Retrofit Opening themes, because opening theme music is cool. DON'T JUDGE ME! 
Retrofit Opening themes, because opening theme music is cool. DON'T JUDGE ME!
"Is that really necessary?" Ki asked as he watched the little changeling floating in the pod.
"I'm afraid so," Healthy Change, the changeling medic nodded gravely, "Little swing shift is severely tainted by corrupted love. I can only imagine how horrible it must have been for her living for so long isolated from other changelings. You can see what it's done to her natural form."
Indeed, the filly was almost unidentifiable as a changeling. Her normally blackened carapace was tinged a deep burgundy. Her head frill had been replaced by a dark pink, painfully straight mane, and her ears were replaced with spiny fins. Her mouth split wide, hanging open to reveal multiple rows of sharp, shark like teeth. And that was to say nothing of the gaping holes that covered her entire body.
"It's called feature displacement disorder," the medic explained, "Changelings are very social creatures, by our very nature. Being cut off from her hive, and essentially in hostile territory, at such an early age while her body was still developing she locked onto a form that mimicked to the ponies that surrounded her. The teeth and ear spines were, no doubt a defensive adaptation."
"Will she get better?" the concern in the former humans voice was clear and unmistakable.
"Well, the holes will go away eventually with continued pod therapy, and she can assume pretty much any form she wants," the medic shook her head, "But this is her natural form, now. An adult changeling could eventually be coaxed back into his or her original form, but this happened while her body was still developing. In short, what you're looking at is, in essence, her original form. That said, she's quite the prodigy when it comes to shape-shifting. With time, and therapy she'll be able to live a perfectly normal changeling life."
"That's good," Ki smiled, then turned to the adjacent pod, "What about Switch?"
"Her case is both simpler in some ways and more complicated in others," HEalthy Change sighed, "Physically it's just a case of extreme malnourishment. She should be back up on her hooves in a matter of days."
"But?" Ki asked the loaded question.
"But there are any number of other issues," the changeling lowered her head sadly, "To start with there's quite a bit of brain damage brought on by such extreme and prolonged malnourishment. Additionally, she associates all changelings beside herself and Swing Shift with Queen Chrysalis. We had to restrain her to keep her from 'freeing' the pony volunteers who were in pods donating love."
"That couldn't have been easy," Ki gave a low whistle, "I've fought beside her in the time slip. She's a real scrapper, that one."
"Then it's true? You're really the human who died in the hospital?" Healthy change asked in earnest.
"Vetted by the ruling Diarchs themselves I'm told," a large leader changeling walked in, "Hello, I'm Stand In, second in command to Princess Fast Change. So you're this ‘Train Wreck' I've heard so much about."
"Yeah... I'm really sorry about your guards, I hope I didn't hurt anybody," Ki fidgeted nervously, fighting to keep his lower jaws moving together and not gesture absently was his oral appendages.
"Nothing more than a few bruises to remind them not to pick fights carelessly," the changeling waved off any concerns, "I have to say, I absolutely love that particular human terminology. 'Nobody, somebody, anybody', it's so much more inclusive than pony-speak. We all have bodies after all. Follow me please, we have things we need to discuss."
“Okay,” Ki shrugged and fell in line behind the changeling leader, “I’m glad to hear there’s no hard feelings. So you guys came from Chrysalis’ hive?”
“Yes, we were liberated by Prince Silver Watch, and the Warlocks,” the changeling nodded.
“Wait, is this prince a brown unicorn who used to be a human, by chance?” Ki cocked his head in recognition.
“I am unaware of the details, but yes, I believe that is correct,” Stand In confirmed.
“Be damned, I knew him, or a version of him anyway,” Ki chuckled a little, “Looks like Private SIlver finally got a promotion, good for him.”
“I don’t pretend to understand what you’re talking about, but that’s not what I came here to discuss,” the changeling stopped and turned suddenly, “To be blunt, what is your relationship and intentions concerning those two changelings?”
“Well I only met them a couple of days ago, at least I think it was a couple of days,” Ki shook his massive head, “All this time travel shit’s got my sense of time all discombobulated. But the point is, I don’t really know them that well. I traveled with Switch. I like her okay I guess. She’s good in a fight, and she seems to be well intentioned, if not quite right in the head.”
“What about Swing Shift?” Stand In made it clear this wasn’t a question to be avoided.
“That’s trickier, you see,” Ki shuffled in place, “I don’t know her. But by all accounts she seems to know me. Which is weird, because I’ve been assured I was in a coma the whole time I was in equestria.”
“The filly is quite smitten,” Stand In said gravely, “Nobody's quite sure what exactly she did while time was in flux. But it most certainly involved you.”
“And that makes this whole thing really awkward,” Ki nodded in agreement.
-=-=-=-=-
“So,” Sun Chaser asked her companion, “What’s a lunar pegasus doing in the day guard?”
“I became a guard before Princess Luna's return,” Dream Catcher supplied readily, “ I’ve served her majesty for nearly twenty years. Was I supposed to up and jump ship just because the Princess of the Night came back? Besides, you're a member of Princess Luna’s Warlocks, and you don’t get much more solar than a bright yellow unicorn named ‘Sun Chaser’.”
“Fair enough,” the unicorn shrugged, “Two days, now, and all this pony-monster’s done is hide in the basement of a bakery and visit the local changeling hive. This is the worst stake out ever.”
“Maybe when he goes back we could pop in the bakery and grab a bite,” Dream Catcher suggested, “Maybe drop a few subtle question?”
“You just want an excuse to eat sweets on duty,” the unicorn rolled her eyes.
“Doesn’t make it a bad idea,” the guard winked.