Changeling Theory

Smolder tilted her head. Before the group stood a tall figure. The way the light spilled out from the hall made it look like a walking shadow. Her heart thumped; maybe the dream wasn’t over. Then, the green light came on, and she saw that it was the hippogriff. The very hippogriff that she ran into a few days ago. What was he doing here?

“Can someone turn on the lights?” he said.

Starlight tread in from behind at a speedy pace, her horn a vibrant turquoise. The green light flashed and blinked away as new light filled the room.

“Better.” The hippogriff nodded. Lowering onto his haunches, he opened the black leather satchel at his side and pulled out a matchstick and a small, thin case. He flipped that open, taking out a cigarette.

Starlight walked up to Smolder’s bedside, placing a hoof against the dragon’s forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Like I ran into a wall,” Smolder replied. Then she added, “A wall made of floor.”

Starlight smirked. “The snarky comments check out.” She turned to the other five students. “How about you guys?”

“Still breathing, still standing,” Gallus replied.

“My neck stings a little, but I’ll pull through!” Silverstream chirped.

“My eyes still itch,” Sandbar added.

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

Sandbar’s eye twitched, and he looked down at the floor, rubbing his hoof along the smooth tiles. “No reason.”

A snap and everyone’s attention switched back to the hippogriff. He held a flaming matchstick in one talon and a cigarette in his beak. The flame lingered over the tip of the cigarette until it burned a smoldery orange. He waved the matchstick out, flicking it into the trashcan next to the door.

The tip of the cigarette brightened, and smoke escaped his beak like an extinguished fireball.

Smolder pointed at him. “Yo, didn’t I see you the other day?”

“Yes,” the hippogriff said, smoke still filtering out of his beak. “I assure you, our interaction was pure coincidence. Although, I had expected to meet with you eventually.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“You were one of my prime suspects for this case, but not anymore. Now we know who the real killer is.”

The room was stunned into silence as if the mysterious hippogriff standing in the doorway used some taboo word. Killer? Is that what he just called Ocellus?

Smolder clenched her fists. “What do you mean killer?”

“Your friend murdered two innocent ponies,” he said with a calm demeanor. “And she would have killed you had I not stopped her.”

Her fist loosened. That part was true. Ocellus did slam her to the floor, after all.

He took another drag on the cigarette and huffed out another cloud of smoke. “I won’t mince words. You are all in a potentially dangerous situation. Life-threatening. Life-threatening to both yourselves and whoever gets involved. First I need to put all of the facts together. This changeling, you’re all friends with her, yes?”

Smolder nodded, along with several other heads.

“And she doesn’t normally act this way?”

Multiple heads nodded again.

“How does she normally act?”

Silverstream was the first to speak. “She’s usually so sweet and innocent!” She had stepped forward to say it, but a weird look set on her face. Her head lowered, Silverstream’s eyes refusing to meet the hippogriff for some reason. She continued quietly, “She would never attack anycreature. That wasn’t her.”

Smolder dangled her legs over the bedside. “Yeah, she doesn’t normally act this berserk. Come to think of it, she never acts berserk. Aside from being a little emotional sometimes, she’s the most level-headed creature I know.”

It was true. Ocellus could be sappy sometimes, and Smolder didn’t exactly like being the shoulder Ocellus could cry on. But out of all her friends, Ocellus was the only one that she didn’t argue with. Mainly because there was no reason to argue with her. She was too nice for arguments.

That and… Ocellus was the only one that tolerated her antics. Well, there was Silverstream, but she was too bombastic. Smolder’s personality tended to correlate with Gallus’s, but the griffon was always afraid of opening himself up. Ocellus was the only real creature she could vent to. It made her want to hurl to admit it, but the changeling was always there for her. She was always at the tea parties and never teased when she found out that Smolder liked to play dress-up.

Ocellus was Ocellus, and that was what made her amazing.

An invasive thought peaked its ugly head over the trenches in Smolder’s mind. She tried to push it down and focus on the current moment. Still, it stayed there, making the dragon’s stomach churn.

Maybe this will be the last time that I see her.

~•~

Gallus wanted to say something. Here he was, standing in front of the hippogriff that ruined his date with Silverstream. The same hippogriff that also managed to stop Ocellus before she did something she’d regret. His mind still lingered toward that moment. If this so-called detective hadn’t shown up when he did, someone would have ended up dead. Perhaps, multiple creatures.

