Changeling Soldier and I were asked to help gather up all the stunned changelings. (I was a bit irked that they asked me to not chop any of the changelings’ heads off, but I complied... begrudgingly.) After we finished stuffing them all into the castle dungeon, and we attended the second attempt of the wedding, we were summoned by Princess Celestia. A guard escorted us to her office, saluted to her, then left.
As we approached her enormous desk, it occurred to me that she was probably the only equine in this world that I can look straight in the eyes without looking down; compared to regular-sized ponies, she’s enormous. If she stood on her hind legs, she’d even tower over me, and I’m not short. She took a long look at Changeling Soldier, then turned her gaze to me. “You’re probably wondering why I’ve asked for you to be brought here.”
I shrugged noncommittally. “Not really. I killed what was a present threat to Equestria, and what could have been a future threat if I hadn’t.”
“How did you know she was a changeling?”
Okay, she stumped me there. I had to figure out how to explain that without outright admitting that I knew the details of their future for the next few years or implying I had just guessed. I quickly scoured my memories of everything I knew about Axe Cop for something that might have been able to tell... Hm, that might work. I reached up and raised the brim of my hat a bit, then tapped my forehead. With a weird pulling, stretching feeling, a pair of lobster-like antennae extended from my forehead.
“I have retractable lobster antennae that can sense danger,” I explained.
“You didn’t have them at the wedding,” she countered.
“They were... under my hat?”
She stared at me for a moment. That moment lengthened to a minute.
“Very well.” She shifted her gaze to Changeling Soldier. “You look familiar. Don’t you live in Ponyville?”
“Yes, your highness. My name is Lyra Heartstrings. This... human just arrived in Ponyville yesterday, and when he was looking for a partner I just couldn’t resist.”
“Ah, yes, I remember you now. You’re the one with the interest in humans.” She looked back and forth between us, while gesturing at Changeling Soldier with one hoof. “How did she change like this?”
“She got changeling blood on her,” I replied, as though that would explain it to anyone’s satisfaction. She cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head at me, clearly not convinced. With a sigh, I continued. “I seem to have strange effects on those around me, particularly in the case of transformations. I can’t explain why, but none of the strangeness I cause has any negative effect on anyone but...” I racked my brain for something to say besides ‘bad guys’, trying to sound a little more professional, “...those with evil intent. Transformations are either benign or useful.” I looked down and gestured at my partner. “As you can see, she seems to have become part changeling. She can probably fly now, as well as transform, at least partially.” I addressed Changeling Soldier. “Try imagining yourself with your normal appearance.”
Looking up at me, she nodded, closed her eyes, and lowered her head a bit. After a few seconds, her horn lit up with a golden glow, but the aura seemed more like fire than the soft glow it had before. Celestia jumped a bit as the golden fire quickly raced over her body, causing her horn to revert to its previous appearance. The holes in her legs disappeared, as did her wings and golden saddle. She raised her head and opened her eyes, quickly looked up at her horn, then lifted a hoof in front of her face. “It worked! I’m a normal unicorn again!”
The princess looked down at her sadly. “I fear that may not be the case, my little pony. You are likely still part changeling, though it appears you can change your appearance to that of any equine with a similar size and shape as yourself.”
She appeared to ponder that for a moment, then suddenly her horn lit, engulfing her body in golden flames again. When they cleared away, in her place was a hornless, wingless mare with a cream-colored coat and a blue and pink mane and tail. She turned her head around to look at her back and gasped. She looked up at the mirror that we both just noticed on the wall behind her, next to the door. “I look just like her!” Continuing to turn the rest of her body around, she lifted a hoof to her mouth. “I sound like her too!” She quickly tried several more forms, all of which I recognized as other background ponies from Ponyville, before reverting to her normal pony form. “Oh, this is amazing!”
