"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."- ancient proverb.

An hour ago.

The hooded quadruped finally made it. Accompanied by two Zebra shamans, the ambassador had arrived in Gryphonia after an exhausting and long journey.

The ambassador was named Uganda. He was the (former) representative of Zebrica to the Equestrian ponies. For the years he had worked in Equestria, he believed that the ponies were kind and benevolent individuals.

All that had to change however when humanity took another step on this sacred world.

Surely the idea of returning humans would throw all of Equestria into the defensive. As per their promise, the humans would no doubt seek to finish what they had started thousands of years ago by using their massive starships to blow this planet to smithereens.

When news that humanity had landed on Epona reached him, Uganda was thrown into a state of disarray. The humans had the nerve to show up on this planet. Did they seriously think that Epona would allow them into society where they could easily create chaos?

Unfortunately, the ponies were planning otherwise. Uganda expected Equestria to keep true to their word of not negotiating with imperialists, so when news of humanity came, the last thing he expected was for Equestria to welcome them.

Upon hearing that Equestria was going to treat the arriving humans as invited guests. Uganda was thrown into a fit of rage and panic. The first thing he did was immediately request a meeting with Celestia and Luna to inform them that cooperating with humanity was going to be a severe mistake.

However, Uganda could not get a hold of the princesses and no matter how many times he tried to warn the royal advisors, they simply wouldn't believe him that humanity was a threat. Uganda was simply dismissed as uninformative.

Uninformative? He thought. How could one race forget utter devastation and a promise to destroy all life on their world?

Uganda simply concluded that the ponies were either foolishly accepting humanity without realizing the consequences, or had been deceived.

Regardless, Uganda held true to his faith and immediately sent a letter to his government that detailed humanity's return.

To his surprise however, he had learned that his nation had in fact been aware of the return of humanity ever since a potion master named Zecora had spoken to the officials a few days ago.

Uganda later wrote a letter regarding that Equestria had intended to befriend the humans and allow them to integrate into their fair world. It was heresy amongst the highest levels.

Uganda kept a correspondence between his nation and himself. Over time, he learned that news of humanity was spreading across Epona like wildfire. Soon, ambassadors from all species with the glaring exception of pony kind had met and alliance was being formed to expel the humans before harm could be committed towards them.

Uganda kept the information of the alliance silent during his remaining time in Canterlot, as if he was going to allow Equestria time to put up a resistance.

Based on the messages he was receiving, an army would attack the 4 humans and the rest of Equestria on the 23rd of June, the Summer Sun Celebration.

All Uganda needed to do was keep quiet, but all that changed when received a letter from Nigeria himself, who stated they were forming up a plan to take our humanity and the princesses much earlier.

Uganda strongly advised his leader otherwise, but Nigeria was convinced of his plan. Already he had planned to expel humanity from Canterlot by creeping into the city in the dead of night and release a series of potion attacks that would poison the humans and leave Equestria to the alliance's mercy.

The ambassador had to admit, it was a fine plan. The humans would no doubt be asleep at night and the potions were far more than effective.

Nigeria had already written to Uganda that he had a plan to escort him out of the city before the attack even took place.

In the dead of night, Uganda would slip away from the city using his diplomatic immunity and be escorted out of Equestria by train using tickets Nigeria had sent. All he had to do was get to Zebrica before news of the Canterlot attack took place.

Uganda did so. At 9 PM, a few hours before the fatal attack, the ambassador got on a train and headed to Zebrica. He was informed that if all went smoothly, Nigeria and his team would meet him in the nation by sunrise.

Sunrise came however, but there was no sign of Nigeria. Uganda waited a few more hours, but he realized it was hopeless. He knew what the humans were capable of and it didn't take a genius to what happened to Nigeria.

So now here he was. In the middle of Gryphonia, official headquarters of the alliance.

Uganda subtly moved along the menacing atmosphere of the city while his two aides prevented any sort of trouble from befalling upon him.

The nation of Gryphonia had been radically changed since the alliance had been formed.

