Different

The glaze of the sun shining through the window woke me warmly. It was like a gentle hug, and I liked it. I could get used to not waking up to someone at my door. I got up and prepared myself mentally for what I needed to do today. Today was the day that I would show Celestia the other reformed changelings. I had no idea what she would think about the situation, though I had multiple obstacles to get over. What would Celestia really think about this entire situation? What would the guards say when I try to enter the castle without royalty guiding me in? Would the citizens revolt against the idea of reformed changelings? How would this impact the war?

I got up and gathered some supplies in my saddlebag. I assured myself I had plenty of snacks and water for the trip. I ensured that I had my E.I.C in my saddlebag pocket. I made sure to keep my dagger in my bag in case the train ever got ambushed again. Hopefully my dagger doesn't get taken away by the guards at the station.

Once I packed my things, I looked at the mirror I had in the room and turned into my pony form. I had to meet up with Dew Drop before the streets too got busy. After ensuring that I was ready to go, I walked out of the room. I did not know how long this would take. I was hoping that it would be no longer than just one day. Go up to Canterlot, explain the situation to Celestia, and come back. How hard could this possibly be?

I walked through the castle, my hoof steps echoing in the large halls. There didn't seem to be anyone else awake yet. Strange, usually they would at least be in the dining room eating by this time. Maybe they just thought that they could sleep in today. I could not blame them; it sounded like a great idea.

The walk through town wasn't all that eventful either, most ponies were still getting ready for work. It was Monday after all, ponies would be getting ready for the day. I decided to take a look at Izzy's Tea Shop before making my way over to the station to see if it was open. It would be open by this time. When I got there, however, I could see that the shop still had the shutters pulled down. There were a few ponies standing outside trying to look in and see if it was open. This was not at all like her to not have the store open. This was her home, her job, and her hobby. I got very worried but figured she was still just taking a mental break from all the changes happening around her. I figured it was best to just let her have her rest and continue walking. I noticed that the other ponies also figured that she would not be opening today and walked away. They also looked very worried about the situation but understood given the circumstances falling on the town.

I continued through town to the train station. I saw Dew Drop there as promised. She also had a travel bag ready, though I did not know what she had in it. I walked up to her, "Good morning, Dew Drop."

She saw me walking up to her and waved, "Morning Blue, are you ready for the day's journey?"

I smiled, "Of course, no matter what happens I will be ready. Let's try checking in on the train."

We walked up to the guard at the gate separating the station from the town. The train wasn't there yet so we knew we had plenty of time to check in. The guard at the gate stopped us, "Good morning, where are you two headed today?"

I spoke up for the both of us, "We are headed to Canterlot on royal business. We need to talk with your higher government in regards to information regarding the changelings."

The guard gave us a sideways glance. "Oh, you must be the reformed changeling that Princess Twilight was telling us about. To ensure that you are the one I am thinking of, can you please state your name and where you are staying?"

I got out my E.I.C and handed it to the guard. "My name is Blue Shadow; I have been staying with Twilight and helping your higher government by telling them hive secrets and such. I can't get into too much detail with the secrets as it is currently on a need-to-know basis. I do hope you understand."

The guard looked at my card before scanning it and seeing that I was who I said I was. The guard then looked over to Dew Drop. "Hello, I recognize you from the restaurant here in town. Dew Drop, correct? What are you doing here with Blue?"

Dew Drop looked at the guard. "I am here because I am also a reformed changeling. I have been hidden here working at the restaurant ever since I ran away from the hive. I am part of the reason why we need to talk to your higher command."

The guard paused in realization, "You have been a changeling the entire time? You were one of my favorite waitresses from the restaurant. Interesting to hear that you are also a reformed changeling. I thought Blue here was the only one."

Dew Drop smiled, "That is what everyone thinks, but there are actually a ton of us reformed changelings floating around. That is why we need to talk with Celestia. We need to spread word that there are a lot of reformed changelings who are ready and willing to help the ponies in this war. We are tired with how we are treated in the hive and found that life is much better when we accept friendship. For example, ever since we became reformed changelings, we found that we were no longer hungry for love. Somehow our bodies have changed slightly inside, and we no longer get hungry outside of the same meals you eat. We eat normal pony foods and find that it was way more filling than devouring love. The entire reason most changelings are evil is because we learn that we have to be. We learn to kill or take in life, only going after what is best for the hive. Though, there are enough changelings who want a better life now that we know that it is an option."

The guard looked stunned. I could see that all the other guards in the area overheard us and were also in disbelief. "Now, that is a lot for us to take in. If you guys really are on our side, then that is great. We could always use more allies to help in times of need. Though, I do not think Celestia would be open for conversation today. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both very busy ponies."

I thought for a second, "Well if we cannot speak with them, then I shall tell General Redbriar this information. I technically work with him and can route this information up through him. Either way, this information is huge and needs to be passed up to higher command. This information could help turn the tides of this upcoming war to start more in our favor. Not only will you have your normal strong fighting force, but you will also have a bunch of angry changelings tired of how the hive treated us. Changelings who know best how to fight the hive as we were part of it. We could even try convincing others to join the pony side. If you had an army of changelings of your own, then you can consider this war looking in your favor. First thing is first though, we need to get on the train to Canterlot."

