Applejack sat on the edge of the shrubbery, waiting in silent concern for Clyde’s return. Both she and her brother were afraid for Applebloom, and for themselves; Clyde thought this was the work of changelings. If he was right, their sister, and Equestria, was in grave danger.

For a brief moment, Applejack thought she saw a sudden glow from within the cave, a verdant flash interrupting the darkness. She leaned in closer, trying to hear or see anything in the dim silence.

She heard something from inside the cave, but was unsure of what it was; she had never heard anything like it before. As Applejack grew worried, her brother stood, his flanks and shoulders flexing in anticipation, ready to face whatever came out of the cave to defend his sister. Luckily, it was Clyde that came barreling out of the cave first, their unconscious sister on his back.

He ran up to them, leaning so that Applebloom fell from his shoulders and onto Applejack’s waiting back.

“It’s an invasion force, and this is the recon element,” he began, panting, “They’ve got cocoons waiting inside. They’re going to try to take Equestria and feed off the survivors or turn them into changelings.”

Another bark, followed by a demonic cackle came from the cave, closer than before. Applejack’s eyes widened and Clyde pointed at the still blacked out Applebloom.

“Take her back,” he ordered, “Get the others. Ring the bell tower thirteen times; that’s the signal for a call to arms. Once the surrounding towns hear that, they’ll ring their bell towers too until all of Equestria knows an invasion is coming. After that, evacuate the town; get everypony into the mountains. Once they’re safe, you and the others need to get to the elements of harmony. Go to Canterlot as fast as you can, because we won’t have mu- Oough!”

A sudden black flash knocked him down as he was attacked from behind by the first of the changelings. Clyde fell on his back, the shape-shifter on top of him being held at bay by only an extended grey forelimb. The creature slashed back and forth with its jagged horn, excitedly cackling, but wasn’t able to reach Clyde’s flesh.

“Go!” he shouted as he threw the foe off of him, but the Apples stayed still, frozen. He jumped up and positioned himself in between the menace and the others. The creature snarled as three more emerged from the cave.

“I thought you said it was an invasion?” asked Applejack very untimely.

“These are scouts! The rest of them won’t be far behind! You have to go!”

The earth ponies stayed still.

“Now!” he cried as the first of the changelings rushed him.

Big Macintosh forced his sister to turn away, and they left their friend behind, as was his wish.

As the two disappeared into the trees, the first of the changelings rushed the Guardian. He met the eager drone with a swift kick to the jaw, splitting its open at the chin. It fell, immobilized but still alive for the time being.

The shape-shifter’s comrades were more hesitant to attack after seeing their hive-mate crippled. Rather than fight the poised warrior, they decided to bombard him. They stood three abreast, and began firing searing green bolts of magic from their jagged horns.

Clyde’s pupils dilated as the bright light of the magic contrasted with the dim forest, and he began to dodge and weave in and out of the beams. The magic filled the air with static, and the shots burned through the humid air with each accumulating miss. He circled around his enemies, until the largest of the group grew frustrated and blindly charged him.

He met the creature with another extending forelimb, landing right on its throat. Before the changeling even hit the ground, Clyde grabbed it, wrapping a forelimb around its neck, and maneuvered himself in between the disabled changeling and his still firing comrades. He used the flesh shield to advance on the other two until they too tired of firing green blasts into their dead comrade and charged the warrior, letting out a fearsome high pitched shriek as they did.

Clyde threw the limp changeling away and anticipated a blow from the more aggressive enemy. He spun around the changeling as it darted at him, leading with a jagged horn. The menace failed to connect as Clyde danced around his strike, and spun back around with an arcing kick. The blow landed on the changeling’s skull, and it crumpled into a heap on the ground. The last one still standing advanced on him as Clyde matched his every step with a rearward one, dodging each of its blows with a duck or a backwards thrust.

Eventually, Clyde stopped, leaned into an advance, and threw his opponent backwards, turning the tables. He never felt the blow connect, but he felt a warm liquid seeping down his forehead from a gash above his left eye. He took his turn advancing on his adversary, lashing out, trying to connect a blow, but his opponent was swift. The creature retreated as Clyde had before. It bobbed and weaved like a boxer, keeping its balance and composure through the deadly dance.

The changeling was good, but Clyde was better, and when the foe tried to counter, Clyde anticipated its move. As the changeling thrust forward with its horn, Clyde sidestepped and threw him over his leg, flipping him onto the ground. Clyde reared up, and brought his two front hooves down hard. The changeling let out a scream, but it ended abruptly with a grotesque ‘splat’ when Clyde’s hooves hit home, his forelimbs and the forest floor wet with the drone’s blood.

He relaxed a bit as the fight ended, but when he turned, he only counted three bodies. The first changeling, the one with the split chin, was gone; the only proof of him ever having been there was a blood trail. It led off into the forest. No doubt the creature was trying to escape Equestria’s borders for the changeling hives to the west, where his army was probably waiting.

Suddenly, he heard the distant clang of the town’s bell tower, and decided not to pursue the escaped changeling. He had a kingdom to protect, and the enemy was on its way, regardless if he was ready or not. So, he raced to Canterlot.

