Epilogue
Epilogue
Sky trotted happily along the street, snow crunching softly beneath his hooves. It was one of the few times he was tempted to revert to using his pegasus guise; fur was rather more comfortable than bare chitin in the cold weather. Instead, he carried on as a point of pride, quite happy to endure a bit of cold to maintain his form. It was who he was. Besides, it was what he, and all the other ponies in town, were used to.
The months since his revealing had made quite a difference. Most residents of Ponyville were quite used to seeing the familiar changeling wandering the streets or flying overhead. A few still felt wary of him, but there had been no incidents, and many were quite friendly, giving greetings as they passed in the street.
He stomped his hooves a few times on the porch to dislodge the snow from his hooves and the holes in his legs, then pushed open the door to step inside. His house wasn't a large one, but it was plenty big enough for him and the occasional friend. He didn't own it, of course, merely making payments on it. Between his weather patrol pay in these busy months and the stipend for his role as the "Counselor on Changeling Affairs" -- which he felt was a rather pretentious title for "that changeling that shows up in Canterlot every month or so" -- he could easily afford such a place, or even more. He was, to be honest, a bit unsure of what to do with the bits he earned. He didn't have much taste for luxuries, and even though he had let Rarity talk him into designing a few more outfits, he rarely wore more than one single, simple adornment; a fine silver torc with another of the cloud-shaped blue sapphires.
Through the months, his friends, both old and new, had helped out immensely. Rainbow Dash still seemed a bit conflicted about him, but was mostly back to normal. They worked together, with Sky doing his best to be one of the hardest-working members of the team, and they had eventually gotten back to spending their off-time together on occasion. Sadly, she still seemed to get a little odd and uneasy any time things started to feel more relaxed. Every time she got to the point of starting to tease him again -- as frustrating as that had been before -- she'd swing back to feeling uneasy again. Even being able to sense her emotions, something that he had gotten much more used to over the months, that mare was still confusing. He knew there was something bothering her. Still, she was a friend, and he wouldn't push the issue if she didn't want it to be. Even if he would sneak the occasional longing glance.
More significantly, he had been spending more and more time with Fluttershy. It had started with the occasional visit, him wanting to thank her for all she had done during his difficult times, and they spent several evenings together, talking. Eventually the topic of his dreams had come up, and while he was reluctant to speak of the darker, more terrifying creations of his mind, she had eventually convinced him to do so. She had seemed horrified at first, and he had worried that he had frightened her by the dark stories, but that hadn't been the case. No, Fluttershy was worried about him, and how he had to deal with such nightmares on his own.
Soon they had begun talking about them more regularly, her giving a fresh outlook and a sympathetic ear. A month later he had been amused to realize that the dreams had lost their sting. The flames, the hordes of hostile changelings, that dark queen, they were still terrifying on those increasingly-infrequent nights that they intruded upon his dreams, but they no longer carried any lasting horror once he woke. Even without the frequent nightmares to discuss, he still visited her frequently, only now they usually had more happy topics to discuss.
A knock at the door drew his attention back to the present. Returning, he opened it to find a brown unicorn mare standing there, a pony he didn't recognize from around town. She looked incredibly nervous, and had been glancing around anxiously when the door opened, her large, green eyes now fixed squarely on him.
"Hello?" he asked politely, giving a little smile -- careful to not show off his teeth. She seemed uneasy enough already.
He could feel the fearful nervousness coming off her as she cast another glance back at the street, then back to him. "I... heard that there was a changeling living here, in the open..."
Ah. He had come to think of this as another part of his job. Upon news that there was a friendly changeling living in Ponyville, many ponies had come to see for themselves. A few had expected to find a monster worth hating, while most were simply curious. Some of them, like this pony, were nervous at coming face-to-face with a real, live changeling. The numbers had dwindled over time and with the colder weather, but occasionally another curious visitor would show up.
In any case, regardless of the visitors' motivations, he dealt with them the same way; with kindness. "Would you like to come in?" he asked, stepping out of the doorway so she could enter. She cast a nervous glance back, and he quickly realized unnerving the offer might be. Most visitors came in small groups, but she was on her own. "Or I could come out, if you'd rather."
