Replacements

Twilight looked at the changelings left in the jail cells as not every changeling had went under the metamorphous change the others had gone through. Personally she hoped it was because they had yet to realize that they didn’t have to drain love from other ponies and… somehow follow the same trick the other changelings had pulled off.

Honestly she didn’t understand the full details of the transformation the changelings underwent turning the black changelings into the more colorful variety as she wasn’t awake to study the magical event in detail… which was also one of the reasons for helping the confined changelings if only to see the magical transformation to be studied in detail within a controlled environment

Celestia shook her head “I hope you will be as convincing as you were to the other changelings in here.”

Thorax chuckled nervously “Well I sort of became their ruler so I might as well try fixing the rest of Chrysalis’s mess. Still… what makes these cases a bit special?”

Celestia hung her head “Well for the short time they had impersonated us we have no idea what they could have done or if Chrysalis had left some sort of contingency plan in the event that she failed or someplace to fall back to thanks one of the verdict or laws during the time we were replaced.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head “Thankfully they my replacement was more content with shutting herself up in the library than doing anything dangerous.”

“Actually Scarab is a male Twilight.” Thorax replied as Twilight stared at him in disbelief “And… he sort of had an interest in studying the mind control tricks and spells of other races.”

Starlight Glimmer slowly nodded her head “I’m just glad they didn’t try doing anything to me… or well capturing me.” She chuckled nervously “Now that I think about it I only now realize just how lucky I was to not only confirm you had been replaced by a changeling, but that I managed to escape!”

Twilight glanced at her student as she bit her lip “How did you manage to figure out and escape by the way?”

The unicorn scuffed her hoof against the floor “I sort of brought Trixie along with me and she was the one who managed to save us from being caught.” One of Twilight’s eyes twitched “Are you mad that I didn’t get caught right away?”

Spike shook his head “No more like you thought of bringing another pony along with you and that Trixie was the one who knew how to avoid being caught. Twilight went by herself when she managed to confront Chrysalis and she was caught right away.”

Thorax blinked “Is this all the changelings?”

Celestia gritted her teeth as she seemed nervous “Well I did bring you here to see if you could help them out.”

Starlight Glimmer started counting “Changelings from Ponyville…The Crystal empire replacements… where are the Canterlot Changeling replacements?”

The solar unicorn sighed “The changeling who replaced Luna… didn’t really do anything. She currently has to listen to Luna’s complaints.”

Thorax stared at Celestia in confusion “What did she do wrong?”

Celestia hung her head “She just slept all day.”

******

The changeling stared at the Lunar Princess continued ranting “You had watched my movements and had been trained to replace me. You had all the legal power that I held along with a control of Equestria’s armies and you didn’t do anything!”

The changeling gulped “Well I didn’t do anything bad so doesn’t that count for something?”

“All you did was sleep in my bed!” Luna shouted in fury “You didn’t try dealing with the night court or try getting the royal guard back up to shape. You didn’t try to impose your will or even do anything since you had replaced me! Surely the extensive training you had taken to impersonated me should have given you some ideas for some corruptive scheme or sinister plan?”

The changeling shivered as the truth was that she had a plan. That was to sleep all day and maybe try to take a shot at Blue Blood since he was an attractive stallion… well attractive in the sense that he wasn’t a fellow changeling that thought she was pretending to be nice in an attempt to steal what little energy/magic he had… and he couldn’t exactly steal hers since he wasn’t a changeling so that was a plus.

Of course the fatal flaw with that plan was that the unicorn called him Aunt… and no pony or changeling wanted to date their aunt. That and Chrysalis just figured that Luna slept all day so it was more of a low priority assignment… something this changeling wouldn’t say to the very angry princess who could quite literally swat her like a bug.

The Lunar Princess glared as the changeling cracked a small smile “I was going over your notes to help make sure I did you justice since the only reason why the plan failed was because the changelings sent to impersonate Twilight and her friends had skipped over a few essential details? If you took a longer than usual nap it might seem odd, but easy to write off… but if I did something out of character everypony else would be more likely to notice it?”

Luna stared at her before slowly nodding her head “That… does make sense.” The changeling sighed in relief happy she bought the lie “But I can tell you are hiding something from me.”

