Equestria in Conflict - Discovering Home

John looked at the ground below as he stood in the chariot, the large forest stretching into the distance. The formation of ten chariots and carriages, along with several dozen Pegasi, moved between misty mountains as they headed one direction: Towards Baltimare.

The mass teleportation spell had gotten them past most of the Everfree forest, and into a guard camp not far from the city, and they were making the last leg of the trip, along with a rather large group of guards. Many of them wore a dull silver armor, having replaced their ceremonial gold armor with sets made of iron and several other metals that John couldn’t tell apart.

The sun hung towards the west, several hours from setting, the beams of sunlight breaking through the banks of clouds, casting odd shadows on the ground. Next to him, Rainbow Dash watched the clouds with some concern.

“Why are there so many clouds?” The cyan mare asked.

“The Pegasi are moving in as many as they can, to stop the Changelings in the air.” Twilight said behind them. “If we can ground them because of cloud coverage, we should be able to move our Pegasi forces around at will.”

“How will that work?” John asked.

“The local Pegasi are often given small training in maneuvering around clouds.” Twilight explained. “The sea seems to produce them quite often, so fog and cloudbanks will roll in, and the Pegasi need to know how to move around and remove them.”

“And the Changelings have no such training.” Anton said from a nearby chariot.

“Exactly.”

The chariots moved around a low-hanging cloud, mountains towering above them. Suddenly, a Pegasi shouted something from the front of the formation, which got repeated down the group.

“Two minutes out!” Came the shout as Rainbow Dash passed it on to the ones behind them. John held on tightly to the rim of the chariot as the chariot descended, quickly having to rise to avoid a sudden ridge. With a final turn around a cloud, the city lay before him.

The city was several miles wide, and stood right along the shore of a large ocean. Dozens of buildings stood higher than thirty stories, and one even stood at around fifty. They towered into the air, although they had much more noticeable additions to them now. Many were on fire, and a few tilted slightly, as if some of the foundations had been damaged.

Right as he watched, one near the edge of town that stood at around twenty stories collapsed in the middle, the entire structure falling sideways into the streets below. Even with the clouds moving in, several hundred specks, Changelings and Pegasi both, twisted in the air, locked in a much more personal version of the fight above Seattle.

The chariot reached the edge of town, and descended onto a field in the middle of a slightly built-up area. Hundreds of ponies milled between dozens of tents, and the Pegasi in the formation began to land in open spots on the ground. Many stared in slight shock as the three humans, along with two of the Elements of Harmony, began to walk from the landing area to a large tent that dominated the middle of the field.

“Well, let’s go over there. That looks important.” Wesley said as the group moved through the camp.

John moved aside the tent flap as they walked in. The tent was is complete chaos: Ponies ran this was and that, clutching messages in their teeth and, occasion, in magical telekinesis. One figure, however, strode at the center of it.

“Be sure to send a group of Pegasi to assist the groups moving downtown.” The tall unicorn said, striding between the ponies around him before fixing us with a glare. “What are you, and what are two of the Elements doing here?”

“We’re humans.” John said. “Celestia sent us down here, and we came to get orders.”

“Good, I heard about your arrival. You’re military, at least from what I’ve heard.” The unicorn said. “Just move downtown. Organization doesn’t matter, the battle is complete chaos anyway.”

“Sounds good.” John said, shooting a salute to the unicorn before turning around and leading the rest of the group outside.

“Well, that’s awfully specific.” Twilight deadpanned as they moved towards the tall buildings that marked downtown, walking through the field and around dozens of groups of ponies.

“At least we have an objective.” Wesley remarked.

“A very uninformative objective. I am quite sure that it did not help us in the least.” Anton said.

“Well, I’ll be taking off, then.” Rainbow Dash said, stretching her wings. “When the battle is over, meet by the waterfront.” With that, the cyan pegasus took off, the others staring after her.

“Well, she’s as impulsive as usual.” Wesley stated.

“No kidding.” John said as they started walking again.

John unslung his rifle and flicked the safety off as the sounds of battle drew ever closer. Rather than the bullets and shells he was used to, a low hum filled the air (Twilight stated that it was from the immense amount of magical spells being used), yelling and explosions sounded, with the occasional sound of metal hitting metal.

The buildings around them grew ever taller, and John scanned the streets and rooftops, waiting for any sigh of ambush. Four low-flying pegasi zoomed down the streets, clutching spears in their hoofs as they went between the buildings.

