Guessing Games, or, How Many Changelings Fit In A Breadbox?

by ErraticOverlord

Does it have any friends?

Edward sits in the cold glow of the interrogation room. A wide grin adorns his weary face and he looks expectantly at the door.
He can hear the guards that brought him here shuffling nervously behind the glass but the interrogator is nowhere to be seen. "Not that I don't love the 'me' time but I don't suppose my interrogator is coming soon."

The door opens.

"Quiet, prisoner." One of the guards responds. The door closes but opens again and the interrogator trots in.

"Feeling well?" The interrogator asks.

Edward coughs. "Dandy."

The interrogator sits down and opens a briefcase, reaching inside he pulls out several files and lays them out on the table. "This," He points to a file. "Is a report on the injuries sustained by residents of Canterlot during the invasion attempt."

Edward glances at the file then up at him.

"Aside from some cuts and bruises none of the residents were harmed and there were no fatalities. Initially, this was shrugged off as orders for the changelings not to harm the residents to speed along the harvesting of love. According to you," The interrogator points at Edward. "The changelings weren't there for love." The interrogator stands up and paces around the room. Edward's smile grows wider.

"Why would an invasion force not harm any ponies if not to keep them alive for the love. To keep them alive for another reason?" The interrogator glances at Edward's smiling face. "I think not. No, I believe that this report is a lie. I looked into it and found this." The interrogator slides another file across the table. "This is a list of ponies who went missing shortly after the invasion. Of them, over ninety percent of them were in Canterlot during the attempted invasion."

Edward laughs. "What an amazing coincidence. The possibilities this invokes. Why, it's almost as if these ponies almost died and wanted to move to a less stressful environment."

The interrogator sits down again and smiles. "Such sarcasm from a dying creature."

Edward leans back in his chair. "I think you underestimate how easy it is to take over somepony's life."

The interrogator's eyes narrow and his smile drops. "You can take one but we keep finding you out. None of your pathetic disguises fool us for very long."

Edward shrugs. "Unless the changelings you discover aren't the best and there are thousands more around you every day or, for some reason, that changeling wanted to be caught."

The interrogator grimaces. "Do you honestly think I can't see through your disguises instantly? How misguided."

Edward laughs again then collapses as a spear of pain shoots through him. "How well do you know you colleagues? Coworkers? Friends? How good is their memory usually? Do any of them keep a diary? You have no idea how these things help us because you don't even know what we do."

Edward coughs. The interrogator looks down at him with disdain. "Some of these missing ponies probably ran away, I'll grant you that. But I'm willing to bet that most of them were changelings or changeling targets. They replaced ponies during the confusion of the invasion, then they did something, picked something up, something you needed. When their job was done they disappeared into the fold. It's pretty likely we don't even know it's missing yet. I'm nearly certain this is true. What I'm not certain about is why you're talking; the female changeling we apprehended says nothing and sits in despondent silence yet you mock me, why?"

Edward sits back up and shrugs. "It passes the time."

The interrogator leans forward, his brows furrowed. "I don't think you're waiting to die at all; I think you're waiting for something, not death."

Edward's smile spreads across his cheeks. "I suppose you'll have to wait and see."

The interrogator slumps back in his chair and motions to the guards. The guards trot in and take Edward to his cell, closing the door with a drawn out screech.

(*)

Edward sits in a chair in the interrogation room. Shortly after his being seated, the interrogator trots in with his briefcase in tow. The interrogator sits down. "Let's talk queens."

Edward ignores his command and wriggles in his chair uncomfortably. "You changed my chair."

The interrogator raises an eyebrow.

Edward continues. "My chair, the chair I always sit in for this, you changed it."

The interrogator reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a sketchbook. "This is a sketch of Queen Chrysalis, made by one of Princess Cadence's bridesmaids after the royal wedding."

The interrogator slides the drawing across the table. Edward looks at the interrogator, crossly. "Give me my chair back, then we'll talk."

Edward hears something fall over behind the glass and both he and the interrogator's glances shift toward it, then back to each other.

"I probably don't really want to know but how do you know that's not 'your chair'?" The interrogator asks, sighing.

"It's none of your business but I've been steadily carving my name into my chair with my left hoof." Edward hears a scuffling noise coming from behind the glass and cocks an ear toward it.

The interrogator rubs at a spot between his eyes with his hoof for a moment. "Queen chrysalis has predominantly green eyes like you. Unlike you, however, the Queen has pupils. Is this significant or is it just to signify that she is indeed the queen?"

A lance of pain shoots through Edward again and a piece of his carapace cracks. "Damn." Edward's face contorts in pain and he clutches in vain at his dissembling shell. He laughs raspily. "They don't tell you about that in training."

Edward's vision blurs into colors and shapes; after a few moments the shapes disappear and the colors change to an endless black.