Perhaps Sandbar would have thrown the film reel at her, and it would have combusted. The thought of it blowing up in Ocellus’s face and sending her into a blaze sent shivers down his spine. It was weird to admit, even in his head, but he loved his friends. Still, if it saved everyone at that moment, he would have gone through with it himself.

The detective showed up. Again. He just popped up out of nowhere; seemingly, his favorite way of making an appearance. The more Gallus thought about this detective guy, the less he trusted him. Something in his gut just gave him this feeling.

The hippogriff continued, “Have any of you noticed details leading up to this event?”

Gallus and Silverstream passed a glance to each other. Smolder was the one to speak up. “Yeah, she was very dodgy earlier.”

“How so?”

“She got into a fight with Gallus and Silverstream over here —” she jabbed a thumb over at the two of them “-- dropped an F-bomb, took a swing at one of them.”

“She pushed me to the ground,” Gallus corrected.

“Whateves, you cried like a bitch. Anyways —”

“Language!” Starlight bit.

Smolder rolled her eyes. “Anyways, she glocked Gal Pal here, and later I went to pick her up for movie night, and when I asked her about it she was like, ‘What do you mean,’ and I was like, ‘You dropped an F-bomb then dropped Gallus,’ and she was like, ‘No I didn’t. I would have remembered that, and I, like, didn’t care so I didn’t ask her any more questions.”

The hippogriff shifted back to Gallus. “Is this true?”

“Yep,” Gallus replied.

The memory of it still felt awkward. Ocellus is usually so sweet and innocent like Silverstream said. But what happened back in the dorm room? Gallus hated drama. He was willing to put it past him and hope that Ocellus forgot about it the next day. Heck, he didn’t even care about an apology!

But Silverstream cared. Not about an apology, but about her friends. The part of his mind that was always irritable knew that it was petty to be annoyed by this. Who was he to judge if Silverstream couldn’t see that Ocellus wanted to be left alone?

It annoyed him even more that she couldn’t see that, and it didn't help that the bozo who ruined his date was standing before him.

“What brought on this debacle?”

~•~

“You did.”

Silverstream placed a talon over Gallus’s claw, which pointed in the direction of the mysterious hippogriff. Oh, she really loved Gallus, but his hardheadedness could be a nuance sometimes. Every once in a while, she wondered if he could have positive thoughts. They would have to talk about this later. Maybe when he still wasn’t so high?

“Please calm down,” she whispered in his ear.

“What?” Gallus barked. “Everything was going fine until he showed up!”

“Everything would have been worse off if I hadn’t shown up,” the hippogriff corrected. He took another pull from his cigarette and breathed out more smoke.

Silverstream’s head bobbed up and down rapidly. “He helped us. Can’t you see that?”

Gallus looked down at Silverstream’s claw placed over his, then back at the hippogriff standing in the doorway. He sighed and placed his talon back on the floor, averting his eyes. “Fine. He helped. But yeah,” he shifted his gaze back toward the hippogriff, still giving him a scornful look. “You. You were the reason why we were arguing with her.”

“What does he mean by that?” Starlight’s head shifted between Gallus and the hippogriff. “Is there something I need to know?”

Another drag from the cigarette. “I ran into this young fellow and his girlfriend when I had stopped at the local bakery for lunch.” Smoke filtered out of his mouth as he spoke. “I recognized the two of them from the Canterlot Gazette a few years back and saw the opportunity to gather information. I asked them a few questions, pure and simple.”

Starlight scowled and sauntered up to the hippogriff, each stride weighted with pure malice. “You spoke to two of my students without getting my permission first?”

“No,” the hippogriff stated in his usual calm way of speaking, from what Silverstream could gather. “I spoke to three of your students without your permission. That dragon over there was kind enough to give me directions to your office. Also, I don’t need your permission to gather information. Pardon me if this sounds pedantic or corny, but the law is my permission. I interview whom I please. Although I’ll admit, I could have eased up on the questions. My fellow hippogriff here—” he gestured with the talon holding the cigarette in Silverstream’s direction “—didn’t react well to the sudden revelation that a fellow student had died.”

“Excuse me,” Sandbar blurted. “But somepony died?”

Silverstream’s mind flashed back to that time in the bakery, to that very moment when the date was ruined. Oh no… Lemongrass…

Her stomach dropped, and a shiver ran through her body. The realization kicked in. Ocellus was the killer all along. She killed her own friend. A tiny squeak left Silverstream’s beak as she tried to choke back a sob. Nocreature noticed.

