The Daily Show presents: Equestrian Interviews

by Daily Show Ponies

Episode 16 [Changeling]: Round 2-- ding ding!

An eerie sense of Deja Vu sat heavily on Jon Stewart as he looked into the eyes of the monster before him. As far as he was concerned, he never wanted to see another Changeling for as long as he lived, and yet, it hadn’t even been a week since Queen Chrysalis attacked him in his own office, but here he was was alone in the same room with one her children.

Then once innocent and soft spoken Pygmalion had changed appearance into a Changeling drone, complete with insect wings, fangs, and shell shaded bug eyes. His body was coal black with his legs riddled with holes. In addition, his mane and tail were the same color of dark bluish grey and his eyes, which held no pupils, were the same shade of yellow as his headphones which were still wrapped around his neck.

He may of have been a lot smaller and less intimidating looking than his Queen counterpart, but the fear of being alone with one of these things was enough to paralyze Jon in his seat. His breathing became more rapid and he began to shake a bit.

Jon had unintentionally lied when he said “Nothing could surprise him anymore.” From where he was sitting, Jon was so startled by this sudden transformation that he forgot how to speak and had lost all the feelings in his arms and legs. About the only thing he did feel was a penetrating sensation as if someone had taken a long, white, hot metal rod and jammed it through his chest. It was the same feeling as when Chrysalis first threatened to harm his family.

Unbeknownst to the monster that was now looking at him, Jon was about to lie about something else he had said. Focusing all his strength in his right arm, Jon began to reach for something under his desk.

“Now, Mr. Stewart.” The Changeling said as he motioned with his hoof for him to calm down. “I know this may seem very unreal to you, but please believe when I say I mean you no harm... I only wish to talk to you about--”

With enough force to bust through a window, Jon threw an object to his left where it exploded after hitting against the wall, knocking over an award that was on display. The sound of it shattering into dozens of pieces caused the Changeling to jump back in shock. The real intention of this seemingly random display of recklessness was to actually get him to look away from Jon long enough for him to react. Which it did.

When the bewildered Changeling drone looked back at where Jon was sitting he was surprised yet again to see that he had already bolted over his desk and was already a couple feet away. In addition to fear, there was another leftover emotion in Jon’s heart from when Chrysalis invaded. Pure anger.

“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!” The Changeling begged. “DON’T DO IT! I ALREADY SAID I’M--”

Before he could finish begging, Jon landed a punch so quickly, and with such force, that he tumbled to the ground from throwing himself off balance along with his target. Jon landed on his back but the changeling damn near flew across the room where he bounced off the side of a file cabinet.

It took him a few seconds to stagger back to his feet, whereupon Jon was already running towards him with a crazed look in his eye.

“Wait! The changeling exclaimed. “Please stop! I just want--” His vision blurred as Jon dealt a swift kick to his ribcage with such force that he once again was hurled across the room, landing headfirst against the side of the wall.

“YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME AGAIN!” He roared as he picked up the Changeling’s body high above his head, only to slam him back to the ground as hard as he could.

“Mr... Stewart... please,” He said between fits of pain. “I’m not... here... to hurt you.”

“BULLSHIT!” Jon roared.

In blind fury, Jon took a step back and swung his leg forward, kicking him in the stomach so hard that he almost sprained his own ankle.

“Get up!” Jon yelled at his fallen adversary. When he didn’t move or say anything, except for coughing and gasping for breath, Jon very angrily kicked him in the stomach again. “I said, get up!”

Again the downed Changeling didn’t move so to “help” him, Jon bent over and grabbed him by his neck and, with very little effort, slammed him against the wall again. With him now pinned to the wall by his neck, the Changeling was now looking into Jon’s eyes. Eyes so filled with hate that they didn’t notice how defeated the injured creature was.

“Please... just listen.” He pleaded as he flailed to break free. His struggling and begging came to a halt when Jon increased the pressure on his neck, restricting so much air from his lungs that he started to fade a bit.

“When you see your boss back in Equestria... ” Jon said as he clenched his other hand into a fist right in front of him so he could see. “Tell her that this... this right here... THIS IS FOR TRIXIE!”

