"The mindset?"
Twilight nodded, her almost ever-present paper and quill levitating nearby, already prepared to take notes on anything and everything relevant to the topic.
"The mindset for using a disguise...it's actually not that complicated, just picturing the individual in question and bringing to the fore as many examples of their personality as possible. The thing is, it can be dangerous to have too much information. A good infiltrator has to strike a balance."
Twilight nodded, scribbling down the information before tapping a hoof against the ground.
"I would think that the more complete the knowledge of the target the better the disguise."
"Oh, the disguise isn't the problem. It's uh...taking it off again that becomes the problem."
Seeing her lost expression, he sighs.
"Most of my disguises that I use on the daily are, for lack of a better word, me. I know it's a disguise and don't even try to replicate someone. Verbal ticks, accent, posture, they all stay relatively similar regardless of the form. When things were...shaky with the other hives I would leave something of a reminder, like a mole I had before. Something that can pull me back."
"But that would make it easier to find you." Twilight said with a frown.
The changeling shivered.
"It's better than the alternative."
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He dodged into an alleyway, shifting his form nearly as soon as he broke line of sight from the pursuing drones. They were NOT happy to have him in the area. Competition was, shall we say, unwelcome amongst the hives that claimed the territory. Not that any would actually give him a map of the claimed territories, no, that would be too easy.
'Can't just claim a random form either, need a different personality this time, they're looking for me and have seen enough of my shapes to build a profile. Rotten luck doesn't even begin to describe this.'
Sliding into a turn, he went on autopilot, grabbing the first mental image of a pony he could and assigning as much detail into the transformation as he could. Before his next step connected with the ground, Pinkie Pie was running down the alleyway, with a vague sense of something having been after her and a need to reach a destination.
The pony slowed down to a canter as she slipped into the crowds, a sense of unfamiliarity with the situation keeping her usual jovial mood at bay and leaving her with a vague sense of confusion. She was here to do something, she could feel it, but aside from the need to pick something up from an apartment, she just felt...strange. She'd not greeted ponies on the train, she was running out of a dirty alleyway in a city far from home, and now she-
Pinkie spun out, barely keeping her hooves as a bunch of meanie- well, meanie pants wasn't really the right term for them, as they weren't wearing any. Giggling as they tore down the road in a hurry, she wondered why that was a thing. Maybe it was a minotaur that started that saying? But didn't Iron Will not wear pants either? So who came up with it?
Shrugging it off as another one of life's great mysteries, along with how magnets work and why some ponies thought oatmeal was an acceptable cookie flavor, she proceeded to continue on her route. Maybe the answer would be in apartment 204 on Cherry street?
It took almost no time for her to find the door, and after knocking and waiting she moved the mat, finding the key easily in spite of the fact that it was hidden nearly inside the material of the mat. It felt like she'd done this before, too, which was really strange because she was pretty sure she'd never been to Detrot. She couldn't think of any ponies who lived here off the top of her head anyway. Actually, she hadn't even introduced herself to anypony on the way, as she was just so lost in her own head that it didn't occur to her.
"Hello? Anypony home?"
Wakling into the dingy apartment, she sniffed curiously. No stale food from the smell of it, and not a lot of Bee Oh either, which was also strange considering the state of the place. It wasn't particularly messy, mind you, just...
'Sad. Like it's not a home.'
She poked around a little, not certain what she was looking for until finding the mirror. That was when things broke.
'I don't have a-Pinkie doesn't...'
A single streak of yellow mane caught her eye, confusing her. She'd not dyed it or anything, so when- if that was-
"It's...no, I didn't dye it, it was-
Finally, her eyes landed on a small zipper on the desk, and she shivered.
"Find the break, pull it back."
In a flash of green fire, Pinkie was gone, and in her place was Max. Max, a changeling, not a pony. Max, who did not live on a rock farm, did not know the names of every single pony in town, like Fluttershy, Daisy, Rose, Lyra, Old Mare Hooferson, and-and didn't know that Rose's birthday was next week and she REALLY needed to get her something nice-
"Separate it. Push them aside. Not facts, you're digging too deep."
He took a deep breath, humming an old tune from a game he hadn't played in years. The memories responded well, as they always did when he lost hold. He was him. Not her. He just needed to remind himself of that.
