469
11,486
A letter from Celestia interrupts one of Pinkie's parties with disturbing news. Now friendships will be pushed to the limit as Twilight struggles to uncover which of her friends is not who, or even what, she appears to be.
(While not a romance, this does contain a shipped pair)
Author's notes
First off, I need to thank my beta-readers/proofers/all around awesome ponies. Cloudy Skies, Couch Crusader, and Benman. All three of them helped a lot with this fic. TAW, and Tchernobog gave me initial feedback which helped boost my ego and assure me this was good and on track.
Edit: Check out what I re-inspired
Edit #2: Official poll
Thanks a lot guys.
SPOILERS INSIDE
So this is what A Canterlot Wedding put into my head. Almost immediately after seeing the final episode, I began to blab about this idea. I was currently at the tail end of Twilight's List and was publishing. So I made a quick note
>One of the mane six is a changeling. It doesn't matter who.
And resolved to come back to it later. After finishing Twilight's List, I took a few weeks off from writing and did some art. Then I dove into this fic. It was brutal.
I've talked about writing List before and how getting everything in character took a while. This was an order of magnitude harder. It was insanely difficult to make sure I didn't confirm or deny any of Twilight's friends as the changeling. That was key. This isn't a mystery, thought it does resemble one. It's not "shipping" in the sense most people use it, though it deals with themes of love and also has PinkieDash 'cause I'm a whore. It's not dark, although given the same premise and even end result, it would be easy to do. It can't even be an episode, PinkieDash aside, but still tries to be like one. I'm not even sure how one would begin to do the end of the fic in a visual medium without identifying the pony.
A perfect word to describe this fic is platonic. Despite the shipped couple, this fic is about non-sexual love between friends that is almost deeper than the romantic love we get so much of. I hope I hit that mark with this; my beta readers seem to think so.
Oh, I'd love fanart of this. Seriously. I'm excessively curious to see how someone else represents the important bits of this story w/o identifying one of the ponies.
So, stylistically...
I ended up mixing 3rd limited and 3rd omniscient. All of the changeling's parts are done in 3rd limited, as are many of Twilight's parts, but that's too close for everyone else. Get too into their head and you can easily see that they aren't (or are) the changeling. Or that the author is just censoring things too much. I'm not used to 3rd omni. So that was another thing that slowed me down.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on who it is and why and what you think happens next. It would be great to hear. You can totally comment, private message, or even email me if you want. (Email in Profile) Thanks for reading!
Anyway, thanks for reading!
Possible Spoilers in Comments!
Edit #3:
Magic Color -- This has been dealt with in the comments. If you're going to comment about "green magic" read this first:
1: Chrysalis is an egotistical douche who didn't bother disguising hers
or
2: The color of magic is a 4th wall effect. Ponies can't see it. Given how no one saw through Chrysalis's disguise, and how Twi and Celestia have had their color change, and how Pinkie couldn't identify that Rarity rolled the shades down in MMMMystery, this is the best theory, IMO.
[SPOILER-ISH]
Amazing. The ending is one of those things where you can tell what it has to be long before it happens, but the way the story keeps the tension up by veering away from that ending before getting back on track is lovely. There were a couple of spots where I was genuinely afraid it would go a different way. Then when it finally happens... I thought the climax was powerful, but that coda was something else entirely.
I never read sad or dark. What this fic does for me, is distil the emotive energy darker fics use, and wrap it into something palatable. This has all the good heartache of melancholy without being painful. It has all the hugs at the end of the darkness without needing to turn off the lights.
It's a concept that I was (and to some degree still am) wary of, but made into something beautiful, a catapult loaded with battering rams tipped with friendship. I don't know if I can make myself read this again, but I am glad I read it, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves. (Hint: All of it.)
Yes. Twilight's spell is covered. As for "green" magic. I'm pretty sure that they've someway to fix that, else Cadance would have been sorted sooner. Or ponies'd be all "y u never magic?"
For more detailed headcanon: Chrysalis is just an egotistical douche and didn't bother to disguise it, much like she didn't bother to act like Cadance at all.
>>1182062 Yeah, but you'd think that after that they would noticed the green thing now, especially since even the changelings that morphed into the mane six, even their magic was green. It was forgivable when Chrysalis did it because we didn't know it wasn't Cadences' aura color.
So, because she's been in disguised for years, it would be harder for the changeling to get changed back? Sure, whatever you need for this premise, I guess (wouldn't that mean the the changeling herself would have trouble? She didn't seem to when she changed back to "normal". But maybe I missed something.). Twilight's blast didn't seem like it was that powerful to begin with, and the cast has suffered far worse. Twilight herself got trampled by an anvil and a piano, and was walking a few scenes later.
But still, this is a good heartwarming story.
Wait, why didn't Shining's bubble spell repel the changeling in the group in the first place, and why can't... you know what? Forget it. I'm over thinking this.
