The Changeling Princess

The next morning, Joker was the last to awake. Fluttershy had done all she could to help her wound heal faster and to eliminate the pain. It wasn't brilliant, but the make-shift splint Fluttershy had made would help the wing re-grow properly and, hopefully, without any complications.

Joker yawned and stretched out, alerting her friends that she was awake.

"Hey, Joker?" Spike grinned. "I couldn't help but notice your cutie mark was a joker's hat. I noticed when you took of your armour before you transformed."

"Yeah," Joker raised an eyebrow as she levitated the make-shift saddle bags over so she could eat. "So?"

"Do you know any good jokes?"

"You misunderstand," Joker smiled. "My talent is to pull pranks. I can tell jokes, but they aren't that good. My pranks are way better."

"Demonstration?" Spike asked. "On Applejack."

"Fine," Joker sighed, getting up from the forest floor and trotting out of the clearing. Her twisted horn glowed green as she went, picking up anything Joker thought would be handy.

"It won't be that good," Spike scoffed.

Fluttershy only smiled, not offering her opinion as she ate some flowers from the saddle bags.

Hardly five minutes had passed before Joker was back, a satisfied smirk upon her face.

"Take Applejack to where I marked on the ground and watch," Joker instructed. "I just need to do one more thing."

Her glowed green once more as she cast the duplication spell upon herself. When the light faded, two Joker's stood next to each other. Only one didn't have a wing injury.

"Right," both Jokers said as one. "Fake me only lasts an hour, so, Spike, while we get into position, you go and find Applejack. Fake me will lead you to the spot in the other form and watch as the fun begins!"

Joker charged her horn and aimed at her clone. The clone became a white pegasus with a black and green mane and a green and black jester hat as a cutie mark. The only difference was the shade of green of her eyes.

"Go," the real Joker hissed before galloping into position, out of sight, her horn glowing as she used a similar spell to alter her appearance slightly.

Joker hid in a bush. It was harder now she had changed herself slightly. She had altered her height so she stood as tall as Chrysalis and looked almost exactly like the Queen of the changelings. She focused so she was more in control of her clone.

"Hurry, Applejack!" the fake Joker shouted. "They're over here!"

Applejack galloped next to fake Joker. The real Joker grinned and aimed her glowing horn at the bank just under Applejack's hooves. The bank gave way and Applejack shouted in surprise as she skidded down the bank. Joker had made sure it was safe. She waited until Applejack was close enough before bursting from the bushes.

"BOO!!" the real Joker, who looked like Chrysalis, hissed before bursting into laughter.

Fluttershy and Spike, laughed from their position on the bank above. Joker released her disguise and returned to her normal height and self. Her clone laughed with her.

Applejack, after recovering from the shock joined in the laughter. As did two other ponies as they walked from their hiding place to meet their friends.

"Oh, Joker, that was priceless!" Pinkie Pie laughed, high hoofing the changeling. "One question, though. How come there are two of you?"

"Oh," Joker grinned and raising her eyes to her clone. "Duplication spell."

She aimed her glowing horn at the clone, zapping it away in a flash of light as Spike and Fluttershy edged their way down the steep slope.

Rainbow Dash glared at Joker before deciding to take action. She shot at Joker like a bullet and pinned the changeling to the floor.

"OW!" Joker screeched in pain as she landed heavily on her already damaged wing.

"I'll put you in more pain if you harm my friends!" Rainbow growled.

"If I wanted to hurt your friends, I would have killed them already!" Joker hissed in pain and rage.

As suddenly as Rainbow had pinned her, the rainbow-maned pegasus was dragged off of Joker by the tail.

"Thanks, Applejack," Joker winced as she got to her hooves.

"Rainbow!" Applejack said, spitting out the rainbow tail of the cyan mare. "She is helping us!"

"She's a changeling, Applejack! Can't you see that?!"

"I ain't blind," Applejack glared at her friend. "But she has saved me and Fluttershy more than once!"

"And yet, no matter what I do, no matter how great the deed, I will never be able to make up for what I did," Joker sighed. "I see your reason to despise me, Rainbow Dash, but wait and maybe you'll see something different underneath this exoskeleton. I know they do."

Rainbow Dash looked around. Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were defending a changeling. She was the only one to act the way she did.

"Why do they trust you?" Rainbow asked.

"They know," Joker answered simply. "They know my past and my regrets. They know why I joined the royal guard the first chance I got. They know that I prefer to be a common pony than the princess of the changelings."

"What?" Rainbow's jaw dropped. "You have all that power and yet you prefer to live as an average pony?"

