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// Changing is my business 
// Story: Things Change 
// by Equimorto 
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"I still don't get why we need to take care of that thing. After all she's done we should just lock her in a cage and put her in Tartarus."
"It's the Princess' orders, we can do nothing about it and you know it. And for once, she's right about this. If she really has amnesia then we can't do that to her."
"Oh, this time she's right. Do you really think she's doing it out of compassion after she did that to a filly? She's doing this because she thinks having that thing around could be useful, and she certainly doesn't care if we get hurt in the process."
"Maybe. But what are you going to do about it? You remember what happened to the last guy who tried to start a revolution, right? She's the Princess, and like it or not we have to obey her orders."
"I know. It's just... Wait, do you hear that?"
The other guard nodded. The sound of hoofsteps was coming down the hallway. Heavy, metallic, the one they'd learned to recognize as Celestia's. Immediately the two stood up at attention, going back to their assigned positions. Positions which any living creature with the barest knowledge on the matter would have deemed as the most inefficient possible, but the one who had assigned them did not have that kind of knowledge. When asked about why she'd chosen the various guards' positions as she did, Celestia had replied that it "looked good". The day the captain had notified her of his opinion on the matter was fondly remembered by a certain white stallion as the one when he was promoted. Not that Shining ever understood why he had been promoted. No one had asked the Princess, and many were certain the answer would have been no different than the previous.
"Your Majesty," the two guards saluted in unison as the Princess passed by.
Celestia's body stopped and she turned to look at them. There was a strange look in her eyes, one of uncertainty and guilty amusement. "You," she called, pointing at a guard, "come here."
The guard obeyed, walking up to the alicorn. Celestia began to look at him more closely, practically glueing her eyes on him as she scanned his body, her face close enough for him to feel her breath as she circled him.
"What is she doing?" silently mouthed the unicorn to his friend while Celestia was facing the other direction.
"I have no idea," silently mouthed back the pegasus.
"I'm inspecting you," came Celestia's voice from behind the unicorn's head, the Princess still intent on closely examining his back.
The hearts of both guards skipped a beat. "Your Majesty, may I ask why?" the unicorn was able to say after recovering from the shock of having been heard.
"You may."
Nothing else was said for a couple of seconds, then the unicorn tentatively uttered "Why?"
A few other seconds passed. "Your Majesty?" said the guard.
"I didn't say I would answer. Anyway, I'm done here, you can go back to your position."
The guard went back to his assigned position. As he turned towards the Princess, a flash of green light enveloped Celestia and her body became a copy of his. The changeling then proceeded to walk away, leaving the two guards to stare at each other.



"And this is how you're supposed to eat love," said Twilight, lowering the rod she had been using to point at the whiteboard.  Various drawings and diagrams of a changeling's anatomical structure decorated the surface, accompanied by a number of complicated formulae explaining how the feeding process worked. "Did you get all of that?"
Chrysalis nodded, looking up from the doodles she had drawn on her desk. "I open my mouth and suck it in."
Twilight's rod almost snapped in half. "That's... not exactly how it works. There are a number of phases and correlated biological processes involved in this action, and it's important that you unders-"
"Twilight, did you have to explain this to every changeling?" Asked Celestia from the back of the room.
"Well, no, but-"
"And did you need to be thought how digestion works before you could eat something?"
"No, but my poi-"
"Twilight, we've been here for three hours. I already forgot about half the things you explained, and I plan to wipe my memories of half the things I remember because, believe it or not, changeling anatomy isn't as fascinating as you think it is, and if I had a proper digestive system I would have already regurgitated all of my five breakfasts and six lunches. So please, can we move on to the testing part?"
"But-"
"No buts."
Twilight exhaled, visibly annoyed. "Fine. Chrysalis, let's proceed to the test."
A cage in the corner of the room was magically opened and the guard inside it was levitated between Twilight and Chrysalis. The cloth around his mouth was removed, but Twilight kept him pinned there with her magic.
"Actually, I was enjoying your lesson. I have a couple of questions in fact. Can you repeat it for us, please?" the pegasus weakly asked while Chrysalis got up from her chair and walked near him.
"So, do I just do it?" asked the changeling.
"Well, miss 'I don't know why they hate me' over there said so. Go ahead," replied Twilight.
"No, no! Please wait, I have a family, I have kids to take care of, please, pleaaaaaghhh-" The guard was silenced as a tendril of green energy slowly slithered out of his mouth and into the changeling's waiting maw.
