Guerrilla War
It should have been over.
When the Changelings had invaded Olenia, the nation of the deer, Equestria had joined as an ally of the latter.
One battle after another, the changeling forces were pushed back into their homelands. Changeling hive cities fell, one by one, as Equestria's industrial might made itself felt. The deer rallied behind their new Queen, Velvet, and pushed the changelings out of their lands and beyond.
Slowly, and at great price, the changeling forces were defeated, as army after army was beaten back and routed.
Finally, Vesalipolis, the capital of Queen Chrysalis, fell after a battle lasting three months, leaving the hive city in ruins.
The Queen was nowhere to be found; the few captives willing to speak said that she had fled to an "undisclosed location " outside of the Changeling Lands. Equestrian and Olenian intelligence believed this to be the Griffonian Empire, though this was as yet uncertain and the captives refused to divulge any further information.
Some few changelings, largely of the party of Thorax, celebrated Chrysalis' downfall. Most, however, remained somber, and many hostile.
As Chrysalis was not herself present to surrender control of the country, a lower-ranked Queen would have to do. Queen Tyria, being pliable - she would have said "adaptable" - signed the surrender document.
That should have been it. but it wasn't.
Within a month, attacks against Equestrian and Olenian soldiers began. Initially, these were small scale attacks, with groups of local changelings, armed with whatever weapons they could acquire or make for themselves. Princess Luna condemned the attacks, and Queen Tyria's government - seen as a puppet, collaborationist regime by many if not most changelings - was told to aid in eradicating the rebels.
Tyria was all too happy to oblige, but her security forces weren't strong enough to properly engage the insurrectionists. As per the Treaty of Vesalipolis, tanks, artillery, anti-tank weapons, and aircraft were forbidden for the Changeling Lands to build, own, or purchase. This meant that Tyria's army was stuck using small arms to fight their own people... and her soldiers weren't very keen on doing that.
Moreover, the rebellion didn't remain small for long. As news spread, more changeling rebels armed themselves. The insurrection, aided by the largely sympathetic populace, grew. Soon, outposts and military bases were under attack as well, and terror attacks and assassinations within the cities became more and more frequent.
Obviously, the changelings didn't consider the war over and won.
---------------------------------------------------
Rock Star, a sergeant in the Equestrian army, led a patrol on the edge of a patch of jungle some twenty miles away from Vesalipolis. He watched carefully as he stepped through all the branches, rocks, leaves, and vines. The changelings didn't have to be present and firing in order to be dangerous.
The changeling rebels had refused to recognize that Chrysalis was defeated. Many changelings, during and after the surrender, had taken to the woods and jungles and other inhospitable terrain, and had begun their attacks not long after the surrender was signed. Naturally, it didn't take Twilight Sparkle to see that the terrorists were coming from these places, and troops, ponies and deer both, were sent in after them.
It wasn't so easy as that. The changelings could hide as anything, provided they weren't currently holding a weapon or in uniform. The very rocks they were passing could be changelings. Furthermore, the changelings didn't fight fair; they never had. Rock still remembered the Canterlot Invasion, just a few short years ago, or so it seemed. He and his family had had the fortune of being able to shelter in a nearby wine cellar until the attack was repelled. It had been, up to the point the war with the Changeling Lands had begun, the worst day of his life.
It was even worse here. As if ambushes weren't enough, the enemy got even more creative. They would sharpen sticks, dip them in jars full of poison, and then dig holes and place those poisoned sticks in them, before covering the holes up with vines and leaves and other debris. While pony hooves could take nail-on horseshoes, and did - four of the five ponies in the patrol were shoed, with only the sole pegasus, Cloud Cover, refusing to take an ever more necessary visit to the farrier - the parts of the hoof that struck were usually the fleshy underparts, such as the frog. Not only were these sticks horribly painful, but many ponies died within hours of stepping on them. Those who didn't had to battle sickness for weeks on end. The deer - two of whom were in the patrol - didn't fancy stepping into one of those holes either, and the sticks in them; while deer hooves were different, they also had exposed underhooves.
"Why can't they fight out in the open for a change?" one of the ponies behind him asked irritably.
"Emerald, is that you?" Rock asked, turning his head around.
The green earth pony really didn't want to respond, but didn't really have a choice. "Aye, sir," came the Irish-accented voice.
"Stow it. I don't want to hear your nonsense on the trail. Things are bad enough already without you alerting every changeling in the area."
Emerald didn't look happy, but Rock hardly cared. He had a habit of talking out of line, and it was galling to hear him complaining on every patrol. Rock wondered vindictively how the whiny earth pony had made it into the army.
The patrol continued on. Snakes and scorpions crawled about on the ground. They would sometimes try to bite, and they could be just as poisonous as the pungi sticks. Even the insects could be lethal; vast swarms of ants sometimes came through the jungle, the sound of their approach sounding like sand pouring down a chute. Rock had never forgotten what had happened to a deer who had been caught by one such swarm; he had gone from living to bones faster than one could think possible. Ever since then, Rock had held a horrible fear of anything that even remotely sounded like those ants. He would still dream of it every now and then, and he was never able to completely suppress the memory.
The enemy never remained suppressed for long, either. No matter how many B-17 and Liberator bombers came overhead, no matter how many bombs they dropped, the enemy always returned to wreak havoc. Some distance away, Rock could hear bombs exploding. He judged that the explosions were much too far away to pose a threat. Equestrian and Olenian Command kept note of where their patrols went every day, so at least the chance of being randomly hit by friendly bombers was low.
A gunshot broke through his thoughts.
"Contact!" Cloud Cover yelled, leaping into the air with her Thompson.
"It came from over there!" Emerald yelled, pointing with a hoof toward two larger trees, covered with vines.
"Get some cover!" Rock yelled, leaping behind a fallen log. He couldn't help worrying that that log might be a disguised changeling, but he had to take cover somewhere. All war had its risks.
"Fire at will!"
The patrol, five ponies and two deer, began shooting. Tracers poured into the closest tree, and sure enough, a changeling fell out of it after a couple seconds of combined fire, screeching in a sort of insect-like way as it crashed to the ground. A couple more emerged from behind it and began firing MP-40s at the patrol. MP-40s were very popular among the rebels, as they were relatively small and easy to conceal, though the rebels used whatever firearms they could get their hooves on.
The gunfire increased as more changelings joined in. Some were armed with Kar-98s, but most had submachine guns of one sort or another. These gave them a lot of firepower from close range... which was where they usually chose to engage, in order to make it too dangerous for the Equestrians and Olenians to call for artillery and air support.
"On niitä!" one of the deer yelled, firing his Suomi-class submachine gun into the changelings. The other, a female, said nothing, but fired and reloaded as fast as possible from behind a rock. As that rock had taken multiple shots without screaming in pain, it was reliable as cover.
Three more changelings fell in rapid succession. While Equestrian and Olenian commanders had feared that most of the rebels were changeling soldiers who had refused to surrender - and there were many of those - most turned out to be locals from hive cities and villages who had never picked up a gun before, never mind having fired one. These changelings were poor shots, and Rock gave them a higher score for enthusiasm than for brains or skill.
One by one, the changelings were either hit and collapsed, or fled into the woods, some of them dropping their weapons behind them in order to flee faster.
"Heidän jälkeensä!" screamed the deer who had shouted before. "Tappaa heidät kaikki!"
"Ei, Fillippo, huijaat!" The other, named Heikki, yelled.
The first deer didn't listen, and held his gun in one hoof as he trotted forward on the other three, here and there standing back up on his hind hooves to fire.
"Get back here, you idiot!" Rock shouted, holstering his own weapon (a Thompson) as he did so.
Filippo didn't seem to hear him, continuing to shoot at random as the changelings withdrew.
"Oh, curse it... after him!"
"I've got him!" Cloud Cover said, putting on a burst of speed as she flew after the berserk deer.
She wasn't fast enough.
An innocent-looking vine on the ground turned into a changeling, who sank his fangs into Filippo's left hind leg. The deer screamed and shouted curses in Finnish as he fell.
Cloud shot the changeling, who let go and screeched in pain. She then proceeded to tackle him and beat him with her hooves as the rest of the patrol caught up.
