The Winds Of Change, Season 1: Friends and Enemys, New and Old.

7/5/1000 C.E.

11:50 A.M.

Hot Shot Trotted over to the trio of friend's as Twilight gave him her undivided attention.

"Yes?" She was curious about just what this stallion wanted her for. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She beckoned the pegasus over to their table. He gave a nod and sauntered over, His eye's locked forward, only making the smallest adjustments so as to alway's have an eye on Rainbow's sky blue coat. "She is truly gorgeous." His brain was about to overload when he rained it in and focused. He cleared his throat.

"Excuse me miss Sparkle but I am here on behalf of your brother Captain Shining Armor." He said standing as still as a statue. The table was silent for a moment. Star was surprised, to say the least. Twilight was equally so. "Oh is Shining Armor here?" She asked looking less enthused than before. Hot Shot nodded. "Yes, ma'am. He is currently at the town hall working on finding your place of residence." He said his face a stoic as ever. Twilight sighed. "I guess I better go and see how he's doing. Make sure he doesn't tear the town apart looking for me." She muttered to herself. she turned to tell her new found friend's goodbye only to come face to face with Star. "WOW!" She moved back a few paces as Star gave her a look of utter shock.

"Your brother is the Captain Shining Armor!?" He asked sounding positively thrilled. Twilight was confused. "Yes. He is. Why do you seem so happy?" She asked feeling very awkward. Star was beaming. "Can I come along and meet him?" Star asked feeling like a school colt. Rainbow was trying very hard to not burst out laughing at Star's behavior. She mostly succeeded only letting out a few chortles before she composed herself. Star didn't even notice so focused on Twilight's answer, was he. Twilight looked at Star with a small sense of pride.

"Of course you can come." She said giggling at Stars admiration for her brother. "YES!" Star shouted jumping into the air a fist raised high as he hovered there for a little while, a faint buzzing noise was heard. "What is that?" Twilight asked looking around for the source of the noise. Rainbow cleared her throat.

"So when are we going to get together?" She asked bringing Star down to the ground with a yank on his tail. He looked around slightly embarrassed at his antics and took a minute to calm himself down.

"Sorry about that." He said trying to recompose himself. "Um Let's see." He looked over at the clock hanging above the door. "It's 11:59 right now." He did some quick calculations in his head. "30 minutes to get to town hall and talk with Captain Armor. 10 minutes to go home and then another ten to get to golden meadow hill." He gave Dash a smug grin.

"Meet me at golden meadow hill in 1 hour." He said as he trotted over to open the door. The group all trotted out of the restaurant Dash flashing Star a smile as she gave him a mock salute. "Go get em bugboy." She shot off into the open blue sky doing a few loop de loops for good measure. "Why does she call you that?" Twilight asked as the trio set off for the town hall. Star just chuckled.

"I used to have an insect collection back in cloudsdale." Said as he remembered his extensive collection. "I decided to donate it to the Cloudsdale Wheather Institute of Science when I graduated." He trotted along in silence for awhile.

"So I see that you and Dash go way back." Hot Shot asked. Star got a whiff of his emotion's and chief amongst them was jealousy. "What your deal?" Star shook the negativity from his head. "Yup. We both attended Cloudsdale High." A smile graced his face. "We lost touch after she went to the Cloudsdale Wheather Institute and I followed after my parent's and went off on my own." He gave both Twilight and Hot Shot a grin.

"I just got back a few weeks ago and we continued on as if no time had passed at all." He laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. Hot Shot was less than enthused as the new's that they had been friends for so long.

"So has she ever had a boyfriend?" Hot Shot asked out of the blue. He caught both pony's off guard. Star was not amused with the question.

"Honestly I don't think she'd feel all that comfortable with me discussing her love life without her present." He gave Hot Shot a glare that simply said "end of discussion." Twilight might not have been the most social pony but even she could feel the chill in the air as the two males trotted along, neither saying a word.

"So Star." She asked trying to break the awkward silence. Star looked up, "Hum," He said. "So you wanted to come along and talk to my brother. What about exactly?" She asked genuinely curious. He smiled. "Oh yeah, that." He said looking a little nervous. Star smiled as thoughts of helping other's filled his mind. "Well, I've always wanted to join the royal guard." He said huffing in relief having kept that to himself and a few close friends for so long. Twilight looked shocked at first but then her shock turned into understanding.