Nocreature except Gallus, who turned his head to her and whispered, “You good?”

“No…” she whispered back. Warm tears sprawled down her face. “No, I’m not.”

She really hoped that Ocellus was doing okay.

~•~

“So this little quarrel you had with her,” Mr. Black continued. “If I prompted the argument, then it was probably because I mentioned Lemongrass. Am I, as you say, in the ballpark?”

Sandbar heard Gallus say something but didn’t listen. A student? Murdered? Is that why the school was on lockdown? Sandbar remembered that moment when he stepped out into the courtyard and saw the tiny red flags planted everywhere. Is that where it happened?

Lemongrass, he thought. That was Ocellus’s friend.

Why didn’t Gallus tell him? When the griffon got back from his date he had told Sandbar that it didn’t go well and that Silverstream was feeling a little emotional. That was it; he didn’t elaborate any further and instead prompted the two of them to go to the library to plan for movie night.

Sandbar glanced over at Gallus. The griffon was shooting a stern gaze toward the mysterious hippogriff in the doorway. All that he could gather was that he was at the bakery with Gallus and Silverstream and that he was the one who revealed that Lemongrass was dead.

He shifted his attention to Silverstream, who had her head pointed to the floor, crying.

Oh, Sandbar thought. That’s why he didn’t tell me. Because he doesn’t care.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the reason. Maybe that was just Sandbar’s weed-induced brain throwing out wild speculations. Maybe the real reason was that they knew that Ocellus knew that Lemongrass was dead and didn’t want to tell anycreature else until they talked to her.

“Any other signs leading up to his event?”

“Uh,” Sandbar spoke up. The hippogriff’s head turned to him, and his heart dropped in his chest. Crap! I shouldn’t have said anything. He might notice that I’m high.

Sandbar cleared his throat. “She, um, she seemed tired. Like, tired a lot the last few days.”

“Has she been sleeping well?”

Sandbar heard a sniff and turned his head back toward Silverstream. “She’s been sleeping just fine,” she said, wiping away a tear.

~•~

Yona watched as the mysterious hippogriff took another huff from the cigarette, reducing it to a stub. He flicked it into the trash can beside the door, simultaneously releasing the smoke from his beak. She wasn’t sure what to make of him, neither was she sure what to make of this situation.

Was her friend going to be okay? Yona shook in place.

“Were there any more signs leading up to this event?”

Silence. Yona wanted to butt in and say something, but there was nothing of value that she could offer. They already talked about how tired she seemed all the time. They also talked about her rise in aggression, which Yona had no idea was an issue. She did sense some conflict in the air when Silverstream was helping her with the puzzle, but that was a situation that didn’t identify itself with her. Not until now, at least.

Immediately, she felt bad for not noticing something sooner. All of her friends had something to say about the situation at hand, yet Yona was the odd one out. She should be there for Ocellus!

She thought and she thought, and then she realized one bit of info that might have been important.

“Yona knows!” she chirped.

The mysterious hippogriff rotated his head in her direction. “Oh?”

“Ocellus no eat. She came into the lunchroom and gave Smolder porridge and say she not hungry. She do that for few days now.”

“Hm. Tired…” he mumbled. “Not eating…”

Yona thought it was weird how the hippogriff hardly moved. He would shift his head in someone’s direction to indicate that he was giving them attention, but other than that he was as still as a statue. Although, it could just be that Yona was more acclimated to Silverstream’s usual bombastic attitude.

She sighed. I hope Ocellus okay...

“All of this information is useful,” he continued. “I am one step closer to putting everything together. In fact, I am ninety-nine percent sure that what is happening is, in fact, happening. There’s just one more question I have before I finalize my conclusion.”

He turned to Starlight.

~•~

“How did that hole end up in the wall?”

Starlight blinked and wondered what he meant. It hit her like a brick: the giant hole in the hallway from when — “I was chasing what I thought was the killer. I… fired a magic beam to see if I could slow it down.”

Mr. Black was silent for a moment. Then, “Slow it down, as you say?”

Starlight looked down at her hooves. “I… may have gotten carried away.”

“So the killer revealed itself to you. You were aggravated because it has caused you so much stress for the last few days. You snapped and tried to exterminate the problem while it was in front of you.”

Starlight nodded, refusing to look up at him.

“Have you experienced anything else weird or supernatural?”

