the change of one

by Dj Shadowstrike556

ones we seek

Shadow walked along the dirt road and into the forest. The Everfree forest wasn’t a friendly looking place, but his contacts lay within it. The Diamond Dogs apparently had a run in with the one named Rarity. Shadow lifted up a log as his thoughts filled his head. He wished he could fly. But the brawl with the ponies made him weak. His wings permanently damaged and even his power which named him a changeling didn’t work all well. His power to change normally is hindered by a pain as well as it working for only a few hours. His horn was the only thing that seemed to function. It’s the only thing besides his look that gives him the right to call himself a changeling. He looked almost like any other changeling. The only thing separating him from the others now was he was growing a mane. He spiked it up around his horn. His wings will forever stay at his side. Shadow looked up thinking he was going to see the sky. Instead he was treated to the sight of leaves and trees which reminded him of his task at hand. Shadow looked down and continued on the path which he was told to take. Then he saw it, a stone grey castle just standing there. Shadow approached it and walked through the main door. The inside was fairly the same. It was a simple grey with flags hanging loosely. He continued his way into the library. The books were scattered on the floor. The library was nearly in ruins.

“You’re not exactly on time.” A voice said behind shadow.
Shadow spun around and saw them. Two Diamond Dogs leaned against the wall with a bag of jewels in their paws. Shadow walked up to them.

“Where are my targets?” Shadow questioned.
The Dogs walked up to him and handed him a parchment. Shadow unrolled it to see a map of Ponyville. There were six houses circled in red marker. He nodded slowly.

“Thanks for your help.” Shadow said “It looks as if you’ve already have been paid.”
The Dogs both opened their mouth to talk when they heard the sound of hooves walking near them. Shadow turned around and saw an outline of a shadow in the distance.

“Hide!” Shadow hissed.
The dogs sprinted as quietly as they could down a hallway. Shadow crouched down and hid behind a stack of books. He heard a huge gasp.

“Wow! Look at all these ancient books!” a voice said “It’s a veritable gold mine of information! I can’t believe it! WOOHOO!”
Shadow recognized this voice. It belonged to the leader of the very group he was after, Twilight Sparkle. He felt a book smash him in the face. He held his breath as a scream of pain was trying to escape. He slowly moved a book out of his face and saw the once unicorn now alicorn only a simple hooves length away. A spider crawled onto Shadows face. He shut his eyes and tried not to grab at it. He felt his body being shifted away. A wing brushed his chest. Shadow stopped breathing. He heard Twilight giggle. Shadow heard her laughs leave his pile of books. His head popped out from behind the pile. Twilight was sitting down reading another book on the far end of the room. Slowly he crawled out of the pile. Inch by inch he wiggled his way out quietly. Once he was out he let out a long but quiet sigh of relief. A thick book from the top of the pile wobbled around. Shadow turned around. His breathing stopped as the book slid down off from its place and slam onto the hard ground. Shadow dove behind a nearby broken bench and curled up into a ball. Twilight looked up from her reading and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged it off and continued. Shadow silently galloped away down a hallway. At this point Shadow was completely guessing on which way to go. But he made it. There was the exit.

“Um…Are you sure you need those tapestries?” another voice said. It was softer that the others. Shadow nodded and said to himself “Fluttershy.”
“But of course!” shadow heard “although I must admit these ruins are a fright.”
Shadow fell back behind a statue and scratched another one off of his list, Rarity.
“Look at all the dirt everywhere!” she exclaimed.
Shadow giggled at her when he heard Fluttershy yell out “Angel!”
He looked at the exit and saw briefly a little white bunny hopping into his view. Shadow crouched under a bunch of rubble as the sound of galloping hooves passed him by. There they were, Fluttershy and Rarity. He smirked and turned toward the exit when a shadow approached.

“Aw, crud!” Shadow whispered. He spun around and silently galloped away and into a larger room with two large tapestries. The two ponies were in the distance talking to each other. The little bunny was standing in front of Fluttershy. He quickly ran to the opposite side of the room and hid on a staircase.
“-or trip on a loose stone! You have to be careful!” Fluttershy talked to her bunny and got up to follow Rarity.
“Well it looks like I'm staying the night here.” Shadow said to himself.