As if uttering his friends name was the magic word, Jon now found himself frozen in place, unable to move. He had channeled so much of his energy into one last final blow that, had the changeling not been there, he very well could have punched a hole through the wall, but the battered changeling was there, and as a result, Jon was unable to move.

The same sense of Deja Vu was once again overpowering Jon for, as hard as he tried, he couldn't will himself to go through with this last attack, and like before, the reason why was magic. Since only certain Changelings could use magic (like the queen), the only use for the horns on a Changeling’s head was to change their appearance. Which is why Jon couldn't move.

Within a split second, Jon was no longer holding up the yellow eyed Changeling, but instead his dear friend, and family member, Trixie. Jon knew all too well that the pony he was throttling wasn’t really Trixie, but rather the one claiming to be Pygmalion disguised as her. Jon knew this, but even still... seeing his friend again, even like this, was enough to flumix him.

The Changeling had replicated the appearance of the blue magician perfectly to the point where he momentarily fooled Jon, even though he saw him transform. This new appearance was complete with Trixie’s correct color scheme, hairstyle, and even her cape and hat. The only part that could be considered inaccurate was the bruises on her face and the speck of blood in the corner of her mouth.

“This... this isn’t Trixie.” Jon thought to himself as held back tears of pain. “It... it can’t be.” Half of him wanted to let go while the other side wanted to finish what he had started. Even though his brain assured him that this was all a trick, his body just couldn't go through with it... he couldn't hurt his friend, even if it was just a representation.

Jon had heard of "out of body experiences" before, but never did he experience one until right now. He could swear he saw himself pinning a battered and beaten Trixie up against the wall with gritted teeth and clenched fist... it was a sight that sickened him. The combination of seeing his friend again and knowing it was because of him that she looked like that made tears fall down Jon’s face. He didn’t know what to do.

“Jon.” The disguised Changeling said. “Please stop.” It was her voice; Jon could take it no longer.

With a yelp, Jon let go of his defeated enemy and recoiled his hand to his chest as if he was just bitten by a beast. The injured intruder fell to the ground where he used what little strength he had left to climb to his feet. For a full minute the two said nothing to each other but instead focused on collecting themselves. The Changeling with breathing and tending to his injuries, and Jon with trying to pull himself back together after the initial shock, which destroyed the bedrock of his mental stability. After an appropriate amount of time passed, Jon slowly lifted his arm to point at his once victim.

“How dare you.” He said, his expression still in a frozen state of horror. “Change. Back... Now!”

“I... I will.” The Changeling said. “But first, you have to promise to hear me out and that you won’t attack me again.”

Normally Jon would have decked him in the face again for having the nerve to demand anything from him, but as long as he was in his Trixie form, Jon wouldn't lay a finger on him.

“And this time... you have to mean it.” He added.

Even though Jon was always a man of his word, he convinced himself that breaking the Changeling’s initial promise was acceptable, given the situation, but now things were different. Breaking a promise to a monster was one thing but he could never do it to Trixie... even if it was a Changeling that just looked liked her.

“Fine.” Jon sneered as he unclenched his fist. “... I promise.”

The two exchanged no words for the new few seconds, but just stared at each other to gauge each other’s reactions. For the Changeling, it was a fifty/fifty shot that he was telling the truth, but something told him that he was being genuine this time. So, with a deep sigh, the Changeling negated his own spell and returned to his true, monstrous form.

The second he did, Jon took a step forward which caused the intruder to step back in a panic, but when Jon didn’t follow through with any more surprise attacks, he realized that he was indeed safe and that Jon wouldn't hurt him. But he wanted to... nothing would have made Jon more happy then letting out more steam, but he just didn’t have the heart.

“Thank you.” The changeling said, which caused Jon to purse his lips and take a long deep breath through his mouth which sounded more like growing than a sigh.

“What do you want.” Jon asked.

“Well... I’m here because I wan... well actually first, because there’s something that... I have something to say.” He said.

“And what... would that be.” Jon ventured.

“Mr. Stewart.” He murmured as he looked away with sad eyes. “I’m sorry.”