Clyde knew he had no chance of holding off the changeling horde alone; he needed reinforcements. He flew like the wind, leaving a trail of light smoke behind him as he burned through the thin mid-morning air. He soared through the thick doors of Canterlot palace, crashing through into the great hall violently.

Celestia sat on her throne, flanked by guards at the ready that stepped forward when the pegasus came barreling through the entrance.

He trotted to the princess as the guards blocked him, but when Clyde shouted, “A changeling army is on its way!” they allowed him council with the princess.

“What?” asked the royal in disbelief.

“They’re coming. I discovered a recon team in a cave in Everfree Forest today; they had nests built and hundreds of empty cocoons. They foalnapped a filly this morning and lead me to the cave. I rescued her and killed the majority of the scouts, but one escaped. From what I can tell, he’s headed west to the hives of the wastelands. It won’t be long before they’re knocking on the palace door.”

The gravity of the situation hit the princess at once.

“That’s why my sister and I found nothing!” she realized, “Their armies are waiting for those scouts to clear an invasion route. That has to be why they had cocoons stored; they were trying to build their numbers before they invaded.”

“We’ve started ringing the bell towers; if the rest of the kingdom doesn’t already know, they will soon. We need to set up defenses; they have to be stopped them before they get to Canterlot,” advised the Guardian.

“Right,” she agreed hesitantly, “What do you need to protect your region Captain?”

“Not just my region, but the others as well; send the Infantry to the west to defend the border towns. They’ll be our first line of defense. Should their lines be broken, they’ll fall back to a second line outside of Ponyville. The third line will be Canterlot; hopefully they never get that far. I’ll need the 11th; keep the rest of the military on the third line.”

Clyde started to turn, but then remembered one more thing.

“Send your fastest messengers to each city in the kingdom. They need to start evacuating; tell them to go into the surrounding countryside. The cities will be their main targets after Canterlot falls.”

With that, Clyde left, but not before he heard the regal voice of Celestia say, “Get my armor.”

He raced from the palace to his cabin; he needed a few things.

Earlier…

Applejack raced through the dark forest trying to keep her sister balanced on her back as she dodged and weaved in and out of oncoming snags and branches. Her brother ran alongside her, checking behind them to make sure nothing would come from behind.

Applebloom coughed a faint sound that was barely audible over the mare’s hoof beats.

“Hang in there,” she pleaded, “We’re almost home.”

After what seemed like an eternity of running in slow motion, she saw light ahead, and broke through the thick abyss of the forest and onto a grassy plain. Town was in sight, only about a quarter mile to the southeast, and Applejack meant to cover the distance as quickly as possible.

She sprinted through the tall grass, waving in the afternoon breeze. As they reached the edge of town, Applejack recalled what Clyde had told her to do.

“Take her back and get the others. Ring the bell tower thirteen times; that’s the signal for a call to arms. Once the surrounding towns hear that, they’ll ring their bell towers as well until all of Equestria knows an invasion is coming. After that, evacuate the town; get everypony into the mountains. Once they’re safe, you and the others need to get to the elements of harmony.”

“Take her Mac,” she commanded her brother as they reached the first buildings in town, and she lifted the filly onto her brother’s back, “Get the family into the mountains; keep ‘em safe.”

“What about you?” he worriedly asked.

“I’ll be fine, just go!”

The stallion reluctantly galloped down the road while A.J. sprinted the other way, her long blonde braid flowing out behind her from underneath her hat.

She reached the town square; it was midday, and the streets were busy and full. She tried to tell the crowd what was happening, but nopony would stop to listen; they were all busy getting along with their days.

She climbed onto the wall surrounding a fountain in the square’s center, and began shouting to the masses.

“Ya’ll need to get outta town, now! There’s an army of changelings headed for Equestria!”

A few ponies stopped and listened, but several others paid no heed. Applejack kept pleading with the mass of equines around her, trying to get them to listen to her, but few did, and even fewer took the warning seriously, forgetting her honest reputation and writing her off as some sort of fanatic or lunatic.

It took an old friend for the crowd to begin to take her seriously.

Rainbow Dash, who had been buzzing the town’s rooftops, spotted her friend frantically trying to deliver some sort of speech. It was unlike Applejack to be seeking public attention, so she zipped down to investigate.

“What’s goin’ on A.J.?” she asked as she alighted next to her friend.

Applejack told her what had happened, and that they needed to evacuate the town, but her multicolored friend only smiled.

“You joker,” she laughed as she elbowed her in the ribs.

Applejack looked to her in desperation, her eyes filled with genuine terror, and Dash realized she wasn’t kidding.

She hovered above the crowd and boomed in a voice like raspy thunder, “Listen up! Now!” and then she darted to the clock tower.

“Everypony, there’s an invasion comin’ our way! We need to evacuate the town,” she commanded, “Ya’ll need to gather your kin and head to the mountains ‘til this plays out!”

As she finished, Dash kicked the bell in the clock tower above the square as hard as she could, and its resounding ‘clang’ rang out across the rolling hills of Equestria. She rhythmically continued ringing the bell as the crowd dispersed in a panic, the brass ornament sounding off twelve more times before she stopped. Then, she too went to spread the word across town.

Author's Notes:

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