The Changelingby V-OblivionChaptersChapter 2 (reviewed) Chapter 3 (reviewed) Chapter 4 (reviewed)Chapter 1 (reviewed)Chapter 2 (reviewed)Chapter 2 Fourth day of trial After having meticulously reviewed and examined the accused‘s narration and compare it with the reports and testimonies of every guard and citizen of Canterlot, it has been concluded that General XxX is indeed telling the truth, from now on this tribunal will receive as legit the answers of the accused. Interrogation day two: … I been deceived! How you may ask My Lord? Well if I don’t wrongly remember, I was told that this tribunal wouldn’t start this slowly again… So let me understand, what you promised was that the trials wouldn’t start with the same aperture speech, that’s what you want to say? Clever, but that doesn’t mean I am happy about it, it means that every day of trial will begin exactly the same, well, with a different speech each time. Yes Your Honour, I do understand these are your procedures, but isn’t there anything that can be done about it? thank you Sir I trust in your words. I also feel honored that my words are taken into real consideration for now onwards. Honestly though, it is logic that I wasn’t believed at first and I wouldn’t expect less, I am an accused after all. Now that this has been settled for today I will like to give my greetings: good morning Lord Maneos, good morning Your Honour Rottamanthys, good morning Sr. Eiaquus, good morning members of this jury and good morning to everypony in this hall of justice. What can I offer you all today? No My Lord, it’s not a Changeling custom what I just did, it is more a habit I have adopted while been here, you see: “You shouldn’t run away from immortals, that will call their attention” is an old saying of my country. It means that the easier way to pretend and walk out of troubles is to not pretend at all. Well you do pretend of course but… is a bit complicated and hard to explain it without a proper example. Anything else? Yes I’ve been obliging with you Your Honour, with all of you as a matter of fact, yet not as flattering, neither to gain this jury’s favor, but as a courtesy, after all and despite my current situation, I am a sort of ambassador of my kind in Equestria, so I should act and behave as such, despite the fact someponies wouldn’t agree with my thinking, as I can see in the faces in front of me, and hear from the whispers behind me. No Sir our magic doesn’t grant us improved hearing of any type, nor is our sight enhanced, our sharp senses comes from the cocoon. Of course it varies, as with our magic, from drone to drone but the average Changeling has a formidable ear and a night eye. Mm… now you have found out my little scheme My Lord, yes, not all of us were using magic when the invasion happened, that’s because Changelings find it hard to keep concentration on magic while doing something else, unlike your unicorn folks who can use magic with ease and even without noticing. In our case we must keep a hard training to just learn to perform magic alongside other actions, let alone high-class spell casting, very few are the ones that can endure such training, and even fewer are the drones able of use magic’s full potential, actually its only our queen and some members of the council, in total: not more than ten. And before you ask, no, I’m not capable of such, my magic specialty is in another style, which is commonly addressed “magic silk shaping”, MSS for short. Does this satisfy your curiosity My Lord? How exactly? Well, I have explained how our regular magic can be used, the resulting material created of it is normally call magic silk, my MSS is an upgraded form of it: while most drones use their silk creations to build hoofcuffs, walls, cocoons and rams, I can build far more complex structures. *S.N: After these lines the accused created a bunch of objects out of nowhere, all of them different: shields, flower vases, armor pieces, shop signs, swords, clothes, spears, even a pillar. All of them floating around him as if they were weightless, then he suddenly fused all of those objects into one with the form of giant spider, whose movement have nothing to envy to a real one. The commotion on the court provoked by it was general. *End of note. *End of note. My Lord! I have no intentions of creating such mayhem, this was just meant to be a simple demonstration, but since it creates such fuss in the audience (not to mention the guards and their spears glare at me on an unhealthy way) I will finish it at once… there! all gone, feeling better now everypony…? …Your Honour these are no simple illusions, as you address them (and they weren’t meant to frighten anypony) despite their absence of any other color than green, they are perfect copies of objects I been in direct contact with. This technique, however, is commonly used to produce staples for crafting, building and similar industries, with only me and a bunch using it for combat (yet we are more than ten) is of great use when we are outnumbered or in need of a distraction. But before anypony ask it; we didn’t use this type of our magic during the invasion by two simple reasons, one: the creation, whatever its shape, is a solid object that will hit all that it’s in its way, making no discretion between foes and allies; and second: in terms of energy use, is an stamina consuming monster, normally a Changeling can make use of one or two small creations per time, and only for a few minutes. If one of us were to use this magic during the invasion it just would have been a draw back for us. So there is your answer… before you even ask for it. Anything else? Certainly Your Honour, if I wish for it, I could make use of this magic to flee this courthouse right now and escape to my homeland, yet that will fix nothing between our countries, bounding an event as the one of princess Cadence’s wedding to be repeated. He! This time is you Sir who have discovered something intriguing on my speech. No, I wasn’t able of wield more than two creations before the invasion, let alone fuse them together. I’m still investigating the “why” exactly, but is an obvious matter that my staying in Canterlot has improved my performance on this and other aspects of my very being, while been here I have become far stronger that I ever was, but the story of this discovering is for another time. My Lord, you are indeed, the most sharp of all of the judges (no offence) as I’m right now willing to make amends between both species, I wasn’t so determined the day I was left here, actually I was desperate to leave, it was by a series of events (which I never dreamed to happened in my life) that I’m standing here with this resolution. … Your Honour, if I didn’t flee back then was because I was unable to… in order to explain this and other matters, is it okay if I start with today’s portion of my misadventures? Thanks. If you remember well, last time I was left unconscious on a woodland, I do not know how long I stayed in there, but I do remember what was the first thing I felt once I regained consciousness: pain! ┼ ┼ ┼ My whole body was aching, my head was spinning (and I swear it felt at least twice as big), and my back was killing me. I wasn’t able to see the Sun because the treetops didn’t allow me, but by the fresh temperature and the amount of light, I could tell it was early. I was confused, couldn’t remember at first what I was doing there, or why I was so beaten, I started to walk out of the trees shadows when I froze in the place, I instinctively didn’t wanted to come out of the woodland, standing just a few steps away from the light when a group of guards in golden armor passed by. As I hid in some bushes I slowly began to remember, but the more I look back on it, the more I wished for it to be a nightmare. << “It can’t be” – I remember saying to myself – “no, it can’t… all of this, after all of this?!” >> I was devastated, but that wasn’t the place for self-pity, so I retired to the center of the woodland, from there I started to determinate where I was and what to do. Royal guards were patrolling constantly, I could see some stair cases in the distance and hear many hooves trotting all around me, but most of them weren’t military phased, it was civilian trots. I give a little sigh as I thought “still within the castle grounds”, it was indeed disappointing; If there were only walls and guards it would have meant that I was on the outer walls; if it where guards, houses and civilians it would have meant that I was in the city, but out the castle; yet it was none of those, I was inside the castle, the stairs were too presumptuous to be of the city, all the guards were obviously on duty and patrolling, and all the other ponies seemed to be as busy as bees, going in and out different doors on an fast trot unlike Canterlot inhabitants’ regular slothy walks. What!? You have never realized it before…!? And I thought it was on propose. They were all too distracted with their own affairs to notice my presence, which I was hiding with all my might, I was curious about what was giving them so much work, but instead of satisfying my curiosity I took the opportunity to check on my own status. I was, bluntly said, a mess: scratches and cuts all over my body, luckily none of them where bleeding; for a second I thought I had some branches through my forelegs, but they were just stuck on the holes of my limbs; my face was swollen on some parts, apparently all of the damage was done by my abrupt fall; though cushioned by the trees, their embranchments sure gave me a beating (it was a miracle I didn’t lose my eyes); my back was the worst of it, if you remember I turned to alert my fellow Changelings when the blast happened, hitting me with all of its might and force. Despite being spared by the magic wall, I ended with some burned spots on my skin, even worse were my wings; the blast scorched them very badly, one of them was quite torn in some sections, apparently the trees’ branches did do some stabbing after all. I have to act quickly, having not been discovered after that long was miraculous enough to postpose my departure of that little forest any further: with magic I treated my wounds enough to allow me to move, same for my face, to my regret there was no salvation for my wings so I have to rip them off my body… Why the surprise?! Changelings can shed wings with ease precisely for situations like this, if they are just a worry we pull them out, they grow back after some time so if you look closely you will discover a new pair on my back right now. That said, this doesn’t mean we enjoy this proses or the sensation of doing so, we dismembered ourselves which is painful both physically and mentally. But in the end we all do extreme things in order to survive, even a drone like me. I wanted to save as much magic as possible so I ripped off my wings the most painful way possible: hoofally. I entangle one of them on a tree until I couldn’t move and gave a little jump, the pain was… odd. It’s like ripping a big lock of mane, you know it will grow back, yet you also know it is a bigger (and essential) part of yourself and that it’s going to be inaccessible for a while. To make things funnier I have to discard the other one too… Yay! (please notice the sarcasm) After taking care of that, and burning down the remnants carefully, I continued to choose my escape route with the only trick I have left: my disguising ability! All I had to do was to find the right candidate, though the royal guards were an obvious choice hence their armor (which cover their flanks), I wasn’t in condition to pretend to be some military colt, besides, they seemed to have taken some precautions after our raid, every patrol seemed to be confirmed by ponies that know each other closely, and there were no sight of a guard been left alone, finally if my cover were to be blow I would find myself in the middle of a hostile platoon with some possible bitterness towards my humble persona. In summary: guards where a big ‘no’. The other possible route where the palace’s servants; though they know each other even more than the royal guards, they were so busy with their chores they will think I was just running in circles by so much work and stress. Now to find the right one for my actual needs, I didn’t have much energy left so I wasn’t able to create a perfect copy, if anypony touched me directly they would feel the roughness of my skin, this took all of the maids out of the picture, it was a shame, almost all of them wear skirts. There were some colts and stallions working on different chores: doing some gardening, cleaning the windows, plastering some walls, but they weren’t moving at all, I was running out of options, time and patience when another miracle happened: a single, old and strange pony pulling a cart full of garbage came into my sight, he was so slowly working that he may have taught some Canterlot’s folks how to walk… sorry I hadn’t meant to… *cough* anyway, he was perfect, and to make it even more perfect (as a retribution of fate for my whole terrible morning) he didn’t have any cutie mark at all, I didn’t know there where some ponies like this one in existence, maybe it was because he never found his true talent, maybe it was because of his laziness, maybe it was because he didn’t give it a buck, and actually me neither, all I have to do was give him a good, long look, and memorize his silly way of walking and his relaxed expression. While I watched his every move, I checked how long it took him to go and return with his cart; around ten minutes for round. Having memorized as much as I could I waited five minutes after his last appearance, I made an image of me shaping on his faded brown coat and dark gray mane, his flabby body, his hat and shawl, these where the most difficult part of it though, I was weak but I couldn’t leave the disguise incomplete, so I called forth all the strength I had left in my sorry body and transformed myself as stealthy as possible. Every time he returned, he changed carts, taking one full of garbage and leaving the empty one to be refilled, the cart was already filled and there was no one around, I trotted as discreetly as I could toward it and properly tighten the ropes around me as fast as I could, once everything was set I began my march. The cargo wasn’t that heavy, but it was quite noisy, like a bunch of metal stuff bumping into each other. A few steps away I remembered a little item I missed on my disguise: the old pony was chowing on something that looked like wheat, but luckily I could fix it with ease, I just grabbed the closest long grass I could find and pray no pony noticed the difference, I also was praying he wasn’t too popular, other than that, it was perfect. And again I departed into the unknown with my heart in my throat, a cart on my back, noise in my ears and foes all around me. I followed the tracks on the ground my ‘other self’ left on the mud with his wheels, trying to act as the old stallion and his slow motion, it was rather simple, not saying perfect. Or so I thought. For my surprise and dismay I found him midway amid a thin street, trotting back with his empty cart and whistling happily… the horror I felt in those few seconds can’t be described; I began to though on my chances, possible escape routes, the amount of energy I had left, yet everything was against me on this one, all I could do was only one thing: keep pretending. I began to walk, he was blurrily visible (I don’t know if it was the distance or my tired sight); then he became clearly visible, I begin to trot; the nerves must have taken the best of me because I started to amble as he was able to see me; I regained some composure and returned to walking, yet the thought of galloping out of there was quickly flourishing in my mind. He then approached even more, within a few meters of me, my mind was a runaway train with no logical ideas but ‘keep pretending’. Then he was right in front of me and opened his mouth – “That’s it” – I thought – “he is going to notice me and alarm everypony” >> I was ready to just go berserk the moment he shout out and let destiny to decided my future when: << “Howdy!!” >> Was all he said as he passed beside me … Still confused I managed to answer him something, it was just some guttural sound though. And he trotted away while whistling happily. I swear I sweated five liters that day (five liters are around a gallon Sir) but that was over, it ended as abruptly as it started, yet my escape wasn’t finished yet. So I keep following his track, but now I was trotting as fast and discrete as I could, I didn’t wanted to push my luck any further. After some turns I finally was out, the track disappeared as the muddy soil was replaced by a detached stone road. I was going to throw away the cart and run lose, but I was only outside the castle, and unable to fly, my fate was still unpredictable. I was wondering what to do next wen somepony called me out… well they was actually calling for the old pony, but how could they know, so I kept pretending. The ones who called me were the ones in charge of taking the garbage to the dump; however they didn’t seem happy to see me. One of them, which seemed to be the boss, told me with a frown – What’s wrong with ya hayseed?! Didn’t I tell ya that we were going to dump all o’ this? >> That explained it, that was why the old stallion returning so fast and so happy enough to ignore his doppelganger, he was getting a break, luckily for me, and even more luckily since I have heard his voice. << “Sorry sonny” – I told the light brown boss as indifferent as I could – “good old Sun is giving me some memories issues, I should lay down a bit don’t you think?” >> Though I do know his voice, I wasn’t sure if the way of speaking was right, but it must have been, as the bulky pegasus made no mention about it. << “O’right then, but we ain’t going to be able to take this one with us, so you are going to have to wait with it, this will take us just some minutes, so go get some rest old coot.” >> << “It sounds great to me, thanks sonny and be sure I will” – I wasn’t precisely lying this time . They packed everything into their flying cart which lifted off and disappeared into the distance. I took a moment to breathe so I removed my disguise, since I know the old pony wasn’t going to return in a while and the gate wasn’t precisely busy, it must have been a back door for servants and alike. As I rested a bit, I release myself of my cart and decided to see what was the noisy things they were dumping, yet I get another surprise: on the cart were pieces of Changeling’s armors piled one over another, I found it intriguing that they preferred to drop them instead of melting them for recycling. But your kind must have their own reasons. I look over it to see what were the scraps, on which I found << “Saddle pads, chest plates, my helmet, rump skirt…!!??” >> The surprises seemed to never end that day, just think on the possibilities; my helmet was there, of all places. And I was sure it was mine, it had the dent made by the purple coated unicorn’s magic blast. I give it a fast fix and put it on. I felt a bit more sure of myself once the cold metal was standing atop my head once more, its nostalgic sensation was a blessing to me. After a few minutes I determined I had rested enough and proceeded to leave the castle’s proximities… And that, Your Honour, is how one escapes an immortal without running. … Princess Celestia: I can’t believe this creature has been allowed to receive the privilege of being prosecuted after all the atrocious deeds he and his kind have done to us. His behavior during this process is obviously lacking any composure or respect toward our traditions and ponysona. He even has the nerve to proclaim himself an “ambassador of his kind”, chaos, that’s the type of ambassador he is I tell you. Please forgive my fault of respect toward you Your Highness, but this “drone” has taken the best of my nerves, I do pray that you reconsider the nonexistent utility of this process and bring it to a quick conclusion. We can’t be sure of what he is capable of doing, today he might have threatened us with that hideous spider-monster of his, while proclaiming it was just to “illustrate” his explanation, one of these days we may end up regretting having allowed him to be here with such ease. I can’t believe the indifference the other judges have taken in this matter; Sir Eiaquus looked so fascinated by that hideous creature’s creation. And Lord Maneos did nothing but give him a little warning, more like a lecture if you ask me. If it depended on me, I would have ended the accused testimony and returned it to it’s cell right away. But it wasn’t in my hoof. Again I plead to you wisdom and ask you to consider my words, of course I won’t ask to do him any harm, I wouldn’t stoop on the level of those savages, but we can give him a tour to the borders of our lands. Your servant: "Circuit Judge" Rottamanthys Law. Chapter 3 (reviewed)Chapter 3 (reviewed) Chapter 3 Fourth day of trail Afternoon your honours, do all of you remember my story so far? Good! I would hate to repeat myself. No Your Honour, I have not forgotten that I just gave a portion of my narration this very morning. I was wondering about your amount of attention toward my story; after all it was until today that you began to take my words into ‘real’ consideration. No Sir, nothing has happened to me during the break lapse this tribunal