When the Mask Falls

by StarChaser01

Chapter 2: More Questions

‘Wait for it... Wait for it... Aaaaaand NOW!’ Slasher thought as he snapped up an Earth pony disguise, a small smile crossing his face as he felt the inhibitor ring start to slip off his head. Moving his hoof to catch it, he prevented it from clattering to the ground as he dropped his disguise.

Taking advantage of his newly freed spellcasting ability, he started by casting a basic diagnosis spell, one that all Changelings regardless of class had to learn.

‘Let’s see here... bruised ribs, cracked chitin on the back of my head and my barrel, mild dehydration, and some minor bruising under the chitin,’ Slasher thought as the results of the spell came in ‘All things considered, I’m in pretty good shape!’

Casting a set of minor healing spells to fix up his chitin, Slasher was surprised to find that none of the guards outside had noticed anything yet.

‘Pitiful, if this was back at the hive they would be getting yelled at by a superior if not suspended from duty as they re-took basic.’ Slasher shook his head slightly at the thought, already feeling the effects of the chitin repair taking effect.

Getting up slowly, Slasher stretched out the minor cramps and kinks that his muscles had developed from being in one place for so long, before looking at the ring and getting an idea.

When Shining and ‘Doc’ got back with some bedding (really only Doc had the bedding, Shining was of the opinion that stone floor was too good for the Changeling), they were greeted by the sight of the captive sitting up, bouncing a small blue ball against one of the walls, without their inhibitor ring.

“WHERE IS YOUR INHIBITOR RING PRISONER?!?” Shining bellowed while Doc quietly noted at the lack of sound as the ball bounced against the wall.

Catching the ball, Slasher let the bubble dissipate, along with the barely noticeable glow from his horn, revealing the inhibitor ring inside.

“Right here sir.” He said, holding it out to them, grinning slightly.

“And how did you get it off?” Doc asked, cutting off Shining for the sake of his eardrums.

“I transformed into an Earth pony and it fell right off. It wasn’t doing anything other than give me a headache, and I had nothing better to do.”

“But... the inhibitor ring prevents any spell casting, either on it or around it!” Shining blurted out, a hint of curiosity mixed with horror making itself known in his emotional output.

“Disguising doesn't use the horn, and if you're wondering about the bubble, the ring is slightly magnetic due to the enchantments used, I simply had the bubble also be of the same magnetic polarity and the ring floated inside it. Basic physics.” Slasher explained, wrapping the ring in another bubble, this time clear, showing that the inhibitor ring was floating in the exact center, spinning slightly.

As Doc nodded slightly, his emotional output revealing that he was impressed, Shining’s revealed that he was internally panicking.

“Dude, relax. The only spells I cast while in here, besides to disguise, were basic healing spells and the bubble spell I used to make my bouncy ball. I’m still restricted to where this chain lets me go, and I highly doubt that I could overwhelm the enchantments on it. Although I doubt that the stone it's connected to is similarly enchanted...” Slasher trailed off thoughtfully, tapping his chin in thought.

“So what? You show us that our methods can’t hold you and you’re still there to MOCK US?!?” Shining yelled.

“No,” Slasher replied calmly “I’m still here because of my orders. ‘To surrender myself to the guard and answer their questions truthfully.’ Not to put up with the second worst headache of my life when I could easily fix it.”

Shining just glared at him as hatred flowed from him like a flood.

“You... might want to be careful about your emotions sir.” SLasher said, concerned. “Unless you’re trying to cast dark magic, you shouldn’t have that much hatred.”

“What?” Shining asked, stunned at the sudden change.

“When there is that much hatred coming from one pony, it’s usually a sign that they’re trying to cast dark magic.”

“You can sense emotions?” Doc asked as Shining attempted to recover.

“Of course. It’s one of our food sources. Why wouldn’t we be able to sense it?” Slasher asked with a slight tilt of his head.

Doc processed that for a moment before asking, “ONE of your food sources?”

“Of course! Did you think we fed solely on emotional energy? We need physical sustenance too! Where do you think our physical mass comes from, solidified magic? We’re not Mana constructs!”

“Well... to be honest, we kind of did.” G1 replied sheepishly, reminding them all that he was still there.

“Well now you know.” Slasher nodded “Also, you guys sucked at your job. I was able to disguise right behind you and you didn’t even notice. From one solder to another, you might want to fix that.” That last part was directed at Shining Armor, who looked and felt torn between numerous conflicting emotions.

Looking up from the paper that he had pulled from somewhere, Doc asked another question.

“So, how does your kind get emotional energy? Do you just, suck it up like a the vamponies of legend?”

“Well,” Slasher looked a bit uncomfortable at this, “we CAN do that... that’s probably where the legends came from in the first place. But we have another method as well!” Here he sat up straight. “If the concentration of emotional energy in an area is high enough, we can absorb it that way.”

“You mentioned this ‘Emotional Energy’ before, could you explain it further?”

“Emotional energy is generated by most living beings, with sapient beings generating far more than non-sapient beings. Changelings are the only sapient being that don’t release emotional energy as far as we know. While we do generate it, our bodies absorb it long before it can exit our bodies.”

“You seem quite knowledgeable on the subject...”

“I pay attention in class. As a Solder, my emotional gathering abilities are... weaker than that of Gatherers. I was kind of hoping that I could figure out some trick to boost my ability to passively gather emotions.”

“So, your ability to, passively, gather emotions is weak? No offense.”