"Chrysalis lied to me," Joker turned to face the cyan mare. "She told me to kill whenever I had the chance because if I didn't kill them, they'd kill me without a second thought! I believed her and, in any conflict with other changeling clans, I would do just that. They would then surrendered and become part of Chrysalis's clan. That is why she is a Queen, because of the size of her clan. Her clan. That I fought for. That I killed for."

"I knew she was evil but-"

"Evil?" Joker scoffed. "She's diabolical! She didn't care whom I killed just as long as her clan and territory expanded! That meant I probably killed my own friends!"

Joker flinched away from her own words.

"You killed your own friends?" Rainbow exclaimed taking to the air.

"You have to remember that I couldn't control myself half the time because Chrysalis sometimes controlled me," Joker sat down.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Spike asked.

"It didn't come up as important in what I was telling you," Joker cast her eyes to the floor. "I was telling you how I changed. Not really what I was. I tend to avoid the subject."

Fluttershy walked up to Joker and gave the changeling a comforting hug. Joker smiled and returned the hug.

"We'll tell Rainbow and Pinkie everything later," Fluttershy assured Joker as she pulled out of the hug. "For now we need to find a way to Twilight and Rarity."

"Avoiding the manticore, I guess?" Joker grinned.

"Preferably," Fluttershy nodded.

"This forest stretches around the mountains. It'll take two days to reach the edge of it. From there we'll used the small patches of forest to move around unseen from above," Joker thought aloud. "It will take longer, but, hey, if we miss the magically enhanced manticore then we'll live."

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, sharing a confused look with Pinkie Pie.

"Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike will update you on what you need to know," Joker informed her. "First, I need to eat. My stomach needs something other than fear and blood."

*

It was midday when the four ponies, the changeling and Spike finally started their journey once more. Joker was, no surprise, leading the way as she used to live here. Rainbow Dash wasn't far behind Joker, asking her questions about whether or not they should alter their course slightly because the rainbow-maned pegasus had got a good view of the mountains when she arrived.

"Okay, okay," Rainbow Dash frowned as yet another idea was turned down by Joker. "Instead of travelling until we're almost level with their location and then going to find them, we could cut off that huge corner if we cut across the open ground in a day and a half."

"Rainbow," Joker sighed. "I understand you want to find the quickest way to your friends, and that is the quickest way, but it involves resting in open ground. I don't want to do that because we will be easy targets for changeling patrols, or worse."

"Oh," Rainbow Dash looked at the ground.

"I would let you go ahead, but the only thing stopping the changelings killing you is me," Joker looked over her shoulder to see Spike picking up a strange green gem.

"Then what is stopping them from getting to Twilight and Rarity?" Rainbow asked.

"Spike, put the gem down!" Joker called before answering Rainbow's question. "I have a changeling on the inside. He is patrolling the forest under fake orders from Chrysalis. Any changelings to stumble upon him will be redirected and told there is an emergency on the other side of the mountains that requires their immediate attendance."

"And what's going to happen when we find Twilight and Rarity?"

"After that, we regain our strength and get rid of Chrysalis once and for all," Joker said, smiling. "With her gone, the clans should split and go their separate ways."

"But we don't have any weapons,"

"I'm doing the killing," Joker rolled her eyes and came to a stop. "If Twilight happens to have the Elements of Harmony with her then, I'll let you use them. But let me tell you; the Elements will only prolong her invasion. The elements don't kill or stop them returning to wherever they got kicked out from. It will only be a matter of time before Chrysalis returns and wants revenge."

"She won't come back," Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Not if she knows what's good for her!"

"She came back after Shining Armour and Cadence used that love spell!" Joker snapped, her voice echoing off the trees. "All the changelings regrouped and came back! Discord was turned into stone! I promise you he will return! Nightmare Moon, after being taken out of Luna by the Elements, was fused into the moon! I know she will return! No matter what you do, the Elements of Harmony cannot stop someone from coming back! This is Chrysalis's home! She will return, whether it takes weeks or months, and we will know about it because she'll probably kill us!"

Silence greeted Joker's outburst. She sighed softly.

"Then again, I could be wrong," Joker said before walking on.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack glanced at each other while Spike stood there in a state of shock.

"No wonder they made her a royal guard," Spike muttered. "She's absolutely terrifying when she's angry."

The four ponies and the young dragon ran to catch up with Joker.

"Why did they make you a royal guard?" Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing along.

"I'm a changeling," Joker replied. "Celestia wanted to make sure I was no threat and I was some place she could keep an eye on me. That and I really want to make up for what I did when I was younger. I know that I can't, but there's nothing saying I can't try."

"Joker can you stop a moment?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "I would like to take a look at your wing."

"Sure," Joker came to a stop and sat down so it was easier for Fluttershy to examine her wing.

Fluttershy carefully took the bandage like leaves off the wing. There was still a lot of blood, more that she would have liked, but at least it was healing.