has taken. If none of you mind I will continue! Outside the castle’s vicinity, taking a rest and having found my helmet, that’s how we left last time. Why yes Your Honour, I was indeed ‘naked’ during that time (though I was wearing my full armor), my black body was an outstanding view if there were a single pony around, yet there wasn’t. I was still ignorant as to why everypony was so busy everywhere. The armor’s importance? Can you specify yourself, My Lord? … Well is obvious your ignorance of this fact. Our kind doesn’t actually need any armor at all. Our very own and natural exoskeleton is as good as any metal set of plates from you, otherwise I would have died the moment I was ‘spared’ by the protective barrier. No, our ‘shells’ have a different use: they are meant to reduce the amount of attention we receive from others. No Sir, it doesn’t turn us invisible. It grants us a sort of perception enchantment. Since you know I’m here it’s impossible for you to ignore my existence, but if I were sneaking carefully enough, you would be unwillingly looking somewhere else, to this add our ‘changing’ ability and you have the perfect disguise. That’s what this armor is for; it’s in a way a different type of defense. Of course it’s not infallible, but it’s quite close. Well Your Honour, I’m afraid you are a bit wrong this time, I do not ‘wear this shell in order to run once my sentence is decided’. Despite its original use, I wear my armor with pride as a symbol of my rank and a commitment of my actions, much like the three of you with your robes and wigs. Why yes Your Honour, I am comparing my gown with yours. I really don’t see the problem this time, so if there are no other delays, I will begin (again) with my narration: I was rested long enough to re-conceal myself for another ten minutes. New objective: to find a place to properly hide and also to plan what to do next, which was more easy than stepping out of the castle. The guards were on duty on the streets too, but they were more similar to statues than patrols, plus Canterlot’s vogue seems to dictate to wear clothes big and voluminous enough to keep everypony at a safe distance, as if it was almost made for our infiltration needs. And as a former invader I have already memorized some individual’s appearances and clothes in order to go unnoticed if needed, so I have no problem disguising myself as a pompous unicorn and her full dress. Except for the part when I started to feel dizzy, as I once explain, to create and give form to such outfit requires a great amount of energy. Of which I wasn’t precisely overflowing with. My ten minutes where cut down to three, five at most. So as ‘pompous’ as I could, I incorporate myself to a much crowded road, it was risky but the fastest way to find a good hiding place, besides time wasn’t on my side. As an irony though, I found an incredible amount of ‘worker’ ponies all over, running from one place to another just like the servants on the castle. “Will you look at that” I thought to myself, if I were to know that sooner I could have avoided such a precarious situation, but still this was in my favor. With so much movement no one would noticed somepony’s ‘irregular’ behavior, as long my senses didn’t fail me and my armor didn’t disappear spontaneously. I was more curious than before about why were there so many preparations, and what for? As far I could tell, a sort of celebration was in the process of being held, it wasn’t that hard to notice, hence the banners, the flower arrangements and the complete lack of attention toward the damaged buildings busted during the invasion. Such buildings seemed to be temporally evicted, with signs on their doors prohibiting the entrance by some ‘structural compromise’. There was a whole block abandoned by these circumstances, with a building in particular which seemed resistant enough to hold a single inhabitant for a time. I was about to get into this building when I bump into a sand coated mare that was just leaving it, she seemed to be checking the internal damage of it since she was caring a bunch of measurement materials for building and construction and a working helmet. As she noticed me, she told me: << “You’d better not get close there ma’am, the place may look stable now but it may fall with a breeze” >> << “Is that so?” - I told her back, and added – “It’s just that I have some personal stuff I must retrieve from it no matter what, I wouldn’t like to have some filthy pony take it” >> The worker mare seemed bothered by my commentary, or more likely by how I said it. It seemed she didn’t quite like ponies with a sense of superiority, which in turn showed that my disguise was well interpreted. << “Ok then, be my guest your ‘snobiness’ – she told me with an annoyed expression – “but don’t blame me once the ceiling falls over your pompous ‘coiffiure’, got it?” >> << “Why of course…” – at this moment I noticed that my remaining strength must be on it’s final reserves, as my voice was starting to sound like my normal voice, as if two ponies where talking at the same time. << “Are you OK your ‘snobiness’?” – the mare asked concerned, obviously the change on my voice didn’t go unnoticed to her. << “Yea” – I answered as clear as I could – “too much celebration” >> << “Oh…” – she said with an even more annoyed face – “poor you, who doesn’t know what ‘work for a living’ means.” >> Again my disguise saved my shell, before she walked down the street I asked her one final thing – “is this building condemned? >> << “No as far I’m concerned, though it is in a peril standing, it can easily be fixed with some unicorn magic here and there, once the whole party is over that is, though even so it is going to take a while, there are too many buildings like this one that need to be fixed, now if you excuse me your ‘snobiness’. Have a nice day” >> << “I found myself a hideout” – I say to myself while I watched the mare trotting away. Once inside, and making sure there was nopony around watching, I remove my costume and proceed to investigate the abandoned house. There was a hall, a kitchen, a bath, all of them desolated, since their owners fled in terror, though the pipes seemed to work properly, and aside from the mess done by the evacuation, the place seemed very comfortable, if you didn’t take in consideration the constant creaking and rustle generated by the walls at each step I give. When I finally found a room I collapsed on the bed without caring for the resultant rattle generated by it. I was as tired as I had ever been in my life, both physically and mentally. Before falling asleep, I thought what to do next; I was capable of leaving Canterlot and heading for my homeland with ease after some proper rest. But that would have been safer and faster if I still had my wings, if I were to do the travel by land the dangers and risks to considerate were too much and too big. After all, not only the Everfree Forest has a collection of eccentric dangers. So I get to the conclusion of waiting for my wings to recover, then I shall head to my people; approximately in a month. But again destiny has different plans for me, and again I’m heading ahead of myself. All I can say of that day was that once I make my decision clear, I get into the realm of dreams as fast as if I were a falling meteorite. ┼ ┼ ┼ And that’s how I found a place to hide while being here. And since there is not much sun time left, I’m afraid it’s going to be all for today’s narration. No My Lord, I’m afraid that if I were to continue with my narration I may end up boring the jury. They do seem quite tired; after all, they are regular citizens aren’t they? And I need them all heedful to take a proper decision when my time comes to be at their hoofs. So if there is nothing else… Sir you want to keep inquiring of me about my behavior? Can’t we just label it as ‘rude Changeling behavior’ and call it a day? Very well Sir, if you want to know that much, let me tell you then: during the resting periods this Court takes, I’ve been brought to a provisional cell where I wait for my process to be resumed… no My Lord I haven’t been intimidated or mistreated in any way, all of my custodians have been very kind with me, within what I could call ‘kindness’ from a guardian to its prisoner. In this provisional cell I have a little couch, a small bathroom, a table with some snacks and a copy of the ‘Equestria Daily’s newspaper. I enjoy all of these little pleasures I been granted while I’m here (except the snacks), actually I count the minutes until I’m allowed to be there, especially the newspaper, their columns are my only contact with the outside world, your outside word. However, the reason for my ‘change of humor’, Your Honour, is this: Today’s issue held a recompilation of events that have happened so far on this tribunal. On those I had been called a ‘defector seeking refuge in your haven’, that I ‘will sell my own kind for it’ and that my Queen ‘must be already be working on plans to “silence” me’. First of all, if my Queen wants me to finish my existence, all she has to do is to order it. And I will vanish. Second: I have no problem being called a deserter or a coward, though I don’t approve such terms as truth, I’m aware that in the public eye am I nothing but an ex-member of a foreign army that tried to invade and conquer your land. The mistrust is entirely comprehensible; as it is comprehensible your complete lack of respect regarding how you treat others and their customs. Why no Sir this wasn’t the whole reason of my earlier discontent. I just take advantage of the situation to express my thoughts to the guys in charge of the newspaper; I hope they do receive the message. As for the main reason of my irritation … I’m afraid I’m too prideful to answer you directly… … Your Honour, if you want to know it so ‘imminently’ as you claim, you are perfectly capable to do so. Just read the whole article of today’s newspaper regarding the chronicles of the narration… I’m pretty sure you will find out why. Well My Lord, I don’t see the point of charging me with contempt when I’m already imprisoned… *S.N: Your Lordship here proceeded to inform the accused of the consequences of being charged of contempt, seclusion for one week without any recreation but the lectures he could get, prohibiting him from leaving his cell. And finally adding “you are willing to be judged as a consequence of your actions, well here is one of those consequences General”. *End of Note. … oh, I didn’t expect that. But still, I will not say a word about my actual predicament, I indeed want to be tried justly so: See you next week your honours. … Dear Princess: This young… let’s call him young, as I can’t really tell his current age, this young commander is really an infinite source of entertainment, he can be so polite and reserved at first, but he then gets all bold and daring in one instant. Indeed somepony, or rather ‘drone’ as he keep calling those of his race, somedrone filled with honor and pride, I am still puzzling myself of how could somedrone like him be alright with such a cowardly assault, the reason behind it must indeed be severe and serious, which in turn is bad news for us. To worse things more on that matter, if he was the only commanding drone with such high esteem of honor and duty, the next one in charge may not be as condescending with us. We must be prudent and gather as much information as we can, for now he’s been diligent and cooperative regarding that matter, if he keep going like this, we can prepare a countermeasure strategy for when they ever come back, or even a counter-retaliation plan to avoid it. We just need to keep listening to his words, and analyze that armor of his. In another matter, and since I know how busy you are with your royal duties, I took the liberty to investigate the source of his recent outburst of anger: it seems that the key factor for your niece and pupil to arrive at such good timing at our hour of need, despite that we were completely oblivious of it, was in a way his fault. According to the declarations provided by princess Cadence and your student Twilight Sparkle, they freed themselves from a trio of mind controlled mares (Minuette, Lyra Heartsrtings and Twinkleshine according to the records) with the aid of a bunch of wild flowers arranged to look like a bride’s bouquet, which were throw by your niece (the bride). If those three poor mares could have managed to retain our heroines for a few more minutes, our actual story may have been a little different. But it was thanks to the order abruptly given by our young General that they were able to escape in such a clever way. This must have caused the most incomprehensible sadness and frustration to our poor guest once he had read it in today’s dairy. But still, it was his doing which give us a chance in the end. Regarding my fellow judges, I have not much to say about them: I fully respect their respective achievements and ideals, and will respect their final resolution, despite the lack of experience in one, and patience in the other. With nothing else to add for now, I bid you farewell for now. Kindly yours "Honour Judge" Eiaquus Legit. P.S.: I will like to send the prisoner a newspaper per day, so he doesn’t bore himself to death. Is it fine with you, that’s it. Chapter 4 (reviewed)Chapter 4 (reviewed) Chapter 4 Sixth day of trial. Because of the actions shown by the accused last, this jury has determined that it is mandatory for General XxX to have the assistance of a competent and instructed advocate, if he does indeed agree to be judged by our law system and submit to its causes. This position will be taken by licentiate Justice Care. From now on the accused will continue his ‘narration’ with the guidance of mister Care. Interrogation day three: I would like to say something about the continuous use of such meaningless protocol, but mister Care has instructed me about its importance for this procedure. Though he does agree with me about its questionable propose, yes Sir, I will stop ‘dragging’ my lawyer into unrelated matters, but are you implying that my words were a fault towards his respect? With all of my respect Sir, hehas openly agreed about that matter, after all: coming from a different law system must be a bit confusing for him, thus creating some irregularities to what he knows as a trial, or ‘unconventional wastes of time’. Your Hounor, you simply haven’t been with someone of this country of his (If he is an average colt, I can’t imagine how a more ‘radical’ folk may be) I must admit, it’s hard to speak casually to him without the sporadic appearance of some double sense words, then again, once getting serious he becomes quite trustworthy. Why yes My Lord, I do enjoy his company and guidance, he is absurdly kind to my humble dronesona and keeps instructing me on how this procedure works, how I should conduct myself and what should I avoid to say and do, after all I do want to prevent an incident as the one of last time, which I sincerely regret. *S.N: While saying these last words, the accused made a huge emphasis on the ‘regret’ part, as he also did a small bow. *End of note. With that said: your honors, my advocate wants to know: what is the reason for the days I haven’t been allowed to be present during this trial? Because I told him that I wanted to keep speaking for myself, Your Honour it is my shell which is at stake after all. I do know however, and mister Care also explained further to me, that it is customary for the accused to remain silent during the whole process, leaving interaction with the judges and jury to the attorneys. But I want to keep an active role rather than leaving everything in mister Justice’s capable hooves, as I have told you once; I am here to avoid possible resentment against my kind. Your Honour, my advocate understands my reasoning and has granted my selfish wish, therefore whenever he wants to make a question, it will come from me. Now would you be so kind as to answer his question which I made? So you were resolving if this procedure has any meaning, I’m sure you must have your reasons and thoughts to wonder that, but I’m also sure that you must have found a reason to keep this trial going. After all we are all here. So this means that I… we aren’t going to be left ‘uninvited’ again, does it not? Well then before I resume my narration, is there anything you want to know your honors? Yes Sir, we possess our own law enforcement, actually, that’s the third branch of our army: they are called the “Cops”. Though they only have the corps on the numbers, they are entirely made of civilian volunteers and retired soldiers, they have the job of maintaining the order within our cities. Of course they have their strong points but they are the last line of defenses if anything where to happen. Oh, you wanted to know about our legal system, very well; Evidence. We collect as much evidence as we can and bring justice to whoever needs it, there is very little talk on such processes, let alone elegance. Yet this system has maintained order for generations, with the search of evidence as one of those few ‘strong points’ our Cops possess. Anything else you may want to know? No, then I will proceed: I woke up several hours later, the sun was no more on the horizon, and the stars were beginning to glimmer in the velvet sky. Yet the silent night atmosphere was uncommonly noisy. I rose from the bed to see what the ruckus was about, yet to my surprise I found my whole magic reserves refilled, even my body was feeling quite better (aside from a little numbness), yet we don’t poses such healing ability so I was completely impressed. I forgot for a second why I woke up when I re-noticed the noise from outside, which was getting louder, I could see some light a few blocks away, yet clearly felt a beating sensation through my whole body, even the windows trembled at it. With the feeling of having my magic at its fullest and my body’s miraculous health, I decided to see what that ruckus was about, under a ‘disguise’ of course. I walked past a few streets and discovered that the noise was actually music, very loud music. As I walked closer I remember asking myself – how can ‘music’ possess such a strong beat? – yet, and I must admit it, the flow and rhythm was quite enjoyable. I was on those thoughts when an overwhelming group of ponies appeared before me. They all seemed to be around something, but I couldn’t see what, as far as I knew we were at the central plaza of Caterlot, the music and the mood was obviously for celebration, but celebration of what. Were they celebrating our defeat… “I can’t blame them” was my first thought but they seemed more happy than blissful, as if they were celebrating somepony’s achievement rather than the city’s victory. Carefully watching my personal space (though this time wouldn’t have mattered if I touched anypony) I walked further into the cheerful agglomeration, as I did so, I noticed that every gaze was aimed to one direction, and that very few were talking to each other. They were indeed celebrating somepony in particular, but who and why? I was no longer sure if this was a victory party at all. Then I finally get a glace to the center of the plaza, and there a saw what I never expected to see; Princess Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor dancing together, both of them with their engagement rings. I was… astonished. All I could think at the moment was “did our invasion mean so little to them?” At that moment I couldn’t tell which feeling filled me more: amazement or happiness. It was indeed ‘their’ victory party. ┼ ┼ ┼ The party was euphoric, the music loud and all around there were ponies dancing; yet there I was standing in the middle of it, bedazzled and disorientated. But never the less, a part of me was relieved. We imprison her, supplant her, and almost steal her most important somepony forever; and yet there she was, dancing and partying with him as her husband, as if there were no worries in this world at all. Despite my personal beliefs and thoughts at that moment, I felt a huge amount of respect toward her in that moment. Some other pony may have ended with resentment or bitterness after what happened to her, yet she was standing her ground as if nothing ever happened. Of course she may ‘do’ have some resentments of it, but that night, she didn’t show any sign of it, and that is not something everyone can do, pony or not. It was simply amazing, and to my surprise those six ponies we fought against were there too, right beside her. Apparently they resumed their previous endeavors once our invasion was terminated, and seemed as euphoric as the couple in their special night. With my curiosity calmed, and not willing to push my disguise within so many ponies, I decided to return to my hideout and call this a night. Or so I planned, as again destiny had other plans for me. As I was half way there a sudden attack of hunger assaulted me. I had been inactive and wounded for two days, and despite being able to feed on the love that was all around (thanks to the party) I was in the need of feeding directly from something. Now I knew why my body was in such good condition: I used up all my love reserves on healing my body and absorbed the love around for my magic. It seems my words doesn’t make much sense to you so let me explain it: our race feeds on love, true love being the best for our nutrition, but any love can fill us. Now, love is used for two things within our body, to fill and power up our magic and to literally nourish us. We actually eat the feeling, though we can eat other things, we prefer love. Mostly because we are carnivorous (that’s why I have never touched the meals I been offered here)… well what did you expect with these fangs, they are not for show. In a moment of our history we changed meat for love; it was easier to catch and wasn’t precisely lethal for the prey. But because of our ancient instinct, and my actual hunger, I felt the need to do some hunting that night. And I was in luck, I found myself a very innocent victim almost right away: a lonely unicorn filly of pale purple coat and gold mane. But fear not my jury, I did not harm her in any way, I simply implemented a common strategy for feeding. I approached her and said – “Good evening my little pony, is it all right for you to be in the middle of the night all by yourself?” – I was disguised again as a member of Canterlot’s pompous unicorns, a male this time, and expected her to be trust me with ease… nevertheless I was wrong. << “None of your business sir, have a good night” – she told me with a surprisingly polite voice and started to walk away. << “Huh?... wait! – I was really impressed by her answer, but I wasn’t going to leave her in the middle of the night, and I was hungry – “you should respect your elders little one, that was a rude thing to say” >> << “And what was precisely the rude part of it my good sir?” – she answered me again with polite words yet not slowing down her pace – “you aren’t hopping around and telling your affairs to everypony around are you? So why should I?” Sharp. << “Well… somepony is trying to give you some company in this huge and lonely city, you could show a little appreciation.” >> << “Well sir, as far I know, you could be a fillynaper or even a changeling, so I’m afraid I should keep being by myself, thank you” >> ‘Jiakes!’