"Stop rolling around!" snapped the medic, a bay unicorn named Tanner. "Someone, hold him still!"
Rock put his front hooves on Filippo's front legs as Heikki held down her compatriot's belly. The wounded deer still struggled, but when Emerald joined in, he was unable to continue moving.
"That's better," Tanner said, as he stuck a needle into Filippo's injured leg. "This antidote should hold him over until we get him to a field hospital. In the meantime, keep holding them." He levitated some bandages out of his pack and began to bind up the deer's wounds.
Rock sighed with relief. It didn't last long, as more gunshots sounded out and more bullets flew past his head. "Cover them!" he shouted as he unholstered his submachine gun.
The final pony of the group, a brown earth pony named Barrel Roll, climbed a tree and began taking aim with his scoped Springfield. A few moments later, a shot rang out, and a changeling fell. Heikki took up her Suomi and began to fire once more.
The changeling fighters moved ahead; two were hit and crumpled, but the rest continued to move, firing as they did so.
Cloud Cover finished knocking the wounded changeling unconscious, and got back into the action, Thompson blazing as she hit the enemy from above.
Unlike the previous skirmish, the enemy didn't back away after receiving a few casualties; a changeling voice, loud and strong, periodically broke through the sounds of the fighting. Rock wasn't absolutely sure what he was saying, but it sounded like he was both exhorting his troops and promising that they would receive worse from him than from their enemies if they tried to withdraw without his consent.
An ex-soldier, definitely.
The enemy leader wasn't the only ex-soldier among the rebels; a few of the changelings advanced slowly, from cover to cover, while most just recklessly moved forward, or occasionally took up a position to shoot from. The former soldiers shot a few times from the same place, then moved to different cover to shoot from there.
Rock shot at one of the latter. The enemy soldier ducked behind a large stone, and Rock cursed.
He tried to fire again, but then a bullet hit the Thompson. Rock dropped it as he went prone. When he looked at the weapon again, he saw that the bullet had struck the barrel, damaging it too badly to use it as anything other than a club.
He looked at the Suomi Filippo had dropped. Unfortunately, there was a problem. Deer hooves were longer and thinner than those of ponies, meaning that that was how the trigger guard was designed as well. As a result, the submachine gun that was the most obvious weapon in sight wasn't an option, as pony hooves were just too big to use it.
Scowling at the Olenian weapon, as if this inconvenience was it's fault, Rock went prone and took a pistol from his belt. He continued to fire with that, but it wasn't as satisfying as a submachine gun, or for that matter, an assault rifle. One of those would have been nice right about now.
Another loud rifle shot rang out. One of the ex-soldiers among the changelings went down, dropping his MP-40. A second went down a few seconds later, his cover having failed to protect him from the fatal headshot that killed him.
With a couple of their leaders now dead, some of the heart went out of the insurrectionists, who stopped advancing and started simply firing from their present positions.
Tanner hissed with pain and fury when a bullet brushed the tip of his horn. "We have to get out of here."
"Can you get a message to headquarters?" Rock asked, ducking his head and momentarily closing his eyes as a bullet hit the ground next to his face.
"I can, I just need some cover!"
Another rifle shot rang out. A changeling - one of the novices - crumpled as though his bones had turned to water. Tanner took the opportunity to take cover inside of a dead tree.
"Get on that message! Now!"
"I'm writing as fast as I can!" Tanner snapped.
Rock didn't bother pulling rank. They had more important things to worry about. Mainly, at the moment, staying alive.
The changeling fighters, though anxious after losing some of their leaders, were still determined. They weren't advancing anymore, but they fought on bravely, a bravery that, to Rock, shouldn't have existed in them now that the war was over and their leaders had surrendered. One changeling ran into the open, holding a grenade.
"Shoot him!"
The changeling was hit with multiple bullets, including a shot to the head from Barrel Roll, and he fell. Moments later, his grenade blew up, tearing up the jungle around the point of the explosion.
Rock continued to duck behind cover as the enemy continued to fire. The enemy were getting better, and their bullets were landing closer and closer to hitting as time went on. The enemy still outnumbered them. The only thing that had kept the Allied soldiers alive was that most of the changelings involved were inexperienced. That wouldn't keep the ponies and deer alive forever, and their ammunition wasn't going to last.
"Can we withdraw?" Cloud asked.
"Not that easily. We've got one wounded to take with us. I don't care if he's an idiot, were not leaving him for the changelings."
"I hope help comes soon, if it-" Emerald stopped talking as a bullet struck his right foreleg. He collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
"No!"
Rock dashed over, dodging behind a few bits and pieces of stone and wood, reaching the other pony quickly. Emerald's leg was bleeding profusely; the bullet had nicked an artery. If he didn't get some help son, he'd be a goner.
"Tanner!"
"It's away, already!"
"Not that, you idiot! Emerald's been hit!"
Tanner emerged from his hiding place, medical bag in tow. He grimaced as he looked at Emerald. "I can wrap his leg up, but unless we get out of here soon, we won't get a chance to get him the treatment he needs."
Rock nodded. "Heikki, take up Filippo. Tanner, levitate Emerald out of here when you're done. Barrel, get down and run. Cloud, give us covering fire. Move, now! On the double!"
Heikki holstered her gun and picked up her fellow deer and Tanner lifted Emerald via magic. The green pony groaned in pain, but there was little to be done about that. Rock picked up Emerald's Thompson; it would be better than his pistol. Meanwhile, Barrel dropping himself out of the tree, Springfield on his back.
"Now! Go!"
Heikki, Barrel, and Tanner galloped away from the fighting as fast as they could; Rock and Cloud continued to fire.
"Not a lot we can do, boss," Cloud said, reloading and dodging around, still flying.
"We have to buy them a few more seconds," Rock replied. "We need to hold off the changelings!"
With four of their opponents out of the picture, the changelings began to get bolder; they began to run forward recklessly again, heedless of the calls from more experienced fighters for caution. Enemy fire seemed to grow.
"Boss..."
"Okay, go! We'll leapfrog back."
Cloud nodded, and flew away in the direction that Heikki and Tanner had taken, back to the edge of the jungle. When she landed behind a tree, she reloaded and fired at the enemy. "Your turn, boss!"
Rock began running back toward another tree behind Cloud. Bullets continued to fly all around even as he ducked behind that tree.
"Alright, now- ugh!" Rock groaned as a bullet nicked his leg.
"Boss!" Cloud yelled. "Are you alright?"
"Ungh... I'll be fine. It's just a scratch!" Rock let out a yell of pain and rage has he fired. "It's your turn now!"
"You sure you can make it?"
"Just go!" Rock unleashed another hail of bullets.
Cloud took off and ducked behind another tree.
Rock tried to gallop back, but another bullet slammed into his already injured leg as he began to make his way back. "GAH!"
"BOSS!"
"Ungh..." Rock tried to pull himself up, but his leg wouldn't support him. "No!" he gasped. "Not here... not now... after everything... dying in some stupid skirmish..."
Cries of joy came from the direction of the changelings, who began firing at him even more.
With an enraged scream, Cloud Cover flew over to Rock, firing crazily at the enemy as she did. "Come on, boss, I've gotcha," she said as she began to pick up Rock by his forelegs.
"Yow!"
"Sorry," Cloud said as she draped him over her back. She picked up her gun again and fired again as she began to fly. A few of her feathers were grazed by the enemy bullets, but it didn't prevent her from continuing her flight. Rock groaned and moaned, holding on to Cloud's belly as well as he could.
It wasn't long before Cloud reached the edge of the woods. Heikki and Tanner were already there, of course.
"Alright, boss, free ride's over," Cloud said, as Tanner lifted Rock off her back.
"Argh! Don't take my leg off, you quack!" Rock shouted irritably as Tanner began probing for the bullet.
"Stop moving, and maybe I won't."
Another round of gunfire broke out. The changelings clearly weren't content with merely driving the patrol off; they wanted revenge.
"They to finish us off if keeping up fight," Heikki said, in broken English as she took hold of her gun.
"No choice," Cloud said, taking cover behind a rock.
"We're eighty sixed!" Rock howled.