Normally, the Griffins were militaristic and at times, xenophobic, but now was not the time for keeping to one's self. Once the alliance had been formed, the Griffins had taken upon the mantle to train troops from all races to fend off the humans.

Furthermore, the central palace of the Griffin emperor had been converted into a meeting hall for the alliance to voice their concerns and tactics.

The castle was massive and overlooked a large training field. Uganda didn't need to be at the top of the castle to know that it housed an improbable number of soldiers waiting to take out their anger on humanity.

Uganda prayed for mercy as to all those who would have to face humanity in combat. True they had massive numbers, but every life that would inevitably died would count.

Slowly, Uganda made his way into the castle. All seemed to be okay until-

"HALT!" cried out a Griffin captain. She, accompanied by 3 others surrounded the Zebra trio with weapons pointed right at them.

"Who are you? You better have a good reason for being here." gritted the Griffin.

Uganda cleared his throat. "I am Uganda, a representative of the Zebra people."

"We're sorry, but the leaders of the alliance right now can not be disturbed. Turn around or you'll be sorry!" she glared.

"I bring news of the death of Nigeria. One of the leaders of the alliance is gone." announced Uganda.

The Griffin lowered her spear and signaled her troops to do the same.

---------

Inside the meeting hall, emperor Talonclaw hastily made his way to his seat.

It was a troubling time for all. It was one thing that the humans had returned with their incomprehensible machines to finish off this planet, but was another that Equestria made peace with them.

In all honesty, he really wanted Equestria on his side this time. With their aid, they could have easily trumped the four humans that were on this world with no casualty.

But no, Equestria had to play the being nice game, and now it cost them all the lives of Nigeria.

Suddenly, the door opened and revealed Duke Jackson of the donkeys. Say what you want about the donkeys, but they were a fierce enemy if they were aggravated. Talconclaw himself admitted that Jackson was a skillful leader as well.

Jackson still had his ever grumpy expression put on, but unlike a common donkey, this was the face that made you want to runaway in the other direction. He was supposed to be wearing a ceremonial robe which although was far too big, was quite regal nonetheless.

Talconclaw rose from his seat and put on the best smile he could. "Duke Jackson, as usual, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Jackson did not respond, but kept his expression.

Talconclaw raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

Still no response. Just as Talonclaw started to move towards Jackson in confucian-

A green light suddenly surrounded the donkey and revealed a tall quadruped with a horn bug wings. Her coat was black, her legs had holes in them and her teeth were sharp and menacing.

Talconclaw shook himself back to reality. "Was that necessary Chrysalis?"

The queen of the changelings laughed hysterically. "Come now, in dark times such as this, a good laugh would be much appreciated. Besides, you nearly wet yourself."

"A good laugh is going to delay our course for retribution." called out a gruff voice that came from the real Duke Jackson who entered the room, with his cloak and crown equipped.

The three leaders sat down on the table of the meeting room. Chrysalis took the lead.

"Where is Nigeria? It is not like him to be late at meetings."

After a moment's hesitation, Talonclaw spoke. "I bring us all terrible news. Last night, Nigeria attempted to take out the humans by himself and a small group of potion masters."

"Fool!" yelled Jackson. "Why would he jeopardize our alliance by attacking?"

"In all honesty, it was a full proof plan." admitted Talonclaw. "Nigeria intended to poison bomb all of Canterlot while they slept with upmost stealth. Had their plan succeeded, all princesses, elements of harmony and the humans would have perished. Then Equestria would either have to surrender or burn to the ground."

"Then what caused him to fail?" questioned Chrysalis.

"The humans were awake for whatever reason." muttered Talonclaw.

"How do you even know Nigeria is dead?" inquired Jackson.

"A Zebra ambassador that was stationed in Canterlot told me all about it." gritted the Griffin.

Chrysalis squinted her eyes. "Did he actually see Nigeria perish?"

"No." shook Talconclaw. "But the very fact that he is not here proves that."

