"This is stupid. They are sending us out first." A mercenary said as the archer follows behind as most of the army matches behind them a ways away. "And only sparse cover. They can never hit us like this."

"I think that is what the king wants. The changelings haven't faced us in battle yet. Even though we have marched halfway through the fief." The archer says.

"Then maybe they should just give up. Make things easy." The mercenary says. "You hear that?! Give up!" He calls to the sparsely forested areas.

The archer shakes his head as nothing happened. "Idiot." He voices as he passes by him and keeps looking around. "You think they would come out like that? Dumbass." He says before taking out his bow. "Now we entering the dangerous areas."

"Now?"

"No. Wait for her signal."

Both of the changelings wait as the group of ponies start to reach the treeline before they hear a sharp buzz in their minds as the group of ponies get close and they jump up and grab their legs as they lifted the fake ground cover before they pull them off their hooves and knock them out before trying to drag them away as the rest who didn't get grabbed started to fight off the rest of the changelings.

The archer goes wide-eyed as he tries to jump their grab, but they grab his back hoof and bring him down before some try to pull him into the pits before he swings his bow and hits the one grabbing him across the face before crawling away as the others kept fighting off their own. "Dumbasses." He curses as he gets up and takes out an arrow and notches it. "Hope the commander puts his plan into motion."

"Run!" A changeling calls as smoke started filling the area.

The archer blinks confused as he looks around while keeping the bowstring stretched. "The heck is…?"

"Ah!" One of the changelings cries as an axe slammed into it as a salamander rider comes into view, his mount breathing fire everywhere.

The archer frowns and looks around as the riders start to run in and start to attack the changelings left out into the area. "Of course. Bait as always." He says to himself as he put the arrow away and then his bow.

"The maneuver worked better than expected." Sky says watching as the changelings were shot down by the archers.

"I'm just glad they are mostly unharmed. You should have placed the riders closer, though." The mercenary commander says.

"I had to make it look convincing." Sky says as all but a hundred of his personal guard were routing out the changelings.

"Well, lives do matter." The commander mutters.

"You will get your fourth chest." Sky informs.

The commander just hums happily as he watches the cleanup.

"Capture a few. I want answers." Sky instructs.

The commander nods and hurries off to find any survivors.

"Who is our best interrogator with us?" Sky asks.

"That would be me, sir." An officer says walking up and holding a hoof up.

"Then you will spend time with changelings for a bit." Sky informs.

The officer sighs. "Of course sir." He said looking to him. "When all is captured?"

"Yes. Do them all together as they have a bit of a hive mind." Sky instructs.

The officer nods as he waits for all the soldiers to collect them all.

"Everyone make camp and see to the injured outside the forest!" Sky orders.

"Sir." The army says as they go to the field and starts to set up camp and fires a bit away from the dry forests.

"So they smoked out my ambush. Tell me, have they made camp in the woods?" Chrysalis asks having a new respect for the salamander riders and their mounts, thinking them the same as mounted knights.

"No, my queen. They have made it out in the open." A changeling says worried about her wrath.

"Really? Even though the wood have more water sources and shade to keep them cool?" Chrysalis asks intrigued.

"Yes, even making fires far away from it." Another changeling says.

"I see. Their leader is more clever than I thought. Who is it?" Chrysalis asks, a little miffed both her plans were foiled.

"One of the changelings, the last thing they saw was the leader himself." A changeling says.

"And…?" Chrysalis asks looking back on the memory and stops. "No."

"It is the king of the north himself. Overlord Sky my queen." The changeling says before she started cackling.

"King of the North versus Queen of the Changelings. I consider this a great war to start my rule." Chrysalis says grinning.

"My queen, what should we…" The changeling stops as they both started hearing screaming in their minds.

"What is going on?!" Chrysalis yells as she tries to find the source.

"That's one of the ambushers. They must have taken a few alive." The guard says.

Chrysalis kept hearing their screaming and frowns. "I have to cut their connection."

Sky waited patiently as the tent in the middle had screams coming from it for hours now.

"How much do you think they can take?" An officer asks.