Just then, something flew overhead, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. It fell amongst a group of changelings and exploded. This was followed by heavy 37mm cannon fire from a pair of P-47 Thunderbolts, which tore into the rebels as they struggled to comprehend the change in fortunes.
"God bless the air force!" Cloud yelled in relief.
As if Thunderbolts hadn't been enough, the Liberators and B-17s that had been bombing a different sector of the jungle flew low - very, very low for bombers - and began to drop what was left of their payloads. Bombs blew changelings to pieces, and tore trees apart. More gunfire went off, but it wasn't the changelings; a platoon of deer had shown up, and were unleashing a torrent of automatic weapons fire into the woods where the changelings were attempting to regroup.
The entire patrol cheered as the few surviving changelings either flew or ran away. Within minutes, the deer platoon was moving into the jungle in pursuit of the enemy.
"Are you the patrol that sent Command that message?" A male deer officer asked, in heavily accented English.
"Yeah. Thank God you reached us in time," Tanner said, dressing Rock's wound. "We would have died, and horribly, if you hadn't turned up."
"It is no trouble. We'll chase those criminals and eliminate them as a threat to peace," the officer replied, doffing his cap for a moment.
"Ow...! Peace... That would be nice," Rock said, as Tanner injected him with morphine. He nodded off as the action ended for the day.
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"Another patrol ambushed by criminals," Luna said, reading the report. "Four of the seven wounded, one by an aggressive bite from a prisoner we took, and the entire patrol fortunate to be alive." She looked up from it. "This has got to end. These traitors must be punished."
"They don't see themselves as traitors, Your Highness," her aide, Stormy Night, said. The thestral went on, "They think they're patriots, fighting against foreign rule."
"They are traitors and criminals," Luna replied angrily. "Their nation surrendered. Queen Tyria rules now. The war is over."
"And they say that Queen Chrysalis holds their allegiance."
"It only proves that they are fools as well as criminals." Luna looked at the report again. "Send in the prisoner."
Three Lunar Guards came in, two of them dragging a struggling changeling. It was impressive that he was able to fight at all; most stomach wounds left soldiers either dying or too badly injured for a long time to fight. It didn't help him as he was shoved into a chair and tied up. There was a ring upon his horn to prevent him from using magic or transforming.
"I hope you realize how much trouble you're in," Luna said.
"I don't answer to you, invader!"
"You will. You have betrayed Queen Tyria and attacked Equestrian and Olenian troops after your country surrendered."
"A traitor signed that treaty. It is no more binding on any changeling than a trade deal between two foreign nations. My allegiance is to Aunt Chrysalis."
Luna blinked. While relatively few changelings were actually related to the deposed monarch, the rebels had taken to calling her "Mother" or "Aunt" Chrysalis.
"You align yourself to a fled Queen, who has been deposed and no longer legally rules the Changeling Lands. You only prove yourself a criminal."
"I am a patriot. We do NOT take orders from ponies or their deer stooges, and certainly not from a weak, corrupt puppet Queen!"
"You are no patriot."
"Liar!"
"How DARE you throw a barb at ME?" Luna yelled. "I am the legitimate ruler of a country, one that has beaten yours. You are no hero, whatever you may erroneously think."
"We WILL throw you out, all of you, and then put that puppet Queen in the grave!"
One of the Night Guards slapped him across the face. The changeling grimaced, then spat out a tooth. Luna didn't approve, and shook her head at the Guard, who bowed and backed off.
"You have attacked an Equestrian patrol, and nearly killed an Olenian soldier. You're most likely going to prison - and Equestrian prison - for the rest of your life, with no chance of being let out. I hope you realize how futile your struggle is. We've beaten down your country, and replaced it's cruel tyrant with-"
"A traitor who cares more about lining her pockets and kissing your hooves than her people. Our people will never obey her, not the majority."
Luna raised her forehooves toward the ceiling for a moment in frustration. "How many of your people have to die before you realize that this war is over, that you've lost, and that we're never allowing Chrysalis to return to the throne?"
"How many of your precious ponies and deer allies have to die before you realize that holding us down is too costly in blood and treasure?" the rebel replied, following it up by spitting at Luna's hooves.
The Guard came forward again, this time to deliver a real haymaker, but Luna raised a hoof ,and he again backed away.
"We're willing to pay the price for a permanent peace. You should have realized that. If the Changeling Lands were half a world away, we might be more lenient, but as a neighboring country, we're not going to allow you to wage any aggressive wars. If that means holding down the country with troops for years on end, until your terrorist, criminal, evil-worshiping organization is made extinct, through death or captivity, then so be it."
"It won't happen. We'll keep killing them until your nation is filled with cemeteries, and the cries of your widows and orphans rise to the very skies. The National Restoration Front will continue to fight until we are under a true changeling ruler once again," the prisoner continued. "You can't stop us. You'd have to kill all changelings in order to do so, and you're too weak for that."
Luna felt a sense of both deep disgust as well as an equally deep dread. Few changelings showed any enthusiasm for Tyria's rule, and there was some justification for the prisoner's claims that she was corrupt. Most changelings detested the new monarch, and showed an abiding hostility, if not outright hatred, for the Equestrian and Olenian occupiers, and absolute contempt was shown for the Army of the KIngdom, the grandiose name Tyria had given her security forces. If the majority of the changeling populace supported the rebellion, either as fighters or as suppliers, it would be very difficult to bring a lasting peace. However, the alternative - to walk out and let Tyria fall, and Chrysalis rise once more to power - was unthinkable.
"Any changeling who supports the rebellion materially shall be punished, the same as you criminals," Luna said at last. "As will any who advocate resistance. We are here to keep peace."
"You're here to hold us down. You denied us the love energy we need to live, always have, and now you deny us our nationhood and our legacy. No, we will not accept it."
"Then you will pay the price. You might lower the amount you personally have to pay if you offer us information."
The changeling said something so offensive that Luna felt her ears turn red. She raised a hoof again to forestall her over-enthusiastic Guard. The changeling went on, "Forget it. I'll never rat on Chrysalis, or the brave patriots who reject you and the false queen. I've only got one more thing to say."
'And what is that?"
"The white sky is already dead; the Black sky will soon rise!"
Luna didn't wait for the changeling to reply, but motioned to her Guards, who - roughly - untied the prisoner and dragged him away.
"I must object."
Luna turned to see a couple changeling soldiers from the AotK at the door.
"How so?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Queen Tyria insists that all captives be given to her, so she might... reform them."
Luna felt a shudder run down her spine. No, Tyria hadn't been a great deal for the Changeling Lands, or for that matter, Equestria and Olenia. She had been one of the more influential and rich Queens, and she did support Equestria and Olenia. Having said that, one ticked off most of her virtues. When she, or her clique of politicians, claimed they were "reforming" rebels, that was a direct lie. More often than not, the AotK would beat up and sometimes kill prisoners on Tyria's orders. Furthermore, changelings who openly supported Chrysalis - even those who other were not helping to fight against the occupation - as well as those who protested Tyria's rule were subject to sudden imprisonment, and subsequent "reformation."
"I think not. Tyria holds her throne with the support of Equestria and Olenia. This criminal, however foolishly and fanatically loyal to Chrysalis he might be, was captured by Allied troops, no thanks to the Army of the Kingdom, and therefore falls under our jurisdiction."
:Have you forgotten what our Queen has done for you?"
"We have not, and would thank you not to remind us. However, this prisoner will be going straight to the Canterlot Dungeons."
The AotK officer growled. "Queen Tyria will not be happy about this."
You mean that she won't be happy with you. "That's too bad. Remind her that we of the alliance set her upon that throne..." And could take her off it just as fast, if we really wanted to.
The unspoken part of the sentence got through easily enough; the changeling growled, then motioned for his underling to follow him out of the room.
Stormy Night sighed. "The A-ok is full of political whack-jobs and conscripts with no stomach for a fight. We might as well disband it, if you ask me."
After an unpleasant attempt at interrogation, Luna felt like giggling at the sarcastic nickname Equestrian troops had given their less-than-enthusiastic changeling allies. "The Changeling Lands couldn't claim to be an independent nation without some form of military," she said after a moment. "With some work, it can be improved."