"No, no," she quickly said, and stepped in, pausing to tap the snow from her hooves. "It's... much more comfortable in here."
He smiled again. "My name's Sky. Would you like anything to drink?"
She nodded, though without offering a name in return. He turned and trotted off into the kitchen. She hadn't said what she wanted, so he considered his options. Hot chocolate seemed the perfect choice, given the weather.
Returning with a pair of steaming cups levitating ahead of him, he found her still fidgeting uneasily. She politely took the offered cup, though she didn't yet drink.
Always best to smooth things along with conversation, he thought. "So where are you from? I hope it wasn't too long of a trip."
"Oh. I guess Hoofington originally, but I really just travel around. I don't really stay in one place. I, um, had kind of thought about staying here. In Ponyville." She spoke quietly, looking around the place. In fact, she barely even looked at him. She looked as if she had expected to find something different. Perhaps a monstrous lair, not a fairly tidy little home.
Moving on. "Well then... I'm guessing you must have questions, to have brought you this far."
She hesitated, conflicted feelings rising up. Eventually she set down her cup. "How did you do... this?" She gestured a foreleg around.
He tilted his head, not quite understanding the question. "I'm sorry?"
"You... you're a changeling," she said, stating the obvious. "But you're living among ponies. And they know it. And... How?"
"Well, it's a long story," he said. It was a familiar question, one he'd answered many times. "The simple version? Well, basically I started by just... showing them who I was."
She just stared at him for several second. "You... just showed them?"
He nodded, with a smile. "It wasn't easy, and I have to admit I was scared at first, but that's how it started."
She looked away, emotions twisting and churning. She took a half-step back, fear growing stronger by the moment. Then she looked back to him, determination and near-panic suddenly surging to the front.
Sky flinched at the green flame that flashed across the unicorn. In her place stood a male changeling. Sky felt fear leap up in him for an instant, to be immediately replaced by guilt at having the same reaction that he had found so distasteful in others. The other changeling was very much like him, although with a carapace marred by a few scars that told of a hard life. A faint tremble went through him as he stared fearfully back at Sky.
The other changeling was full of fear, and anxiety, and... hope.
They stared at each other for several long seconds before the other changeling spoke, quiet and nervously. "Then... what comes next?"
"Next," Sky echoed, and his mind finally slipped back into gear, finally registering just what was happening. Slowly, he smiled. "...Next, I think we should talk to Pinkie Pie about arranging a welcome party."
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1141355
Haha, yeah, I can totally picture that, too!
1142061
Sadly, every story has to come to an end sometime (Sad Twilight goes here). Speaking of:
Last chapter, and epilogue.
So. "Sunshine and rainbows." Kinda sorta.
So like I said, I was aiming to have the story fit the feel and themes of the show. Forgiveness has always been a big theme in the show. We've got examples of characters doing things ranging from accidental poisoning, to mind control via emotional manipulation (A couple examples, even), all the way to high treason, attempted ecocide, and potentially attempted genocide. Despite that, ponies have shown forgiveness to those who try to atone for their actions. Luna is probably the clearest example of that; despite her actions as Nightmare Moon, she's welcomed happily into Ponyville just hours later. It's not always easy, of course -- though really, doing a dramatic booming-voice-and-lightning entrance on a night dedicated to the name you bore during those actions is probably not the best way to make ponies comfortable around you. But even despite that, they still have warmed up to her by the end of that night.
I'm sure there will be many complications to Sky's life, and there will likely always be some lingering suspicions. Still, I think he's happy with where he is now.
Agreed with what you said about 'forgiveness' being a theme in MLP: FiM. More importantly, it is about growth as a person; going beyond who you were before and becoming a better person. Twilight learning to socialise, Rainbow learning to be less selfish, Fluttershy learning self-confidence (real self-confidence, not bluster), Rarity learning patience with Sweetie Bell and to be less self-focussed and so on.
