“So maybe you don’t want to hurt me,” Codex said, as soon as they’d finished barricading the door. Harlequin had started dragging crates over, but the other bug was cleverer than that. He stuck a rod between the handles, and just like that it couldn’t be swung in either direction. He added a few more, and the heavy wooden doors were about as secure as any doors could be.
We could break them if we were a swarm. But if we were still a swarm, we would escape this place. She hadn’t felt the Swarm anywhere in the dark, unless that strange queen she saw in the dreamless darkness was what a swarm looked like when it was starting.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to do what you say. You’re still the one who ruined my life. There’s no one in the universe I should hate more. You took my family away, you got me thrown down here…”
Harlequin pushed him against the wall, hard enough that she jostled the pillar, and the pony light crystal came on. She bore her teeth, hissing at him. “You are the only reason you are down here, Codex. I was installed in the pony guard. I was going to get everybug out. The only thing you had to do was wait patiently.” She shoved him back, collapsing onto her haunches and panting hard. “I got myself assigned to guard the prison! All I had to do was wait for the right opportunity, and this would be over! We’d be long gone from this awful city…”
“You’re not really making your case,” Codex argued. “You wanted to let free a prison full of murderers and war criminals.” He flicked his tail back at the door as it jostled slightly. Maybe the scavengers outside hadn’t gone as far as they hoped. “Look at that. That is what the ponies of Equestria would’ve faced if I hadn’t stopped you. Even if ponies rejected me…” He stood a little straighter, though his voice quavered slightly. “It doesn’t matter if they never know my name. I still did my best to save them. One day, Princess Celestia will honor me for it.”
“Whatever.” Harlequin picked a cot at random, slumping sideways onto it. “That sounds exactly like the kind of thinking that got us into trouble. Believing our queen no matter what she told us.” The words felt like they should catch fire in her mouth as she said them. But there was no poison dripping down her tongue, and Chrysalis didn’t appear from the shadows behind her with a dagger to reward her for her disloyalty.
She went on. “She left us behind. Left us to be captured, doesn’t seem to care that we’re suffering. What makes you think your princess is different?”
“Because she is,” Codex said, as though commenting on the weather. “They’re nothing alike. You invaded us, Harlequin. We just wanted to live peacefully here. I wanted you to live peacefully. I suspect I even know more about changelings than you know about yourselves. Your culture has become a degenerate shadow of itself. But I suppose that’s the natural consequence of relying on your linked mind-structure over the course of—”
Harlequin sat up suddenly, spreading her wings as she interrupted him. “Hold on. I… I remember. You did talk about us before. You said you were… an expert on magical creatures. You weren’t lying to me?”
“No,” he said, more annoyed than defensive this time. “Of course not! Why would I lie about that? Pointless. Obviously I should have lied. If I told you I was a chef, I’d be home with my family right now, sipping coco and wondering what the princess was going to do with the invaders. Not… rotting with you in prison.”
This argument was going nowhere. But that didn’t mean she was completely wasting her time. “How did you know about changelings? Ponies didn’t know what we were when we started sneaking in. Only when the Queen ordered an invasion… I think.” She didn’t know what had been happening back then, obviously. She barely had a dozen memories from that long ago, and most of them were abstract snapshots of a few moments at a time.
“I studied,” Codex answered. It seemed like he’d claimed a section of the prison for himself, clearing off a few of the cots, pushing them together, and opening the little kits at the foot of each bed. Fine, she had no reason to try and stop him. Routine was good for a bug. “There are ancient records of you, just like most things. Ponies knew their world better in the past. We’ve been so frightened of the monsters that lurk in dark corners that we’ve forgotten how we fought them. It’s just so much easier to leave you alone. Hope you won’t come back, hope you weren’t looking. See what good it did.”
Harlequin frowned, watching this changeling move. His shell still didn’t look like it was formed right, and now had several more openings than it should, held together with thin thread from pony stitching. Whatever medicine they’d done to try and heal him had been only partially successful.
Maybe they dumped him down here after they found out about me. Or maybe Codex just upset them so much they got frustrated with dealing with him. That certainly seemed plausible, given the pain he was for her most of the time they were together. But the Queen thought you were valuable enough to convert. She wanted you specifically, and Hydrus searched for you. You must know something. “Tell me what you know,” she said, without preamble. “About changelings. You wrote about us, isn’t that what you said? In a pony book.”