Stormy sniffed. "Yeah, and hedgehogs can fly. Most of their troops are peasants forced into their army at gunpoint, and their officers are corrupt as you can imagine; if you can buy an officer position, you've got it. Tyria doesn't care if they're competent, so long as they sing her praises and don't act against her wishes. Furthermore, who's to say they're independent? We're still here, aren't we?"
"Yes... a necessary outcome, in order to stabilize the region and prevent Chrysalis from coming back. My sister and I have no intention of annexing these lands, or even vassalizing them; we want the changelings to have independence, under peaceful and respected leaders."
"Tyria's neither peaceful nor respected."
"True," Luna winced. The new changeling Queen had recently promised, "If the Chrysalis fanatics come into our zones, we'll kill them." Not particularly peaceful. And Tyria's taxation of the common changeling and the misuse of finances that her administration did every day had almost no support, other than from a few elites of changeling society.
Stormy was about to say more, but then the radio on his belt rang. He picked it up. "Yes... yes... right. I'll tell Her Majesty. Over and out." He replaced it, then turned to Luna. "Your sister wants your support at the Vesalipolis palace."
"Again?" Luna groaned.
"Yep. Seems Princess Celestia want to try once more to change Tyria's ways."
Luna sighed. "If only we could agree to depose her and put that fellow Thorax on the throne... He wouldn't stand for this corruption, and he'd-"
"Be hated by anyone who thinks that the changeling race should get what they want through peace and trade as opposed to threats and conquest. The only support he has are from a few outcasts among changeling society that think as he does, and they're almost as few as Tyria's supporters."
"We have to try something," Luna muttered, and Stormy Night couldn't disagree. "Come on, let's head to the palace. If we're fortunate, we might scare Tyria into actually doing her job right."
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Princess Celestia nodded as her dark blue sister joined her. "Is it time?" the other alicorn asked, without preamble.
"It will be, when Heide arrives."
"No worries, your majesty," came the accented voice of a female deer. Heide, Queen Velvet's representative to the Changeling Lands, trotted up to them. "I'm here."
"Let us proceed, then."
The two Royal Sisters and their bodyguards walked forward, toward a big door leading into the throne room. The door was ornately inscribed with art of changelings conquering other nations and forcing them to serve as love batteries in cocoons. Celestia felt a burning urge to burn it down; if the art wasn't enough to do it, then what lay beyond those doors would. The changelings had gall to keep that door up after being defeated. She wished she could have made it part of the treaty to ban any art that depicted such scenes.
As usual, she kept her emotions in check, without even a hint of that anger on her face as she kept it straight. As they approached, a changeling let out a call in his own language, followed by the doors opening.
Queen Tyria was sitting upon her throne, talking to a changeling drone. The hissing noise of the changeling tongue was unintelligible to Celestia, who kept that minor annoyance to herself.
"Ah, Princess Celestia," came the falsely-sweet voice of the new changeling ruler. "You certainly make yourself no stranger to my palace."
"I would visit less if you listened more."
"I should have guessed. The usual argument, I presume?" Tyria replied, yawning. "How dull."
"Your people are hardly going to love a ruler who taxes them to death and sends her security to beat them in the streets."
"If the supposed victims of these crimes didn't oppose me there would be no reason for it. And the taxes must remain as they are; our nation is struggling to meet both its own needs and the reparations you've forced upon us."
"You mean the ones meant to teach you never to invade another nation ever again?" Heide asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes, those. And your arms restrictions leave my army without the means to fight them as aggressively as I'd like."
"Again, a restriction to prevent you from invading other lands," Luna put in, stepping forward slightly. "But there is no restriction on small arms, or production of small arms, and the reparations are hardly too high to be paid without squeezing every last drop of gold and silver out of your subjects."
Tyria looked at her a bit more intently. "What are you saying?" she asked, somewhat irritably.
"You use those funds to purchase champagne and expensive bubble bath soap while your people live among ruined cities and villages," Celestia said, "and the common peasant is not giddy with joy over that."
"Hardly a problem. We do have your troops to keep them in line.."
Luna sighed heavily. "We don't intend to stay forever. We're trying to set up a changeling nation that is fully independent and yet fully recognizes the sovereignty of its neighbors."
"And you're twisting what I said," Celestia said, allowing a bit of her anger to show. "We're trying to convince you to be benevolent, and to get out of this stink-hole of corruption that you seem ever more determined to wallow in."
"I don't know what you're talking about. That money is going toward the army that you've let me keep."
"And squandered on the delights of inept officers and toadies," Luna said, rolling her eyes. "Stop spending the money you have frivolously."
"A queen has to have some things to delight in, does she not? We would hardly be set apart from the drones if we didn't have some aristocratic pleasures. You have your own private farriers and servants, and swallow up cake as though it's going out of style, so it's a little hypocritical to blame me for taking in a few pleasures."
"Only after making sure our ponies are seen to first!" Luna burst out. "You, on the other hoof, don't even bother. Your changelings aren't going to love you if you continue to spend their hard earned money on yourself; you should be rebuilding cities, repairing roads and general infrastructure, and helping farmers to harvest more crops instead of sitting on your throne, drinking away the hard-earned money of your people."
Tyria put on a hurt face. "I've only cooperated with you since you came here. No other Queen was sensible enough to accept your terms for unconditional surrender."
"That's true enough," Celestia said. "You have fully cooperated... with us. Your own drones, on the other hoof, go hungry and suffer famine, live in tents and wrecked houses, wander in the ruins, collecting anything useful to sell, including things that belong in a garbage disposal. They don't like that you're wasting their money on bribes and delights while they suffer."
"So overthrow me, replace me," Tyria said, leaning back on her throne, doing her best to look both betrayed and bored. "I've only helped you since the surrender, and you would ungratefully dispose of me."
Celestia bit back a sigh. She knows it won't be easy to find a good successor. "We've beat about this bush before. If you don't start cleaning up your act, and helping the common changeling, we will have to do just that."
"And you'd prove yourselves hypocrites. You claim you want us to be independent, but you would play kingmaker if someone doesn't do things exactly your way."
"We want a peaceful neighbor, not one that will make war every five years," Luna countered. "Your country is beaten down, prostrate. We won't let it become a threat. We are, however, willing to let you make your own internal and external decisions, provided you don't wage a war of conquest."
"Which I have not."
"And which your subjects are determined to do. Without pacifying them, by spending their taxes on ever more expensive luxuries, by harming them, you make the chances of a permanent peace all the more likely."
"I must add Queen Velvet's dissatisfaction as well," Heide injected. "We deer are very upset by your willingness to ignore your own subjects for your own greed. We fought a civil war in Olenia to oust the tyrant Johan. You are only going to spark a full-fledged civil war of your own, if indeed this has not already happened, by continuing to ignore their needs."
"And what would you know of it, dear?" Tyria said, taking delight in playing on words with Heide's species. "We're changelings, not former forest nomads and city-pillaging pirates. You're either strong or you're weak, and the weak get overthrown. That's how it is in the Changeling Lands."
Heide bared her teeth in anger and frustration.
"All this is getting us nowhere," Luna said, trying to make sure that the deer wouldn't say something she'd regret. "The point is, will you, Tyria, stop using your wealth on yourself and help your people, or will you continue your path, which will lead to us having to depose you? We don't want to go through the chaos of kicking you off the throne, but we will if you cannot show that you care about your people and help to feed and shelter them. If you do the latter things, you will do well. If not, then this rebellion will only get larger."
"And you would have the very people you describe as criminals and traitors take the throne, and give it back to the original tyrant, Chrysalis?"
"No. Answer the cursed question already."
Tyria deliberately passed her gaze over Luna in order to stare into Celestia's eyes. "I must restore order and stability. If you can't handle that my staff need frequent reminders of why they ought to be loyal, then that's your problem."
"No, it's yours," Luna replied, disappointed.
"I must add that, in the case of my being overthrown, I've given orders that all the dirty deeds of anyone even remotely feasible to replace me - yes, even your precious Thorax - will come to the light of the populace.