Intense, Amazing and incredibly heart warming is how I describe this story.
Very well done I
Same reason it didn't repel everyone else. You'll remember that the barrier had to be lowered to let the 6 in in the first place. The second one had to be a different spell. I could not find a non-awkward way to work it into conversation, especially since no one wanted to talk about it much. The changeling was never an enemy, so the second spell never affected her.
You'll remember that the barrier had to be lowered to let the 6 in in the first place.Uh, no, it wasn't lowered, they fazed through it. That's how they were tested. But, I guess I can kinda-sorta see your point.
The second one had to be a different spell.No, that was the same spell. They even say that. Well, not directly, but what other spell could Twilight be reference to? She said "Use your spell!" What else could it be?
The changeling was never an enemy, so the second spell never affected her.I ... guess that works...
Whatever, I still like this fic.
Don't over-think it, don't over-think it, don't over-think it...
To late, I just had to.
Well, supposing the changeling only started impersonating a pony after arriving at Ponyville it can't be Rainbow Dash, as she was the reason Gilda visited the town in the first place. And the fact that there was a Sonic Rainboom from the real Dash that all other 5 mares remember. Also I doubt the way her mane and tails shifts during a Rainboom would work well if she was wearing a disguise...
Rarity shouldn't be either, while the not green magic may not be conclusive evidence there is also the whole falling to her death during the young fliers competition, even if it was only surviving instincts kicking for just a moment and not a conscious effort she would have dropped her cover to safe herself. Also the spell that gave her wings may not have worked on her if she was a changeling as she already had wings...
Applejack could be one, even if there was a original, she could have taken her place on Ponyville while the true one is living on Manehatten.
As stated by Dash Pinkie Pie is the more likely choice considering it required little mind manipulation.
And finally it could be Fluttershy, it may be a bit of a stretch but if we consider that casting the cloud walking spell on someone who already can, it could mean it would be either her or Dash, and Dash is one of the less likely suspects. Then again I doubt the spell really checks if it would do something.
As I said just over-thinking until I reached this point. It could be anyone really, but to me the the more likely suspects are Fluttershy and Pinkie, the less Rarity and Dash, and Applejack stays in the middle.
>>1182631 Wait, so there's a chance that the changeling killed one of the main six beforehand to take her place? Yeah, I think that if that would've been a possibility here, Twilight should've used her spell without hesitation and screw the "this might hurt her" crap, because the changeling would've committed murder of a filly. But, I'm going to assume that it was a changeling the whole time -- I know it sounds stupid --, because the alternative is really evil, no matter what the excuse.
If you don't mind, a bit of counter over-thinking it
1) Who said she started impersonations in Ponyville? She very well could have gone to Cloudsdale first and then Ponyville. The letter says she was tracked to Ponyville. The changeling thinks about intergrating herself into pony society.
As for the rainboom, that is a weirder one. Considering it's a unique (but somehow also legendary?) event, it's hard to say if it's a rainbow because Rainbow Dash or because magical things in Equestria seem to be rainbowed (EoH, Zap Apples, Love Poison).
2) Play a role long enough and you become it. She doesn't like reminding herself she's not a "real" pony. As for the magic color, I figure that's what happens when they don't give a flying feather about blending. It would be impossible to pull of an impersonation of a unicorn for any length of time if they couldn't a) color it right, or b) the color is "4th wall" only. I personally lean towards 1).
I would go with what's cutest. In that case, it's Pinkie or Dash. Pinkie, because cloud cuddles, Dash, because Pinkie would bug her to be a Pinkie clone and she'd eventually give in for a bit but keep that Dash!Annoyed expression
Well. The alt is right out. Remember, she's still an Element of Harmony. Nothing about who she is has changed. So if you can't see $pony murdering a filly, then neither did the changeling. I kinda hoped the monologues would get that point across.
The only way a "replacement" would work is if filly!AJ stayed in Manehatten or if filly!Rarity actually got dragged somewhere else. IN both cases, they'd have had to encounter the changeling and swap places.
Quick run down:
Aj, Rarity -> requires magicking family to integrate
Dash, Fluttershy -> magic to get into flight school (assuming Flutters/Dash never met her parents. See above)
Pinkie -> doesn't require much of anything. We know nothing about her past and no one has ever vouched for her.
Scootaloo is obviously the changeling.
I am curious... did you have one of the mane six in mind to have been the changeling, or was it always unrevealed, even in your own head as you wrote it? I really am pleased that you kept it hidden from the reader even at the end. That was very effective in reaffirming the message of the story--it doesn't matter who it was, because they're still friends no matter what.
While this is not the first story I've read with the premise, "one of the Elements has always been a changeling," this is by far the best of them. You say it took a lot of work to nail the characterization, and that work shows. The fact that on more than one occasion you could go for ten lines of dialogue without any tags and it was still perfectly clear who was saying what is a fair testament to that effort. Your pacing was incredible. This story consisted of the scenes required to make it work, no more and no less. This was a trim, efficient, and powerful exploration of the strength of the bonds between friends, and the value those bonds have to them.
