The Half of It

by Shapeshift

Chapter 12: Equal and Opposite Reaction

Act and I agreed it was best that I laid low for a while, which meant no messing with disguised changelings and especially not the hive in any way. Though it wasn’t boring. I had spell research and development to do, which yielded some very useful results after a month of laying low.

The first thing was a change in the anesthetic effect in the transformation spell. I managed to find out how to sync the effect with the transformation paths. Remember Chrysalis’s dramatic transformation style? That’s the path I’m referring to, because I found out that it’s just the shape-shifting spell slowed down. Overall, the effect’s change allowed the spell to be useful mid-combat with minimal repercussions.

The second thing was that I incorporated identifying specific spells into the detection spell. It involved recognizing a few technical details such as whether the spell uses direct targeting, has an area of effect, or is a projectile that has to be aimed. Spells added to the recognition library that I was filling included the fire-portal, telekinesis, and transformation.

Though there was some worrying news.

I noticed that there was a group of three changelings disguised as a mare, stallion, and filly who were moving into my apartment complex. There was three possible explanations for this.

The first and most likely was that all three were fully grown changelings sent to spy on me. The one disguised as a filly was probably the one that was specifically trying to find me out. Ponies are more inclined to believe children, suspect them less, and let their parents punish them, so it would be much easier for a changeling disguised as one to infiltrate somepony’s house. Fortunately for me, I knew that they were changelings so I wasn’t going to be easily tricked by any of the three.

The second possibility was that the one using the filly disguise was actually a young infiltrator being trained by the other two infiltrators. The last possibility was that the parents were actually adult changelings and the filly was actually a young changeling, all of which wanted to leave the hive to live in Equestria. It was unlikely to me, but I cautiously gave them the benefit of the doubt until I found out what they were there for.

Next time I saw Act was when we ate and talked at the Celestial Cafe until it closed for the night. After which, I discretely told him that there was something more private that I wanted to discuss, so we headed to his house. Once there, we went up to the second floor and I told him about the new neighbors.

“It’s most likely that the ‘filly’ is being trained while the ‘parents’ are likely doing what the hive thinks is an easy mission," Act said. “I do like that you considered the advantages a group of infiltrators would have with one disguised as a filly or colt. Though be careful that the latter doesn’t try breaking into your house and if he does, use the disguise dispel.”

“Yeah, I know that," I responded. “Though I want to find out exactly why they’re there.”

“I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to do that," he told me with some concern. “If they’re there to spy on you and they recognize your habit changes as potential signs of counter-infiltration, they may send someling else who’ll be much more skilled at either fillynapping or assassination.”

I grew a bit worried and rose an eyebrow at that. “Then I think I’ll hold off on that. Anything on your end?”

“Oddly enough, there’s been absolutely nothing going on here that suggests I’m being spied on. Probably because I’m in a higher class neighborhood. Anything new with your spell crafting?”

“I finally got that spell recognition system and it’s notification HUD in the detection spell. There’s only a few spells in the library so far, but I’m planning on adding as many as I can as well as notifications for spells outside my field of view. The more spells in the library, the more spells I can anticipate before it’s even fully cast.”