"Blackmail! Extortion!" Luna roared. "Equestria demands that you rescind that order!"
"I'm afraid I cannot. The orders have already gone out, and those loyal to me have orders to make it happen should they receive instructions to rescind my orders on this matter."
"Thorax has done nothing-"
"That's not a problem. My loyalists have no problem finding treason and dirt, even that... invisible to others."
"Direct lies, you mean."
The Queen shrugged. "If you insist."
"Olenia must object to this decision," Heide warned.
"As does Equestria," Celestia added, no longer hiding her anger and disappointment.
Tyria yawned again. "Your objects are noted and dismissed. I have a country to run, and order to maintain. Now, if that is all..."
"You will come to pay for this outrage," Luna growled.
"Good day."
Luna opened her mouth to further object, but Celestia shook her head. "Let us go back to Equestrian Command. Heide, if you have no problem joining us...?"
"It would be a pleasure.... I mean, on behalf of my kingdom, I must accept."
Celestia felt a sense of relief. Heide made a much better conversationalist than Tyria any day.
---------------------------------------------------------------
"The situation is getting more and more out of hoof as we speak," Luna said from her chair, a stack of action reports in front of her. She levitated one after another in front of her face as she read; "One deer wounded, a deer and a pony dead near the Equestrian border... a pegasus mare gone insane from the stress of fighting an elusive and invisible enemy... Two Kingdom Army soldiers found, mangled, in the middle of a road... A family that wouldn't join the NRF found dead in the capital itself... Bombs in the road smashed two supply trucks and wounded their drivers, one deer dead... A family who gave money and food to the rebels arrested and held in custody by Equestrian troops, with their two children given to foster parents... A platoon decimated in an ambush, one apparently planned former soldiers in Chrysalis' army..." She looked up from the reports, worry on her face. "The terrorists and criminals that think they're patriots are hurting us quite badly. Not so badly as the big battles with their army did, by no means, but its still causing morale to drop. I've recently read a letter from a soldier killed in action with rebels, blaming us, the monarchy, for remaining in the Changeling Lands after the peace was signed. I mean," she went on. rising and placing her front hooves on the table, "what are we supposed to do? Let Chrysalis come back in, and invade Equestria again?"
"The situation is hard on us deer as well," Heide said, sipping at a cup of tea. "Unlike Equestria, the invasion of our homeland caused us much suffering, as the enemy stayed longer and greatly harmed our people. I can assure you that Equestria has Olenia's support for the remainder of the crisis."
"Thank you, my friend," Celestia said, smiling as she also raised a cup of tea to her own lips and sipping from it. "That means much, coming from Queen Velvet and yourself." The smile faded, and she sighed. "If only finding a solution to this crisis was so easy. As for calling them criminals and traitors, Luna, those names have no meaning for them. If Chrysalis had invaded us, we would applaud and hold as heroes anypony brave enough to revolt."
Luna seemed a bit taken aback for a moment, but then rallied. "Nopony would blow up or murder innocents," she insisted. "Besides, we'd never sign a surrender. As such, our subjects would have the right to continue the fight."
"Don't be so certain. If she had caught us, Chrysalis could easily make a demand that we officially surrender, with the threat of killing off entire cities if we refused."
"Well, she did not win. And these... killers, are only prolonging their country's suffering. We will not just leave, not until the changelings realize that they cannot beat us, that Chrysalis or someone like her is not coming back, and that they are better off seeking peaceful ways to live."
"Sadly, as we just witnessed, Tyria has no intentions of truly helping, or even following our... guidance," Celestia noted. "And the common changeling hates her about as much as he does colic."
Celestia commented, "I think they've grown too indoctrinated to Chrysalis' ideals; that ponies, and other species, deliberately withhold love from them, that they deserved to win the war and conquer other species to serve as food and slaves, along with a belief that other species are inferior. These ideals have not been quieted by Tyria," Celestia sighed, refusing to use the royal suffix. "She has done almost nothing for the common changeling, and her army - more to the point, that army's officers - have been abusing their power."
"I have here a report that Tyria's army went into battle just a couple weeks ago against the NRF," Luna said, taking yet another report out. "They had Equestrian... trainers with them. They got intelligence that the NRF was going to be passing through with captured deer and ponies, all wrapped in those abominable cocoons of theirs. The plan was to attack them, but the Kingdom Army failed totally, with some officers refusing, point blank, to press the enemy harder. Apparently, Tyria gave them orders not to sustain heavy casualties in order to gain political clout. The rebels suffered heavy losses, but the bulk of them escaped, with the captives." Luna let out an aggravated sigh. "They can't squash the rebellion, not in their current state. They need real elan, something they won't get with the current administration."
"Meanwhile, we are spending blood and treasure on a war going nowhere." Celestia sipped from her cup again. "For the most part, most ponies support our policies, at least for the moment, but their taxes and sons and daughters are being slowly poured into the occupation."
"Our modern weapons don't seem to be discouraging the NRF much," Luna sniffed. "Whenever our pegasus scouts see a target, our bombers blow it to smithereens, and yet a week later the enemy will be operating again in the same location." She looked at another set of figures. "According to the latest statistics, we've dropped about a fourth as many bombs on the Changeling Lands after the surrender as we did during the war."
Celestia sat up, surprised. "That is news, and not of the good sort."
"Indeed." Luna finally began to sip from her own cup. "Is every changeling a terrorist, or terrorist sympathizer? It seems so. They spout hate at us every chance they get. Even the ones not fighting throw garbage and insults at us. A soldier had to be held back from assaulting nymphs - children - over the insults they were hurling at him. While he will be disciplined, it doesn't solve the central problem." Luna looked intently at her sister across the table.
Celestia knew what she was thinking. She sighed yet again. "I think, in the end, we'll have to go with the Thorax solution, as much as changelings detest his philosophy. Tyria's corrupt rule is bleeding this country dry, and her continued antagonism toward her own people is only fueling the rebellion."
"And how do you suppose we even pretend to maintain the concept of changeling independence? We'll have to station guards to prevent his assassination, and the changelings aren't going to give up their old ways just because their ruler is a nice person. In fact, there are days when I wonder if its possible to get them to abandon their foul ideology at all." Luna gave her sister a serious stare. "And what about the changelings' right to make their own decisions? That will be hard for us to counter if the rest of the world brings it up."
"As you said, we can't leave the Changeling Lands with a ruler who will sanction violence, and we can't leave them with an army strong enough to attack us, yet too weak to protect its ruler and sovereignty."
"And certainly not while most of them hate the ruler they do have," Luna muttered. "Even if we put Thorax as King, his subjects will continue their attacks on our soldiers. Just because Tyria would be gone in that situation, it doesn't mean that the rebels would just vanish. They detest us, and that won't just go away. Any attempt we make to educate them on the truth would be seen as propaganda and brain washing." Luna looked at another report. "This will be a long-term project, to say the least."
Heide looked troubled. "We deer will help you as long as possible. However, I must say with regret that even with the recent war, we are outnumbered by the changelings. We can hold the regions nearest us quite easily, but holding onto much beyond that would be a problem for Olenia."
Celestia acknowledged that with a nod. "Equestria can help hold the rest, until the rebels are defeated."
"But how to defeat them?" Luna asked. "A captured rebel told me today that the only way to wipe out their resistance would be to kill all changelings, something we, as a nation of morals, cannot do."
"That... that is horrifying. If they really are willing to sacrifice so many of their lives for their cause, it will be difficult. Difficult, but not impossible."
Celestia brought up a map of the Changeling Lands. "First, we have to acknowledge that Tyria cannot remain on the throne. The only changeling worthy of that job, as far as I can see, is Thorax."
"He is not a Queen, though," Luna replied. "Nor is he an elite, which might have sufficed."
"I know he's a common drone, but he best embodies the ideals of harmony. Or do you see any Queens or elites who do?"
"Sadly, I do not. However," the midnight blue alicorn said, raising an eyebrow, "I thought true harmony requires that the recipients be willing to accept it?"
"As you said, a long-term project. If we manage to keep Thorax on the throne, changeling thought may begin to change. We have to hope it does, anyway. "
"Carry on."
