The queen of the changelings stared at the "cave" walls. They were strange, seemingly made of finished metal and not rocks. The small corridors of the place were unlit, meaning she was forced to use her magic to see. Doors were broken, and panels were sometimes found removed from where they once stood, revealing a mess of wires and tubes. In all, it was strange and not natural. Even the light that allowed her to see was unnatural, done by strange tubes above them that flickered faster then she could count. They even made an annoying hum that crawled underneath her shell.
"My queen! Scouts have reported that a human with dark skin is in Canterlot!" exclaimed a high ranking drone that followed her.
"What is this human's name?"
"Roya. She seems to be within Canterlot Castle and was put on an investigation after one of our changelings... panicked and killed a mare."
The queen scowled at the thought that one of her highly trained spies had been so foalish to kill without reason. It would have been easier to simply knock the mare out and hide her, feeding on her love. Still, it was better than having a whistle blowing filly ruining her plans. "Keep a watch on this human female for now. First, show me where the jinn is."
"Yes, my liege."
Queen Chrysalis and her drones moved through the tunnels until they reached a large chamber of some kind. A large door, easily three times the size of normal hallway doors the place had, sat in front of them. Unfortunately, it was the one thing they couldn't break into. The doors seemed to resist plasma spells nor did any changeling, or even herself, had the strength to pull it open. Looking down, the queen noticed the box like device sitting in front of the door. It was tall with a glass surface on the top.
"Is this the jinn?" Chrysalis asked.
The drone nodded. "Yes. The jinn is contained within this metal box. Magic won't coax it to give us its gift... but a human can."
"How?"
"It seems this cave is rather, a structure of some sort built by humans. The box's alien magic, the like we have never seen. It will only respond to a human touch."
"How long do we have?"
"Not long. This human magic that gives the jinn life is finite and if we delay even by a few weeks, the magic will run dry and the gift will be lost forever."
"Hmm..." Slowly, the queen brought her hole ridden hoof out and hovered it above the glass top of the box. With a simple tap, the glass sprang to life. Her and the changelings moved back in surprise while fire made of light floated above the surface. Slowly, each particle moved around until a coherent image appeared.
Standing before the queen was a jinn, taking the form of a uniformed man with a slick dull grey uniform made of a simple shirt with numerous angular lines and patching pants. With blue and golden trimmings, it held a heavily streamlined, almost military look. It reminded Queen Chryaslis too much of that one stallion. She spat to the side upon seeing the mental image of Shining. A voice spoke from the jinn's mouth but it was heavily garbled and unnatural, just like the building they stood in. "Captain... Passcode needed..."
"A passcode?" The queen asked herself. "Where can I get a passcode?"
"Cerebral....implant..." The jinn stuttered. Its image flickered before disappearing, the particles making up its structure breaking apart in a chaotic blast before simply losing existence.
The queen thought about what the jinn said. The word cerebral was understood but implant... It was a strange idea. Could information be stored within the mind of a being without the being even knowing? Such strange magic it must have been. Knowing this hurdle was a simple puzzle she turned to her changeling drone. "Scrawl this place and look for anything like the remains of a human. From the looks of it, they're ape like. Bring whatever you find!"
"Yes, my liege!" the drone saluted. using the hive mind, the drone spread his queen's orders and every drone within the structure began their search.
"Once we find this "cerberal implant." the gift of the jinn with strengthen all of us and we'll take back Canterlot. Then, all of Equestria!"
---
I watched Shining in curiosity on how a proper regiment examination was done. Sometimes, the military caught my curiosity in how they worked. Shining was wearing just the purple harness or breastplate, I didn't know which term was more appropriate, and was levitating a check board in front of him. Cadance was with me, watching her husband as well.
With a sigh, I took a sip of the tea I had made once I came back to Canterlot. Each time Shining moved to the next guard, they'd take off their helmet, removing the enchantment and showing their true appearance. The enchantments came in two flavors and had different gender versions. Each guard would sound off their name, rank, and age to make sure they were the real person and not an impostor. Because changelings needed to observe their targets before impersonating them, the enchantments meant that a changeling wouldn't have proper knowledge of who was under the helmet.
