The Changeling

by V-Oblivion

Chapter 2 (reviewed)

Chapter 2

Fourth day of trial

After having meticulously reviewed and examined the accused‘s narration and compare it with the reports and testimonies of every guard and citizen of Canterlot, it has been concluded that General XxX is indeed telling the truth, from now on this tribunal will receive as legit the answers of the accused.

Interrogation day two:

… I been deceived!

How you may ask My Lord? Well if I don’t wrongly remember, I was told that this tribunal wouldn’t start this slowly again…
So let me understand, what you promised was that the trials wouldn’t start with the same aperture speech, that’s what you want to say?

Clever, but that doesn’t mean I am happy about it, it means that every day of trial will begin exactly the same, well, with a different speech each time. Yes Your Honour, I do understand these are your procedures, but isn’t there anything that can be done about it? thank you Sir I trust in your words.

I also feel honored that my words are taken into real consideration for now onwards. Honestly though, it is logic that I wasn’t believed at first and I wouldn’t expect less, I am an accused after all.

Now that this has been settled for today I will like to give my greetings: good morning Lord Maneos, good morning Your Honour Rottamanthys, good morning Sr. Eiaquus, good morning members of this jury and good morning to everypony in this hall of justice.

What can I offer you all today?

No My Lord, it’s not a Changeling custom what I just did, it is more a habit I have adopted while been here, you see: “You shouldn’t run away from immortals, that will call their attention” is an old saying of my country.

It means that the easier way to pretend and walk out of troubles is to not pretend at all. Well you do pretend of course but… is a bit complicated and hard to explain it without a proper example.

Anything else?

Yes I’ve been obliging with you Your Honour, with all of you as a matter of fact, yet not as flattering, neither to gain this jury’s favor, but as a courtesy, after all and despite my current situation, I am a sort of ambassador of my kind in Equestria, so I should act and behave as such, despite the fact someponies wouldn’t agree with my thinking, as I can see in the faces in front of me, and hear from the whispers behind me.

No Sir our magic doesn’t grant us improved hearing of any type, nor is our sight enhanced, our sharp senses comes from the cocoon. Of course it varies, as with our magic, from drone to drone but the average Changeling has a formidable ear and a night eye.

Mm… now you have found out my little scheme My Lord, yes, not all of us were using magic when the invasion happened, that’s because Changelings find it hard to keep concentration on magic while doing something else, unlike your unicorn folks who can use magic with ease and even without noticing. In our case we must keep a hard training to just learn to perform magic alongside other actions, let alone high-class spell casting, very few are the ones that can endure such training, and even fewer are the drones able of use magic’s full potential, actually its only our queen and some members of the council, in total: not more than ten.

And before you ask, no, I’m not capable of such, my magic specialty is in another style, which is commonly addressed “magic silk shaping”, MSS for short.

Does this satisfy your curiosity My Lord?

How exactly? Well, I have explained how our regular magic can be used, the resulting material created of it is normally call magic silk, my MSS is an upgraded form of it: while most drones use their silk creations to build hoofcuffs, walls, cocoons and rams, I can build far more complex structures.

*S.N: After these lines the accused created a bunch of objects out of nowhere, all of them different: shields, flower vases, armor pieces, shop signs, swords, clothes, spears, even a pillar. All of them floating around him as if they were weightless, then he suddenly fused all of those objects into one with the form of giant spider, whose movement have nothing to envy to a real one. The commotion on the court provoked by it was general. *End of note. *End of note.

My Lord! I have no intentions of creating such mayhem, this was just meant to be a simple demonstration, but since it creates such fuss in the audience (not to mention the guards and their spears glare at me on an unhealthy way) I will finish it at once… there! all gone, feeling better now everypony…?

…Your Honour these are no simple illusions, as you address them (and they weren’t meant to frighten anypony) despite their absence of any other color than green, they are perfect copies of objects I been in direct contact with. This technique, however, is commonly used to produce staples for crafting, building and similar industries, with only me and a bunch using it for combat (yet we are more than ten) is of great use when we are outnumbered or in need of a distraction. But before anypony ask it; we didn’t use this type of our magic during the invasion by two simple reasons, one: the creation, whatever its shape, is a solid object that will hit all that it’s in its way, making no discretion between foes and allies; and second: in terms of energy use, is an stamina consuming monster, normally a Changeling can make use of one or two small creations per time, and only for a few minutes. If one of us were to use this magic during the invasion it just would have been a draw back for us.

So there is your answer… before you even ask for it. Anything else?

Certainly Your Honour, if I wish for it, I could make use of this magic to flee this courthouse right now and escape to my homeland, yet that will fix nothing between our countries, bounding an event as the one of princess Cadence’s wedding to be repeated.