The changeling chuckled as it was time to sink or swim “That… and I sort of found out shortly that Prince Blueblood saw you as his Aunt so asking him out on a date would have been…”

Silence filled the room as the Lunar Princess slowly walked out of the cell… only to walk into the wall. She promptly readjusted herself before leaving the changeling all alone in the room.

The changeling just shook her head “I wonder how the others are doing right now?”

******

Twilight was nearly strangling the changeling “Do you realize how hard it was to find anything!”

The changeling hissed back in annoyance “Look the Changeling Numeric system is a much easier to follow. You place type one magic in type one category. Each category is then divided by book number, subject, and level of difficulty instead of listing them by your feeble sorting system!”

Twilight shook her head “I just thought you were looking through my spell books without bothering to put them back in the right category! Also why did you place the advance mind control spell books in the public section of the library!”

“You have a love potion spell in the public section!” Scarab shouted back “A highly mislabeled, flawed, and ultimately useless potion that doesn’t produce any love we can feed on… but if a potion that could easily be created up by a group of foals is listed within the public section of the library than why shouldn’t the other spells be listed as public!”

Twilight pointed a hoof at the changeling “Not all of us practice mind control spells as daily use… and for your information that potion is part of the founding of the Hearts and Hooves tradition as many of those items are hard to get.”

Scarab rolled his eyes “You live next to the Everfree forest that as all of the necessary items within Hooves reach! You also have a couple of mind control spells left in the public section of the library.”

“No I don’t!” Twilight shouted back.

Scarab crossed his hooves “Reformation spells are mind control spells in a fancy title. Altering someone’s mind for ‘good’ is just the same as altering someone’s mind for ‘evil’ since the spell operates on what the caster will do with the knowledge they had obtained instead of arbitrary terms of what is counted as right and wrong.”

A different changeling in the jail cell raised their hoof up “Uh… can I just pay a fine or something. Name’s Apple Moth… sort of took Applejack’s place and did her share of the farm work for the rest of the week.”

Starlight Glimmer stared at the other changeling “You were kind of acting hostile when I meet you.”

Apple Moth shrugged “I just did all of the apple mare’s chores only to find out that it I ended up spending most of the day making doing them because she didn’t bother with her chores for most of the week… or she did some really stupid things that made them take way longer than it should have been.”

Another changeling raised their hoof “Name’s Glitter… and I didn’t have the same magic eye trick Fluttershy has. I stayed in her house for roughly an hour being getting the feeling that if I fell asleep I would wake up only to see the rabbit stuff me in a pot full of water set to boil.”

Starlight Glimmer was about to say how silly that was… but then thought about the bunny in question “Well… Angel Bunny isn’t strong enough place you in a pot of boiling water.”

“I know…” Glitter replied “That’s why he was riding the bear as a mount and having him hold the lid on the pot. Honestly I didn’t want to leave the crystal tree house and take my chances with Fluttershy’s house… At least until some of the animals left or we got a squad of changelings to ensure I wouldn’t be murdered in my sleep.”

One male changeling huffed in annoyance “I was just ticked that I was allowed to show off and these lame wings wanted me to stay low. Don’t show off… don’t fly about doing things that could get somepony’s attention. No don’t try looking through the spell book on how to make some really neat stunt since Rainbow Dash doesn’t have magic and I couldn’t figure out to how to make that rainbow trail she does when she flies about.”

The changeling with a pink mane rolled her eyes “I got lost in her basement … seriously I have no idea how my mane turned pink just being down there and if I didn’t use illusion magic to hid it than Queeny would have thought I was compromised or something. I just figured staying in the unknown magic castle was safer than staying in Pinkie's room.”

The smallest changeling in the jail cell shrugged “Follow everyone else’s orders and do what they say. It wasn’t that much of a difference from my job back home really.”

Starlight looked at the changeling that must have impersonated Rarity as the changeling shrugged “I actually thought I was doing a good job.”

Starlight shook her head “You were loud, rude, manipulative, and there was the small anger issue.”

The changeling clicked her tounge “I forgot the whining part. It seems kind of silly in retrospect.”

Thorax glanced at Twilight and Scarab who were still arguing “Should we break them up or something?”

Spike shrugged “I’m sure he’ll eventually give up or concede if only to make her quite.”

The Rainbow impersonator shook his head “Ten bits on Scarab…” Celestia stared at him “To be fair these are my bits to pay for my ticket to arrive in Ponyville to replace Dash… which I didn’t have to do since I flew to Ponyville and managed to catch her during one of her crashes away from Ponyville.”