"Next, we remove Tyria and all the corrupt politicians from their positions, including army officers."
"Not particularly hard, though that won't look good."
"I doubt that most changelings perceive anything we do as good, and that will remain true so long as the current climate remains. After removing Tyria from power, Thorax's army, one that is remade from the bottom up, is put into play. This army will be made out of changelings willing to join, not from forced conscripts."
"Yes, an entire military of... what? A hundred changelings?" Luna asked, sarcasm in her voice.
"Better that initially than unwilling soldiers and corrupt officers. More might be brought about later."
"That hardly looks like an army of an independent state."
Celestia sighed. "I know, and I don't want to hold onto the Changeling Lands any more than we have to. But until a peaceful changeling nation can be ensured, we dare not leave."
"Anything else?"
"We simultaneously engage in counter-insurgency operations, all the while trying to help improve changeling agriculture and infrastructure. This will encourage the population in our favor. Our armies will focus on finding rebel strongholds in the jungles, forests, and swamps, all the while our intelligence services will root out rebel agents and engage in teaching the population about Chrysalis' crimes, letting them know that she's bad not only for us, but for them as well."
"I can foresee a number of problems. That education program will be expensive, and Thorax, assuming we go through with this plan, and he's willing to do so much, won't have the funds for it. Not to mention that changeling parents can just tell their children that we're feeding them lies once they're out of school."
"We'll just have to hoof the bill, and I don't see anything we can do to counter the problem of parents telling their children what to believe," Celestia answered, and Luna didn't disagree. "Arresting them will only make their children despise us more. So long as those parents aren't advocating violence, and aren't out there attacking our soldiers, we leave them alone. Next up, Lunar Guards will hunt for Chrysalis in the Griffonian Empire."
"After we confirm her location there and demand they turn her over."
"Of course. We're not going to send our agents there unless we affirm she's there."
"The Griffonians, if they have her, will say no, sure as sure. The changelings helped them as advisors, if you remember."
"I remember all too well. But Chrysalis has to be taken off the board as a possible candidate for the Changeling throne. I'm willing to take the chances that they will be offended by the capture of Chrysalis if it restores peace to our continent. Our military is much bigger than it was when we began the war, as is our navy. Furthermore, they remain in chaos. In addition, they remain far behind us in their military might and technology, and they have their vassal states to worry about. If she's hidden there, they can't really do much if we capture her and bring her to Canterlot."
"I suppose... how do we explain it to the average pony back home?"
"That shouldn't be difficult. We simply remind them of what Chrysalis did, of her crimes, of what the terrorists are doing as well as what they will do if they win, and we move to continue efforts to modernize our armies with better technology. Hopefully, as our weapons get better, we can out-tech the changelings and make it all the harder for them to win the war."
"And... then...?"
"Hold out. Until the rebellion is stamped out, or dies out. I see no other acceptable alternative than a rebel defeat, either from death or captivity, or they stop fighting and go home."
"There will be a problem with that," Luna said. "I mentioned earlier that a soldier attempted to attack a changeling child."
Celestia winced. "Yes."
"It's not the only occurrence. Our soldiers are suffering from massive mental fatigue. Quite a few have gone berserk, including a deer attached to one of our patrols. In addition, hate for changelings has grown as the contempt the common changeling feels for ponies and deer makes itself felt and losses increase."
Celestia looked at the paper Luna floated over to her. She looked up after a moment. "Are your sure of this...?"
"It's compiled of written, personal reports of doctors and medics across the Changeling Lands and has been evaluated by experts back home. It is fully legitimate."
Celestia looked at it again. "Our soldiers are paying a terrible price... and not just in lives lost. They had to go through the war with Chrysalis and now... this."
"Let us not mince words," Heide said, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "We are in a new war. The changeling people refuse to accept their defeat, and they continue to fight us even after the surrender. Given that we have been utilizing every useful weapon against them, and have been fighting for months now, it is no longer possible to just call this conflict a 'crisis' any longer."
Celestia and Luna looked at her.
"We must remain stronger than our enemies," Heide went on, looking a little shy, but still determined. "Until the fire of revolt dies out, we must stay here." She tapped the table with a hoof. "We deer will not leave. Does Equestria have the courage to stand with us?"
"We do, and always have," Luna said reassuringly.
"It's just... this war is taking its toll on the minds and hearts of our ponies as well as their very lives," Celestia noted, voice full of sorrow.
"We can rotate soldiers in and out of the Changeling Lands," Luna replied. "Most of our army saw some service there, and they will do so again. In the meantime, we can give the fatigued soldiers quiet posts in Equestria."
"And we can bring in more doctors and medical staff," Celestia said, nodding. "We also step up patrols. Hate towards our soldiers on the streets may not be illegal, but violence, and encouraging violence, is."
"What about rabble-rousers who just gather to shout at us to leave?"
"We ignore them unless they attack us. If they turn violent, then we arrest the demonstrators and enact curfews."
"Again, the rest of the world will call us hypocrites, as did Tyria; we claim we want an independent Changeling Lands, but we won't give them the right to choose."
"Because all their choices, except for the few like Thorax who are enlightened, are evil. I know," Celestia said, raising a hoof. "It sounds autocratic on our part. But the only other choice we can make is to leave, let the changelings set up Chrysalis again, and then we have to fight another war a few years later. I prefer having to hold the changelings down until they stop advocating for violent, warlike rulers than having to fight every generation to kick Chrysalis, or someone like her, out of office."
"As do I. I want to make sure you are certain of this decision."
"I'm certain."
Luna continued to look at her sister for several moments. Then, she finally nodded. "You have my support."
"And that of Olenia," Heide said, nodding her head briefly to show her support.
"It seems we have a lot of work to do," Celestia went on. "Let us begin."
--------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, Sergeant, you're clear to go," an earth pony doctor told Rock Star. "Just be sure to go easy on that leg."
"I will," Rock promised, wishing he had to do no such thing. He picked up his weapons and gear, put them on, and left the tent.
Vesalipolis looked worse for wear, even after several months worth of occupation. Little rebuilding had been done, and Tyria had had a number of buildings torn down, with the money going to her private funds. Some changeling soldiers walked the streets as well. They looked grim, though not the same way that Chrysalis' soldiers had during the war; they just didn't want to be here. An officer shouted in the hissing changeling language at his troops, despite there being nothing to for him to be upset about. Rock felt an odd sense of sympathy for his former enemies. The A-ok hadn't exactly covered itself in glory, but if these soldiers had guys like that as their officers, their lives had to be terrible.
"Hey, boss."
Rock turned to the left to see a smiling Cloud Cover leaning against the wall of a ruining building, with the rest of the squad with her. "Morning, Cloud, all," he replied.
"I thought you might have to lose that leg," Tanner said, adjusting his spectacles. "Glad to know I was wrong."
"Eh, it was touch and go a few times. Fortunately, the docs got it patched up good."
"Meanwhile," came Heikki's accented voice, as she dragged Filippo, the two hard, unbending tips of her forehoof tightly pinching the other deer's ear, "this houkka has something to say." She released him as she shoved her comrade forward.
The male deer looked embarrassed and sorry at the same time. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have chased them."
"Hey," Rock said, putting a hoof on the deer's shoulder. "We've all had a hard war, and this occupation's not getting any easier. Just don't go getting your antlers shot off."
"I... I just want to go home," the big buck said, looking at the pavement. "This stupid war..."
"If only those changeling goons would accept the war's over," Barrel said, taking out his Springfield and wiping it down.
"Well, they won't," Rock said, looking at his Thompson. "So we'll have to make 'em quit."
"Ponies and deer go home!"
All of them turned to see a changeling nymph, fangs bared.
"Get lost, kid," Cloud said, losing her smile.
The changeling child sneered. "Not listen to ponies! Go away! Go home!"
Heikki raised herself up on her hind legs, clacking her front hooves together.
"Leave him alone," Rock ordered. "He'll shout himself hoarse soon enough."
"Leave alone! Leave Changeling Lands alone!"
There was a sudden sound of hooves striking pavement; Rock turned to see Filippo pawing the ground, head down, ready to charge.
"NO!" Rock shouted, giving him a shove and knocking him over. "What's wrong with you?"
