Not much is known about Queen Chrysalis's Lord of Deception and Intelligence. Only that he commands one of the most elusive and feared arrays of spies and assassins known in Equestria. Though gifted with the title of "Lord" he rarely participates in any political affairs lest it involve him directly, or unless the Queen personally asks him to. No one knows why he always wears a wide brimmed trilby hat everywhere he goes or why he rarely uses his wings to fly. An enigma is what most would call him. Chrysalis even shudders to what horrors the dark lord has in store for his enemies when he's angered. Shiftwing was in a good mood today though, but that meant bad news for the hapless underlings which served under him.
The lord was walking on the outskirts of Canterlot himself while whistling a small tune. He came up to a small mine shaft and smiled slightly. He trotted in and through the mine, taking his time as he gazed upon the magnificent crystals that lined the walls and ceiling of the cave as he continued moving. As the crystals started to appear less and less it became apparent that he was going to need some light, prompting him to use his horn and illuminate the rest of the way. Walking briskly for a few minutes the lord came towards a door in the mine. He knocked on the wood quickly and another Changeling illuminated its horn to show its face.
"Identity please." The Changeling said, holding a stern expression.
"Don't you know who I am already?" Shiftwing replied nonchalantly, annoyed by the guard.
"I can't be sure if you're really you now can I? For all I know you could be some impostor waiting to stab everyone in the back after tricking them with some nasty prank." The guard teased, knowing it was him but wanting to mess with the noble a bit.
"I'm not the damn Lord of Chaos no matter how great a job that would be, and who in the right mind would dare look to see what was behind that door. Besides there is only one Changeling in the world who can slice the throats of an entire room full of ponies in the blink of an eye." He replied with a smirk, causing the guard to clear his throat uncomfortably and opened the door to let the lord through. "Oh, and by the way, I know about the incident with that maid in the castle." He said in a singsong voice while walking, making the guard regret messing with the lord in the first place.
Shiftwing soon lost sight of the guard and continued trotting for a few moments until he came to another door. He knocked once again and the Changeling who responded immediately opened the door to let the important noble in. Knowing full well who and what he wanted the Changeling led the lord through an illuminated hallway until they reached a chamber filled with other Changelings with white lab coats. He looked around and saw the one particular Changeling that he wanted to see. He approached him and the Changeling turned to face him.
"I trust the lord is ready to hear the results of his... "experiment" I presume?" The Changeling asked.
"What else do you think I'm here for Dr. Carapace? I would like to test him a bit before we send him out to the boys in the Swarm division." Shiftwing said confidently.
"Walk with me then and tell me what exactly is this test? I hope it isn't too hard on him, I mean it took thirteen years for us to fully perfect him and he's the only subject that survived the first stages of your experiment." Carapace said worriedly. "We were lucky enough to even find him during the aftermath of the invasion still alive. Those ones in the Swarm division show no mercy as to show what he went through." Shuddering as he remembered the state the subject was in before the experiments on him began.
"But the real question here is if he's ready Doctor. You be worried about if we can deploy him while I worry about the mission he will be sent on. We can't have him lose control on the battlefield or in a stealth mission and kill everyone in sight. You know how I hate unnecessary deaths on either side of a conflict." Shiftwing thought out loud and continued walking with the scientist until they reached yet another door with a multitude of safety warnings and locking mechanisms embedded on it.
"I hope you don't have a full stomach my lord. This may be a bit sickly for the weak minded." The doctor said, opening the door with a deep groan to its hinges and revealing the horrors inside. The two found themselves in laboratory located deep in the once abandoned crystal caves beneath Canterlot. After the invasion it was used to dispose of those who had died in the fighting, both Pony and Changeling no matter what the species, were simply thrown into the cave and forgotten. No burial, no ceremony, no sympathy. The Insects themselves would retch at the sight and the smell of all the corpses and bodies desecrating in the dark.
Others however, saw the blood and bone of their species as an opportunity. Away from the public eye and isolated underground, the insects saw its use. Using knowledge gained from the conquered ponies they began conducting horrifying experiments to other creatures beneath the surface. No one on the outside could hear the screams of pain from a victim being tortured endlessly for Science. Shiftwing himself shivered as he looked upon what used to be a civil unicorn of Equestrian nobility, now a mentally tortured freak of nature cuddling a large slab of meat before ripping it to pieces and devouring it like an animal.
"He is over there if you'll follow me my lord. The subject is stable and ready to be deployed on your mark. You will be also fortunate to hear that he is willing to follow orders without question now, unlike the last few attempts we tried." the doctor spoke with a cold tone. He pulled a lever and a magical thrumming was heard as a window opened and showed a tall and slim being of metal held in restraints against the wall with various machines and devices monitoring it during every hour of every day. It looked upon the two Changelings with distaste and growled softly, almost making Shiftwing feel pity for what they had done to him. Blood and dead scales covered the floor and walls as a consequence of the creature's ravenous eating habit and the torture it endured, both mentally and physically.
"I would like to examine him up close and personal if it's safe." Shiftwing gestured to him as the doctor nodded and led him to the chamber next to the Creature. The doctor opened the door and let Shiftwing enter, both of the Changelings gagging at the smell but restraining themselves from showing their disgust. Shiftwing avoided most of the pools of blood, piles of dead scales and bits of meat, in the room while coming to a halt directly in front of the monstrosity. He gazed in awe at how magnificent it looked up close, while he still wasn't sure if it was "perfect" in his opinion he still thought it was glorious.
"It's almost a shame you know, how you could have lived a normal life and died like any other mortal in this world. But it seems I have other plans for you my dear friend." The creature growled louder at this, barely remembering its past life but also greatly loathing the bug in front of it.
"Oh, angry are you? Well I suppose that you'll have to save that anger for later my friend."
"You... not... friend...' The creature replied slowly in anger. Taking Shiftwing by surprise and making the doctor outside take his notebook and start writing down notes on what was happening.
"Hmmm, I didn't know you could talk. Tell me then, what else are you capable of?"
"I... not... speak... to... bug..." It replied.
Shiftwing was angered by this, not by the insult though, but the fact that Carapace said that he would "follow orders without question" wasn't true. He looked over and saw a table with multiple blades, saws, claws, and other tools of torture. Knowing how to use them he moved and slowly grabbed a pair of large pliers with his magic. With a calm smile he approached the tall creature with a glint of malice in his eyes. He looked over the creature trying to locate a weak spot and found a shiny object sticking out of the metal that covered parts of it. With impossible speeds he thrust and yanked the object out and was met with a low groan of pain from the creature. Now having made a weak spot he looked around and found a long green scale on the ground and jabbed it into the open wound.
"RRRRhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Was the response. He pushed the scale in deeper and earned an even louder scream of pain from the creature. After a few more minutes the lord was now satisfied with himself and sent the doctor in to treat the creature now.
"The next time I ask you to do something, I would appreciate it if you just did what I told you to do." Shiftwing said while exiting the chamber. He left the doctor and decided to check on one very special prisoner in the laboratory. He passed more monstrosities that the facility had made and soon came to a large dome in the center of it all. He found the door and had the pair of Changelings guarding it unlock it much to their reluctance. Once unlocked Shiftwing opened it to reveal one of the most important beings known in Equestrian history...
Princess Celestia