He! This time is you Sir who have discovered something intriguing on my speech. No, I wasn’t able of wield more than two creations before the invasion, let alone fuse them together. I’m still investigating the “why” exactly, but is an obvious matter that my staying in Canterlot has improved my performance on this and other aspects of my very being, while been here I have become far stronger that I ever was, but the story of this discovering is for another time.

My Lord, you are indeed, the most sharp of all of the judges (no offence) as I’m right now willing to make amends between both species, I wasn’t so determined the day I was left here, actually I was desperate to leave, it was by a series of events (which I never dreamed to happened in my life) that I’m standing here with this resolution.

… Your Honour, if I didn’t flee back then was because I was unable to… in order to explain this and other matters, is it okay if I start with today’s portion of my misadventures? Thanks.

If you remember well, last time I was left unconscious on a woodland, I do not know how long I stayed in there, but I do remember what was the first thing I felt once I regained consciousness: pain!

┼ ┼ ┼

My whole body was aching, my head was spinning (and I swear it felt at least twice as big), and my back was killing me.

I wasn’t able to see the Sun because the treetops didn’t allow me, but by the fresh temperature and the amount of light, I could tell it was early. I was confused, couldn’t remember at first what I was doing there, or why I was so beaten, I started to walk out of the trees shadows when I froze in the place, I instinctively didn’t wanted to come out of the woodland, standing just a few steps away from the light when a group of guards in golden armor passed by. As I hid in some bushes I slowly began to remember, but the more I look back on it, the more I wished for it to be a nightmare.

<< “It can’t be” – I remember saying to myself – “no, it can’t… all of this, after all of this?!” >>

I was devastated, but that wasn’t the place for self-pity, so I retired to the center of the woodland, from there I started to determinate where I was and what to do. Royal guards were patrolling constantly, I could see some stair cases in the distance and hear many hooves trotting all around me, but most of them weren’t military phased, it was civilian trots.

I give a little sigh as I thought “still within the castle grounds”, it was indeed disappointing; If there were only walls and guards it would have meant that I was on the outer walls; if it where guards, houses and civilians it would have meant that I was in the city, but out the castle; yet it was none of those, I was inside the castle, the stairs were too presumptuous to be of the city, all the guards were obviously on duty and patrolling, and all the other ponies seemed to be as busy as bees, going in and out different doors on an fast trot unlike Canterlot inhabitants’ regular slothy walks.

What!? You have never realized it before…!? And I thought it was on propose.

They were all too distracted with their own affairs to notice my presence, which I was hiding with all my might, I was curious about what was giving them so much work, but instead of satisfying my curiosity I took the opportunity to check on my own status.
I was, bluntly said, a mess: scratches and cuts all over my body, luckily none of them where bleeding; for a second I thought I had some branches through my forelegs, but they were just stuck on the holes of my limbs; my face was swollen on some parts, apparently all of the damage was done by my abrupt fall; though cushioned by the trees, their embranchments sure gave me a beating (it was a miracle I didn’t lose my eyes); my back was the worst of it, if you remember I turned to alert my fellow Changelings when the blast happened, hitting me with all of its might and force. Despite being spared by the magic wall, I ended with some burned spots on my skin, even worse were my wings; the blast scorched them very badly, one of them was quite torn in some sections, apparently the trees’ branches did do some stabbing after all.

I have to act quickly, having not been discovered after that long was miraculous enough to postpose my departure of that little forest any further: with magic I treated my wounds enough to allow me to move, same for my face, to my regret there was no salvation for my wings so I have to rip them off my body…

Why the surprise?! Changelings can shed wings with ease precisely for situations like this, if they are just a worry we pull them out, they grow back after some time so if you look closely you will discover a new pair on my back right now.

That said, this doesn’t mean we enjoy this proses or the sensation of doing so, we dismembered ourselves which is painful both physically and mentally. But in the end we all do extreme things in order to survive, even a drone like me.

I wanted to save as much magic as possible so I ripped off my wings the most painful way possible: hoofally. I entangle one of them on a tree until I couldn’t move and gave a little jump, the pain was… odd. It’s like ripping a big lock of mane, you know it will grow back, yet you also know it is a bigger (and essential) part of yourself and that it’s going to be inaccessible for a while. To make things funnier I have to discard the other one too… Yay! (please notice the sarcasm)

After taking care of that, and burning down the remnants carefully, I continued to choose my escape route with the only trick I have left: my disguising ability!

All I had to do was to find the right candidate, though the royal guards were an obvious choice hence their armor (which cover their flanks), I wasn’t in condition to pretend to be some military colt, besides, they seemed to have taken some precautions after our raid, every patrol seemed to be confirmed by ponies that know each other closely, and there were no sight of a guard been left alone, finally if my cover were to be blow I would find myself in the middle of a hostile platoon with some possible bitterness towards my humble persona. In summary: guards where a big ‘no’.