The flow of love continued, the whole room filled by its sickening green light as the guard's body thrashed around in his magical restrains, spasmodically jerking as his eyes rolled back into his head. The pegasus began to wither, his bones becoming visible under his skin while his fur started to become grey. The green light coming from the connection between the two mouths reflected in Chrysalis's eyes, the changeling standing over the pegasus as she consumed his last remaining energies. With a sharp snap the flow ended and the guard collapsed to the ground, the green glow disappearing as Chrysalis closed her jaws.
The Changeling Queen looked down at the pegasus' body, laying limp on the ground beneath her. "Oh dear. Did I hurt him?"
"He'll be fine," Celestia said from the back, "Twilight, please take out the body when you leave."
Suddenly the doors of the room burst open and a guard came running in. "Your Highness," he began, panting for breath, "there have been reports of-"
He was unable to finish before another one entered the room and began to speak. "Your Majesty, one of your guards has been seen intruding in the armoury without consent."
Another pair of guards came running in. "Princess, there are numerous reports of guards being outside of their assigned positions," spoke the first one.
"A female pegasus has reportedly been seen stealing from the royal food storage, she-" the second guard stopped as he noticed something in front of him, "-You!" he said pointing to the second guard who had entered the room. "Princess, she is the one in question."
"What?" the pegasus replied. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Princess," another guard who'd just entered the room began, "a pair of your guards have reported seeing someone impersonating you, most likely a chan-"
"Hey! You're the one who tried to sneak inside the armoury!" the pegasus shouted.
Other guards began to enter the room, in various degrees of fatigue.
"Your Highness, one of your guards has been seen drawing over the royal portraits."
"Princess, a member of your guard reportedly built a tent with the tapestry in the western hall."
"Your Majesty, someone used the books in the library to create a book fort. Some of the books from the dark magic section were used too, and we've already lost three guards in an attempt to dismantle the structure."
"Princess, someone wrote 'Celestia is best princess' on the walls of the southern hall. Witnesses say it was a member of your guard."
"Princess, someone has been spreading the undoubtedly false rumour the you tried and failed to open the door leading to the treasury, triggering the alarm and having four of your guards find you semi-unconscious in front of the door after being hit by the defensive spell, mumbling something about revenge."
"Your Highness, I have been accused of having entered the dark magic section of the library without your permit. This is preposterous, as I was guarding a completely different part of the castle at the time. You saw me yourself."
"Impossible, I was guarding the Princess throughout this morning and she never passed by you."
"Wait, aren't you the one who was seen writing those things on the wall?"
"Hey, he's the one who tore the tapestry."
"Princess, this is the mare responsible for what happened in the library!
"Impossible! You're covering up for the fact that I saw you out of your position!"
"Are you not going to stop them?" Twilight asked, looking at the tangle of pony limbs from which the guards were accusing one another, each trying to reach and capture one of the others.
No one answered her question, and as she looked around she noticed how both Chrysalis and Celestia had left the room. More guards began to enter, but before she could teleport away a voice ringed through the halls of the castle. It was a pre-recorded message of Celestia's voice, magically distributed to all the rooms of the building.
"From now until the end of today I delegate all of my tasks and none of my authorities to Princess Twilight Sparkle. She will be entrusted with receiving and answering all of your complaints, protests and reports. She is not allowed to take any decisions as Princess of the Sun, merely to suffer through the boring experience of having to deal with you ponies. Maybe we should cut out that last part. What do you mean "we can't"? I'm not doing another one of these. How do you turn this thing off? Is it this button that say-"
All guards turned to Twilight. She stared back for a couple of seconds, then teleported away. Once she reappeared in the middle of the castle's gardens, she noticed a trail of golden magic that ended where she was and seemingly began somewhere inside the castle. She also noticed a giant golden arrow above her head with the words 'she's here' floating at its side.



The sun was setting on the horizon, and a long trail of guards and dignitaries could be seen from the window on Celesia's room, all of them walking towards the giant golden arrow and the disgruntled princess beneath it.
"Can I stay here tonight too?" Chrysalis asked.
"Well, I don't-"
"Of course you can, dear." Chrysalis relied to herself after having rapidly shifted to Celestia's shape and voice.
"Chrysalis?" the real Celestia called.
"Yes?"
"Never do that in front of me again."
"But Celestia," Chrysalis said, maintaining the other's form, "I thought you liked the sound of your own voice." The changeling pressed herself closer to the alicorn.
"I... You know what? I take that back. Please do more of this in front of me."