One of your best works, Kits. Thank you for sharing this with us.
>>1182689 Wait, when did I suggest murder? I only suggested an original Applejack living on Manehatten, with the oranges, while there is a changeling Applejack on Ponyville I didn't suggest taking the place of one of the mane 6.
>>1182746 I said supposing for a reason, it could have been earlier, I just tried to look for ways to reduce the possibilities.
Actually for a while I considered possible that everyone was actually a changeling, it wouldn't surprise me if Twilight was one. Also if you check Celestia's and Luna's conversation at the end it could be possible for them to be Changelings, and also... You know what, I'll just stop thinking about it before I start asking myself if I'm a changeling.
As it's told in the story, the one who is the Changeling have had to create her own cutie mark. Therefore, she told a fake story about how she gets her cutie mark. Since RD and Fluttershy get their Cutie Mark in the same time and at the same place they can confirm each others stories. So, it remains AJ, Pinkie and Rarity.
I don't think AJ faked her story because his family can easily confirm if she left or not her home with the Oranges in Manehattan with a blank flank and returned later with his cutie mark. Besides, the changleing said she chose it and in being Applejack she wouldn't have the choice other than an apple for her cutie mark. And Pinkie's story is too weird for having been invented.
So, i think it's Rarity the Changeling.
BTW, i really liked this story. ^-^
tell meeeeee who the changeling is or i will never get too sleep and that would be
THE WORST POSSIBLE THING
tell meh i must know overthinking makes my brain burn into ashes and then he ashes burn into dust and the dust burns into molecules and the molecules burn into NOTHING 
pwease just tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Since RD and Fluttershy get their Cutie Mark
Dash got hers in the middle of a Rainboom with no one around. Fluttershy got hers on the ground. With no one around. Not trying to say it is them, but they didn't really have witnesses.
Also, AJ does like her apples. There are interesting stories that could be written about each one being it, both prr- and sequels.
Major Spoilers
The whole point is it doesn't matter who it is, it changes nothing about what each of them mean to each other. You shouldn't be able to "figure it out" from the story as it's purposefully written to preclude that. The only thing you know is that it's not Twilight.
>One of them is a changeling, it doesn't matter at all.
The only other story I've read that covers a topic like this is The Three Sisters, and both it and this are brilliant stories. There are one or two plotholes that have already been pointed out, but they're so small and so easy to correct that it probably wasn't worth mentioning anyways. Twilight's List has been feeling a bit lonely on my Favorites List lately, but I'm sure this new addition will make it feel more welcome! 
Three Sisters is D's, right? I haven't read it yet. Since my twins were born, my reading slowed to a crawl. I joined fimfic the day it opened. I hit 5.5 million words on fimfic alone by the time my kids were born. I was just over 6 when knighty killed the counter. So 5.5 million in 48 weeks and then only .5 in the next 12. Which is around a 66% drop in read speed. Most of whta I read now-a-days is clop for my contests I run. So yeah, I've missed some stuff.
...It was spike wasn't it? 
Seriously though, CRAZY well done! Instant favorite and love. 
So much dealt with so well, and everypony 100% in character. This fic was pure
This is the best one of these things that I've read, I think. Very nice! Keeping the true identity of the Changeling secret from the reader was a very nice touch. I guessed that it would never be revealed early on, but you went so gut-wrenchingly close to it with Twilight's spell and then the flash of green as the Changeling re-disguised just out of view that I was still on the edge of my seat the whole time. :)
I'm suffering from a light concussion at the moment, so I apologize if my thoughts are a little jumbled. But here's what I have to say on who I think it is:
First off, it can't be Twilight. That much has been made clear.
Second, a quote from the changeling's thoughts. Now, I may be thinking way too literally here, but I feel like this line holds some importance:
Oh, none of her friends suspected her, at least none gave voice or had acted differently around her, but she had failed, still.
If this quote can be taken the way I am interpreting it, then I believe this means we can cross both Pinkie and Applejack off the list. This is because both of these two have been directly accused at some point at this time in the narrative (Pinkie by Dash and Applejack by most everypony). Again, I could be taking this sentence way too literally, but it's just a thought.
That leaves three ponies... Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.
Why it could be Rarity:
"That ghastly comment you made last night had me fretting for hours, you know."
Rarity doesn't specify what she is fretting about, though. It has been made clear that the Changeling is very scared about the possibility of being found out by her friends, and this supports that fact. Also, when Rarity talks about the changeling dressing themselves up ("Somepony like me?") she is defending the changeling's actions in a way.
Another thing... she doesn't live with her parents, and Sweetie Belle doesn't stay with her all the time. Is this just because, or could she have magicked them into staying away?
