In the words of long-time follower of the story Edguy0009: 'Get ya choppas an' shootas, boyz! Its time ta krump some a dem changelin' gits! WAAAAGH!'

P.S. This is a bit short for a battle chapter, but I still think it's ok. Enjoy!

Battle Music: Panzar Batallion by Sabaton

9 years, 6 months, and 3 weeks after Exile.

The march through the desert to the Equestrian border took about a week. It would've taken a few days shorter, but they had to keep stopping to pick up water. Fortunately, they found a river after four days into the march, so they were able to lower this time. Plus, one of the Night Guards who was from the border town, Appleousa, said that the river in question ran about a mile from the town, so they follow it to get close to the town. So, soon, they arrived outside the town, and began setting up camp.

Rainbow herself came on a scouting op with some of the Wonderbolts. She maintained an outward calm expected of an officer, but inside she was having a bit of a fanmare freak-out. They WERE still her idols to a degree, and she was still quite young (Only 28). Now, back to business.

The five of them (Her, Spitfire, Soarin, Lightning Dust, and Fleetfoot) sat on a small hill, overlooking the town while another two of them (Misty fly and Surprise) were in the town itself. Well, ghost town. The worn-down buildings sat, dust and tumbleweeds floating in and out of them. Occasionally, the dull brown of the street and the worn paint on the buildings was broken by a black changeling prowling the streets on patrol. At the sheriff's office, the place was overflowing with green cocoons, with vaguely pony-like shapes floating inside.

What drew most of their attention, however, was the hive. It was a large, black and green spire that protruded out of the ground. The holes in the structure acted as entrances/exits, with the Changelings occasionally flying in and out.

Misty and Surprise fly up next to them, wearing navy blue and lighter yellow stealth armor. "Well, we weren't spotted. Plus, we got the intel", Misty said.

"Yeah", Surprise said. "The pods are kept in the sheriff's office and the clocktower. We didn't find anyone else, and the numbers we found are close to the previous numbers we got in the previous census."

"So, none of the pods are in the hive?", Spitfire said.

Misty said, "Yeah. Using the buildings they're in as a storage building, likely."

"What's the plan, then?", Soarin asked her.

Rainbow just kept looking down at the town. Her head wasn't on what they were talking about but on the Lings. Unarmed, unarmored, but with flight and likely were decent skirmishers. Then, she grinned. She had a plan.

The next morning and her troops were ready. Behind the hills of the old orchard, her troops were at the ready to move out. In addition, her plan had been put into place: Her Regiments artillery.

Four Ballista, which were like large stone-throwing crossbows. The 'stones' were replaced, in this case, with small clay containers full of tar and pitch. The outside would be lit on fire, and upon impact, would burst and spread a bunch of fire over the area. The remaining siege weapons were about ten cannons; the heavy iron tubes on carriages that she had received less than a month ago.

Currently, the artillery was being set up behind the hill, so they could fire over the hill in an arc. The cannons would be rolled up onto the hill as to fire on the hive directly. The artillery would pound the place, avoiding the areas who had the ponies in the pods. After the bombardment, her men and the Griffonians would mop up the remnants.

As she was overseeing the movements, Luna, Shining, and the Traitors arrived to see her. "What is going on, Rainbow Dash", Luna asked. She told them the plan, and how they could begin firing as soon as she gave the order.

"B-but what about the ponies in the town?", Fluttershy asks. "If something goes wrong, ponies could be hurt."

"Already taken care of. Scouting reports indicate that all of the ponies are being kept in the Sheriff's Office and the Clocktower. So, if we only fire on the Hive, then casualties should be minimal. Now, permission to begin, Princess?", she said.

Luna looked uncertain, but nodded firmly. Rainbow turned to her artillery officer, and said, "Fall to command. You may fire at will."

As the crews scrambled to prime and load the pieces, Rainbow and all the others trotted up onto one of the hills. As they watched the sun rise behind the hive, several loud *chunk*s sounded behind them, and fiery balls flew overhead. They slammed into the hive. A salvo of cannonballs from the cannons followed them, hitting just below and around the fireballs.

When the fireballs hit, flames whipped around the hive. Walls of fire leap from areas of the hive and into the holes. The few Changelings near the impact zones or at the holes scrambled away to avoid the fire, or else were consumed by it. Following the fire, the cannonballs slam in behind them, bursting into blasts of yellow and orange light. Flakes of the black chitin flew off into the town, shrapnel shredding some of the Lings outside of the blast zones. Lots of screaming ensued from down at the hive as the Changelings tried to scramble out as fast as they could, many being consumed by the flames or cut down by debris as they tried to.

"Vex. Sound advance." The officer saluted, and ran over to the battle line to give the order. While he did, she looked over at the small group next to her. They all just looked on at the hive, stunned and shell-shocked looks on their faces. She just snorted, and then flew over to the line.

Griffons and Wonderbolts over the line, the Pryhans advanced into the edge of town, close to the hive. More Changelings were spilling out, with many of them coughing and sputtering from smoke inhalation. One of them stood on one of the abandoned buildings, trying to calm them down and rally them. She took off, flying over to him.

"Everyling, calm down! Calm! Down! I don't know what's going on, but we need to-AHHH!", The Changeling officer yelled. He was cut off as Rainbow flew up from behind, and ran him through from behind.

As he fell to the street in front of the small group, she said, "I do. I'm Praetor Rainbow Dash. My Regiment is working with Princess Luna to take back Equestria. My men are surrounding you as we speak. So, if you all surrender now, I'll let you all live. Sound good?"

They all looked shell-shocked like the ponies on the hill. Some of them took off into the air, but stopped when they saw the Griffons. Lower down, the Lings found Pryhan Shield walls on either side of the main entrance. They all just lowered their heads, and some of them put up their hooves. All in all, the 'Battle' of Appleousa lasted less than an hour and had zero casualties on her side. All in all, the best engagement of her career, thus far!