Life as a Secret Changeling Prince

Jung-ho honestly didn’t know what to expect with pony food, the fact that they were herbivores already bothered him. But he wasn’t expecting to see a strange looking sandwich be slid in front of him by Bright Mac, “what is it?” He simply asked.

Bright Mac gasped and lightly punched his shoulder, “you ain’t never had a hayburger?! Heck, you really haven’t learned much about Equestria, huh?”

Jung-ho shook his head, “all I knew is that you’re technicolor Equestrians with funny names. From what I’ve overheard from the females my age is that they’re not allowed to learn much. Rumor is in Vietrot the Changelings on Chrysalis’s side are killing off teachers who say too much.”

Burnt Oak winced as the disguised Changeling described this, “geez, those guys don’t sound like the most pleasant creatures to be around.”

“You’re not wrong, Chrysalis was disgraced for a reason. She’s not even supposed to be a Queen, some say she’s actually from Vietrot but we don’t know for sure.”

He picked up the hayburger and asked, “so anyways, you guys eat hay? That’s a little strange.” Bright Mac cocked an eyebrow, “you don’t?”

Hesitantly, he took a small bite of it, it actually didn’t taste that bad. It was kind of good, so he continued to eat it with a small smile. “Also, sorry about earlier. I almost gave myself away, but... you have no idea how much it irks us when ponies immediately assume we’re all like Chrysalis and her army.”

Burnt Oak gulped down his bite, questioning, “how does Queen Chrysalis even eat love? I mean, how is that possible, it’s an emotion, not a physical thing.”

“Oh no, all changelings are capable of eating emotions.”

The stallions both stopped mid-bite and stared at him, he rolled his eyes, “it’s disgusting to do it though, uncouth actually. It’s only a last resort thing if a Changeling’s on the verge of death, if it occurs outside that type of situation it depends so that they’ll have a proper punishment.”

He tried the hay fries and thankfully wasn’t disappointed, then took a polite sip of his soda. If you were wondering how they got this food then the answer is simple, turns out the cooks that were on the zeppelin with them were more than happy to cook for them. Bright Mac had ordered for them what seemed like the most stereotypical Equestrian dish.

Hayburgers, hay fries, sodas, and some daisys as a treat. Curse herbivores and their stupidly good food.

“From my memory, slow slicing was the common execution for Changelings trying to absorb love from members of the Royal Family or sometimes even Noble-Changelings. When it was towards other commoners it was simply a hanging or at worst dismemberment.”

Not noticing that the two seemed to not be in the mood for eating anymore (thanks to what he explained), he popped the last few of his hay fries in his mouth. “You know, this would taste even better with some pork,” he commented as he finished his hayburger.

Bright Mac cringed as he heard this, trying to ignore it as he asked, “so remember how you told us how funny our names are, can we ask you about yours? Do they have meanings or are they just names?”

Jung-ho smiled at this, “most of the time yes, my name means good and correct. Our last names also depend on our family, which seems pretty obvious.”

“I thought that all Changelings have bug-like names,” Burnt admitted with a sheepish look.

“They’re not our birth names, those are the second names we’re given as teens. Mine is...” he paused, flushing red as he thought about his namesake. Then again, they had no way of knowing who he was so... “Mothball, but don’t ever call me that. Please.”

Bright Mac shrugged, “no problem, ‘James’.”

James, the name weirdly suited him. Or at least he believed so, it was much better than his second name would ever be to him. Perhaps he might stick with it from now on, it was better than suffering with his second one.

“What do you guys plan on doing once this war is done?” James asked.

Burnt lightly punched Bright’s shoulder, “he has a wife at home waiting for him, me on the other hoof, I have my old man’s business I need to take over.”

James giggled, “you’re married? What’s that like in Equestria, is it easier than how it is for us?” Bright had a goofy smile as he thought of his lovely wife, “my Buttercup is the sweetest mare in the world, she and I were usually working together on my ma’s Apple Orchard. Being married is tough sometimes for the both of us but, we work through it.”

