Equestria in Conflict - Discovering Home

Ponyville was not the only town to come under attack that night. All across Equestria, many cities and villages awoke to the sound of fighting in the streets, as scattered Royal Guards combated Changeling infiltrators. Here and there, they failed, but they managed to rally in most of the cities.

However, they faced bigger threats than the small numbers of infiltrators: Namely, the entire army of the Changeling Empire. It swept into Equestria, attacking the first cities right at dawn.

[Map]

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Appaloosa

0600 Hours

The sounds of fighting still echoed through the small town, but it was mostly over: Appaloosa had lost. The stallion that had first spotted the Changeling attack stood with most of the rest of the population of the small town while the Changelings killed or wounded the remaining fighters. He himself nursed a few broken bones, but the pain was nothing compared to his anger.

They had presumed to attack HIS town, and in the daylight no less. From what he heard from gloating Changelings, it was happening all over the Kingdom: Entire armies of Changelings attacking and invading.

He still had a small smile inside of him, though. They had still managed to kill or severely injure two hundred of the Changelings before being overwhelmed.

A darker thought crossed his mind, however: If all they had taken out here was a measly two hundred, how had the bigger cities fared?

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Hoofington

0610

Entire formations of Changelings marched down the street, frightening the ponies to stay inside. After a bloody but brief battle that saw the entire guard force of one hundred and twenty slain, along with at least two hundred and eighty Changelings, the entire city had gone on lockdown.

Rumors, passed from house to house, spoke of a Equestria-wide invasion happening. The residents could only watch in horror as the black, misshapen creatures walked through the streets in formations of hundreds, flaunting their strength to the residents.

They could only hope that it ended soon.

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Enticore City

0620 Hours

Across the city, in the streets, and by the docks, fighting raged as the Changeling army continued to pour into the city. Being a primarily unicorn city, it had one advantage that many did not: Spells, and the ponies with at least basic training in how to use them

Magical bolts of every colors zoomed across the city, between buildings and alleys, as the ponies and the Changelings fought one another. In this city, everypony could resist to one degree or another. And they did.

Fighting was chaotic and widespread, taking place over the entire city. Changelings descended randomly from a swarm hovering over the city, and what few pegasi were there took to the skies to attack it. Casualties on both sides piled up, but slowly, inevitably, the Changeling forces began to push the ponies back into a small circle around the center of the city, by the wharves.

The fighting would go on for hours, and even days, but the outcome was clear: The city had fallen, at a terrible price to both sides.

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Baltimare

0630 Hours

The city of Baltimare was often credited with being the best source of manufacturing and industry in Equestria. Much like Manehattan, it was a large city, its streets filled with a mix of all pony types.

And it was under attack.

In the factories and buildings, between the skyscrapers, and everywhere else, Changelings fought ponies, and both died. Thousands of pegasi, most of them not guards, duel in the sky and between the buildings with entire swarms of Changelings. Unicorns and Earth Ponies fought in the streets below, the former casting combat spells that many unicorns chose to memorize, the latter arming themselves with everything from spears to experimental crossbows.

The fighting was fierce, and, quickly, lines were formed, dividing the city into two sections: The northwest section, controlled by ponies, and the southeast section, controlled by Changelings. The lines shifted by the minute as individual ponies and Changelings discovered their hidden talents of leadership.

It would have been a great day for either side in terms of heroics, if the casualties had not been so large.

Thankfully, the guards had been alerted to the hidden cells of Changelings who worked against Chrysalis, and together, they cooperated, the Changelings feeding information from the Hive Mind to the local guard captains.

None of them would figure how long the battle would last.

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Ponyville

The same time

John looked into the sky, scanning for the Changelings. They had alerted the entire town to the attacks, and now they had but one thing to do.

Wait.