Celestia spoke again. “While this ability is indeed an amazing thing for a pony to have, it could also be extremely dangerous, since you could look and sound like nearly anypony, and there’s no easy way to distinguish. Somepony with this type of ability would usually be thrown in prison or recruited into the military.” Changeling Soldier’s face fell, her head drooped, and she slowly turned back around.
With a plaintive look, she gazed up at the tall alicorn. “What are you going to do to me?”
Princess Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment. “I do know a variety of truth spells, I could cast one on you that would cause you to answer truthfully if anypony asks who you are.”
I spoke up. “I was born with a secret potion in my blood that prevents me from ever turning bad, could your doctors extract some of that from me and inject it into Changeling Soldier?”
Changeling Soldier looked up at me and rolled her eyes. “Lyra. My name is Lyra.”
The princess contemplated this for a moment. “That would probably work. I’d have to have my doctors analyze a sample of your blood to separate the potion and test to see if it’s safe to inject into a pony, as well as for its effects. Is that acceptable to both of you?”
I just nodded, while Changeling Soldier happily said, “Yes, your highness!” Celestia wrote on a piece of parchment for a moment, then rolled it up.
“Very well. Guard!” A unicorn guard opened the door from the outside. The princess floated the parchment over to him, and he plucked it out of the air with his magic. “Escort these guests to the medical wing and give that note to the doctor.” She turned back to us. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, the doctors will take care of the rest.”
I bowed deeply. “Thank you, your highness.” Changeling Soldier bowed as well, at least as much as a quadruped can bow, then we followed the guard out.
It didn’t take long to reach the medical wing, and we only waited a few minutes before the nurse took blood samples from both of us, but after that we ended up sitting around for at least an hour before they were ready for us again. Changeling Soldier took a nap on the waiting room’s couch, but I don’t sleep, because I’m on the always shift.
When the doctor came back out, the first thing he did was wake up Changeling Soldier. “Miss Heartstrings? Miss Heartstrings! Wake up please, we’ve analyzed your partner’s blood and found it contains exactly what he said it did, so we separated some out from the sample, tested it with your blood, and there was no negative reactions. One caveat though, there may be unusual side effects, simply because of the... strangeness his presence causes.” He gestured at me. “Now, the princess’s message explained about you, Miss Heartstrings, and after discussing it with the other doctors, we’ve come to the conclusion that you should probably be in your current ‘base’ form for this to have the least amount of side effects.”
She blushed a bit and nodded as she stood up from the sofa. “Alright doctor, if you think so.” Her horn lit, and with a whoosh of golden flame, she transformed back into her semi-changeling form. She raised her head and stood firm. “I’m ready.”
“Because of what this is, it will be best to inject it into a large muscle, so please turn around.” The doctor made circular motions with his hoof. Changeling Soldier blushed again, but complied. After a few seconds, the doctor speared the needle into her rump with no warning, causing her to squeak. She cringed as he slowly pushed down the plunger, and let out a sigh of relief when he finished and withdrew the needle. “Now, I must ask that you not transform for several minutes while I observe for side effects.” She nodded.
We sat in silence on the waiting room’s seats for a few minutes before Changeling Soldier’s horn lit up again. She looked up at it with a confused expression. “I’m not doing anything. At least, not on purpose.” The golden flames washed over her body again, but did not dissipate immediately as they had done previously. “What’s happening!?” she exclaimed, the fear evident in her voice. As the doctor and I watched, her body distinctly changed shape. Her hind legs lengthened a bit, her neck shortened a bit, and something happened to her front hooves, but what wasn’t clear with the flames cloaking them.
