The Changelings' War

The War Continues

We won the war at sea. It was hard but I’m handing the story over to Octavia Melody: A story she experienced while I was away in my office working.

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I am Mare-ine Lieutenant Octavia Melody. I lead the charge on Appleloosa. The Changelings had taken over the far-off city. We were given some tanks and the 6 friends and others from Ponyville decided they want to help, so they said good-bye to their families and were off to the unknown (being Appleloosa.) Wish me luck and we shall win!

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Canterlot airport, Octavia’s troop carrier helicopter, Eastern Equestria.

“Alright, everypony! Attention!” says Octavia.

The ponies stand at attention.

“This is a completely different type of battle than the sea battle. I’m really not used to being on land,” she continues. “I threw up last night because of being so still compared to keeping my balance on a swaying ship, so if I ever pause, that’s the reason. Or run to the door.”

All the soldier ponies laugh including Octavia.

“We’re headed to Appleloosa and we were given tanks for the job. Any questions?” she asks.

Rainbow Dash raises a hoof.

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah… Um… Why are we headed to Appleloosa?” asks the blue Pegasus.

“The Changeling Army has invaded the town and has taken it over in only a few minutes,” says Octavia.

“Dag-Nabbit! Those filthy buggers dang took over mah cousin’s town!” yells Applejack.

“Lieutenant. May I speak to you?” asks one of the pilots.

“Sorry, everypony. I have to go.”

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Managing a navy is easy because you speak to the captain or radio operator, but commanding a squad of pony Mare-ines is very hard. I have to command a large number of constantly arguing ponies all the time and it can get really hard sometimes.

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Near Appleloosa landing point, near Changeling territory, borders of Appleloosa

“Here we are! Point Challenger!” calls a Unicorn.

The helicopter lands.

The green light shines and the door opens.

“GREEN LIGHT! LET’S GO!!!” the Unicorn yells.

The ponies storm out of the chopper and scramble to set up their camp.

Dropships drop tanks in a group. The group nearby consist of M1A1 Abrams tanks, Expeditionary Tanks, M1128 Strykers, M2A2 Bradleys, Stridsvagn 103 S-Tanks, and M24 Chaffees

A dropship drops an angular-shaped tank that looks as if it's made of quadrilateral plates only, mounting an over-sized turret that is of a Challenger armed with a 17-pdr gun, has a shark face on it, and says Changeling Destroyer on the sides of the engine compartment

Then a dropship drops a weird looking tank. It looks like Changeling Destroyer, but with 4-tone camouflage whose spots are the colour of the Cutie Mark Crusader’s coats and says How do ya like dem Apples! on the side.

Applejack sees it and thinks, is that the Cutie Mark Crusaders? Nah! What am I thinking?! They’re too young to join the war! Heh heh!

The 4 Crusaders run up to the Mane 6.

“Hey Aypplejack! How do ya like mah tank?” asks Apple Bloom all giddy “Ain’t ya proud of us?!”

“APPLE BLOOM! What exactly do you think you’re doing fightin’ in the war?!” yells Applejack.

“We decided teh help you guys win da war!” says Babs Seed.

“And we also wanted to try out a tank!” says Scootaloo.

“Hey don’t forget this would also be a good way to get our Cutie Marks!” adds Sweetie Belle.

“That’s nice of you, but we would be heartbroken if you got hurt or even killed. I’m sorry, girls. I think you’ll have to sit this one out,” says Twilight Sparkle.

Stryker (the new and improved Stryker) walks up to the 4 Crusaders.

“Crusaders. We’re moving out tomorrow, so be prepared. I’ll assist you 4 and Crusader with Changeling Destroyer, so we’ll be set!” says Mare-ine General Stryker. “Oh! Hello, girls! How are you today?”

“What have you done to mah sister?!” demands Applejack.

“Nothing! Last week, they told me they wanted to get their Cutie Marks by defeating foes like I did, and I told them, ‘Are you sure? I mean, your sisters would be pretty mad!’ and Apple Bloom said, ‘Aw… please…?’ with a face that nopony can say no to.”

The Mane 6 look at the Crusaders and frown.

Rarity says to Sweetie Belle, “Darling. I can’t let you get hurt! I wouldn’t allow it! Who would keep me company? I’d get lonely and I’d be-”

Stryker puts a hoof up to Rarity’s mouth.

“No. She’ll be fine! They’ll all be fine. As long as I’m here!” he says.

Octavia walks up to the group.

“Is there a problem here?” she asks.

“Yeah there’s a problem here! Mah sister decided it’s okay if she joins the war!” yells Applejack.

“Who? Apple Bloom?” asks Octavia.

“Yeah!” cries Applejack.

“She’s actually good with a tank, you know!” says Stryker. “And I reassured them that I’d fight at their side at all times.”

“Good,” says Octavia. “Stryker’s actually our best weapons and ordnance expert, especially when it comes to artillery and tanks. He knows how to fire 20 rounds in 60 seconds with a 17-pounder, 6 rounds a minute with a 152mm M-10 Howitzer, and 650 rounds a minute with a 2 cm Flak 38.”

“Really?!” the Mane 6 and the Crusaders ask together.

