Three years ago, Queen Chrysalis injected her eggs with a serum containing stolen pony DNA. The goal was to create changelings that could be creative enough to come up with original disguises. While most of her offspring did not survive the hatching process, the 13 that managed to hatch were beyond her expectations. They were all born with the Queen's green eyes, and they each had colorful manes. They also lacked any of holes in their bodies- one of the most distinct aspects of changeling. Not only were these rascals more creative, they each showed more personality than that of a regular drone.
They were a creative and talented bunch, but as they progressed through their childhood, an interesting development happened. 12 changelings started to show unique talents and abilities that no normal changeling should have been capable of. These abilities were as simple as inventing, and as extraordinary as insatiability and mind control. Not only that, they all started to get cutie marks. That is all but one.
There was one changeling that did not have special talent or power; therefore no cutie mark. While the other 12 gave themselves names to match their skills and abilities, they referred to him as Black Cavas. He was an outcast of the group, being average in everything he did. During their short childhoods, many of the most egoistical of the 12, especially Flash, ridiculed Black.
Now at age three, and an adult, Blank Cavas lives among the ponies, doing bidding for the hive whenever he is needed. Despite being given most of the grunt assignments you expect from your average drone, Black always put his all into the job. When out in the field, he had a chance to prove what he could do, with the hope that the next mission would bring him closer to his goal. But it never came.
4 months before the key events of Wasp
Friendship Express
The changeling spy sat in his seat and gazed out the window, sighing as he passed the beautiful scenery. The green of the grass was as bright as his true eye color. He sighed, as he looked away from the window and thought about his current cover story.
His current disguise was that of an Earth pony named Florist; who was looking to sell flowers at the town market. "Florist the Florist," he said to himself. "Man, even my cover names stink."
Once he got his "character," he began going over the details of his mission. His objective was to steal a book from some stupid library. Even though he knew who the librarian was and what she was capable of, this was still the easiest assignment he had ever gotten. All he had to do was check out the book and skip town. After all he had done, all the targets he'd killed, and all the crap he had stolen, this was the best they could do? This was complete and utter donkey crap.
"All I want is to be some changeling," he mumbled to himself. "Everyone has cool powers and talent's and I have nothing. I'm no better than my drone cousins."
He let out another deep sigh. He began to think about all the people who bullied him. Brain, Blitz, Cleaver, Venom, hell even freaking Gizmo and Wasp had made fun of him from time to time; thought not nearly as bad as the others. Even as an adult changeling of three, he felt completely unappreciated.
What I wouldn't give to be part of those awesome joint operations I've heard so much about. Than maybe everyone could see him in action. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm nothing to those losers.
He didn't understand. Blank was part of the same experiment as everyone else. Deep down, was he really worthy of being considered one of them, or was his lack of holes and colorful mane, the only thing keeping him from being just a regular drone?
"We are now reaching Ponyville Station!" cried one of the train attendants, "Next stop, the Crystal Empire."
He got off the train, walked outside. On the platform, he gazed at the little town. It was full of happy ponies of all races, living together in what they would call "Perfect Harmony". However, the thing that caught his attention was not the ponies themselves, or the rustic homes in which they lived. No; what caught his attention where the bright and colorful pictures which adorned their flanks. It reminded him how each was unique, an individual that was part of the community at large. It depressed the hell out of him.
Well, maybe work can keep me busy and stop my brooding at least for a little bit. Who knows, maybe I'll get a book stealing Cutie Mark this time around.
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"Yo cuz, you don't actually think this will work do you."
"Of course it will Babes. All’s I’ve gotta do is get a running start, and I'll gets’ my hang gliding cutie mark fa sure."
"Ya, and if she is in any real danger, I'll fly in and save her."
"And Twilight's been teaching me some healing spells. If she does get hurt, I can heal her and get my first aid cutie mare."
"Um Sweetie Bell. I'd rather not get hurt doing this."
"Oh right sorry."
"Ok everypony, here goes nothing."
The pre-teen ponies on the hill watched as Apple Bloom jumped off and began to glide towards the town.
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"What do you mean I can't check out a book!" shouted Blank/Florist at the pink maned pony in front of him.
