The Granny Smith was once the lead tank of Applejack’s armored division, with enough armor kills to cover an entire side-plate and three times that in infantry kills. The Battle of Canterlot had seen the tank taken out of the fight, her armor slagged from a laser detonating a shell after it was chambered. Now the storied vehicle was scrubbed of all paint and lined up in a staggered formation outside the Baltimare Blue Zone.

GDI had some of the best hardware recycling technology available, the mandates of the Tiberium War making it a necessity. Predator tanks that could be salvaged were repaired, given new crews, and sent out to the front lines to fight off the never-ending wave of enemies that the Global Defense Initiative increasingly faced as the war dragged on.

Tanks that were not capable of being repaired and refurbished, simply too damaged to be salvageable as was the case with Granny Smith, were sent to the Baltimare Special Weapons Development Firing Range where they would continue serving GDI in the only way they now could.

“Alright, you’ll be firing on the move this time; no slowing down, no stopping.” the newly instated Director Filthy Rich stated calmly from his observation bunker, “This is a test of the targeting software, not your ability as pilots.”

“Copy that director, we’re ready to go when you are.” the commander replied, “Team’s been itching to get live-fire practice.”

“This is the first week we’ve not had any Noddies in our city, gentlecolts. If they hadn’t been around I would have had all of you out here months ago… now then, let’s show our honored guests what the Titan can really do.” Rich told them before gesturing casually to the orderly manning the signalling system.

“You want to replace my tanks with this new-fangled tech?” Applejack asked, looking over at her family’s longtime business partner. She wasn’t completely healed, and still required a wheelchair to get around, but her last surgery would be soon and she had demanded to be kept in the loop for the duration of her recovery.

“At the very least I want them to supplement them. I’d rather have a proper response to the Avatar that doesn’t require us to keep Mammoths with every Predator unit.”

“Understandable.” Big Mac added. While still recovering from injury, his weren’t nearly as bad as his sister’s and he was able to stand on his own as they watched closely, “These look a fair bit more mobile than my boys in the 2nd Heavy.”

“And they can buck an Avatar like an apple tree.” Rich interjected, smiling as the Titan in question began moving. With surprising fluidity of motion, the mechanized quadruped started forward at a trot. Within seconds it was at a gallop that surpassed what any Predator could do without removing its safety limiters, and moments after it had began galloping at full speed it leapt into the air and let off a round from each of the side-mounted railguns on its turret of a head.

“Rounds are off by half a meter, director.” one of the techs in the bunker with them stated, “Variances are still within acceptable range though.”

“Half a meter is the difference between a dead tank and dead dirt.” Filthy Rich replied, getting a chuckle from both Apple siblings flanking him.

“Impressive though, even with the gyroscopes.” Applejack added, “Wouldn’t mind getting my hooves on one of them for one of the test drives though.”

“I’ll stick to Mammoths, sis.” Big Mac retorted, “May not be too low to the ground but it’s a smaller target than that… they gonna give’em all shielding?”

“Yes, sir.” the tech replied, “Spark reactors will allow for mammoth-strength shielding, but it’s mostly to keep the Titans from relying on their armor to shrug off small arms and infantry anti-tank weapons, speed will be their main asse-”

“So yes, thank you lieutenant.” Big Mac told him, smirking at the nervous stallion before letting his gaze fall back to the Titan still conducting its test. Even if he didn’t approve of branching away from basic tank doctrine, he had to admit that even he was impressed with the mech they were watching. He’d never admit it to his sister, but this first impression wasn’t disappointing him in the slightest. GDI had been playing a deadly game of catch-up with Nod’s technological advantage, only keeping pace due to magic and only stalling the tide of scorpion tails through sheer air power.

“And now we have the answer to the Avatar just standing…. No…. galloping and almost battle ready…” Mac thought, a hoof rubbing his chin where Canterlot had left a fresh scar.
_________

“How soon until we can use’em against the aliens?” Big Mac asked.

“If we get this software issue patched properly? Days. Weeks at most.” Filthy Rich told him, though the collected officers were unaware that they had an audience. The lieutenant who had been rambling beforehand didn’t know that one of his buttons was a listening device, and that the rank insignia on his collar was the transmitter to a satellite network that GDI had previously failed and continued to fail to shoot down.

