The Changeling War

by Captain Morgan

The Unsettling Truth

We were halfway from the Church as we were taking the same route we took to Kenny’s home. Evan, Carol, and Noah, were walking a few feet in front of us, talking about the days before the Changelings came while me, Luna, Kenny and Shift just walking in silence, enjoying the peaceful night. Seeing how none of us had said a word yet since we left the house, I decided to start a conversation.

“So Kenny.” I started. “From the look of those bug-out bags, it seems you’ve been planning on leaving for quite some time,” I stated, only to earn a sigh from him.

“We wanted to leave, son, we really did. But I was scared that if we made one wrong move, my family and I would spend the rest of our lives in graves for trying to escape. It was either let me and my family die or live to see Noah’s graduation.” He exclaimed quietly.

“You had a rough life living here, huh?” I commented.

“You have no idea.” He replied, shaking his head. “But even though you get constantly harassed by guards and get treated shit living her, there are some benefits.” I just looked at him, disbelievingly.

“Benefits?” I questioned, plainly.

“Well, a lot of the Changelings here aid the farmers here, and with the help of their magic, it made crop growth exponentially fast. Like where it would take months to grow a field of corn, with Changeling magic, it only takes one to two weeks.” He said.

“You’re kidding,” I said with a hint of amazement in my voice.

“Where do you think those Honeycrisp apples I bought for David came from?” Shift asked.

“That’s not all.” Kenny continued. “During the first year of Chrysalis’ rule, the Changelings conjured a barrier around the city, which actually prevented harsh winds, hail, and snow from getting in. I don’t know if they did that because of us or the crops, but my guess is the crops.”

“Jeez, now I know why Jacob wanted to come here so badly.” I thought. “Well, it's an interesting set-up the city has, what do you think Luna,” I asked but I quickly noticed that Luna was deep in thought and had a concerned look on her face. “You ok, Luna?” I asked as she snapped back into reality.

“I’m fine, it's just… I still don’t understand how there are so many Changelings now. When we met Chrysalis at the Ark’s location, there were maybe more than a hundred drones, but now, there are thousands! It just doesn’t make sense how their numbers increased so fast.” She said. It was strange, and I doubt Chrysalis could give birth to so many Changelings in five years… could she?

“Wait, Shift, you haven't told them yet?” Kenny questioned.

“David and I didn’t think that they would handle hearing the truth! I-If we told them, they would think of me and every other Changeling, including the Rebels differently.” Shift protested, nervously. ‘Think of them differently’, The hell does she mean by that?

“Hold on!” I announced as we stopped walking. “What are you both talking about?” I questioned. They both exchanged nervous looks at each other till Kenny looked at me.

“Morgan, how old do you think Shift is?” Kenny asked.

I thought about saying “Why ask a question like that?”, but I decided to go along with it. “I don’t know. By the sound of her voice, I’d say somewhere in her twenties” I replied.

“Twenty-four to be precise” Shift commented.

“Ok, but that still doesn’t answer my question.” I protested.

“I'm getting to that,” Kenny added. “Now, where do you think she was born?”

“God, I don’t know,” I exclaimed, not understand where this was going. “She was born back on her home planet in Equestria so-”

“That’s just it Morgan, she wasn’t born IN Equestria, she was born here, in America.” Kenny corrected.

“She was born here?” Luna questioned, tilting her head.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” I said aloud. “If she’s twenty-four and she was born here, that would mean she was born in…” That's when it all hit me, like a truck going over eighty on a highway. “Kenny, are you and Shift saying the Chrysalis and every single Changeling int the nation have been here MORE than five years?” I questioned as he sighed and nodded in response. I really regret asking that question now.

“They’ve been here fifty years Morgan.” He said. Yep, I regret asking that question as both Luna and I stared at him in astonishment.

“FIFTY-” I quickly cover my mouth with my hands as I almost screamed the words. I then looked around to see if I hadn’t drawn attention and sure enough, no lights were turned on and no Changelings had flown down to arrest us. “Fifty years!” I said again, whispering this time.

“That would explain why there are so many Changelings now and how your country was quickly taken over. But why not tell us this sooner when we were at the Church.” Luna asked Shift in a calm but surprised tone.