The other possible route where the palace’s servants; though they know each other even more than the royal guards, they were so busy with their chores they will think I was just running in circles by so much work and stress. Now to find the right one for my actual needs, I didn’t have much energy left so I wasn’t able to create a perfect copy, if anypony touched me directly they would feel the roughness of my skin, this took all of the maids out of the picture, it was a shame, almost all of them wear skirts. There were some colts and stallions working on different chores: doing some gardening, cleaning the windows, plastering some walls, but they weren’t moving at all, I was running out of options, time and patience when another miracle happened: a single, old and strange pony pulling a cart full of garbage came into my sight, he was so slowly working that he may have taught some Canterlot’s folks how to walk… sorry I hadn’t meant to… *cough* anyway, he was perfect, and to make it even more perfect (as a retribution of fate for my whole terrible morning) he didn’t have any cutie mark at all, I didn’t know there where some ponies like this one in existence, maybe it was because he never found his true talent, maybe it was because of his laziness, maybe it was because he didn’t give it a buck, and actually me neither, all I have to do was give him a good, long look, and memorize his silly way of walking and his relaxed expression.

While I watched his every move, I checked how long it took him to go and return with his cart; around ten minutes for round. Having memorized as much as I could I waited five minutes after his last appearance, I made an image of me shaping on his faded brown coat and dark gray mane, his flabby body, his hat and shawl, these where the most difficult part of it though, I was weak but I couldn’t leave the disguise incomplete, so I called forth all the strength I had left in my sorry body and transformed myself as stealthy as possible.

Every time he returned, he changed carts, taking one full of garbage and leaving the empty one to be refilled, the cart was already filled and there was no one around, I trotted as discreetly as I could toward it and properly tighten the ropes around me as fast as I could, once everything was set I began my march.

The cargo wasn’t that heavy, but it was quite noisy, like a bunch of metal stuff bumping into each other.

A few steps away I remembered a little item I missed on my disguise: the old pony was chowing on something that looked like wheat, but luckily I could fix it with ease, I just grabbed the closest long grass I could find and pray no pony noticed the difference, I also was praying he wasn’t too popular, other than that, it was perfect.

And again I departed into the unknown with my heart in my throat, a cart on my back, noise in my ears and foes all around me. I followed the tracks on the ground my ‘other self’ left on the mud with his wheels, trying to act as the old stallion and his slow motion, it was rather simple, not saying perfect. Or so I thought.

For my surprise and dismay I found him midway amid a thin street, trotting back with his empty cart and whistling happily… the horror I felt in those few seconds can’t be described; I began to though on my chances, possible escape routes, the amount of energy I had left, yet everything was against me on this one, all I could do was only one thing: keep pretending. I began to walk, he was blurrily visible (I don’t know if it was the distance or my tired sight); then he became clearly visible, I begin to trot; the nerves must have taken the best of me because I started to amble as he was able to see me; I regained some composure and returned to walking, yet the thought of galloping out of there was quickly flourishing in my mind. He then approached even more, within a few meters of me, my mind was a runaway train with no logical ideas but ‘keep pretending’. Then he was right in front of me and opened his mouth – “That’s it” – I thought – “he is going to notice me and alarm everypony” >>

I was ready to just go berserk the moment he shout out and let destiny to decided my future when:

<< “Howdy!!” >>

Was all he said as he passed beside me …

Still confused I managed to answer him something, it was just some guttural sound though.

And he trotted away while whistling happily. I swear I sweated five liters that day (five liters are around a gallon Sir) but that was over, it ended as abruptly as it started, yet my escape wasn’t finished yet. So I keep following his track, but now I was trotting as fast and discrete as I could, I didn’t wanted to push my luck any further.

After some turns I finally was out, the track disappeared as the muddy soil was replaced by a detached stone road. I was going to throw away the cart and run lose, but I was only outside the castle, and unable to fly, my fate was still unpredictable. I was wondering what to do next wen somepony called me out… well they was actually calling for the old pony, but how could they know, so I kept pretending. The ones who called me were the ones in charge of taking the garbage to the dump; however they didn’t seem happy to see me.

One of them, which seemed to be the boss, told me with a frown – What’s wrong with ya hayseed?! Didn’t I tell ya that we were going to dump all o’ this? >>

That explained it, that was why the old stallion returning so fast and so happy enough to ignore his doppelganger, he was getting a break, luckily for me, and even more luckily since I have heard his voice.

<< “Sorry sonny” – I told the light brown boss as indifferent as I could – “good old Sun is giving me some memories issues, I should lay down a bit don’t you think?” >>

Though I do know his voice, I wasn’t sure if the way of speaking was right, but it must have been, as the bulky pegasus made no mention about it.

