{Canterlot Castle}
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In a large barracks in the Canterlot castle, Shining Armor was briefing the thirty-five guards, he had requested, on the reconnaissance operation he had told Celestia and Luna about during their meeting earlier. He had asked if there was any pony who wasn't willing to leave with him to neutral territory. When none of them had said anything, he began, "Alright ponies, listen up! We are in danger of going to war with the changelings and the griffins, so I'm going to need all of you to pay attention! I'm leading a reconnaissance operation in the borderlands near changeling territory, so stay sharp and don't let me catch you slacking off! Our mission is to look for any signs that point to a coming war. This includes the movements of changeling troops in the borderlands, any strange activity involving the changelings, and any rumors that hints towards an attack or invasion. Remember, the changelings are an aggressive race, especially towards ponies so be on your guard. Are there any questions that any of you would like to ask about the operation?" he asked looking around the room. When a unicorn guard raised his hoof, it caught the attention of their captain.
"What should we do with any ponies that are acting or behaving strangely?" the guard questioned, knowing all to well the changeling's ability to change their appearance to match that of any individual they come across.
"Good question, well as you know, the changelings have the ability to disguise as a pony at will. So any ponies you find acting strange, you bring to me. I have learned a spell from my sister, Princess Twilight Sparkle, that compromises their transformation spell." Shining said answering the guard's question. "Are there any more questions?" he asked, receiving no further questions. "Very well then, we will take our leave in an hour, report to the front gate then. Dismissed!"
Two days later Shining Armor and his team where well into their march and were nearing the borderlands, they were trotting down a dirt road towards the borderlands and it wouldn't be long before the sun would start to set into the horizon and they would set up camp. A few minutes later Shining Armor decided to set up camp for the night and just as they finished setting up, one of the pegasus guards could hear a faint scream come from the direction they were heading in and notified their captain. "Captain!" The guard called out.
Shining Armor focused his attention to the guard who called out to him, "Shock, what is it?" Shining asked a little on edge about his sisters visions and the risk of war.
"I think I heard a scream coming from down the road in the direction of the borderlands." The guard named Shock replied with a hint of concern in his voice. "Should I check it out, sir?" he then asked.
Shining looked around to see what other guards were around and saw two earth guards pass by. "Smith, Zak, front and center!"
The two looked at each other briefly then trotted to their captain. "Sir!" the two of them said at the same time.
"Shock heard a scream coming from down the road over there, I want you two to go with him to where he heard the scream to investigate, and id like to remind you that we are close to the borderlands so I want you to be on your guard and look for anything that may be out of the ordinary. Can you do that for me?" Shining asked not wanting let any strange activity go unchecked.
"Yes sir!" the two saluted their captain before following Shock down the road where the scream have been heard from.
The three guards were about half an hour into their search when they came upon a gruesome sight, a small village was burnt and several dead ponies littered the site. "What happened here?" Shock asked, ironically in shock.
"Probably an attack, we are close to changeling territory." Zak said with disgust towards their potential enemies as he was looking around for any survivors. "Smith, go into that large round building, sword at the ready, check for any pony that may have survived."
"Good idea, we could get some information from them, and report back to the captain with conclusive evidence of a war." Shock commented, feeling sorry for the ponies here. "After words, we must burry these poor ponies, they didn't deserve such a fate."
Zak and Smith both nodded and checked the houses while Shock kept look out from the sky.
A half an hour had passed when they decided to end their search, but as they left, they noticed one of the ponies on the ground was leaning onto a building, and that he was breathing. "Hay you over there!" Smith said while walking over to the said pony. He was brown with a black mane and had a stab wound in his abdomen.
The three guards soon figured out that he was out cold so they just bandaged him up and took him back to their camp to be treated and questioned.
Hours later back in the camp, he woke up in a medical tent and was tended to by the camp medics. "Who are you? And Where am I?" the pony asked the pony who was standing next to him. "I'm Shining Armor, the captain of these ponies. My guards found you among the dead in a small village near here. Could you tell me what happened?"
After over an hour of the interrogation Shining found out that an attack was launched by the changelings and were lead by a griffin by the name of Gilda, and they had also brought what appeared to be a human with blood red eyes and had muttered what sounded like something about them being in his way of revenge.
After a week of investigating the borderlands, Shining and his team had also discovered that an alliance treaty was signed by the griffin king and Queen Chrysalis of the changelings. They headed back and Luna confirmed they were already at war and that now was the time to summon their allies