“Like I said, David and I didn’t think you’d like it if we told you the truth about our existence here on your planet. I was scared that if we told you… if we told you…” Even now she was too scared to finish her sentence as to what would happen next if she did. True, I was angry that Chrysalis and the other Changelings have probably been spying on us, five-decades ago, but I was sure that they had their reason, like trying to keep this nation like it is, calm but controlled by Changelings.

To calm her down, I knelt down and put my arm around Shift in a reassuring way. “Shift, listen,” I said and as she looked at me, I could see tears start to well up in her eyes. “Yes, I am upset for hearing the truth about your existence here. But it doesn’t mean we’re gonna hurt you because of it. You’ve been friends with my uncle and his family for years now, and a friend of my family is a friend to me, and I never hurt my friends.” Well, that is kinda a lie since I did lay Jacob flat on his ass when he talked shit about me only a few hours ago, but that doesn’t matter!

“You really mean that?” Shift asked, still teary-eyed.

“If I was lying, I would be smiling right now,” I said with a straight face.

With no hesitation, Shift swiftly put her forelegs around me, pulling me into a hug, which I gladly returned. “T-thank you! Thank you s-so much.” Shift said between sobs, tears streaming down her face.

“Your welcome. But I need to know one more thing.” I asked as Shift looked back at me, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Who else knows about this?”

“Only me, Carol, Father David and every Changeling in the country. And I’m pretty sure that John and the Remnants know about it too.” Kenny answered.

“Are you going to tell the others about this Morgan?” Luna asked. Truth be told, part of me wanted to so that we could expose Chrysalis and the other part didn’t want to as I was worried about the reactions seen towards every Changeling, including Shift.

I sighed as I told them my answer. “If I don’t tell them, they’re bound to figure it out sooner or later.” Shift looked at the ground with a sad look on her face, but I wasn’t finished talking as I then guided her head to look at me. “But hey, Whatever happens, we’ll be by your side to protect you, no matter what,” I said confidently. Earning a smile from Shift.

“Hey, is everything alright back here?” a voice said as we looked to see Evan before us, wondering why we had stopped.

“Yeah, we’re fine Evan. We were just discussing important matters.” I lied as I got back on my feet. I didn’t want him to know the truth about the Changelings… not yet, anyway. “Now let’s continue with our way back to the Church, I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are by now?” I pointed out as we started walking again.

*******

“I still can't believe she went out there, after them!” Celestia exclaimed, pacing back and forth across the nave. Almost an hour ago, Luna snuck out of the building to catch up with me, Evan and Shift, and during that time, Celestia has been worrying constantly about her safety. Everyone just looked at her in concern, they were worried too, but not as worried as her. Whether safe or not, she wanted to know. “If I’d been watching her, she would still be here. But now she’s out there with them with Changelings lurking around every corner of the city. I should have disagreed with the idea about coming here. I should have-”

“Celestia, calm down!” Markus said in a soft voice, walking up to her. “We’ve known Morgan for years now. If your sister caught up with him, then you know that she is in safe hands. Sure, he may be stubborn at times, but he’s kept us alive so far, right?” He said, confidently, but she wasn’t at all convinced.

“Yes, but-” she started before Father David cut in.

“Your Highness, Morgan is a good kid, he volunteered at the church when he was thirteen, he is strong-willed, and I am very sure that your sister is safe with him around.” He said with a smile.

“I guess you're right, but… I had no choice but to banish her to the moon for a thousand years when she was out of control. I would not forgive myself if I lost her again.” She said, a single tear running down her face.

“Celestia, we all know what it’s like to lose family,” Jacob said, standing up from a pew. “I still blame myself for my family’s death, but Morgan has been by my side ever since he found me, even though I pushed him and the others away, which I regret deeply. He is the reason why this group has been together for so long, so as long as he’s alive, Luna is safe, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Everyone here is right Celestia,” Twilight said, walking to her side. “He has saved us twice today, and I know that he’ll help us in the fight against Chrysalis and her army. We’ve endured a lot in the past, but now that we have the aid of the humans, it will make things a lot easier for us.”

Celestia thought for a moment until a smile appeared on her face. “You have learned a lot, my faithful student.” She said with a smile.

“And who knows,” Twilight said, “Morgan and Princess Luna could walk right through those doors any minutes now.” Just as she said those words, the doors to the nave opened, relieving me, Luna, Evan, Shift and my relatives.