He walked out into the middle of the room when he heard Spikes voice.
“I don’t think I’ll need all those candles Twilight. I was only scared for a second.”
Shadow ran into a corridor and turned around.
Twilight’s voice chimed in. “Oh these aren’t for you spike, we are gonna studying late into the night, and we are gonna need all the light we can get.”
Another set of hooves were approaching. Shadow hoof palmed himself as Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash approached.
He shook his head and sat down to listen to them.
“Well! Here we are!” Apple Jack exclaimed.
Rainbow Dashes voice popped in “ehh what's so daring about this place? This is where we got the elements of harmony!”
Shadow from his hiding spot listened to Apple Jack tell the story about how nightmare moon was banished. Apparently not all of her dark magic left.

“Granny used to say, when night falls on the castle, that magic takes the form of… THE PONY OF SHADOWS!”
Shadow shook his head; double hoof palmed and simply whispered “Wow, Really?”
He heard there hooves slowly disperse. Shadow moved up the staircase and up to a balcony overlooking the room. There they were walking. Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash stopped and looked up at the moving tapestries. Shadow was confused. They both all of a sudden screamed. Shadow ducked down as he heard them yelling and shouting. He laughed and continued to the end of the hallway. He searched the rooms for anything useful. Shadow Crept around checking corners. A strange disoriented voice echoed through the hallways. Shadow perked his ears up and spun around. It sounded like the word castle but he wasn’t sure. He rounded another corner and came to another staircase. Quickly seeing that there wasn’t much cover he ran down the stairs. His hoof became stuck for a second.

“Dang it!” Shadow exclaimed. He stumbled and tumbled down the circular stairs and all the way down to the bottom.
A cut appeared on his forehead as he got up. He felt dizzy when an organ out of nowhere sounded. Shadow scrambled to attention and searched the hallway. He sound of speeding hooves was approaching him fast. Out of what seemed like nowhere two bodies, one blue and one orange, slammed into him. Shadow was knocked back and saw both Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack speeding down the hallway. For some reason he decided to follow them. They ran for a while but stopped. Behind them Shadow leapt from cover to cover stalking them. He would stare at Rainbow Dash from time to time as his memory of the fight would kick in. She did this to me…There’s Rainbow Dash Flying while I'm here grounded for life. Shadow Fought for self-control as his thought of the mission was clouded by his rage for Rainbow Dash. They eventually stopped at a hallway. Shadow thought to himself, I can’t be near her anymore. I should go.
Shadow slowly turned around and headed into the opposite direction…

Some time ago… The Canterlot battle
The changeling army bashed their own bodies against the pink force field. Slowly but surely the shield was shattering. One final effort and the shield broke. Shadow followed his companions to the fight below. He activated his green Shield as he slammed into the ground almost squashing Apple Jack. He got up as his comrades gave chase. Finally they caught up. The ponies were surrounded by the army. One by one they changed into one of the six. Shadow himself transformed into Rainbow Dash. They charged at each other. Shadow flew towards Rainbow Dash who had already taken out multiple changelings. But there they were, face to face. Shadow Changed back into himself and lunged for Rainbow Dash. She flew up and nearly slammed down on Shadow. He moved out of the way and fired his horn at her. She dodged the Laser and tackled Shadow. He kicked her over his head and she took off flying. Shadow followed her. Down below the battle raged. The mane six were holding their ground. Shadow fired more at Rainbow Dash. The bolts flew past her. She turned into a building and crashed through it. Shadow followed still firing. Rainbow Dash swooped down near the ground hitting Changelings as she passed. Shadow shot at her more. The bolts slammed into the ground around her. But she quickly spun around and flew straight at Shadow. He was caught by surprise as Rainbow Dash Simply put out her arm and hit his wing. Shadow felt a sharp burning pain in his left wing as he fell down to the ground. He tried to get up. Rainbow Dash galloped toward him as he tried to fire again. Shadows bolts missed as Rainbow Dash bucked him into the wall. Shadow scrambled to his hooves as her hoof swung at him. Shadow blocked it and quickly hopped up and bucked her stomach. Shadow charged at her again. Rainbow Dash braced as the two clattered together. Rainbow Dash was on the bottom of Shadow as she noticed his other wing. She punched Shadows face and grabbed his other wing and bent it out of shape. Shadow teared up and cried out as a deafening violent shattering pain shot from his wing. Rainbow Dash kicked him with great power as he was sent flying into a wall. He slowly closed his eyes as the ponies reached the vault…