He most certainly did NOT freak out when he accidentally pulled his key from his mane.
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Twilight gaped at the changeling across from her.
"If you're not careful, if you don't leave...something for your mind to latch onto, it's possible to get lost in it. I'd wager there's at least a couple dozen changelings that don't even realize they're changelings anymore. Breaking them out at this point may be...bad. Queens don't bother them, they're just kind of referred to as 'lost to their masks'. It's...scary."
Writing down a few follow-up questions, Twilight looked out the window at the town, idly wondering if anyone she knew was lost to their masks. Even her parents could be, if his off-hoof comments about genetic compatibility were true. A changeling could have put on a form years ago, lost themselves in it, and eventually made it to-
She sighed. It didn't really matter now, and from what the changeling told her they were for all intents and purposes a pony at this point. Pursuing the question would undoubtedly cause more trouble than it was worth, even if she was curious...and it would probably eat at her for a while.
'He's right, the worst questions are those you can't ask without the risk of hurting others. And the hardest thing to learn is when you come across those questions.'
"So you have to leave something wrong."
"It's like the zipper to a costume." Max answered shakily, staring at nothing in particular. "If the zipper is obvious, everyone sees it and knows its fake. If you hide it too well, you can't reach it. You can't find it, and you-"
"You can't take it off." She finished for him.
The stallion nodded his eyes flickering with something she couldn't quite read. She sighed. It made sense too and would even explain why some changeling disguises were...off. Why they never copied the original perfectly even though it was obviously within their abilities. Max would even copy her or her friends from time to time, but aside from acting like them-
"So, acting is different?"
"You mean copying mannerisms or tones? I mean, I can do it if I know the pony, and as long as I do that afterwards, and not part of the transformation, it's not as bad."
Shifting into the form of Pinkie Pie, he twitched slightly before brightening.
"Hiya Twilight, how's it goin'?"
She was about to wonder what he was trying to do when the pony suddenly shifted their weight, leaning as the changeling did with his body slightly curled to the right. It was something that just screamed to her senses that the pony was not Pinkie.
"You're just pretending. Acting like her."
"Yea, it's easy if you know the pony." 'Pinkie' explained, her tone nothing like the party mare's even as the voice was a perfect replication. "It's not perfect though, and you won't react like they would in the event of a surprise. But it's safer. It's less...complete."
Looking between her notes and the uncomfortable looking pony before her, she couldn't help herself.
"Have you ever..."
The changeling shivered, his mind returning to his earliest memories of the world of magic. Back before he had learned the tricks. Before he'd learned how the body worked, before he'd found his way to the relative safety of Equestria. You never forgot what you became. It never really left you, even after you took off the mask; he still remembered most of the birthdays of the ponies in town.
He remembered Her. Her love, her hope, her belief in the strength that people possessed. The power to survive any trial.
One eye seemed to take on an unnatural blue glow.
"...They are my meaning and my purpose. My love."
The alicorn scooted back. There was something about the glow coming from his eye. It reminded her of Celestia in a way, but in a form that set every nerve to high alert.
"It was the first true mask." he whispered. "The first one where I didn't bother making an imperfection. Because it needed to be perfect; She needed to be real. They decided the town would be removed. By overwhelming force. It wasn't even aimed at me, I was just collateral."
"They marched on that little town, and in the depths of that pit, surrounded by death, I reached towards the stories of home. Power, love, someone who embodied everything I needed at that point. And I found her. And when I was safe, when the battle was over...She called me back. She...knew it wasn't her. She always knew. That she was a shield called by a terrified and desperate soul."
"But that kind of love doesn't care about circumstance. She gave me back to myself. She said that if ever I felt it was needed, that she'd answer time and again. Even if it was just one more chance to protect. To protect me, to protect others, to protect life itself. It was gift enough. It was her calling. What she loved more than anything else."
"B-but that's not, that's wonderful! Even if the um, loss of self is scary, you have an ability that is so powerful you could be any hero from fantasy. Why would you fear that?"
The changeling shifted back to his base form with his face slightly altered to seemingly be wearing a colorful, spiked mask.
"Because not all masks will let you take them off."