Half a world away, Queen Chrysalis was enjoying the Titan exhibition as much as the GDI cronies sitting in that bunker. Each bit of data that streamed through her personal fortress usually went straight to Mareajevo, but given her most recent actions that connection had been severed. Nearly three months of data had been kept from Kane and his damnable queen, and despite a small snafu early in her plan to end the war on her terms, everything was going according to her schemes.

“My my, quite a few strides since the last time I checked up on you, you peasant hick.” Chrysalis growled. Her disdain for the Element of Honesty, as well as the other Bearers who stayed with GDI was only outstripped by her hatred for Twilight and her pet abomination Starlight, but even those all paled in comparison for the sheer loathing she had for Luna.

Celestia, however, was off of her list for the time being. There was no sense in hating the insane, even if they refused to believe they had cracked at all.

“How is that solar hag doing anyway…?” the changeling queen wondered aloud, switching through the feeds until the princess she had bested twice now was in the center of the screen. Celestia was a shell of the being that had single-handedly thrown the Brotherhood out of Canterlot city proper, and now restricted herself to her quarters when not giving speeches to keep morale up.

“Hmm… and here I was hoping for a proper rematch…” Chrysalis mused, smirking at first and then scowling as her feeds brought up a certain lunar queen. In contrast with her sister, Luna was taking to her new role as the second public face of Nod with confidence and pride, even at the price of causing GDI recruitment to spike.

“You’ll be a memory soon enough anyway…” she said to herself, tossing the monitor away with the sickly green glow of her magic and instead bringing up the mouthpiece for her personal comm system. “Team Chrysalis, I’d like a personal update.”
_________

“Things are going smoothly. We have the target in sight and they haven’t spotted us. We’ll move to engage once it peels off from its unit.” the Shadow Team leader replied quietly.

“And you can guarantee that you’ll get the Mastermind alone?”

“They operate by themselves; what happened to Sweetie Belle’s team was an anomaly.” added in the Shadow Team’s Second.

“Very well...” replied Chrysalis, her grin almost audible through the microbeads in the team’s ears “...isolate the target and establish contact. Do not fire unless fired upon or I’ll personally make you wish you were larvae again.”

“Yes my Queen! We will not fail you!” the squad leader retorted as the line was terminated.

The creatively-named Chrysalis Squad, the Hive Queen’s personal Shadow team made up entirely of changeling Shadows loyal to her, kept their eyes on the target in question. A six-legged creature with a single, massive bulbous form which held the entirety of its body as well as its disintegrator cannon.

Surrounding the creature was a small force of alien infantry apparently on the hunt. They would most likely fire upon contact, meaning that the Mastermind would need to be encountered while alone and brought to dialogue before it could either call for its cadre or kill them all psychically.

It didn’t take long for the Mastermind to split itself off from the rest of the hunting party. The aliens appeared to have been given their orders and the Mastermind was once again showing off the anomaly of free will that as afforded to the Scrin’s most elite infantry. Whether it knew they were there or not, the Shadows were thankful that it seemed to be heading straight towards the ambush zone, only stopping as it got far enough away from the other aliens to, theoretically, be out of immediate reinforcement range. Before it could run off, the four Shadows leapt down, landing in front of the alien commando and disabling their cloaking devices.

“Hold fire, don’t shoot it!” the lead Shadow ordered loudly, almost too loudly but thankfully they didn’t catch the attention of the rest of the Scrin in the area. In response, the other three Shadows all retracted their weaponry, standing down as visibly as they could and hoping not to get shot in the process.

At first, the Mastermind regarded them curiously. It could sense their intent; for once one of the indigenous species on this insignificant rock wasn’t hostile. It chittered out an inquisitive statement, quirking it’s “head” slightly to the right.

“We have a message from our queen to your… commander.” Chrysalis Team’s commanding officer stated, retracting his helmet and bowing slightly for the Mastermind.

With little ceremony, the alien reached forward with its mind, taking hold of the changeling but not conquering his mind.