All of the guards gave more serious looks when I spoke about knowing General Redbriar. "Oh, you are not joking. Very well, we will let you on the train. You are lucky that the next stop just so happens to be Canterlot anyways. The train has been going back and forward between here and Canterlot as Celestia has ordered more guards to Ponyville. We were not told why though."

I grinned slightly, "That would be because I told her to send guards here. You see, I know that Chrysalis would try to outsmart the princesses. Celestia has Canterlot very well protected from any changeling attacks. Chrysalis knows this and would be trying to exploit this bit of information. When looking at the map in the planning room I had noticed that they have guards mostly around Canterlot and the other major cities. I also noticed that Celestia had most of her force from protecting from one generalized location leaving Ponyville open for attacks from the west. I know that Chrysalis knows this because she was able to infiltrate the ranks of the royal guard. I know for a fact that she would try to attack Ponyville as it is the least protected due to its size. I also know that this is a high priority target for the hive because this is home of the Elements of Harmony. Think about it, why would Chrysalis try to attack Canterlot knowing how protected it is when the Elements of Harmony are in a small town that only has small security outposts. If she can take out the Elements of Harmony, then this would lower the defenses as the towns ponies would feel less protected and leave them running away to a more protected city. This mass move of survivors would be too much for the guards of Canterlot to account for and let in any changelings hiding among the group. There is also a hidden cave system running through the mountain that Canterlot is mounted on. There is a hidden entrance north of the mountain which was also left mostly unprotected. I told Celestia that it would be smart if she moved forces to Ponyville and protected the Elements of Harmony as they are the ones Chrysalis would be after before she made her way to the princesses. Plus, knowing that she would send the hive to Ponyville, it would leave the hive unaware that there would be more guards here than expected try to kill the lot before they have time to return to the hive and let Chrysalis know that plans have changed. We need to move fast in order to tell the princesses that she now has a growing army of reformed changelings who want to help end this war in favor of the ponies and the reformed changeling's newfound way of life."

Everypony at the station looked at me in awe. The guard, after taking a few long seconds to process this information, looked back up to me. "You really are looking out for us ponies. I was not thinking that the reason we were being sent to Ponyville was for this important of a reason. Next train should get here in the next half hour or so. You are free to get on. I will have a guard walk with you and ensure you make it into the castle. The castle is under high security, but you probably already knew this. Feel free to wait by the benches as it is going to take a while.

Dew Drop and I sat down on the bench, excited by the fact that the guards could see that we were actually on their side and trying to help them. During the wait, a lot of scenarios played out in my head. I was envisioning the different ways that the meeting could go. Maybe we would never get into the building and the sisters would be too busy planning for this war. Maybe the guards would not think that Dew Drop was on our side as she has not been tested yet. Maybe the guards were not yet fully searched for changelings and the guards at the door would end up being changelings who knew I was there to mess up their plan. Whatever happens, I knew that there was only one way to find out.

After a long while of sitting in thought I looked up to see the train arriving in the distance. Seemed as though it was slightly ahead of schedule. The train also looked slightly different, but I could not yet tell what was changed about it from this distance.

After a few more minutes, the train finally pulled into the station. When the doors opened, I was met with a once in a lifetime view. When the doors of the train opened, seemingly an entire company of guards dressed in full armor marched onto the platform. They were marching in scary unison, leaving me breathless. There were also a few guards in more camouflaged armor holding those riles from earlier. These rifles were very long and scary to look at, with a scope on the top that was as long as my forearm. There were also guards in regular armor holding smaller versions of the rifles, though these ones seemed to have more things on them. The scope on these rifles were very small, almost like these weapons were designed for close quarter combat. A lot of the higher ranking guards were carrying those pistols from earlier as well. Most of the guards still had the normal spears and swords. This told me that the guards carrying the rifles and pistols were part of a specialized group of ponies trained specifically with the new gear. They seemed more ready for dangerous mission. It seemed as though the princesses sent two platoons. One platoon of normal guards to protect the inside of the town, and another group that screamed some sort of Equestrian special operations and forces command. Some of the specialized guards were wearing new armor that looked like vests and protective patterned clothing. A few of them had on full face masks dawning different intimidating disguises and screens. I assumed that this was to let them see in the dark without any light. The ponies in this town were not ready for what they were about to see.

I simply watched as they got off the cart. I could see that Dew Drop was terrified of these guards. The guards did seem to go through a lot of new upgrades and training. I couldn't wait to see what those rifles did, being that I was almost hurt by one of them myself. I know not where the mirror that Celestia was talking about led to, but it was clearly a world filled with war. I have never seen such things before. I knew that these ponies were going to hit the hive in very unexpected ways. I had to hope that those other reformed changelings got back with as many reformed changelings as they would before the hive gets taken out by this special forces group and the reformed changelings have a chance at this new fantastic life.

While watching these guards march off the station, I could see what was different about the train. This train was no longer the Ponyville Express that we were used to. Its silly roof design was replaced with a more protective metal framing. The doors appeared to be much thicker. The walls were still made of wood, but I was sure that this was only because they only had time to change so many things about it before they had to start sending guards to Ponyville. Even though the walls were still made of wood, I could see that the inside of the train looked to be lined with sheets of metal framing. The windows even seem to be made of thicker glass. This was now a train ready for war and weapon transports.