"Okay, that should be it. You are to return to your duties for the evening!" Shinting ordered. A frown appeared on his face once he finished. No changelings were currently within his ranks.
The Royal Guards gave a loud salute before leaving formation.
"Well that was a bust," said Cadance.
I nodded in agreement. "It is. You'd think it would be easy to root out a changeling."
"Yes. I suppose it should be. Well, I'm going to head back for lunch, if you need me, I'll be in the dining room."
"Araki fi ma ba'd!" I said when Cadance left. With a sigh, I got up myself and began heading down to see Shining.
Most of the Royal guards had left but when I arrived, I noticed Guilty Verdict arriving as well, walking with the gait of a true business woman, ready for anything.
"Good evening, Lt. It's nice to see you," said Guilty.
"To you as well. Is there something you need?"
Guilty nodded. "Yes. I was wondering if you two have found the changeling yet."
Both Shining and shook our heads. "No, not yet. Shining's the one with experience in these things."
Turning to Shining, he quickly explained our predicament. "It's safe to say that the changeling in question is quite shifty, and there's the issue of its disguise."
"What do you mean?" I asked,, confused to what he meant. I had thought changelings disguised themselves based upon a pony they saw.
"Changelings normally just copy the appearances of other ponies, but if a changeling were to be trained carefully, they can essentially create their own new identity using bits and pieces of different appearances."
"So a mix and match, you mean? That would make everything harder. Why not use the... um, flank symbols you ponies have?" I asked.
"The term's cutie mark and I've tried that. Unfortunately, there is the slight chance two ponies with similar talents gaining matching cutie marks, not to mention that, among our registry, none of the troops before had a cutie mark that wasn't there."
"Like an ID. Back in Novimus City, people carried ID cards or driver's licenses. Because of this, we had a basic database to search up identities such as victims, missing persons, or even criminals with repeating offenses, not to mention we had technology to match people just by facial recognition alone."
"That sounds rather helpful."
"But we don't have that luxury. What's the closest thing to an ID?"
"We have ID's that show cutie mark, name, age, and current residence."
"I presume warrants are needed to start scanning ID's?"
"Not for my guards. By law, and threat of court martial, all Royal Guards must produce ID's to superior officers on request."
"That's helpful. We'll need to setup a checkpoint system around the castle, especially in areas of high traffic for advisers, non-military personal, and other persons. We'll have to be careful. Is there some sort of changeling checking spell?"
Shining sighed. "There's one in experimentation, but the issue is that changeling magic is rather strange. No mages within Canterlot can use it properly and then, there was that one incident..."
"What happened?"
"I-I don't want to talk about it."
Seeing Shining a bit unnerved by the mentioning of whatever it was, I left the question alone. "So we'll have to make a test of some kind. Ask general questions only a pony would know. Military lingo, their back-stories, and even if they know the names of their friends. That should give us a proper filter so we can get trustworthy guards for these checkpoints."
Guilty agreed with me. "This would be your department, Captain Armor. I'll get it approved and we'll start the process"
Agreeing to the plan, we left to deal with our parts and I quickly stopped at the throne room. This time, the princess was talking with ponies wearing silver armor. On the collar portion was a symbol of a crest of some kind. It was the crest of the State Militia, the national state police of Equestria. With the exception of Canterlot, they were the ones to police the rest of Equestria. Knowing that it meant I couldn't be seen by them, I kept myself hidden and simply waited.
After a few minutes, I saw the militia pony leave and, after making sure no one would see me, I went to the throne room where Celestia was. She gave me a simple nod, unusually without her warm smile I had started associating with her.
"Good afternoon, Lt. Roya. Are you working well with Shining."
I nodded. "That I am. May I ask what the problem was?"
"Why do you think there was a problem?"
"State Militia ponies don't answer to you unless it's something serious, something that would be about internal security."
With a sigh, Celestia quickly dismissed the Royal Guards of her throne room and came down from her throne. I was surprised to see that Celestia's normally pristine white coat had a few blemishes here and there, not to mention her mane was darker. It didn't even flow normally in its non-existent wind, as if the wind had died down a bit. "You know that garage and how it came from your world?"
I gave Celestia a firm nod. "Yes, but I don't know how."