The hair on the back of the alicorn's neck stood on end as the changelings head twitched, shaking every few seconds in an unnatural shiver while the eyes of the mask seemed to pierce her soul.
"Her words taught me that some masks have a will of their own, and I'm terrified I'll pick the wrong one."
Finding your way forward, in the Darkness
A small mare shivered in the old town hall, surrounded by hundreds of other bodies pressing in from all sides. She held her little colt close, watching as others argued over how to proceed. Griffons couldn't fly high enough to escape the spells. Diamond dogs couldn't dig through the enchanted earth. The unicorns couldn't dispell the effects either, some lingering effect on the wind preventing a true rally against the assault. The creatures outside, those shadows of what were once living things, and their masters had created a perfect trap. It was how they had stayed hidden, she'd heard a young dragon mutter. The town would disappear, and none would know the cause.
She whispered assurances she didn't feel to the squirming foal, letting her eyes roam to one of the most uncomfortable truths she'd learned. Several black bug ponies were muttering and shouting at one another, one scrabbling at the ground even as another told him it was useless. They were as trapped as the others. But one was not near them. One was separate, muttering to itself with tears running down its face. It opened its eyes again and looked about, eyes settling on the colt in her forelegs. She pulled him closer, worried it was thinking of a last meal before it began smiling. Then the chord sounded in her ears, and silence quickly fell over the gathered creatures. Then the words came.
They were alien to her ears, yet she knew them. Like Harmony itself was singing to them.
"Welcome and well met, my brave little spark.
How long you've wandered, burned bright as a star.
Oh I have long awaited you patiently, all this time."
Its eyes had changed. No longer did they hold the sorrowful slit pupils of the creatures nearby. They were brilliant blue irises, glowing with power she'd never seen in her life. Judging by how quickly the crowd moved away as the creature walked forward, she was not alone. The song continued, echoing through her very soul as he...she? neared the door. It walked outside, approaching the monsters without fear as the song built to a crescendo. Then, just as the first of the shadows reached it, the creature reared back and changed.
It was as though light itself had blessed the town with its presence.
A creature indescribable, as it was nothing else but Light in physical form. Flowing cloth, wings of purest white. And hovering just behind its head, a halo of brilliant blue crystals.
With a simple flick of its wrist, a blade of Crystalized light appeared in a slender claw. It raised the blade towards the sky, and as if answering its call, sunlight pierced the unnatural clouds.
The monsters recoiled in fear. The ones controlling them began shouting in their harsh tongue, but she couldnt make it out. All she could hear were the beautiful chords that seemed to echo throughout the town. Like the world itself was playing the most beautiful song, the song of hope. Of love, of life. And somehow the creatures around her knew it as well. It would be okay. Something had answered their prayers.
She jerked as the words reached her, once more alien, yet completely known to her heart.
"-and amidst it all a people. Beacons of light and life. Laughter that warmed my heart, like naught else before."
It looked back to them, smiling its reassuring smile before turning back to the death that awaited them all.
"They are my meaning and my purpose. My Love."
Then the creature, hovering just over the ground on wings of white light, leaned forward, its blade held back, and moved.
There was nothing to the transition between the dark and the now. It was merely a call to purpose. A call to once more raise up the blade. The faces were different, the threats new, but she was comfortable with the situation.
She'd been called to protect again. As she had innumerable times before.
Most would likely balk at such a request. It was supposed to be the end, all those years ago. Or had millennia passed? Was it ever thus at all? Perhaps it really was just a tale told to children. None of it truly mattered though. Not to her, nor to the hand that had reached for her. She had a moment to see even more, to hear the song of new lands as she moved amongst the void-spawned creations. She heard the hopes and dreams echoing in the breath of those behind her. She knew they were like her children, those she had dedicated lifetimes to guiding and watching over. It was a blessing, a gift unlooked for. And she would accept it as such.
She flowed through the creatures like a streak of light, most falling to mere aftershocks of her movement. Some were stronger. They required a strike of the blade, one that left two such beings stumbling about, both now falling to a simple destructive spell. Her power; it was not coming from the Host. The creature that called was not strong enough to support her power. It was the song of the land, asking for an answer. An answer she was providing. In return, it provided its song, lending its chord to her own hymn. The creature was merely a conduit.