“None taken. And no, it’s not weaker than normal, it’s just average, and I may have been a bit jealous...” Slasher glanced to the side at that, not that they would be able to notice.

“Oh, um... just curious, but earlier you mentioned that the ring was giving you the second worst headache, what was the first?”

“The morning after my classmates and I celebrated our graduation. It was also the only time I’ve drank alcohol. I STILL don’t know all of what happened that night...”

“Bit of a Lightweight?” Shining snarked.

“Actually, from what I do remember, I outdrank them all. I just don’t really like the taste of alcohol.”

“I find it hard to believe that Changelings drink alcohol other than to maintain a disguise.” Shining deadpanned.

“Name me one species that has alcohol and DOESN’T have drinking contests.” Slasher replied in an equally deadpan tone.

Once more, coming to Shining’s rescue, Doc asked another question.

“And, where is your hive?”

‘And this is where the QA train stops’ Slasher thought

“I cannot tell you.”

Doc paused, “Can you tell us why?”

“Yes”

“Not this again” Shining groaned.

Ignoring him, Doc clarified, “Would you tell us why?”

“I cannot reveal the location of my Hive unless asked directly by one of the Princesses. The same holds true of the identities of any Changelings within Canterlot.” Slasher stated, noticing G1 sigh slightly, although not detecting any change in their emotional output.

“I... see,” Doc said, writing quite a few somethings down on his paper “Well this has been enlightening, but I originally came back to deliver some bedding.”

‘That explains the wimpy mattress and sheet.’ Slasher thought eyeing the thin mattress indicated.

---

“Tis far too convenient dear sister.” Luna told her sister as they reviewed the interrogator's report.

“How so?” Celestia replied, sipping her tea from a, in her option, far too small cup.

“First they attack us, then the first Changeling arrested was apparently supposed to be captured, answering every question none the less! It’s far too easy.”

“Perhaps this hive does not desire conflict but wishes for peace. I do not see an issue with that.”

“Yes, ‘different hives’,” Luna rolled her eyes, “Do you honestly believe that? For all we know that could be a fabrication!”

“You were not there Luna, all the attacking Changeling’s eyes were blue. This one’s eyes are green. This supplies evidence towards their claims. Not to mention that they had an opportunity to escape and did not take it, even going so far as to point out a flaw that could grant it freedom. A flaw, mind you, that was intentionally included for this very reason.”

“I was not aware of this sister, what other so called ‘tests’ have become standard in Our absence?” Luna asked, not pleased at this development.

“I’m sure that it was mentioned in your textbooks Luna, haven’t you been studying them?”

“I... must not have gotten to that part as of yet.” Luna faltered

“See that you do, it would be a shame if one of the ‘Nobles’ took advantage of a gap in your knowledge. Regardless, I’m not saying that we should give them free reign, I’m just saying that we should give them the benefit of the doubt. If what they’re saying is true, then we have an innocent locked in the dungeon when they should be treated as an ambassador.”

“And what happens when they get hungry? We will not have Our staff drained in the name of ‘Diplomacy’!”

“Assuming that what they said is true, they don’t need to drain ponies to feed, and if the castle staff were drained, we would know that they were lying and go right back into the dungeon.” Celestia said as she pointed to part of the report.

“Fine. But they should be under constant guard!” Luna relented

“Of course. It would be a shame to have diplomatic relations broken due to one of our Ponies attacking them out of fear. Not to mention the fact that we still don’t know for certain if they are telling the truth or not. Although, they should have SOME privacy in their room.”

“So, just guards outside their door and windows then?” Luna asked incredulously

“And then some.”

Author's Note:

More info dump!

So, questions, concerns, comments, etc. in the comment section!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a midterm to study for! For some reason my muse works best when I'm supposed to be studying...
Seriously, it's weird. Any theories as to why?

Comments

[Cross Lament]

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a midterm to study for! For some reason my muse works best when I'm supposed to be studying...

Seriously, it's weird. Any theories as to why?

I know that feeling. The only time my brain ever really gets creative is when I absolutely must be doing something other than being creative.

Being distracted from a creative goal can sometimes help your brain come up with new ideas for it. I guess being focused to much on it is like getting stuck in a rut, so doing something else lets new ideas and associations percolate.

[Bronzedragon]

Found these spell check specials for you

When Shinning and ‘Doc’ got back with some bedding (really only Doc had the bedding, Shinning [ Shining ]
Doc asked, cutting off Shinning

Now you may go and wax philosophical about the writing muse..... How do you wax a philosophical? What kind of wax do you use? Philosophy takes all kinds of slow deep thinking so maybe turtle wax would be good. >*?/#!!>><<> BD you have just been attacked by a stray Pinkie thought.This attack has been blocked. We now return you to you normal train of thought for this time of night >>>>>. RUUUUM

[StarChaser01]

7124032 Thought I had caught all of those... I blame Google Docs! (It was probably me...)

Thanks for catching those!

[fractalman]

7124032 It's an alternative definition of "waxing" that means "growing", like the waxing or waning moon.

*glances at dates*
that was a 42 week old comment.

[Detsella Morningdew]

Hmm... this seems like a story I would enjoy.

I did notice that all of this was in one "shot," so to say, and as a writer with this problem myself, I'm just honestly wondering if you still have motivation/ideas for this story to continue.

No shame if you don't, and I'm not saying "this story is dead," either. Just an honest curiosity.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Interesting, very interesting. Too bad this probably won’t be finished.