"Well... at the same time, a few groups of ponies and buildings they were in had disappeared at the same time. I originally was thinking changelings but they disappeared en masse. Changelings only ponynap my subjects one at a time."
"Wait... So because the garage from my world came here, ponies from your world were brought to mine?"
"That's what I hope. Location doesn't seem to stay constant so there are numerous chances that... they didn't end up in a safe place."
"Not to mention many areas on my planet are covered in bustling cities, ones that would dwarf Canterlot ten fold. I don't know what my species would do if they find them. There are numerous outcomes and many of them aren't good. But... If they land somewhere where people speak English, them just speaking will easily get civilians to defend them, arguing that they should automatically be given the same rights as any human being. Not to mention, I doubt you could hide a whole group of ponies." I sighed for a moment. "Let's just pray that they landed safely I have faith that we won't make the dumbest decision ever and attack a defenseless species."
Looking at Celestia, I noticed she was a bit worried about my guess. I reassured her that it won't come to worse and she calmed down a bit. "Roya... May I ask you something?"
"Yes, though there's not much reason to ask me anything. You know way more than I do."
"Yes, well... Considering that parking lot, by default and logical conclusion, is technically under your authority. I must ask you if we may take some of those cars and research them, obviously for peaceful purposes. Some of our mages and researchers want to learn more about human technology. To see how it works and maybe ways to integrate it into our own."
"That's... that's a hard question, Princess Celestia." I thought about it. All of them were powered by high energy capacitors, I assumed. There were people who still owned the older petrol engine vehicles, but they were very few and far between. The optronics in them wouldn't be an issue either. Slowly, I tried to think if any portion of the cars could be directly weaponized but none came to mind. With a sigh, I decided it wouldn't hurt. "I'll allow a few of them on one condition that no weapons of war or any other technology made to harm comes from this. If any weapons are found, I want them as soon as possible. I will not allow human weapons to fall under anyone's hands, including your species'."
Celestia gave a firm nod, understanding my reasoning. "That is an admirable way of thinking, Roya. I would have done the same thing. If the technology can serve to better the lives of my ponies, then it will utilized, if not, I shall make no use of them. Now, on another topic, we're getting close to finished the spell. Once it's finished, the Elements, Luna, and I will send you back home."
"That would be best." I sighed a bit, thinking about my family back home and their faces once they find me safe and sound.
Celestia was able to read my face and quickly made a comment. "You miss your family, don't you."
I nodded. "Yes, I do... It's very hard to sleep sometimes when you realize that your family has no clue where you are. For all I know, I could be pronounced dead back in my world and they're at a funeral with an empty casket."
"Sometimes, it is best to stay away from negative thoughts."
Celestia was right. If I continued thinking so negatively, I wouldn't be able to function properly and unneeded stress was obviously bad for my health, even if I was as healthy as a horse, as many would say. Giving myself a second to relax, I took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Now, I think there's a certain designer who wants to make you a new set of clothes. I know you've been stuck wearing the same outfit since you arrived," said Celestia.
I felt a bit embarrassed and I could feel my cheeks heat up. With a sigh of relief, I thanked Celestia and began leaving the throne room until Celestia stopped me for a moment. "Oh, and Roya... I already know about your weapon. As long as you use it only as a final option and you uphold your own moral code, I will allow you to keep it." I was a but surprised to how Celestia found out, but then I realized she probably had found the spent casings and concluded that it was my pistol. Even though it was supposed to be concealed, any one with a good eye..., or even a mind scrying spell, would know that I was carrying a deadly weapon, obviously for safety reasons and due to my profession. With a nod, I thanked her for the understanding.
"Thank you, Princess Celestia. I promise as a police officer and a human being that I will bring no harm against your ponies. Never except when in self defense or the defense of the greater good."
With a simple nod, she dismissed me and I returned to my room." I fond Rarity standing there at the doorway, apparently she had waited for me. She was happy to see me, with her measuring tape draped around her beck and a pair of orange angular glasses sitting low on her muzzle. With a simple smile, I followed her into my room and offered her some tea.
"Thank you, darling! It has been awhile since I had a nice glass of tea." Rarity took a sip and smiled in joy at the sweet, strong flavor.
"You're welcome. Tea is a very popular drink where I'm from. Now, Celestia told me you wanted to see me about my clothes?"