"They will break soon enough and answer my questions I gave to the interrogator." Sky says.

"But won't the queen cut their connections to the hive?" Another officer asks.

"It doesn't matter if she does. They will still have the information I want." Sky says.

"But what if the information is with the hive mind and not with them? What then, kill them?" One of the officers asks looking to the tent.

"The information I want is common for them. What have they done to the populace they captured, where are the ones they haven't caught yet, and where are the nests they have in the fiefs." Sky says.

"That might be numerous. Multiple nests can be made in just a few days or even overnight." An officer walking up says looking to them all.

"The smaller ones we can handle as we go. I mean the big ones. The ones containing most of the eggs." Sky informs.

"It would be quite a challenge. Numerous eggs and they would try to hide them if needed." The officer advises looking to him.

"But could they and still remain undetected from us?" Sky asks.

"If they built tunnels, but this is the extent of their reach for now." The officer says looking back to the land where they confronted them.

"Exactly. They are new here and haven't had much time to change anything and round up everything they can use to feed." Sky says.

"Wonder how many they with them in the hives?" Another asks worriedly.

"That is what we are here to rescue." Sky says looking out to the army resting while sentries were on point, watching the terrain carefully.

"I haven't heard any screams." One points out as they look to the tent.

"That means he is either done, the last one has died, or he is taking a break." Sky says.

"Or maybe they all broke and can't say crap." An officer says chuckling.

"That too." Sky says.

"When will he come out?" Another asks getting impatient as he taps his hoof.

"Has to get washed up first or would your prefer he came out still covered in that stuff?" One of them asks.

"No. Heck no." He says shaking his head.

"Then shut up. Unless you want him to do the same to you." Another says exasperatedly.

"Enough. Go prepare your mounts. We should be expecting an attack soon." Sky informs.

They all nod and walk off to their mounts as Sai looks back to the tent to see the officer come out wiping his hooves.

"So what did they say?" Sky asks.

"A lot. What do you want to hear?" He asks looking to him.

"Where are those still not captured, their nearby nests and hideouts, and where their stockpile of weapons and supplies they have here are the main three right now." Sky informs.

"For those captured, they are kept in the main hive next to the cocoon room so they are ready to be changed immediately. As for their nest and hideouts, one is just up ahead and is more of a forward fort than a nest and more is kept along a straight path toward the island. Stockpiles are kept everywhere. Literally where anypony can be. Towns, old buildings, caves, anything." He says shaking his head at the end.

"Then we move on the nest now as most of them are spread out to hit us with guerrilla tactics. Their defences are light so we will advance in sections by our divisions. That way if one is hit, the others can respond quickly and crush the enemy." Sky instructs.

The officer nods. "Shall I spread the news?"

"Not yet and are you completely sure that all of those captured were sent straight to the main hive. I'm not convinced as if they were who would they feed on." Sai says.

"Well they did mention they feed on love, but any emotion can do. It's just love is like candy to them." The officer says.

"And you haven't told me about those who are not captured yet." Sai informs.

"They are being hunted down for those that they think are nearby. If they are too far away, they will let them go to not spend forces hunting down a single pony." The officer says shaking his head.

"Well, that move has cost them big time. We are concentrated, they are all spread out, and because of that." Sky says smirking.

"My queen, the capital of Santiago fief, where our main forward nest is, it's under siege!" A changeling yells through the hivemind, alerting all changelings.

"Those insolent fools!" Chrysalis yells in both her mind and mouth. "I want a wall of forces blocking them from moving any further! Leave the hive and nothing for them to use!"

"It's too late! They have already taken the walls and are charging in. We can't hold!" Another calls as Chrysalis felt dozens being slaughtered by the moment.

Chrysalis frowns as she felt their minds being cut out before lighting her horn and all the minds left were cut. "Give me a line of forces and block their paths. I do not want them to move any further."

"Can you hear me changeling queen?" A male voice says through the hivemind.

"Who is this?" Chrysalis asks, seething with anger.

"The Overlord of the North. I made a changeling we caught earlier a deal. I don't execute him and he sends a message to you through the hivemind." Sky says.