“In my doctoral thesis,” he corrected. “Yes, I did. You were fascinating creatures when I could think about you in the abstract. Nopony guessed you might still be alive in numbers like this. Or that you might be coming back to Equestria. That you’d attack us again… obviously the princess must not have considered it, or we would’ve been better defended. I’m sure we will be now.”
“Probably,” she agreed. She’d already seen the Guard adapting. They would be teaching that spell used to fight changelings. They wouldn’t be so easy to invade next time. “What do you know about us? Maybe it can help?”
“Help,” he muttered, glaring at her. “You’re under a mistaken impression if you think I’m going to help you, Harlequin. You’re the one who ruined my life. There isn’t a pony in the world I hate more, despite all you’ve done to keep me alive. You can’t assuage your guilt with virtuous deeds. The damage you’ve done is permanent. I know this process is irreversible. Even if I somehow escape, my family knows. My wife will think I’m an imposter bent on harvesting her. My daughter will fear me as a monster. You’ve taken everything and left me with nothing. Maybe you shouldn’t have saved me at all.”
Harlequin just folded her wings, closed her eyes. Their supply of energy was a fixed quantity now and would be running out the longer she stayed. The best way for her to conserve it was to move as little as possible. There was no arguing with him there—she really had ruined his whole life. Well, her and the rest of the invasion. “If I hadn’t fed on you, some other bug would. You’d just be here with someone else for company.”
He didn’t respond for several seconds, but from the anger in his tone her case wasn’t very convincing. “I’m still not going to help you escape. Equestria is my home. It isn’t my family’s fault they hate me, it’s yours. I can still give them a better life by keeping you all trapped down here.”
Harlequin opened one eye, watching him make the bed. He did it exactly like the refugees she’d lived with for that first night. Almost like he was still in touch with some invisible pony swarm, guiding him. “Don’t help me escape,” she said. “How about this. Think about how hungry you are. I bet you were a prisoner long enough to eat some pony food. You know how much good that did. You’re just going to keep getting worse. Equestria knows so little about us they’re still sending down plants for us to eat. Do you want to starve?”
That silenced him. Codex had no snappy response to that, and she could see his ears flatten as she said it. After a few long moments, he finally spoke. “I guess there’s no harm in telling you the story. It’s not going to make finding an exit to this cavern easier. Do you know where changelings came from?”
“The badlands,” she answered instantly. “It’s… south of here, I think. Lots of dirt, not much grows…”
“No,” Codex shook his head. “Not where you came from physically. How you came to be.”
Harlequin shook her head. But she sat up as he asked, watching him intently. That sounded interesting, even if it didn’t seem like something that would get them out or help them find food. “That’s Swarmlore. I think the Queen must’ve known, but… I never did. I was too little to care about things like that.”
“There are multiple stories in Equestria,” he went on. His tone changed, all anger fading. He sounded more like a pony who was teaching. He went in regular, repetitive cycles through each sentence, returning to the same tone of voice with each one. “The stupid—some ponies think that Star Swirl probably did it, some mistaken enchantment on an insect or something. Ludicrous.” He shook his head once, and she found herself in agreement there. That was obviously wrong.
“The oldest story I could find—and oldest often means most accurate with accounts like this—is that you were descended from ponies. Long ago, before any of the ponies we know were ever born, even Celestia, there was a disagreement. It was so long ago that nopony remembers what it was about. But what we do know is that there were three factions. Some say those three factions became the three tribes we know today, losing their Alicorn powers forever. But I think it’s something else.
“The story goes like this: An Alicorn traveler arrived in Dream Valley one day, with a strange gift for all who saw her. ‘Take this,’ she said. ‘And it will make you strong.’ ‘Take this, it will make you wise.’ Some ponies ran to her, eagerly accepting the gifts. They became the ponies you know, inheriting all the world. But some feared her. They rejected her gifts and found their own magic. I think those were the ones who turned into you. They had to run far to get away from her, eating strange food and cowering away from the sun. Eventually they were changed, and they look like you do now. Well… like we do.”
I wish the Swarm was still there. I could ask them if the story was true. If she’d cared about abstract things, she probably would’ve already known that story. “Do you know anything that could help us find food?” she asked, voice desperate. “I have a little time, but you don’t. Those ponies weren’t treating you very well. I bet you were hungry when you got here.”
Codex’s expression was all the confirmation she needed—there was fear, and barely contained animal instincts. It was wanting to strike out and take relief, but not knowing where to find it. Harlequin knew it well. “Well… the story has another part. The Alicorn who visited discovered the ones who had fled, and she cursed them. ‘May you always depend on the kindness of others,’ she said. ‘Until you learn to show kindness in return and accept your place in the story.’”