Twilight looked left and right, watching the area with intent eyes. She knew that the Changelings could come from anywhere, at any moment. Four unicorns came up behind them and passed them, giving only a few seconds glance to the humans and the Element of Magic walking down the street.

Two of the unicorns tumbled to the ground not twenty feet ahead as green bolts hit them from above. The remaining two looked to the top of the buildings as John and the others did the same.

“Above! Rooftops!” John shouted, looking through the small scope and finding one of the Changelings in his sights. He fired, the round hitting the Changeling, and causing it to tumble twelve stories to the ground with a scream. A green bolt flew past him, but he ignored his as he went behind a large piece of rubble, blocking their fire.

Wesley rose out of his cover, another pile of rubble in the street, and fired at the Changelings on the rooftop. Several tried to take to the air, but were stopped moments later as a group of pegasi landed on top of the buildings, taking out the ones there within moments.

The group of guards moved on as John reformed the three man (and one pony) group and started them towards a building. He moved in the open door, past a sign that stated ‘3rd Street Hotel’, and into an obvious lobby, headed towards some stairs. As the others followed him and Wesley cursed climbing, John ran up the stairs, headed for the roof.

A minute later, he burst out of a door on it. Turning right, towards the downtown, he ran and leaped over a low wall onto the next roof, taking time to sling his rifle as the others followed him.

“Why are we going this way?” Twilight asked as she teleported the few feet up onto the next roof as John helped Anton up the six foot difference.

“Because the street is too dangerous. Twilight, other rooftop, please.” He said as they reached the next street. Nodding, Twilight teleported them across the forty foot distance, before they stopped as Twilight caught her breath.

“Sorry, teleportation for four across that distance takes a bit of effort.” Twilight said.

“You used to do it all the time.” Wesley commented as they started running across the rooftop again.

“That was a month ago.” Twilight said as she jumped over a low wall in sync with the rest of the group.

Green bolts impacted the rooftop around them, scorching small holes in the concrete as John and the others dived behind whatever cover they could find, such as the ventilation and cooling units. Several Changelings flashed overhead, followed by a large thud. John looked out of cover, and noticed that a Pegasi guard had impacted the rooftop.

A moment later, Wesley ran out of cover and over to the guard, putting a finger to the top of the guard’s throat, feeling for a pulse, before shaking his head.

“The guard’s gone, let’s just keep moving.” Wesley said.

“I sure hope Rainbow is having a better time than we are.” John said as he lifted himself up to the next rooftop, his arms already protesting from the effort.

-=-=-

High above the city, Rainbow Dash rolled to the left to avoid another magical burst from the Changeling behind her, diving down in an added effort. She sped up quickly, reaching the speed necessary for a Sonic Rainboom within seconds. A cone of air formed around her and then dissipated as she shot through the air, losing the Changeling within seconds.

She slowed down to normal speed as she entered the city, seeking out areas where she could help. She still had quite a bit of C4 from the human’s world, and wasn’t shy about using it. She reached into her bag and grabbed onto another clump with her hoof. Bringing it out and slipping a detonator in it before looking at her target.

Up ahead, a large group of twenty Changelings was moving down a street, headed for a rather large group of guards. Rainbow did a quick mental calculation and tossed the C4. It sailed through the air, impacting the side of a building right as Rainbow clicked the detonation trigger.

The blast shattered the side of the five-story building, causing the weakened top to tumble down, burying the street – and the Changelings – in rubble. She rose up in the air, gaining altitude as she flew. Looking down on the city, she could see that they were winning overall, although Changelings seemed to be streaming into the city in the distance.

She gave a small grin, before tilting downward, seeking another target.

For her, the day had only begun.

-=-=-

Wesley squeezed the trigger, his Sa-58 spitting out an empty cartridge as another bullet went down the street. From his position on top of a tall building, he could see the ponies ten stories below on the streets holding off the Changeling counterattack.

Next to him, John shifted his aim as he found another target. Before he could fire, he ducked down, right as a green bolt flew through the space he had been in. Cursing, he rose over the short wall again and fired several rounds, hoping to keep the Changelings suppressed.

He noticed a group of two dozen Changelings come down the street, several among them firing green bolts. To his right, Twilight shot out another spell, the bolt exploding in the middle of the formation as the rest scattered onto the sides of the street.

Several took to the air, flying at the guard forces. Wesley fired several rounds at them, missing most of them, but several fell from the air, due to both him and the unicorns below.