The ending of this is significant in it shows the real reason Celestia put Sky in the position she did. She wants him to be an example to his people that co-existance with Ponykind is possible. That they can hope to be something other than monsters. Chrysilis will be beaten forever if her army finds another way to live.
1147982
I really need to re-watch the later Bourne movies. When talking about seeing the newest one (Which I haven't seen yet), I realized I couldn't remember much of any of them except the first one. I need to fix that!
Anyway, yeah, you're pretty much right on both princesses. I really want to do a story featuring both Celestia and Luna, they're such interesting characters, and for characters that we don't see a lot of (Particularly Luna. Need more Luna!) they have a lot of material to work with. If only I had a good story idea to do with them instead of just a lot of random ideas.
And Chrysalis, too, for that matter. Such a great villain.
Well, I do have ideas for one (excessively) dark story with all three of them, but I don't know if I'll write that one. I'm not sure I want to inflict such things on such a nice world
1148009
And this just made me very happy!
Nice story, really nice ending. Good for a change.
To tell you the truth, I did kinda expect more changelings to show up 
Now, time for me to go back to the more gory stuff.
Beautiful ending! Only problem is how open it has been left for a sequel, and I have no idea if you're planning on writing one. Following you in hopes of more!
1150934
There's certainly more material in Sky's life that could make a story. I don't have active plans at the moment to continue the story, but it's something I'll probably be thinking of in the future. We shall see
1203592
Or Rainbow loves herself, and Sky picked up on that.
Or a little bit of all of that, combined with the happiness (From both of them) at having someone else around that enjoyed flying so much. Sky's having a bit of trouble sorting out just how much of his feelings are actually his own, rather than the result of those around him.
I kinda hope the earlier parts of the story have several moments like that, which suddenly get extra meaning once you know what's going on. I thought I did a good job of it, but it's really hard to tell when I already know what happens!
1199521 Hmm point taken. You win a derby
What the hay? There is a sequel to this. I ~KNOW~ there is a sequel to this. I found this story by way OF that sequel. Now why can't I find it on the Author's "Stories" list?!?
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Twilight_crazy.png 
1207898
Yeah, that does sound very much like something Celestia would do...
1208536
Huh, I don't know. There isn't a sequel for this. At least, not yet. I might make one at some point in the future, though I don't have any plans for it at the moment.
Maybe you found another story with a similar theme (I admit, mine isn't entirely original...). However it happened, I'm glad you found your way here!
1208839
Fan sequel, then. Bah. Now I have no way of finding that fic back.
1209147
I started posting this up just two weeks ago, so I'd be surprised if someone did a sequel that quickly. Well, no, I'd be more surprised that someone liked the story enough to do a fan sequel!
If you do find the story you're think of, could you let me know? Sounds like it might be the kind of story I'd be interested in!
1210247
Oh for Faust's sake! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Twilight_crazy.png I found the story I was talking about.
...only it turns out that it is ACTUALLY a sequel to Thrown Abroad.
I now officially have NO IDEA how I found this fic. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_future.png
Also, the aborted Rainbow Sky shipping gives me a headache. Dash develops a crush on Sky, who in turn interprets those feelings as his own. After the Tomato Revel, Dash realizes that Sky's feelings were really her own reflected back at her, leaving her heartbroken. Sky, however, has developed feeling for her that are all his own, and her "rejection" of him spurs on the rest of the plot. FINALLY, Dash is trying to rebuild their friendship, but whenever her feelings start straying away from the "Friend Zone", she backs off, not wanting to manipulate Sky in that way. Meanwhile, Sky STILL has his OWN feelings for Dash, but is holding back because she is acting weird around him, and he doesn't want to push.
At least when Laurell K. Hamilton broached this subject, Anita Blake came right out and said that, while what she felt for Asher may have STARTED OUT as someone else's memories, what she feels for him now was HER OWN feeling for who HE IS NOW, not who he WAS. ...granted, in the most recent book, Asher got kicked out of town for being a complete dick, but that isn't the point.
Lets just say having these two stuck in a "What Might Have Been" situation is both believable, and mind numbingly frustrating.