“And that’s supposed to help us,” she muttered, pawing angrily at the cot below her. “Not sure how.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t know,” he said, glaring at her again. “You only care about yourself. But the story seems to say that you don’t need to steal love forever. Maybe there’s a way for you to be free. For us to… to change back into ponies.” He sunk down onto his haunches, staring down at his hooves. “There has to be a way. A way to… share enough kindness. Overcome the curse. Nightmare Moon was real—I’m sure this story is too.”
Every time Codex comes close to being tolerable, he has to ruin it.
In any case, that's certainly an intriguing myth. That catch will be finding a way to put it into practice, especially when anyling in the area who can still think is more inclined to exploit any offered kindness to the fullest.
Oh irony of ironies, he has the key in his hooves, but because he hates Harlequin so much -justified or not- he won't be able to use it.
Typical stupid deity cursing people and turning them into a problem for everyone else
Before I comment on this chapter, I just want to take a moment to state that I just finished reading another changeling story that really, really, really, really dropped the ball about halfway through and then kept punting it to see how deep it could go, to the point of it actually feeling like it was attempting to deliberate insult the reader.
So far, this story hasn’t done that, a thought which occurred to me even as I watched that train wreck of a fic happen. Since both are changeling fics with rather dark tones, they invite comparison to some degree.
And yeah, sure, everything Harlequin touches seems to turn to shit and her every attempt to improve her life or even other peoples’ lives tends to backfire. But she tries, and I knew what I was in for when I went I went in and have not had to deal with being Rian Johnson’d.
This story could end with Harlequin triumphing and helping the changelings, or it could end up with her dead in a ditch having ultimately failed to accomplish much of anything. Either would fit with the narrative, though, and I’m still enjoying the Journey we’re taking to get there.
Keep up the good work, Starscribe.
9571819
Not justified, but understandable.
It was war, she was acting under orders, she had no ability to affect the outcome, and she would have faced consequences for disobeying. That meets or exceeds every test for responsibility as determined by the Nuremberg trials.
Further, she disobeyed orders where she could to actively aid the civilians she was ordered to harm. That's actually above and beyond what is necessary to prove she isn't guilty of wrongdoing.
Codex hates her because she was the one who pulled the trigger, but the responsible party is the one who forced her hand. Hence, it's understandable but not justified.
9571895
Yep -- you don't accept my gifts so accept my wrath.
So, like I said - you don’t disappoint. Well, except in one way, these chapters are always so short! But you get used to that.
I do hope that Harlequin can save herself and Codex, and become reformed changelings. Starvation is a terrible way to go, and no one deserves it.
The most difficult conflicts to deal with are truly those where all parties are in the wrong and right.
A fair point--if anything it really is blind faith in an idiot queen that got them all in this mess. Don't think we can get away with just heaping all the blame on just that, though.
Oh yeah, that's right, Codex was fascinated by the changelings at one point, way back at the start of all of this. I had almost forgotten that little detail. Granted, given circumstances, that's probably understandable...
Either that or dead, because you weren't of enough use to the changelings. Just being a bit realistic here, Codex. I mean, I sympathize with the guy, I really do, but he keeps assuming he'll get the best (or close to it) possible outcome of every action despite the scenario to the point that he's not being very realistic about, or even considering that he might not be guaranteed to get the best outcome from his actions. I'll stop shy of calling him delusional, but he really could stand to be a bit more down to earth and realistic about his situation at times like these.
Guraarrrrgh....I mean he's right, but he also doesn't consider that it's because the changelings are being trapped down here that they're turning into something even worse than before, suffering an even worse fate that'll only ultimately kill them because of pony ignorance, and I don't think that's justified. Imprison them for their actions, sure, but by golly, be humane about it, and actually show an iota of care that current efforts to do that aren't working. Yes, the changelings have done cruel and horrible things, but this mess in the prison is even worse than that, and that's on the ponies because they just don't care enough to change it.
Sometimes you really gotta ask...who's really the monsters here? It may not just be the changelings.
Yeah, thanks for that, MLP comics.
Oh, the irony, Codex! You are far from selfless yourself. You keep spinning it as in some way aiding ponykind at large, but most of your actions throughout this story have been more self-serving than anything.
That said, though, I do think Codex is finally coming to terms with his situation and is starting to accept it. This is good, in the sense that will be the best first step towards seeking a way to better his situation, however that may be, whether Harlequin has a role in it or not.