The changeling kid laughed, pointing a hoof. "Bad guys fighting themselves! Go home!"
Tanner levitated his pistol into the air and fired into the air. The changeling nymph suddenly discovered he had other things to be doing, and ran away.
"Tanner..."
"Relax, it was just a blank. I swear," he added, looking at Rock's already stormy face. He unloaded his pistol and showed them the ammo inside it, proving he had been telling the truth.
"Now, what was that about?" Rock demanded, turning back to Filippo. "Trying to spear a kid on your horns?"
"Yeah," Cloud said, dropping down to all fours, wincing as her hooves made contact.
"I keep telling you to take a visit to the farrier," Tanner said, in a voice that made it all too clear he'd said it too many times already.
"And I keep telling you I'll accept having my hooves nailed when hedgehogs grow wings and fly!"
"Fine," Tanner muttered. "Enjoy being in pain every time you set hoof on pavement. Or anywhere on the ground, really."
"I've got wings."
"And they get tired."
"Can it, you two." Rock turned back to Filippo.
The buck sat down on the pavement. "I... I don't... I just want to go home," he said. "Kill all the rebels fast, go home to Olenia. No more ruins, no more cities, no more changelings."
"It's a rough job, but unless you want Chrysalis back, we all need to chip in."
Filippo just put his front hooves over his head and groaned.
"He's had a hard war," Heikki said, putting a hoof on her fellow deer's shoulder and facing the ponies. "His mother died in the civil war to remove the usurper from power, and his sister was killed by changelings when she wouldn't willingly go into... what do you call them? Gel sacs?"
"Leck!" Cloud said, making as if to retch.
"Cocoons," Tanner said.
"Yes, those. He lost one of his two brothers fighting Chrysalis, and now..." She looked at Filippo, who continued to sit, hooves on his face and giving a moan here and there.
"Sorry to hear it," Rock said, and meant it. "I didn't know that."
"That stinks, buddy," Barrel said, getting up and laying a hoof on the buck's left shoulder.
There was a long several minutes full of silence.
"It doesn't change our current situation, though," Tanner said at last, using a cloth to wipe down his pistol. "We have a job to do, and unless we do it, Chrysalis gets yet another chance to take over the world. We've lost comrades and family, but it doesn't change the danger to those we have left if we let the rebels take over."
"Right," Rock said, looking up. "We have a duty to our families and friends, our countries and leaders, to our comrades and our futures. We have to go on, and finish the job."
"I'm with you, boss," Cloud said, encouraged. "I've got your back."
"We need to win this new war," Heikki agreed.
"We'll get peace back... no matter how long it takes," Rock said. No one disagreed.
----------------------------------------------------
Fang watched at pony troops marched by his village house. The village of Mandible had fallen some time after Vesalipolis, when morale among the changeling army had plummeted to its critical low. The village hadn't been heavily fought over, and as such, most of the buildings weren't damaged that badly.
Physically, the village was doing fine, and no serious damage remained. On the inside, though, most of the changelings were angry. Angry that the army hadn't fought harder. Angry that the ponies and deer dared to strut around outside like they owned the villagers and could tell them whatever they wanted.
However, as a father of three, he himself felt something in addition to that anger; fear.
"Take a load of this!" his 14 year old son, Beetle, said, laying a newspaper on the table.
Fang picked it up and read it. It was, of course, rather boring now that the ponies had taken over. The original paper had gone on for about a week after the occupation without interference, but then the ponies had shut it down and arrested its members because they continued to denounce Equestria and called for continued resistance. Where those changelings were, Fang didn't know, but he doubted they would get out any time soon.
"Do you see it, father?"
"Yes, son, I do. They want to change the name of the village, and the local leaders are putting pressure on the firstling to make it more... friendly."
"I hope he told them to stuff it."
"It effectively says he did, but they're continuing to try." Fang set the paper down.
"They haven't beat us for long," Beetle said, taking up the paper. "I'm going to use this garbage to refill our supply of toilet paper." He didn't wait, but walked away.
"He wants to join the NRF," Fang's wife, Cicada, said, sewing up a gap in a large hat; this part of the Changeling Lands received a lot of rain.
"And I don't want him to," Fang said, trembling. "I want those ponies gone, just the same as every other proper changeling. But they don't want to leave, and right now, they have the bombers, the tanks, the artillery, and more small arms than you could ever hope to shake a stick at, along with the ammunition for them. If the boy joins the NRF now, he'll die to no purpose, I know it."
"You can't stop him, you know," Cicada went on, continuing to sew. "He's a youthful patriot, and the young don't like listening to sense. They believe they can do anything." She stopped for a moment and looked up at him. "I could say the same of you when you were eighteen."
"That one time, twenty years ago, I went on a mission to infiltrate-"
"And nearly died because you got in a fight with six deer and had to be brought back on a stretcher. I remember the old Queen's wrath that you'd botched it so badly." She continued sewing. "I don't think the boy is doing anything you wouldn't have at his age."
"Times were different then," Fang snarled. "We didn't have so many guns, tanks, aircraft, whatever. People were fighting with spears and swords. And there weren't that many full-blown wars. We could move more freely."
"And yet the passions of youth are something that largely remain the same, generation from generation."
The door opened. His younger son, named Earwig, opened the door and set down his pack.
"What happened in school now?" Fang asked, knowing from the look on his boy's face it wasn't going to be good.
"The ponies set up another film thing, saying that Aunt Chrysalis was a monster, and how cocooning ponies and deer was evil," Earwig said, looking glum. "They say we were wrong to fight other species, and that all species are equal. Then they had us write a paper on it."
"Uh oh," Cicada said, knowing the bad temper that ran in the family.
"Yeah. I wrote down how things are supposed to be. Bee didn't want me to," he added, looking frustrated to even mention the name of his teacher, "but I did. I wish you'd have been there, father; the ponies were really unhappy."
"So what happened then?" Fang sighed.
"They made me go to the principal's office. They had a girl pony in there, and she chewed me out for being 'bad.' I told her it's our village, not hers, and I wasn't going to change. Then I told her it was her people's fault for not freely giving us their love in the first place."
"Not the wisest idea."
"They wrote me up."
Fang winced; kids who got "written up" were essentially being labelled by the authorities as untrustworthy, and their parents could expect a visit soon after. The ponies didn't kidnap children, but they did give stern warnings about "unacceptable" behaviors and mindsets. The school officials - ponies or deer themselves, with soldiers backing them up - would make it clear that any anti-occupation attitudes were unwelcome.
"Then they told me I had to go home for the rest of the day, to think about what I did. I came here."
Fang sighed. "Unfortunately, they have the power right now, son. They can do what they please."
"Hopefully the NRF drive them out, and soon."
"No, they won't," Fang said. "There are too many ponies in this village right now, and even if they did throw them out despite that, the ponies would come back, with planes and bombs and cannons. The village would be wrecked when they retook it."
"You don't know that, dad. We haven't tried giving them the boot here yet."
Fang was about to reply, when he caught something. "Wait a minute, 'yet?'"
Earwing realized what he'd said, too late. "Oops."
"You know something, son," Fang said, suddenly feeling angry. "You know someone in the NRF; they're planning to do just that, aren't they? Attack the ponies and deer and kick them out of the village?"
"N-no, I don't," the young changeling said, trying to back out.
"For a lie, that was terrible," Fang answered, rolling his eyes. "I should know, I took infiltration classes back when the hives were distinct nation-states. Now tell me, who gave you that idea?"
"No o- OW!" Earwig cried, as his father had levitated a wooden bat and brought it down hard on his behind.
"I'm only going to ask one more time; do you know a member of the NRF? Did they give you that information?"
Fang could almost hear his son thinking as Earwig thought of lying again. He changed his mind in a hurry when Fang lifted the bat again. "Yes! Yes! I know one!"
"Who?"
"I can't tell you. I made a promise to them."
"You know you're not supposed to make a promise when it involves lying to us. Now, who is it?"
"No... OW!"
"What's going on?"
Fang turned an eye around to see his daughter, Moth, walk out of her bedroom. The other eye remained locked on his son, and his heart sank as Earwig's shock came to the surface.