1210755
Despite pretty much living on emotions, Sky is kinda clueless about them.
The way I imagined it, Sky draws from a combination of sources; Dash starts liking him being around, because it's someone else who feels the same way about flying as she does (...at least partially because he's literally feeling what she's feeling about it!), and he picks up on that, plus liking her for the same reasons himself, plus the general feelings of happiness compounding from both himself and her... All of which he interprets as his own feelings. When Rainbow finds out... Well, she takes it kind of lightly. The teasing wasn't to encourage or discourage him, she was just doing it because she thought it was funny. She didn't really consider it seriously.
Then he crashes, things get very serious, and she is basically forced to look at the situation much more seriously. There's all the questions of what this means, what was actually going on, how much of it was true, how much of it was just a result of feeling her emotions, etc. There's probably even a lingering doubt that he might have been acting along to get her to like him more, for more "food" (No, she doesn't believe that, but doubt can be very illogical at times). On top of that, Rainbow can be kind of insecure at times, and this is certainly an area she isn't familiar with. And he shows up, while she's still trying to figure out what to think about it all, and seems just as conflicted as she is (Or at least, that's how she might interpret his "I don't know").
So in the end, she feels incredibly awkward at the prospect of things getting "serious." He, on the other hand, isn't much better. He's still uneasy about the idea of being influenced by other's emotions, which leads him to doubt his own at times. He isn't even sure if he does like her that way, now, and her own unease is, unfortunately, likely to influence him still. As a result, he's gone a bit more cautious than he had been before, and "cautious" isn't exactly high on Dash's valued traits.
Unfortunately, the "reveal" kind of came at the worst possible time (And I hadn't even planned that). It'll probably take them quite a while to sort things out. Dash will probably loosen up before long, but it all depends on if Sky will relax and be less reserved around her. I don't see "subtle" working too well on Rainbow Dash. They're certainly friends, but beyond that? I don't know...
...For something intended as just a bit of flavor to his growing life in Ponyville, that aspect ended up having a much larger presence than I had imagined
1214390
I'd like to think it's just because more people haven't seen it.
But on the other hand, it looks pretty cliche early on, with an OC pony apparently becoming quick friends with the mane 6. It's not quite so simple, of course, but that detail doesn't come until halfway through the story, by which time some might have given up on it.
I tried submitting it to EQD to see if more people would see it, but it got rejected for several reasons, including that one (And several others that were about as badly thought out). Maybe if they'd read more than just the first chapter...
A nice ending of a nice story.
Okie-dokie. This story needs more exposure somehow. It is significantly better written than many more popular stories (at least from a technical perspective), doesn't do anything particularly cliche (well, after chapter 1...), is complete (an extreme rarity for changeling fics), and is, of course, rather good. I just read the whole thing on my tablet. Inches from my face... so now my vision is really screwed up, but it was worth it. Also, I blame any typos in this comment on you for that reason, Sir/Madam Author.
Also, for once in my miserable commenting career I will attempt... constructive criticism! Stand back, it will probably fail explosively.
First off, your writing is, from a technical perspective, very good. I never found the prose distracting and grammatical/typographical errors were uncommon (although "wine" for "whine" showed up a few times). The third person close perspective was held very well and consistently throughout the story (I'm guessing this isn't your first rodeo?).
Characterization was also very good, but it gets an asterisk. The mane 6, the princesses, and the townsfolk were all well done and believable. I personally would have liked to see more of the individual reactions from the mane 6 after the big reveal, as much of it is done "off-screen," but that was your call.
The asterisk is for Sky himself. While I know the Gary Stu-ness of him for chapters 3 and 4 was mostly intentional (and I admit, I was pleased enough to want to villainously twirl my mustache when it was revealed he might have just been miming everyone around him emotionally), he has things that happen to him but he never really seems to be a strong character. I didn't have a good sense of his desires and goals after chapter 4, and that might just be personal peference speaking (since finding out you aren't really a pony but an emotional vampire just might remove some of your spunk and future-planning abilities). I also would have liked to see Sky reason out why he was going to run through town undisguised; that would have been a perfect chance to flesh out the new Sky from inside his own head (seeing him decide he doesn't want to lie or hide anymore) rather than through dialogue with Twilight after the fact. Again, that might just be personal preference and terrible advice (after all, check out all the stories I've written and been successful wi- Oh look, a moose!).
