against the changeling line on June 9th, 1002, six days after the Everfree Offensive began. Upon first sighting it, they were stunned at the fortifications before them, though their surprise lay largely in the fact that it existed rather than in it's defensive capability. The Allied commanders met once again to discuss their options.

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"Well, this is a surprise," General Vittorio said, chewing a wad of gum.

"I've only seen them destroy. I've never seen them build," Celestia noted, lowering her pair of binoculars.

"We must not let up on our attack!" Adil Al-Amin shouted. "These fortifications must not be allowed to stop us!"

"I agree, we ought to continue," Swiftclaw said. "We must keep up the advance."

"I'm surprised, but I concur that we must go on," Luna said, though with reservation. "I'd prefer that we use some artillery first."

"Our biggest guns are some hours behind us," Celestia reminded her.

"We'd be waiting a few hours for some, and a day or two for all of it," Vittorio noted. "We don't have the advantage of railroads to bring them up."

"No, we don't," Celestia said, wincing. The changelings had deliberately set fire to the railroad ties as they withdrew, rendering the railroad north of Appleoosa useless until it was repaired. "But... I'd hate to have the situation at Appleoosa reversed."

"It's war," the human general said. "I don't like it. But we have to keep going; time is of the essence."

"They have to have built them shoddily," Swiftclaw said. "They must have, they couldn't have set up a decent defense this quickly."

"You mean, like we did a few days ago?" Luna said pointedly.

Swiftclaw waved that away. "We can be at your capital in a matter of weeks if we break this. Maybe we'll suffer heavy initial losses, but once we break this crust, we can keep pushing them back."

"Crust? Is that all you would call it?" Celestia retorted. "Their lines are virtually made from that black stuff! It's like blackened concrete! They've built towers and some sort of trench out of it. It's not going to be so easy as just shooting them."

"You can't build things like that in a day and have it standing without it being some patchwork junk," Swiftclaw replied.

"I agree with the Lunar Princess," Vittorio said in his heavily accented voice. "We ought to wait for at least some of our artillery."

"The best artillery we have belong to you," Al-Amin said, "and yours are not pulled by ponies or horses. We would be waiting too long for it. And our own guns are not going to be enough to satisfy anyone. We ought to hit them before they prepare any further."

There was a moment of silence as everyone pondered their situation.

Celestia looked to her sister, then sighed. "It's clear that we've been overruled. Are you all certain of this?"

Vittorio folded his arms, but merely grunted by means of a verbal response.

"We must keep up the pressure and momentum we've built up," Al-Amin urged.

"All our sacrifice will be for nothing if we stop and wait," Swiftclaw said.

Another moment of silence.

"Then... we attack."

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The Allies began their assault against the changeling defensive line. Pegasi and hippogriffs descended on the enemy forces from the sky, as humans, earth ponies, and Saddle Arabians advanced, guns firing and melee weapons being prepared for use.

The changelings responded. For the first time in the war, thought definitely not the last, the changelings showed that they too were capable of massed firepower. The air was filled with green energy, and changeling warriors in the numerous towers, in relative protection, began the process of aiming at enemies they deemed significant.

Allied soldiers fell as if scythed. The tables had turned; whereas they had been shooting changelings from the safety of trenches, now their enemy, who had rarely shown much skill at ranged combat, now fired from protection.

Changelings still fell. Some Avalonian soldiers brought their machine guns close enough to their trenches to provide a threat, and the Allies' own gunfire and unicorn energy hit many changelings. But the black material the changelings had made their defenses out of were strong enough to resist bullets and energy alike, and while the fortifications did take some damage, the Allies had been wrong to conclude that their rapid construction made them weak. The battle in the air, while going in most respects better than that on the ground, was simply a stalemate; for every changeling killed or wounded, another took its place.

Nonetheless, the Allies tried for two hours to break the line. As the changelings had, here and there they managed to fight their way into the enemy defenses.

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"Avanti Avalon!" Sergeant Alessi yelled.

"Avalon! Avalon e Vittoria!" the soldiers responded, firing into the trenches at the enemy, who was finally exposed. The changelings went down like wheat, and for those who continued their resistance, a bayonet to the guts was their fate.

The company had suffered badly; Alessi could only make out two of the four men he had started the battle with, and judging by the look of the rest of the company, it was just as bad elsewhere.

"My word, what happened to everyone else!?" he burst out. He'd seen war before, but losses of half the unit?

"I think they're dead," Giacomo replied. "Or they're still pinned down," he added, with a hopeful tone in his voice.

I doubt it. But Alessi knew better than to voice that thought here. "We keep going until we can't anymore," he said. "Those were the orders."

But how much further they could go was open to question. There were more changelings coming to reinforce their lines, and they kept up a steady barrage of green fire.

"Sergeant!"

"Captain!" Alessi said, turning around and saluting.

Captain Luca Marino crouched down, looking up over the northern side of the captured trench. He was silent for a long time, even as Alessi and Giacomo fired their weapons over the rim of the trench.

"It's no good, is it, sergeant?" he asked at last.

"Sir?"

"Unless we're able to overrun the rest of this trench, I think the game is going to be up, at least for now."

"But our orders-"

"I'm aware."

Alessi thought hard for a moment. It was entirely possible that the captain had been replaced by a changeling. On the other hand, he had always been a reasonable man, and what he said was largely lining up with his own thought process.

"I don't like it, sir," he said at last. "How do I know-"

"That I'm your captain?" Captain Marino smiled. "Simple. I was there on your first day of training, when you dropped that crate full of tools on the feet of your drill instructor."

"Alright, alright, please don't go over the entire thing... sir."

"Hmmm. Maybe we'll take this trench, but I doubt we'll be able to advance any further."

That was about as far as Alessi thought the Allies would advance today as well. "Fair enough. We'll hold them here, then."

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The final battle of the Allied offensive was costly; some units suffered up to fifty percent casualties in the attack. However, several sections of the changeling defenses were breached, and wherever that happened, the soldiers who had been part of that breach would fan out, wiping out the changelings to either side of the captured area.

Chrysalis knew that trying to hold this line would result in further loss and vulnerability. She withdrew from the line her forces had constructed. However, with hundreds of thousands of reinforcements from the hive either arriving or en route, she felt that she could hold the one behind that which the Allies had captured.

The news of enemy reinforcements was not lost on the Allies, who grimly recognized that their gambit to reconquer Equestria in a matter of weeks had failed. Meanwhile their intelligence services realized that the Badlands, off to the east, was where the changeling hive itself was located. This meant that their line could easily be outflanked from the southeast. In fact, Chrysalis was intending to do just that, with an army of around thirty thousand.

The Allies knew that further offensive activity to the north was no longer in the cards, and would not be until they resolved the issue.

Author's Note:

My apologies. My blog for this stated that the chapters would be complete, and they are, but I decided to stagger the releases. Please forgive me, and I hope you all enjoy.

Comments

[Earthpatriot117]

When did the griphons join the war?
Awesome story!!!

[Fireheart 1945]

9346631

Whoops, thanks for catching that.

And thanks.

[Humacaw]

Also, what does the Avalon flag look like?

Because I can design flags from this app: Flag Creator Pro - Flag Creator (flag-creator.com)

[Fireheart 1945]

11829469
Guess I haven't thought about it. I'll think about it.