Thorax glanced back at the Crystal Empire replacements “How exactly did you manage to fool everypony else?”

The first one shrugged “Most of the work seems to be updating the Crystal Ponies on what happened with the thousand year gap and trying to update the Crystal Empire to the modern Era.”

The second one nodded “A mind spell here to smooth over the gaps. A quick visit to ensure that baby night terror wasn’t going psycho and the crystal ponies didn't notice anything wrong.”

Thorax tilted his head to the side “The foal’s name if Flurry Heart.”

This got a chuckle from the second one “None of us could destroy a castle wall when we were foals if we weren’t given our favorite toy or popped a balloon.”

The first one nodded their head “But to be fair it was more likely that another ling had stolen it so we had to fight for it… or another ling had impersonated it in an attempt to feed off us which could result in an early grub death. Still it's better than worrying if the next sneeze a grub has might vaporize a pony upstairs.”

Spike glanced back at Thorax “Is that why you sort of… hissed when you were shown compassion?”

Thorax shook his head “Not to me… but sometimes other changelings would also pretend to want to be your friend or try to date you only so that they could drain you dry and discard your withered husk somewhere out in the desert or in the feeding discard pile. It was roughly as common as something from the Everfree wondering into Ponyville.”

Starlight winced “Well I can see why so many changeling took your offer for a different lifestyle… but where is your replacement Princess?”

Celestia hung her head “I’ll show you to Golden Bit.”

Thorax rubbed his chin “Golden Bit? I don’t recognize that name.”

******

The group stared at the changeling prisoner in confusion as he was placed far away from all the other changelings… and there was a large group of ponies that stood right outside of his cage.

The changeling spoke in a firm tone “And if the Quill and Sofa group tries to slip out of that binding contract that remind them that the company Gold and Bit has them under contract and the fact that I’m a changeling does not change the fact that the ones holding their contract is a much bigger company with a large percentage of ponies who still are recognized as legal citizens under their own Equestrian law system!”

He snapped his head towards another pony “And you make sure that those Sword Mare comics don’t slip out of our grasp! I spent good bits on ensuring we bought the rights to it and now that we dragged their sorry butts out of the mud and made them valuable I will not have some second rate company try to steal them or our Sword Mare play movie plan!”

Thorax blinked “Do you need me to remove their mind control or…”

The caged changeling shouted “Mind control! I told you to remove that shoddy junk from the next Sword Mare arc! Mind Control is a one trick pony! Being blackmailed, tricked, or having a ‘redemption moment’ sells a lot more bits people!”

Starlight coughed out loud “Uh… he meant you.”

The changeling stared at them before snorting in amusements “Look I don’t care about that Friendship speech you lot try selling me… and if you have a complaint take it up with my legal team.”

Two black suited unicorns with sunglasses stepped forward complete with suitcases, papers, and the unique aura of dread that could be only harnessed by corrupt lawyers.

Thorax cleared his throat “Actually I was going to try to convince you that you didn’t need to steal love in order to survive and that there is another way.”

“Ugh… not another hippy.” The changeling muttered in annoyance “Look I don't know what you are, but tell me tell you a little secret you tie-dye moron! Money is the real ultimate power in this world! Nopony cares if you’re a jerk if you're rich! Sweet chitin I can even buy love if I want to!”

Starlight Glimmer stared at him in confusion “You can’t just buy love… unless you mean…”

“Build a new orphanage or give a free meal to those in need.” He muttered back “That creates affection, reverence, and a nice tax break while also giving me a meal. Chrysalis was a fool to think that her plan could succeed when a simple economic leverage and controlling a select percentage of high ranking Equestrian bureaucrats would give us all the power we would ever need!”

Spike glanced at Celestia in confusion “What is he in jail for again?”

The first lawyer spoke “Any actions or suspected actions against Golden Bit were done under distress due to a hostile criminal who threatened his life and had replaced the needed government officials that he could report to.”

The second one nodded “There are plenty of cases that have been passed over due to ‘mind control’ or redemption as Golden Bit has not shown any hostile actions or physically harm any pony during his stay in Equestria as the unicorn Golden Bit was made registered and marked by the Equestrian legal judicial system revealing that my client has not replaced or impersonated another pony. The only lie that can be held against him is for lying about his race during a time when changeling racism was high as some could be tossed in jail without any legal due process.”