Why it could be Rainbow Dash:
Rainbow Dash, as we all know, is the Element of Loyalty, meaning she cares about her friends arguably more than any other pony in the group. And, as we have seen, the changeling values the friendship they share with the other five more than anything else. We don't know exactly how long the changeling has been in Ponyville, so it could very well be from the beginning of the show's canon that we've been seeing a changeling. The changeling's love for its friends could have very well manifested itself well enough that "Rainbow Dash" was given the Element of Loyalty.
Also:
"No," Dash spat as her wings flared. Pinkie place a hoof gently on Dash's withers, which the pegasus shrugged off without looking. "I refuse to believe it." Dash's eyes flashed and her voice took on a hard edge. "It's just a trick!"
This could be classic Dash refusing to believe that her friends would deceive her... or, it could simply be that the changeling is trying their best to convince their friends that it's a trick so that their disguise might remain intact. We also don't know much about Dash's past, so that leaves open a lot.
And now, to finish things off...
Why it IS Fluttershy:
Hoo boy. Just like Rainbow Dash, we don't know a lot about Fluttershy's past, so it's hard to play the family card as evidence against them being the changeling. But, what we do know about Fluttershy's past is that she's always had a tough time flying. And, as you pointed out yourself:
Who said she started impersonations in Ponyville? She very well could have gone to Cloudsdale first and then Ponyville.
If Fluttershy went to Cloudsdale first, then her flying problem could have been part of her being a changeling. Do changelings mature at different rates than ponies? We don't know. Therefore, a changeling that is the same age as a pegasus might not necessarily have the ability to fly at an early age, like the other pegasi in Cloudsdale did.
Also... the way the changeling acts just screams Fluttershy to me. All the worrying in the thoughts, the stammering near the end of the story, all the bits at the beginning with Twilight... it just fits for me. I can't find a way to describe it past that.
Gah. I feel like I have more points to support Flutterchangeling, but I seem to have forgotten them. I'll post them if I remember, along with any other stuff I forget. All that aside, this really was a joy to read, kits. 17k words never went so fast for me.
Now, a question for you: is there a right answer at all? 
(one last thing... I had an idea somewhat similar to this that I've been mulling over for quite a long time. Maybe I'll post it someday, but if not, then I'll be happy to know that someone at least carried out the general concept and mystery style of one of the mane six being a changeling so well).
Oooh. Nice analysis.
To be fair, Applejack's accusations were in jest mostly. Along with Dash's "everyone is the changeling".
>Now, a question for you: is there a right answer at all
Absolutely. Now if you ask if I know, the answer is no. Every time I started thinking "it's $pony" I had to stop writing. The only thing I couldn't do was confirm (through thoughts) that it couldn't be $pony.
>Fluttershy
I have had people swear it was Pinkie. I had people say "she's too obvious" and I've had people swear it was Dash. You're the first Fluttershy person so far. I'm fairly certain that a good backstory can be written for any of them, much like one can write a convincing ship fic for any two ponies given enough time and effort.
I actually considered having 5 more chapters: one for each pony as a pre- and post-quel. But that means doing two very similar stories for Rarity and Applejack and Fluttershy and Dash. I may do some random side stories to this, I have a cavity causing Rainbow ending idea, but it would probably be as a separate story, as confirming it kills the 'message' I was going for.
Picking who the changeling is, is like picking who's the best mare for Dash to kiss.
Oh, no. I honestly didn't care about the wedding ep. The deep seated reason is that she wasn't an enemy. Everything else stems from that. If you really want to bitch about magic color, Twilight changed hers (so did Celestia).
He makes good points, but the thing about this fic is, it's my 'pretentious' fic. I get to play the "missing the point" card if I want. If the lack of stated reasons for things is an issue, then you're missing the point.
I know this isn't perfect. I wanted to make it more, but it took 4 months to get 17k. God knows how long the full-length novel version would have taken.
Kiss my ass. 
Glitch happens to be a decent concritter in my opinion. Perhaps not as great as some, but certainly more intelligent and helpful than you ever will be. If anyone should be compared to the plague, it should be you, because you only sit on your ass and disparage those with a constructively critical intent, who use their intelligence to help writers improve.
While his input may not have lead to any significant changes, it was still his right to give it.
Now shut up and quit bothering decent folk. *totally not a hypocrite, at all*
______________________________________________________________
With all that out of the way: I was amused.
Sweet Lord Almighty that is huge. Better clear my schedule.
The Turn Of The Screw - Heaven And Hell
Edit: Now that I've read it, I'm not sure if I should curse at you or thank you for not revealing it. You're making me think man.
That was lovely. I really like how you wrote it so we don't know who the Changeling actually is. 
I wish I could find a clapping emote but, eh.(how to people get/find those other emotes that aren't on the list?)
Just something I want to throw out there-everyone keeps mentioning the Changeling taking the place of one of the Mane 6. Rather than take their place, what if that particular pony never existed and they simply disguised themselves as a random pony? I dunno, just throwing things out there.
