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// Chapter 4: Disasters Galore 
// Story: A Mentally Unstable and Powerful Changeling...Yeah 
// by Taken-By-Insanity 
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After her first day in Canterlot, nothing really noteworthy happened to Shade. She tried to find jobs to work but had no clue where to start. ”Damn my old lifestyle as a slob. I have no idea how to do this.” Not only that, but it seemed that no one was looking for new workers, based on a lack of help wanted signs on any businesses that were seen. ”And that’s just unheard of! Almost every business had a help sign back home, even if most of them were lying.”

The search kept going for a couple of days, ending with no success. Before she knew it, a week had passed and a large pink shield came over Canterlot. It was by then that she noticed something.

As Shade sat on a bench in the park she had been spending nights in, she felt a pang of pain within her stomach. She placed a hand on it with a wince as it grumbled. She was hungry. ”Changelings feed off of love, don’t they? Where am I gonna get love if no one knows this disguise?” Panic briefly took hold of the Changeling before she took a deep breath. ”Calm down. Maybe they only say they feast on love because it’s the most fulfilling. If that’s the case, I could simply take in other emotions to satisfy me. The number of ponies that I pass by would surely fill me up quickly, right?” Shade hoped that this was the case.

As her mind moved to think of how she could drain emotions of all things, Shade looked down at her hooves and was surprised by what she saw. Her grey fur was fading into a darker shade, briefly flickering to black. When it flickered to black, holes were very visible on her legs. ”Oh spaghetti noodles in a basket of cookies, this is bad.” She was getting low on magical energy. She needed to figure out how to eat and fast.

”Wait.” An idea came to Shade’s mind. ”I have fangs in my real appearance. Could those be more than just for show? What if I didn't have to rely on feeding off of emotions? But what could be a possible substitute that would require fangs?” Unfortunately, Shade’s train of thought was halted as she was tapped on the shoulder.

She jumped out of the bench and turned around, finding nobody there. Confused, Shade looked around the park, finding nobody in the park. She sighed and sat back on the bench.

“Make them scared.”

“Huh?” Shade looked around once more. She could’ve sworn she just heard someone talk. She sighed a put her face into her hands. “Guess I’m going crazy now,” she mumbled. She gave a small chuckle after saying this, “Probably cause of a lack of socializing. Heh, I haven’t talked to anyone since I ran into those guards the first night I was here.”

”I don’t like scaring though. It scares me too.”

“Okay, I know I just heard someone.” Shade looked to her left and right, still finding no one around as the sun continued its descent and the moon started to rise. The voices sounded far away but still within hearing range. But still, no one could be seen anywhere. “Where are you?”

A painful headache formed soon formed as Shade looked, making her clutch her head and shut her eyes. Brief images flashed through her mind for the duration of the headache. Someone in purple. The purple moves in a series of images but they were too brief to see anything else.

As quickly as it appeared, the headache vanished and so too did the voices she was hearing. Shade took another glance around before sighing, placing a hoof against her face. “I am going nuts, aren't I? I mean, the fact that I'm Equestria should've already cemented that but nope! Now I'm hearing voices and seeing things.”

”Deep breaths Shade, deep breaths.” Inhale, pause, exhale. This mantra was repeated for a few moments before Shade calmed down. She needed to sleep, even if she didn't feel tired. Sleeping once a month is not a good idea for the mind, even if the body only requires that much. But, Shade has yet to look into any nighttime jobs. Maybe she’d have some luck in at least finding a help wanted sign. Oh, who is she kidding? She wouldn't even go up to any employee and ask about it. She might as well give up in the endeavor for a job and wander.

Now, what was she thinking about earlier?
.
.
.
Right, she was trying to figure out the purpose of the fangs in her true form. ”Let's see...emotions are the results of chemicals in the brain. Do those chemicals also travel the bloodstream? I'm pretty sure that's not how it works on Earth but the rules of biology might be vastly different here due to the magic in Equestria. Well, there’s only one way I could find out.” Shade shivered at the thought. Biting someone sounded...uncouth. Her eyes momentarily gained green as she felt this disgust.

But, it also sounded pretty good. New food is nice. Shade shook her head as her eyes faded from orange back to their empty white. These thoughts...they did not belong to Shade. The disgust was right, but the part about food. Shade was always a picky eater with the palette of a foal. She hated trying new things like food. New chocolates were about the extent of her willingness to try new things.