"Sorry, mister but as of right now we don't know if Twilight an alicorn or not because it's not Feb .16th yet. So until then, future Twilight can't checkout any books for you. She asked me to keep an eye on the place while she's at Canterlot studying. Or is she on a Royal mission of some kind? One or the other, depending on whether she has wings or not."
I recognize this pony from the hives records. She is supposed be pretty out there. I should tell the drones in intelligence to change that to down right out of her freaking mind. I'll just have to go plan B and steal the book when it gets late.
"That make perfect sense, I'll just go now."
"Wait!" shouted Pinkie. "You have to save Apple Bloom and join the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
Black tilted his head and stared at the strange pony.
"What the hells an Apple-
"SOMEPONY HELP ME! AH CAN'T STOP IT!"
In the sky above, a yellow earth pony was gliding out of control.
Blank looked up and turned his head to Pinkie Pie.
"How the hell did you know that was going to happen?"
"I'm in a library silly; I read it in this book. I think this the part where I close my eyes for a few second only to find that your not -
She opened her eyes only to find that Blank/Florist was no longer there.
"Ooh Ooh that was the part," she said enthusiastically. "I better read on to see what happens next,"
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" Scootaloo!" shouted Apple Bloom. "HELP ME."
"I can't keep up, the wind is too strong. Awh man why did RD have to go joining the Wonderbolts?"
Apple Bloom’s hang glider was out of control, being pulled every which way by the strong winds. Up and down, up and down; left and right, left and right. At this point she was getting nauseas, but she knew what would happen if she let go. Soon the hang glider was getting a little to close to the Ghastly Gorge, which looked as ghastly as ever.
"This is it; I’m going to die a blank flank. I'm so sorry Applejack and Big Macintosh."
Just as she was about to crash into the depth of the Gorge, her hang glider started to grow dark green and straightened itself out. She looked up and saw a black figure with a glowing green horn. She couldn't make the figure out due to the sun, but whatever it was, she was sure it was the one who was rescuing her.
"Who are you?" she asked, but the creature did not answer as she found herself floating closer and closer to the ground.
When she was about 10 feet above the ground, the green light disappeared and she crashed into a tree branch. As she fell to the ground, she saw what she thought was Scootaloo air tackling the black figure.
-------
"You’re not going to lay a hoof on my friend you filthy changeling." said Sccootallo as the two of them wrestled in the air.
"You, don't understand! I'm-
Pow
She punched Blank in the head only to find that she couldn't break through his armored shell. As she withdrew her hoof in pain, Black put his training to use and knocked Scootaloo out using the pressure points on here neck. Smack He caught her body with his magic before she had a chance to fall.
He flew to a small clearing and laid a sleeping Scootaloo right beside a rock.
Well this is just great. I get the easiest assignment of my life, and I fail in less than an hour after I arrive in town. Butterfly-Wings, I suck. Why did I even try to save that stupid pony anyway?
Why did he try to save that stupid pony anyway? He was a changeling spy, a born and bred killer, and an experienced terrorist. Why did he stick his neck out for someone who by all accounts was nothing more than food to his kind?
"Because that's how the author wrote your character silly? You see this is the part where you realize you actually care about the well-being of others and learn to-"
"Leave me the hell alone you weird.... pink ... freak! I mean mother of the hive, you are so freaking annoying. Just leave before I push you off that cliff."
Pinkie Pie just smiled as he if didn't just threaten to kill her. "You can't do that silly, because that would be to dark, and that's not one of the tags listed."
"I don't care about the damn tags just go away."
"Fine, fine, I'll go, man you’re a really grumpy main character."
With that, Pinkie Pie hopped off back to the library.
"Great now my covers blown, but maybe that lunatic was right. Hurting others has never made me happy. I only did it because I thought it would help me find out who I was. All my life I just wanted to be like the others, with their powers and their talents."
He flew up to the sky and gazed out at the gorge.
"Today's the day I put my changeling half behind me and embrace all that am. From this day forward, I'm deserting. Goodbye, and good riddance!"
"Oh sweet Celestia, what have ya done ta Scootaloo."
Black Canvas turned around to see the yellow filly she had saved staring at him. They both stared at each other, gazing at one another’s appearance,
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"Are you sure you saw her fly here Silver Spoon." said Diamond Tiara
"Most definitely, I can't believe that these girls are almost thirteen and they still don't have their cutie marks." She stopped and paused for a minute. Oh wait, yes I can."
