'All’s fair in love and war,’ they say. For the most part, all is fair in love and war.
I should know. I’m a changeling. One of Queen Chrysalis’ finest soldiers. One of her several lieutenants. One of her most trusted soldiers. I’ve done what I could to protect my Queen.
Of course, after the attempted invasion of Canterlot… I failed what I was born to do. I failed to save my Queen. I clearly remember her being blown to the horizon by the bride and groom. The guards of Canterlot left a few of my unlucky brethren, including me, to rot in the castle dungeon.
It’s been a week since my family has been thrown into prison. For a species of love and tolerance, the pony prisons are harsh compared to my expectations. I expected the prison to actually care about the health of the prisoners and give edible food. Needless to say I was terribly wrong. It may be due to my rank and so-called crime. The food is nearly nonexistent. The beds? Just plywood barely connected to the stone walls.
The cells in this prison block out magic, so I can’t shapeshift. Taking away a changeling’s ability to shapeshift is like taking a pegasus’ wings or a unicorn’s horn.
After lamenting in my cell for a week, one of the guards taps on the metal bars keeping me from freedom. “Changeling.” He barks at me. If I was a pony, I’m sure I’d be threatened by him. He opens the door and walks in. Even without being able to identify emotions, I’d be able to see that the guard hates me. The guard has two pairs of hoofcuffs. I don’t back up, but he strikes me in the head with a pair anyway. I can feel a thin line of blood coming from my temple.
The guard laughs and puts the cuffs on my legs. “Get up, changeling. Follow me.” I oblige and follow him. I attempt to steal this pony’s form, but the cuffs prevent me. There must be some sort of magic repelling spell on the pair, like the one on the cells. While walking, I notice that none of the other cells seem to be occupied.
The guard opens a door and literally shoves me in. I get a second to look at the room before the door closes. There’s only a plate of food. Actual food. Changelings can live for only so long with just emotions. I don’t know where ponies would get meat, but I won’t question where it’s from as long as I get to eat this slice of paradise.
The door closes and the room rapidly fades to black. I can hardly see anything, even if it's right in front of me. “Before you eat, changeling,” A voice echoes through the room, “you must make a decision. Prince Shining Armor has noticed you.” The voice says. I see a small opening, which lets in a small amount of light, in the wall on the opposite side of the door. The opening is likely the source of the voice. It’s too high for me to look for, even if I stand on my hind legs. My wings haven’t had any exercise in the past week, so I can’t fly up there.
“The Prince has decided to offer a chance rather than have you executed.” The voice says. A shiver runs down my spine and forces me to sit down. The way the pony said it… Has my family been executed? Why? My species needs food to survive! It’s not our fault if we have to remove the weaker species in order to survive!
“Prince Shining Armor wishes to hire you as a spy.” The voice says again. I stand back up. The offer is… intriguing. If my family is truly dead… I have no reason to escape. I have no home to return to. Changelings don’t allow ‘failures’ to return. Any changeling that is arrested is deemed a failure. “He is here with me and aware that changelings cannot speak. You have five minutes to decide. If your answer is yes, eat. If your answer is no, you will be executed immediately. Your execution will not be public. Your body will be shipped back to your homeland.”
These ponies would dare attempt to enter my homeland? Changelings would view that as a declaration of war, especially after the failed invasion of Canterlot. My species would view that as revenge.
I’m tempted to refuse and start a war posthumously. The ponies’ love for each other would be their downfall. But… After what I witnessed, these ponies have the ability to turn their love into a weapon powerful enough to kill Queen Chrysalis. Is she even dead?
If I do accept, I may be able to confirm her death or survival. This alone outweighs a war. I would much rather have a leader and participate in a war rather than start a war and have my species be doomed without a leader.
My decision has been made. I quickly consume the food that has been given to me.
The ponies put some sort of drug in the food. I passed out immediately after eating and woke up in a different room. If I had to guess, I’m in a different building. Maybe even in a different city. The week in a cell allowed me to study the architecture somewhat, and this is similar. I’m still in Equestria and around Canterlot. There is a small town at the valley of Canterlot. I may be in that town.
Now, I’m strapped to a chair. My wings are comfortably stretched out. I test out my magic and discover that it works, but terribly weakened.
Shortly after waking up, a door behind me opens and closes. Hoofsteps on the stones move closer to me. “Hello, changeling.” A voice says. It belongs to a stallion. “It’s good that you’ve decided to become a spy. I will be conducting some experiments to test your… powers. My name is Pavlov.” He walks into my field of view. His emotion is a mix of excitement and curiosity. He’s a light brown unicorn with a graying mane. His cutie mark, or whatever the ponies call it, is a caduceus, complete with twin snakes on the handle.
I spend the next three days in the room without any sunlight reaching me. The ‘experiments’ the scientist Pavlov mentioned were to test if my limits on shapeshifting. I discovered a few things about myself in the process. I’m able to take the exact form of a pony in a picture, even an alicorn. If I concentrate hard enough to remember their appearance, I can take the form of a pony I haven’t seen in several days to near perfection. I can’t use magic as either a unicorn or alicorn, though. I’m capable of shapeshifting into a griffon. Species such as dragon or breezy are impossible for me to transform into. I can stay in pony form for several hours if I can concentrate hard enough. Walking at a constant speed allows me to concentrate. Speaking or flying makes concentration difficult.
Since most of the physical studies are complete, we started mental studies. Standard things like knowledge and language tests. My knowledge stays the same no matter what form I take and I can’t learn what the creature knew before I take their form. Despite this, I can almost perfectly imitate a pony’s personality even if I don’t know them. The languages I can speak, however, change with each form. The accents I use change with the language, as well.
The last trait is a very rare hereditary trait among changelings. My father had the ability along with his father before, and his father before that. It keeps going on for 15 more generations. My family believes it to be something from an ancient line of royalty preceding Queen Chrysalis. If so, my family’s been mating with too many non-royals that the blood is no longer ‘pure’ as my mother put it. There’s a reason she was executed.
“Prince Shining Armor would love this information…” Pavlov says. The way he said it makes me believe he didn’t mean to say it aloud. He turns to me. “Changeling, you’re better than we expected and better than we hoped. We just need to know if you will stay loyal to us.”
I take his form. He’s not even remotely surprised. After all, I have done this a few times before. “I don’t have anywhere to return to. Will you be loyal to me?”
Pavlov smiles. “I can’t speak for the other ponies, but I have no reason to betray you. What you just said is reason enough to place my trust in you.”
The door opens. Pavlov and I turn to see who opened it. It’s the prince. “Changeling, don’t be in Doctor Pavlov’s form.” He doesn’t look amused.
“You’re no fun.” I say with a smile and revert to my real form.
“Just act on your best behavior, changeling.” He shakes his head a bit. The prince looks to Pavlov. “Have you got the results yet?”
Pavlov nods and floats the prince a few sheets of paper. “It’s all there, Prince.”
“Good.” The prince turns to me. His eyes narrow briefly before he walks out the door. I know he doesn’t like me. I don’t need to read minds for that.
“He doesn't like changelings.” Pavlov says to me. “Assuming Prince Shining Armor approves of the information we gathered, you will be accepted as a spy for the Canterlot Royal Guard. I can’t say what sort of missions you’ll be going on because I’ve never been on any. From what I've been told by some spies, it’s a difficult job.” He looks at me with a smile. “Of course, you shouldn’t have any trouble blending in.”