"So now what will we do? Nigeria was in charge of all of Zebrica and was responsible for getting the rest of the desert races like the buffalo to cooperate." hissed Chrysalis.

"I'm already busy with my people and the mules." said Jackson. "Elvarg is busy with the dragons and hydras."

"And I'm far too busy sending scouts to train all of your troopers!" replied Talconclaw. "Speaking of which, how are your soldiers faring?"

"My kind doesn't need the help of your trainers Talonclaw." Defended Chrysalis. "The Changelings are a proud race that obey my every command. As long as I can make perfect battle decisions, there is no need to waste time with mundane training exercises."

"You are stubborn Chrysalis." warned Talonclaw. "Changelings might be fierce opponents with powerful magic, but they will fall if not properly train."

"And you think of yourself as some sort of God-Emperor." replied Chrysalis. "I might not like you, but at least we are united by the things we despise."

"The donkeys are doing magnificent mind you." piped up Jackson. "Although I will admit it is thanks to the training your men supplied. The mules are doing rather dandy too. We might not be the happiest of species, but all the discrimination targeted towards us, we're mighty glad that we can take our anger out on something."

"I'm glad." nodded Talconcalw. "As for the dragons and hydras, well we know how much of a help they'll be. Lord Elvarg has even managed to round up a massive number of monsters to aid our situation."

"What about numbers? Where do we stand?" demanded Chryaslis.

"The Griffins keep true to their military traditions." bragged Talonclaw. "Our army has elevated from 1 million to 4 million over these few days."

"My Changelings will do anything I tell them." smirked Chrysalis. "We might be a small race, but I can force them to go to war at will. I count 2 million troops form my side."

"The donkeys might be mighty pissed off at the humans, but we still ain't a warrior race." exhaled Jackson. "Our numbers are pretty high however. Without a draft being implemented, I'm proud to say that the mules and donkeys have 300 thousand total troops ready to kick human butt."

"Don't you mean ass?" laughed Chrysalis.

"What you you have against asses?" glared Jackson.*

"And we have the entirety of dragon kind at our side. The humans don't stand a chance." smiled Talconclaw.

"What about our little ally?" asked Jackson.

"I've spoken to him." replied Chrysalis. "He still is against us attacking the Equestrians so he will not join our war effort involving Equestria."

"What about the humans?" stated Talonclaw.

"Oh he still holds a deep grudge after what they did to him." laughed Chrysalis. "He has agreed to keep up the barrier and still holds true to his promise."

"Will he still join us in attacking the humans directly?" asked Jackson.

"I don't think he's rather interested in bloodshed. What about the clones? Have they been faring well?" asked Chrysalis.

"As of now yes." nodded Talconclaw. "I have to admit Jackson, not even I would think of using the clone pool. Thanks to you, we now have hundreds more of our best troops in order to ensure combat efficiency."

The donkey gave a friendly wave.

"However, the clone pool merely provided a copy of the original." frowned Talonclaw. "While all physical statistics remained the same, none of the clones retained any memories or knowledge other than simple language."

"Any clones prove to be a disruption?" inquired Chrysalis.

"It was a little trouble at first." shrugged Talconclaw. "But as long as our clones know how to kill and that humans are the enemy, we will have no trouble."

"Speaking of trouble, why is it that the humans seem so regressed all of a sudden?" questioned Chrysalis. "Their technology does not seem to be on par to what they utilized thousands of years ago."

"We discussed this last meeting." replied Talonclaw. "Their barbarism clearly forced themselves to revert to a relatively primitive stage. Better for us anyway."

"By the way, don't you think our soldier numbers are a little excessive?" questioned Jackson.

"What do yo mean?" slammed Talconclaw.

"I want the humans dead just as much as you." assured the donkey. "But I find the whole idea of sending more than a million soldiers after them rather unnecessary. The humans might be powerful, but I can swear that they will perish if they simply faced against a few hundred thousands."

"You should have told that to the humans all those years ago!" hissed Chrysalis. "They didn't need to bombard our races and civilizations from orbit, but they did it anyway to make sure that we all perished. Why can't we do the same?"