“You wish to discuss terms…. Your species thrives on the precious ichor as we do…” he heard the alien say, though it was using his voice inside his head, “You wish to join the hive.... Not just ambition…. Ascension.”

“Three of you return to your Queen.” the Shadows’ leader stated, his voice distorted and his once green eyes now giving off a purple aura, “I will have this gift update you on exact coordinates and time for a meeting with the Overseer. Betrayal will result in annihilation, now go.”
_________

Victory against the aliens wasn’t a usual affair for the Brotherhood. Unlike GDI’s ability to absorb their fire and return it in kind, Nod had found their match in the Scrin menace. Their militia waves broke completely before the aliens’ razor swarms, and any mechanized units sent out lacked the firepower to decisively eliminate alien vehicles while also missing precious centimeters of armor needed to survive incoming plasma fire. The Brotherhood thus found their biggest strength to be their mobility and stealth, their armies purposefully giving ground in order to lure the aliens into field-scale ambushes whenever possible.

It wasn’t always that the Brotherhood could punch the Scrin in the face, which is exactly what made this victory so damn sweet for Hyperion.

“Four squads wiped, with three more needing reorganizing. Effectively two under-strength squads once they’re reconstituted.” said Hyperion as he read the Nod casualty reports from the last battle.

“Those damnable tripods… minimal losses in terms of infantry, courtesy of our armor, but we’ve got multiple Predators in need of heavy repairs. Three unsalvageable. I hear your Scorpions didn’t fare that well either.” Blizzard stated as he looked through his own figures.

“Better than expected actually. We’d projected higher armor casualties due to the Scrin’s ability to deploy air assets almost immediately. Your birds really pulled their weight well.” Hyperion replied as he marked down necessary maintenance orders for their recovered Scorpions.

“Not sure Phoenix Flight will appreciate it, but I’ll pass the compliment along. That said, the Mammoth crews send their thanks for bailing their sorry flanks out of the fire. Always nice when the big guns have bigger guns backing them up.”

“That alien dared shoot at my ship. We showed it some discipline, that is all.” added Hyperion as he kept reading his current report. It was then that realization hit him, making him look up to his GDI counterpart. Both of them could swear they were looking at a mirror as their expressions were practically the same.

Within the situation room only the sounds of consoles occasionally beeping could be heard, up until they both, in an almost choreographed fashion, sighed profusely.

Blizzard was the first to break the silence.

“... So... Kane intends to continue the war even if we kick the aliens off the planet?” he asked.

“You know the answer to that already.” Hyperion replied, causing Major Blizzard to sigh once more as the older stallion rested his head on his hoof.

“I was afraid of that.” Blizzard said. “And I’m guessing you’ll go along with it if the chromehead asks you to, correct?”

“You’re asking things you already know the answer to.” Hyperion stated flatly once more.

“Damnit.” Blizzard spat out before regaining his composure. “You’re as much of a thick-headed mule as your old man was.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, that’s what kept him alive as long as he did. Besides, it’s not like GDI doesn’t have their own plans to resume the war as soon as the Scrin are dealt with.”

“I’d call them contingencies more than anything. Ironsides was given full authority over GDI after all, which includes the authority to negotiate a peace deal. With Princess Celestia no longer in command, a logical compromise could be reached.” Blizzard said, leaving Hyperion with little more than a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not sure what’s gotten into you you old colt, but you are aware that this whole ‘alliance’ is little more than one of necessity, yes? It’s been that way from the start.” Hyperion stated, his gaze turned cold.

“... I’ll be honest with you Shield. Even if it’s one of convenience, this alliance has seen our troops shed blood together. Even in our last operation, our troops managed to cooperate in a manner that would make observers wonder if they were really two different armies. Call me old fashioned, but I find the idea of fighting comrades-in-arms, as temporary as they were, rather distasteful.”

“He who stands with me shall be my brother.” Hyperion said, causing Blizzard to blink. “My father used to say that before he became a statue.”

“That he did…” Blizzard added. “First time he said that was, I think, after we finished our deployment to the Gryphon Kingdom to help fight their insurrections. Didn’t get it myself, at least for a while anyway. Always assumed he meant his fellow Marine, Army grunt, et all. It wasn’t until years later when King Steelwing invited veterans of the war to an anniversary celebration that I understood what he’d meant, as our brothers mingled with the same gryphons they’d fought side by side with during that conflict.”

