Prologue - Probationary Measures
A Force of Change
Prologue - Probationary Measures
So there I was, brought before Celestia in irons, to be persecuted for a crime that was not my own. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't leave this hall alive.
As I think back to the events leading up to this moment, how I was arrested for simply being a changeling, my self-imposed exile to Equestria, and the augmentations that were forced upon me.
"You are charged with the crimes of assault, attempted coup, attempted foalnapping, use of magic maliciously, and espionage, how do you plead?"
"Not guilty."
"So what you are saying is that you didn't try to invade with the rest of your race, you didn't attack innocent ponies, you didn't forcibly feed on the energies of innocent ponies, and you didn't give information about Equestria to your queen?"
"I did none of those things, and if you think I do anything involving that monster, you are sorely mistaken."
"You are a changeling. Changelings follow the queen. You obviously-"
"Let me stop you right there. You know next to nothing about my race. That 'queen' as you so put it is nothing but a tyrant to her people, and it would do you good to remember that most of us do not follow her blindly. She has kept our race fed during the last three hundred years, but she has very little love from her subjects. See these markings on my carapace? on my wings? on my very eyes? Do you think I wanted to have them permanently carved into my body? Sure I was in the changeling military for a few years, it was mandatory at the time I was of age. That monster forced changes on me. I used to be a regular royal breed drone, but that meddler of a queen turned me into a weapon against my will. I defected soon after the forced augmentations, and I have been trying to live in peace and harmony ever since then."
"How long ago did you defect?"
"Ten years."
"How old are you exactly?"
"Twenty-two years."
"I see… In light of what you have divulged, you will be released, but you will be on a probationary period for the next six months. Your probationary period will be reduced to three months if you will agree to disclose everything you know about changelings."
"That seems acceptable, but if you expect me to tell you all I know about changelings, you will first have to call off this witch hunt of yours. Being a changeling is not a crime, no matter how much your propaganda in the aftermath of the Canterlot attack said it is. I want a public statement about how you were wrong about my race, how we are not mindless monsters bent on replacing loved once and sucking you dry."
"You are hardly in a position to make demands like that. After all, we could always just throw you back in a cell."
"You already sentenced me, going back on that and throwing me in a cell will just tell everypony that you are just as much of a tyrant as Chrysalis."
"Ensuring the safety of my citizens does not make me a tyrant, changeling."
"But breaking due process and arresting somepony who was just proven innocent does. How do you think your citizens will react to you arresting somepony on grounds of not telling you what you want to know? How long before you set up a curfew that restricts the times that ponies can be outside of their homes? How long before you have guard patrols breaking into houses to take able bodies stallions for work camps? You may never do any of those things, but going back on your sentencing will make ponies wonder."
"I will uphold my sentence, and I will call off the search for changeling infiltrators. I would like to discuss something with you over tea after the Day Court, so I will have one of the castle workers escort you to a guest room where you will stay for the next few days."
"I thought I would be free to go after this trial."
"You are on a probationary period, we need to discuss your integration and assign a handler for you before you can be released."
"Ah, okay then…"
Okay, you may be wondering who I am exactly. Well to put it bluntly, I am a rogue royal breed changeling, with bodily augmentations that gave me some interesting abilities. My body has runic glyphs carved into some of the surfaces of it, said glyphs allow me to channel magic though my body differently.
On my wings, I have glyphs on the solid parts that improve air manipulation and focus my innate flight magic.
On my legs, I have glyphs around the holes that improve my muscle recovery, strength, stamina, and my innate earth magic.
On my horn, I have glyphs that improve mana channeling and allows me to use non-changeling magics.
On my carapace, I have glyphs that make my chitin stronger, strengthens my wing muscles with the same augmentations my legs have, and allows me to direct barrier wards and shield spells around my body.
On my eyes, I have glyphs that allow me to effectively zoom in like a telescope, as well as enhanced night vision and pupil dilation response time. The transparent outer eyelids that changelings close when in battle have glyphs that allow me to see with sound, like a bat, but clearer.
On the ridges around my chest, I have glyphs that improve cardiovascular function, my heart and lungs are more efficient, to support the muscular augmentations, and my emotive feeding has been modified to where I can feed on all emotions, not just positive ones.
As I told Celestia, Chrysalis intended me to be a living weapon. A side effect of my augmentations is that my natural changing is weaker. I cannot take a form without a horn, and when I do take a form, the horn appears to be incredibly disfigured. The glyphs always show through the transformation, and my eyes cannot be changed. I can use illusion magic to correct some of the issues with my alternate forms, but it is draining, and illusion dispel charms will cause magical backlash.
You may be wondering what my name is. Well, I don't have one, not officially at least. Ponies call me Shadow Shifter, you can do the same.
After a few hours of waiting in my quarters, Day Court finally ends and Princess Celestia escorts me to a gazebo in the Royal Gardens. We sit down and the castle staff brings out a silver tray with a porcelain teapot, two teacups, and a plate piled with some form of pastry.