<< “O’right then, but we ain’t going to be able to take this one with us, so you are going to have to wait with it, this will take us just some minutes, so go get some rest old coot.” >>

<< “It sounds great to me, thanks sonny and be sure I will” – I wasn’t precisely lying this time
.
They packed everything into their flying cart which lifted off and disappeared into the distance.

I took a moment to breathe so I removed my disguise, since I know the old pony wasn’t going to return in a while and the gate wasn’t precisely busy, it must have been a back door for servants and alike. As I rested a bit, I release myself of my cart and decided to see what was the noisy things they were dumping, yet I get another surprise: on the cart were pieces of Changeling’s armors piled one over another, I found it intriguing that they preferred to drop them instead of melting them for recycling. But your kind must have their own reasons. I look over it to see what were the scraps, on which I found

<< “Saddle pads, chest plates, my helmet, rump skirt…!!??” >>

The surprises seemed to never end that day, just think on the possibilities; my helmet was there, of all places. And I was sure it was mine, it had the dent made by the purple coated unicorn’s magic blast. I give it a fast fix and put it on. I felt a bit more sure of myself once the cold metal was standing atop my head once more, its nostalgic sensation was a blessing to me.
After a few minutes I determined I had rested enough and proceeded to leave the castle’s proximities…

And that, Your Honour, is how one escapes an immortal without running.

…

Princess Celestia:

I can’t believe this creature has been allowed to receive the privilege of being prosecuted after all the atrocious deeds he and his kind have done to us. His behavior during this process is obviously lacking any composure or respect toward our traditions and ponysona. He even has the nerve to proclaim himself an “ambassador of his kind”, chaos, that’s the type of ambassador he is I tell you.

Please forgive my fault of respect toward you Your Highness, but this “drone” has taken the best of my nerves, I do pray that you reconsider the nonexistent utility of this process and bring it to a quick conclusion. We can’t be sure of what he is capable of doing, today he might have threatened us with that hideous spider-monster of his, while proclaiming it was just to “illustrate” his explanation, one of these days we may end up regretting having allowed him to be here with such ease.

I can’t believe the indifference the other judges have taken in this matter; Sir Eiaquus looked so fascinated by that hideous creature’s creation. And Lord Maneos did nothing but give him a little warning, more like a lecture if you ask me. If it depended on me, I would have ended the accused testimony and returned it to it’s cell right away. But it wasn’t in my hoof.

Again I plead to you wisdom and ask you to consider my words, of course I won’t ask to do him any harm, I wouldn’t stoop on the level of those savages, but we can give him a tour to the borders of our lands.

Your servant: "Circuit Judge" Rottamanthys Law.

Comments

[Weldbrony]

This is different, but it is a good kind of different.
I hope to see more.

[Doctor Agon]

I like it! =D Could use a little more proof reading. ;) Still good though!

[V-Oblivion]

740511Thanks!

... what is "proof reading"?
Sorry, Mex.

[Doctor Agon]

743585 Wait. So, you are from Mexico? Does that mean that English is your second language?

[V-Oblivion]

744967 Yep. Pretty much.

[Doctor Agon]

746913 Oh, well, then I suppose that is the "problem". I meant that you had a couple of errors, but if English isn't your first language, then I can totally excuse you from them. =) In fact, your writing is better than many people whose first language is English. Anyway, if ya ever need someone to proof read / edit / review for you, I'd be more than willing to lend a helping hand/hoof. =P

[V-Oblivion]

748329 Thanks, and I will be honored to.
So if not much abuse from my part: please, give me a hand.

[Doctor Agon]

750591 As I said: I would be more than willing to help anytime! I'm not totally sure how to go about getting material from the author to the proofreader, but I suppose you could send it in a message or whatever ya want =P Or I suppose I could always comb your material that you've already published for errors more thoroughly. Whatever, tell me what ya want me to do, if anything. I enjoy reading your stories, so keep up the good work! =)

[V-Oblivion]

751435 Again if it’s not much abuse from my part, it will be fine with option #2.
I have already sent this to some proofreader groups, but they seem to have too much work.

Though I'm still ignoring what does 'proofreader' means.
Also: do you know of a group good for edition and feedback?
Thanks beforehand!

[Doctor Agon]

752686 Alrighty! I'll read over your story again, and send ya any errors I find, ok?
Oh, well, "proofreading" is pretty much just reading over things again, reviewing them. It's the same as re-reading and editing, unless I am mistaken.
(Also, I'm still ignoring what does 'proofreader' means. is the incorrect use of "ignore". Perhaps you meant "ignorant of what proofreading means"?)
Oh, no, unfortunately I do not know of any group like that. Sorry =/

[jose41296]

No 3rd chapter?