Also, pacing felt a bit weird. Chapters 3 and 4 felt as though they would never end, and although they set up some fun stuff for chapter 5 they just weren't that interesting to me. There was pretty much no conflict. Chapter 5 was delicious and fantastic and all those other adjectives used to describe a good meal. But the whole thing comes off as strangely front-weighted. 2/3rds of the story is taken up in set-up and reveal, with only 1/3rd left to deal with the aftermath and close up. That's what it felt like, at least, while the word count is pretty close to 50/50.
I was also waiting for a proper Dash-Sky talk... which never happened. It feels like a tremendously wasted opportunity (and it would probably be quite intense), but also would probably have been difficult to pull off, so I don't blame you for avoiding it (I would have no idea what would happen, which is part of why I want to see it). Using Sky's sudden freak out to run away from that felt a bit strange, especially since it never properly came back up. Dash would also have been unaware that Sky might only have been mirroring her emotions (unless Pinkie or later Twilight told her), and it doesn't seem like her to just let it drop. I know in the comments you make it seem less serious of an attraction between the two, but in the story it seemed a bit more weighty.
However, as a whole I found this to be a very enjoyable story. Easily in the top 5 of my personal favorite changeling fics, I suppose (I fancy myself a connoisseur of changeling fics). With so many unimpressive changeling fics out there, I was shocked to see that only ~90 people have read the whole thing when 1 chapter wonders keep popping up on the hot list (oh look, there's a single chapter changeling fic up there now! Off off and away!). My eyes are still screwed up, even after manufacturing this monster of a comment.
Anyways, thank you for providing us with such a fine story to enjoy. And I deeply apologize for my inappropriate overuse of parenthesis. It's a disease of mine. I also apologize (less deeply) for not reading the comments fully, so I imagine many of my concerns have already been brought up or addressed. Now, to see if I have the nerve to post this... No! Stop! Treacherous right hand, let go of the mou
1238671
Thank you! I'm always glad to get critique, and you certainly have some good feedback! I agree with pretty much everything you said; The chapter 3-4 stretch drags (I guess I wanted to set up his nice happy life just to smash it all to pieces), Sky tends to do fairly little (Even if he has a big effect, driving the story, he's still a bit weak as an acting character), and yeah, the first chapter in particular looks pretty cliche (Which I imagine is probably a fair part of why fairly few people read all the way through. I tried to subvert many of those tropes later on, once it's revealed why something is happening, or why something is different than how it looks, but that requires getting to the later parts to actually see that). The decisions you mentioned were ones I had to think about fairly hard, too. I'd like to think I made the right choice on them, but I could easily be wrong.
And even as I was writing Sky, knowing why he would act a certain way, it was still poking at my Gary-Stu alarm pretty hard. He hits many of the elements very close, and while I know there's an actual reason for it, and consider him to somewhat subvert that, it still kept setting off the alarm bells in my head. For someone who didn't know what would show up four chapters later, or who didn't figure out that he was a changeling and extrapolate what kind of effects that might have on his behavior, I can see why half the people reading chapter 1 didn't go any further.
Still, I'm very happy to hear that you'd rank it so highly among changeling fics (And I love changeling stories, too. They're what brought me here!). So, thank you very much!
(And don't worry about the parentheses abuse. As you might notice from my own comments, I seem to have caught that same disease, some time ago! Although this site seems to have also infected me with the use of emoticons. It's so hard to resist clicking those cute little ponies on the right side of my screen...)
1251010
No plans, but anything is possible, I suppose! We'll just have to see if the mood strikes to write some more.
1251998 - I would gladly read a SkyDash shipping story as a sequel to this one.
MOAR!
I will give you my Token of Awesomeness
1590788
Woot, thanks!