"Yes, darling! She told me you've been stuck in the same outfit and I know that it fits you well but you can't be seen in the same clothes day to day. It's just... boring."
"I rather wear my clothes then wear none."
"Yes, I remember what you said back on the chariot. When I heard that, I just became ecstatic! I bet human fashion is so lovely and everything! Already your clothes, even with the stains and dirt they've accrued, show me that my guess was right. I've also noticed you humans have a thing for adding functionality to your clothing."
I smiled a bit before taking another sip of tea. "Thank you, though I don't really consider myself one to follow fashion. I'm middle aged anyways so I don' follow what the newest generation's taste."
"Really? I thought you were younger! Though I don't know what a young human looks like, I would have guessed you were maybe young thirties or something!"
"Thank you for the compliment but I'm 47. My oldest daughter just started college."
"Really? Do you have a picture of them?"
With a warm smile on my face I quickly fished out my phone from my pockets and turned it on. The battery, thankfully, was more than half way empty. Pulling up the picture, I showed Rarity my eldest daughter, Lena. She was a young woman with a slender build. In the picture, she had her deep brown, to almost black, hair was long and curly, down a bit past her shoulders in length. Here deep brown eyes accented her lighter brown skin. In the picture Lena wore summer clothing, consisting of a pink loose blouse, a thin denim jacket, and jeans. Behind her was the college she was attending. I remembered that day. I was so happy for her and she had the goofiest smile I had ever seen.
"She looks lovely, darling! Such a beautiful young mare, or whatever the term would be."
"Woman but I understand. My younger daughter, Minnah, is still in highschool. She somehow got my wheat golden hair, kinda funny when I learned that my hair color is recessive." I laughed a bit with Rarity.
"Now, why don't I start getting your measurements?"
With a simple nod, I quickly got and took my jacket off before standing in front of a mirror nearby. It took a bit, with Rarity trying to get every minute detail of the human body shape. I was curious to how she would do it. For one, unlike ponies our arms came out of the sides, not from the front like their forelegs did. There was also the fact, that I had breasts and human breasts on women were enlarged, in comparison to other mammals, though I was decent. Not too big, but not small.
Then I reminded myself that, unlike ponies, we humans wore clothing for everything, so functionality was a major part. The few times I saw clothing on ponies, I noticed that many lacked pockets usually. After Rarity finished measuring me, I turned to her and quickly told her that I still needed functionality. She simply gave a reassuring smile and nod and thanked me before leaving.
Right when Rarity left, Shining appeared at the doorway. "Want to help me with picking the guards for the checkpoints?" He had a simple warm smile on his face, probably spending his time with his wife.
With a smile, I nodded. "Sure." I quickly grabbed my jacket and placed it back on me while following Shining down the hallway. "I presume you and Cadance are doing well?"
Shining smiled and blushed a bit at the topic. "Yeah, her and I are doing fine. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. Have you ever thought about children?"
The topic made him flustered and I couldn't help myself but chuckle at his reaction. "Ch-Children? That's a bit... early, don't you think?" he stammered.
I gave Shining a pat on the back. "I'm just playing with you. I remember when my husband brought the topic up."
"That reminds me, what do you think your family's doing?"
The question made me stop and think for a moment. It already had been but a few days but they were enough to scare them. I became dejected again at the thought that I was currently a missing woman back on my world. "I just hope I can see them soon. Everyday I stay in Equestria is another day I am away from them." I quickly wiped a small tear from my eye.
"I'm sorry for asking. I forgot about your circumstances. Sometimes, I forget that you're not even a pony let alone an Equestrian."
"It's fine, Shining. I presume the documents for this selection are ready?"
Shining nodded. "Yes. I've prepared them and we'll go through each one and ask the guards questions pertaining to them. Each paper tells out their history and back story. Any serious mistakes with bring up flags so we can investigate them."
"Hmm. I have to thank Guilty Verdict for getting this to go through."
"Don't worry, it won't take long at all." We walked into another hallway before noticing Blueblood standing there admiring one of the numerous paintings. Seeing that he was released, I told Shining I'd catch up and he left me alone in the hallway with Blueblood.
"Good evening, Blueblood," I said nicely.