Soon, what had been a perfect ambush collapsed. The overconfident masters of the shadows were fleeing in every direction. Spurred by her actions and the very air feeding them strength, others joined into to fray, as the not-quite-as-brave often do. They merely needed hope. A beacon to guide them forward, to prove to them that all was not lost. As the tide turned even more, she saw strange dragons breathing fire that sought the undead. She saw gleaming claws that shattered bones. She watched as armored hooves struck with speed and ferocity matched by her own champions since time forgotten. A people of hope. Those who cling to life with the tenacity that only the mortal may claim.
As the sounds of battle faded around her, she smiled at the victorious. There was life out there, life that had not given to despair. Life that the song of oblivion never reached. Or perhaps this was after? Or even before?
She looked into her core, to the slumbering creature inside. It was dreaming, remembering loved ones, listening to...her tale.
'A mask. That is what this is. A mask that was called in a time of despair.'
She settled upon the ground, separating it from her core and feeling herself beginning to lose coherence. As it woke, it stared at her with awe, with a familiarity that she wished she could claim. It knew her, knew of her story, of her loss and her victory, and it had shared it with the world in the most intimate way possible. Not a mere retelling of an old story, but by breathing life into it with his very being.
"The protection of others was always my calling, little one. Never fear calling out to me. For even one more life saved, even one more adventure experienced, it would be worth it."
"Hold this mask close to your heart. It... I will be waiting for your call. Should ever the need arise, the Light will always answer you. As will I."
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Celestia felt a shiver go down her spine as she read the latest report from Twilight on the changeling's abilities. She'd found, after some digging, the reports of an impossible creature that had shattered an attack on a small town outside her borders. Tales flew the gamut from a super-changeling queen that was out to conquer the world, to a hidden alliance between the two groups meant to put changelings into their good graces. Nothing further had happened though, leaving her ponies to file the anomaly as a one-time event and move on. Not even the descriptions could agree, as each being saw the creature's beauty in a different way.
Dragons insisted she was a being of the purest daimond. Griffons described wings of light that sheltered from evil. Ponies saw eyes that carried the love of a mother for her children. Minotaurs described a blade of purest crystal forged into an impossibly sharp edge the likes of which were not possible for mortal smiths.
One thing all accounts agreed on though were the eyes. Eyes of deepest glowing blue whose mere gaze assured you of her love for all life. Blue eyes that Twilight had detailed in her report and even included a small memory crystal of. Words weren't capable of describing that love, Twilight had told her. And she was right.
It wasn't something the changeling would be able to do on a whim, though. According to all the reports and even his own word, he'd heard the very magic of the world calling. It was something the sisters had heard several times in their reign. A call to action. The assurance that Harmony itself had its hoof on your side of the scales. You merely needed to ask.
"If nothing else, it should finally put to rest the complaints of the arch-mages."
Celestia looked up, broken from her thoughts and seeing her sister reading the report.
"It takes love to be able to touch Harmony. Love of self, love of others, and love of life. This creature, the one he 'called', it is an embodiment of love, similar to Harmony itself. I do not think such a creature would willingly allow an evil creature to maintain access to such a bond. Instead, he speaks of her like a mother. And that she assured him she would be willing to answer his call again."
"I had no idea they were capable of such." Celestia whispered. "How many heroes were changelings? How many of those stories of a hero being in multiple places were changelings channeling the mask to greater effect?"
Luna pondered the question before shrugging her wings.
"Does it truly matter? According to the young changeling, delving so deeply into the mask is to invite the possibility of being unable to remove it. For all that it matters, the changeling becomes the hero they seek to embody."
The white alicorn nodded slowly, her thoughts moving through the archive-like memories.
"Did you ever wonder...if maybe at one point we..."
Luna smiled, looking at her as the dark alicorn set the papers onto the desk.
"Would it matter if I was?"
Author's Note
All creatures of magic are OP. But to really achieve the deepest power, you need to work WITH the world. Do so, and it will gladly help you achieve your goals, especially if those goals are the protection of its children.
I've always held this sort of headcanon that Equis itself is watching out for life. That Harmony is a force beyond the Tree and the rocks. That if in times of need one reached for it, it would answer.