1598195
Oh, nah. Rainbow is snarking that the "Brain-Boy" nickname is sounding more and more appropriate (AKA, "Now you're just being stupid"
)
1602829
Yup! I actually found it very fun to do those little bits of dialog from Luna, and the Wiki page for Thou was very helpful in keeping it straight (...I hope).
It also amused me to find out that the times that I thought the writers had slipped up by having her say "you" instead of "thou" was actually the correct usage, since she only used "you" when speaking to the crowd. So what I had initially thought was an error was, in fact, them paying attention to detail and doing it right!
Kinda strange for a male changling to use a female disguise.
Awesome story. I love it!
1660768
Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
Coincidentally, the new story I'm putting out has a changeling who's primary disguise is female. It also let me show the differences in thinking, including why a changeling might disguise as a different gender.
Read it. Loved it.
You are an accomplished writer, don't let anyone ever tell you differently.
This puts your new fic in a whole new light. It totally went over my head of who that changeling is at the end......
Thank you for writing an amazing and dynamic story. I look forward to all your future works.
-Radbunny
1685710
Hmm... I could throw a Sky Lark in one of the coming chapters of Without a Hive if you promise to send video, because that would be pretty impressive to see
1686128
Eee, thank you! I hope I don't disappoint. I'm just glad some people like my little hobby project
1688422
If the chapters/books to come are as good as these, then I highly doubt you will!
When I listen to Meat Loaf's "Blind As A Bat", I can't help but feel it's a great theme song for Sky. The lyrics really fit at many points.
I'm really glad that stories like this are here. The strong characterization the FCs possess allow a fan fiction author to really play out epic, dramatic, or dark stories, but stories like this I feel are the true 'sequels' to the show. After all, light and friendly atmosphere is what drew me to the show in the first place.
Sky can't change who he is (so to speak), but he can decide who he can be. It's a good lesson to learn, and something that is in line with the theme of the show.
1771802
Thank you! I was really wanting to make a story that fit the tone of the show, so hearing this makes me extra happy.
There is certainly a lot that can be done with styles that diverge from the show style. The first MLP fan-fic I read was Fallout: Equestria, about as far as you can get from the style of the show (And read for much the same reason; I saw it was popular, said "that's ridiculous, there's no way that could actually be any good," then recognized that I shouldn't judge something I hadn't seen/read myself). I guess it's the one to blame for me accepting MLP fan-fiction as something I could "allow" myself to read. In the end, though, it was the show that caught my interest, and even though I've found some good epic or dark stories, I've always held a preference for the ones that stay true to those origins.
That's probably my main reservation about Without a Hive. While I think a lot of it fits, there are some elements that tend a bit dark for the show (There's even been a death threat, by a character that demonstrated they'd probably go through with it!
). Then again, it might fit in as the equivalent of a dark-leaning "first-part" to the (yet-unnamed) third story's "second-part."
1774713
Well, speaking of 'Without a Hive', it begs the question as to whether the central protagonists are the same 'ling.
Well, their personalities are not the same at first glance, but Sky experienced a huge dose of weaponized love/blunt force trauma when they were repelled from Canterlot, which could have knocked the evil mind control/indoctrination of the hive out of him.
I am curious as to the method and measure of control Chrysalis had over her hive in this universe, but I'm sure you'll elaborate in due time. I'll just leave here by saying this story is criminally underrated, and the one person who downvoted it needs to go get their head examined kthnxbye.
Edit: Waiiit a second, that unnamed changeling in the epilogue seemed to have 'a hard life'. Mayyybee.... Ehh, now I'm just trying to cover my bases. Though Nictus was pretending to be a brown furred unicorn mare as well... just different eye colors.
sequel please!? I want to know who the other changeling was...do they become friends, will Sky and Rainbow Dash set aside their differences? Is Sky living with Fluttershy or at his apartment now? so many questions need answering...