That word. Supernatural. It didn’t quite roll off the tongue, yet it sounded so right. In fact, it was the best word in Starlight’s vocabulary to describe the last few days. “Yes. When Ocellus touched me—”

“We already talked about that,” Mr. Black interrupted. “I mean any other instances. Hallucinations. Linked consciousness.”

Starlight looked back up. “Linked consciousness?”

“Have you had any out-of-body experiences? Like you were witnessing events through someone else’s eyes?”

Skedaddle's limp body popped into her mind. To think, she was so occupied with managing a million things at once that she forgot what could possibly be the most traumatic moment in her life. She opened her mouth and tried pushing the words out, but all that came out was a croak.

“What do you know about the death of Skedaddle?”

She blinked, shaking her head and trying to make sense of what he just asked. “Pardon?”

“The foal that was murdered. Did you witness his death?”

“Y-yes. How did you—”

“When I first met you and mentioned the foal that was murdered on the town’s border, I thought your reaction was a little out there. It’s normal for creatures to react strongly when they hear about a child dying, but to the point where they’re vomiting in a wastebasket? And it wasn’t just the vomiting. An odd look spread across your face before you went for the wastebasket. It wasn’t just disgust or horror, but realization. I though it was an odd look when I first spoke to you, but after the revelation of what happened when the changeling touched you…”

He tilted his head down at her, lowering his sunglasses down his beak and revealing the shimmer of his deep blue irises. “You went to sleep. A deep sleep. You had no control of your mind. Therefore it linked to the murderer. You saw everything that happened, down to every gruesome detail. Maybe when you woke up you doubted it. You thought it was some nightmare. Then, I come in and tell you that it all happened. You vomit. Any other linked experiences?”

Starlight was shaking. Her stomach was churning. Her coat felt prickly. It took her way too long to realize that Mr. Black had just asked her a question. She shook her head very slowly.

He pushed his sunglasses back up to his eyes and raised his head, shifted to the six students.

~•~

The facts.

Exhaustion. A typical symptom. Combine that with low appetite and this is a typical symptom of depression. Which is also a symptom of micropossession.

Sudden outbursts. The changeling, Ocellus, is known to be endearing among friends. Most likely wouldn’t harm a fly. Temper flared during an argument about the recently-deceased Lemongrass. Pushed her friend to the ground.

Ocellus is on the honor roll. She is thoughtful, and it would be reasonable to assume that she is meticulous, especially since the school board is considering her for this year’s valedictorian. However, every interaction I've had with her proves otherwise. The changeling is careless. Every decision she has made so far has been on a whim, which she hasn’t displayed the wit to pull off.

Example A: She could have left the students alone. It’s reasonable to assume that because they were in the middle of the Everfree Forest, she could have murdered everyone in the room and gotten away with it. The problem with that logic is there were too many creatures to keep track of. Someone analytical would have recognized that if even one creature escaped, it would have given her away as the killer. Not just that, but the changeling is known to be inseparable from her friends. If the five ended up dead and she lived, that would leave her to be questioned.

Example B: Attacking the head of the school in a position where she clearly couldn’t have done much. She’s desperate. Possibly egotistical, if her sudden outburst of anger at me mentioning how I bested her means anything.

Linked psyches. Starlight witnessed the death of the colt Skedaddle. The reaction she gave would have been considered over the top if a simple-minded detective interviewed her. I'm no simple-minded. I said, “A colt was found dead,” and that simple congregation of words brought forth flashbacks. Into the trash it goes.

Loss of appetite. A notable symptom of depression, but not one for micropossession. However, it does prove that the changeling was the one feeding off the brains of its victims. Why? I'm not a big history buff, but I do remember studying changeling history for that brief period of time back in university. It was normal a few hundred years back for hives to practice carnivorism. That died off with the rise of civilization as each hive agreed that it was an immoral act.

The last hive to partake in carnivorism disappeared almost fifty years ago.

Unless Ocellus was going through a change in psychosis, then it would explain her sudden outbursts and developed taste for flesh. If not, and it is micropossession, then either the soul that’s controlling the changeling is a changeling itself or a natural predator. After all, many of these hives focused on the brain in particular.

Loss of Appetite. Restlessness. Sudden outbursts. Linked psyches. A complete change in both mentality and personality. There was no doubt in Mr. Black’s mind.