… it was the first time I ever see a little filly distrustful of others, let alone smart. No offence your honors, but your children trust others too much, and that may end being taken advantage of, as I try to do. However I didn’t have those thoughts in my head, I was looking for ways to ensure my survival, and finding fellow Changelings was part of it. And as I said, this child didn’t look as your average filly and seemed too mature for her apparent age, as she didn’t have a cutie mark either. So I did the only thing I thought would ensure me a good result; I spoke in my idiom and language, asking her if she was a servant of the queen. If she were to be one of my kind, she would answer me and we should plan from there on, on the other hoof if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be able to hear my words and nothing would happen. However, she did hear me, but she didn’t understand me. << Say what again sir? – was her counter question to mine, I said my words ‘strong enough’ to be understand at the distance we have with each other, there was no chance for a drone to not understand what I said. Yet she seemed surprised by my words – “we don’t have a queen and you know that, right?” >> How she managed to hear my words, and even understand them, is still a mystery to me. Yet she seemed ignorant of the feat she just realized and more interested in me now, she was even enjoying it, so I did the only thing I know to do best: keep pretending. << “Ha, see! I know I could make you smile somehow – I think I overdramatized my reaction that time, but she seemed to be fine with it too – So you are not a servant of the evil queen that tried to take over our land! Good, good!” >> << “Of course I am not sir, but know this, I’m not smiling by your words, but by the mere fact that your silly act makes me remember somepony… some very silly and klutzy somepony” >> I started to feel my hunger been filed a little at that moment, this was what I was after. As I mentioned before, I was performing a simple strategy to cease my hunger, a movement to feed ourselves and get some information in the process, is a common performance our scouts are taught to do if they intern themselves too deep into enemy land. And it was working for me, all I had to do now was keep it up and I would be satisfied in no time – “klutzy? That’s a bit rude too, don’t you think little one? >> << “Believe me I would buck anypony who dared to say such as an insult to her – ‘so this somepony is a she’ I thought – but she gives so many reasons to be called that way that it’s just too hard to not doing it” >> << “Mhm… – I don’t remember if I said that as actually giving a thought to her words, or if I was just enjoying the bliss of feeling my hunger gone little by little – is this somepony close to you? >> By how fast she was feeding me it was obvious that she was, but I was supposed to ignore this fact, so she answered me – You can bet she is, she is my mum!” >> ‘Figures’ was my inner verdict, with this all fell into place: whoever her mother was it was someone shortly dependable, or maybe of questionable intelligence or perhaps even both, however she was of good nature as her daughter keep caring for her, no, more like guarding her. This was why she was so mature for her age, she wasn’t just looking after anypony, she was looking after her mother. It made me feel a bit guilty, taking advantage of such a remarkable filly, but I was nearly filled up, so I keep her company for a while longer. << “She must be very proud of you – I sincerely tell her – at such age and taking the attitude of a grown up, in must have been hard for you” >> << “Wrong this time sir – she told me with confidence, and no politeness – I can take care of things just fine, and I like it. Yes there are times I take care of some things… specially her screw-ups, but she can be very dependable on her own way, which has giving me the time to enjoy myself too, she also dislikes to be nursed every second”. There was more pride that anything in her speech, but then she suddenly blushed and quietly added – “but she ‘is’ proud of me” >> << Good for you – I added as my hunger was finally gone – but I can’t conceive why you are alone here, where is your mother?” – I genuinely asked her. << She is traveling all the worlds there are with a friend – she told me with such a serene look that I couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or making fun of me – you wouldn’t understand.” >> << Okay… so you are staying with…? << A friend of the family, she takes care of me sometimes, we were all at the wedding reception, but I decided to return before it was too late” >> << “I see this friend trusts you too, it is not normal to let a filly walk by herself at this hour, especially when an invasion was avoided just yesterday” >> << “You really resemble my mother sir, it was three days ago – my face should have been that of ‘!?’ – You should be more careful. >> I could see now why I was so hungry, and why my body was in such better condition; I sleep for half a week. I was thinking about it when the little filly said – Here we are! – as I heard her words I noticed we were in front of what looked to be a second class inn, not elegant but comfy. << “Then ‘big’ filly, take care of yourself” >> << “You too sir – she told me with polite, yet warm words as she walked in, then she turned and said – you know, we are going to be here for a few more days, it should be nice if we meet up and chat again sir.” >> << “Yea, it should, let’s see what happens – I told her, not really expecting to see her again – until then take care of your mother too.” >> << “Good night sir –she told me as she disappeared inside the building, however this was the only time she talked as a filly of her age. And with nothing else to do, I returned to my hide out to exanimate my body a little closer. … To our beloved princess Celestia: This lawyer has definitely brought a ‘change’ to this procedure, besides the new attitude of the accused toward us, he seems quite diligent for somepony from Mexicolt. Yet it is quite impressive that he summited himself for the position, we originally left the charge free for anypony who wishedto use it, yet no one did. Then this Care came and cares. My apologies for the terrible attempt of a joke. He is very difficult to speak with, though, once we are outside the courthouse, as the General pointed out, one can’t say a single word without him distorting it into a completely vulgar meaning, yet somehow funny. But his attitude during actual session … it’s completely contrary; it almost seems to be somepony else, very inconceivable. As for our accused itself, he seems somehow more relaxed now that mister Care is working with him, I can’t tell if he is at ease for continuing with his help, or relived for having somepony besides him. Anyway, judges Rottamanthis and Eiaquus seem pleased with this addition, though I don’t doubt the LJ will say something about it soon. As for the time being, I will make sure you know if anything else happens. Your humble servant “High Judge” Maneos Right. PS: We are looking for the filly he mentioned on today’s narration. Chapter 1 (reviewed)~The Changeling~ Chapter 1 Equestria’s Royal Tribunal Supreme Court of Special Events ~Canterlot~ Preceding the honorable Judges: - Your Lordship Maneos J. - Your Honour Rottamanthys LJ. - His Honour Judge Sr. Eiaquus. First day of trial The accused; a remnant officer member of the force that invaded Canterlot a few months ago, captured by the royal guard the day ** of ** of the current year, charged of committing confederacy and acts of war against our sovereign nation by assaulting the royal castle and its surroundings, subjugating our beloved Princess Celestia in the process, all of this in an attempt of to capture this capital city and hence all of Equestria for so far known reasons of conquest and slavery. This jury will determine the accused‘s fate based on our evidence and whatever may the accused say on his behalf. Interrogation day one: I can talk now? My lords, members of the grand jury, spectators in general, I’m here to receive proper judgment and punishment for the acts I committed against your country and people, yet in the process, I hope for you to understand that we, the Changelings, were desperate, that we have no choice. But first I would like to ask: Are we going to listen to that long introduction every time we begin? ... Good to know … Your Honour, I will stop inquiring the scribe, but I just found annoying that this interrogation may start this slowly every time… Yes Sr. I’m done complaining. My name and rank, My Lord? I’m General XxX of the Changeling army, third division known as the Tagmateers (a sort of royal guard), in charge of protecting Queen Chrysalis herself (and at her complete disposal). I was commander in charge of the invading force (as your scribe kindly pointed out), which in turn was under direct orders of our queen. She was in charge of the planning, infiltration, strategy, and kidnaping Princes Mi Amore Cadenza (which I assisted). As I mentioned, the whole invasion was planned by Queen Chrysalis herself, hence a lack of true love in our kingdom which serves as source of nutrition to our species, however we have survived this far thanks to… So Your Honour, as you say: this tribunal has no interest in these “trivial” matters…? … Very well then, what does this tribunal want to know? About the invasion? I hoped you would like to know more about my people… Though, I do understand this must have gotten all of you off-guard. We did plan it that way. No My Lord, I’m not mocking your kind. I will do as I have been ask and answer the question: The invasion was planned to be like this: First, the kidnapping of Princess Cadence so the queen could take the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, under her control with enough spare time. Second, a reason for him to use his magic force field which would weaken him and keep the whole Royal Guard distracted while creating a (false) sense of safety, thus the threat anonymously send. Third, an excuse to keep everypony busy in other matters (especially both royal Princesses). For this, the wedding arrangements worked just fine. Fourth, to assure the wedding and invasion proceeded without interferences. And fifth, to commence the invasion. Mhm!? Sr. what do you mean by “expand my explanation”? Oh! It’s fine for me to be more detailed if you want a more complete story of the events, but it will take me some time to explain it all. Is it ok for this tribunal? Very well then. It was rather easy to lure Princess Cadence out of the royal palace and into the caves beneath Canterlot. One of us disguised as her fiancé, the rest is evident so I will leave that aside. The problem was her fiancé itself, who noticed the switching right away. Of course, he thought this was some sort of joke at first, but he eventually grew tired of it, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his wife-to-be… Then we recurred to force in order to subdue him. I must admit though, that Captain Shining Armor doesn’t hold his title for show. Half of our forces where disabled rather quickly, yet the numbers were with us, and the Queen lost no time in putting him under her enchantment, despite the risk this whole process had implied, having been done within the city. Phase one was completed in a mere day. The rest of the plan ran simultaneously, with phase 4 being the most critical of them all. The one that strictly required for the Queen to marry Shining Armor… … … (Apologies My Lord I get distracted!) Not for love I must add, but strategy, in order to prevent Princess Cadence from becoming a treat if she were to escape the caves (as she did), and for the Queen to gain even more power. After all, everypony loves a couple just married. Yet this complete plan was ruined by one single mare… But I’m getting ahead of the events. Let me go back to where my Queen had just taken over Captain Shining Armor’s mind. Here, we take the opportunity of listening to some intelligence firsthoove. Here is where it gets complicated, and here is where my narration starts: << “Your name?” – I asked the now hypnotized Captain – “Your rank and your office?” >> << “Shining Armor” – he answered without hesitation, nor emotion – “Captain, in charge of the royal guard.” >> I continued inquiring the numbers on their ranks, their regular patrols, barracks and arsenal locations, evacuation routes, and contingency plans, and here he told me… << In case of major chaos, the Elements of Harmony will be dispatched to their bearers in Ponyville, so a countermeasure can be planed. >> << “The ‘what’ again?” – Despite our planning time, we have never heard of such things – “What are these ‘elements’?” >> << “The Elements of Harmony are the strongest weapons in all of Equestria, discovered by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna more than a thousand years ago. Their power is capable of vanquishing great threats, such as Nightmare Moon and Discord, both twice.” >> Shocked, we were. Our country had heard of both creatures as beings of unthinkable evil and power; creatures of folklore, myth and legend. It was much to our surprise to know that they did actually existed. Nevertheless, that there was something strong enough to defeat them with such ease. << “Who are the bearers of these elements that you mention?” >> << “Two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns, all residents of Ponyville; my sister being one of them. Though they are the actual users, they lack experience on their control, so we keep the Elements safe here in Canterlot, in one of the castle buildings” – He provided me with its location. As you may have all guessed, this was an inconvenience, and inconveniences have to be dealt with, so I reported this to my Queen. Once I finished, she said: << “I do know of this weapon. Good work, getting this information! – I wanted to say something, but it is not a soldier’s job to argue with his Queen, and I foolishly thought there would be another moment for it. – “But fear not” – she continued – “I have no intention to let them use it against my subjects. If everything goes as planned, we will take over this entire city before they can even react, and I have no intentions of bringing those fillies here. They will remain in their Ponyfilth as far I’m concerned” – she proclaimed while magically bursting a letter Shining Armor was writing into green fire (for his younger sister, I believe). After some silence, she changed her severe expression, and told me – “So, have faith my old friend.” >> << “Ma’am, by thy bidding” – was all I could tell her… Not that I was afraid of her, or something alike. I just… I just wish I could have told her that I do believe in her. If I can say this, as a break, of the few things I can brag about in my life, it’s being one of Queens Chrysalis’ closest and oldest friends... Mhm… By the look of your faces, I can tell you are either not believing me, or are not interested, though I can answer you one thing with all sincerity: I could care less for whatever you want to believe or care! Yes Your Honour, I’m aware of my behavior, and of its possible consequences… I will continue then. Days passed like years, fearing that our plan may be discovered, yet no one suspected anything. Princess Cadenza’s change of humor was interpreted as pre-wedding stress. No one was expecting us to be so close of the castle, and thanks to Shining Armor’s intel, we were able to avoid the patrols. Everything was going perfectly until one day, our Princess was looking for me urgently. “Something happened,” was all the message. I disguised myself and rushed toward my Queen (we have our ways of going in and out the force barrier, but only one or two per time). I expected an ambush, someone chasing her, that our cover had been blown, or a fierce battle. Instead, I found my disguised queen in the middle of a garden making a tantrum. ‘So much for the epic rescue’, I thought – “What is thy bidding, my Queen?” >> The instant she noticed me, I received a glare fierce enough to scare a manticore, and a not-so-different shout – “THEY ARE COMING!!” >> After a few seconds of recollecting what I could understand (she does have a ‘royal’ voice), I could only answer – Beg thy pardon? Who is coming…? The enemy!? – is what I was going to ask, but I get abruptly cut off – “MY SOON-TO-BE SISTER IN LAW! AND HER FRIENDS!!” >> After another moment of recollection I finally reacted – “The element’s users! But how?” >> << “CELESTIA!!! Apparently, Shining Armor’s sister is also Celestia’s ‘personal’ student, so she sent her a ‘personal’ invitation, and of course to her friends too!” >> << “We could swap with them before they ever reach the city” – I proposed. << “NO! Cadence’s behavior has been easy to explain thanks to the wedding, but I doubt Celestia will ignore her faithful student if she were to see similar changes on her, despite having fooled her with my act, I don’t see Celestia as a complete fool. And since they are expected to come, we can’t make them disappear either. But be at ease” – she continued – “I suggested Celestia to give them especial endeavors on the wedding’s preparations, so they will be too busy to notice everything. Apparently, each one of them takes too much pride and joy in their jobs.” >> << “Then if everything has been arranged for, our plans by thy greatness… What am I here for?” >> << “What?! I can’t shout out my frustration?” – Our Queen always had an aura of arrogance and superiority around her, to see such a soft side was a privilege, a dangerous privilege. I couldn’t answer. This time it was fear, not that I think she may decapitate me if I said something rude… I think… hope… However, I respect my queen enough to be silent and allowed her to continue. To dissimulate we walked around the gardens. While we moved aimlessly, my Queen continued to tell me all the things she had endured and done so far in order to conceal herself, and how annoying it was to pretend to be somepony else for so long, especially with the bridesmaids – “despite having them completely under my lies” – she told me exasperated – “they are annoyingly close, curious and close. Don’t they know about personal space?” >> Once getting rid of all that tension, she said – “However, all of this greatness will be ours soon. Soon, our people will have to live with scraps no longer! Soon, these ponies will know what it is like to live under somepony else’s hooves!” >> Pride and determination shone in her eyes – “The element bearers will arrive tomorrow by train. If I take care of one of them, the elements will just be pretty garments and nothing more. Keep the troops safe, my General. I will deal with this side the best I can” – she added confidently – “Not that it is that hard. And don’t forget to keep an eye on our special guest.” >> << “By thy bidding!” >> (By now I’m pretty sure you may have noticed this but let me explain it anyway: ‘What is/by thy bidding’ is our usual way of entering or retiring from our Queen’s presence.) I left, not without noticing how she was approached by her ‘friends,’ and despite all the ‘inconveniences’ the queen mentioned, she was looking radiant, powerful, healthy… What do I mean by healthy…? Oh right, my Sir, you don’t know about our situation. You see, for us to be healthy is a rare thing because of our actual shortage of love. Look at me. I have the size and complexion of your average mare, though I’m a male, and a warrior. The Captain’s love was sure doing wonders for my Queen, as sad as it was… Normally she gets nutrition from the love of her subjects, but that’s no longer enough. You want to know how your Princess was, Your Honour? Well we may need her imprisoned but, definitely not gone, so we took care of her while in our custody. Some hay for a day to keep her alive, but not enough for her to escape… If my answer was going to cause such ruckus then why ask in the first place?! No My Lord, I’m not whining, I’m merely complaining, politely. … I returned to my post and kept waiting. A few days passed until the Queen sent another message, which said ‘I can’t stand these “bridlemaids” anymore! Put them in the caves. They are already there.’ Thanks to our previous chat, I could make an idea of why she did it, so I took my personal maneuver team and headed towards the entrance of Canterlot’s caves. There were three young unicorns; one blue, one beige, and one turquoise. Princess Cadence’s original bridesmaids, all of them wearing their colorful dresses with joy, if they could only know. Thanks to being lured there by our Queen, it was easy to ambush them. Though they did get surprised at first, they put no resistance for our mind control enchantment. I took the opportunity and gave them the order to let no one out of the caves, to guard it… But they seemed to disagree. You see our mind control is based on what we can make the target believe. If they didn’t believe they could do “X” thing, they will not. However, Sergeant Acari, my second in command and most trusted subordinate, came up with an idea. << “The Princess is getting ready for the wedding in her quarters” – she said while pointing into the cave – “But she may get some pre-engagement panic. So, no matter what, don’t let her out until…” >> Here she seemed to run out of juice (as you may say), so I added – “Until she comes out to throw her bouquet, which you will catch” – Acari give me a disapproval eye (how can females have such hurtful stares?) since it made no sense. ‘Why would the bride come out to throw her bouquet without being married?’ However (and to our surprise) the three seemed to agree to the terms and guard the ‘Princess’ Quarters’. After leaving those three in the caves I asked my Sergeant – “Where did you get this idea sergeant? Pretty clever indeed.” >> << “Obviously somedrone who is not married wouldn’t know such a thing. Besides, they are wearing their dresses with excitement. It wasn’t that hard to deduce” – she answered me with some extravagant pride. But then she changed to a more distressed tone – “Once this is over, our families will be fed properly, right?” >> Sergeant Acari formed a family some years ago. Despite being one of the few female officer in our army, she has the determination, strength, and courage for the job. She may already be a high ranking officer by now if she wasn’t so concerned for her child’s needs. I constantly keep telling her to have a little more faith in her husband. ‘That weak-link?! He barely proposed me! Like hay I let him take care of my children!’ is her usual response to it. I took a deep breath and time to think before I could answer her. << “Sergeant, this whole plan is for us. All of us, not just the royalty. So have faith in our Queen, as she has faith in us to deliver her expectations. Tomorrow, we must proceed as smoothly and swiftly as possible to assure a brighter future to our people, your children included sergeant.” >> << “Sir!” >> I smiled back at her, hoping that I calmed her fears. Then I told her to take a soldier of her choice, disguise as one of the three new captives in the caves, and keep a good watch over the Queen, reporting immediately if anything were to happen. I know my Queen is tough enough to handle things by herself in case of any unexpected event (as she did), but I wanted to give her some extra protection, however small. ‘Tomorrow will be the longest day for both of us: ponies and changelings’, was all I could think that night. The next day, we waited for the signal to begin. Within our ranks, the silence was sepulchral, and the tension thick. As the time became near, and the moment of truth walked upon us, a mixture of anticipation, apprehension, and despair grew within my troops. So in order to dissipate their doubts, I face them and say: << “Soldiers! Brothers and sisters of mine! Hear me! Today is the day we have been waiting for so long. We have come to conquer this land; to invade it and to take over it, but not for glory, not for pride, and neither for wealth. We are here to seize not this city, but a new hope for our people! To seize them a better future! Feel neither sadness nor fear about what we are going to do! It’s the right of every living creature to fight for its happiness, and the happiness of their kind, so let’s all fight for that happiness! Let us all fight for a brighter tomorrow for our country! Let us all fight for our Queen, for your families, and for ourselves …”! << “Think on those families, those friends, those compatriots who stayed behind, all expecting us; not as victors, not as conquerors, not with glory, they only expect us to return home safely with them! We are here not to lose, not to fail! Do this for them! Do this for your country!! DO THIS FOR YOUR QUEEN!!!” >> In that precise moment, the wedding bells of the chapel resonated all over Canterlot. This was the signal for us to begin, and my cue to shout as loudly I ever did. << “TAGMATEERS!” – I screamed as I flew over them – “WITH OUR QUEEN!!” >> A roar was the only comprehensible answer I get from my soldiers. Their doubts washed off by their own shouts as they climbed up in flight, covering the cerulean sky as a gray maelstrom. ┼ ┼ ┼ Well, I hope this break hasn’t made anypony forget what I have said so far. Now I will continue: As planned, all sentries were previously captured before the start, so no one noticed our numerous presences, and the force field was so weakened that some cracks were showing already before we even started attacking, which we did not hesitate to do. With the toughest drones of our soldiers ramming over the entire dome, the thunders generated by each appearing fissure only exited us more and more. It was just a matter of time. From the chapel came running out a pony, a unicorn to be precisely, which I recognized as our disguised ally. He only made a wave of hooves, a signal which said ‘The Queen’s cover has been blown!’ << “FASTER!” – was the answer I gave to my troops as they hastened their ramming – “Faster you maggots! Our queen needs us!” – A few seconds after I finished my sentence a flash of light came out the chapel’s windows: a magical showdown. However, it lasted only a few seconds. All I could do was wait for the force field to fall as I keep looking over the window, waiting for a second flash to show up. It felt as if I waited an eternity. Yet not a light, but a group of ponies came out. Two earth ponies, two unicorn ponies, and two pegasus ponies; the users of the Elements of Harmony. Followed immediately by Acari which with a single hove signal indicate us to ‘GET THEM!’. It all happened so fast. The very instant they came out the whole dome filled completely with cracks – “NOW!” – I shouted and all of us rammed towards the force field, blasting it to smithereens. While the pieces were falling, I gave my Officers their orders – “Company α, the armories and barracks! β & γ take the civilians and remaining soldiers into custody! ε will cover the exits! Δ will protect the queen, and Ω is with me!” – And then the last of the magic barrier hit the ground and at that moment we were assaulting Canterlot. I took my platoon to directly deal with the element users, sending first our interceptor force… Yes Sr. the odd oozy lime we generate it’s a form of our magic. Let me take another break from my narration and explain to you how this works. That is, if I’m granted with your permission My Lord… Thank you very much; I will be as brief as possible. As regular unicorn ponies, our magic allows us to manipulate any object in our line of sight (obviously potency varies depending on individual and object). However, this magic has another function. We can turn it into a solid, organic, jelly-like mass that we can use in an infinity of ways, since we can give it elasticity, resistance, sharpness, form, softness, toughness, and even stickiness if we want. The more evident way of use your people may have witnessed is in the ram-charge we used all over the city and the hoofcuffs, used to restrain the defeated foes. Hypnosis and mimicking are other types of magic we can control, as long we are strong enough that is. But these need different explanations which I will leave for another time. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the element users! Our interceptors didn’t make any progress on their capture, but they did direct them into a square big enough for the rest of us to engage them freely. One of my subordinates took the chance to show those little ponies the Changeling’s average engagement strategy: First, to confuse the foe, as he took the form of the first one of them who challenged us; second to shock it, mimicking her every movement; and finally, taking the initiative, by sneaking the first blow. Which immediately inspired my forces into action. A bunch of privates didn’t lose their chance to do the same, as they also taunted the purple coated unicorn (which seemed to be their leader). At this point, I only gave one single order: ‘to end this quickly’. I changed myself into one of them (the orange coated one to be precisely) and charged towards them. To my disgrace and shame, I must admit this wasn’t the greatest of my battles, nor of my drones. Normally, we Changelings can sense which one of us under disguise, but here, and with all this love around us, we could barely know who was beside us. Because of this, we were wreaking havoc with ourselves as soon the brawl started, yet we managed to keep giving them some fight… For a few instances, the disorganization for our side was bad enough, but those fillies are no softies either: bucking, sweeping, slapping, staring, blasting, surprising, they gave us more hell that we could imagine… << “We aren’t going to win this” – I said to myself – “But neither are we going to lose it.” >> Thereupon I grab the first Officer I could find, and gave him the order – “Grab as many drones you can from here and go the building at the end of this street” – I indicated him the direction where the Elements of Harmony where supposed to be held – “Summon as many other soldiers you may find on your way and prepare an ambush! We will give you as much time as we can.” >> << “SIR…!?” – was all he could answer before I threw him into the air. << “For today, son!” >> And off he went with many soldiers behind him – “As much time as we can… let’s see how long that is.” >> I couldn’t finish this sentence either, as a purple light blasted me into the distance. Throwing out both my helmet and my disguise, I almost blacked out, yet somehow remain conscious. While I recovered, I saw how every soldier who tried to face them ended flying away some good meters… (One meter is around three hooves, Your Honour). At this moment, I realized how bad our condition was. Not as an army, but as living beings. Six young, untrained, civilian mares were bucking our flanks as if they were pros. Yes, I have said that we have the general disorder at our disadvantage, but I keep wondering if that even mattered. Changelings were defeated one after another like bugs… Ironic isn’t? << “No time for you to rest” – I say to myself again – “If we can’t stop them it’s all over!!” >> And again I charged to the ‘furball’, and again I fought some of my kind before I could face one of the main six threats, and again I get bucked away. As I rose from my recent fall, I see out of the corner of my eye how one of them aimed a canon toward one of my drones. By instinct I pushed him out of its blast with one single problem: I was its target now, at zero range. All I could say was – “Buck!” >> There was a flashing light followed by a burst of colors and forms which didn’t kill me, to my surprise (and relief), but did knock me down for good this time. And from the bursting of light, I fell into the wrapping darkness. Alone with my thoughts, I think over what had happened, what we have done, what made us do all of this, what was at stake, until a voice started to call me back. << “…ir! … ke u… SIR! Wake up!” – As my consciousness returned to this world, the voice became clearer – “Are you alright Sir!?” >> It was the same drone I sent to set the ambush. On his face I could see a mix of concern and bliss, hard to believe – “Yeah, I’m fine… mhm… captain…?” >> << “Antenna Sir! Captain Antenna of Ω’s eighth squad!” – he answered, with what I could only call admiration while he enthusiastically added – “I’m new in your platoon.” >> << “That figures. My apologies for my disrespect, Captain, as also my appreciation. It seems the ambush worked out” – I could tell by the happy roar that could be heard all over the city. << “Sir, your plan was a success! We arrived right on the moment they were about to enter the element’s chamber, but if it wasn’t for Σ’s surprise appearance, we would have been too late.” >> If My Lord and this jury may recall, I never mentioned this platoon, by the simple fact that they weren’t supposed to be here in the first place. Σ belongs to the second division of our army known as the armada, at direct order of the council. What they were doing here is beyond my knowledge, but whatever it may been it didn’t matter, as their staying was brief, like ours. But I was unaware of these future events, so I inquired my subordinated about them – “Why is Σ here? Did they give you any explanation about it?” >> The Captain’s face confirmed my doubts before he answered me – “No, Sir. After aiding with the capture of the users, they enclosed themselves within the Elements of Harmony’s chambers, without giving us any explanation at all” – I wanted to ask more but here he told me – “Oh! Right on time. There go the captured ponies!” – He pointed towards a group of drones ‘escorting’ two earth ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi; the captured element users. << “Where are you taking them?” – I ask him. << “To our Queen by her instructions.” >> I wanted to know more about Σ’s presence here, so I left the Captain in charge of their custody. But before leaving, I gave them a quick view. They all looked tired and scared (I couldn’t blame them). All of them but one, who was discreetly looking at all directions, not with fear but as searching for an opportunity to break loose, such distraction could have given them a chance, a chance I wasn’t kind enough to let slip – “Restrain that blue pegasus!” – I ordered to the ones close to her, and added – Gently, we are not savages.” >> And left to ‘kindly’ argue with our unexpected visitors… Yes, Your Honour. We talked all throughout the invasion, otherwise it would be impossible for us to coordinate all forces. Why the question? ...Well of course you couldn’t hear us. Our mother language isn’t like yours at all, actually, only some animals can hear it. *Scribe Note: The accused began to emit sounds I can only catalogue as screeches, similar to the ones done by bats. From those screeches, only a bunch of them were loud enough to be heard. The accused seemed quite amused while giving the whole ‘speech’ on his language. *End of note. As you can see, or rather hear, we communicate on a scale impossible for your kind to listen, which of course facilitated our infiltration. Is this enough answer for you Your Honour? I will interpret your silence as a yes, and I found it delightful that Sir Eiaquus enjoys this at his fullest. It is good to make somepony laugh. I hope he can return soon. That’s quite some laughter. Yes, My Lord. I will remain in order, but I can’t promise for His Honorable Judge. I took my time to rendezvous with Σ, and enjoyed the views of the streets. Everydrone was more than excited, they were drunk in happiness. I couldn’t blame them at all. I myself was very happy too. The invasion was a success, there were no losses on both sides and in the end, my Queen didn’t get engaged with Captain Shining Armor. I was so happy, that I could get carried away with the bliss as the rest of my kind did, but protocols needed to be done, and my rank had come with responsibilities. Halfway there, I remember getting surprised by some sort of whirring noise that hurt me in a way I have never experienced. I couldn’t recognize what exactly was the source of it, but I could determine where it came from; an alley beside me. I just turned my head when a colt with grayish amber coat bumped into me. He rose up as fast as he fell and continued with his escaping, not willing to be caught. I can remember him saying something like – “Sorry mate, got to run! Oh! And sorry for taking advantage of your fine ears!” – while running into the distance. Shortly after, some soldiers came out the same alley giving him chase. << “BRING HIM ALIVE!” – a familiar voice shout them behind me – WE MUST KNOW WHAT HE USED AGAINST US!” >> Sergeant Acari sure looked angry, but in a funny way, until she noticed my presence – “WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, SIR!” >> << “First of all, stop screaming at me.” >> << “…WHAT!? SORRY SIR I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” >> << “I notice it” – I said to her, doubting she could heard me. << “WE HAVE THIS COLT, A MARE, AND A FILLY CORNERED IN THE ALLEY BEHIND US WHEN HE SUDDENLY ASKED US ‘WHAT IS BLACK, BIG, SCARY AND HELPLESS?’… why am I shouting?” >> << “I guess you can hear again now” – for my relief – “So, then what happened?” >> << “I don’t know. We looked at each other, wondering if he was some sort of crazy loon, when he took the opportunity and make that noise… somehow. Ouch... I’m gonna have a headache tonight.” >> I couldn’t avoid laughing a bit about it – “And what happened to the others captives?” – I asked her. << “They fled as soon he made that sound. It was all a diversion to give them a chance of escaping.” >> << “Well, it did work, but we have complete control of the city. We will catch them in the end. In the meantime” – I was going to ask Sergeant Acari to accompany me on my search over Σ when our dream came to an end. From the chapel a burst of light erupted slowly. As it gradually intensified its glowing, a shill on the back of my neck grew too. I turned to shout ‘Retreat!’ to everydrone, but I was too late. The moment I opened my mouth was the moment the light exploded, pushing every one of us out of Canterlot. All I could do was watching how that wall of light took every single Changeling, and threw them far into the distance. All of them but me. The magic barrier did throw me high into the sky but not into the distance. It threw me right into a woodland garden where I hit every tree in there, or at least I felt it that way. While I fell down, I could hear the screams of fear and surprise of all of my comrades as they were projected out of Canterlot. I could even feel the desperation on their voices. Then, I hit the ground, and as I heard my Queen’s voice disappearing off in the distance, my consciousness slip out of me until I finally fainted for the second time on that day. … To our beloved Princess Celestia, By your command, we have begun the trials of this Changeling officer. His respect shown during the whole first day of procedure is elegant and stoic indeed, but he never lost a chance to taunt or disrespect us at every opportunity he found. We now know that this invasion has been intentional, and delivered with fraud from with at least some months of anticipation, and that their planning was indeed diligent. The accused has shown that he supports his Queen and country firmly, despite the fact he is giving us so much information about them, which could easily be seen as treason by his own kind. As for the other matter you have commanded me, I was unable to determine the reason as to why this whole attack was planned. Lord Justice Rottamanthys was expressing his spite toward the accused more than once during the entire interrogation, which actually seems mostly a narration. LJ seems to ignore any possible logical cause on the Changeling’s side, and wants to punish them as harsh as possible. I will try to convince him into letting the accused express himself more freely, of course as long he keeps his composure. If such reason is big enough to make them re-launch an attack, we are nowhere near safe. In the end, your decision of making this trail with three judges was asserted. No pony can tell what kind of rushed sentence the young LJ could have dictated, as he held some kind of grudge against the Changelings, and has shown no intention of changing his mind. On the other hoof, I can’t tell what Sir Eiaquus is thinking, or even doing here. Indeed he is a senior of remarkable knowledge and experience, but he is also well known for his soft and playful way of directing trials. He really seemed to enjoy listening the accused’s story, and he seems eager to hear more about it. As for me, I may not have as much experience as my followers Mrs. and Miss. Justices, but I can tell that my priority is to remain as neutral as possible, and to determine a just verdict based on the facts and the evidence. I will send you more of my reports as this trial develops. Your humble servant, “High Judge” Maneos Right.
