Music for this chapter: Resist and Bite by Sabaton.

The green flames faded, depositing them into a small building. Twilight laid limp in her hooves, groaning lightly with a small stream of blood leaking out of her mouth. Rainbow laid her down on the rooms couch, while the Changelings went to go secure the entrances and the other Equestrians just stood their, shell shocked. Rainbow gave a disgusted snort, before turning to Pharynx. "Any idea as to how close to the main gate we are?"

"I don't know", he said. "It happens when we teleport when stressed sometimes."

Rainbow went to move over to the window, when she fell to the ground, gripping her side in pain. Lifting up her officers mantle, she saw a long, black streak across the armor. Beneath it, she took in the light smell of burnt flesh. Untying the side of her linothorax, she took a look at the wound. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't serious. She tied back up, adjusting it a bit to move the tear in the armor to as close to her underbelly as possible.

By that time, Rarity had recovered her nerve and stood up, looking out of the window. "W-we're on Dressage Street. We're about three blocks from the main entrance."

Rainbow muttered, "Huh. So you aren't so useless after all." Turning to Pharynx, she said, "The plan stays the same. Take your troops, follow me, and we'll head for the gate." She then turned to the others, who were all looking at Rainbow, Twilight, or the ground. "You. Stay here. Watch Twilight. Here." She unlatched her knife, and tossed it into the floor at them, making Fluttershy jump.

"R-rainbow", the terrified mare gulped out. "W-we're-"

"I don't want to hear a word out of your mouths. Stay here. Watch Twilight. Don't do anything stupid. All goes according to plan, someone will find you. If not, then find your own way out." That shut them up, with all of them now looking at the floor.

Pharynx had called all of his troops down; about ten of them in total. Rainbow looked at them, then realized something. Pharynx must've realized the same, as he said to her, "Any idea as to how to distinguish them from the rest of the Changelings. I can maybe get some onto our side, but even just a few Swarm Guards will side with her."

Rainbow had come up with something. "Can you turn parts of your body into something, or is it just a whole body thing?"

"We can take on a form similar to out current form, but not specific parts of our bodies."

"Alright. Do that, give yourselves blood-red stripes along your legs, chests, and heads. I'll have my troops make the distinction when we let them in." Pharynx and his drones did so, the red stripes being noticeable among the black chitin and dark blue armor. "Alright. Lets go."

Drawing swords, Rainbow peaked out the door. In all directions, she saw nothing, and so motioned for the Changeling rebels to follow her. Sure enough, like Rarity said she could see the large pillars that marked Canterlot city limits. Most of the gate was covered by the buildings, but from what she could see, it was covered by a gate of similar, chitin-like material that made up a large portion of the spire.

Rainbow whispered, "Ok. We can all fly over, but stay low. Last thing we need is to attract any attention from loyalists. Use anything and everything for cover, just don't let yourself be seen."

Pharynx and his drones just smiled, before erupting into flashes of green light. When they cleared, they were small bugs, or birds; hell, one of them was a rock. Rainbow said, "Oh." After looking at them for another second, she got over herself, shooting out of the foyer of the house she was in and across the street.

She used her wings to make large, leaping bounds over buildings and walls, progressing down the three blocks Rarity said rather quickly. She landed in an alley just before the gate, being joined by the rebels who turned back into Changelings. Their level and closer position gave them a better look at the gate.

It was formed between the two main columns, a towering monolith of solid chitin. Behind it, a series of elevated platforms was formed, both on the columns and on the surrounding buildings, turning the immediate area inside the gate into a kill box. Dozens of Swarm Guards patrolled the area, weapons at the ready. Rainbow asked Pharynx, "You got a plan? I mean, I can come up with something, but I just want to see if you do." She expected him to start talking, explaining a diversion, or for her to do something while they opened the gate.

Instead, he just walked out into the open, while motioning for her to stay back.

Almost immediately, Changelings noticed him, and many went over to him. One in particular, an unusually big one for a Changeling, stepped to the front, eyeing him. Pharynx just smiled, before being ingulfed in green flames, even bigger than most transformations. When it cleared, he was a massive, insect-like creature that dwarfed small siege-towers, let alone the large Changeling.

He then swung his massive claws, smashing the stunned bugs aside. Looking back at the alley, he swung a claw forward, crushing one of the poor changelings that was still alive, motioning for them to attack. Rainbow, while a bit miffed at the lack of protocol, smiled at the living line-breaker and charge out of her hiding spot, pulling out a special crossbow bolt from her quivers.

It had a small paper package on it, filled with black powder, along with a fine powder. Supposedly, it would create a colorful explosion, acting as a flare of sorts. If it didn't have a color to it, then it would be an explosion in the air. It would alert the army to begin advance. Rainbow pulled out a lighter, lit the fuse, and fired it off into the air, before sliding it back into the holster. As she put on a burst of speed, she heard a loud *POW* overhead, and loud horns in the distance a few seconds later.

Swords drawn, she headed for one of the towers along the edge of the gate, bucking into the sentry in the tower. She began looking around for a lever, a switch; something to open up the gate. Finally, she found a rotating bar, similar to those on Pryhan onagers. She found a large shard of the chitin, and pressed it into the wheel, turning it to open up the gate.

Looking over, she saw the various armies making their ways up the path. Pryhans were in front, battering ram stored in their ranks as a fallback plan, while the Night and Royal Guards fanned out on either side and the Wonderbolts, Rebel Changelings and Griffons flew overhead. Behind her, however, came the swarm. Hundreds of growing black dots, all of them Changeling loyalists, made their way towards the gate, already taking fire from the Griffons. Rainbow turned a bit faster.

Finally, the gate was open to a suitable degree, and not a moment too soon. The swarm had arrived, and a Changeling burst into the tower, hissing at her. She thrust a blade into his chest, and flew over its crumpled body.

Pryhan soldiers, shields held high, entered the main entrance, pushing past the gate and over the already existing corpses of Changeling loyalists. Pharynx went off to go tell his men to adopt the red coloring, while Rainbow ran over to meet with Vexillum and Tribune Tarquinius. "Perfect timing", she said. "You two know the drill. Block by block, house by house. Push them back and secure the city at all costs. It's now, or never."

"The way you say it makes it sound like you'll be elsewhere. What do you have in mind?", Tarquinius asked.

Rainbow looked over at the spire, eyes narrowing. What she was preparing to do was against protocol. It was dangerous; heck, it could be argued it was suicidal. However, the tactical advantage couldn't be denied, not to mention her own desire for vengeance. "I'm gonna go cut the head off of the snake", was all she said as she spread her wings, taking off towards the towering citadel.