When the flames dissipated, she still looked mostly as she did before, but her back legs seemed to be at a different angle than before, and her forehooves, while there were still holes in them, had turned into... hands? She stared down at them for a few moments, wide-eyed, then turned her head to try to look at the rest of her body, only to find she couldn’t turn as far as she used to. Her hind legs shifted a bit as she worked out how to move them, then she twisted around in her seat and stood up... on only her hind hooves! She had gained a form with some human attributes! She was still generally pony-shaped, but her hips had shifted into a bipedal stance, while her forelegs had become more like arms, and she stood about a head taller than her usual height. Clapping her hands together, she grinned maniacally and said, “I have hands! And I can walk on two legs! I can’t turn my head around as far, but the rest is great! I wonder if I can change back.” With more flashes of flame, she shifted back to her base form, her previous normal unicorn form, and then into her part-human form without any changeling attributes.
While the doctor furiously took notes, I held my hand up towards Changeling Soldier, fingers spread wide. “Slap my hand.” She looked at me curiously for a moment, then did. “That is a ‘high five’.”
Her grin spread wide, and she slapped my hand again. “EEEEEEeeeee! I love it!” she squealed, while clapping her hands together in glee.
As the doctor finished writing, he turned to her and said, “While this new form is fascinating, you should probably limit its use. As you know, most ponies are timid, easily alarmed creatures, so it may be wise to maintain a normal pony form most of the time.”
With a slightly sad look, she nodded. “Don’t I know it. I used to get bad enough reactions just from behaving the way I usually did when I was still a normal unicorn, I don’t want worse.”
The doctor nodded in response. “Please let us know if you have any other unusual effects.” He pulled a piece of parchment from the bottom of the pile of papers he carried. “The message from the princess says to send you back to her office when you’re done here.” He turned over the parchment and scratched out some simple directions, then passed it to me.
I looked over the directions, then nodded. “Thanks, doc. Come on, Changeling Soldier, let’s go. Don’t want to keep the princess waiting.” I headed out of the clinic.
“My name is Lyra!”
The first thing out of Celestia’s mouth when we walked in was, “Did it work?”
“Assuming it works as well as it does for me, she should be incapable of intentional evil.”
“Intentional?”
I shrugged. “Accidents happen. Also, there was a... notable side effect.” I looked down at my partner. “You should show her.”
She closed her eyes and transformed into her semi-human form. “I can’t turn fully human, but it’s the closest I’ve ever been, and I’m happy with it!” She shifted through a few different versions, combined with other ponies, before reverting to her base form. “I’m really enjoying this transforming thing more than I thought I would.”
Princess Celestia gave us that enigmatic smile of hers. “I am about to have a meeting with my student, but after that I would like the two of you to accompany her and the other Element Bearers on their trip.” I folded my arms across my chest and nodded, knowing exactly where we were going, but Changeling Soldier looked confused.
“Trip? To where, your majesty?”
“I will leave that explanation to Twilight. Please go wait at the train station, the rest of the Element Bearers will be arriving soon, and she will explain when she gets there.”
We had been waiting at the train station for only a short while when a train pulled in and I suddenly heard what sounded like the end of a song, followed by the familiar voice of a young dragon saying, “Uh... prepared for, what exactly?
“Twilight!” I turned my head the other direction, and saw four of the other element bearers - Applejack, who had spoken, flanked by Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Applejack jumped forward and gave Twilight a quick hug. “Didja pass?”
Pinkie Pie came out of another door of the train, and wheeled her party cannon right into Spike, knocking him off his feet. Tilting the cannon upwards, she said, “Are we gonna celebrate your awesomeness with Princess Celestia!?” The cannon went off to punctuate this, firing a spray of confetti and streamers into the air, and Pinkie jumped up alongside.
“Not quite,” Twilight replied. Pinkie, along with the decorative shrapnel, froze in midair for a moment, then Pinkie fell back to the platform and the party supplies reversed themselves back into the cannon. I know better than to question Pinkie Pie, but Changeling Soldier just stared and flapped her lips a bit, making confused sounds.
“We’re going to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight explained, and beckoned for me and Changeling Soldier to join them.
All the other girls responded with their own sounds of confusion, with Rainbow Dash muttering, “Crystal what?”