Heartwood Crafter // Soul Tether

Casting a copy of a prepare spell from exile isn't casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to a copy of a prepare spell cast from exile.

If a prepare spell with one or more targets has no legal targets when it tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. Since the spell was cast, the associated permanent will still not be prepared.

If a prepared creature stops being a creature, it will still be prepared, and the copy of its prepare spell will remain in exile. That permanent's controller will still be able to cast it. The same is true if a prepared creature becomes a copy of something else, even if it's then a permanent without a prepare spell.