The train did not take long to be offloaded and soon it was our turn to get on. When we entered the train, we could see that each cart was protected by two guards each. They looked at us and waved. It would appear that these guards were taught to keep anyone riding the train relaxed and ensured that the train was safe. There was also another guard that got on the train after us. This guard seemed to be a lower ranking officer who was there to guide us into the castle. I could not see the rank of the first guard we spoke to at the gate, but they were able to tell this officer to follow us and allow us entry into the castle. This officer that was now sat in the cart with us looked to be a lieutenant meaning that the guard at the gate might have been a captain. This is not to be confused with a captain of the guard which is the commanding position of a military security force. I have been around long enough to know that just because they both have captain in the title does not mean both are the same rank.

Captain of the royal guard seems to be more of a billet title handed to anyone who is directly in charge of the protection of the royal family and supporting guard regiments. Captains are simply the third ranking in the chain of officers. Captains are usually in charge of smaller things like leading as a company commander and leading tactical operations. This guard in charge of escorting us to the castle was just a lieutenant. Lieutenants are usually in charge of individual platoons of guards. They are among the most junior commissioned officers.

I looked around the cart once we were sat down and ready to leave. This train was now so different and way more protected. I looked at the guards watching the carts and noticed that they were holding spears, but also had a pistol with them. Anyone that gets on this train can now consider themselves to be very safe as this was now not just a train but a bunker on tracks.

The lieutenant looked at us once the train had started moving. "So, you are here to tell the higher command about ways to best protect and fight against the hive? What made you decide to leave the hive and join the ponies? Also, are you aware that the entire guard knows what and who you are?"

I looked back at the officer. "I did not know that the entire guard was told about me. Though, I suppose this is a good thing because they all know that I am not the enemy. Why I wanted to change sides in a bit of a long story though."

The officer glanced back, "Well this is a long train ride."

Dew Drop let out a little laugh, "They got you there."

I looked up at Dew Drop before looking back at the officer, "Yeah, I suppose they did. Ok, I left because of some rather dark history. You see, I was born as a pure blue changeling. In the hive, this is seen as a deformity. Any changeling born with a deformity gets placed into a specialized group of changelings who have one job and one job only. Whenever the hive goes out to attack towns, this special group is to go out and kill off as many ponies as possible while also taking most of the damage. Our job was to die in order to make it easier for the average drones to come in and finish the job. I had no choice in the matter. I was thrown into the group as soon as I was able to walk. I grew up only learning how to kill and take damage. The conditions were horrible, but I was finding that I was really good at it. Maybe even the best as it was what I was taught to enjoy. Though, one day I was taken out on my first mission to take what I was taught in all the years of training and apply it to real life ponies. Upon seeing the other changelings attack with no regard hit me like a brick wall. I thought that we would only be fighting guards, not mothers and children. That was the moment I realized that what I was taught growing up was a lie. These ponies were not fighting back but were running for their lives from changelings and burning buildings. As soon as I was caught not attacking the ponies, the main changeling in charge of overseeing this ambush started beating me with a huge metal chain. I snapped and nearly killed that changeling. Once I was taken back to the hive I was placed on trial and banished, even though I knew by that point that I was going to run away regardless. Once I ran away, I moved to Manehattan and taught myself how to live a normal life. There are still a few things that I can't get right, but I am trying. Learning how to speak like a pony was the biggest thing for me to overcome. In Manehattan I found out that I was crazy natural at playing music. I became a pianist and found that I was enjoying this new life. I had control over what I did and had no one to boss me around. I studied countless books at the library in Manehattan, which is where I learned about the Elements of Harmony held by Twilight and her friends and all they have done. I was taught about the magic of friendship and decided to give it a try. I never really made friends in Manehattan as everyone there is violent for seemingly no reason. Though, I did meet other musicians that I was able to bond with. After a while, I noticed that I was no longer hungry for love. I was able to live like a pony, diet and all. I gave myself a vow that I would eventually help the ponies of Equestria fight against the hive if there was ever an instance. The hive attacking the Canterlot Wedding came out of left field, even for me. I told myself that I would be ready to help the ponies protect themselves next time something like this happened. I moved to Ponyville after becoming homeless in Manehattan. I found Ponyville was cheaper and that, even though I love music, I was not making enough in the big city. I needed to relocate and find a new job. I also needed to find a way to help the ponies without having my disguise found out. I was only discovered after I let a knife cut me at work. As soon as I found out I figured that this was the best time to tell Princess Twilight that I was on her side in this war. I proved it by gladly giving secrets of the hive and convincing Twilight that I was a reformed changeling. Now, I am on my way to tell Celestia, or General Redbriar, that there are actually a surprising amount of other reformed changelings out there who want to move away from the horrors of the hive and live better lives. There are a few reformed changelings from Ponyville who are currently at the hive recruiting other changelings to join the reformed changelings group. There are sure to be enough to help lean this war more towards the guarantee win of the ponies."

The officer listened in with great curiosity. "I had no idea that the hive treated its own changelings like this. No wonder you left; I couldn't imagine being forced to live that way because it was all you were allowed to do. It is great that there are more changelings out there who want to reform."

I looked back at the officer, "Don't get me wrong, this is not the case for every changeling. The normal drones lived a mostly free lifestyle. Every reformed changeling has their own reason for becoming reformed. Just because my life was messed up, doesn't mean that all changelings grew up this way. Though we do all have a main singular reason for this change. The reason being that we found accepting friendship cured our hunger. All the reformed changelings found that they no longer need love to survive, almost as if we are slowly evolving to no longer require it."