Chapter 2 (reviewed)Chapter 2 Fourth day of trial After having meticulously reviewed and examined the accused‘s narration and compare it with the reports and testimonies of every guard and citizen of Canterlot, it has been concluded that General XxX is indeed telling the truth, from now on this tribunal will receive as legit the answers of the accused. Interrogation day two: … I been deceived! How you may ask My Lord? Well if I don’t wrongly remember, I was told that this tribunal wouldn’t start this slowly again… So let me understand, what you promised was that the trials wouldn’t start with the same aperture speech, that’s what you want to say? Clever, but that doesn’t mean I am happy about it, it means that every day of trial will begin exactly the same, well, with a different speech each time. Yes Your Honour, I do understand these are your procedures, but isn’t there anything that can be done about it? thank you Sir I trust in your words. I also feel honored that my words are taken into real consideration for now onwards. Honestly though, it is logic that I wasn’t believed at first and I wouldn’t expect less, I am an accused after all. Now that this has been settled for today I will like to give my greetings: good morning Lord Maneos, good morning Your Honour Rottamanthys, good morning Sr. Eiaquus, good morning members of this jury and good morning to everypony in this hall of justice. What can I offer you all today? No My Lord, it’s not a Changeling custom what I just did, it is more a habit I have adopted while been here, you see: “You shouldn’t run away from immortals, that will call their attention” is an old saying of my country. It means that the easier way to pretend and walk out of troubles is to not pretend at all. Well you do pretend of course but… is a bit complicated and hard to explain it without a proper example. Anything else? Yes I’ve been obliging with you Your Honour, with all of you as a matter of fact, yet not as flattering, neither to gain this jury’s favor, but as a courtesy, after all and despite my current situation, I am a sort of ambassador of my kind in Equestria, so I should act and behave as such, despite the fact someponies wouldn’t agree with my thinking, as I can see in the faces in front of me, and hear from the whispers behind me. No Sir our magic doesn’t grant us improved hearing of any type, nor is our sight enhanced, our sharp senses comes from the cocoon. Of course it varies, as with our magic, from drone to drone but the average Changeling has a formidable ear and a night eye. Mm… now you have found out my little scheme My Lord, yes, not all of us were using magic when the invasion happened, that’s because Changelings find it hard to keep concentration on magic while doing something else, unlike your unicorn folks who can use magic with ease and even without noticing. In our case we must keep a hard training to just learn to perform magic alongside other actions, let alone high-class spell casting, very few are the ones that can endure such training, and even fewer are the drones able of use magic’s full potential, actually its only our queen and some members of the council, in total: not more than ten. And before you ask, no, I’m not capable of such, my magic specialty is in another style, which is commonly addressed “magic silk shaping”, MSS for short. Does this satisfy your curiosity My Lord? How exactly? Well, I have explained how our regular magic can be used, the resulting material created of it is normally call magic silk, my MSS is an upgraded form of it: while most drones use their silk creations to build hoofcuffs, walls, cocoons and rams, I can build far more complex structures. *S.N: After these lines the accused created a bunch of objects out of nowhere, all of them different: shields, flower vases, armor pieces, shop signs, swords, clothes, spears, even a pillar. All of them floating around him as if they were weightless, then he suddenly fused all of those objects into one with the form of giant spider, whose movement have nothing to envy to a real one. The commotion on the court provoked by it was general. *End of note. *End of note. My Lord! I have no intentions of creating such mayhem, this was just meant to be a simple demonstration, but since it creates such fuss in the audience (not to mention the guards and their spears glare at me on an unhealthy way) I will finish it at once… there! all gone, feeling better now everypony…? …Your Honour these are no simple illusions, as you address them (and they weren’t meant to frighten anypony) despite their absence of any other color than green, they are perfect copies of objects I been in direct contact with. This technique, however, is commonly used to produce staples for crafting, building and similar industries, with only me and a bunch using it for combat (yet we are more than ten) is of great use when we are outnumbered or in need of a distraction. But before anypony ask it; we didn’t use this type of our magic during the invasion by two simple reasons, one: the creation, whatever its shape, is a solid object that will hit all that it’s in its way, making no discretion between foes and allies; and second: in terms of energy use, is an stamina consuming monster, normally a Changeling can make use of one or two small creations per time, and only for a few minutes. If one of us were to use this magic during the invasion it just would have been a draw back for us. So there is your answer… before you even ask for it. Anything else? Certainly Your Honour, if I wish for it, I could make use of this magic to flee this courthouse right now and escape to my homeland, yet that will fix nothing between our countries, bounding an event as the one of princess Cadence’s wedding to be repeated. He! This time is you Sir who have discovered something intriguing on my speech. No, I wasn’t able of wield more than two creations before the invasion, let alone fuse them together. I’m still investigating the “why” exactly, but is an obvious matter that my staying in Canterlot has improved my performance on this and other aspects of my very being, while been here I have become far stronger that I ever was, but the story of this discovering is for another time. My Lord, you are indeed, the most sharp of all of the judges (no offence) as I’m right now willing to make amends between both species, I wasn’t so determined the day I was left here, actually I was desperate to leave, it was by a series of events (which I never dreamed to happened in my life) that I’m standing here with this resolution. … Your Honour, if I didn’t flee back then was because I was unable to… in order to explain this and other matters, is it okay if I start with today’s portion of my misadventures? Thanks. If you remember well, last time I was left unconscious on a woodland, I do not know how long I stayed in there, but I do remember what was the first thing I felt once I regained consciousness: pain! ┼ ┼ ┼ My whole body was aching, my head was spinning (and I swear it felt at least twice as big), and my back was killing me. I wasn’t able to see the Sun because the treetops didn’t allow me, but by the fresh temperature and the amount of light, I could tell it was early. I was confused, couldn’t remember at first what I was doing there, or why I was so beaten, I started to walk out of the trees shadows when I froze in the place, I instinctively didn’t wanted to come out of the woodland, standing just a few steps away from the light when a group of guards in golden armor passed by. As I hid in some bushes I slowly began to remember, but the more I look back on it, the more I wished for it to be a nightmare. << “It can’t be” – I remember saying to myself – “no, it can’t… all of this, after all of this?!” >> I was devastated, but that wasn’t the place for self-pity, so I retired to the center of the woodland, from there I started to determinate where I was and what to do. Royal guards were patrolling constantly, I could see some stair cases in the distance and hear many hooves trotting all around me, but most of them weren’t military phased, it was civilian trots. I give a little sigh as I thought “still within the castle grounds”, it was indeed disappointing; If there were only walls and guards it would have meant that I was on the outer walls; if it where guards, houses and civilians it would have meant that I was in the city, but out the castle; yet it was none of those, I was inside the castle, the stairs were too presumptuous to be of the city, all the guards were obviously on duty and patrolling, and all the other ponies seemed to be as busy as bees, going in and out different doors on an fast trot unlike Canterlot inhabitants’ regular slothy walks. What!? You have never realized it before…!? And I thought it was on propose. They were all too distracted with their own affairs to notice my presence, which I was hiding with all my might, I was curious about what was giving them so much work, but instead of satisfying my curiosity I took the opportunity to check on my own status. I was, bluntly said, a mess: scratches and cuts all over my body, luckily none of them where bleeding; for a second I thought I had some branches through my forelegs, but they were just stuck on the holes of my limbs; my face was swollen on some parts, apparently all of the damage was done by my abrupt fall; though cushioned by the trees, their embranchments sure gave me a beating (it was a miracle I didn’t lose my eyes); my back was the worst of it, if you remember I turned to alert my fellow Changelings when the blast happened, hitting me with all of its might and force. Despite being spared by the magic wall, I ended with some burned spots on my skin, even worse were my wings; the blast scorched them very badly, one of them was quite torn in some sections, apparently the trees’ branches did do some stabbing after all. I have to act quickly, having not been discovered after that long was miraculous enough to postpose my departure of that little forest any further: with magic I treated my wounds enough to allow me to move, same for my face, to my regret there was no salvation for my wings so I have to rip them off my body… Why the surprise?! Changelings can shed wings with ease precisely for situations like this, if they are just a worry we pull them out, they grow back after some time so if you look closely you will discover a new pair on my back right now. That said, this doesn’t mean we enjoy this proses or the sensation of doing so, we dismembered ourselves which is painful both physically and mentally. But in the end we all do extreme things in order to survive, even a drone like me. I wanted to save as much magic as possible so I ripped off my wings the most painful way possible: hoofally. I entangle one of them on a tree until I couldn’t move and gave a little jump, the pain was… odd. It’s like ripping a big lock of mane, you know it will grow back, yet you also know it is a bigger (and essential) part of yourself and that it’s going to be inaccessible for a while. To make things funnier I have to discard the other one too… Yay! (please notice the sarcasm) After taking care of that, and burning down the remnants carefully, I continued to choose my escape route with the only trick I have left: my disguising ability! All I had to do was to find the right candidate, though the royal guards were an obvious choice hence their armor (which cover their flanks), I wasn’t in condition to pretend to be some military colt, besides, they seemed to have taken some precautions after our raid, every patrol seemed to be confirmed by ponies that know each other closely, and there were no sight of a guard been left alone, finally if my cover were to be blow I would find myself in the middle of a hostile platoon with some possible bitterness towards my humble persona. In summary: guards where a big ‘no’. The other possible route where the palace’s servants; though they know each other even more than the royal guards, they were so busy with their chores they will think I was just running in circles by so much work and stress. Now to find the right one for my actual needs, I didn’t have much energy left so I wasn’t able to create a perfect copy, if anypony touched me directly they would feel the roughness of my skin, this took all of the maids out of the picture, it was a shame, almost all of them wear skirts. There were some colts and stallions working on different chores: doing some gardening, cleaning the windows, plastering some walls, but they weren’t moving at all, I was running out of options, time and patience when another miracle happened: a single, old and strange pony pulling a cart full of garbage came into my sight, he was so slowly working that he may have taught some Canterlot’s folks how to walk… sorry I hadn’t meant to… *cough* anyway, he was perfect, and to make it even more perfect (as a retribution of fate for my whole terrible morning) he didn’t have any cutie mark at all, I didn’t know there where some ponies like this one in existence, maybe it was because he never found his true talent, maybe it was because of his laziness, maybe it was because he didn’t give it a buck, and actually me neither, all I have to do was give him a good, long look, and memorize his silly way of walking and his relaxed expression. While I watched his every move, I checked how long it took him to go and return with his cart; around ten minutes for round. Having memorized as much as I could I waited five minutes after his last appearance, I made an image of me shaping on his faded brown coat and dark gray mane, his flabby body, his hat and shawl, these where the most difficult part of it though, I was weak but I couldn’t leave the disguise incomplete, so I called forth all the strength I had left in my sorry body and transformed myself as stealthy as possible. Every time he returned, he changed carts, taking one full of garbage and leaving the empty one to be refilled, the cart was already filled and there was no one around, I trotted as discreetly as I could toward it and properly tighten the ropes around me as fast as I could, once everything was set I began my march. The cargo wasn’t that heavy, but it was quite noisy, like a bunch of metal stuff bumping into each other. A few steps away I remembered a little item I missed on my disguise: the old pony was chowing on something that looked like wheat, but luckily I could fix it with ease, I just grabbed the closest long grass I could find and pray no pony noticed the difference, I also was praying he wasn’t too popular, other than that, it was perfect. And again I departed into the unknown with my heart in my throat, a cart on my back, noise in my ears and foes all around me. I followed the tracks on the ground my ‘other self’ left on the mud with his wheels, trying to act as the old stallion and his slow motion, it was rather simple, not saying perfect. Or so I thought. For my surprise and dismay I found him midway amid a thin street, trotting back with his empty cart and whistling happily… the horror I felt in those few seconds can’t be described; I began to though on my chances, possible escape routes, the amount of energy I had left, yet everything was against me on this one, all I could do was only one thing: keep pretending. I began to walk, he was blurrily visible (I don’t know if it was the distance or my tired sight); then he became clearly visible, I begin to trot; the nerves must have taken the best of me because I started to amble as he was able to see me; I regained some composure and returned to walking, yet the thought of galloping out of there was quickly flourishing in my mind. He then approached even more, within a few meters of me, my mind was a runaway train with no logical ideas but ‘keep pretending’. Then he was right in front of me and opened his mouth – “That’s it” – I thought – “he is going to notice me and alarm everypony” >> I was ready to just go berserk the moment he shout out and let destiny to decided my future when: << “Howdy!!” >> Was all he said as he passed beside me … Still confused I managed to answer him something, it was just some guttural sound though. And he trotted away while whistling happily. I swear I sweated five liters that day (five liters are around a gallon Sir) but that was over, it ended as abruptly as it started, yet my escape wasn’t finished yet. So I keep following his track, but now I was trotting as fast and discrete as I could, I didn’t wanted to push my luck any further. After some turns I finally was out, the track disappeared as the muddy soil was replaced by a detached stone road. I was going to throw away the cart and run lose, but I was only outside the castle, and unable to fly, my fate was still unpredictable. I was wondering what to do next wen somepony called me out… well they was actually calling for the old pony, but how could they know, so I kept pretending. The ones who called me were the ones in charge of taking the garbage to the dump; however they didn’t seem happy to see me. One of them, which seemed to be the boss, told me with a frown – What’s wrong with ya hayseed?! Didn’t I tell ya that we were going to dump all o’ this? >> That explained it, that was why the old stallion returning so fast and so happy enough to ignore his doppelganger, he was getting a break, luckily for me, and even more luckily since I have heard his voice. << “Sorry sonny” – I told the light brown boss as indifferent as I could – “good old Sun is giving me some memories issues, I should lay down a bit don’t you think?” >> Though I do know his voice, I wasn’t sure if the way of speaking was right, but it must have been, as the bulky pegasus made no mention about it. << “O’right then, but we ain’t going to be able to take this one with us, so you are going to have to wait with it, this will take us just some minutes, so go get some rest old coot.” >> << “It sounds great to me, thanks sonny and be sure I will” – I wasn’t precisely lying this time . They packed everything into their flying cart which lifted off and disappeared into the distance. I took a moment to breathe so I removed my disguise, since I know the old pony wasn’t going to return in a while and the gate wasn’t precisely busy, it must have been a back door for servants and alike. As I rested a bit, I release myself of my cart and decided to see what was the noisy things they were dumping, yet I get another surprise: on the cart were pieces of Changeling’s armors piled one over another, I found it intriguing that they preferred to drop them instead of melting them for recycling. But your kind must have their own reasons. I look over it to see what were the scraps, on which I found << “Saddle pads, chest plates, my helmet, rump skirt…!!??” >> The surprises seemed to never end that day, just think on the possibilities; my helmet was there, of all places. And I was sure it was mine, it had the dent made by the purple coated unicorn’s magic blast. I give it a fast fix and put it on. I felt a bit more sure of myself once the cold metal was standing atop my head once more, its nostalgic sensation was a blessing to me. After a few minutes I determined I had rested enough and proceeded to leave the castle’s proximities… And that, Your Honour, is how one escapes an immortal without running. … Princess Celestia: I can’t believe this creature has been allowed to receive the privilege of being prosecuted after all the atrocious deeds he and his kind have done to us. His behavior during this process is obviously lacking any composure or respect toward our traditions and ponysona. He even has the nerve to proclaim himself an “ambassador of his kind”, chaos, that’s the type of ambassador he is I tell you. Please forgive my fault of respect toward you Your Highness, but this “drone” has taken the best of my nerves, I do pray that you reconsider the nonexistent utility of this process and bring it to a quick conclusion. We can’t be sure of what he is capable of doing, today he might have threatened us with that hideous spider-monster of his, while proclaiming it was just to “illustrate” his explanation, one of these days we may end up regretting having allowed him to be here with such ease. I can’t believe the indifference the other judges have taken in this matter; Sir Eiaquus looked so fascinated by that hideous creature’s creation. And Lord Maneos did nothing but give him a little warning, more like a lecture if you ask me. If it depended on me, I would have ended the accused testimony and returned it to it’s cell right away. But it wasn’t in my hoof. Again I plead to you wisdom and ask you to consider my words, of course I won’t ask to do him any harm, I wouldn’t stoop on the level of those savages, but we can give him a tour to the borders of our lands. Your servant: "Circuit Judge" Rottamanthys Law.