They both laughed and did their secret flank shake by smashing their butts together.
"Wait Silver Spoon," Diamond said as she pointed a hoof. "I think I see that loser Apple Bloom over in that open field, let's go see if she's alright, than we can laugh at her."
"What if she is alright?"
"We'll laugh at her anyway?"
They laughed, smashed their flanks together again and hid behind a bush so they could see and hear everything that was going on.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked Silver Spoon.
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Apple Bloom stared at the creature before her. It was very strange. For one thing, it looked exactly like one of the changelings she saw when she was a little filly. It was a black insect with a black shell and insect wings. However, part of her wasn't sure, because the creature was lacking the one feature that every changeling had. The creature had no holes anywhere. Also, he had a snow white mane and a short snow white tail. All the changelings she saw at the wedding had barely had any manes at all, and what little they did have was all gray.
She looked at her unconscious friend and mustered up her courage. "Ah asked ya a question, what did ya do ta mah friend."
"Take it easy kid," replied the creature, "Your friends will be alright. She attacked me while I was trying to save you. If didn't do something, we both would have fallen into that gorge over there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to leave this town before any of you ponies have me arrested."
His wings began to hum as he prepared himself to fly when Apple Bloom called out to him
"Wait, Mister, I have a question for ya."
Black spun around and turned to face the young pony.
"What is that?"
"Are ya a changeling? If so, ya are the strangest changeling I've ever seen, but I think ya might also be the nicest. Also ,why did ya save me?"
Blank was curious. This pony was actually paying attention to him. No wait; this pony was admiring him. He didn't think the Pink Pony was going to report him, and looks like this pony wouldn't either. Maybe it would be alright to stay for a little while.
"Well to answer both of your questions, I'm kind of part pony. It's a long story with a lot of disturbing details, but that's why I don't look like most of my kind. As for why I saved ya, us hybrids tend to be more free spirited than the rest of the hive, though if you met some of the others you'd never be able to tell. Quite frankly, I don't really know why I saved you. I guess I acted like any pony your kind would do." He paused for a moment "Now can I ask you a quick question before I get arrested or something."
Apple Bloom laughed "Ya don't have ta worry about that, there aint many police officers in ponyville. In fact, I'm not even sure if we got's a police station, but sure, go ahead."
"What were you doing just now."
Apple Bloom rubbed her neck with her hoof and looked down at the ground. "Well about that, me, ma two friends, and ma cousin Babs don't got no Cutie Marks. We get teased a’ lot because of that, especially from that bitch Diamond Tiara."
For a moment, the two of them thought they heard a rustling in the bushes, and it sounded like a baby animal. What they didn't know, was that it was actually Sliver Spoon trying to keep Diamond from pouncing on Applebloom for her shocking insult.
"Anyway as I was saying, awhile back we formed this Club to help ponies who don't got their Cutie Marks. We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we’re on a quest to find out who we are. Of course, sometimes our crusading gets us into trouble."
This is sounding way too familiar. I'm older than them and they still have the same problem as me. Well technically I'm only older metal and physically because only three years old, but still this is really trippy. Wait, maybe this is a sign from the changeling goddess Volucris*
"You know, most of my kind, - the hybrids- have cutie marks to, but I've been a blank flank most of my life. You know, just before you came here, I was thinking about deserting my hive in order to go soul searching. Do you think maybe I could help you with the club for a little bit. I'll disguise myself as a young colt so your friends don't get scarred.
"Good idea, than people won't think you’re a foal snatcher or a pervert while you’re hanging out with us."
Blank blushed, and was completely speechless for about five seconds. "This girl is a surprise a minuet" he Thought to himself.
"I didn't hear a no anywhere in that sentence so that means you must have said yes. I'm going to go camp in the woods and get into character, I'll find you guys in town tomorrow.
"Wait ya don't have camp out in the woods. Ma family owns the largest apple plantation in the county; you can hide in the barn.
Blank shook his head.
"Thanks but I'd rather not risk it, I'll come find you sometime tomorrow."
"Ok, I'm Apple Bloom by the way. What's your name?"
The changeling nodded and smiled, "Canvas, Blank Canvas."