Dew Drop spoke up, "This is all true. Once I moved to Ponyville and started making friends, I found myself no longer hungry. I was seemingly fed by the friendship. That and I find that regular pony food is actually very good, if made correctly."

The officer looked back, "Do you think that the entire hive would want to reform?"

I looked back at the officer, "No, sadly I do not think so. Most of the hive enjoys killing and torturing innocent ponies. They are thrilled and filled with blood lust. Most of the hive wants to see the world burn and fully support the queen. I do not see the queen ever reforming either. As much as I do not like it, most of the hive cannot be saved. This war will only fuel them more as they want to take complete control of Equestria and feast on anypony in their way. The darkness in the situation is that only a small portion of the hive would ever even consider reforming. We will have to either kill them all or beat them bad enough in this war that they decide to move across sea and try their hooves at trying another location. There should hopefully be enough reformed changelings out there to where we can essentially create our own reformed hive in a new location. We would be big enough to be considered a new allied nation. Either that or we could integrate into your society and live normal pony lives. We still have a long road to travel before figuring all that out though."

The officer smiled, "Well, I would be happy to fight alongside a nation of new friends. Hell, we could even consider letting changelings join the guard. Even if only a few reformed changelings joined the ranks, they would be so powerful with their transformation magic that we could crush waves of enemies just by you changing into a monster and crushing the enemy. We are very aware of how powerful changeling magic is which is why Celestia gave us these new weapons capable of piercing even the toughest of protection spells from far away. We even have a group of specialized guards who have rifles powerful enough to kill someone from miles away without them ever being seen. Honestly, if we could get reformed changelings to join the ranks of the royal guard, we could create a new special forces group of changelings who are literally masters of disguise and train them with this new high-tech gear. If we had an entire platoon of reformed changeling guards and trained them like special forces, then Equestria would never be afraid of a war ever again. I must admit, you guys are scary to fight against. That video that Princess Celestia showed of you on the train taking out nine of your own kind at full force to protect Princess Twilight was the scariest thing I have ever seen."

I smiled back, "That is all the specialized training I grew up learning. Those nine drones are not nearly as trained as I was. I have been considering joining the guard though, as I am already more than trained enough to take of anything in order to protect the ponies that I was originally trained to fight. I killed those changelings because I knew that they would never reform and were there to kill. I did what I needed to in order to protect the princess. I would happily use my skills to join the royal guard and help protect the princesses. That is, if I was even allowed to."

The officer giggled, "I'm sure that Celestia would make a special case for you. We could use someone like you. I would die happy knowing someone like you was fighting by my side. You have skills that scream officer instead of enlisted. If you are able to join up, I would highly consider you join the officer route. You seem like someone who would make a great general one day."

I looked out the window while continuing the conversation, "Yeah... well... we can only take this one step at a time. We need to let higher know that this many reformed changelings even exist in the first place. With how drones are, I'm sure that they would be more than excited to join the royal guard. Fighting is what the changelings are best known for. Though, not every changeling wants to fight. Dew Drop over there is quite the peaceful type themselves."

The officer looked at Dew Drop, "That is perfectly ok. In Equestria, no one is forced to do anything they do not want to do."

Dew Drop responded, "I am thinking of learning how to be a cook. Working in a restaurant and finding that pony food can be the best thing ever let me discover that food is my passion."

While looking out the window, I could tell that I was slowly drowning out the conversation that the officer was now having with Dew Drop. I was captivated with the landscape shooting by us. Equestria really is a beautiful place to live, it would be an awful shame if the hive won and took over. They would surely destroy this land and all the wonders it holds. I kept myself in thought for the rest of the train ride. While I was not paying attention to the conversation anymore, I could tell that those two were getting along. If only all changelings and ponies could get along, then maybe there wouldn't be a need for such a war. Too bad that most changelings are too far gone to reform. A lot of changelings I know are either about to die or be forced to leave the lands. I would feel bad if these changelings didn't like mass murder. This is for the better though. Life was about to change; we could only hope that it was for the better.

The hours rolled on by as I found the Canterlot Train Station approaching from the distance. I snapped back into reality as I saw a few more guards at the station ready to board the train. There didn't seem to be as many as before which means this group is just the stragglers that couldn't fit on the train.

I looked around to make sure that I had all my equipment before being guided off the train by this officer. When we got off the train, we were met with stares from the other guards who were now headed to Ponyville. We walked through the station and made it into the town of Canterlot. I had almost forgotten how big and majestic this city was. There were a lot of ponies who were walking around, seemingly not caring too much about this war. They seem to think that the protection around Canterlot is enough for them to not have to worry. I could only hope that they were correct.

The walk to the castle was a long one, but I was more than used to long walks by this point. The next part of the mission was to get inside the castle. Sure enough, after walking through Canterlot, we arrived to a well-protected castle door. The two guards standing by the door saluted the officer guiding us into the castle. I could not tell what rank these guards were, but they appeared to be enlisted personnel.

Getting past them was very easy as the lieutenant was seen taking the star off of their uniform and using that to open the door and walk through. This was some really interesting technology. The huge doors were only open long enough for us to enter the castle. Once we were in, we continued our mission to find someone of higher authority. Hopefully it would be the princesses so that we could simply tell them directly.