With a smile, Act said, “Nice! With all these new spells, you’ll live up to your alter ego’s title pretty well.”

~~~~~~

After we were done conversing, I left Act’s house for home with my continuous detection spell on. It was the time of night when the streets were barren of pedestrians and felt slightly creepy to me. I could never decide if it was more creepy in the wealthier or middle class residential areas. The wealthier areas had their own general style which borrowed from many designs created centuries ago, most of which had a creepy feel to it at night. The middle class areas had more shady places to be lurking in, like alleyways. Crime wasn’t very high at all in Canterlot, even for pony standards, but there was always the off-chance.

While passing through a business district on my way home, my spell found something around a corner to highlight and visually tagged it as a telekinesis spell. I also noticed that the changeling was specifically vigilant and envious of me. It was obvious enough that he was after me in particular, but I didn’t think much on why.

So when I came into his sight, the changeling tried to attack me with the classic wooden bat. Unfortunately for him, I reacted well before he had a chance to even finish half a swing, grabbing him in my magic and hitting him against a wall. Only after that did I notice this was no changeling.

He was a half-ling.

Before he had time to say anything, I used a stun spell on him and thought on what to do for several seconds. What I ended up doing was using the spell I made before I learned how to use changeling shape-shifting, though on the new half-ling instead of me. That way he wouldn’t bring too much attention while I took him to the crystal mines. Though before I started my way there I also did a quick disguise change on myself, away from the half-ling’s view so that he didn’t know what spell I used.

Once we were in a good spot within the mines, I set him down, bound his legs with resin, went half way to one of the exits, then changed back to my usual disguise. After leaving the mines, I went right back to Act’s house and knocked on his door. It seemed that he was either about to or was already trying to go to sleep, as he had pajamas on.

“Act, something undoubtedly important just came up! I need to tell you in private!”

He rose an eyebrow, gestured for me to come in, then closed the door behind me.

Before he could say anything I blurted out, “There’s another half-ling!”

“I’m not sure what to make of that," he said with a confused tone.

“He tried to ambush me and I don’t know why. He doesn’t even know me! As far as I know.”

“You haven’t interrogated him yet?”

“Not yet. I thought it would be good to have you with me while I do it.”

“Alright, then I’ll fire-portal us into the mines," Act said as he charged up the spell.

Once in the mines, both of us took a different disguise and I led him to the half-ling. Act was almost as surprised at him as when he saw me as a half-ling for the first time. Though he only took a few seconds to look at him before leading me around a few corners to talk with me.

“So what’s the theory?" was the first thing he asked me.

“The most likely reason I can come up with is that my transformation potion I drank during the attack swaps out anatomy between the drinker and whoever the creature sample came from. It even looks like it. He’s got a unicorn horn, pony eyes, and no leg holes.”

“That would mean he may have problems shape-shifting," Act astutely pointed out.

“Yeah, and I think he somehow knew where I lived. Somebody probably told him. It’s unlikely that he’d be able to just walk around with a cloak on for multiple nights and not be asked by a guard at some point to pull the hood down to know what he looks like. He also specifically wanted to attack me, so it’s just too much of a coincidence.”

“You’re probably right, but who would tell him about you?”

I became a bit nervous at that. “Well, there’s only one I know. He helped with finishing the metamorphic shape-shifting spell and I agreed to owing him a favor in return.”

Act looked worried at that and asked, “Who was it? What does he have to do with this?”

“Well… I knew the favor would be something I’d really hate dealing with, but I had to finish the spell before Twilight’s coronation.”

“I still don’t know how that’s related. Who helped you?”

I took a big breath, let it out, and said, “It was… Discord.”

Act actually facehoofed at that, and with his hoof still in place he told me “You’re lucky if the favor isn’t the biggest mistake of your life. That’s the reason why ponies have the phrase ‘making a deal with Discord’!”

I was a little ashamed of myself as I said, “I know that.”

It was then that I heard noises coming from the half-ling’s direction. He was likely trying to escape, though it was predictably in vein as we came back before he could do anything about the resin.

I came up to him and sat down as he stopped to stare at me with a face of pure malice. I felt his anger, hate, and some fear as I asked him, “Why did you attack the pony?" in my interrogation voice.

The half-ling didn’t answer, but I sensed his confusion at me and the mines so I told him, “You do not need to know where we are and if you want things to progress, you will have to give answers.”

I gave him several seconds to make any verbal response, but he made none.

“I am guessing the hive exiled you for what you have become," I said, which elicited more anger from him. “Regardless of that, you know that pony is your best bet at fixing your shape-shifting problem.” Gesturing to a chain with hoofcuffs dangling from the ceiling, I told him, “I could always hang you by your back legs until you answer. You may take longer to suffer the same effects as a pony, but it’ll happen eventually.”

I turned back to him and with a neutral face I asked, “What happened to you during the Canterlot attack?”