”You know what?” Shade stood from the bench. ”I’m going to take a walk. That pink shield ruins the view of the sky anyway so I’m not gonna get much enjoyment from stargazing.” She turned in a random direction and began to walk. She soon left the park and began to wander through the city streets. There was the occasional pony that also walked through the streets but it was largely empty. ”I can see why Princess Luna would think no one enjoyed the night, it’s almost like a ghost town out here.”

Few businesses were open and, as Shade continued her walk around the city, more ponies dribbled out of their homes to head somewhere. The nowaday nightwalkers were slowly getting into the groove of things as they awoke.





Shade was unsure how, but she ended up in a prohibited area. At least, that’s what she thought. She was in the statue garden, right in the middle of the castle grounds and past the first of three walls to the castle proper. Was the first wall unguarded? Surely not. Shade must’ve mindlessly done something without noticing. She looked down at herself once more and saw her disguise flicker once more. This reminded her of her current situation and she looked around. Surely a guard was making rounds in the garden, right?

As if on queue, the sound of clattering armor was heard nearby. Shade dove behind the nearest statue she saw, one of three ponies holding each other up. She kept quiet as best as she could while waiting for the guard to pass. The clattering felt like it was right on top of her before it soon passed. This was her chance. She could test her theory of how to eat while the guard’s back was turned. Her eyes gained an orange iris at the realization.

Her hunger was more powerful than she thought. Her disguise faded away into purple smoke as she stalked the guard. It was a thestral. Golden eyes, a dark purple mane and tail, and a dark grey coat of fur under silvery armor. It's too bad how the armor for guards was flawed. His neck was wide open.

The guard stopped and looked around. All except for behind him. ‘Shade’ took this chance and let onto the guard, sinking her fangs into him before he could make a sound. The guard was frozen, a look of surprise on his face. As Shade’s fangs stayed within him, however, his shocked face slowly became more of a neutral expression. The color was drained from his eyes, leaving next to nothing left of their previous brilliance.

As ‘Shade’ let go of the guard, no mark was notably left on him. She didn't think much of it and instead backed away as he went back to his rounds. It was as if nothing happened. The orange in her eyes faded and she blinked, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes afterward. ”What just happened?”

“Ma’am.” She froze as she heard the voice of a stallion. She quickly looked around and sighed when she realized it wasn’t her getting spotted.

Wait.

That means someone else is coming this way! Shade quickly took up her previous hiding spot and heard the sound of metal tapping against the stone walkway. ”It’s probably one of the princesses. But which one would be taking a stroll right now?” Shade thought to herself.

What do you know, it was Princess Cadance. She walked around the three pony statues and glared at Shade. It was as if Cadance knew that she was there. Shade was frozen, she was in her true form and was discovered by a princess. ”Unless this is Chrysalis. It was never revealed just how long she was in Cadance’s place and impersonating her before the wedding happened.” She idly thought.

‘Cadance’ summoned some magic into her horn. The magic was a sick green, a sign that something was amiss. “I won’t let another hive ruin my plans,” she seethed quietly. A green bubble encased Shade. Her eyes widened. She knew what spell this was. She tried to move, to get out of the bubble, but it was hopeless as she sank into the ground and vanished.

Chrysalis cut the magic from her horn and ‘hmph’ed. “Maybe that changeling will deal with the real Cadance for me. That way I won’t get caught until it’s too late.” She chuckled to herself as she turned and walked away. She must prepare for tomorrow. ”Shining Armor invited more people and I need to greet them when they arrive.”





Shade was in darkness for what felt like forever before she finally saw something. Pink crystals. She fell from the roof of a large cavern and her fall was met with sharp crystals. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.” She chanted with a hiss before the pain began to dull. She was now stuck on a cluster of pink crystals, all of them stabbing into her chest and stomach. Notably, no blood came out of Shade as she was stuck there.

“How...do I get out of this?” Her voice echoed throughout the cavern, fading into the distance. All there was in the cave was stone and crystal. Nothing else could be seen within the view Shade had, for a turn in the cavern cut off her vision of what was ahead.

No matter that, she supposed. She needed to get unimpaled. She could feel that she wasn't stabbed too deeply by the crystal and, based on the lack of blood coming out of her, she wasn't injured enough to require keeping the crystals in her. ”If only I could figure out how to use freaking magic properly.”

“Hello?” A voice echoed from the distance. Someone else was here. It was likely Princess Cadance. 

It took some effort, but Shade managed to break out of the crystals, ending with her on the ground, next to them. She went into a sitting position and quickly looked herself over. No pink was stuck to her, so she didn’t need to remove anything.

Now, before Cadance could see her, Shade summoned a mask and put on her disguise once more. “Is someone there?!” Shade called out, walking in the direction she thought she heard Cadance from.