The castle was as amazing as I remember it being the first time. The halls were filled with more well-armed guards. The inside of this castle seemed ready to take on a swarm of changelings. Some were roaming the halls while others were standing at attention guarding doors and passages into different hallways.

The guard took us through hallways that we had never entered before. They seemed to know the ins and outs of the castle. After a few long minutes of walking, we came across a hallway with red flooring. This seemed to be a section of the castle where the higher-ranking ponies of each guard worked and slept when they were on duty.

Stepping on this red carpet filled me with a sense of importance. We looked at the doors to see names. Passing the doors, I could notice that most of them seemed to be anywhere between one star to four-star generals. We came to a door that read General Redbriar, it also had four stars on it. I walked up to the door and knocked on it.

After a few seconds of silence, I was able to hear some movement from behind the door. The door opened to General Redbriar who was not wearing his uniform. That told me that he was currently off duty and on a break. He looked out and had a surprised look on his face when he saw me.

"Blue? What are you doing here?" General Redbriar said, tilting his head slightly.

"I have more important information that needs to reach the princesses. I was told that the princesses would be too busy to talk with today." I said in a serious manner.

General Redbriar looked at us, "Ok then, come in. You guys can sit on the couch I have in my office."

We all agreed and entered his office. Dew Drop and I sat down on the couch. The Lieutenant stood next to the couch at the position of attention. The General noticed this and looked at the young officer that was clearly intimidated by his rank.

General Redbriar walked up to the young officer. "You can relax here. I understand that you must be intimidated by the rank. I was a young officer like you before, so I get where you are coming from. You are trying to be respectful and show professionalism. You can sit down with the other two on the couch and relax. I am also a pony too you know."

The officer nodded and sat down on the couch. General Redbriar took a seat at his desk. His desk was facing the couch. "Ok, I'm on a break so I have time to talk about this. Just keep in mind that this does not mean I have all day. What is it that you needed to tell me?"

I looked up at General Redbriar, “This pony sitting next to me is what we need to talk about. She is an example of the next chapter in the war. We have discovered that there is an entire group of changelings just like me. They want to reform and fight for our side in this war. The number of reformed changelings out there is not exact yet, though there are six of us total now. If we can get these reformed changelings to help us out, then we can easily turn the tides of this upcoming war into our favor from the beginning. The hive won't know what hit them when they realize that there are changelings fighting against the hive. These reformed changelings can help us with more knowledge and capabilities. Celestia needs to know about this."

General Redbriar looked shocked at this news. "You mean to tell me that we have even more support? How many of you do you think there are?"

Dew Drop spoke out, "We think there may be as many as hundreds who want to reform. The hive has thousands of changelings. The chances are that at least one third would want to reform. Especially when we heard that accepting friendship into our lives helps us to no longer feel hungry again. We feel as though changelings want to reform because they want a new change in life. A lot of changelings get rejected, abused, kicked around, and so much more. Sure, most of the hive would never want to reform because they hate ponies too much and love pushing others around, but we could have enough of the hive wanting to reform and change that we could essentially make a new branch in the Equestria Military Forces."

General Redbriar sat in thought at this new information before responding, "This is some serious news. If this is true, we could have a new protection force that would be stronger than anything we have already. But the big question is how are we going to be able to tell if they are lying or not? How can we for sure determine if a changeling is reformed or not? We would need a surefire way of knowing which changeling is reformed or not."

"That is something we still need to figure out ourselves. Dew Drop here looks exactly like a normal changeling still." I said, trying to figure this out. "The only way we have been able to tell so far is through Princess Twilight's truth spell. Granted, I do not think it would be possible to test hundreds of reformed changelings with a single spell."

Dew Drop looked back up, "I have an idea, but I am not sure how well it would work. Reformed changelings seem to not get hungry for love anymore, so maybe if we close all of them in a building, we could see which ones go mad and angry from hunger."

I looked back, "I am not sure if that would work because if it turns out that a large enough amount of changelings were trying to lie their way in then they would try to attack the actual reformed changelings and we would have a lot of spilt blood. We need to find a safe way of testing everyone without there being a big issue involved."

General Redbriar looked at the group, "That can be something we figure out later. As of now we need to find Princess Celestia and let her know. Follow me, we need to find her. She might be busy, but this news is important."

General Redbriar stood up from his desk and started hiking his way into the hallway. We all followed him. He took us through the castle. This place was so filled with hallways that it made me think that the guards often got lost. He seemed to be taking us through some back halls that were used as passageways to get from one end of the castle to the other in a faster manner. He clearly knows this castle better than the streets of Canterlot. That just tells me how long he has been working in the castle.

We ended up in a large room that had screens plastered all over the walls. This seemed to be the main security room that showed the cameras in the entirety of the castle. We all scanned the screens to see if we could find Celestia. Our goal was to see where she was or figure out where she was going so we could intercept her path quicker.

We managed to spot Celestia in the kitchen of the castle. She seemed to be watching the cooks make the food and see that they were doing everything to standard. Once we found where she was, we quickly left the room and headed to the kitchen. The castle walls were filled with many secret doorways that the general was taking us through. Getting to the kitchen only ended up taking a few short minutes.