"Aww, I see." She smiled as a devious thought crept into her mind. "So then what am I just some leverage to you then?" She asked, a grin crossing her face. Star sputtered. "What no!" He shouted as the trio stopped. Twilight broke out into a fit of laughter. Star just stared. "What's so funny?" he asked. Twilight snickered. "So this is what spike feels like whenever he get's me with a joke." she thought about it. "I think I'm going to like having six friends to hang out with from now on." She muttered. Star finally got it and he deadpanned. "Hardy har har." He muttered as he trotted along.

12:14 P.M.

The trio made it to town hall with very little in the way of interruptions. When they got there they were somewhat stunned to see a whole squad of royal guards stationed all along the outskirts of the town hall.

"Wow," Star said looking at all of the guards as they filed past into the town hall proper. "They didn't skimp out on security." He muttered as the trio trotted over to the mayor's office. A quick knock on the door was answered with a muffled, "Come in." from the other side. Hot Shot took his leave and bid the two farewell.

"Great now I can find the captain, get my time off and go meet Rainbow a little bit earlier than that dweeb." He rolled his eye's. "How in the hell could that pencil pusher ever live in cloudsdale?" He wondered. He trotted over to a small fountain were a big burly unicorn stallion was stationed. At once the two slapped their hooves to attention.

"Captain." Hot Shot said.

"Private." He answered.

"Sir!" he bellowed. "Your sister in the mayor's office as requested Sir!" He said before standing at rest. Shinning Chuckle.

"At ease Private." He ordered. Hot Shot immediately relaxed as his poster dropped a little. "Thank you, sir." He said as he sat down. Shining laughed.

"You did good private. As promised you can have the rest of the day off along with the other's." He said waving a hoof at the rest of the squad inside the town hall most of whom were chatting with the local's. Hot Shot smiled then he looked a little worried.

"Oh, Captain Armor?" He asked suddenly looking all around, a slight blush crept up his face. "Yes, Hotshot?" He answered.

"Did those file's I requested come in yet?" He looked very nervous as he spoke. Shinning thought about it. Then a lightbulb went off in his head.

"Ah yes. As a matter of fact, it did." He said as he riffled through a pair of saddle bag's he had sitting next to him.

"So may I ask why one of my privates asked for a file on a civilian?" Shining asked, a hint of mischief in his voice. Hot Shot flushed a deep red as he grabbed the file and looked around.

"Sorry sir but I would rather keep it to myself." He looked anywhere he could but at the captain. Shining burst out laughing.

"Easy there private. Just busting your chop's." He gave Hotshot a smile and punched him in the shoulder. "Trust me we've all been there." He winked. "Just be sure you get her file back to me by the time we leave Ok?" He asked once again adopting his serious demeanor. Hotshot gave a brisk salute and the two parted ways.

"Alright now to get to Golden Meadow Hill." He smirked as he trotted out the door.

12:19 P.M.

"So you want to join the royal guard?" Twilight asked as she and Star sat in the mayor's office, waiting. Star nodded as his mind drifted back to his foalhood.

"Yeah." His mind drifted to the night his parent's died. "I was just a little foal when I found my calling." He said his eyes watering as he recalled the painful memories of the past. He sighed as he focused on the present. "I'm going to make sure that no pony is left behind." He gave off a strong sense of confidence and assurance. Twilight was impressed by his goal's and in a way she envied him.

"That's a very noble goal to have." She laughed. She looked around and saw the clock on the wall read 12:25 P.M.

"Shining should be here any minute." She said shuffling her hoofs in excitement. A little over a minute later the door to the mayor's office swung open the knob coated in a pink hue. And in strode the tallest unicorn Star had ever seen.

"Wow!" He stood stock still as Shining stopped in his tracks, a goofy grin spreading across his muzzle.

"Twily!" He spread his hoove open as Twilight bounded over and gave her brother a big hug.

"Hello Shining!" She said giving her brother a soft nuzzle. The sight warmed Star's heart as the two siblings caught up with one another. Star didn't say a word.

"I'll just let them talk for awhile." Star trotted over to a soft pillow on the floor and sat down. Soon a soft glow caught Star's eye. Looking down to the source he spotted his locket glowing a pale blue. He opened it and smiled.

"Mom, Dad. Thank you for everything." He let the locket go and it dangled off the silver chain he had clasped around his neck.

