Once upon a time, there was a magical land called Equestria. It was a land of peace, plenty and harmony, filled with equine citizens of all colors, shapes and sizes that loved to laugh, sing and make merry of a day.

Four years ago, those merry ponies had their peace of mind disturbed when the Changeling Empire, led by one Hive Queen Chrysalis, disrupted the much-anticipated Royal Wedding of the Captain of the Royal Guard and the junior Princess Cadance.

The assault was repelled, with luck and the power of love, and the Changeling Empire retreated to lick its collective wounds. And so Equestria remained a largely happy place, but it bore its scars where changelings had been revealed; families lost fathers, lovestruck fillies lost their beaus, friends divided, never to be reunited.

Three years ago, Princess Twilight Sparkle was coronated, chosen by the Elements of Harmony to become a fourth Princess of Equestria. The youngest alicorn made her mark in the history books for the umpteenth time with her first official act as princess - to make peace with the Changeling Empire.

Chrysalis signed the mutually beneficial treaty under a torrent of photo flash, and with a smile on her fanged face. She claimed the assault on Canterlot was not truly one of malice, but one of need, and was only too happy to put her seal on a treaty with terms far more reasonable than the Changelings had any right to, even after writing off the Royal Wedding as an act of desperation.

Changelings reintegrated with Equestrian society, this time with no deception, nothing to hide. The union of Empire and Diarchy was as awkward as you would expect, but with time, the scars of Equestria began to fade. Families became whole once again, moving forward in forgiveness of lies told; old flames kindled, this time on tinder of truth; terrible duos once more ran rampant, using newly revealed magics to further enhance escapades. It looked like Equestria could finally find the harmony it once held.

Only, some beings are just born bad to the core, with a destiny to uproot and disturb peace, no matter what. And one of them nursed a grudge. Sharing was not good enough. The Equestria-Hive Treaty was a transparent attempt at pleasing everybody, and it should have pleased nobody.

No, treaties were weak, sharing a nation was almost laughably pitiable. There was really only room for one race in Equestria, and neither the ponies nor the changelings seemed to be able to see it. Or they didn’t want to see it.

Gritted teeth, a vow of change, and a dagger planted in the middle of a map. Where, when, nobody knows. All that mattered was... change was coming.

Two years ago, changelings began behaving oddly. Some withdrew from society, becoming recluses. Others seemed distracted by something almost constantly. Some vanished altogether without explanation. When it reached the ears of Equestria’s princesses, it painted one picture - a picture of Trouble. Unfortunately, Trouble was two steps ahead of them in a masterfully worked plan, and just as they prepared to get to the bottom of things, the bottom of things was already becoming the top of everything.

The coup was sudden, unexpected. Queen Chrysalis herself barely had time to ask what was going on before what was going on went through the organ she called her heart.

Treason, pure and simple, was the order of the day, and the new Hive Queen Vespida made sure every pony and every changeling knew it, flying flags of black, marked with a deathly simple, haunting mark painted on with vivid green fluid. A V. V for Vespida, V for Victory, because that’s what it already was.

And it didn’t stop there. In the first day, just over three quarters of Equestria's population centres, big and small, were rapidly attacked by those they once called friend. The Royal Guard and every Equestrian soldier was mustered to fight, but it did them no good. A full third of the cities and towns fell to the onslaught before Equestria discovered the price of defeat. Those defeated expected incarceration, to be trapped in the chrysalises seen at Canterlot, mercy. What they got was the exact opposite, as every stallion, mare and foal the changelings could find were put to the torch in swathes of chemical fire.

The Guard did what they could, but there is only so much an army with zero proper wars under it’s belt in the last millenium could do against a hostile blitzkrieg of changelings playing metaphorical and literal hardball. Platoons fell by the dozen, and lives sacrificed by the hundreds simply to buy two things: the barest amount of breathing room for the citizenry, and disturbing reports regarding Vespida’s war materiel.

Reports of not just changelings, but strange and disturbing creatures that were more like living suits of armor, blind, insensate, organic shells of muscle and chitin that served no purpose than to support and protect a changeling encased within. Where Chrysalis had been hard pressed to field two or three Juggernaut-class changeling warriors, Vespida had fielded entire squads of these abomination-encased changelings to much greater effect.

On the second day of the assault, the sun rose over Equestria to a bleak landscape. No town was safe, although some were safer than others; Canterlot, for example, with its lofty perch and sturdy walls of magic, became a bastion, the core of the Equestrian response.

Ponyville was slated to be another. Despite being unremarkable in location and local fortifiable landmarks, it was expected to provide vast amounts of resistance, with five Elements of Harmony, one of whom was a Princess, and a resident dragon, to say nothing of the Guard reinforcements that such high-profile individuals warranted.

Vespida, as records would have it, anticipated such a strong defense and allocated her own forces accordingly. The last stand of the Ponyville Five brought countless thousands of ponies a fighting chance in other parts of Equestria, as Vespida diverted everything she had in reinforcements to Ponyville.

Perhaps if all six had been present, it may have gone differently, and these might be the ramblings of a historian with more screws loose than hairs on his head. But as it was, there were five to stand against an onslaught of changelings and chemical weapons that blackened the sky at midday. Lesser ponies would have broken right then and there, before battle even commenced.

Not them. They stood their ground, and with a strength born of desperation, beat back the hordes of changelings. They fought until their hooves split, struggled until their muscles burned, and screamed defiance at the horde until their voices broke.

They lasted less than thirty minutes.

Equestria withdrew like a snail salted, and retreated to the strongest bastion they had, under the protective and fearful watch of the strongest rulers they knew. Canterlot. Canterlot’s population hextupled as refugees and the lucky flooded through the gates.

Among the streams of refugees, one electric-blue-bodysuited pegasus stumbled to a halt just inside the city walls, adrift in a sea of shouting, panic and chaos, eyes frantic as she searched for five familiar faces, five faces she wasn’t there to be with when they needed her most, praying that this was not going to be the worst possible one time she wasn’t there...

She found one small dragon huddled in the corner, and two eyes that told a tale nobody should ever have to hear.

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