"How fast do you normally heal?" Applejack asked for Fluttershy.

"Depends," Joker shrugged. "It can vary from a few hours to a few months."

"What are you?" Rainbow Dash frowned. "Changelings shouldn't heal that fast, should they?"

"One thing I forgot to mention," Joker smiled. "I'm half pony, half changeling. That is how I can eat food and other changelings cannot."

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing. "That means your father is a pony!"

"Was a pony," Joker corrected. "I never actually met him because Chrysalis, mother, killed him."

"Who was he?" Applejack asked.

"I heard only rumours of who he was," Joker winced as Fluttershy cleaned her wing of blood. She changed the topic. "If I was Queen of the changelings I would order the destruction of the magically enhanced manticore. I would probably get Pinkie Pie to come up and throw a party so I don't die of boredom."

"Changelings don't throw parties?"

"They do," Joker smiled. "But they are boring! I've been to the Grand Galloping Gala, I was one of guards making sure everything went well and the highlight of the entire night was when Fluttershy burst through door behind a load of animals, screaming, "You are going to LOVE ME!!""

Fluttershy blushed at the memory but giggled along with her friends.

"And that was twenty times more fun than any changeling party I've been to!" Joker said, while laughing.

"Before Fluttershy or after?"

"Before," Joker admitted. "Your arrival made it forty times better."

"You must attend one my special parties when we get out of here!" Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place once more. "I never had the chance or honour of throwing you a welcome party because you stuck to yourself and then were accepted by the royal guard."

"Yeah," Joker felt guilty. "Sorry about that Pinkie. That sounds like a wonderful idea. But, no princess or changeling stuff. I'm not sure how the ponies will react."

"Most will be scared," Applejack said. "Few would probably-"

She was silenced by Fluttershy's hoof. Applejack glared at Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus just shook her head.

"I know what she was going to say," Joker laid down. "Some will react violently and I could get hurt or killed."

Fluttershy removed her hoof from AJ's mouth and went back to Joker's wing. An awkward silence fell over them. Except for Pinkie Pie who was bouncing around them in circles talking about plans and what to do for the party. No pony was really listening to her, except Spike who would occasionally throw ideas in.

The silence, excluding Spike and Pinkie Pie, continued as they made their way west along the the base of the mountains.

"Okay, this silence is making me depressed," Pinkie Pie snapped the ponies back to their current position. "Someone say something!"

"Did I hear you mention tiaras for the party?" Joker raised an eyebrow, speaking for the first time in what seemed like ages.

"Yes!"

"I said nothing that has anything to do with me being a changeling or a princess," Joker urged the point. "I am just a normal pony. That's all I ask."

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie started bouncing around them once more despite them moving. "So that means no tiaras, no changeling piñata-"

"Changeling piñata?" Rainbow Dash giggled.

"Yes," Pinkie Pie frowned. "I was wondering about how they would react so I'd give them a choice for piñatas. A changeling one or a normal one. I will also see how much more violent they are with it."

"Pinkie," Joker sighed. "Most ponies hate me. The guards, in Canterlot, fear me. Out of hundreds of ponies, only nine actually like me. Well, minus two because we have no idea how Rarity and Twilight will react."

"Then who's the other one?" Applejack frowned, mentally doing the maths in her head.

"No wait, thirteen," Joker corrected herself. "You six, Spike, the princesses, the pegasus I saved, his wife and his two foals. Oh, and Thunderlane."

"Fourteen out of hundreds like you," Pinkie Pie thought. "You're right. More will want to hurt you for trying to take Equestria."

"That is where you are wrong!" Joker's voice suddenly grew loud as she stopped. "I got banished because I refused to take Equestria with the changelings at that wedding! I got attacked by the changelings and practically left for dead! I was found by the pegasus I saved and he returned the favour! But when then the invasion failed and Chrysalis and the other changelings were blasted away because of that love field thing, I was almost killed again because I was so weak!"

"Simmer down, Joker," Applejack stood in front of the changeling. "Pinkie didn't say that you were responsible. She was just saying that every changeling, no matter if they helped or not, gets blamed."

"But I should have done more to protect Equestria," Joker sighed and walked on along side Applejack and Rainbow Dash soared overhead. "I was the only one who knew about the portal. But Chrysalis saw me change and she got guards to follow me. Had I been smart, each time I came back I could have closed the portal behind me."

"Small details like that no pony cares about!" Rainbow Dash glided above them. "The moment they see the resemblance between you and Chrysalis, they will turn."

"It's the undeniable truth," Joker sighed. "I cannot hide behind disguises for much longer. If only I could get the princesses to back me up."

"Wait, did you mention Thunderlane?" Rainbow froze.