Chapter 3 (reviewed)Chapter 3 (reviewed) Chapter 3 Fourth day of trail Afternoon your honours, do all of you remember my story so far? Good! I would hate to repeat myself. No Your Honour, I have not forgotten that I just gave a portion of my narration this very morning. I was wondering about your amount of attention toward my story; after all it was until today that you began to take my words into ‘real’ consideration. No Sir, nothing has happened to me during the break lapse this tribunal has taken. If none of you mind I will continue! Outside the castle’s vicinity, taking a rest and having found my helmet, that’s how we left last time. Why yes Your Honour, I was indeed ‘naked’ during that time (though I was wearing my full armor), my black body was an outstanding view if there were a single pony around, yet there wasn’t. I was still ignorant as to why everypony was so busy everywhere. The armor’s importance? Can you specify yourself, My Lord? … Well is obvious your ignorance of this fact. Our kind doesn’t actually need any armor at all. Our very own and natural exoskeleton is as good as any metal set of plates from you, otherwise I would have died the moment I was ‘spared’ by the protective barrier. No, our ‘shells’ have a different use: they are meant to reduce the amount of attention we receive from others. No Sir, it doesn’t turn us invisible. It grants us a sort of perception enchantment. Since you know I’m here it’s impossible for you to ignore my existence, but if I were sneaking carefully enough, you would be unwillingly looking somewhere else, to this add our ‘changing’ ability and you have the perfect disguise. That’s what this armor is for; it’s in a way a different type of defense. Of course it’s not infallible, but it’s quite close. Well Your Honour, I’m afraid you are a bit wrong this time, I do not ‘wear this shell in order to run once my sentence is decided’. Despite its original use, I wear my armor with pride as a symbol of my rank and a commitment of my actions, much like the three of you with your robes and wigs. Why yes Your Honour, I am comparing my gown with yours. I really don’t see the problem this time, so if there are no other delays, I will begin (again) with my narration: I was rested long enough to re-conceal myself for another ten minutes. New objective: to find a place to properly hide and also to plan what to do next, which was more easy than stepping out of the castle. The guards were on duty on the streets too, but they were more similar to statues than patrols, plus Canterlot’s vogue seems to dictate to wear clothes big and voluminous enough to keep everypony at a safe distance, as if it was almost made for our infiltration needs. And as a former invader I have already memorized some individual’s appearances and clothes in order to go unnoticed if needed, so I have no problem disguising myself as a pompous unicorn and her full dress. Except for the part when I started to feel dizzy, as I once explain, to create and give form to such outfit requires a great amount of energy. Of which I wasn’t precisely overflowing with. My ten minutes where cut down to three, five at most. So as ‘pompous’ as I could, I incorporate myself to a much crowded road, it was risky but the fastest way to find a good hiding place, besides time wasn’t on my side. As an irony though, I found an incredible amount of ‘worker’ ponies all over, running from one place to another just like the servants on the castle. “Will you look at that” I thought to myself, if I were to know that sooner I could have avoided such a precarious situation, but still this was in my favor. With so much movement no one would noticed somepony’s ‘irregular’ behavior, as long my senses didn’t fail me and my armor didn’t disappear spontaneously. I was more curious than before about why were there so many preparations, and what for? As far I could tell, a sort of celebration was in the process of being held, it wasn’t that hard to notice, hence the banners, the flower arrangements and the complete lack of attention toward the damaged buildings busted during the invasion. Such buildings seemed to be temporally evicted, with signs on their doors prohibiting the entrance by some ‘structural compromise’. There was a whole block abandoned by these circumstances, with a building in particular which seemed resistant enough to hold a single inhabitant for a time. I was about to get into this building when I bump into a sand coated mare that was just leaving it, she seemed to be checking the internal damage of it since she was caring a bunch of measurement materials for building and construction and a working helmet. As she noticed me, she told me: << “You’d better not get close there ma’am, the place may look stable now but it may fall with a breeze” >> << “Is that so?” - I told her back, and added – “It’s just that I have some personal stuff I must retrieve from it no matter what, I wouldn’t like to have some filthy pony take it” >> The worker mare seemed bothered by my commentary, or more likely by how I said it. It seemed she didn’t quite like ponies with a sense of superiority, which in turn showed that my disguise was well interpreted. << “Ok then, be my guest your ‘snobiness’ – she told me with an annoyed expression – “but don’t blame me once the ceiling falls over your pompous ‘coiffiure’, got it?” >> << “Why of course…” – at this moment I noticed that my remaining strength must be on it’s final reserves, as my voice was starting to sound like my normal voice, as if two ponies where talking at the same time. << “Are you OK your ‘snobiness’?” – the mare asked concerned, obviously the change on my voice didn’t go unnoticed to her. << “Yea” – I answered as clear as I could – “too much celebration” >> << “Oh…” – she said with an even more annoyed face – “poor you, who doesn’t know what ‘work for a living’ means.” >> Again my disguise saved my shell, before she walked down the street I asked her one final thing – “is this building condemned? >> << “No as far I’m concerned, though it is in a peril standing, it can easily be fixed with some unicorn magic here and there, once the whole party is over that is, though even so it is going to take a while, there are too many buildings like this one that need to be fixed, now if you excuse me your ‘snobiness’. Have a nice day” >> << “I found myself a hideout” – I say to myself while I watched the mare trotting away. Once inside, and making sure there was nopony around watching, I remove my costume and proceed to investigate the abandoned house. There was a hall, a kitchen, a bath, all of them desolated, since their owners fled in terror, though the pipes seemed to work properly, and aside from the mess done by the evacuation, the place seemed very comfortable, if you didn’t take in consideration the constant creaking and rustle generated by the walls at each step I give. When I finally found a room I collapsed on the bed without caring for the resultant rattle generated by it. I was as tired as I had ever been in my life, both physically and mentally. Before falling asleep, I thought what to do next; I was capable of leaving Canterlot and heading for my homeland with ease after some proper rest. But that would have been safer and faster if I still had my wings, if I were to do the travel by land the dangers and risks to considerate were too much and too big. After all, not only the Everfree Forest has a collection of eccentric dangers. So I get to the conclusion of waiting for my wings to recover, then I shall head to my people; approximately in a month. But again destiny has different plans for me, and again I’m heading ahead of myself. All I can say of that day was that once I make my decision clear, I get into the realm of dreams as fast as if I were a falling meteorite. ┼ ┼ ┼ And that’s how I found a place to hide while being here. And since there is not much sun time left, I’m afraid it’s going to be all for today’s narration. No My Lord, I’m afraid that if I were to continue with my narration I may end up boring the jury. They do seem quite tired; after all, they are regular citizens aren’t they? And I need them all heedful to take a proper decision when my time comes to be at their hoofs. So if there is nothing else… Sir you want to keep inquiring of me about my behavior? Can’t we just label it as ‘rude Changeling behavior’ and call it a day? Very well Sir, if you want to know that much, let me tell you then: during the resting periods this Court takes, I’ve been brought to a provisional cell where I wait for my process to be resumed… no My Lord I haven’t been intimidated or mistreated in any way, all of my custodians have been very kind with me, within what I could call ‘kindness’ from a guardian to its prisoner. In this provisional cell I have a little couch, a small bathroom, a table with some snacks and a copy of the ‘Equestria Daily’s newspaper. I enjoy all of these little pleasures I been granted while I’m here (except the snacks), actually I count the minutes until I’m allowed to be there, especially the newspaper, their columns are my only contact with the outside world, your outside word. However, the reason for my ‘change of humor’, Your Honour, is this: Today’s issue held a recompilation of events that have happened so far on this tribunal. On those I had been called a ‘defector seeking refuge in your haven’, that I ‘will sell my own kind for it’ and that my Queen ‘must be already be working on plans to “silence” me’. First of all, if my Queen wants me to finish my existence, all she has to do is to order it. And I will vanish. Second: I have no problem being called a deserter or a coward, though I don’t approve such terms as truth, I’m aware that in the public eye am I nothing but an ex-member of a foreign army that tried to invade and conquer your land. The mistrust is entirely comprehensible; as it is comprehensible your complete lack of respect regarding how you treat others and their customs. Why no Sir this wasn’t the whole reason of my earlier discontent. I just take advantage of the situation to express my thoughts to the guys in charge of the newspaper; I hope they do receive the message. As for the main reason of my irritation … I’m afraid I’m too prideful to answer you directly… … Your Honour, if you want to know it so ‘imminently’ as you claim, you are perfectly capable to do so. Just read the whole article of today’s newspaper regarding the chronicles of the narration… I’m pretty sure you will find out why. Well My Lord, I don’t see the point of charging me with contempt when I’m already imprisoned… *S.N: Your Lordship here proceeded to inform the accused of the consequences of being charged of contempt, seclusion for one week without any recreation but the lectures he could get, prohibiting him from leaving his cell. And finally adding “you are willing to be judged as a consequence of your actions, well here is one of those consequences General”. *End of Note. … oh, I didn’t expect that. But still, I will not say a word about my actual predicament, I indeed want to be tried justly so: See you next week your honours. … Dear Princess: This young… let’s call him young, as I can’t really tell his current age, this young commander is really an infinite source of entertainment, he can be so polite and reserved at first, but he then gets all bold and daring in one instant. Indeed somepony, or rather ‘drone’ as he keep calling those of his race, somedrone filled with honor and pride, I am still puzzling myself of how could somedrone like him be alright with such a cowardly assault, the reason behind it must indeed be severe and serious, which in turn is bad news for us. To worse things more on that matter, if he was the only commanding drone with such high esteem of honor and duty, the next one in charge may not be as condescending with us. We must be prudent and gather as much information as we can, for now he’s been diligent and cooperative regarding that matter, if he keep going like this, we can prepare a countermeasure strategy for when they ever come back, or even a counter-retaliation plan to avoid it. We just need to keep listening to his words, and analyze that armor of his. In another matter, and since I know how busy you are with your royal duties, I took the liberty to investigate the source of his recent outburst of anger: it seems that the key factor for your niece and pupil to arrive at such good timing at our hour of need, despite that we were completely oblivious of it, was in a way his fault. According to the declarations provided by princess Cadence and your student Twilight Sparkle, they freed themselves from a trio of mind controlled mares (Minuette, Lyra Heartsrtings and Twinkleshine according to the records) with the aid of a bunch of wild flowers arranged to look like a bride’s bouquet, which were throw by your niece (the bride). If those three poor mares could have managed to retain our heroines for a few more minutes, our actual story may have been a little different. But it was thanks to the order abruptly given by our young General that they were able to escape in such a clever way. This must have caused the most incomprehensible sadness and frustration to our poor guest once he had read it in today’s dairy. But still, it was his doing which give us a chance in the end. Regarding my fellow judges, I have not much to say about them: I fully respect their respective achievements and ideals, and will respect their final resolution, despite the lack of experience in one, and patience in the other. With nothing else to add for now, I bid you farewell for now. Kindly yours "Honour Judge" Eiaquus Legit. P.S.: I will like to send the prisoner a newspaper per day, so he doesn’t bore himself to death. Is it fine with you, that’s it.
Chapter 4 (reviewed)Chapter 4 (reviewed) Chapter 4 Sixth day of trial. Because of the actions shown by the accused last, this jury has determined that it is mandatory for General XxX to have the assistance of a competent and instructed advocate, if he does indeed agree to be judged by our law system and submit to its causes. This position will be taken by licentiate Justice Care. From now on the accused will continue his ‘narration’ with the guidance of mister Care. Interrogation day three: I would like to say something about the continuous use of such meaningless protocol, but mister Care has instructed me about its importance for this procedure. Though he does agree with me about its questionable propose, yes Sir, I will stop ‘dragging’ my lawyer into unrelated matters, but are you implying that my words were a fault towards his respect? With all of my respect Sir, hehas openly agreed about that matter, after all: coming from a different law system must be a bit confusing for him, thus creating some irregularities to what he knows as a trial, or ‘unconventional wastes of time’. Your Hounor, you simply haven’t been with someone of this country of his (If he is an average colt, I can’t imagine how a more ‘radical’ folk may be) I must admit, it’s hard to speak casually to him without the sporadic appearance of some double sense words, then again, once getting serious he becomes quite trustworthy. Why yes My Lord, I do enjoy his company and guidance, he is absurdly kind to my humble dronesona and keeps instructing me on how this procedure works, how I should conduct myself and what should I avoid to say and do, after all I do want to prevent an incident as the one of last time, which I sincerely regret. *S.N: While saying these last words, the accused made a huge emphasis on the ‘regret’ part, as he also did a small bow. *End of note. With that said: your honors, my advocate wants to know: what is the reason for the days I haven’t been allowed to be present during this trial? Because I told him that I wanted to keep speaking for myself, Your Honour it is my shell which is at stake after all. I do know however, and mister Care also explained further to me, that it is customary for the accused to remain silent during the whole process, leaving interaction with the judges and jury to the attorneys. But I want to keep an active role rather than leaving everything in mister Justice’s capable hooves, as I have told you once; I am here to avoid possible resentment against my kind. Your Honour, my advocate understands my reasoning and has granted my selfish wish, therefore whenever he wants to make a question, it will come from me. Now would you be so kind as to answer his question which I made? So you were resolving if this procedure has any meaning, I’m sure you must have your reasons and thoughts to wonder that, but I’m also sure that you must have found a reason to keep this trial going. After all we are all here. So this means that I… we aren’t going to be left ‘uninvited’ again, does it not? Well then before I resume my narration, is there anything you want to know your honors? Yes Sir, we possess our own law enforcement, actually, that’s the third branch of our army: they are called the “Cops”. Though they only have the corps on the numbers, they are entirely made of civilian volunteers and retired soldiers, they have the job of maintaining the order within our cities. Of course they have their strong points but they are the last line of defenses if anything where to happen. Oh, you wanted to know about our legal system, very well; Evidence. We collect as much evidence as we can and bring justice to whoever needs it, there is very little talk on such processes, let alone elegance. Yet this system has maintained order for generations, with the search of evidence as one of those few ‘strong points’ our Cops possess. Anything else you may want to know? No, then I will proceed: I woke up several hours later, the sun was no more on the horizon, and the stars were beginning to glimmer in the velvet sky. Yet the silent night atmosphere was uncommonly noisy. I rose from the bed to see what the ruckus was about, yet to my surprise I found my whole magic reserves refilled, even my body was feeling quite better (aside from a little numbness), yet we don’t poses such healing ability so I was completely impressed. I forgot for a second why I woke up when I re-noticed the noise from outside, which was getting louder, I could see some light a few blocks away, yet clearly felt a beating sensation through my whole body, even the windows trembled at it. With the feeling of having my magic at its fullest and my body’s miraculous health, I decided to see what that ruckus was about, under a ‘disguise’ of course. I walked past a few streets and discovered that the noise was actually music, very loud music. As I walked closer I remember asking myself – how can ‘music’ possess such a strong beat? – yet, and I must admit it, the flow and rhythm was quite enjoyable. I was on those thoughts when an overwhelming group of ponies appeared before me. They all seemed to be around something, but I couldn’t see what, as far as I knew we were at the central plaza of Caterlot, the music and the mood was obviously for celebration, but celebration of what. Were they celebrating our defeat… “I can’t blame them” was my first thought but they seemed more happy than blissful, as if they were celebrating somepony’s achievement rather than the city’s victory. Carefully watching my personal space (though this time wouldn’t have mattered if I touched anypony) I walked further into the cheerful agglomeration, as I did so, I noticed that every gaze was aimed to one direction, and that very few were talking to each other. They were indeed celebrating somepony in particular, but who and why? I was no longer sure if this was a victory party at all. Then I finally get a glace to the center of the plaza, and there a saw what I never expected to see; Princess Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor dancing together, both of them with their engagement rings. I was… astonished. All I could think at the moment was “did our invasion mean so little to them?” At that moment I couldn’t tell which feeling filled me more: amazement or happiness. It was indeed ‘their’ victory party. ┼ ┼ ┼ The party was euphoric, the music loud and all around there were ponies dancing; yet there I was standing in the middle of it, bedazzled and disorientated. But never the less, a part of me was relieved. We imprison her, supplant her, and almost steal her most important somepony forever; and yet there she was, dancing and partying with him as her husband, as if there were no worries in this world at all. Despite my personal beliefs and thoughts at that moment, I felt a huge amount of respect toward her in that moment. Some other pony may have ended with resentment or bitterness after what happened to her, yet she was standing her ground as if nothing ever happened. Of course she may ‘do’ have some resentments of it, but that night, she didn’t show any sign of it, and that is not something everyone can do, pony or not. It was simply amazing, and to my surprise those six ponies we fought against were there too, right beside her. Apparently they resumed their previous endeavors once our invasion was terminated, and seemed as euphoric as the couple in their special night. With my curiosity calmed, and not willing to push my disguise within so many ponies, I decided to return to my hideout and call this a night. Or so I planned, as again destiny had other plans for me. As I was half way there a sudden attack of hunger assaulted me. I had been inactive and wounded for two days, and despite being able to feed on the love that was all around (thanks to the party) I was in the need of feeding directly from something. Now I knew why my body was in such good condition: I used up all my love reserves on healing my body and absorbed the love around for my magic. It seems my words doesn’t make much sense to you so let me explain it: our race feeds on love, true love being the best for our nutrition, but any love can fill us. Now, love is used for two things within our body, to fill and power up our magic and to literally nourish us. We actually eat the feeling, though we can eat other things, we prefer love. Mostly because we are carnivorous (that’s why I have never touched the meals I been offered here)… well what did you expect with these fangs, they are not for show. In a moment of our history we changed meat for love; it was easier to catch and wasn’t precisely lethal for the prey. But because of our ancient instinct, and my actual hunger, I felt the need to do some hunting that night. And I was in luck, I found myself a very innocent victim almost right away: a lonely unicorn filly of pale purple coat and gold mane. But fear not my jury, I did not harm her in any way, I simply implemented a common strategy for feeding. I approached her and said – “Good evening my little pony, is it all right for you to be in the middle of the night all by yourself?” – I was disguised again as a member of Canterlot’s pompous unicorns, a male this time, and expected her to be trust me with ease… nevertheless I was wrong. << “None of your business sir, have a good night” – she told me with a surprisingly polite voice and started to walk away. << “Huh?... wait! – I was really impressed by her answer, but I wasn’t going to leave her in the middle of the night, and I was hungry – “you should respect your elders little one, that was a rude thing to say” >> << “And what was precisely the rude part of it my good sir?” – she answered me again with polite words yet not slowing down her pace – “you aren’t hopping around and telling your affairs to everypony around are you? So why should I?” Sharp. << “Well… somepony is trying to give you some company in this huge and lonely city, you could show a little appreciation.” >> << “Well sir, as far I know, you could be a fillynaper or even a changeling, so I’m afraid I should keep being by myself, thank you” >> ‘Jiakes!’