He heard what sound like a yell behind him, and twisted around right as a Changeling is Cobalt Blue armor rammed into him.

“Shit!” He said, kicking back at the offending Changeling and sending it flying backwards as John turned around and saw the Changeling.

“Changeling!” John shouted, firing several sounds, most of them deflecting off of the armor that the Changeling had as it charged forward. Finally, one caught it in the side. The Changeling, however, nearly gored him with the horn as John flipped the back of his rifle down, and then up, ramming the bottom of the buttstock into the Changeling and sending it reeling.

Wesley fired the final shots, sending a burst of three rounds into its side, the rounds punching through the lighter armor there and blowing apart the Changeling’s organs. It collapsed to the ground, dead.

“Are you two alright?” Twilight said, pointing to the slightly charred corpse of a Changeling next to her. “I got distracted by one over here.”

“I’m fine.” Wesley said as he got up, clutching his stomach. “I think I got hit pretty hard, though.”

John noticed something that his friend seemed not to: Blood seeping through Wesley’s fingers.

“Wesley. Remove your hand from your stomach. I think you’ve been more than hit.” John said as the sounds of battle continued to reach their ears.

“Wha…” Wesley voice faded as he looked down, before slowly collapsing with his back at the wall. “John, I think that bastard got me.”

Twilight rushed forward and removed Wesley’s hand, using magic to make a tear in his uniform where the blood seemed to be soaking. True enough, a one-inch hole was in the middle of Wesley’s chest, right below his stomach. Twilight grimaced as she spotted it: She would need plenty concentration and energy to heal it.

“Wesley, hold still.” Twilight said in a calm voice. “John, hold them off as I try to heal this.”

As quickly as she could, Twilight wracked her head for all the medical spells Celestia had taught her. It hadn’t been many, but she knew that, right now, she needed them.

Once she found the one she was looking for, she closed her eyes in concentration, feeling the energy flow into her horn. Wesley watched with half-opened eyes as his skin seemed to close over the spot, the sensation feeling like a thousand tiny ants crawling over his skin. He ignored it as he took a deep breath, feeling the pain fade.

“Thanks, Twilight.” He said after a moment, his hands shaking as they grasped for his rifle. Looking ahead of him, he noticed that Twilight seemed exhausted. “Are you ok?”

“No. I feel like I just ran the distance between Appaloosa and Ponyville. Twice.” The lavender unicorn said, taking a deep breath to calm herself before laying down on the ground. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Just… Give me time to rest.”

Wesley nodded and grabbed his rifle, aiming over the wall at the increasing amounts of Changelings attacking their positions. The ponies in the streets below were taking heavy casualties, as attested by the dozens of bodies behind the crude barricade the advance had halted behind.

In all his time fighting, he hadn’t been wounded, not even once. And now, without Twilight here, he probably would have had to been lifted back to the field, a full mile away. He shook the thoughts away from his head, aiming his rifle at the individual black shapes moving down the streets.

John pulled the trigger of his AEK-971, rounds striking a Changeling running across the street, bouncing off its armor before a lucky shot felled it. He shifted his fire to the next one, his rifle emitting a dull click. Cursing, he detached his current magazine before clicking another one in place, and resumed firing.

-=-=-

As the sun started to set on the horizon, Rainbow Dash scanned the ground, looking for the group of humans. She quickly found them: The humans being the only ones with guns firing on the top of the building in the entire city, much less the planet.

Grinning, she swooped down, headed towards them. The fighting was about the wind down with the coming night, and they needed to regroup and rest.

And prepare for the next day.

-=-=-

Tacit Darkness, the commander of Changeling Sub-Group #28, stood on top of a mountain overlooking Canterlot. Around him, eighty other Changelings, picked for this missed, glared at the capital of their enemy. Guards manned the walls, but no shield was up, ensuring that they would be able to get in if they were quick enough.

Sending the single through the Hive Mind, he lifted off into the air, the others following him and splitting into two groups. Tacit grinned at the shapes of his fellow Unitfriends, glad to be with them on this mission. Queen Chrysalis herself had briefed him on this, and given him the message that this was important to her. That, he though, no sane Changeling would disobey.

As he dived down, a shout rang out from the walls, and guards scurried along them as he landed, along with many others, killing the guards when they encountered them. Moving forward, Tacit studied the mental map he had been given, gathering the Changeling together and moving out.

It was time to complete his mission.