“I can understand the feeling. However, what we feel has no bearing on reality. If the order is given-”

“Give it a damn break, will you?” Blizzard interrupted. “Do you really think fighting until we’re all dead is going to get us out of this mess? Once the bugs are dealt with, we still have the planet turning the wrong shade of green to worry about.” he said as he realized he had stood up, leaning forward enough to be practically on the table, “And no matter how devout you are, there’s only one species native to our world that can survive if the entire planet goes tib.” he practically spat out.

Hyperion’s reaction was non-existent, as if he was waiting for his elder to continue.

“... I’ll be firm here, I’m tired of this war. Too many dead heroes, too many wasted lives, all so we can decide how to deal with a glowing rock. So let me ask you a favor here. Not as a GDI soldier nor a fellow office in this war. Just as a friend, both yours and your father’s… consider ending this all before we both end up in Baltimare’s memorial cemetery.”

Hyperion was quiet for quite some time, looking over at his GDI counterpart and then back to his reports multiple times. As much as he hated to admit it, the old stallion was partly right. GDI and Nod could work together, even with the severe difference in doctrine, and with Celestia out of the way things could change.

“Blizzard… I thi-” Hyperion started before the entire ship lurched violently to port, “Report!”

“Multiple carriers inbound, intercept course.” the EVAs replied first, only for the biological crewmen to confirm.

“Evasive maneuvers.” Maud interjected, her voice echoing through the ship’s intercom system “All hands…. Action stations.”
_________

“As much as this is going to sound like heresy, I don’t give a damn about OpSec for this project anymore.” Ironsides growled at the collected stallions in his war room, “Scrin are still pushing at key areas even without their damn black hole machine working and Nod is falling back across the board…. Again…”

“We only have one battalion, we’d be putting single companies, maybe even single platoons on fronts that require a battalion of armor support.” General Stampede replied, “We can do it but not without blowing the lid on our anti-Avatar program.”

“We have bigger problems right now. If projections are anywhere near accurate, the aliens are more concerned with Kane than they are with us. I don’t care if the Titan crews have to gallop their mechs to the front from Baltimare, the units we have ready are getting live-fire training on the front lines.”

“Luckily they’re not dependent on fuel, but the crews will still have to stop and rest, eat, water the trees...” Big Mac added, “For every 16 hours on the move they’d have to be sitting ducks for 8.”

“Then set up RZ points for them to stop at, designate FOBs for them to use as cover on their way to the front. I don’t care how you all get this done, just get it done. We’re too far into this damnable war to worry about adhering to doctrine like Nod’s Confessors. We’re GDI, we make it work!” the older stallion shot back, “We hurt the enemy, they’re going to try hurting us just as badly, and if we want to have any chance of surviving Nod’s advance after the aliens are gone, we’re going to need to improvise a bit.”

“No need to stick to the old Celestia-era doctrine anyway, old man.” came the familiar canter of General Stalwart Shield, “We’ve got a fresh batch of Zone Troopers out of training finally, we could use them as escort during the trip. They need to be deployed same as the Titans, and unless the Sky Admiral is able to lend us a few dozen carryalls, we’re looking at a convoy, Nod style.”

“EVA, timetable projections.” Big Mac ordered into his foreleg, watching the computer crunch numbers in rapid succession, “A lot can happen in four days… but it’s better than the seven it would take to muster, fuel, and load up that many carryalls.”

“Most flights are already scheduled as well.” Spitfire added, “We always have a few dozen scattered around just in case, but unless you want to grab birds and leave every Quick Reaction Force grounded until the move is complete…”

“Four days.” Ironsides stated, looking over the collection of officers, “96 hours from this meeting adjourning, I want Titans and Zone Troopers on every active front and turning the tide. Then when Major Blizzard gets back, we can deploy his forces and consolidate Titans as needed instead of spreading them out to fill as many gaps as we can.”

“General? Incoming communique, sir.” one of the technicians announced, “It’s Major Blizzard.”