"But all this spending on killing 4 humans is a waste." remarked Jackson. "We have lost billions on war equipment we won't even need to use."

"Are you suggesting we drop the whole endeavor?" interrogated Talonclaw.

"Of course not!" defended the donkey. "I was simply pointing out that once the four humans are dead, our economies will have nothing to fall back on."

"Now look who's the fool." snickered Chrysalis. "Do you forget that we still have the rest of Equestria to conquer?"

"But what happens after then huh? Are we going to go back to hating each other once our common enemy is gone?" exclaimed Jackson.

Before anyone could respond, a creature flew right into the room with impressive speed. How it got past the guards seemed impossible.

Right when the leaders were about to get on to the defensive, the creature revealed itself to be a pegasus with an orange coat and blue mane.

"A pegasus!" yelled Talonclaw.

Right before the Griffin could charge the 'pony', Chrysalis blocked him with her fore hoof.

A familiar green light engulfed the pegasus and revealed itself to be a Changeling. It had slightly larger ears than a normal Changeling, which meant it was a voicebox, a drone used to collect information.

It spoke with a raspy and frail voice. "Your majesty. I have returned from espionage mission as planned."

"Tell me what you have found." ordered the changeling queen.

"I bring you all bad news of what happened to Lord Nigeria." coughed the Changeling.

"He's dead. We know." replied Talonclaw. "He was killed after his failed attempt to potion bomb Canterlot."

"No!" denied the Changeling. "Nigeria's men were slaughtered but he was captured. He was only executed a few hours ago."

"What did they do to him?" asked Jackson.

"I disguised myself as various ponies while stalking the humans." told the changeling. "Using my advanced hearing skills, I was able to decipher the humans interrogating Nigeria."

"Don't tell me he gave in!" hissed Talonclaw.

"He did, your highness. Now the humans know everything regarding their alliance. For some reason, they asked Nigeria as to why we were against them in the first place. As if they did not know of their sins." told the drone.

"They are either feigning or too stubborn to accept retribution." shook Chrysalis.

"After their interrogation, they went to the hospital to look after an injured alicorn. Now they have a plan to go to the Crystal Empire."

"I'm surprised that wasn't the first place they visited." laughed Jackson.

"What are they going to do there? Are they going to visit the ancient archives?" inquired Talonclaw.

"That is what they said they were going to do." hissed the Changeling. "They have no way to take out the barrier and believe the data chamber will be the solution."

"Of course!" realized Talonclaw. "Once the humans visit the archives, they will no doubt find information that would take down our only form of protection, allowing the rest of the human fleet to come through."

"That is if they don't use whatever technology is inside to wipe us out first." pointed Chrysalis.

"When are they leaving to the Empire?" asked Jackson.

"They should have left 30 minutes ago. I spotted Celestia making the train ticket arrangements." informed the drone. "The 6 elements of harmony and a group of civilians are with them."

"I have a schedule of all train rides for the day across the nation. With any luck, we can ambush the humans in the midst of their voyage." proposed Talonclaw.

"Our armies are not ready." shook Chrysalis. "We can't even deploy our soldiers in the time it will take the group to arrive in the Empire."

"But we can at least take down the train and hope it will take the lives of Equestria's most precious ponies with them. Besides, if we can injure the humans now, that would severely threaten our enemies' morale." smirked Talonclaw.

"But how will we get them on time? We have no allies on the road from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire." pointed Chrysalis.

A malevolent smile formed on Jackson's face. "Actually, I have been working with my division of the alliance, and let me just say with a certain fast response team I have in store, the humans won't even know what hit them."

Author's Notes:

*(I really hope you got that joke)

Sorry it's not a fight scene, I wanted to get this meeting out of the way and let my readers explore things from the alliance's perspective.

Also I wanted to hold a vote, who should Shadow fight in the next chapter "Derailed"?

You can choose between Buffalo and Donkey. Votes up for comments will not count for anything.