And if it matters, my bits would be on Fluttershy.
As much as the message of this story is about acceptance despite being a changeling and friendship and whatnot (all of which I agree with), I am the kind of person who HAS to figure these things out. 
Okie-dokie, now then, from the line
Failure. Oh, none of her friends suspected her, at least none gave voice or had acted differently around her, but she had failed, still.we can determine that the changeling is not Pinkie Pie, as Rainbow Dash clearly suspected her and even admitted to such directly to her face before this point in time.
From the words spoken by Applejack in the spa-talk with Rarity - being initially dismissive of a changeling not lying about who they are, the whole thing about changing what you look like on the outside being dishonest, and the general attitude towards changelings given off during the scene, in addition to that little thing about being the Element of Honesty, I have concluded that the changeling is almost certainly not Applejack.
Due to 1st pony view and whatnot, the changeling is not Twilight.
That leaves Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.
Personally, I am putting my bets on 
being the changeling.
And yes. That's what I was going for. If Rarity is the changeling, then there never was a "real" Rarity, just Rarity who came to be the prissy unicorn we know and love.
Question: Who's your favorite pony? I should have asked that in the A/N too. See how much changeling=favorite pone there is.
To head this off now...
1) Featured means jack for quality. It's great for exposure, yes, but it's not a mark of quality. Some of my favorite fics never featured.
2) He made good and valid points. My beta readers missed and/or didn't care about it.
3) I welcome both positive and negative criticism. It is a rare person who is willing to give negative crits to "popular" authors. Please do not dissuade him from that.
The ponies who teach are always destined to be far greater than those that do, because without them, the doers wouldn't know their asses from their heads. I, for one, have written nary a single word's worth of published fanfiction, yet I'm confident that I know more about the mechanics and details required of a good fanfic than you ever will.
The fact that you regard being featured as a seal of quality speaks volumes.
Should you wish to continue being verbally abused, I suggest you PM me rather than reply here. It's rude to crap up an author's comments with nonsense.
That seemed mostly aimed at him. Pity. In any event, an enjoyable story.
SPOILERS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS COMMENT
I cannot come up with a long-winded review of how awesome this is, so I'll just say that this was awesome in its entirety. I had my suspicions at the onset, but with that consarned way you wrote it, there was NO way I could tell who it was. Heck, I even watched that fight scene in that episode to see if there was any way to definitively tell who it was, but I still can't. Well played.
And with all the thinking I've done, I can't say anypony who it COULDN'T be. Yeah, I'm at a loss, and I don't care.
That's what I've always viewed about the possibility of one of the mane six being a changeling. It doesn't matter. They STILL received an element, and there's no way one of the Elements would have bonded to a pony with sinister plans. They just wouldn't have. So no matter who it was, they deserved that element. That being said, I don't think it could have been Applejack, straight up because of the Element of Honesty. Seems like hiding like that would go against its nature, unless the Element could see the future and know she would eventually tell the truth about it. My first thought was Dash, actually. Mostly in the ideas expressed during the inner monologue. That running and hurting her friends was simply so abhorrent it made her sick. If that's not loyalty speaking, I don't what is. Needless to say, it doesn't matter, and I love how well written this was. Excellent work.
Oh come on!
Bloody tease.
I like how your line there works as the summary of the story.
>One of the mane six is a changeling. It doesn't matter who.
You could almost have used it as the description except that it explains the whole story, despite people over-thinking who it actually is. (Including myself. I've got cases for and against all five of the usual suspects, and as a mental exercise have a shaky case building up against Twilight herself. [This has since shattered.] ) In fairness, it doesn't really matter...which was the point.
Very well done!
On the subject of spotting the changeling by magic color, there's a strong implication in the series that the colors we see are an audience convenience - the ponies themselves don't actually see any colors from unicorn magic.
Examples:
1) Twilight didn't notice that Chrysalis' magic was different that Cadences had been.
2) In "MMMMystery on the Friendship Express" when we are seeing things from Pinkie's viewpoint, no magic glow is seen when Rarity magics the blinds closed.
It's Applejack. Without a doubt. How do I know? Read on...
As the author has stated, the story was intentionally ambiguous. But there's one slip-up that results in a (almost perfectly) definitive proof. When the group is standing around waiting for Celestia:
"Well," began Applejack. "I figure unless our friend feels like outin' herself, we're pretty much stuck on that front. Least ways, unless you've got a spell for sussing out changelings in one of your books." Applejack flashed a joking grin at Twilight. The grin slowly slid off of her face as Twilight's tiny frown remained untouched. "Sugarcube? That was a joke."Twilight returned an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Her mouth opened, but no sound came forth. Licking her lips, she met each of her friends' eyes in turn, seeing the smiles slip from their faces as she did. "I–" Closing her eyes she steeled herself. "I have a spell."
Her breath caught in her throat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course Twilight had a spell. She had a spell for everything. She'd let her guard down again. She'd assumed that no mention of it meant that it didn't exist. How could she have discounted her studious friend's library?