"What do you want from us?" Chrysalis hissed.

"I want your land. Cadance has sworn fealty to me in exchange for retaking her land and I think I will take everything I can from you while I am at it. Also, tell me why you move your main hive to the Viscaya fief?" Sai asks letting Chrysalis know her changelings that were captured and tortured talked.

"That is none of your business. I will kill you or better yet, you will become one of my changelings and you will bow to me." Chrysalis declared.

"I will admit that your guerilla tactics response was a good move, but your forces are too spread out and you haven't had time to reinforce your new hives. You can't meet me in an open fight and I know where all your hives are now. Tell me, can you mount an assault or defence and still move all of them?" Sai asks, Chrysalis practically feeling his smugness before another hive called they were under attack from Sky's army.

"Damn you." Chrysalis hisses as she can feel him grinning as he knew the hive was attacked.

"Now what is your next move?" Sky asks before she felt him leave.

"Damn." Chrysalis says rubbing her head. "Recall all changelings. I want every single changeling in the fief, now. Leave and burn the rest."

"But what about those we have cocooned in them?" One asks making Chrysalis inwardly curse, knowing she was banking on them reinforcing her hive in the future and this was already costing her a portion of her hive.

"Grab the closest ones and grab all you can and just go. Don't bother burning the place. That will slow you down and alert them to your presence." Chrysalis begrudgingly says, receding her early order.

"Yes, my queen." A changeling says.

Chrysalis glares, looking to the pod for her future queen's guard and frowns, knowing that Shining would not be complete before Sky advanced.

"Nothing?!" Cadance yells in Sky's tent as he looks over a map calmly. "You haven't found any of them?!"

"I said the guards or your husband. We have found some of your citizens." Sky says.

Cadance sighs in relief before rubbing her head. "You have to find them fast. Otherwise, takeover or not, my fief will be lost."

"We have an idea where they are here in Lancaster in the Viscaya fief. We will encircle them, making them unable to get away with the prisoners and then move in to secure them and defeat the enemy." Sky says looking out to the border of the Santiago and Viscaya fiefs where many changelings were guarding as his catapults fired at them, but only two out of five hit usually as the changeling magic either destroyed the stones or sent them harmlessly off course.

"Then…you will get them back?" Cadance asks worried.

"Yes. Right now we are weakening the enemy blockade right now." Sky says as one of the boulders crushed several more changelings that were shooting magic at the catapults' ammo.

"And how much longer until you break through?" She asks frantic.

"You have never waged war, have you?" Sky asks.

"…no." She admits looking down.

"Then you don't know we have to preserve our troops and can't charge in recklessly. If we do, even if we win, we will be severely weakened and your neighbors in Narva fief may decide to invade." Sky informed.

"I usually leave the army and movements to my general." Cadance says hanging her head. "I never have any input on the matter."

"That is why we cannot be careless here." Sky says as the rain started coming in hard.

"I want my fiancé back." She says to him before turning and walking out.

"Now Band of the Hawk, what do you have planned?" Sky asks watching carefully.

"We are going to wear wild animal hides and some scents and then slip around and rain arrows on them." A wounded mercenary says as he looks over a map from a bed.

Sky's eyes widen before a smirk started to form. "Get our mounted knights ready to charge and hit them from the front." Sky orders.

An officer nearby runs off as he hears the urgency in his voice.

"The infantry will also charge behind the knights to support. We are taking this pass tonight." Sai orders.

"Yes, sir!" The officers around them call out.

The storm raged as the knights and infantry waited to charge until their armor were soaked as the catapults kept firing to keep up appearances until it happened. Suddenly, arrows came, bombarding the changelings holding the pass from behind. Most of the changelings didn't even realize it over the roar of the storm and the noise of destroying boulders shot at them. Then the charge from the front of them came.

"Ah. Such a good sight." Sky says as he watches the changelings try to fight off both sides and watches as the knights and mounts attack the front line and plow right through it before the infantry slammed into them as well. But then something caught his eye. Several changelings were sent flying in pieces on the other side. Sky paid close attention as it kept happening.