We entered the kitchen to see that she was still there. Celestia looked up after seeing us enter the kitchen. "General? Blue? What are you guys doing?" Celestia said, looking up from a checklist.

General Redbriar saluted Celestia before answering. "We are here as Blue brought some important news ma'am. Turns out that there could be an entire army of reformed changelings who want to join the ponies in this war."

Celestia looked at me, "Oh really? How do you know this?"

I looked over to Dew Drop. "Her and her friends walked up to Twilight's castle one day and came out as a group of reformed changelings. There are four others. They all went to the hive to find more changelings willing to reform. We speculate that there could be hundreds more willing to reform and live with the ponies."

Celestia looked over to Dew Drop, "If this is true, then I welcome you with open arms. This is big news!"

The lieutenant looked up at Celestia. "We were also thinking that we could use them and create a new changeling branch of military in the Equestrian Military Force. That is, after we test them all and determine that they have good intentions."

Celestia looked at the young officer, "Who would we put in charge of this new branch of service?"

The young officer looked back up, ready to answer. "I feel as though Blue is more than capable of leading an army of reformed changelings in support of Equestria's government. I have never met a pony so ready to take on such a leadership role."

Celestia looked down in thought, "That might work, given that enough reformed changelings really want to fight on the pony side. This would be a huge change. General, what do you think about this?"

General Redbriar looked up, "I think that a branch of military ran by changelings would be rough to control. Though, with enough training and support it might be a great addition to the forces. I think it would be smarter to simply have them join in the branches already made. I do not think there would be enough reformed changelings willing to join our ranks for us to be able to create a new branch. Changelings are very powerful, so if we can get changelings to fight on our side and under our control in platoons already created then we could easily outpower the hive. We would have to play it smart. As for Blue, I agree that he could be a great leader. We can place him in as a lieutenant and see how well he can lead. We can place regular officers above him, but he would be the only changeling officer until others can prove that they are capable of being trusted with such a rank. Blue could easily climb through the ranks. As for sending him through officer training though, I am not sure that we do not need to. He has already proven his capabilities, smarts, skills, strength, willingness, determination, heart, and survivability. I would never say this, but in Blue's case I feel as though he does not need to go through O.C.S. You see, in Officer Candidate School we look to see who would be a good leader or not based on attributes, skill, smarts, strength, and how fit they are. Blue has already shown us all of this, meaning that he is already ready to be a Celestial Royal Guard Officer. We can make him a second lieutenant and place him with a senior first lieutenant to make sure he is doing good. If it is found that Blue isn't a good officer, then we would place him in the enlisted ranks. He can think of it as a test."

Celestia looked at him with pure curiosity. "I think you are absolutely correct, plus this is a time of war so promoting him to officer without going through the full selection process wouldn't be the worst thing. Besides, I feel you are also correct in saying that we know he would pass O.C.S so there would be no need to send him. He would still have to go through some sort of training though. Blue, what do you think?"

I stood there in silence. I was too blown away by them not only telling me that they would let me in the guard but would start me off as an officer. I never would have actually imagined that this would ever be a thing. "Ye-yes ma'am, I think that I would be very happy and willing to become a second lieutenant in your guard."

Celestia smiled, letting out a small laugh. "I think it is settled then. Regardless of if any other changelings ever manage to join the royal guard, Blue shall be made an officer and help lead us in this war. We can discuss this in more detail later, first I need you to get back to Twilight and give her a message. You shall tell her that all of our guards have been tested and given chips in their uniforms for identification. I have a box of chips that you need to bring to her so that she can give them to her guards. Next is I need Twilight to come up with a plan to test all of the citizens. Any changelings you find must be detained and tested. Stay right here and I will go retrieve the chips from my room." After saying this, Celestia magically teleported away. She returned only a few seconds later holding a box. She handed me the box and a letter. "Do not read that letter as it is for Twilight's eyes only."

"Understood Princess. I will return at once. I will also get with the other reformed changelings and determine how many others they were able to find. We will also find a way to test them all. This is going to take a lot, but I am sure that we can figure something out with Twilight's help." I said, holding the box with my magic.

Celestia then looked at General Redbriar, "I need you to get with the intelligence and recon forces and let them know of this new information. I can imagine that we are about to have a bunch of changelings walking up to Ponyville to come out as reformed. The guards need to be very careful as to not shoot them until they have been tested. This is not to say that we can let any changeling in the gates as we would not know everyone's true intentions. They still need to be on the alert for attack drones. I also need you to get with the other generals and determine the best route for getting Blue in our system as a second lieutenant."

General Redbriar saluted Celestia before turning to walk away. "Yes ma'am, right away."

Celestia looked back at me. "You two best be going back now. Also, Blue, we can swear you in later. There will be paperwork that you need to fill out in order to become an officer. I will have a guard send this paperwork to Twilight's Castle after we get you ran in the system. Now, are you sure that you want to join our guard as an officer? There is a lot involved with this."

I looked at Celestia with a sure face. "Yes ma'am, this is a challenge that I will gladly accept. Plus, I feel as though this will help show that reformed changelings really do want to change and help the ponies."

Celestia smiled, "Very well. You have already shown how great of an officer you can be. Please do not let me regret this decision. It is not often that I royally degree that a pony joins the royal guard as an officer, even more so a changeling. Make us proud."