Celestia delicately pours the tea into the two cups, "This tea is my favorite. It is a special blend imported from Saddle Arabia."
I take a sip from my tea -- it has a delicate flavor, with hints of lavender and sage, an overall light bodied blend, "Wow, this tea has a great taste. If I was more like my brethren, I would probably find myself raiding your stock sometime later tonight."
With a sound like tinkling glass and fine bone china, Celestia chuckles at this remark, "It is a quite delightful blend, I wouldn't be surprised to find many of my subjects trying to raid my royal tea store, I am just glad my dear sister Luna has a taste for that awful swill she calls coffee."
"I never much liked coffee myself, too harsh to the palette, not to mention how bad it is for your mental health."
"There are many a time where I wish my dear sister would stop drinking that boiled bean juice, she is always so wired as of late… Of course I probably shouldn't have gotten her that Ponystation for Hearths Warming either, she spends way too much time on that idiot box… Should have got her some socks or something instead…"
"Personally, I never saw the appeal of video games. You spend all kinds of bits on the system, then even more bits for the games, just to sit in front of a screen for hours while trying to mash buttons in a way so you don't get blasted or whatever."
"Speaking of things getting blasted, I have decided to assign my personal student Twilight Sparkle to handle your probation. I just hope she won't react too harshly when she sees you. According to Luna, she had nightmares for weeks after the Canterlot attack…"
"So why would you assign somepony who is more likely to blast me into next week than be my friend to handle my case?"
"Twilight is incredibly talented, she is generally open minded about things, and she is the closest thing we have to an expert on changelings at this time, not to mention I think once she gets over the fact that you are a changeling, she will find your personality quite charming."
"So all of this just to set me up with your student? It seems all of those rumors about Princess Celestia being a chess master who likes little plots and schemes make sense…"
"Well, nopony's perfect… Not even me. And what can I say? It's a guilty pleasure."
"If the hive had a ruler like you, changelings and ponies would already be living together in harmony."
"Two Princess Celestias… I think my sister had a nightmare about that once… Something about too many pranks at once…"
We both stop to laugh at this. After a few minutes of laughter, a messenger comes over and whispers something in Celestia's ear, "Sorry Shadow Shifter, but something has come up that needs my attention, so Gilded Rose here will escort you back to your quarters. We will have to have teatime again in the future, I haven't had a fun conversation like that in weeks. Have a nice night."
With that, Celestia trots off to do whatever needed her attention, and the castle servant leads me back to my quarters.
Chapter One - Pleasantries and Blood
A Force of Change
Chapter One - Pleasantries and Blood
I await a visitor in Celestia's study. I would be incredibly nervous, but the Princess prepared tea. Today is a day to be nervous though. Today is the day I meet my handler for my probation.
A guard knocks on the door, "Lady Twilight Sparkle is here Princess, would you like me to send her in?"
Celestia takes a deep breath to gather her composure, "Yes guard, bring in our visitor."
After a moment, a lavender unicorn with a pink starburst on her flanks enters the room, "Princess, I got here as soon as I could."
Celestia lets out a small smile, "I am glad you could arrive on such short notice, I have a task for you, but first, I have somepony I would like you to meet."
I slowly walk out from behind the bookcase, "Hello, I am Shadow Shifter."
Twilight immediately blasts me into the wall with a bolt of magic, "Look out Princess, changeling!"
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE! STOP ATTACKING SHADOW SHIFTER!", most ponies have heard about the Royal Canterlot Voice that Princess Luna occasionally uses, I have heard it several times over my stay, and I can say, when Celestia uses it, it is much more powerful.
Twilight stops attacking me in shock, "But Princess, he is a changeling."
Celestia lets out a small sigh, "I know he is a changeling, but not like the others. He is going to tell you his story, so just sit there and listen."
I take this as my cue to start. With a sip of tea, I begin my story, "I was born in the changeling hive twenty-two years ago, when I turned ten, I joined the changeling military as it is required from all male changelings. Not long before I turned twelve, Queen Chrysalis had me put in a new force she was assembling, one made entirely of royal breed changelings. We trained for six months before Chrysalis told us that she would be moving us to the next stage of our work. She put us all in a room, hit us with a sleep spell, and then forced all kinds of changes to our bodies. See these glyphs carved all over me? They are supposed to enhance different traits, but because of these 'enhancements' we lost our ability to transform. After about a month of getting used to the changes, I fled the hive. In changeling society, forcing a physical change on a fellow changeling is the equivalent to your crime of rape. I wandered around Equestria for a year before settling down in Vanhoover. I lived there in peace for nine years before Chrysalis attacked Canterlot, and being unable to change, everypony finally knew what I was. My home was burned down and I was chased away by a mob. I was on the run for three months before the Royal Guard finally caught me."