“Listen up,” he spoke in a loud voice. Seven pairs of eyes stared back at him in anticipation. “Your friend is possessed. However, this is no ordinary possession. She is going through what is known as ‘micropossession.’ It is where the spirit is able to break itself up and take over multiple hosts. Basic possession is immediate while micropossession is gradual. You might not feel it at first, and it can be hard to identify. The most notable symptom is depression. When a portion of the spirit finds a host, it is unable to take over due to its weakened state. It slowly eats away at your brain, shifting the molecular structure, adding and removing chemicals… then, when your mind is weak, it takes over. Other symptoms include somnambulism. Your brain is unconscious when you sleep, so the spirit is able to slowly start taking over your body. They’re very limited in their capabilities at this stage, but give it time and it can develop into a full possession.”

Mr. Black’s eyes shifted from behind his sunglasses, examining each confused face in the room. “I’m saying all of this because there is a very good chance that one, if not some, of you are likely to have the spirit inside of you. There are methods for getting it out. Two, in fact. We could perform an exorcism. However, times have changed, and we don’t want to risk the chance of the host dying.”

The confusion shifted into horror, and Gallus chirped up. “What!”

“What the fuck you talking about?” Smolder jumped in.

“Calm down everyone!” Starlight commanded. “He said that was one of the methods. Let’s —”

“How is he so sure that we’re possessed?” Gallus pointed out. “None of us know this guy, and just as Ocellus goes berserk he comes in and stops her. All of this is so out of nowhere.”

Silverstream placed a talon over his shoulder. “Gallus, I think he’s right. At least, I hope so. Think about it. Why would Ocellus attack us? She couldn’t have been that mad about what happened back in the room.”

“Mr. Black is right,” Starlight added. “I’ve been experiencing some weird stuff myself. If it’s affecting me, there’s a very good chance it’s affecting some of you.”

Gallus calmed down a little, but a subtle look of terror made its way onto his face.

Mr. Black continued. “The other method is to extract the spirit using modern tech. This process is much safer. However, there’s a bit of an issue. The technology used to build such a machine is relatively expensive, so because of that, there is only one such device in Equestria.”

“Where would that be…” Starlight asked. Mr. Black didn’t have to see the look on her face to know that she didn’t like where this was leading.

“Headquarters. Which makes it inconvenient because we’re fighting against time. If we don’t hurry soon, then a full possession might take place — if it hasn’t already occurred within the changeling itself. That will make the process of extraction a lot more dangerous.”

Silence. It was the typical response that Mr. Black expected. This wasn’t his first time having to explain all this, although it was certainly on the verge of being one of his toughest jobs yet. There was another matter: a blockade.

“So, headquarters,” Starlight said, taking a single curious step toward Mr. Black. “Is that in Canterlot? I mean, you are part of the detective division, so it must—”

“No,” Mr. Black shook his head. “But it’s directly outside of Canterlot.”

Starlight’s head pulled back an inch, shock etched into her face. “B-but the snow — there’s no way — the weather station said to expect a blizzard later tonight with up to eight inches of snow! How are we going to get through that? I’m sorry, but we’re barricaded here.”

Mr. Black smirked and made Starlight take a step back. “There is a way.”

“Oh? And how do you think we’re going to make it through that?” She gestured toward the snow-ladened window, tiny flakes falling gently in the darkness of the night.

“Easy.” Mr. Black smirked and said…

~•~

“We confiscate a train.”

Starlight stared in wide-eyed puzzlement. A train. To get through the snow. Did he mean — of course! The Friendship Express. It would still be stationed due to the weather. If they could borrow it… somehow… then they could safely transfer the six students, along with herself, to Canterlot within a timely manner.

“We’ll need to leave right away to beat the storm.” He alternated to the students. “If any of you need to grab something for the trip, please speak now. Just know that from this point forward, none of you are leaving my side.”

Silverstream raised a talon, sniffing a little.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I think I need to grab two more of my emotional support sweaters.”

“Shit,” Smolder mumbled. “I think I need one of those after this conversation.”

Starlight frowned at her. The dragon responded with a simple shrug.

“Right,” Mr. Black stated, already pushing the door open. “We’ll stop by the dorms, but first, the Headmare’s Office.” He hung his head down and sighed. In Starlight’s eyes, it was the closest she had seen him lose his calm demeanor for the first time.

“It was a mistake on my part to leave the changeling alone with Trixie now that I’m one hundred percent certain about what’s going on. We should hurry.”

He left the room, walking at a brisk pace. Starlight followed behind, and as she began speed-walking, a thought appeared in her mind. It was like a star shooting across the sky; gone in less than a second. But it felt important. Like it was relative to the situation at hand.

Starlight didn’t like that she couldn’t remember it.