He kept watching as more changelings were sent flying off as green blood were sent up and splashed on everything and then sees a tip of a sword for a second before it came down and seems to have sliced apart more of the changelings. "Oh, the queen is going to hate this." Sky says smirking as he watches the line be destroyed and decimated.

"Sir, their formation has collapsed and are starting to route." An officer informs.

"I see. Good. Get after them and…let a few escape and run back to the hive. It would be a good message." Sky orders smirking.

"Yes, overlord." The officer says before running off.

"Guerrilla tactics failed and now your blockade smashed. What is your next move?" Sky asks as the campaign starts to come to two weeks in length already.

"Quiet." Chrysalis hisses through the changeling tied in front of him. "You will lose. I will make sure you will be one of my children or food for us all."

"Sorry. Got a family already. Also, tell me, is your island secure at the moment?" Sky asks smirking.

"It is and you will never gain control of it." She hisses angrily.

"You might want to check again." Sky says as he reread a letter, informing him a fleet would be arriving at the Isle of Mare soon.

"Wha…what have you done?!" Chrysalis yells as the changeling thrash in the binds.

"I didn't think you had enough to properly defend the island and invade both these fiefs." Sky says smirking.

"That's it! I will end you heathen!" She yells.

"So my fleet has arrived now then." Sky says, watching her squirm.

"You will die by my hooves and you will never breath again!" She yells.

"How you have lost every engagement so far? Our supply lines are intact and there is nothing happening that will force us to withdraw." Sky says.

"You scum think you can come here and take our land?!" Dark Tail roars as he destroys some mounted knights of a force from Libya that had tried and cross the borders.

"Run! It's the Dark Knight!" One yell moving his mount the other way.

"Follow the general!" A mounted knight calls as Dark Tail leads them in the charge.

"You have made the biggest mistake ever by choosing to invade us!" Dark yells as he charges them all with his army.

Meanwhile, on the borders of Gual and Belgica, Moonlight was fighting a skirmish as well.

"Now light the fire and burn them alive." Moonlight orders as the enemy fell into his fire trap.

A line of soldiers all threw torches lit up and into the pit of oils littered around the land and they heard screams of pain as the troops inside the pits were lit on fire as the rest of the invading army tried to hold a line as Moonlight watches them all through the fires of the burning pits.

"The enemy is retreating chief." One of his tribesponies reports.

"Good. Make sure they never return." Moonlight orders frowning.

"How many civilians have we rescued?" Sky asks as they encircle Lancaster with their remaining six thousand who were fit to fight.

"Around three hundred sir." An officer says reading through a list.

"Is Cadance seeing to them?" Sky asks.

"Yes. She is trying to calm them down and make sure they are not going to revolt or anything." The officer says looking through some papers now.

"Begin the siege!" Sky orders.

The line of soldiers and troops yell out and starts to run at the walls of the fief as Sky watches the fief become active with changelings flying around and throwing spears and firing spells and arrows at everyone.

"Give them a shower of arrows!" Sky orders as he noticed the changelings having a hard time fighting face to face without surprise on their side.

All the archers aim up and fires, sending a shower of arrows flying into the air and then turn downward and comes down onto the changelings in the air and brings them down and even some on the high walls.

"Break open the gate!" Sky commands as they push a ram forward to the city's gate.

As the battle continued, the changelings seem to be having difficulty as the closer the soldiers got closer to them, but the ones making the most progress and the fewest losses were the mercenaries the Band of the Hawk who breached the gate and stormed through.

"How are we doing?" Sky asks as he rides through the streets as the battle still went on as he knocks a changeling away with his axe.

"The walls is almost completely taken and the changelings seem to be falling bac…" The pony was silenced when Sky split his head open with the axe blade.

"I see. Then I should send more to the walls. Besides, it's better to move outward in with this sort of circle layout." He says looking around the round city. "At least this is the main hive. Finally."

"What should we do overlord?" One of his royal guards asks before spitting on the corpse that morphed into a changeling.

"Have the army concentrate on fully securing the wall and then slowly move in to take the rest little by little." Sky instructs.

"Yes, sir!" The rider calls before running off to relay the orders.