“Yep!” says Stryker proudly. “Though it is getting late. We better get to bed. Good night, everypony!” he yawns.

“Good night, Stryker!” they say.

They watch Stryker walk to Changeling Destroyer but he stops and looks at Crusader, then continues walking.

“You 6 should find your tank and get some rest we have a big day tomorrow,” the grey mare with a British accent says. “And you 4 Crusaders find Crusader. And listen to Stryker.”

The Mane 6 finds their tank, a Comet armed with a 76.2mm 17-pdr Mk VII gun.

“Ah think Ahm gonna bail. See you girls tomorrow,” yawns Applejack.

The 6 ponies climb into their Comet named Dasher.

The girls wish each other good night and drift off to sleep.

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On second thought, maybe it’s not so hard to command a Mare-ine squadron. I haven’t really thought it over, sadly. But I have a good feeling about this…

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“Alright everypony. Today’s the day we move out! I’ve strategically placed the tank, howitzer, and sniper positions,” says Octavia. “I’ve asked Fluttershy to be the leader of our sniper squadrons.”

“Fluttershy?” says Rainbow Dash as if saying, “are you freakin’ stupid?!”

“Yes. Fluttershy,” says the light grey Earth Pony.

Fluttershy steps forward.

“I’m ready for whatever job you need me to do,” the yellow Pegasus says shyly.

“Good. You are ready, right Fluttershy?”

“Yes. I am, Lieutenant Melody,” says Fluttershy. “All snipers come with me.”

Fluttershy hoists her and M2000 Intervention around her neck, grabs extra ammunition, and the sniper corps follows her away from the group.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders and General Chrystryker will take the lead of the Cromwells and Challengers.”

Stryker and the 4 fillies step forward.

“I’m ready, ma’am,” says Stryker.

“Move out!” Octavia says.

Stryker, the fillies, and the Cromwell Corps move out to their tanks, ignite the engines, and ride off.

Please Apple Bloom. Be safe. Thinks Applejack. Be safe…

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash will be the leaders of Comets. Comet Corps, move out!” says Octavia.

“Yee-hah!” cries Applejack, running to Dasher.

The Comet Corps do follow the Cromwell Corps’ lead.

“Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich will be in charge of the Partillery Corps.”

“This is gonna be so. Much. FUN!!!” says Pinkie Pie bouncing to her Party Cannon-equipped tanks.

They drive off with rap music playing

Octavia rolls her eyes and giggles.

“Spitfire and Calo, yes. General Calo-Kalani, will lead the Wonderbolts and the Strykers”

“Aye… I got ya covered, Tavi,” says Calo, winking.

“Heh heh heh. You never know when to stop do you, Calo?” snickers Octavia.

“Takes a lotta help teh get me teh stahp. Keh heh heh,” says Calo.

Calo and Octavia laugh as he walks away.

“Twilight Sparkle leads the Starswirl Strikers. Move out!” calls Octavia.

The Strikers move out.

“The rest of you, get your weapons and move out!”

“YES MA’AM!” the Mare-ines yell, saluting.

The Mare-ines scramble to get the best weapons possible.

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This will be a bloody battle, but the way we have to defeat the Changelings is to confront them at the source: their base/hive. Queen Chrysalis will not be happy if we defeat the Changeling Army, so we will fight and will not stop until they’re dead.

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The Abrams, Expeditionaries, Strykers, Bradleys, S-Tanks, and Chaffees mo find their place as well as the Strikers, snipers, and hoofsoldiers. The Partillery Corps lead the attack as a distraction, to take out the frontline (which is HUGE) and to make space for the rest of the Mare-ines to move in.

The Wonderbolts and Strykers in their customized Spitfire planes and Calo-Kalani's feared Black Shark Helicopter whine their way towards the Changeling Stronghold.

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That’s when the chaos starts:

Magic Bolts fly all over the place; bombs, rockets, and bullets fly and explode. Appleloosa is officially a battlefield. It turned from a peaceful Western-like town to a battleground faster than a blink of an eye.

Ragtag Appleloosans join the fight with hunting rifles and sawn-off shotguns (Which actually tips the scale to the Mare-ines just a bit.)

Mare-ines, Appleloosans, Changelings, and the Mare-force alike fall, crash, and burn, but that doesn’t stop them at all. But what does is a deep and terrifying whine. All the soldiers and the militias think the same thing: Doomsday.

But no: It’s an enormous black gunship-bomber with a terrifying-looking shark face on the nose and riddled with bullet holes. The fighter pilots on both sides decide to go after it. The snipers, AA turrets, Tanks, and Soldiers on both sides shoot at it, but what the Changelings get in return is a 220-pound bomb right in the centre of the frontline.

The Mare-ines stop shooting at it as well as the Mare-force. The bomber finds its place (Most likely a guess*) slightly below and behind the ‘V’ that the Mare-force make. But that consumes a lot of time, allowing the Changeling AA cannons to shoot down Soarin’ and Cloudchaser’s planes, as well as incapacitating Wind Rider’s plane and Midnight Strike’s bomber.