“Speak of Tirek…” Ironsides mused before gesturing to to the stallion at the comm station, “Go ahead, put him through.”

“It’s patchy, but that might just be ion interference… coming throug-holy Celestia.”

“That’s putting it mildly, everypony.” Blizzard stated.
_________

“As you can see, it’s a verified shitshow out here.” Blizzard told them. He was fully suited up, as were the rest of the Zone Troopers and GDI personnel that had survived. Tanks, APCs, and trucks were all scattered about like die thrown onto a table and pieces of the Everfree were still falling from the sky. GDI and Nod personnel were helping each other out of lifeboats, moving vehicles, or collecting dog tags and piling bodies up for burial or burning, and the GDI officers in Baltimare could see it all via Blizzard’s armor cameras.

“What the hell happened!?” Ironsides barked through the major’s helmet speaker.

“Everything went FUBAR, sir, no idea how. One minute we’re flying back after mission accomplished, the next we had a half-dozen alien carriers hitting the Everfree. We thought they couldn’t see us but I guess they have something… well, had something at Cloudsdale to detect Nod stealth tech. Time from first contact to the order to abandon ship was less than 10 minutes.”

“How many survivors?”

“Quite a few, actually but we’re still getting a head count. All of my Zone Troopers that didn’t get axed during the battle managed to make it to their suits, as did a fair portion of the GDI regulars we had. Crews are already getting their vehicles ready to move since we’re going to have to take the long way back.”

“Once EVA has a casualty count, update us again. Until then your orders are to survive and get back to friendly lines by any means necessary.” Ironsides ordered.

“Copy that, General, we’ll get home… even if it takes us a few months. Blizzard out.” the zone trooper officer said, shaking his head slightly as he walked back over to his Nod counterparts. Everyone who had made it off of the Everfree alive was in hazard gear, with the exception of the changelings among them who could thrive in a red zone.

“Let me guess.” Hyperion stated, “Get back to friendly lines, preferably alive.”

“I take it you got similar orders?”

“Slavik isn’t pleased that this happened but it was a risk we all took taking a carrier this deep into a Red Zone…. Sister Pie isn’t taking it well though.” the younger stallion told him.

“I wouldn’t either if the official report was ‘sibling went crazy, drove airship into giant ion cloud factory during combat maneuvers.” Blizzard added, “How about you, Mantis, any other insights?”

“Nothing I didn’t have before.” she said, “One minute we’re barely outrunning those carriers, the next Maud was rambling on how the ‘Horned God’ put a paw on her shoulder and said ‘well done’. It doesn’t make sense, unless she completely cracked in the face of losing her ship.”

“I’m not familiar with any deity with horns, unless Nod got a new religion to go with the whole Kane is Messiah thing you have going.” Blizzard replied, “Was she… cracking under pressure?”

“It’s possible, the only goddess we have is Queen Luna, and even then she discourages us to swear by or curse in her name. Kane may be touched by the divine but he’s a messiah, not a fully-fledged god.”

“Yet.” Mantis added with a smirk, causing both male officers to roll their eyes.

“Is navigation still online at least?” Hyperion asked, getting a nod from Blizzard.

“Wounded are being loaded up in the APCs, anyone who can walk will be hoofing it back, trucks will be used for supplies, tanks… well, everypony can ride on them but if we get ambushed again, they’ll need to dismount fast or we’ll be using ponies as ablative armor.”

“Even the Brotherhood doesn’t have the troop numbers to pull that off.” Hyperion murmured, shaking his head wearily. They had a long walk ahead of them through the most treacherous terrain on the planet, possibly in their solar system, “Well, we might as well do this right. Blizzard, there won’t be a rush to this but please let me know when your troops are ready to move. We don’t want to leave anything behind that could help us survive the trip east.”
_________

To claim that all races of the world were equal was the height of madness. The plebians of the Earth Pony caste were the lowest of the low, nothing but serfs whose only purpose in life was to serve their betters. The only creatures lower than them were the subterranean diamond dog barbarians, practically mindless creatures whose only useful skill was digging tunnels. Even then, they’d focus solely on finding shiny rocks instead of useful materials or metal veins.