Shadow slowly opened his eyes. A pony approached him. Shadow gulped knowing that the battle was lost.
The Pony Aloe spoke “I don’t really care about your kind really, but Princess Celestia asked me to take care of you.”
“Where am I” Shadow asked.
“Now you’re at my spa in Ponyville. Once your body is healed more, you will be sent back to Canterlot.” Aloe told him.
Shadow tried to sit up. “Ow!” he shouted “My Wings!”
“Careful!” Aloe exclaimed.
“What happened to my wings?!” Shadow exclaimed.
“They’re broken, changeling!” Aloe said “The doctor said they will heal and be able to fold back, but you will never fly again.”
Shadow watched Aloe walk away. He lied back down and stared at the blank ceiling. He loved to fly. That was the best thing that’s ever happened to him. The wind in the sky made him feel free. Shadow frowned and shut his eyes as a tear slowly made its way down his face…

…Present day…

He heard a loud gasp and turned around. Rainbow Dash was speeding towards him. Shadow jumped behind rubble as the pony flew by. Down the hallway he went unknowingly heading straight for four of his targets. He walked out of the hallway as Rarity, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash screeched out in terror.
Shadow jumped and ran back down the hallway. He actually was kind of laughing at them. Fluttershy was trying to pick up a fallen pillar, Rainbow Dash was frantically flying in circles, Apple Jack was running around screaming, while Rarity was bawling with a sheet on top of her. Shadow tried to contain his laugh but he exploded onto the ground rolling and laughing as quietly as he could. He noticed Twilight standing and just staring at the chaotic ponies. Shadow quit laughing as soon as Twilight stopped everyone. He saw twilight calm all of her friends down. The sound of the eerie organ he heard from earlier made the ponies jump. The Changeling turned around to try and spot where that music was coming from. He continued down a hallway when a green mist appeared in front of him.
“Shadow” Queen Chrysalis said “What is happening, have you met our contacts yet?”
Shadow looked at his queen’s face through the smoke. “I found the dogs and I got the locations of their houses. Also the ponies came to the rendezvous point. I'm hiding as we speak.
“Nice work Shadow” The Queen complimented “since these ponies are out, I need you to put these devices in each of their houses.”
“Will do, my queen.” Shadow finished as the message disappeared…

Hours later…

A black pony with a blue and grey spiked mane walked through the streets of Ponyville. He walked to the house of Pinkie Pie. All around him other ponies walked about taking care of their own business. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. The mysterious pony swiftly picked the lock and entered the house. Shadow closed the door and transformed back into himself. Shadow walked into the main room and put the little box shaped object under a couch and walked out of the room. He turned back into his pony form and locked the front door. Shadow quickly walked out the back door and out into the alley. In the alley he marked of Pinkie Pies name and started toward Twilights house. One by one he set the devices in each of their houses. Last was Rainbow Dashes home. There was only one problem. Rainbow Dash lived in the clouds.
“My Queen… I’ve hit a problem.” Shadow began. “Rainbow Dashes house is out of my reach”
Queen Chrysalis nodded through the green screen that blended with the smoke. “Shadow, I will send someone to tag this Rainbow Dash. Your job is to once again keep an eye on the ponies and send me anything important you have learned from them.”
Shadow nodded as the green smoke dispersed. He made the long trek back to his safe house. The house was hidden deep in the Everfree forest behind the thickest of brush. Shadow sat down on his bed and sipped a cup of water.