I nodded at her and smiled. The young officer, Dew Drop, and I then headed back to the train station to catch a ride back to Ponyville. The day seemed to be flying by as the night sky had already started showing. We all managed to get back to the station and board the train with no issues. The train cart was empty as it was getting late at night. Traveling by train late at night was not the safest way to go so often ponies avoided it.

While on the train, I looked at the officer and asked them a question. "So, how often is it that someone joins the royal guard without going through the selection course?"

The young officer looked up from the window that they were looking out of. "The only other way someone is usually able to join without going through O.C.S is by going through a course called R.O.T.C. That is the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college which is designed to train young officers while they are still going through college. Your case is something I have not heard of before, assuming that you have also never been to college. Let alone normal pony schooling. You are in a one-of-a-kind position, and I feel you should not give them a reason to decide differently."

I thought for a second, "It just seems weird. It was only a few days ago that I was discovered as a changeling. A few days later and I am being told that they want me as a second lieutenant in the same royal guard that is designed to kill my kind. This seems as though it is simply moving too quickly, ya' know?"

The officer nodded, "It is the fastest citizen to officer transition that I have ever seen. Especially as you just became a citizen only a few days ago. I am not sure what the other guards are going to think about this too. Princess Celestia must really like and trust you for this to happen. She must think that you are really something special."

"I have never led a large group of ponies before." I said, looking out the window.

The officer looked back, "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Second Lieutenants are usually in small of charge numbers anyways. Plus, you will have a senior first lieutenant to help guide you if you ever run into any issues. If any of the guards decide that they do not want to listen to you because you are a changeling, they will have the entire chain of command falling down on them."

"I hope you are right. Though, I wonder why Celestia agreed with this idea so easily. It makes me think that she has a different deeper reason for doing this." I said, looking back at the officer.

"Don't think too much about it, I found it is best to not question when good things happen to you. Especially when it is something as big as an instant promotion to officer. Just take it as it is and focus less on why and more on what you can do with it." The officer said, letting out a small chuckle.

"You are right. I need to think more on how to be the best officer I can. Also, I need to be more excited about the fact that I am the first changeling to authentically join the royal guard. This is a sign that big changes are happening." I let out a small sign of relief after saying this. I then looked back out the window and watched the outside world fly by us.

A few hours later we finally made it back to Ponyville. I grabbed the box and headed off the train and onto the platform. The royal guard getting off after Dew Drop and I. The officer looked back at me after stepping off the train. "Well, this is where we go our separate ways for now. I can't wait to meet you again. I can't wait even more to fight alongside you as a fellow officer. You have a great night."

I smiled and waved back at the officer. Dew Drop and I then headed through the gate to get checked back into Ponyville. This was very easy as all we needed to do was show our E.I.C to the guards. Dew Drop managed to also have hers on her. It was also made easy as the entire guard knew who I was and let me go with little issue.

After a bit of a walk, Dew Drop and I finally made it back across the bridge into Ponyville. The cold night air was chilling but felt nice regardless. Dew Drop looked up to me, "Thank you Blue. Thank you for going through all the trouble you did to tell Princess Celestia about me and my friends. This is going to be a huge steppingstone for us reformed changelings. As for now, I must go back to my place. It is very late, and I do have work tomorrow. Tuesdays are usually busy for some strange reason."

I smiled, "Very well then, you have a great night! Hopefully your friends manage to come back with good news soon!" I waved as Dew Drop walked into town. I made my way back to the castle to deliver the box and letter to Twilight.

I made my way back up to the castle. The guards at the door stopping me for identification. This did not take that long as they already knew that I lived in the castle. Once I showed them my E.I.C I was able to walk inside. I had to find Twilight and give her the box as soon as I could.

I made my way to the map room as I had a hunch that she would be there. To my surprise, when I opened the door to the map room Twilight is the room talking to all of her friends. They all stopped what they were talking about and looked at me.

Twilight looked back from the table. "Oh Blue, glad to see you made it back from Canterlot. What do you have there?"

I levitated the box and letter and set it on the table in front of her. "Celestia told me to give this to you. She told me to tell you that all of her guards have been tested and chipped. This box contains all the chips for the royal guard in Ponyville for identification. They just need to be handed out to the correct guard. Also, she gave me a letter and told me that it was for your eyes only."

Twilight looked at the box then back at me. "What else did she say?"

I walked up to the table. "She told me that she loves the idea of an entire army of reformed changelings joining the ponies in this war. She also decreed that I be made a second lieutenant in the Celestial Royal Guard. I will be filing the paperwork within the next day or so and be pinned as an officer."

The entire room was filled with sudden surprise. Rainbow Dash spoke up, clearing the quick silence. "That is very impressive. Not only did Celestia like the idea of reformed changelings fighting for the ponies, but she royally promoted you. You'll be on a higher level than me as a Wonderbolt. I was finally made one officially a few days ago. Congratulations!"

Pinkie Pie looked up, "Never would have thought that a changeling that was discovered only a few days ago would suddenly be a royal guard officer. Also, we heard about the large, estimated number of reformed changelings that might be arriving within the next few days to help with the war. Though, how are we going to figure out if all of them really are reformed?"

I looked up to Pinkie, "That is the part that I am not sure about. I was not expecting that many reformed changelings to exist in the first place."