“We’re back!” I announced as we stepped into the sanctuary.

“Luna!” Celestia called out as she ran up to her sister and pulled her into a hug. “I was worried that something had happened to you,” She exclaimed.

“I’m fine, sister, and I can assure you that if something did happen, the city would have been alerted to our presence,” Luna explained.

Celestia then looked at me with a soft look. “Thank you for taking care of my sister, Morgan.”

“You’ve got it wrong Celestia. Luna, here took care of us. We ran into a patrol sometime after we left and they instantly knew who I was. If it weren't for Luna, we wouldn’t be here.” I explained.

“Tis true, sister. I had to use a memory wipe spell on the patrol to make sure that they did not know of our presence here.” Luna agreed.

“Well, I am glad that you are all safe,” Celestia said with a smile.

“So this is Princess Celestia, huh?” Kenny said as he walked up to Celestia, gazing at every detail of her. “I can see how you are Luna are related.”

Everyone just stared at the three strangers that were with us before I quickly introduced them. “Guys, this is my Uncle, Kenny Rogers, his wife Carol and their son Noah. Kenny, Aunt Carol, Noah, meet the gang” I announced as Kenny walked up to the others.

“It a pleasure to meet all of you!” He said. “I wasn’t sure at first if my family and I would be able to help Morgan in his time of need. But now that we know who's side were on, we will do everything in our power to help you.” As he finished, the other ponies gathered around him, aunt Carol and Noah and started greeting them, introducing themselves and shaking their hands with them. I then noticed Chris and Markus walk up next to me, watching my family greet everyone.

“So, that’s your you uncle, huh?” Chris asked as I nodded in response.

"You sure he'll help us out? I mean, he has a family, they would be better off staying here." Markus stated

"If you came with us to get him Markus, you would've seen that they aren't exactly living happy lives here. Besides, if Razorfang found out they're part of my family, he would use them as leverage just to force me to turn myself in and give all of you up. Just trust me on this one guys, they'll be much safer if they stick with us."

"If you say so." Markus replied with a shrug. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he wasn't too sure about it, but we didn't have any other choice but to bring Kenny and his family with us. It's better this way besides leaving them in this place.

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up as she and Twilight walked up to us. “Luna filled us in on the new plan, about these Remnants. If what you're saying is true, this could give up the upper hoof, or hand in this case, to freeing the city.”

“Wait, the Remnants are real?” Chris exclaimed.

“Yes, and they could be our only way of going up against that asshole, Razorfang,” I explained.

“Is there anything else that you found out while you were gone that we don’t know?” Markus questioned, sarcastically.

“Yes, I mean no, I mean-.” I stuttered, not knowing what to say. “It’s hard to explain.” I finally said with an exasperated sigh. I wanted to tell them, but If I told them the truth about the Changelings here on earth, I had a feeling that they would see Shift as the enemy as well. I had to tell them, sooner or later, but now wasn’t the time.

“Um, Morgan?” Twilight chimed in. “While you and Luna were gone, Father David offered to supply us with some food and water from the pantry for our journey.”

“Now that’s the best news I heard, all day!” I said, gleefully.

“Speaking of which, we’d better go make sure that we’re all stocked up. I can already tell that It’s gonna be a long trip.” Chris added with a laugh as he and Markus walked off.

“So, now that we're alone to ourselves, Morgan. We wanted to talk to you about something.” Celestia said with a concerning look.

“Ok, shoot.” I insisted.

“Well, after you left,” Twilight started. “Father David told us something about the Changelings here. Something that concerns us.”

“Let me guess. He told you about their ‘actual’ existence here.” I guessed as both nodded in response. All I could do was sigh. “Yeah, Shift and Kenny told me and Luna the exact same thing on the way back. Your not mad about it, are you?” I asked carefully.

“No, we’re not, and we wouldn’t be mad at her either,” Celestia replied.

“But as Father David said, and I’m sure Shift told you the same thing, This changes our whole view on Changelings,” Twilight added as she looked at me and Luna.

I ran my hand down my face. The stress was getting to me, about Razorfang, about finding a hidden army that I thought was a myth, and now about the truth about Changelings. This was a lot to process for me, and it was going to get a lot more stressful with what to come in the near future. I gave a deep sigh before speaking.

