Shining Armor gave Sheriff Silverstar his instructions before leaving for the hotel. It was a small, two-story establishment with a saloon and a few moderately-furnished rooms, not enough for the over forty more troops Shining Armor had promised to send. The guards were arranged around the few tables, eating and drinking.
Shining Armor whistled and motioned for one of them to come up. The white pegasus took off his helmet, revealing a mop of messy brown hair, and bowed to Shining Armor.
“Captain!” the pegasus said, pulling himself upright. “How did the meeting with Sheriff Silverstar go?”
“Good, Revenant Wings,” Shining Armor said. “Sheriff Silverstar is proving himself amicable and was keen to give the details. I’m afraid it’s worse than we thought.”
Shining Armor told the guard the details. The pegasus listened attentively as he went over the details of the remaining swarm and of the town’s own plight. When Shining Armor had finished, he nodded officially.
“I say a letter should be dispatched to Celestia immediately," Shining Armor said. "Sound Barrier could make it flying to Canterlot and back within a day. I could stay here and write the letter, but I must go and find out more about this Braeburn. If Silverstar should have enough faith in him to tell us about him, we should start collecting ourselves powerful allies immediately. Revenant, I entrust you with the letter. Write down everything as I told you and send it off with Sound Barrier as soon as you can. In the meantime, I shall be heading out to find the home of Braeburn.”
The guard saluted. “Yes, sir."
"Also, tell the other troops to begin preparing themselves to help with the reconstruction. They are eager and willing to help.”
"Yes, sir. I shall carry out the orders as you have stated."
“Revenant, I leave you in charge until I get back.”
Revenant bowed and went back to his meal while Shining Armor left the hotel and headed down a road out of town and to a small, fertile valley. Grass poked through the sand and apple trees flourished for acres along the side of a river. A well-traveled dirt road split the orchard in half, and a small, make-shift stand stood at one end of the orchard alongside the road.
Closer to town was a small farmhouse. It was handsomer than the buildings in town and seemed to have been kept up rather well, the paint still faded but not peeling and it looked as though it stood on firm foundations. Shining Armor approached the house and soon saw a large barn in much the same condition as the house.
Shining Armor went up to the door and knocked before waiting patiently on the patio. The sun had almost completely gone below the horizon and a cool breeze had kicked up though it didn’t stir the sands. Shining Armor waited a few moments more and was about to knock again when a handsome-looking young stallion with a gold coat and mane and bright green eyes stared back at him, wearing an old, worn, leather Stetson.
For a moment, the stallion looked Shining Armor up and down. He emerged with a pleasant expression, but the longer he saw Shining Armor the more he became worried, even disturbed. After a while, he finally managed to speak. “May I ask who’s comin’ to call at this hour?”
“I am sorry to disturb you,” Shining Armor said, pulling off his helmet. “My name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. Are you Braeburn of the Apple family?”
The stallion nodded. “I am. But… what’s the Royal Guard got to do with me?”
“I came because I received a letter of a disturbance from the local sheriff and wanted to know how much you might know.”
Braeburn nodded and opened the door. He stepped inside and allowed Shining Armor to step in to a small kitchen. On the table was a half-eaten apple pie and salad. Braeburn went into the kitchen and pulled out two mugs and filled them with a frothy liquid, handing one to Shining Armor. “Here,” he said. “It’s homemade apple cider. I expect you must be parched not being used to our desert.”
Shining Armor looked sternly at him. “As a member of the Royal Guard, I have been trained to stand extremes. While I appreciate the offer, I should have you know this heat does not bother me as much as you might think.”
Braeburn tipped his hat over his eyes in a mixture of shame and apology. “Will you at least accept it as a friendly gesture?”
Shining Armor waited a moment longer before taking the mug of cider that the stallion offered him. He took a sip. It had a sharp taste but finished sweet. “You said this was homemade?” he said with a note of both surprise and pleasure.
Braeburn nodded. The pleasant expression had returned to the stallion’s face and he looked much brighter than before as he led Shining Armor to a small sitting room, holding his own mug in his hoof. “It’s both a pride and an Apple family tradition. Cider season is always a big time for us. Some of our largest sales and biggest profits are made then.”
Shining Armor nodded. “It certainly is one of the best I’ve tasted. Not like what they sell in Canterlot.”
Braeburn bowed. “Thank you, Captain.”