… it was the first time I ever see a little filly distrustful of others, let alone smart. No offence your honors, but your children trust others too much, and that may end being taken advantage of, as I try to do. However I didn’t have those thoughts in my head, I was looking for ways to ensure my survival, and finding fellow Changelings was part of it. And as I said, this child didn’t look as your average filly and seemed too mature for her apparent age, as she didn’t have a cutie mark either. So I did the only thing I thought would ensure me a good result; I spoke in my idiom and language, asking her if she was a servant of the queen. If she were to be one of my kind, she would answer me and we should plan from there on, on the other hoof if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be able to hear my words and nothing would happen. However, she did hear me, but she didn’t understand me. << Say what again sir? – was her counter question to mine, I said my words ‘strong enough’ to be understand at the distance we have with each other, there was no chance for a drone to not understand what I said. Yet she seemed surprised by my words – “we don’t have a queen and you know that, right?” >> How she managed to hear my words, and even understand them, is still a mystery to me. Yet she seemed ignorant of the feat she just realized and more interested in me now, she was even enjoying it, so I did the only thing I know to do best: keep pretending. << “Ha, see! I know I could make you smile somehow – I think I overdramatized my reaction that time, but she seemed to be fine with it too – So you are not a servant of the evil queen that tried to take over our land! Good, good!” >> << “Of course I am not sir, but know this, I’m not smiling by your words, but by the mere fact that your silly act makes me remember somepony… some very silly and klutzy somepony” >> I started to feel my hunger been filed a little at that moment, this was what I was after. As I mentioned before, I was performing a simple strategy to cease my hunger, a movement to feed ourselves and get some information in the process, is a common performance our scouts are taught to do if they intern themselves too deep into enemy land. And it was working for me, all I had to do now was keep it up and I would be satisfied in no time – “klutzy? That’s a bit rude too, don’t you think little one? >> << “Believe me I would buck anypony who dared to say such as an insult to her – ‘so this somepony is a she’ I thought – but she gives so many reasons to be called that way that it’s just too hard to not doing it” >> << “Mhm… – I don’t remember if I said that as actually giving a thought to her words, or if I was just enjoying the bliss of feeling my hunger gone little by little – is this somepony close to you? >> By how fast she was feeding me it was obvious that she was, but I was supposed to ignore this fact, so she answered me – You can bet she is, she is my mum!” >> ‘Figures’ was my inner verdict, with this all fell into place: whoever her mother was it was someone shortly dependable, or maybe of questionable intelligence or perhaps even both, however she was of good nature as her daughter keep caring for her, no, more like guarding her. This was why she was so mature for her age, she wasn’t just looking after anypony, she was looking after her mother. It made me feel a bit guilty, taking advantage of such a remarkable filly, but I was nearly filled up, so I keep her company for a while longer. << “She must be very proud of you – I sincerely tell her – at such age and taking the attitude of a grown up, in must have been hard for you” >> << “Wrong this time sir – she told me with confidence, and no politeness – I can take care of things just fine, and I like it. Yes there are times I take care of some things… specially her screw-ups, but she can be very dependable on her own way, which has giving me the time to enjoy myself too, she also dislikes to be nursed every second”. There was more pride that anything in her speech, but then she suddenly blushed and quietly added – “but she ‘is’ proud of me” >> << Good for you – I added as my hunger was finally gone – but I can’t conceive why you are alone here, where is your mother?” – I genuinely asked her. << She is traveling all the worlds there are with a friend – she told me with such a serene look that I couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or making fun of me – you wouldn’t understand.” >> << Okay… so you are staying with…? << A friend of the family, she takes care of me sometimes, we were all at the wedding reception, but I decided to return before it was too late” >> << “I see this friend trusts you too, it is not normal to let a filly walk by herself at this hour, especially when an invasion was avoided just yesterday” >> << “You really resemble my mother sir, it was three days ago – my face should have been that of ‘!?’ – You should be more careful. >> I could see now why I was so hungry, and why my body was in such better condition; I sleep for half a week. I was thinking about it when the little filly said – Here we are! – as I heard her words I noticed we were in front of what looked to be a second class inn, not elegant but comfy. << “Then ‘big’ filly, take care of yourself” >> << “You too sir – she told me with polite, yet warm words as she walked in, then she turned and said – you know, we are going to be here for a few more days, it should be nice if we meet up and chat again sir.” >> << “Yea, it should, let’s see what happens – I told her, not really expecting to see her again – until then take care of your mother too.” >> << “Good night sir –she told me as she disappeared inside the building, however this was the only time she talked as a filly of her age. And with nothing else to do, I returned to my hide out to exanimate my body a little closer. … To our beloved princess Celestia: This lawyer has definitely brought a ‘change’ to this procedure, besides the new attitude of the accused toward us, he seems quite diligent for somepony from Mexicolt. Yet it is quite impressive that he summited himself for the position, we originally left the charge free for anypony who wishedto use it, yet no one did. Then this Care came and cares. My apologies for the terrible attempt of a joke. He is very difficult to speak with, though, once we are outside the courthouse, as the General pointed out, one can’t say a single word without him distorting it into a completely vulgar meaning, yet somehow funny. But his attitude during actual session … it’s completely contrary; it almost seems to be somepony else, very inconceivable. As for our accused itself, he seems somehow more relaxed now that mister Care is working with him, I can’t tell if he is at ease for continuing with his help, or relived for having somepony besides him. Anyway, judges Rottamanthis and Eiaquus seem pleased with this addition, though I don’t doubt the LJ will say something about it soon. As for the time being, I will make sure you know if anything else happens. Your humble servant “High Judge” Maneos Right. PS: We are looking for the filly he mentioned on today’s narration.
Chapter 1 (reviewed)~The Changeling~ Chapter 1 Equestria’s Royal Tribunal Supreme Court of Special Events ~Canterlot~ Preceding the honorable Judges: - Your Lordship Maneos J. - Your Honour Rottamanthys LJ. - His Honour Judge Sr. Eiaquus. First day of trial The accused; a remnant officer member of the force that invaded Canterlot a few months ago, captured by the royal guard the day ** of ** of the current year, charged of committing confederacy and acts of war against our sovereign nation by assaulting the royal castle and its surroundings, subjugating our beloved Princess Celestia in the process, all of this in an attempt of to capture this capital city and hence all of Equestria for so far known reasons of conquest and slavery. This jury will determine the accused‘s fate based on our evidence and whatever may the accused say on his behalf. Interrogation day one: I can talk now? My lords, members of the grand jury, spectators in general, I’m here to receive proper judgment and punishment for the acts I committed against your country and people, yet in the process, I hope for you to understand that we, the Changelings, were desperate, that we have no choice. But first I would like to ask: Are we going to listen to that long introduction every time we begin? ... Good to know … Your Honour, I will stop inquiring the scribe, but I just found annoying that this interrogation may start this slowly every time… Yes Sr. I’m done complaining. My name and rank, My Lord? I’m General XxX of the Changeling army, third division known as the Tagmateers (a sort of royal guard), in charge of protecting Queen Chrysalis herself (and at her complete disposal). I was commander in charge of the invading force (as your scribe kindly pointed out), which in turn was under direct orders of our queen. She was in charge of the planning, infiltration, strategy, and kidnaping Princes Mi Amore Cadenza (which I assisted). As I mentioned, the whole invasion was planned by Queen Chrysalis herself, hence a lack of true love in our kingdom which serves as source of nutrition to our species, however we have survived this far thanks to… So Your Honour, as you say: this tribunal has no interest in these “trivial” matters…? … Very well then, what does this tribunal want to know? About the invasion? I hoped you would like to know more about my people… Though, I do understand this must have gotten all of you off-guard. We did plan it that way. No My Lord, I’m not mocking your kind. I will do as I have been ask and answer the question: The invasion was planned to be like this: First, the kidnapping of Princess Cadence so the queen could take the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, under her control with enough spare time. Second, a reason for him to use his magic force field which would weaken him and keep the whole Royal Guard distracted while creating a (false) sense of safety, thus the threat anonymously send. Third, an excuse to keep everypony busy in other matters (especially both royal Princesses). For this, the wedding arrangements worked just fine. Fourth, to assure the wedding and invasion proceeded without interferences. And fifth, to commence the invasion. Mhm!? Sr. what do you mean by “expand my explanation”? Oh! It’s fine for me to be more detailed if you want a more complete story of the events, but it will take me some time to explain it all. Is it ok for this tribunal? Very well then. It was rather easy to lure Princess Cadence out of the royal palace and into the caves beneath Canterlot. One of us disguised as her fiancé, the rest is evident so I will leave that aside. The problem was her fiancé itself, who noticed the switching right away. Of course, he thought this was some sort of joke at first, but he eventually grew tired of it, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his wife-to-be… Then we recurred to force in order to subdue him. I must admit though, that Captain Shining Armor doesn’t hold his title for show. Half of our forces where disabled rather quickly, yet the numbers were with us, and the Queen lost no time in putting him under her enchantment, despite the risk this whole process had implied, having been done within the city. Phase one was completed in a mere day. The rest of the plan ran simultaneously, with phase 4 being the most critical of them all. The one that strictly required for the Queen to marry Shining Armor… … … (Apologies My Lord I get distracted!) Not for love I must add, but strategy, in order to prevent Princess Cadence from becoming a treat if she were to escape the caves (as she did), and for the Queen to gain even more power. After all, everypony loves a couple just married. Yet this complete plan was ruined by one single mare… But I’m getting ahead of the events. Let me go back to where my Queen had just taken over Captain Shining Armor’s mind. Here, we take the opportunity of listening to some intelligence firsthoove. Here is where it gets complicated, and here is where my narration starts: << “Your name?” – I asked the now hypnotized Captain – “Your rank and your office?” >> << “Shining Armor” – he answered without hesitation, nor emotion – “Captain, in charge of the royal guard.” >> I continued inquiring the numbers on their ranks, their regular patrols, barracks and arsenal locations, evacuation routes, and contingency plans, and here he told me… << In case of major chaos, the Elements of Harmony will be dispatched to their bearers in Ponyville, so a countermeasure can be planed. >> << “The ‘what’ again?” – Despite our planning time, we have never heard of such things – “What are these ‘elements’?” >> << “The Elements of Harmony are the strongest weapons in all of Equestria, discovered by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna more than a thousand years ago. Their power is capable of vanquishing great threats, such as Nightmare Moon and Discord, both twice.” >> Shocked, we were. Our country had heard of both creatures as beings of unthinkable evil and power; creatures of folklore, myth and legend. It was much to our surprise to know that they did actually existed. Nevertheless, that there was something strong enough to defeat them with such ease. << “Who are the bearers of these elements that you mention?” >> << “Two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns, all residents of Ponyville; my sister being one of them. Though they are the actual users, they lack experience on their control, so we keep the Elements safe here in Canterlot, in one of the castle buildings” – He provided me with its location. As you may have all guessed, this was an inconvenience, and inconveniences have to be dealt with, so I reported this to my Queen. Once I finished, she said: << “I do know of this weapon. Good work, getting this information! – I wanted to say something, but it is not a soldier’s job to argue with his Queen, and I foolishly thought there would be another moment for it. – “But fear not” – she continued – “I have no intention to let them use it against my subjects. If everything goes as planned, we will take over this entire city before they can even react, and I have no intentions of bringing those fillies here. They will remain in their Ponyfilth as far I’m concerned” – she proclaimed while magically bursting a letter Shining Armor was writing into green fire (for his younger sister, I believe). After some silence, she changed her severe expression, and told me – “So, have faith my old friend.” >> << “Ma’am, by thy bidding” – was all I could tell her… Not that I was afraid of her, or something alike. I just… I just wish I could have told her that I do believe in her. If I can say this, as a break, of the few things I can brag about in my life, it’s being one of Queens Chrysalis’ closest and oldest friends... Mhm… By the look of your faces, I can tell you are either not believing me, or are not interested, though I can answer you one thing with all sincerity: I could care less for whatever you want to believe or care! Yes Your Honour, I’m aware of my behavior, and of its possible consequences… I will continue then. Days passed like years, fearing that our plan may be discovered, yet no one suspected anything. Princess Cadenza’s change of humor was interpreted as pre-wedding stress. No one was expecting us to be so close of the castle, and thanks to Shining Armor’s intel, we were able to avoid the patrols. Everything was going perfectly until one day, our Princess was looking for me urgently. “Something happened,” was all the message. I disguised myself and rushed toward my Queen (we have our ways of going in and out the force barrier, but only one or two per time). I expected an ambush, someone chasing her, that our cover had been blown, or a fierce battle. Instead, I found my disguised queen in the middle of a garden making a tantrum. ‘So much for the epic rescue’, I thought – “What is thy bidding, my Queen?” >> The instant she noticed me, I received a glare fierce enough to scare a manticore, and a not-so-different shout – “THEY ARE COMING!!” >> After a few seconds of recollecting what I could understand (she does have a ‘royal’ voice), I could only answer – Beg thy pardon? Who is coming…? The enemy!? – is what I was going to ask, but I get abruptly cut off – “MY SOON-TO-BE SISTER IN LAW! AND HER FRIENDS!!” >> After another moment of recollection I finally reacted – “The element’s users! But how?” >> << “CELESTIA!!! Apparently, Shining Armor’s sister is also Celestia’s ‘personal’ student, so she sent her a ‘personal’ invitation, and of course to her friends too!” >> << “We could swap with them before they ever reach the city” – I proposed. << “NO! Cadence’s behavior has been easy to explain thanks to the wedding, but I doubt Celestia will ignore her faithful student if she were to see similar changes on her, despite having fooled her with my act, I don’t see Celestia as a complete fool. And since they are expected to come, we can’t make them disappear either. But be at ease” – she continued – “I suggested Celestia to give them especial endeavors on the wedding’s preparations, so they will be too busy to notice everything. Apparently, each one of them takes too much pride and joy in their jobs.” >> << “Then if everything has been arranged for, our plans by thy greatness… What am I here for?” >> << “What?! I can’t shout out my frustration?” – Our Queen always had an aura of arrogance and superiority around her, to see such a soft side was a privilege, a dangerous privilege. I couldn’t answer. This time it was fear, not that I think she may decapitate me if I said something rude… I think… hope… However, I respect my queen enough to be silent and allowed her to continue. To dissimulate we walked around the gardens. While we moved aimlessly, my Queen continued to tell me all the things she had endured and done so far in order to conceal herself, and how annoying it was to pretend to be somepony else for so long, especially with the bridesmaids – “despite having them completely under my lies” – she told me exasperated – “they are annoyingly close, curious and close. Don’t they know about personal space?” >> Once getting rid of all that tension, she said – “However, all of this greatness will be ours soon. Soon, our people will have to live with scraps no longer! Soon, these ponies will know what it is like to live under somepony else’s hooves!” >> Pride and determination shone in her eyes – “The element bearers will arrive tomorrow by train. If I take care of one of them, the elements will just be pretty garments and nothing more. Keep the troops safe, my General. I will deal with this side the best I can” – she added confidently – “Not that it is that hard. And don’t forget to keep an eye on our special guest.” >> << “By thy bidding!” >> (By now I’m pretty sure you may have noticed this but let me explain it anyway: ‘What is/by thy bidding’ is our usual way of entering or retiring from our Queen’s presence.) I left, not without noticing how she was approached by her ‘friends,’ and despite all the ‘inconveniences’ the queen mentioned, she was looking radiant, powerful, healthy… What do I mean by healthy…? Oh right, my Sir, you don’t know about our situation. You see, for us to be healthy is a rare thing because of our actual shortage of love. Look at me. I have the size and complexion of your average mare, though I’m a male, and a warrior. The Captain’s love was sure doing wonders for my Queen, as sad as it was… Normally she gets nutrition from the love of her subjects, but that’s no longer enough. You want to know how your Princess was, Your Honour? Well we may need her imprisoned but, definitely not gone, so we took care of her while in our custody. Some hay for a day to keep her alive, but not enough for her to escape… If my answer was going to cause such ruckus then why ask in the first place?! No My Lord, I’m not whining, I’m merely complaining, politely. … I returned to my post and kept waiting. A few days passed until the Queen sent another message, which said ‘I can’t stand these “bridlemaids” anymore! Put them in the caves. They are already there.’ Thanks to our previous chat, I could make an idea of why she did it, so I took my personal maneuver team and headed towards the entrance of Canterlot’s caves. There were three young unicorns; one blue, one beige, and one turquoise. Princess Cadence’s original bridesmaids, all of them wearing their colorful dresses with joy, if they could only know. Thanks to being lured there by our Queen, it was easy to ambush them. Though they did get surprised at first, they put no resistance for our mind control enchantment. I took the opportunity and gave them the order to let no one out of the caves, to guard it… But they seemed to disagree. You see our mind control is based on what we can make the target believe. If they didn’t believe they could do “X” thing, they will not. However, Sergeant Acari, my second in command and most trusted subordinate, came up with an idea. << “The Princess is getting ready for the wedding in her quarters” – she said while pointing into the cave – “But she may get some pre-engagement panic. So, no matter what, don’t let her out until…” >> Here she seemed to run out of juice (as you may say), so I added – “Until she comes out to throw her bouquet, which you will catch” – Acari give me a disapproval eye (how can females have such hurtful stares?) since it made no sense. ‘Why would the bride come out to throw her bouquet without being married?’ However (and to our surprise) the three seemed to agree to the terms and guard the ‘Princess’ Quarters’. After leaving those three in the caves I asked my Sergeant – “Where did you get this idea sergeant? Pretty clever indeed.” >> << “Obviously somedrone who is not married wouldn’t know such a thing. Besides, they are wearing their dresses with excitement. It wasn’t that hard to deduce” – she answered me with some extravagant pride. But then she changed to a more distressed tone – “Once this is over, our families will be fed properly, right?” >> Sergeant Acari formed a family some years ago. Despite being one of the few female officer in our army, she has the determination, strength, and courage for the job. She may already be a high ranking officer by now if she wasn’t so concerned for her child’s needs. I constantly keep telling her to have a little more faith in her husband. ‘That weak-link?! He barely proposed me! Like hay I let him take care of my children!’ is her usual response to it. I took a deep breath and time to think before I could answer her. << “Sergeant, this whole plan is for us. All of us, not just the royalty. So have faith in our Queen, as she has faith in us to deliver her expectations. Tomorrow, we must proceed as smoothly and swiftly as possible to assure a brighter future to our people, your children included sergeant.” >> << “Sir!” >> I smiled back at her, hoping that I calmed her fears. Then I told her to take a soldier of her choice, disguise as one of the three new captives in the caves, and keep a good watch over the Queen, reporting immediately if anything were to happen. I know my Queen is tough enough to handle things by herself in case of any unexpected event (as she did), but I wanted to give her some extra protection, however small. ‘Tomorrow will be the longest day for both of us: ponies and changelings’, was all I could think that night. The next day, we waited for the signal to begin. Within our ranks, the silence was sepulchral, and the tension thick. As the time became near, and the moment of truth walked upon us, a mixture of anticipation, apprehension, and despair grew within my troops. So in order to dissipate their doubts, I face them and say: << “Soldiers! Brothers and sisters of mine! Hear me! Today is the day we have been waiting for so long. We have come to conquer this land; to invade it and to take over it, but not for glory, not for pride, and neither for wealth. We are here to seize not this city, but a new hope for our people! To seize them a better future! Feel neither sadness nor fear about what we are going to do! It’s the right of every living creature to fight for its happiness, and the happiness of their kind, so let’s all fight for that happiness! Let us all fight for a brighter tomorrow for our country! Let us all fight for our Queen, for your families, and for ourselves …”! << “Think on those families, those friends, those compatriots who stayed behind, all expecting us; not as victors, not as conquerors, not with glory, they only expect us to return home safely with them! We are here not to lose, not to fail! Do this for them! Do this for your country!! DO THIS FOR YOUR QUEEN!!!” >> In that precise moment, the wedding bells of the chapel resonated all over Canterlot. This was the signal for us to begin, and my cue to shout as loudly I ever did. << “TAGMATEERS!” – I screamed as I flew over them – “WITH OUR QUEEN!!” >> A roar was the only comprehensible answer I get from my soldiers. Their doubts washed off by their own shouts as they climbed up in flight, covering the cerulean sky as a gray maelstrom. ┼ ┼ ┼ Well, I hope this break hasn’t made anypony forget what I have said so far. Now I will continue: As planned, all sentries were previously captured before the start, so no one noticed our numerous presences, and the force field was so weakened that some cracks were showing already before we even started attacking, which we did not hesitate to do. With the toughest drones of our soldiers ramming over the entire dome, the thunders generated by each appearing fissure only exited us more and more. It was just a matter of time. From the chapel came running out a pony, a unicorn to be precisely, which I recognized as our disguised ally. He only made a wave of hooves, a signal which said ‘The Queen’s cover has been blown!’ << “FASTER!” – was the answer I gave to my troops as they hastened their ramming – “Faster you maggots! Our queen needs us!” – A few seconds after I finished my sentence a flash of light came out the chapel’s windows: a magical showdown. However, it lasted only a few seconds. All I could do was wait for the force field to fall as I keep looking over the window, waiting for a second flash to show up. It felt as if I waited an eternity. Yet not a light, but a group of ponies came out. Two earth ponies, two unicorn ponies, and two pegasus ponies; the users of the Elements of Harmony. Followed immediately by Acari which with a single hove signal indicate us to ‘GET THEM!’. It all happened so fast. The very instant they came out the whole dome filled completely with cracks – “NOW!” – I shouted and all of us rammed towards the force field, blasting it to smithereens. While the pieces were falling, I gave my Officers their orders – “Company α, the armories and barracks! β & γ take the civilians and remaining soldiers into custody! ε will cover the exits! Δ will protect the queen, and Ω is with me!” – And then the last of the magic barrier hit the ground and at that moment we were assaulting Canterlot. I took my platoon to directly deal with the element users, sending first our interceptor force… Yes Sr. the odd oozy lime we generate it’s a form of our magic. Let me take another break from my narration and explain to you how this works. That is, if I’m granted with your permission My Lord… Thank you very much; I will be as brief as possible. As regular unicorn ponies, our magic allows us to manipulate any object in our line of sight (obviously potency varies depending on individual and object). However, this magic has another function. We can turn it into a solid, organic, jelly-like mass that we can use in an infinity of ways, since we can give it elasticity, resistance, sharpness, form, softness, toughness, and even stickiness if we want. The more evident way of use your people may have witnessed is in the ram-charge we used all over the city and the hoofcuffs, used to restrain the defeated foes. Hypnosis and mimicking are other types of magic we can control, as long we are strong enough that is. But these need different explanations which I will leave for another time. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the element users! Our interceptors didn’t make any progress on their capture, but they did direct them into a square big enough for the rest of us to engage them freely. One of my subordinates took the chance to show those little ponies the Changeling’s average engagement strategy: First, to confuse the foe, as he took the form of the first one of them who challenged us; second to shock it, mimicking her every movement; and finally, taking the initiative, by sneaking the first blow. Which immediately inspired my forces into action. A bunch of privates didn’t lose their chance to do the same, as they also taunted the purple coated unicorn (which seemed to be their leader). At this point, I only gave one single order: ‘to end this quickly’. I changed myself into one of them (the orange coated one to be precisely) and charged towards them. To my disgrace and shame, I must admit this wasn’t the greatest of my battles, nor of my drones. Normally, we Changelings can sense which one of us under disguise, but here, and with all this love around us, we could barely know who was beside us. Because of this, we were wreaking havoc with ourselves as soon the brawl started, yet we managed to keep giving them some fight… For a few instances, the disorganization for our side was bad enough, but those fillies are no softies either: bucking, sweeping, slapping, staring, blasting, surprising, they gave us more hell that we could imagine… << “We aren’t going to win this” – I said to myself – “But neither are we going to lose it.” >> Thereupon I grab the first Officer I could find, and gave him the order – “Grab as many drones you can from here and go the building at the end of this street” – I indicated him the direction where the Elements of Harmony where supposed to be held – “Summon as many other soldiers you may find on your way and prepare an ambush! We will give you as much time as we can.” >> << “SIR…!?” – was all he could answer before I threw him into the air. << “For today, son!” >> And off he went with many soldiers behind him – “As much time as we can… let’s see how long that is.” >> I couldn’t finish this sentence either, as a purple light blasted me into the distance. Throwing out both my helmet and my disguise, I almost blacked out, yet somehow remain conscious. While I recovered, I saw how every soldier who tried to face them ended flying away some good meters… (One meter is around three hooves, Your Honour). At this moment, I realized how bad our condition was. Not as an army, but as living beings. Six young, untrained, civilian mares were bucking our flanks as if they were pros. Yes, I have said that we have the general disorder at our disadvantage, but I keep wondering if that even mattered. Changelings were defeated one after another like bugs… Ironic isn’t? << “No time for you to rest” – I say to myself again – “If we can’t stop them it’s all over!!” >> And again I charged to the ‘furball’, and again I fought some of my kind before I could face one of the main six threats, and again I get bucked away. As I rose from my recent fall, I see out of the corner of my eye how one of them aimed a canon toward one of my drones. By instinct I pushed him out of its blast with one single problem: I was its target now, at zero range. All I could say was – “Buck!” >> There was a flashing light followed by a burst of colors and forms which didn’t kill me, to my surprise (and relief), but did knock me down for good this time. And from the bursting of light, I fell into the wrapping darkness. Alone with my thoughts, I think over what had happened, what we have done, what made us do all of this, what was at stake, until a voice started to call me back. << “…ir! … ke u… SIR! Wake up!” – As my consciousness returned to this world, the voice became clearer – “Are you alright Sir!?” >> It was the same drone I sent to set the ambush. On his face I could see a mix of concern and bliss, hard to believe – “Yeah, I’m fine… mhm… captain…?” >> << “Antenna Sir! Captain Antenna of Ω’s eighth squad!” – he answered, with what I could only call admiration while he enthusiastically added – “I’m new in your platoon.” >> << “That figures. My apologies for my disrespect, Captain, as also my appreciation. It seems the ambush worked out” – I could tell by the happy roar that could be heard all over the city. << “Sir, your plan was a success! We arrived right on the moment they were about to enter the element’s chamber, but if it wasn’t for Σ’s surprise appearance, we would have been too late.” >> If My Lord and this jury may recall, I never mentioned this platoon, by the simple fact that they weren’t supposed to be here in the first place. Σ belongs to the second division of our army known as the armada, at direct order of the council. What they were doing here is beyond my knowledge, but whatever it may been it didn’t matter, as their staying was brief, like ours. But I was unaware of these future events, so I inquired my subordinated about them – “Why is Σ here? Did they give you any explanation about it?” >> The Captain’s face confirmed my doubts before he answered me – “No, Sir. After aiding with the capture of the users, they enclosed themselves within the Elements of Harmony’s chambers, without giving us any explanation at all” – I wanted to ask more but here he told me – “Oh! Right on time. There go the captured ponies!” – He pointed towards a group of drones ‘escorting’ two earth ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi; the captured element users. << “Where are you taking them?” – I ask him. << “To our Queen by her instructions.” >> I wanted to know more about Σ’s presence here, so I left the Captain in charge of their custody. But before leaving, I gave them a quick view. They all looked tired and scared (I couldn’t blame them). All of them but one, who was discreetly looking at all directions, not with fear but as searching for an opportunity to break loose, such distraction could have given them a chance, a chance I wasn’t kind enough to let slip – “Restrain that blue pegasus!” – I ordered to the ones close to her, and added – Gently, we are not savages.” >> And left to ‘kindly’ argue with our unexpected visitors… Yes, Your Honour. We talked all throughout the invasion, otherwise it would be impossible for us to coordinate all forces. Why the question? ...Well of course you couldn’t hear us. Our mother language isn’t like yours at all, actually, only some animals can hear it. *Scribe Note: The accused began to emit sounds I can only catalogue as screeches, similar to the ones done by bats. From those screeches, only a bunch of them were loud enough to be heard. The accused seemed quite amused while giving the whole ‘speech’ on his language. *End of note. As you can see, or rather hear, we communicate on a scale impossible for your kind to listen, which of course facilitated our infiltration. Is this enough answer for you Your Honour? I will interpret your silence as a yes, and I found it delightful that Sir Eiaquus enjoys this at his fullest. It is good to make somepony laugh. I hope he can return soon. That’s quite some laughter. Yes, My Lord. I will remain in order, but I can’t promise for His Honorable Judge. I took my time to rendezvous with Σ, and enjoyed the views of the streets. Everydrone was more than excited, they were drunk in happiness. I couldn’t blame them at all. I myself was very happy too. The invasion was a success, there were no losses on both sides and in the end, my Queen didn’t get engaged with Captain Shining Armor. I was so happy, that I could get carried away with the bliss as the rest of my kind did, but protocols needed to be done, and my rank had come with responsibilities. Halfway there, I remember getting surprised by some sort of whirring noise that hurt me in a way I have never experienced. I couldn’t recognize what exactly was the source of it, but I could determine where it came from; an alley beside me. I just turned my head when a colt with grayish amber coat bumped into me. He rose up as fast as he fell and continued with his escaping, not willing to be caught. I can remember him saying something like – “Sorry mate, got to run! Oh! And sorry for taking advantage of your fine ears!” – while running into the distance. Shortly after, some soldiers came out the same alley giving him chase. << “BRING HIM ALIVE!” – a familiar voice shout them behind me – WE MUST KNOW WHAT HE USED AGAINST US!” >> Sergeant Acari sure looked angry, but in a funny way, until she noticed my presence – “WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, SIR!” >> << “First of all, stop screaming at me.” >> << “…WHAT!? SORRY SIR I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” >> << “I notice it” – I said to her, doubting she could heard me. << “WE HAVE THIS COLT, A MARE, AND A FILLY CORNERED IN THE ALLEY BEHIND US WHEN HE SUDDENLY ASKED US ‘WHAT IS BLACK, BIG, SCARY AND HELPLESS?’… why am I shouting?” >> << “I guess you can hear again now” – for my relief – “So, then what happened?” >> << “I don’t know. We looked at each other, wondering if he was some sort of crazy loon, when he took the opportunity and make that noise… somehow. Ouch... I’m gonna have a headache tonight.” >> I couldn’t avoid laughing a bit about it – “And what happened to the others captives?” – I asked her. << “They fled as soon he made that sound. It was all a diversion to give them a chance of escaping.” >> << “Well, it did work, but we have complete control of the city. We will catch them in the end. In the meantime” – I was going to ask Sergeant Acari to accompany me on my search over Σ when our dream came to an end. From the chapel a burst of light erupted slowly. As it gradually intensified its glowing, a shill on the back of my neck grew too. I turned to shout ‘Retreat!’ to everydrone, but I was too late. The moment I opened my mouth was the moment the light exploded, pushing every one of us out of Canterlot. All I could do was watching how that wall of light took every single Changeling, and threw them far into the distance. All of them but me. The magic barrier did throw me high into the sky but not into the distance. It threw me right into a woodland garden where I hit every tree in there, or at least I felt it that way. While I fell down, I could hear the screams of fear and surprise of all of my comrades as they were projected out of Canterlot. I could even feel the desperation on their voices. Then, I hit the ground, and as I heard my Queen’s voice disappearing off in the distance, my consciousness slip out of me until I finally fainted for the second time on that day. … To our beloved Princess Celestia, By your command, we have begun the trials of this Changeling officer. His respect shown during the whole first day of procedure is elegant and stoic indeed, but he never lost a chance to taunt or disrespect us at every opportunity he found. We now know that this invasion has been intentional, and delivered with fraud from with at least some months of anticipation, and that their planning was indeed diligent. The accused has shown that he supports his Queen and country firmly, despite the fact he is giving us so much information about them, which could easily be seen as treason by his own kind. As for the other matter you have commanded me, I was unable to determine the reason as to why this whole attack was planned. Lord Justice Rottamanthys was expressing his spite toward the accused more than once during the entire interrogation, which actually seems mostly a narration. LJ seems to ignore any possible logical cause on the Changeling’s side, and wants to punish them as harsh as possible. I will try to convince him into letting the accused express himself more freely, of course as long he keeps his composure. If such reason is big enough to make them re-launch an attack, we are nowhere near safe. In the end, your decision of making this trail with three judges was asserted. No pony can tell what kind of rushed sentence the young LJ could have dictated, as he held some kind of grudge against the Changelings, and has shown no intention of changing his mind. On the other hoof, I can’t tell what Sir Eiaquus is thinking, or even doing here. Indeed he is a senior of remarkable knowledge and experience, but he is also well known for his soft and playful way of directing trials. He really seemed to enjoy listening the accused’s story, and he seems eager to hear more about it. As for me, I may not have as much experience as my followers Mrs. and Miss. Justices, but I can tell that my priority is to remain as neutral as possible, and to determine a just verdict based on the facts and the evidence. I will send you more of my reports as this trial develops. Your humble servant, “High Judge” Maneos Right.