The changeling is upset for being "stupid, stupid, stupid" and "letting her guard down." If Twilight had the spell and intended to use it, there was nothing the changeling could do to stop her, and nothing any of the others said or did before that led to the use of the spell. The only thing that could be considered letting her guard down... is Applejack's comment, which revealed the existence of the spell to all the others and reminded Twilight to use it. QED.
Urgh! This was awesome, but incredibly irritating at the same time. In the best possible way, of course. I love the ending, and the message, but I still really wish there was a "right" answer. I need to know, dang it! Even if there really is nothing to "know." The whole time I was thinking it was Pinkie, but I'd probably like it better if it were Dash. Partly because she's my favorite, and partly because it would be really interesting to see how her Changeling-ness conflicted/contributed to her element and her relationship with Pinkie. A separate fic picking one (or all) of the mane six would be awesome, just to have closure. It must be easy to tell that I ended up hating almost every short story they made us read in highschool, because they were always open ended and encouraged 'creative thinking', which annoyed me. Ignoring my griping, you made me actually really enjoy something with an open ending, and I do think that was the best way to tell this type of story, so kudos. Overall, awesome read
When I read the first changeling part, I was oddly thinking it was Twilight, because reading comprehension is hard and I'm awful at it. After I reread it, my suspicisions drifted to Pinkie, if only because the shift between describing her reaction and the changeling's thoughts was so sudden. I went through the rest of the story with her in mind, even reading the last section from her perspective.
Besides, Rainbow said it was Pinkie, and when is she ever wrong! 
Rationally, I'm leaning towards either Pinkie or Fluttershy, but any pony other than Twilight.
Whoever it is, this was fantastic. Brilliant work kits. This is definitely one of the best I've seen from you.
Edit: During the finale, Pinkie Pie told one of the changelings that she'd seen better. Who can do a better Pinkie Pie than Pinkie Pie?
I loved it, and was kinda hoping you'd leave it open in the end, but also hate you for doing so. I want to be right, damnit!
My favorite ponies are Twilight and Luna. After that... It kind of depends on what I have read or watched recently. Commonly, I think Rarity and Fluttershy. Not usually RD, AJ, or Pinkie.
I do feel that it could be any of them except Applejack (and obviously Twi). I can't really give as nicely spoken a response as theswimminbrony, but I'll mention what I feel is relevant, and otherwise piggyback on what he said 
The changeling is basically talking constantly about being who she is, and Applejack is the embodiment of honesty. I just have no workable way to allow the changeling mess into that. It just seems as though the element would have gone to someone else, somehow. I guess what I'm failing to say is that if AJ were the changeling, she would be the embodiment of Honesty while also literally embodying deceit? I can't accept it!
It could be Rarity and Rainbow just fine. Magicked into memories and whatnot.
Now for the more interesting part, At first, I was convinced that it could not be Flutters or Pinkie because of the internal monologues. It's just so unlike them. But there's a minor problem with that. My internal monologues are a far cry from how I interact with people, and the way I interact with new people and those who I am comfortable with varies greatly.
So, why does the inner monologue have to match perfectly with the pony we know and love?
So, it could be any of them, as you can probably pick out bits and pieces that are like each pony.
Consequently, the kicker is:
"I'm so sorry."...
she didn't cringe from them like she had thought she would.
...
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Please... forgive me."
The only outward actions we have of the confirmed changeling...
Edit: misread something
I'll admit, I was thinking Fluttershy, only because she gets relatively little focus during the whole questioning. And part of me was hoping it'd be Twilight all along, but the concept forced it away from her. (That, plus the fact that Twilight spent most of her life near Celestia, so it wouldn't take a lot for Celestia to toss the occasional 'is this a real pony' spell for security reasons.)
Still, nicely done. About the only thing is, at the 'reveal', it kind'a forces it away from Applejack. Unless accents are part of a disguise. Then it could totally be her.
Eh, who am I kidding? It's Luna.
Heck, at first I thought it's a locked room detective story and even began to deduce who's the gardener-murderer here. But then I thought it'd be that much better if the friends decided to never know who the changeling is... and that's exactly what you did! Thank you for this wonderful heart-warming story 
It really doesn't matter who was the changeling though it was Fluttershy. I'm sure of it.
This is a truly excellent story, and you do very well in not revealing who it was. To be completely honest, I would strongly suggest not revealing it in any sequel work because to those who read it, it would weaken the original story ever so much.*
As to who I personally think it might or might not be, I am not making any definitive guesses, but through process of elimination I can remove two.
Applejack, and Rarity.
Applejack is part of the apple family, and has both Applebloom and Big Mac as siblings, along with Granny Smith who was there when they were born. Add in Applejack's missing parents who would have been there when she was born(and Big Mac), and that rules her out. Besides, messing with the Apple's minds would go against honesty, and be creating a fake family connection. The focus here is that the connections the six have are real.