I look at Twilight, who looks absolutely shocked about my story, and I can see the gears turning in her head as she contemplates the implications, "I am so sorry Shadow Shifter, is there anything I can do to make up for attacking you?"
I look to Celestia, who nods, "Princess Celestia had sentenced me to a probationary period until the crown can determine that I am not a threat to Equestria, and she told me that she was assigning you as my handler. All I want you to do is treat me as you would any other pony, and you will be forgiven."
Celestia adds in as well, "Twilight, you will be taking Shadow Shifter to Ponyville, where he will live with you for one month, before moving into a house near the library. You will send weekly reports of Shifter's progress through the probationary period."
After Celestia finished explaining what Twilight's task entails, Twilight and I headed out to the royal gardens to talk about our experiences with Celestia.
"Lucky, she never shared that blend of tea with me, she always said it was for princesses only."
"To be honest, the only reason why I think she used that specific blend was to help keep everything calm, not to mention it is a good way to enter a conversation."
"Well either way, I still wish she would have shared that blend with me."
I lick my lips and put on a thoughtful face, "Hmm, Twilight, did you know your jealousy tastes like pistachios?"
"Waitwaitwait what? You better not be feeding on me."
"Relax Twilight, I was just sampling, and everyone knows that"- I put on a Trotsylvanian accent -"'I vant to suck your love'." Twilight just freezes.
I wave my hoof in front of her face, no response…
"Great, I broke Twilight…" The absurdity of the situation catches up to me and I am on the ground cackling like a madpony.
After about a minute I finally stop laughing, she hasn't moved yet, "Are you okay Twilight? I am starting to worry a bit…"
I decide to ask a nearby guard to fetch the princess, as Twilight isn't responding, "Hello there, can you help me with something? I seem to have accidentally broke Twilight, and I need to ask the princess how to fix her, do you think you can take me to her or bring her here?"
The guard stands there unmoving, failing to answer my question…
Okay, the guard is still just standing there, it is kinda creeping me out…
I guess it is time for drastic measures, I get up right next to the guard's face, then lick his nose.
"Augh! What kind of sicko licks another stallion's nose?!"
"Sorry, but you didn't answer my question."
"I was ordered to not interact with you, under any circumstances."
"Well Princess Celestia's star pupil is just standing in the middle of the path, completely unresponsive. I just want to fix her before somepony decided to banish me to the moon or something."
"I cannot help you sir, I am sorry."
"GAH!"
I walk back over to Twilight, to see if I can fix her myself, "Hmm, if licking the guard stallion's nose shattered his composure, would it unfreeze Twilight?"
After a few moments of deliberation, I decide to try it, little did I know that Prince Blueblood was approaching.
I move in to try and lick Twilight's nose, only to be startled by a yell, "STOP YOU BEAST!"
I turn around to see Prince Blueblood charging at me with his horn lowered. I jump to the side as he barrels passed me, "I do not know why you aren't in a cell right now, but I will not allow you to suck the love out of anypony!"
"Whoawhoawhoa, I wasn't sucking the love out of anypony! It doesn't even work like that."
"Like I would believe a changeling. En Guarde!" Blueblood charges his horn and sends a bolt of magic my way, I dodge, then counter with a beam of my own.
He conjures up a barrier and deflects my bolt skyward, where it hits a cloud and causes a lightning bolt to strike Blueblood. He spins around a few times in a daze then collapses, scorch mark on his flanks.
At this point, Twilight recovers her senses, "What just happened? You said my jealousy tasted like pistachios, and then you said something in a weird accent, after that it is just a blank…"
"Welcome back to the land of the not-broken, you froze up there for about twenty-five minutes. I was about to try something I did to get one of the guards to answer my questions then Blueballs over there freaked out and attacked me."
"Blueballs… what… wait, you mean Blueblood?"
"Yes Twilight, I mean Blueblood. I am just going to call him Blueballs from now on because he is a total prick. We should probably tell somepony what happened though, don't want anypony to get the wrong idea, or stars forbid Blueballs wakes up and forms a mob."
"Go to your quarters, I can handle this."
"Are you sure you don't want me to help? I am kinda the one who zapped him… Well, I mean he deflected my magic bolt into that cloud up there, which struck him in the flanks with lighting." I chuckle at this…
"Wait, you mean Blueblood was hurt because lightning struck him in the flanks? That is hilarious!" at this point, both Twilight and I are holding our sides in laughter.
The laughter dies down, but we are unable to breathe. Twilight recovers first, "Shadow, just go to your quarters, I will ask the princess to come by later to find out what happened."
"Okay… I will talk to you later I guess. And if Blueballs wakes up, give him my regards."
"I can't make any promises, but I will be sure to inform him that he was struck in the flanks by lighting."
Twilight picks up Blueballs in her levitation, and trots to the castle infirmary. I take a deep breath then start towards my quarters.