He still remained silent and his emotions told me nothing useful, so I started to drag him to the dangling hoofcuffs. That is, until I heard a familiar voice say, “Oh, you finally found him!" with glee.

I dropped him and turned my head to the source to see Discord in a large crystal’s reflection. Out of curiosity, I turned to where Discord should have been and, of course, he wasn’t there so I turned back to him.

“And hello, my shape-shifting friend!" Discord said, as he walked out of the crystal’s surface like it was an ordinary doorway. “I’ll need to have a chat with you for minute.”

Before I could object, he snapped his fingers to move himself and I to some place quite dark. I couldn’t find a single light source, but before I started walking around for one, he lit a torch. With that, I was able to see the ancient looking hallway we were apparently in, but not before noticing Discord’s adventurer getup.

Ignoring that, I flatly asked, “Where are we?”

“We’re actually in the Everfree," he told me. “I usually take a stroll through it every week or more. It’s quite nice!”

“Does that even have anything to do with the half-ling?”

“I’m getting to that," he said, then continued with, “So I was on one of those strolls and it was particularly beautiful day. The poison joke was blooming and the timberwolves were tussling. Then I noticed somepony who looked like they just went through some kind of temple of doom.”

“I’m pretty sure it was the forest," I interjected.

“Regardless, I went up to him and noticed that he was only half of what I expected. I asked him if he needed any help, but he refused until I asked him if his appearance was a disguise. He ended up telling me that he wanted his original body back, so I told him that I knew a pony in Canterlot that owed me a favor. I gave him your description, but unfortunately I forgot exactly where you lived.”

“I don’t care about your story, and I’m not planning on fixing the half-ling. I’m already busy as it is and you should be able to fix him yourself.”

He put a paw to his chest and said, “My magic doesn’t work that way.”

“Why should I believe you?" I said as I narrowed my eyes at him a bit.

“Because nopony knows how my magic works and even I don’t completely understand it, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Nevertheless, you never said the favor had to be something I could do myself, and you should thank me for finding him before a pony did.”

That irritated but also confused me, which led me to irately ask, “Why should that matter to me?”

“Well, what possible outcomes could arise from another half-ling doing any matter of unlawful activities?”

The realization struck me like a free-falling airship.

“I’m just trying to play a role in damage control," Discord claimed.

As annoying as I was expecting the half-ling to be, I knew that I couldn’t just ignore him. He didn’t want to live with ponies and his hive wouldn’t take him back, so he’d just be left to wander around Equestria alone until he finds a solution for fixing himself. Who’d know what kind of trouble he’d get into during that?

“Okay," I reluctantly said. “But I’m not going to specifically fix his problem. I’ve been working on a potion that could fix it and do so much more. It’ll take at least another decade to finish.”

Discord shrugged and said, “As long as it gets finished in his lifetime. I mean, you’ll be stuck looking after him until you fix him… or reform him. Now, knowing that you like to keep things short, I’ll leave you to it.”

He then snapped his fingers and I appeared back in the Canterlot mines, right where I was before.

Act immediately noticed my return, then took me out of the half-ling’s sight and hearing range, then told me, “I wasn’t expecting Discord to come that soon. So what did he want?”

“Exactly what I thought," I told him with a flat tone. “I have to also look after him, unless you want to.”

“I definitely can’t, but do you want to continue with the interrogation? I’ve just been waiting here to help you finish up with him.”

I answered with, “Yeah, I still have more questions.”

So we went back to the half-ling after I took my default disguise and found him still in the same spot as when I left. Both Act and I started to approach him.

He turned his head to me as I told him, “I still have questions of my own," in the interrogation voice. “What happened to you during the changeling invasion?”

Right after asking he finally started talking, but all he said was, “I remember nothing worth mentioning," in a gruff pony voice that was likely his real one.

His emotions matched the claim, so I said, “You likely crashed into an apartment that had a room with a lot of glass.”

This jogged the half-ling’s memory, though he put on a smug grin and condescendingly asked, “Oh, did somepony lose their memory?”

I responded with a mocking, “Oooo, sassy!" then got serious again. “But yes, I have lost my memory of the invasion. So what happened?”

The half-ling switched back to his previous glare and told me, “My squad crashed into your apartment unit. We tried to capture somepony, but the love blast flung us out of the city before we could.”

I gave him a disappointed frown and one raised eyebrow. “The Discord is in the details.”

He told me, “I have none," but I could tell he had at least a little more than he was trying to lead me into believing.

“Then why?”

Giving me a moderately narrow gaze, he said, “You don’t need to know that.”

“If you want a chance at getting your body back this decade, you’ll tell me.”

He remained silent for several seconds, so I told him, “I don't care about any hive secrets that I don't already know.” I then turn around and said, “So with that in mind, I'll give you some time to think," as I started walking away.

A few steps before I left his sight, he suddenly said a begrudging, “Fine!”

I turned around and came back, saying, “So what happened?”

He told me, “After I crashed into the apartment, I was disorientated in more than one way and wet. All I know about the fight was that it sounded like you were losing it.”