Celestia hung her head “None of my advisers noticed I had been replaced and… he had managed to finish up a lot of my paper work. Sadly this also means I have to keep him confined to ensure that he hasn’t caused any insider trading during his time replacing me.”

The changeling held his head high “I was threatened by an enemy of the state and there wasn’t any legal representative that I could go to that would believe me if they hadn’t been replaced by said enemy of the state. There is also no legal laws regarding friends or counseling for visiting my cell while I am being held to determine if I am in fact responsible for any suspected crimes you may have against me. Even this meeting is legally as my lawyers will inform you and they will also answer any other questions you may have for me.”

Celestia glanced at Thorax “While the Crystal Empire had been a positive influence on you… Wall Street has had a more… unique influence of Golden Bit. I hope you can help him see the errors of his way and I wish you good luck.”

Celestia walked out of the room as the changeling went back to talking to the ponies outside of his cage “And if Enchanted Comics or the legal intellectual property of the Power Ponies comes into play remind them that we own their flanks as long as we make a play, show, or comic with them once every Seven Years so we can either continue a successful business venture or I can drag their name through the mud and make it worthless to the point no respecting fan would despise them if they try to sneak out of our grasp!”

Thorax glanced at Spike “Can’t you get the girls to just zap him with the Elements of Harmony or something?”

Spike glanced at Starlight Glimmer “Maybe a reformation spell or some magic trick Twilight taught you can help us out?”

Starlight Glimmer had her head out the door as she shouted “Twilight Sparkle! You’re a princess! Don’t you know how to fight evil corporate lawyers?”

Twilight shouted in fury “Starswirl is a great unicorn!”

“He was a flashy hack with too many flashy spells that ultimately did nothing of use!” Scarab shouted back “Enchanta on the other hoof made the standard method of use to allow the advancement of magic. While she might not have been making flashy spells she was the mare responsible for the bases of the modern Equestrian magic system used today!”

Thorax looked back at the corporate ponies and their changeling leader causing him to take a step back “I think he’s somehow feeding off their greed… or the ponies are feeding off his greed. Can ponies feed off greed? It’s kind of hard to tell since they started chanting either his name... or their just chanting about money.”

Spike was running down the hallway “Chanting names never ends well.”

Starlight Glimmer quickly followed after Spike as she shouted “I’m not a royal so I can’t help you here!”

Twilight shouted “Copycat!”

“Hack!” Scarab shouted back

Thorax looked back at Golden Bit as his lawyers were setting up a table to hold the countless legal documents they had prepared “I think I need to check on the other Canterlot replacement!”

******

Prince Blueblood walked into the cell with the lone female changeling that had impersonated his aunt. While the others had their fair share of questions or complaints to the infiltrators he only had one question that needed to be answered.

He looked down at the captured changeling and said “Why didn’t any of you replace me?”

The changeling blinked “I’m sorry?”

The unicorn shook his head “You fillynapped all the other princess, a prince of Equestria due to marriage and even Twilight’s assistant.”

“Oh… we thought he was her pet or something.” The changeling muttered underneath in breath.

Prince Blueblood held himself tall as he spoke “So why didn’t you try and replace me?”

The changeling blushed for a moment as she replied “Because I wanted to try dating you?”

“What?” the unicorn replied as his brain suddenly stopped working.

The changeling nodded her head “I know… really bad pick going for Luna. I mean I thought there might have been a large enough gap… or lack of connection since she hasn’t really been around for the last thousand years. Of course that plan was quickly shot down since you saw her as family.”

“What?” The unicorn repeated as his mind was stuck trying to reboot.

“I mean now that I don’t have impersonate her since Chrysalis had a changeling revolt and technically I’m not a criminal due to the fact I was threatened by an enemy of the state and I have not done anything bad besides sleeping in a bed…” The changeling replied with a bat of her eyes.

Prince Blueblood shook his head “I’m sorry?”

This only caused her to smirk “Just do me the favor and think about it. I mean yes I’m a changeling, but I could be rather fun to date. I could be anything you want. Just really think about it before you say no alright?”

Prince Blueblood slowly walked out of the room… and hit the wall. Then he managed to back up and walk through the door before it was shut behind him.

The changeling in question just smirked “He’s got a great flank.”

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