1790767
To be fair, I think there are certain flaws with the story that could lead to a bad impression, particularly if someone stops reading early on while missing some of the hints I give, and there are a couple sections that might drag a little. I'm generally quite happy with it, and can't complain about a 105:1 like/dislike ratio, but there are certain areas that could use some improvement. Plus, it's impossible to know if a down-vote means "This is a horrible story," or "Meh, not really my thing," or "OC? Changelings? Screw reading, DOWNVOTE!"
I guess Without a Hive shows enough of changeling thinking that it isn't spoilery to detail some of my thoughts on changelings as I'm writing them (Heck, I've been idly pondering doing a whole post, just to clarify my "headcanon" of them, and my reasons). In my stories, I imagine the "unity" of the hive mainly being a matter of cultural indoctrination; this is what's expected of a changeling, this is what makes a proper changeling happy, and you want to be a proper changeling, right? That, combined with a lack of exposure to outside cultures for the majority of the hive, and an attitude of superiority (Or even hatred) for other species. So, culture and propaganda, mainly.
As much as I like the use of a hive-mind in some stories, I don't have it in mine, mainly because I get the impression they aren't supposed to have such an ability in the show. It's a bit unclear, but the behavior in general seems to indicate against it; Chrysalis gave the other changelings verbal orders, the changelings are unable to tell a disguised changeling from the original on multiple occasions, and there are a few changelings that seem completely unaware of something major happening until it hits them, despite the entire army being very alarmed by it. I'd also definitely consider the changelings as individuals, considering their varied reactions and attitudes that we catch glimpses of, though that isn't necessarily contradictory with a hive-mind (A remote-control style hive-mind, sure, but not all portrayals of it).
So in Without a Hive, I tried to give a few bits to portray a society that would make for a hive of unified individuals, without the need for a hive-mind. Although, a telepathy-style spell for the Queen might be very fitting.
And... wait, what? Different eye colors? *looks* Er, not sure what you mean, looks like they're both green eyes. After all, we know from the other story that it's just plain common sense to have some color matching the color of your magic, so it'd be a pretty silly changeling that would take the form of a unicorn without some green somewhere. Um, you probably just caught her eyes flashing her natural color for a moment, 'cause, you know, she's a changeling. Yeah, that's it...
What, no liarjack emoti--oh hey look, someone else posted, gotta go!(Seriously, I pored over the Epilogue so many times when writing it to make sure every little detail was exactly how I wanted it. How did I miss that? Oh, probably because I just gave her an eye-color that matched her (Er, his) natural form, since I hadn't even thought of that aspect of "proper changeling disguises" until I was writing Without a Hive... Derp.
)
(Also, Sky would be disappointed in me. I typed "it's a changeling" instead of "she's a changeling" on the first pass. In my defense, cross-gender disguising changelings make pronouns tricky at times...)
1791903
Once Without a Hive is done, I'm planning on following up both it and Fragments with a mutual sequel. Will probably be a while, especially since I'll probably take a few weeks off after that story is done (Time for planning!)... but I do plan on getting there eventually!
For what I can answer, Sky has his own house now, as of the time of the epilogue. That might change at a later point, but it's good for now.
As for Sky and Rainbow Dash... I can honestly say, I don't have a clue how things are going to end up between them. I have a few ideas for interactions between them, but I've been focusing my creative juices on Without a Hive, so I haven't been able to work out details, or even decide a general course. Actually, to tell the absolute truth, that subject is probably the biggest worry I have about the third story. I was worried enough putting in Sky's little crush on Rainbow. I'm a bit daunted at writing what happens afterward, regardless of what direction they go.
(...Eesh. If I wrote as much in my stories as I just pump out for comments and forum replies, I'd be putting out 8K+ word chapters every other day...)
1793070 Hmmm...ok. Well just hurry up and do some more on Without a Hive I like that one too...
1793122
Will do!
1793125 Yay.
1793070
Hey, we can't all be perfect. Well, except for Celestia.
And I am liking your reasoning behind changeling society. It's rather contradicting to have both a hive mind and yet have far-ranging, intelligent infiltration changelings. Well, not without Chrissy having much, much more brain matter then she could contain in her body.