"So this is the stallion I've been hearing so much about huh?" The voice caught Star off guard and he scanned the room looking for it. He flushed with embarrassment when he realized just who had spoken.

"Oh, um yes Shining Armor," He thought about it. "Sir." He hastily added. He sat up and tried to present himself as a sturdy rock. Shining just stood there his face a mask of professionalism. This mask broke as Shining set his eye's on his sister.

"Twily!" He ran over to his sister and through his hoove around her embracing her in a strong hug. She chuckled as her cheeks lit up from embarrassment.

"Shiny!" Twilight cried, a smirk on her muzzle as she tried to wiggle free from her brothers vice grip. Star just laughed quietly in a corner at the display. His laughter got Shinning Armor's attention, however. He set Twilight down and with a deep voice ordered,

"Attention!!" his sudden shout made Star jump but at the same time his instincts kicked in and he stood stock still, his eye's adopting the thousand yard stare. Shining allowed a grin to cross his muzzle but in a flash, it was gone.

"So some pony's been in R.O.T.C?" He asked. Star's face flushed crimson as he took stock of his surrounding's and then relaxed.

"Oh um yes." He said as he relaxed his legs. Shining saw this as an opportunity to both test Star and poke some fun.

"Did I say at ease?" He commanded. Star stood there looking dumbstruck. "U-u-u-" Star responded as his brain and instincts fought for control of his body. Unable to make up his mind he opted for a short spazm and them flopped to the floor, his forehooves covering his face in shame.

"I'm so sorry Sir." He mumbled as he sat there not knowing what to do. Shining let out a chortle as he trotted over to lend Star a hoof. Star looked up and them over to Twilight who shook her head. Tentatively Star grasped the hoof and was pulled to his hooves by a surprisingly strong grip.

"Well Star I've been in the guard a long time and I have to say I have never seen a reaction like that before." He laughed a little as Star looked away, his face now beet red.

"Um yes well I'll just leave you and Twilight alone so you two can catch up." He shuffled his legs as he headed over to the door.

"Star wait up a sec." He turned to see Shining grinning like a fool. "You know my sister inform's me that you were the one to help them find out how to defeat nightmare moon." Star gave Twilight a glance. She just smiled and nodded to her brother.

"She sends me letters from time to time." He ruffled Twilight's hair. "Hey!" she swatted his hoof away as she fixed her now messy mane.

"It sounds to me like you have the makings of a guard in you. Not just anypony can stand up to an alicorn and get away with it." Star stood there not budging an inch. Shining smirked.

"So how about it?" His horn lit up and a small folder he had with him opened up and out flew a few sheets of paper. He then levitated these over to Star.

"You think you've got what it takes to be a royal guard?" He asked as he set the folder down on the desk. Star just gawked at the papers. He looked from Shining Armor over to Twilight and them back to the papers now clucked in his emerald glow.

"I-I-i-w-w-w-h-h-h-???" He was speechless. Here it was. His duty to his country was at his hoof tips all he had to do was sign these forms and off he went to boot camp for six months to undergo guard training. That is if he could even qualify for the entrance exam.

"Oh man, what am I going to do?" He struggled to weigh the options. Shining could see the gears turning in Star's head.

"Hey don't overdo it ok?" He said lifting a hoof to Stars shoulder. "Take your time and think it over." He smiled. "There'll be plenty of time to decide on the trip to Canterlot." Star's eyebrows rose. "Canterlot? What do you mean?" He asked. Shining just chuckled.

"For the award ceremony." He said as if it was the most basic thing in the world. Star was lost.

"Award ceremony? For what?" Shining laughed. "For you and Twilight and the other five ponies who helped to stop Nightmare Moon from taking over Equestria." He said letting his words sink in. Star's eyes went wide. "What!?" He shouted realizing too late that he had yelled at the captain of the royal guard and his sister. He clamped his hooves over his mouth. Both siblings laughed at Stars unfortunate blunder while he just sat there his face now officially turned red. Shining trotted over to Star and slapped him on the back.

"Don't worry too much. It's just a formality." He then looked over at the papers. "Oh, and those paper's will only get your hoof in the door. Think of them as a letter of recommendation." He smiled. "It'll be up to you to decide if you want to be a guard or not." With those last few words of wisdom Shining trotted over to Twilight as the door shut behind him, leaving Star outside the office thinking about his immediate future.