For some reason he was lying about me losing the fight, probably to protect the hive's collective ego, but he wasn’t lying about his disorientation. Thinking on that for a few seconds, I couldn’t draw any useful conclusions that I didn’t already suspect so I told him, “You’re coming to my house. Can you cast pony spells?”

“I can. Why do you care?" the half-ling irately said.

“You’re going to use a disguise of some sort. I can’t have you bringing attention to me. So, what pony do you want to be?”

He didn’t think on it very long before telling me, “I’ll be a unicorn mare with a light blue coat, gray mane and tail, and... a blade of grass with a droplet of water for a cutie mark.”

“You need a name for that disguise," I pointed out.

“Morning Dew.”

I turned to Act, who was beside me but silent the entire time, and asked him, “Can you fire-portal him and I to my house?”

“Yeah, that’s not too far," Act said.

So I stood right next to the half-ling and Act fired up his horn to cast the spell. After arriving home, I closed all the blinds, put the half-ling in the corner of my lab room, then told him that I’ll have a disguise spell ready in a few hours. What I ended up doing was modifying the pony disguise spell I used before I learned my changeling shape-shifting. It wasn’t too hard and in about an hour or two, I took him to my bedroom.

Upon setting him on my bed, he gave me what I assumed was going to be his usual glare of malice. I told him, “You’re going to follow my rules, and the law of Equestria if you want your body back soon. First off, you’re not going to leave the house until you can act enough like a pony. Second, if you don’t know what it is, don’t use it until you ask me. Third, you’re not going to mess with the window blinds until you can cast the spell. Got it?”

“Whatever you say, mom," was his response.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’," I said after rolling my eyes.

I untied him and gave the spell instructions over, but the first thing he said was “What kind of ridiculous toilets do ponies use?”

I sighed at that.

If he tries to play stupid, so help me I’ll give him a swirly.

So I led him to the bathroom and gestured to the porcelain throne. “This is the toilet. It’s like a cauldron pot, but with a lid," I said, then opened the lid and flushed it. “That’s how you empty it.” I then pointed to the sink and told him “This is where you wash you’re hooves after you’re done.” I proceeded to show him how to run the sink faucet, then showed him the soap. “This is soap you use it-”

Though the half-ling interrupted me with “I know what soap is, you endoskeletal butt stallion!”

I was only mildly surprised at that, so I simply said, “Then that’s everything.”

Though as I started to leave, he mockingly asked, “But what do I use to wipe? Paper?”

By this point I was already thoroughly unamused. “Yes. Toilet paper. It’s the roll of soft white stuff right next to the toilet.”

I then left and a thought occurred to me on the way to my lab.

Sweet Celestia, I hope he doesn’t ever confuse the sink for the toilet, like that colt’s grandfather did at the dinosaur themepark.

...I wonder if Sky ever had to deal with that kind of thing.

Deciding to ignore that thought for the time being, I entered my small lab and locked the door to experiment with more changeling magic for about an hour. After that I decided to hit the hay. Though before I fell asleep I realized that I also had to make sure the half-ling knew how ponies slept.

Getting up, I started my detection spell, only to realize that it didn’t pick up the half-ling. I was worried for a second, before realizing that he may not be using any changeling magic. So I did a quick search to find him still trying to cast the spell in the living room.

Even though he was still in a bad mood, I came up to him and said, “You’re going to have to act enough like a pony as well, so you’ll need to know where we sleep.”

“I wouldn’t pretend to be your wife, even if it meant that I’d get my body back in the next week," the half-ling told me with a serious face, though his emotions told me something else.

I unenthusiastically responded with, “You know what I mean. Now, you can sleep either on the couch or in the sleeping bag.”

But something about the last part caused him confusion, yet a bit of joy. “Why would you sleep in a bag? I knew all you ponies are soft, spoiled, and indolent, but I didn’t know I could add freaks to the list.”

I gave him a deadpan look and told him, “Just pick one or I’ll assume you’ll use the couch.”

“Then whichever one is least comfortable. I’m not going to get as indolent as you.”

“Sleeping bag it is," I said, then went to my bedroom to get it.

After coming back I unrolled the sleeping bag, then said, “You just unzip it and crawl in.”

“What in the queen’s name is unzipping?”

It was at that moment I realized I never had to explain what a zipper was, so I just decided to show him. “You take this small metal flap and pull it down the... metal seal. This is a zipper. It’s used to open and close things.”

I could sense his small feeling of disgust grow a tiny bit towards me and the object as he said, “Then I’m not going to use the zipper.”

“I don’t care if you use the zipper or not. If you’re going to sleep, then sleep in it. If you have questions, ask me in the morning.”

Leaving him to his own devices, I went back to bed and wondered if the half-ling would end up doing something horrendously stupid despite what I said. Though I wasn’t worried about it all that much and I soon fell asleep with Frost laying across my hind legs.

Upon entering the dreamscape, I was met with the same boulevard dream again. Though when I checked the street signs, it said the one that the two groups of ponies started on was called Broken Dreams. I didn’t know what it meant for sure, but I didn’t think it would’ve helped me much.