“Do the others know about this?”

“He only told me and Twilight about it, no one else,” Celestia replied as I nodded in understanding.

“Should we tell the others?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug as I put my hands in my pockets. “I know your friends would understand and treat her like the friendly Changeling she is,” I pointed out to Twilight. “But MY friends on the other hand…” All I could do was stand there, not saying another word. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say next, I didn’t know if the guys would be ok with it or would trigger them in some way, especially Jacob. After what seemed like a minute, Celestia spoke up.

“Take your time to think it over Morgan, and until you know what to do, we’ll keep this a secret between us.” she said with a smile.

“You sure? I mean this big, and I mean ‘the only proof of exposing every Changeling on the planet’ BIG! You really think that putting something like this, in my hands is a good idea” I questioned with a worried tone.

“You don’t have to worry Morgan, we’ve all had to keep secrets like this from others, for their safety. Besides, we won’t tell the others about this. Not until you decided how and when to tell them about it.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Was all I could say to them. We then saw Luna, Father David and shift walked toward us, and I could already tell from the look on Shift’s face that she had something to say.

“Um, Morgan? Shift has something she would like to ask of you.” David said. He then looked at shift and nodded at her with a look of approval. Whatever this was about, it must be important. She hesitantly took a few steps toward me until we were three feet from each other.

“Morgan? I talked it over Father David and I was wondering…” She paused as she then took a deep breath. “I was wondering if it would be ok to join your group.” Not gonna lie, that took me by surprise. I mean, having a Changeling joining the group would make it much more livable, but with the secret in my hands… why me, just, why me?

“A-are you sure about this Shift?” I asked, still taken off guard by the request. “I mean, you just told us-”

“I know that what I said could endanger my life.” She interrupted. “But you said it yourself that if your friends learned the truth, you would protect me, no matter what. You’ve been nice to me the minute I met you guys, and I thank you deeply. But I want to help you more besides guiding you to your Uncle. During my stay here with David, he taught me a lot about your modern medicine. So with my skills, I-I could help Evan in case he needs assistance with injuries. P-please, I-I don’t want to be known around others as the Timid Changeling w-who couldn’t fight her own battles.” She insisted, tears streaming down her face. I felt sorry for her, I felt sorry for everything that she had to go through in her past, getting kicked out of the guard for not killing a couple kids, KIDS for god sake. But she was persistent, she wanted to join our cause and she wasn’t going to take no for answer, I liked that.

“Well guess what, Shift,” I said as she looked at me with a bit of fear in her eyes, scared of what the answer was going to be. A smile then appeared on my face as the next words I said changed her life. “Welcome to the team!”

Everything was a blur after that as I was instantly knocked to the ground with Shift on top of me, nuzzling me forcefully. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She cried with tears of joy. All I could do was laugh as I was cuddled by the most friendly Changelings I met, even everyone watching couldn't help but laugh at the sight. After what seemed like minutes, Jacob stepped up to us, smiling as he witnessed me getting cuddled to death.

“The supplies are packed and everypony seems ready to go.” He said as Shift stepped off me so I could get up. She then walked back over to David and hugged him.

“Thank you for everything David. I will not forget what who have done for me.” She thanked.

“And I will not forget your time here, Shift.” He replied, stroking his hand through her silky hair. He then looked at with stern eyes. “You take good care of her, Morgan. She is like the daughter I never had,” He said sternly.

“She is safe with us, David. You have my word.” I said back. I then noticed my items that I had left here, my gun holster along with my Desert Eagle, my AK-47 and my special machete with its sheath being levitated with a blue aura to me. I quickly knew who was doing it as I then looked to Luna, whose horn was glowing with the same aura.

“I believe these are yours, Morgan,” she said with a smile and a wink.

I smiled back as I gladly took my equipment and strapped them to my body. Once I had everything together, I then looked toward everyone who were looking back at me. “Alright guys, let’s go find ourselves an army,” I said confidently, as we all walked out of the nave and into the basement from where we entered the church.

“May God watch over your souls and keep you safe!” David said loudly as we left. I felt proud now, we met ponies from another world, I was able to find my Uncle, we had a Changeling among our group, and now we were on our way to find the legendary Remnants to help us take back out home. Today may have started out crazy, but at least it had its benefits.