Equestria in Conflict - Discovering Home

Rainbow Dash soared through the air, the wind a constant force on her wings. She was flying up, into the sky, happy. Unbidden, however, imaged raced to her mind: Of blurred shapes moving at fast speeds, burning trails racing across the sky, and dots swarming in her vision.

She quickly shook away those images. She was finally home, in Equestria. She wouldn’t have to fight in massive aerial battles between dozens or even hundreds of airplanes anymore, or have to kill, either directly or indirectly, to save her life. She didn’t regret helping her friends, but she could almost literally feel the number of times she had to kill. How many had it been in the end? Over two hundred planes and helicopters was the final estimate from Sawyer, but she could have done without the specifics.

Her mind often wandered to those thoughts these days. Even though she had been home for a little under two weeks, she couldn’t seem to lose the mindset she had to adopt on Earth. Hoping to lose her mind in flying, she had instead found that different memories popped up.

Rainbow sighed. She hoped that, eventually, they would go away.

-=-=-

Twilight Sparkle walked through Ponyville, engaging small talk with John.

“-Mayor Mare’s been out the past week. She hasn’t been feeling good, so I’ve been taking up some of her workload.”

John looked up in though. “Huh. Anyone else like that?”

Twilight shook her head. “Only her. Goodness knows she needed a break.”

“Anything else going around town now I should know about?” John asked.

“Only the fact that Rainbow Dash and Anton might as well pronounce that they’re ‘together’. I don’t think either of them wants to pull back their pride enough for one moment to even admit it to each other, much less the entire town. Which, by the way, already knows. It’s pretty obvious when they are together so much.”

Wesley suddenly appeared alongside John. “Hi John!”

John leaned back a bit. “Where did you come from?”

“I saw you both walking together down the street. You should really learn to watch to see if anybody’s following you.”

“What, and be as paranoid as you?” John shot back.

“Yes.” Came the reply.

“Have I ever told you that I hate you?”

“Only a hundred times.”

“You’re both incredibly immature.” Twilight interjected.

“We know.” John stated. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Hey, does anyone know where Anton is?” Wesley asked.

“Probably at his house.” Twilight said.

Wesley immediately split off from the group, headed for their houses. He quickly arrived there and, after retrieving something from his house, knocked on Anton’s door.

“Ебля... [Fucking…], Just a moment!” He heard from behind the door. Four seconds later, it opened.

“Yes, Wesley?” Anton asked in a calm voice.

“Anton, you know how earlier you said you would show me your Sa-61, and I would show you my Sa-58?” Anton nodded. “Is this the right time?”

Anton grinned. “It is the perfect time! I was just disassembling it, checking it for errors. Come in, come in!” He said, motioning Wesley in.

They both walked towards the front living room. On the table in the middle of it, the small submachine gun lay disassembled into its core pieces. And with that, they both began to show off their Czech weapons.

-=-=-

Queen Chrysalis looked over her preparations from her room in the hive. Everything was going according to plan. Most of the infiltrators were already in place to disrupt Pony society, and all of the various Changeling soldiers, infiltrators, and those of other jobs were ready to begin their assault. A small contingent would stay behind to guard the hive, as well as the relatively tiny pony colony inside, but most would be going for the assault.

While they might have been outnumbered by ponies in general, with around 40,000 Changelings to two million, the guards that the ponies had only amounted to 20,000. And this time, unlike at Canterlot, her subjects wouldn’t be knocked out by a magical wave as soon as victory was close. The assault on Canterlot had been by a force of one thousand, against the 500 city guards, most of whom had been knocked out of the fight within minutes.

These were the same odds, and there was no chance of failure this time. Total civil collapse would hopefully commence the moment of the first attack, and with it, the way for her main army would be clear. If all went to plan, the conquest of Equestria would be finished within four months.

And, in her opinion, everything would go as planned.

-=-=-

Amethyst Star was about to go to sleep. There was only one day now until the invasion began. All of the Changelings in the area had reported in, and all of the replacements had gone as planned. Everything was in position for Phase One, which would begin tomorrow: The start of Chaos. If she was lucky, two days from now she would be standing over a conquered Ponyville, with the Elements of Harmony firmly under their control and imprisoned. Then, and only then, would a new era begin for Equestria.