Eakco, reporting from Canterlot.
Eakco. I cannot resist a small smile as I hear My Queen’s voice. What have you to report, my captain?
‘My Captain’. The closest to a term of endearment I think I shall ever get. All is going well in Canterlot, My Queen, and I have valuable information. Living in Canterlot castle is an Alicorn of love.
Love, you say? There was a small pause. Go on~
Her full name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She goes by Cadence, here. She is to be married soon, a month from now. She’s… My Queen, I think it is True Love.
He heard a silence suddenly. An aching, deafening silence. Then, softly, her voice. True love, you say? Another pause. She takes my silence as affirmation. Very well then… I know what we must do.
What are my orders, My Queen?
Imprison the Alicorn. My eyes widen, almost as though I had been told to kill My Queen herself. There are caverns beneath Canterlot, you said. Lead her there anyway you can. Knock her out and imprison her there.
What purpose will this serve, My Queen? My thoughts cannot properly convey my emotions. Sadness. Agony at the thought of having to harm that beautiful, innocent, lovely mare. She was so kind, so wonderful – And to My Queen, my kind, she was just another tool in our path to victory.
I will come to Canterlot through the caves. I gasped slightly. Her form will become mine. In a month’s time, I shall have that stallion of hers wrapped around my hoof – Truly, his ‘true love’ shall become his weakness. The day of the wedding, my army will be both inside and outside the gates. We will strike as soon as I have my ‘prince’.
Tears are falling freely from my eyes. She is to marry this pony. To feign love for him.
She has broken my heart.
Yes, My Queen. I will do as you command.
Good, My Captain. I shall see you tomorrow.
Unable to bear the buzzing anymore, I break the connection. I wipe away my tears, sighing. I knew just how to deceive the Alicorn, too. That’s the terrible part. Her kindness is to be her downfall. I lift my head, pushing up the goggles I always wear in this form. Goggles and my scarf. All just a disguise, a costume.
This is all I am to myself in this form. I’m a costume. I’m nothing here, just a fake. They don’t know this, however. They don’t know what I truly am, what’s beneath this skin I pretend is my own. They don’t know the beast behind the façade, how I’ve been deceiving everypony I pass on the streets.
I feel hideous, sickened with myself. But I nod and turn towards the castle. It is my duty to my race to imprison this mare of love. My kind need food – We are starving to death. We need love to survive – Even if these innocent ponies must suffer for it.
“She was going that way…”
I quickly gallop to where the Princess of Love is now eating lunch, alone. Her captain must have had business elsewhere. I am lucky – She is just about to stand when I call out for her. “P-Please, Princess!”
She spins quickly, her lovely mane spinning with her. Her eyes flood with concern and her guards quickly stand. “It’s alright. What’s wrong?”
I wince internally. Her kindness truly is her downfall. “P-Please, Princess, i-it’s my mother. S-she’s always been weakhearted, she followed my brother into the caverns-“
“Caverns?!” She quickly rushes to my side. Again, I instantly feel love well up inside me. I try to ignore it, but she simply overpowers me. I feel tears coming to my eyes – She mistakes my tears as concern for my family, whereas I know it is my own aching heart as I tear myself from her gaze. “Quickly, take me to her.” She turned to the guards. “I might be gone awhile. Please, tell Shining Armor where I’ve gone, and I don’t know how long I’ll be.”
The guards leave, albeit uncertainly. They do not wish to leave their Princesses side. I can understand how they feel – I would never want such a mare to be hurt. But instead, I must be the one to hurt her – To damage her heart. I quickly wipe away tears, a determined look on my face, hiding my tears inside. “Please, we must hurry.” As quick as I can, I run ahead.
I lead her down into the caverns, a well known route by me now. The Princesses were all made aware of said caverns – After all, enemies could come in under there. I had the feeling this Princess of Love had used it with Shining Armor for quite a different reason, seeing how private they were. I shook away such thoughts, focusing on the task at hoof.
I led her deep into the caves. She followed me blindly, but I could see the starts of concern in her eyes. Still, she wanted to help me find my poor mother and brother. “Are we close to them, do you think?”
I see an outcropping of crystal. She could be hidden there for days, with only one exit. She was so lost now, so deep in the trap, she would never be able to escape alone. “Actually, I think I see them,” I say, my voice betraying false happiness, relief.
“Where?” She trots into the little space, like a lemming to water for the sacrifice. I come up behind her, and I think she realizes now that this is a trap.
“I’m sorry, Princess.” I feel tears rolling down my face as I change form.
She turns – And, to my surprise, she does not recoil. Her eyes fill at first with confusion – Then with sorrow. Then with pain. But not once with anger – Never without love. “Are you a Changeling,” she asks me softly. All I can do is not, trying not to seem weak before her – Somehow that felt important, despite the tears betraying my failings. She stands, tall and proud. “Have you come to kill me?”
My heart skips a beat. She stands so determinedly – But I can see how she trembles. She knows she is trapped. “I… I could never kill you,” I whisper, breaking down. I feel more and more tears streaming down my face, feel myself turning into a sobbing mess. I shut my eyes, wishing beyond hope I did not have to do my duty – That I was not a Changeling, a monster, using ponies I felt such love from like this.
Not using ponies I… I loved like this.
I gasp as I feel a hoof on my shoulder. It is not a threatening hoof – It is a gentle touch, reassuring and calming. I look up at the Princess Cadence, and her eyes are filled with sympathy. She utters only two short, simple words.
“I’m sorry.”
I stand, feeling my tears beginning to dry. “No… I am.” I take a deep breath. “You are our prisoner, Princess… As much as I hate to… to hurt you like this… I must imprison you.”
“I can’t allow-“
I push her against the wall, my scarf coming undone. In one swift movement, it’s wrapped around her neck. I begin to suffocate her, my tears returning. She gasps, her eyes wide as she struggles to regain breath. Again and again, I simply whisper “I’m sorry” to her, wishing again and again that I did not have to do this for Queen and Kind.
She eventually goes limp in my hooves. I hold her gently, cradling her love, her beauty. I wrap my scarf around myself gently, using it to dry my tears. I rest her against the floor softly, pretending she is only asleep – I did not just suffocate her until she passed out. She would come to- She would wake up shortly.
I move away, and as a final touch, my horn glows. I see the ever familiar green – slime us changelings use grow around her hooves. I know she can melt it, but it will take time. I grow a wall, then, to block her exit. It is made of changeling slime, again, but it blends in – It matches the crystals around us.
I sigh, taking up my disguise once more – My costume. I wipe away my tears harshly, my heart feeling cold. I just injured love – Took her and strangled her and tricked her and lied to her. My heart feels as though it may never know love again…
And, suddenly, My Queen comes to mind. I don’t know why – It makes no logical sense. But I think of her – What I’ve done for her in the past, and what I still do for her. I feel… strange, as I think of her. Cold and warm and light-headed, but the most solid on my hooves I have felt in a long time.
I realize, finally – THIS is love. Not love I steal from a Princess – It is similar, yes, but it is mine. It is not this costume I wear, something to deceive or feign the act of love. It is true. It is pure. I am a Changeling and I feel love.
I realize my duty now, to My Queen and as a Changeling. It is my duty, not to weep over the loss of false love, stolen from a pony who does not think twice about how she pours it out – It is my duty to share what love I can, what love I can produce and use to feed.
I shut my eyes softly. Eakco, reporting. It is done, My Queen.