“What’s it normally like with your species?” Burnt asked.

James cringed as he admitted, “it’s... no where near as pleasant most of the time. Some Changelings get lucky, those are the rare few who find their partners pleasant. We’re to be engaged at thirteen or fifteen at latest, in order to get engaged males need to be matched to the female that they’re deemed most compatible with.

“When I am to be married, I must be subservient and always ready to please my wife... it’s quite boring really. I’m surprised most of them don’t go crazy when they’re gone for war, and they expect their husbands to stay faithful when they don’t even treat them right! I remember when one soldier by the name of Midge came home to find her husband with another male, they came running out of the house screaming and crying in the middle of the night. And that’s just what commonly happens in my village, I don’t even know what goes on in the higher class side of the country!”

He ended his rant by slamming his hoof rather loudly on the table, catching the attention of a few other soldiers, who he glared daggers at until they looked away. “Well... you weren’t wrong about it not being pleasant,” Bright said after an awkward moment of silence between the three.

“It’s just... I-I wish...” James paused as he tried to think, what did he really want?

He suddenly remembered the split-second kiss between him and Cricket, his heart ached at the thought of it. “I have someone in mind that I want to marry but... I can’t ever have him.”

“Why not?” They both asked, looking intrigued.

“It’s against ancient law for males to marry one another, it’s legal for females.”

Giving him a sympathetic look, Bright Mac rubbed his shoulder, “it’ll be alright, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

James looked over the edge of the zeppelin, seeing nothing but lush green fields and a humble little village.

“I hope so.”

The soldiers stepped off the zeppelin, practically being surrounded by Changelings with green manes who were speaking rapidly to them in Thaydonese.

James couldn’t help but notice that there wasn’t any female Changelings, not counting the elderly or sickly looking ones. That most likely meant that the daughters and mothers were sent to fight against Chrysalis already, leaving all the males and nymphs behind.

The General raised his hoof up to shush them, then he asked, “does any creature here speak Equinish?”

The Changelings gave each other confused looks, some shaking their heads or shrugging. James took in a deep breath as he said, “I know some Thaydonese, but I will see if they speak anything else,” the General nodded and stepped out of his way.

James shyly walked up to a male changeling, who had a grub in his saddlebag, it was staring intently at him. “ 你会说方尼斯吗?” He asked nervously, praying for him to understand.

‘Do you speak Fangnese?’

The Changeling took a moment to understand before nodding with a smile. James let out a breath of relief, beginning to explain as briefly as he could in Fangnese, “我们在这里帮助你，我们将在你这边战斗，在这场战争期间帮助你。我们马术站在泰多内换生者一边，我们发誓永远不会与暴君克里萨利斯结盟.”

‘We are here to assist you, we shall fight on your side and aid you during this war. We Equestrians are on the side of the Thaydonese Changelings, we swear to never make an alliance to the tyrant Chrysalis.’

He nodded excitedly as he turned to tell the news to the other villagers, all of whom brightened up immediately. They began thanking and even praising the soldiers for being there for them, the General chuckled as he asked James, “did you tell them that none of you are qualified to fight in battle yet?”

“Was I supposed to tell them—“ James was interrupted by a kiss on the cheek by rather pretty farmer, “... you know, I don’t think they need to know that,” he winked at him playfully before saying to the soldiers, “I think we should train here but settle down in the city, I doubt that the villagers would be happy with the idea of us practically taking over their homes.”

One soldier questioned, “a city?” James nodded, “Flygon, it’s the largest city in Vietrot, and besides I’m sure us Equestrians would be better off staying there than here all the time.”

In reality, he didn’t want to disturb the lives of the villagers, they were already scared enough without the female soldiers to protect them.

Then a little nymph came up to James, saying in broken Equinish (though it sounded adorable in it’s high pitched voice), “thank you, we very much grateful you here!” He almost felt inclined to laugh, so most of the villagers lied about not knowing Equinish.

He honestly couldn’t blame them.