Twilight looked up from opening the box and checking to make sure none of the chips were damaged. "We can figure that out later, right now we have a subject that we need to get back to. What are we going to do about the six sniper teams? We have the rest of the guards set up in the best defensive position possible."

Apple Jack replied, " Like I said before, I think we should put two of em’ around the train station, one of em’ on the south end of town, one on the north, and two watchin’ over the farm. We need to protect the food source and main entry way. Blue, what do you think?"

I looked up to Apple Jack. "What is a sniper?"

Rarity Replied, "They are the ones with those really long rifles. They are capable of shooting someone from miles away while never being seen as they are also the best when it comes to camouflaging. There are two of them in each team. One of them uses the rifle and the other scans the area using very powerful binoculars. The weapon they use also has a silencer on the end so that it would be harder to find where the shot came from."

I looked down and saw that they had a map for reference, "I have no idea where we could best place these teams then. They sound powerful so I can imagine there are many different configurations we could place them in, that would all be great. I do agree with Apple Jack in the sense that we should protect the farm. All the trees on the farm could act as great coverage for spies. Though, I think we should at least place one of those teams on top of the town hall center. That building, being the tallest in town, will provide them with a full view of Ponyville from all sides. This will also provide a miles wide circumference of the outside of town. You could even throw two teams up there and be extra covered for miles in all directions. I also feel as though you can use the top of your castle. It provides the same level of protection with a different view. If you place sniper teams at those two locations, then all of town will be covered. The rest of the teams, I would have no idea."

Rainbow Dash looked at the map, "You're right! That would provide the easiest maneuverability for the other teams as well. Essentially creating a sky view of the entire town from different locations with little obstruction. We would still be able to put sniper teams at the farm and train station."

Twilight looked happy at this, "That way if the guards watching above the castle and the town hall see something they could call out to the guards below them. This would mean that communication of incoming enemies would be much faster as well. We will take this into consideration. Now, onto the next topic. What will we be doing about the reformed changelings?"

Fluttershy spoke out, "I think we should get them all into the town hall. If we can get all the estimated hundreds of changelings in one area, then we can test them at once. All we need to do is teach a bunch of unicorns the same spell. If we can get a bunch of unicorns to perform a concentrated spell, then the combined force will create a truth telling spell powerful enough to fall on every changeling in the town hall."

Twilight looked up, "That is very smart actually. I can't believe I couldn't think of that first. Tomorrow we will gather a bunch of unicorns and start teaching them the spell. We will also get cages ready for anyone found lying about their intentions. That will conclude all of our topics for the day as it is getting fairly late. We will meet back up tomorrow when we gather the guards to give them their armor chips. Tomorrow we will discuss testing our citizens for any changelings hidden among the ponies."

Pinkie Pie looked at the group, "I was also thinking we could throw a small party at the Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow night in celebration of our new friends. I know that the other four reformed changelings will be back from the hive tomorrow. We can all get together, celebrate, and talk about how many reformed changelings they have discovered in the hive. I am not sure when the other ones will make it to Ponyville, but the reformed changelings we already have need to be awarded for their bravery."

Rarity looked to Pinkie, "I swear, you'll throw a party for anything darling."

Pinkie Pie giggled, "This is a big event though."

Twilight nodded her head, "Pinkie is right about this one. This is a huge change coming. Who knows, maybe we can reform the entire hive and make the world a more peaceful place."

I looked at the group, "I could only hope, though I do not think that every changeling will have the best intentions. We can only hope for the best though."

Twilight got up from her chair. "Again, we will meet back up tomorrow morning. As of tonight though, I am fixing to head to bed and get ready for tomorrow. I am also going to go to my room to read this letter."

All of her friends got up from their chairs. They collectively said their quick goodnights and left. I decided to go back to my room and turn in for the night. I know I kept saying it, but big changes were about to happen. I got to my room, showered up quickly, and changed back into my changeling form. That is something that I liked about this castle. I knew that I was safe enough to sleep in my changeling form without the worry of anyone killing me in my sleep. Even if a guard managed to enter my room in my sleep, they knew who I was and what my intentions were. It would also be illegal for them to do this due to me also being an official citizen of Equestria now. It also would be weird because I would outrank most of the guards in her castle if I did actually become a second lieutenant in the royal guard. There were so many things happening at this time that I was not sure what to be excited about. The fact that changelings were willing to reform. The fact that the government trusts me enough to let me into their ranks as an officer. The fact that ponies were starting to accept the fact that changelings and reformed changelings have huge differences. The fact that I was making more friends every day. Everything was happening in ways that I would have never thought possible only a few days ago.

Tomorrow would hopefully be a more relaxing day as I did not have anything planned for the day. I could go out and find new friends. I could also just go see Octavia and Vinyl again and see if they are doing anything later. It made me happy that Octavia was still willing to be my friend. We were able to bond over music. That made me wonder what other things ponies and changelings could bond over. I will just have to go out and see what the other ponies were into. Maybe there was somepony out there that I have more in common with.

I got comfortable in bed, my mind so full of these bursting thoughts. I needed to tell myself to relax and go to bed because if I didn't then I would be up late at night just leaving myself in thought and wonder. I managed to just listen to the silence surrounding me in this castle room. For some strange reason, the silence was very relaxing. I always liked darker and quieter places, though I never had any idea as to why. Going to sleep that night was very easy.