"This isn't a battle, it's a slaughter!" The mercenary leader calls a bit away.

"No. These weakest are out in front and they are trying to lure us into a trap. I'm not falling for it." Sky says as Celebrimbor growls.

"What about the hive sir?" A rider asks nearby smacking away a changeling with his sword.

"The hive is in the keep. That is the final target." Sky instructs as he rides forward.

"Yes, sir." The rider says hitting away another changeling.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Chrysalis yells pacing angrily and quickly. "I want all royal guards here now! Protect! This! Room!" She yells before looking to the pod near her. 'I'm going to die. There is no way to finish this one off…no choice.' She thinks as she lights her horn and the pod starts to glow green. As she charged it, she heard an explosion and many screams of pain. "What now?!"

"They are in the keep my queen! We can holAH!" She hears and frowns as the royal guard enters and starts to try and seal off the tunnels.

"It is far too late for that." Sky says entering, pushing a changeling off who was impaled on a flaming sword he had.

Chrysalis hisses menacingly at him as the royal guard changelings surrounded her. "You heathen!" She hisses as she kept her horn charged.

"It's over. You have lost. We have taken back both fiefs. You lost your island and now this keep is falling. Your time has run out." Sky says before withdraw his sword from the queen's guard before cutting it down.

Chrysalis hisses again as she prepares to run at him. "I won't have you kill my children!"

"Then I will kill you." Sky say reading his blade as she realizes it was Peruro.

"Insects' Bane." Chrysalis says frowning before her horn stops charging for a moment and then lights up again as she fires off a spell at him.

Sky just swings his sword and strikes the spell off into the wall and makes the tunnel reappear and show more of his soldiers behind it. "Seen worse." He says before jumping forward and swings through the guards and then ducks under a swing from Chrysalis's leg that seem to have spikes on it before taking his sword and stabs her straight into the chest. "Like I said, you lost." He says before walking toward the pods on the walls as she fell to the ground.

"No…" Chrysalis pleads weakly, trying to reach for him with a hoof as green blood pools around her.

"But I will make you a deal in your final hour. You don't wish the changelings to be exterminated, do you?" Sky asks.

Chrysalis hisses weakly, still trying to reach for him.

"Answer now, for this will determine the fate of them all." Sky instructs.

"Yes…" She hisses out.

"Then how do I get all of your changelings to serve me and my house?" Sky asks.

"New queen…bastard…" Chrysalis moans as she drops her hoof.

"Is there one who can take that position?" Sky asks.

Chrysalis frowns as she slowly brings her head up. "The pod…bastard…she's in the pod."

"Who is or should I ask, who was she?" Sky asks.

"That stupid pink pegasus's future husband." Chrysalis sneers smirking slightly.

"And how do I make her loyal to me?" Sky asks.

"She would recognize a mark. And only I have it…if I can't pass it." Chrysalis says laying her head down.

"Then give it to me. If you do, I promise you, I will not only spare your species, I will see them flourish under my rule as I move to take all of this continent." Sky says, shocking her at his ambition.

Chrysalis watches him before slowly lighting her horn as he glows slightly before it dies down. "Don't waste it."

"Die in peace knowing not only did you save your children, but secured their future." Sky says withdrawing the sword.

"Let's see you like Gleaming Shield…bastard…" Chrysalis says as more blood pools around her and passes away.

"How long until she emerges?" Sky asks one of the changelings.

"H…hours…" One of them says.

"And the others you captured with this one, what happened to them?" Sky asks.

"Next…next room." Another says scared of what he might do.

"And what was done to them?" Sky asks sheathing Peruro.

"Changed." The first says shivering in fear.

"Into?" Sky presses.

"Into the Queen's guards." One says as they all look to the dead royal guards on the ground next to the cold corpse of Chrysalis.

"So they haven't emerged then." Sky says before walking out.

They all sigh in relief at that as they look to each other before hearing some armor clinking and looks behind to see an archer walk up. "About time I found you." The mercenary archer says grabbing one of them. "I was wondering where you went."

"Dear." The changeling says happily taking off her armor, showing she was feminine before hugging him.