The Pegasi and Unicorns were a step up, yet still pathetic creatures. One could pretend to fly, in reality barely avoiding gravity’s embrace, while the other performed parlor tricks and dared call it magic. The gryphons themselves were little more than barbarians capable of flight. Practically wild beasts instead of civilized people.

Truly the only species capable of great feats of magic, flight and general grace were the Changelings, with Chrysalis herself being the greatest of them all. Even Nod’s pervasive surveillance of all their territories was no match for a Changeling’s simplest ability, to be able to assume the form of a bird and fly undetected through the heavens. Even that was an unnecessary precaution as their detection systems were already barely able to pick up a Changeling’s graceful flight.

However, and even Chrysalis had to admit this, when the Scrin arrived on their world it was a wake-up call that while she may be the epitome of greatness and creation’s magnum opus on their world, she was only the most superior being on their world. The mere existence of the Scrin proved that there was life among the stars and that her and her kin were no longer the superior race.

That could not stand.

With that in mind, Chrysalis had realized the aliens’ mistake. GDI and Nod intelligence confirmed that the Scrin were mining the Tiberium on their controlled territories and seemingly transporting the ores off-world via their wormholes. While it would probably burn-out the minds of the incompetents running both organizations, it didn’t take her any effort to put two and two together. The Scrin had obviously infested the planet with Tiberium to use it as a resource node from which to mine it. Given that the rock depended on organic matter in order to spread, using a life-bearing planet like theirs was a good investment.

The foolish xenos failed to take into account the existence of a species capable of adapting to the Tib however. It was obvious that they had intended for the crystal to kill off everyone on the surface, but the Changelings would survive even if the entire planet turned into a solid slab of Tiberium. But of course, surviving was no longer the priority. Ascending beyond their current forms, now that was the goal. Not merely adapt to the Tib but become greater through it.

And then rub Kane’s low-born face in it before removing his head from his shoulders. Getting to throw it at Luna’s face afterwards would merely be a bonus.

If the majestic flight of the Changeling race had any disadvantages, it would be its speed. A dedicated jet-based transport would have definitely been better but also far more obvious and detectable to ground-based radar. To have to waste so much time on the simple act of getting from one place to another was beyond shameful.

After a long, dreadful, prolonged five-hour flight, the Scrin’s slave, the so-called “Mastermind”, was located exactly where the Shadow team said it would be. The black-clad Hiveguard descended first, their solidly-built Black Hand-manufactured armor gleaming as the light of various nearby crystals reflected off of them. Upon landing, they arranged themselves in proper honor guard formation, flanking the future landing site and subsequent walking path of their Queen. With the greatest of regal and glory, the Dark Empress of the Changelings descended from the heavens and graced the unworthy ground with her touch.

The Dark Queen proceeded onwards, her Hiveguard bowing as she honored their very existence with the privilege of her being before them. As she passed them, the each Hiveguard Elite would ascend once more and follow her very step from above, showcasing the power of the Changeling legions with their Queen’s very steps. It was not before long that she stood face to face with the Mastermind.

“May our royal presence grace you, oh honorable Mastermind. Please do us the honors of summoning thy master.” she said, her arcane magics flowing around her to establish who was the true superior here.

With little ceremony, and mere seconds after Chrysalis had made contact with the Mastermind, a wormhole opened up directly in front of her and Overseer-29 stepped out. He didn’t bother with his own honor guard, electing merely to have a handful of Masterminds join him by blinking in around the guards Chrysalis had brought with her.

“You are the monarch of terrestrial species designation E-027?” he asked, his voice grating their ears slightly.

“... I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, yes. I take it you’re the envoy that the Scrin have decided to escort me to your Overlord? I won’t speak to a mere middleman.” she sneered.

That sneer was short-lived. The moment she stopped speaking, the Overseer blinked as well, phasing slightly and reappearing directly in front of the arrogant insect and grabbing her by her throat. His grip was tight enough to strain her exoskeleton and her guards were already being held in place by the Masterminds psionic abilities with laughably little effort.

“You will submit your species for assimilation into the hive willingly or I will forcibly commence the process, starting with you. Violently. You will comply.”