Anyways, I'll keep watching your stories. And maybe reread Fragments again.
1922029
I certainly didn't consider her reaction to be bigotry. I figured she was stubborn and very protective of her friends, and very uncomfortable with the idea that this is some creature that might be deceiving her and her friends. Her reluctance later on wasn't to do with bigotry, but with her usual stubbornness; she was concerned early on when it looked like he was lying to them, and had a hard time changing her mind on that. I like to think that if it had been a pony in that situation, she probably would have reacted similarly.
Edit: Or at least, no more bigoted than anypony else, for thinking that a changeling might be a spy just because he's a changeling...
This is without a doubt one of the best stories I have read about a changeling, it starts with him not knowing, rather than trying to trick them, which adds a nice little twist. plus it has the bonus of the fact that there is hinted romance with rainbow, but it doesn't immediatly develop in the usual whelp the main character just got laid scenario. then finally the changeling at the end that comes to him for help really boosts the quality, i mean surely losing your memories and having to develop a new veiwpoint and perspective isn't the only way to decide it's wrong to lie and slowly suck the life out of people, right?
you have earned: 1 moustache
Must... Favorite... Now!
1948241
Okay!
*favorites*
...Wait, how did that work?
1948497 "With a lot of explosives and Pinkie Pie anythings possible. Right Pinkie?"
"Yep!"
"Exact...ly... Pinkie?"
"Yeah Flamie?"
"Why aren't we in my house anymore?"
"I may have accidentally thrown a match into your explosives closet."
"...Oookay... Where are we?"
"Were at a crossroads silly!"
"Crossroads of what?"
"Crossroads of whether or not you'll finally start writing your story already!"
"But I don't know how to write a story!"
"Then why don't you ask?"
*mumbles* Probably my pride. "I mean I don't know who to ask."
"That is because you refuse to look, young grasshopper."
Stares at Pinkie who suddenly had a sensei costume on. "Help me..."
1950690
Sorry, you've got a Pinkie infestation. I'm afraid you're doomed.
1951069 Me and Pinkie are friends. We completely understand each other.
*brohoof* *brohoof*
1980472
Yeah, that's largely what I was going for. Granted, I never really thought of her being quite as hugely obsessed about honesty as she's portrayed in some fics (Where she's often shown as a walking lie detector), but it's pretty obvious that lies don't sit well with her. It seems to even go so far as making it hard for her to act convincingly, at times. I tried to show a little of that, having her faltering and acting possibly a little harshly before the "discovery," though I think I may have played it down too much. (Actually, I'm wondering if I made all the hints of suspicion too subtle. I know they're there because I wrote them and know exactly what each bit means, but I'm not so sure if it shows to the readers...)
Anyway, that's also why I had Sky's later visit with her go the way it did, with her offering the olive branch. She was uneasy about the situation, wanted to protect her friends, and found it somewhat hard to trust him when he was essentially lying to the whole town by hiding what he was, but she really would like him to be one of the "good guys." The most deciding factor in her accepting him was him outing himself to the whole town, finally letting them all know what was really going on, despite knowing it could go so badly for him.
This was a great story. At first I thought it was a bit Gary Stu with how he was able to befriend the Mane 6 so easily, but then I thought, oh hey, that's right, they're pretty much the spirit of friendship, so I didn't think that anymore. I also thought that at the beginning he was a changeling, then I thought he wasn't, and then, holy crap, he really is a changeling! Overall written quite well and I rather enjoyed it. I'm reading Without a Hive right now and I hope that it's just as good as this.
(If it seems like I'm rambling, it's because I'm dead tired right now from my medication. I'll probably look at this later and go WTF was I thinking?)
2006150
The Gary Stu impression certainly isn't helped by how quickly they seem to accept him, early on. I put a few hints in there that it wasn't quite as simple as it appeared at first, hinting at their suspicions, but I'm not sure if I did that part very well. Still, I'm glad you enjoyed the story despite that!
2007247
Maaaybe...
It's funny, while I was worried about being too subtle with some of the hints, that's one I actually worried I was being too blunt with!