(*)

A needle shoots through Edward's mind and injects love energy straight in. He always fancied it to be pieces of a dream and when Princess Luna would enter a pony's dream she too could feel it, taste it.

A voice slices through this stuff of dreams. You screwed up.

Edward scrunches his eyes closed tighter. I had it under control.

The voice comes again. Clearly.

There's a pause, where neither of them speak, growing wider as time passes.

Edward finally breaks it. You didn't have to come.

The voice brushes the comment off. Nonsense, I was assigned here; I'm not going to disobey a direct order.

We both know that's not true. Edward persists.

The voice ignores him. Are you okay?

Edward pauses, just for a moment this time. No.

The voice floods his mind, for a moment, before retracting. I'm here for you.

Edward opens his eyes and winces at the flood of bright light that enters them. An incessant beeping noise sounds to his left and his temples pound with gigantic force.

"Ow," Edward says.

"Oh, sweet Celestia." Through Edward's thrumming brain he hears a pony gallop away from him and return with another.

"'Allo, 'ow are we today?" Edward's stare fixated on a grey coated pony with a white coat on. "Still no speaking yet, ey? My name is Doctor Guérir. You were looking pretty bad earlier but we wrapped up the cracks on your exoskeleton and you are looking much better now. I will be perfectly honest there was not much we could do. You changeling anatomy is rather unfamiliar n'est-ce pa?"

Edward closes his eyes and slips back into unconsciousness, the nurse's half-lidded smile lingering even as his dreams begin clutching at his conscious mind and dragging it into Princess Luna's domain.

(*)

Edward sits in the interrogation room, once again bound and alone. An extra chair sits across the table from him beside the interrogator's chair. The interrogator walks in with another pony in tow. The pony is female with a deep red coat and black mane. She beams continuously from when she enters the room to when she sits down. A bead of sweat meanders down the interrogators face.

"Feeling better I trust," The interrogator says.

It's good to see you, Edward.

Edward's eyes dart toward where the link came from and settle on the mare attending the interrogator. The mare locks eyes with Edward and smiles, coyly. A bit of green flickers around the edges of the mare's eyes. Edward smirks and looks squarely at the interrogator. "I've never been better."

Comments

[Thresha8]

here we go

[TheNomad]

and the plot THICKINS!!! I love this story! can't wait for the next chapter.

[Perteks]

And again months of waiting for next chapter :D?

[zaku666]

sweet, mayhaps things get fubar a little bit

[ErraticOverlord]

4573002 Thank you so much. I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Love that avatar by the way.

4574631 I don't know what that means but probably, yes.

4572866 Let's do this.

4573761 I certainly hope not. I think I have an idea about what happens next.

And let's hope I didn't get these responses mixed up!

[Blade Star]

4574786 How the tables turn. Possibly.

Ponies are sloppy in their interrogation. They allow the subject to control the situation and plant doubts. They attack the body only, not the mind. And their worst crime, placing POWs together in cells. Edward has proven unwilling to talk; putting a few of its comrades against a wall, blindfolded should help, assuming ponies have the guts to follow through. Otherwise, I'd recommend liquidation of the subject and moving onto to a new one. While every mind eventually breaks, the longer it takes to do so, the less reliable the information.

And for the record, FUBAR is military slang meaning F***ed up beyond all recognition. A situation which has deteriorated to the point that it is beyond salvageable. It certainly describes the interrogator's situation.

[TheNomad]

4574786 I Pity the lesser man who doesn't like it. :P

[ErraticOverlord]

4575739 Okay, got FUBAR. Thanks.

As for ponies being sloppy in their interrogation, I find it unlikely they would have many opportunities in which to interrogate something. In the past, enemies were extremely powerful individuals but they were just that: individuals. The changelings represent an army that can't be blasted into extinction with the Elements so they would be one of the only enemies the ponies logically could interrogate. Just a thought, thanks very much for the thoughts and support I really appreciate it!

[zaku666]

4574786 lol my bad. fubar = fucked/fouled up beyond all repair/recognition. Or something like that. its more of a military thing....i stole it from Full Metal Jacket

[zaku666]

4578549 i didn't have to explain it
How dare someone take away my explanation

[Tome Turner]

Ahhhhhh shizam! Stuff's starting to happen!

[Xaerouzle]

This story is live and kickin' ey? Well thats really bloody amazing and it couldn't have made my day anything else but utterly perfect! 11/10 for this so exquisite story that I just caan't have enough of. Hope it ends up in the featured box, it deserves it.

[ErraticOverlord]

4600562 I am actually speechless right now. Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoy it!

[tomboy athlete02]

Do deh ice bucket challenge on edward! Lol that will make him talk more

[WorldWalker128]

Oh, this is going to be interesting.

[theRedBrony]

Te interrogator asks.

The*

"How well do you know you colleagues?

your*

Fix your damn dialogue.