"Earwig, get busy doing your chores. I need to have a talk with your older sister."
Fang's youngest son didn't bother complaining, and ran outside. Fang grabbed Moth's ear in his magic and, over her cries of pain and surprise, dragged her into his and Cicada's room and shut the door.
Without preamble, he said, "When did you plan on telling me you'd joined the National Reformation Front?"
"I didn't-" Moth cut herself off when she realized that lying would get her nowhere. Instead, she clammed up.
"Do you know how much trouble we'll be in if the ponies find out? How much trouble we'll all be in?"
Moth remained quiet. Fang sighed. Moth was a great daughter, and usually did what she was told without fuss. That said, when she was determined, she could be very stubborn.
"We can't throw the ponies out of the village now. The NRF doesn't have the numbers or the firepower for it, and they and the ponies will just destroy the village fighting over it."
"They may not have bombers or artillery, father, but they have the numbers," Moth replied, defiant. "We can't let the ponies continue to tell us what to do. Sooner or later, they have to leave, and they won't go unless we drive them out. Or would you rather they fill up Earwig's head with nonsense about friendship and harmony? We would stop being changelings. We'd be ponies, just with different bodies."
"The ponies have all the guns on their side now," her father said. "What were you going to do, carry a bomb to the firstling's house and blow him and the ponies with him to pieces?"
"We've thought about it. They decided they needed me as a spy."
Fang let out an angry hiss. "You know what happens to spies who get caught."
"It's a risk I'm willing to pay for a free Changeling Lands."
"No, it isn't. You're eighteen, you don't know what it's like to be out there, in the middle of it all."
Moth turned her head slightly sideways. "Don't pretend like some part of you isn't proud of me."
"That's not the point!" her father hissed, knowing that she told the exact truth; part of him did feel pride that his daughter was fighting the enemy. "How long have your brothers known? You've put them in danger, too!"
"About four months."
"Four mon-" Fang looked up at the roof and let out a very long breath. "And you made them promise not to tell me or your mother?"
"The fewer who know what we're doing, the safer it is for everybody."
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"Beetle came into my room, unannounced. Again," Moth said, rolling her own eyes. "He likes doing that, for some reason. Earwig came in with him. I had a small map out, with dates for when the NRF were going to do things."
"And they saw it."
"They did. I told them what I had to, and they promised never to let anyone know. Even you. I knew you'd try to stop me."
"You're a teenager! Not even an adult! Of course I'd try to stop you."
"A little late now, father. I'd told the cadre leader that if I stopped seeing him, it would be because of you."
"And he said he'd assassinate me, didn't he?"
"Not in those words."
Fang sighed. "I just want my children safe. We're down right now, but we can buckle down and survive the pony storm with our traditional values intact. We can pretend, we can hide, we can falsely smile at them until they leave and we're free again."
"The ponies keep trying to fill our heads with their lies. Sooner or later, they're going to tell them enough and we'll be their slaves. i won't let them do that."
"We... I..."
Moth let out a breath of her own. "We must go on, father. The NRF and Aunt Chrysalis are our best chance to rise up and become a proud, feared nation again. To get the love we need, and not by groveling like slaves to ponies and deer all our lives."
Fang eyed his daughter for a long moment. "You're going to do this, no matter what I say, aren't you?"
"I have to. For your safety, as well as for the cause.
Fang looked around the interior walls, as though he could see through them. He visualized Earwig and Beetle, together at mischief, and his wife, humble among changelings and always ready to protect and teach her children. He saw himself, giving them early training on how to be infiltrators and warriors.
He let out a long sigh. "I won't stop you. I can't, not now. But if you get Beetle and Earwig killed..."
"I won't, father. I promise. My work doesn't even need them to be part of it."
Fang gave yet another sigh. "Just don't get caught."
"I won't. And if I do, it's the ponies who need to be scared."
Fang wanted to let out a cry of anguish. His daughter hardly knew what it was like to fight in a war, to be an infiltrator, to be a spy. And yet, even though she was his daughter, he was incapable of stopping her from taking a potentially destructive path.
"I promise I'll tell you right away if and when the NRF are going to attack. The loyal villagers will all know, and not just from me."
Fang sat down and covered his head with his hooves. "Just don't get us or anyone in the village killed, alright?"
"Except for the ponies, I won't."
And they'll give you a lot more than you think they can, he thought as she left the room. They might be portrayed as weak by our old propaganda efforts, but they're strong fighters when motivated.
He had a secret himself. He had been part of the Changeling Army. He'd seen action in Olenia and against the Equestrians. He'd seen what victory and defeat looked like, and all the terrible stuff in between. That much, he'd told his children and wife.
What he hadn't told them, and hoped never to have to do so, was that he'd deserted that army. It wasn't like he was a coward, nothing like that. He'd told his children that his unit had managed to get out of Vesalipolis before it was overwhelmed.
The truth was, he'd realized it was a lost cause, and had fled before the surrender, before the ponies got a chance to throw him into a prisoner or war camp and keep him from ever seeing his family again.
I, too, have my secrets, my daughter. I hope never to have to share them, either.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Pholcus laid out a map before his subordinates. "We strike tonight, before midnight. We rally our troops behind us, and take the palace for ourselves."
The other generals of the Army of the Kingdom looked nervous. "We better not fail, sir," one of them said.
"It's either this, or we can say good bye to all our kickbacks. Tyria is hated by everyling, and even the ponies are getting sick of her. Best we make our move first."
"And... what about the NRF?" someone else asked.
"What about 'em? We know the ponies are going to hold the whip hoof for the foreseeable future. But even they have to maintain their own image. We're not doing this for Chrysalis," the general said, putting a smoking leaf in his mouth. "We're doing this for us."
"The ponies aren't going to like it."
"We're not going to go in there ourselves, have you got bees in your brain? It's simple. A rogue faction of the army is going to bring up an APC at the edge of the palace. Our underlings are going to go in for the regular, scheduled meeting with Tyria that we, unfortunately, will be unable to attend. At some point, they'll bring out their weapons and tell the Queen to go with 'em or else. They'll bring her into the APC..."
"And then it's good bye, Tyria." A lower ranked general, Cryptamorphia, let loose a raspy laugh. "Too bad ya didn't get the chance to raise an heir," he went on, plowing his smoking cigar into a picture of the current -and soon to be former - Queen of the Changeling Lands. It began to smolder.
"Indeed, this would be much more difficult otherwise."
"And then you, boss, claim the keys to the kingdom," a commander named Cricket said, looking at Pholcus.
"Yep. I'll tell Celly that the NRF got an agent on the inside and killed her just before we could reach her."
"You think they'll buy that? It sounds suspicious as it is."
"So what? They won't have any proof it was us, and these ponies scrupulously obey their own laws, including the need for more than circumstantial evidence in a court of law." He sneered, giving his own opinion on that policy.
"They might overthrow you. I head they was thinkin' of putting that putz of a Thorax on the throne," Cryptamorphia said.
"They know that would be risky. They need to keep up the pretense that the Changeling Lands are independent, and booting us out could mean war with the Kingdom Army."
"We'd lose."
"If they resort to force to boot us out. Which seems doubtful. Besides, the Queen herself put up a program where everyone who could take her place will get the dirt spilled on 'em."
"Includin' you."
"I doubt it. I don't think I came to Her Majesty's attention. In any case, our political rivals will either be out of the picture, or else too busy scrambling to save their own hides to worry much about us."
"And what if the ponies - or the deer - move to kick you out of power?"
Pholcus shrugged. "Not much we can do about it. But the ponies and the deer have their hooves full with the rebels. They can beat the Army, but it would just give them one more enemy. And if they overthrow us..." He shrugged again. "At least we can say we've risen to the top, boys. And I've got a few new tricks for Princess Celestia if she decides to interfere. Namely, a few soldiers loyal to us who really passed their classes on infiltration, and who can... remove her and her sister as a problem if they do manage to unseat us."
"To the new king!" Cricket said, taking out a bottle of champagne.
"To King Pholcus!" the room chorused.
Pholcus smiled. Power was heady stuff. He would soon have his chance to rule the Changeling Lands.