Next, much of the same for Rarity and her parents. They too are all implied to be ponyville natives, and it would seem ever so slightly strange that they decided to adopt a filly that looked so close to both Sweetie Belle later on, and what a child with them as parents would look like.
Twilight is obviously out, unless her powers of self delusion and multiple personality disorder(Gollum scene anyone?) is worse than we thought. That and Celestia is lazy when it comes to having important life discussions. Of course, there's still Shining Armor and the rest of Twilight's family to drag in, which would complicate things.
However, here is the main thing. This agent dropped out of contact, after going to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie has no immediately known past, and for a time had serious issues with trust and friends. That sort of sounds like problems a changeling living a double life they don't initially want to think about would have. Her element is Laughter. She lives to bring joy to those who brought joy to her life, because to live otherwise(as before) was too painful to do so.
Fluttershy is a bit older than the others(which lends weight to 'infiltrator', to an extent), is also an unknown for her past, and her crippling shyness cold be a symptom of her fear of being found out that has persisted over the years. Heck, maybe changelings are prey to dragons, which could explain her overwhelming fear of them. Finalizing the possibility is her element, Kindness. She goes out of her way to be kind to all living things, and more specifically, those who even if they don't know it, took her in and accepted her as a friend in spite of her deception.
Rainbow as the last candidate has a few things going for it being her.
Coming from far off lands, a changeling would be more likely to have encountered griffons, and more willing to hang out with other creatures. Pinkie seemingly didn't know what Gilda was at first after all(Still, could be faking). Add in a overbearing and attention seeking personality like Dash's, and you could say that she does it to draw attention away from any personality traits that could potentially out her. People see what they expect to see after all, as any stage magician will tell you. And who are better illusionists than changelings? Add in a fierce loyalty for the ponies she sees as more of a family than the rest of her kind, and a willingness to go out of her way to repay them by doing whatever is needed of her? That's a type of loyalty. Paying back the kindness of others twice over and then some.
So in conclusion, Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy are the most liable candidates.
*As to any sequel stories, or spinoffs, whatever. If you make any, keep them like this one. Don't do anything that could reveal who is the changeling, and have the mane 6 act as normal. After all, everything is normal for them. They don't care beyond the fact that they have cemented their friendship ever more.
But having the rest of ponyville and maybe through some convoluted mess the rest of equestria and even the changeling hordes find out about it, but not know who? That would be perfect trolling material for the 6. They would thrive with that kind of ammunition.
While I like the concept of the story a lot, I gotta figure this out
alright let's make a list
Twilight
Applejack
Rarity
Pinkie Pie
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy
Alright so first off Twilight can't possibly be a changeling, she is the one that cast the spell, if she didn't want to be discovered she wouldn't have revealed she had it so that is Twilight down
Now it already gets tough since we can't use any of the characters past or family to cross them off, since like Twilight said, a changeling could alter a ponies memories to blend in, Chrysalis merely got sloppy
Now then I know others have said that the ponies magic color couldn't give them away, since Twilight said nothing about Cadences magic color, but it is possible, though unlikely, that Twilight just didn't notice due to mainly being focused on how she was acting, so I am going to go ahead and cross off Rarity
so heres the list again
Twilight
Applejack
Rarity
Pinkie Pie
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy
I will continue this later, I need to sleep
Well, that was a good read. It's nice to have the whole "it doesn't matter who the Changeling is" bit as a nice moral. The way how everyone justifies their worry to make it that any one of the five could be a Changeling is pretty damn good.
It's been a fun ride. Now that the moral has been given, let's see who the Changeling is.
...
...
...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFF--
Great, well I won't be able to sleep tonight due to curiosity!
(Don't worry, I still loved the story. I'm just going to end up so dang curious tonight due to that open ending!)
Whoa there, I think you're being way too hard on this guy. Sure, writing creditability helps in being a critic to other people's work, but it's not required. Someone could be giving his input as a fan of the show or as being an "average Joe" reader. Some writers have to realize that having someone who's not a writer critique their work can give some insight that established critics may not be able to give.
Would any writing advice from NaturalGlitch be useless? Probably since there's little-to-no proof that he writes. However, that doesn't mean he can't ask questions or point out inconsistencies he found relating the story to the show, which is what most of his critique is made up as. Kits says they're valid points, so he decided to discuss them with NaturalGlitch in order to work out the kinks of his story.
You don't have to care about NaturalGlitch's critique, but that doesn't mean you should slam his head against the table over it. Just chill and smile, okay?
Personally, I like the idea of Applejack being the changeling. Yes, it goes against her element of Honesty... but you could say that everything she does is penance for the core deception of her life. The "real" AJ never came back from Manehattan, and if she seems a bit different after the time spent away from the farm and gaining her cutie mark... well, that's just natural. Eee-yup. 
Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, is my least-likely choice. Partly because it would be too obvious, for the weirdest member of the Mane Six to not be a pony, partly because I can't believe that Changeling Pie could have maintained the kayfabe for all those years. 
To be honest, I've only seen A Canterlot Wedding three or four times, and all that "long" ago. It's not my favorite episode (the adventure-y ones tend not to be). So I dind't do what I did for List and pour over available eps. I just ran with the premise I had.
Lol. Angel.
Yeah, it got up fast
Thanks! One thing I always thought was funny in season 1, outside of the pilot, Dash tended to be more honest and AJ more loyal. See mainly Dragonshy, where AJ sticks with Flutters, and Suited For Success, where Dash does not hedge words with/about Rarity (She kinda is!). The main thing about AJ as the changeling, she could have lived honestly, which is more important than not lying by omission. But yes, several people told me they thought it was Dash too.
I know someone writing a fic like this. I think it's more of a comedy though.
My bits are on Fluttershy. One, the interior monolog just "sounds" like her. Two, thanks to a very specific fic (involving Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy out drinking, Pinkie had been replaced by a changeling, and Fluttershy always WAS a changeling), Flutterling is my head cannon, alongside Scootaling.
And speaking of Scootaling, do you know of any fics on that subject? I can find fan art easily enough, but not a single fanfic. Help a Diamond Dog out here.
Yes. This story had the simplest premise of anything I've written. Funny how something so simple can work? But yeah, my hope is that, by the time they read that line, the reader already came to that conclusion too.
True. They neer do grill her about being the changeling.
Thank you for reading!
Season one Twilight and Celestia alos had different colors than season 2
Hehe. Nice analysis. There are very few AJ-supporters.
I've thought about having five pre- and se-quils. Not sure if I can make all of them worth reading, but Dash, to me (she's my #1 too) is the cutest. Because PinkieDash plus changeling-ness = adorable hugs and so many hijinks.
I loved that line from the final. It plays in my Dash-is-the-changeling ending. Mna, i should write that just because cute.
One of the main themes of this is that "being a pony" isn't a big deal at all. The elements DGAF. It's not what they are, it's who.
There shouldn't be any "Ah"'s in the fic :/. And yes, the actual should of her voice changed.
>Scootaloo
Thanks
Yay~ 
I have the same thoughts. While there are some cute and sweet moments to be had, it kinda requires kicking this story.
Interesting analysis. Were I to think about it being AJ or Rarity, their actions as younger changelings (mind fucking their 'family') would be before they became who they are today. I threw some lines in about not being able to change things she did long ago to keep this open. As others have pointed out, who said the "real" Rarity or AJ ever came home after their CM story? Not in a murdered way, but in a "Found a better life" way. I personally don't like this thought, but it's one alternative.
I probably will not write any sequels to this story, the main point has been made and any further obfuscation is just me holding a cookie above the reader's head and going "nyanyanyanyanya"
Have fun
Thanks!
And yes, tehy are valid points. I don't care about them much as they are irrelevant to the story, but they are valid and I will never discourage negative criticism that is well thought out. It's extremely rare and thus precious.
That's kinda the point
Explains her mane in Party of One though.
mind blown
Nines Tempest knew the basic plot to this and asked me if I minded. Since I don't claim to own ideas, I said sure. Especially since it's 100% Fluttershy in his which is a different fic altogether.
>wake up 2 hours early due to crying baby
>155 notes
>get 11 more answering them
Damn
Err... The part I REALLY needed a reply on was the "Know of any 'Scootaloo is a Changeling' fics?" section. Do you know of any groups? Someone PLANNING to write one? ANYTHING?!? At this point, I'm fit to declare that such a fic in fact does not exist ANYWHERE on the Interwebs, and such a prospect saddens me to no end.
Actually, the worst part is that I was kind of, um, serious. It twigged me during the fic itself as I was reading Celestia's lines. "I can think of a reason the Changeling Queen would have to do this and I know why she'd have these emotional reactions, too." And then Luna referred to it as a "test that would have to fall on them" and I switched over to seriously expecting the next scene to be a reveal of a very different kind than the one that had been apparently being built up for.
It was when I was nearly done with the comments thread that I leaped from thinking that to realizing that the story would in fact not only still be intact that way, it would've been intact if any given half the cast had all dropped guises simultaneously.
I nearly passed out laughing thinking about it.
Reset Password
Resend Verification Email
9
120
87
Joined July 2011
11,486 ( 11,486 )
More
Less
Post Comment
Refresh
Image: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17734087/images/1327921147451.gif
Aw, so cute! 
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Bananas_white_background.jpg/220px-Bananas_white_background.jpg
Image: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17472313/images/1326099956373.gif
Image: http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/230/362/520.gif
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Vinyl_Scratch_lolface.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Fluttershy.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Applejack.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Pinkie_Pie.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rarity.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Queen_Chrysalis.png
Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/eenope.png
Cancel
Send