Shining set his empty mug aside with a pleased sigh. “Call me Shining Armor. No need to use formalities. You aren’t in trouble.”
Braeburn bowed again and sat himself down a short ways away from Shining Armor, facing him.
“Now, I just want to ask you a couple of questions about recent events and see what you know of the situation?”
“Well, of course! Anythin’ you want. I’ll be glad to give it.”
“Alright. A week ago, I was married to Princess Cadence of Canterlot. I heard a festival took place then. However, there were some unusual events that took place that day, according to Sheriff Silverstar. I want you to tell me what you know of these happenings.”
“Oh, yes. I was asked to bring homemade pies for the events. They’re a big hit around here, that and my turnovers. Anyways, a big festival was planned for the day, and I was sittin’ in my kitchen bakin’ the last of my pies for the festival when I heard a loud bang.”
“A bang?” Shining Armor asked, intrigued.”
“Yes,” Braeburn confirmed. “It startled me and I went outside to make sure my orchards were still standin’. I came outside and saw this big pink sphere comin’ in my direction. It looked like it was pushin’ a large amount o’ these little bugs. It split apart before it could hit the desert and suddenly a bunch of these little pony-like insects were flyin’ across the desert. A few of them crash-landed in my orchard; one even hit a tree. I went outside to inspect it and turned out the thing was dead.”
“Can I see it?”
“Had I known this was to be an issue that would involve Canterlot royalty, I would have kept it. However, I threw it into the river. No one knew what they were at the time until a few days ago when a bunch more of them were found.”
Shining Armor nodded. “Mister Braeburn, what you saw was a Changeling. They have the ability to feed on love and do this by changing into somepony and attempting to take their place. Approximately a week ago, their leader, Queen Chrysalis, attempted to take over Canterlot by using this ability to disguise herself as Cadence.”
Braeburn’s pleasant expression vanished. “Well, I’m sorry to hear. But… how does that become an issue that requires the Royal Guard to come down here?”
“According to Sheriff Silverstar, approximately twelve hundred are still here in the deserts, presumably trying to regroup. We need your help, Braeburn. Sheriff Silverstar says you have bucked apples all your life and are one of the strongest ponies around.”
Braeburn shuddered. “If you’re callin’ me to fight, I’m afraid I can’t. I ain’t ever been the fightin’ type. I’d rather try to avoid it if at all possible.”
Shining Armor nodded. “I see. Then I must ask of you something else: are you good with tools?”
“Well, yes.” Braeburn gestured with a hoof to the farmhouse and outside to the barn. “I build all this mostly by myself.”
“I would like to ask if you would help in rebuilding and re-strengthening Appleoosa.”
Braeburn did not respond immediately. He looked Shining Armor all over. “I’m sure I could, though I’m not sure what needs to be done.”
Shining Armor nodded. “It’s fine. I will be talking to Sheriff Silverstar and asking him what needs to be done. I will contact you again when I’m aware of what needs to be done.”
He stood up, walked to the kitchen, and washed out his mug, placing it upside-down in a small dish-drainer. Shining then turned to Braeburn and smiled before saying “Thank you for your time” and putting on his helmet as he opened the door.
“Can’t the guard deal with the changelings? What am I needed for?”
Shining Armor stopped and turned back to Braeburn. “We cannot focus all our forces here or else we leave other places vulnerable. We will need the help of you all to successfully defend this land.”
Braeburn looked at him oddly, but said nothing.
Shining Armor smiled at him again. “I’ll leave you to your dinner. Good night.” With that, he exited the house, closed the door, and walked back to the hotel.
At the hotel, Shining found Revenant waiting in the lobby.
“Sound Barrier is taking the letter right now,” Revenant said. “How did your talk with Braeburn go?”
“He sounded amenable to helping out with the reconstruction once we have further information. However, he almost immediately questioned his own involvement in fighting the Changelings.”
“Do we rely on him?”
“For now, we’ll see who else we can muster quickly and who else would be willing to fight. If we find ourselves in dire straits, we can go to Braeburn and some of the others who may need convincing and try again.”
Revenant bowed. “Yes, Captain. Ah, and you have a room arranged with myself. The others are already asleep.”
“Very good,” Shining Armor smiled with approval at his second-in-command. “It is late so we will continue our work tomorrow, though we must act quickly. This town must be fortified before the Changelings have too much time to act.”