I hope for his sake he doesn't end up like the other starved drones in that prison. *shudders* Codex deserves better than that.
I also hope he puts two with two on why that's happening along the way too. He and Harlequin actually already have all the correct pieces right there in front of them, they just haven't put them together yet. Too busy assigning blame, mostly. But the blame-game can wait--focus more on surviving first, you two.
It is. Trust us on that.
9571910
Now you've got me morbidly curious as to what that fic was.
So skittle bugs are something explained here. Kind of interesting before I remember Codex is a complete ass if even justified to an extent.
9572846
Well, you can read the fix-fic I'm writing in a red haze of fury over it in a few days. 2,792 words and counting, plus a 1,693 word forward written to explain why I feel it's so necessary. I'll link back to you when the fix-fic is done; before then I don't want to post a link to the actual story.
9572868
Fair enough!
Mysterious hidden power last chapter must be that Alicorn and boy is she a major B. A real "either with us or against us" character here. If it won't fit her puzzle it must be cast out.
9571895
More common than it should be unfortunately.
9572024
Would that even make the entire invasion inherently evil? It looks more like amoral predation at this point. If the curse is true, even more so.
9572062
Honestly, all conflict is colored in various shades of gray. Only in a story will you see black and white. But I really like seeing gray here too.
9572895
The drones weren't evil. They were animals barely capable of sapient thought - Harlequin was smart for a drone, and she was a moron. A wolf isn't evil, even if it kills a child.
Chrysalis was evil, and the hive lords beneath her who were capable of conscious thought. But to some extent theirs is the evil of ignorance, evil because they don't know of any other way and don't really know to look for one (the hive lords, not Chrysalis - she should certainly know better).
What really matters, to me, is what they do when they're presented with an alternative that doesn't involve harming others. Then we get to see who's truly evil and who just didn't know any better. Anyone can do evil. Being evil requires informed consent.
9572916
The invasion's purpose was to feed the species in the end. Even at the expense of the drones if she (the reproductive unit) survives and thrives then this action might be as evil as a lion taking down a zebra. That alternative though.
The story Codex told was old. The knowledge of alternative way may have been lost to time. Maybe even to those changelings most learned in swarmlore. Or perhaps muted as feeding became more and more virtuous over the centuries. But even true stories may have occasional inaccuracies. I wonder what the full story is.
Whatever place in the story, Harlequin is offered by that thing in the dream, it doesn't bode well for her if that thing is the alicorn. The source of this all.
9572943
Well, by "alternative", I mean what Thorax was doing in the Crystal Empire prior to reformation. Or, y'know, reformation itself.
9572948
Yeah. Still, I want to know the full story of that alicorn though. Reformation is not reformation if the evil was forced into an unwilling populace. If the curse story is true to the letter, the changelings became the changelings because they rejected the alicorn's vision for them.
The 'share love' plan would be a great solution, but I really feel like it's not going to happen in this situation with these changelings.
9571765
At a meta level, this character has to be a dick if Harlequin is going to solve the problem by herself. Having a more forgiving character as her sidekick might drop the difficultly level considerably.
Reforming his opinion of her might be a plot point; or, conceivably, she could succeed without him and he'll be left on the sidelines, impotent, bitter, and uncomprehending—drowning in irony. Alternatively, if she fails and they are dying together, he might at last see that his revenge is pointless; this would be an interesting, if disappointing, result.
9571910
What story is it ?
9573998
See 9572868
“I’m going to curse you because you don’t want what I’m offering”
What a prick.
9572846 9573998
As promised:
A Foreign Education (the original fic by GaPJaxie; you should at the least read his previous fic Courtesans for proper context as to why I hate A Foreign Education so much)
Another Road (the fix-fic for A Foreign Education by me)
9571910
This story appears to be a pseudo-prequel to another of Starscribe's stories, in which a Harlequin is essentially serving her sentence by assisting the ponies to rescue humans on Earth that are transforming into ponies. I fully expect this story to end in a fashion that lends to bridging that gap.
That myth is too vague but I suppose it happens with myths. What was that gift? That alicorn basically forced them to think a certain way or die/be cursed. That sucks.
...
So. Mysterious stranger offering strange suspicious drinks who hunts down anyone who doesn't want to drink them and curses them. They weren't even trying to attack, just...going off and doing their own thing.
WHAT A BITCH.
The Changelings listened to those seminars about not taking food from strangers, and now they're cursed. How freaking rude of whatever deity that was.