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Soarin’ doesn’t survive his crash, but Cloudchaser survives just barely. Cloudchaser remembers something Soarin’ told her when he crashed his plane in a training exercise where he almost died as she tries to smash his cockpit windshield:

“If anything happens to me, just leave me. Don’t worry. I’m just another pilot.”

And she remembers saying, “I can’t leave you, Soarin’. You’re more than just another pilot to me. You’re an amazing pilot and-”

She never got to finish her sentence as the ambulance ponies come and take him away on a stretcher.

“You’ll always be an amazing pilot. My amazing pilot,” the Pegasus says through tears as she finally breaks the windshield. “Always.”

Soon, bullets rip into her back and she slumps into the cockpit.

“Always…” she sighs out her last words.

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The tanks approach the Changeling frontline tailing behind the 5 remaining Partillery tanks.

“Destroyer to Crusader, Destroyer to Crusader. This is Stryker. Do you copy?” Stryker says through the radio.

“Affirmative. This is Crusader. What is your status?” giggles Apple Bloom. Soon the rest of the Crusaders are giggling.

“Status is clear. You okay over there, Sergeant?” asks Stryker.

“Yeah. Ahm fine. Ah you okay over there, General?” the yellow filly asks.

“Affirmative. I still don’t understand why you girls are giggling in a time of war!” Stryker says laughing.

“Oh. Ah just told the Crusaders a funny joke and we just can’t get over how funny it is!” laughs Apple Bloom.

Stryker laughs and shakes his head. Those girls are just plain crazy sometimes. I really don’t understand… thinks the General.

“General Calo-Kalani. Do you copy?” Stryker asks.

“Aye… This be Calo-Kalani. What can I do yeh for?” the other general chuckles.

“We got a Code… Whatever you’d call 4 fillies in a tank laughing about a joke in the middle of a war,” Stryker says into his headset.

“Keh heh heh… Dose fillies. Always a-laughin’ an’ a-gigglin’ ‘bout immature nonsense. Keh heh heh… I’d call that a Code, oh, 4 Fillies in a Tank Laughin’ ‘bout a Joke in the Middle o’ a War,” Calo-Kalani laughs.

Soon Stryker joins in.

“There’s just something about those fillies that I just adore… I can’t think of a time I’ve ever thought they were annoying up until now!” Stryker laughs over his headset. But that fades away when the sky darkens with a huge curtain of blackness.

“Crusaders… I think we got a bit problem…” says the black Alicorn with a tremour in his voice

“What is it, Stryker?” asks Apple Bloom. “Is it something we can do for you?”

“No, you dodo! Look up at the sky!” snaps Sweetie Belle.

The Crusaders look at the sky and swallow.

“Aw, man. That’s a lot of Changelings!” says Babs Seed, terrified.

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“IT’S AN ONSLAUGHT!” cries a Bofors gunner named Rifle Scopes over the radio. “FIRE LIKE IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!”

His voice is soon drowned out by the deafening thrum made by the Changelings’ insectoid wings. A lot of the soldiers curse and scramble for cover. The Appleloosans run for their houses and slam the shutters closed. Fluttershy curls up in her warm sand-coloured ghillie net and cries. The Bofors-armed AA crew quickly fold up their 40mm guns and scramble inside. Octavia runs for her helicopter. But the pilots don’t stop firing.

Calo-Kalani laughs at every Changeling he shoots down. Spitfire veers the Wonderbolts off and Calo-Kalani yells at her through his headset. Calo-Kalani charges the Changelings madly, allowing some of them to get shredded in his propellers, clearing the sky nowhere near 10 seconds flat, but took out more than 125 in 10 seconds flat.

“That’s gonna leave a mark! ON MY HELICOPTER!!!” yells Calo excitedly. “More ‘an 125 of them li'l buggers outta the way!”

But then something makes a crunch sound. He looks at the damage report of his helicopter.

“Somethin’ stuck in me rotor blades… Hmm… There’s gotta be way teh get it out… Whoops! Ne’r mind me rotor helped itself!” he chuckles. “I’m such a numbskull. Keh heh heh!”

The Changelings, noticing their aerial numbers being reduced to near nothing quickly, decide to retreat. But that isn’t what Calo-Kalani had in mind: He powered his Black Shark to full juice and shredded 100 or so more with his rotor and shot down another 20 or 30 with his GAU-16 .50 caliber Gatling cannon.

“Keh heh heh! Make ‘em suffer!” he says wildly. “Woo! Xbox One!”

He shoots them all down… Except for one.

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That ends the Battle of Appleloosa for the Allied Horses and the Changeling Empire. We lost a lot of soldiers that day and I wish we lost a lot less. We lost only 2 pilots (and very good ones too) today by the names of Soarin’ and Cloudchaser.

We will honor them as well as some of the team leaders we lost like Twilight Sparkle and Spitfire and some key soldiers and amazing fighters like Soarin', Cloudchaser, Rifle Scopes and his brothers Ajack and Acog Scopes and I’d especially like to honor the person who sacrificed his time that he “could’ve been playing video games and/or sleeping” to write this segment of this story for me and my husband Calo by the name of Alex.

Your Ally forever,

Octavia Melody